Growling Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 (edited) Hey guys and girls..I bought my 350z back in August, and now things are happening I thought this would be a perfect time to start my project thread.I'll start with my car history.First up was my Civic:Left like this.. Sold to and crashed by my best mate and broken by me 6 weeks later :After that, I had an FD for a year. Very odd this one.. I think it's the most beautiful car i've owned, especially after i'd changed the wheels and suspension and stuff, but I just never really fell in love with it..:After that, came a 19 year old BMW estate.. Haha. Everyone I knew thought I was insane, until it was finished. it even got a little feature in PBMW. Before bags:After bags:Then after wanted to get something to drift after having a dabble in the rx7, I got an old R32 skyline. It had an RB25DET, cusco cage and some other stuff. Done a couple of drift days and a lot of streeto, but I couldn't leave it alone. Ended up spending 1500 on suspension, some half decent wheels, tubbed rear arches and over fenders and vinyl wrapped it myself. After my mate crashed his rx8, I decided I didn't want to trash a 5 grand car, so I sold it.How it came to me (rough) :And how she left me:Next was my Integra type R track car.This one was a full build from a shell up. It ended up with an engine swap, cage, decent suspension and brakes and I even had a play with aero. Was a very capable car by the end, with some decent lap times.How it was:And finally My daily while the Integra was in the garage was an E46 M3. I absolutely loved this car, and i wouldn't have sold it if I didn't get a life changing opportunity. These really are fantastic cars:I'll start with the Z in the next post! Edited March 17, 2016 by Growling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 (edited) This leads me onto the Z. I was driving the M3 and playing a lot of Gran Turismo to try to qualify for a competition called GT Academy. If you haven't heard of it, have a google. It's basically a competition where the winner becomes a pro works racing driver for nissan. Long story short after a lot of hard work I managed to qualify, so the prep began. I decided if I was going to prepare I'm going to do it properly, so the M3 was sold, and the hunt for a 350Z commenced. The car was just be bought to use on track to get used to the Z cars as that's what they use most in GT Academy. I eventually settled on a 2004 Gunmetal with 104k miles. the car was solid, and after a full service, brake overhaul (Black diamond discs, Ferodo DS2500 pads and ATE Racing brake fluid) and a fresh set of Nankang NS2-R track tyres it was ready for the track: Unfortunately I never made it. The car blew a coil pack on the way to snetterton and came home on a tow truck From that day on, I've carried a spare coil pack in the car From then to the time I went away for GT Academy in October me and the car had a great time on the track. There's no pictures of that time, but we did Silverstone, Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Bedford Autodrome. Learnt a hell of a lot, and embaressed some serious cars. Even though they're heavy, man they're great to drive and very capable on track. After just 2 months, I'd used most of my new tyres, ruined my 5th gear, blew out both the flexi's on my Y pipe and did this to a set of Ferodo DS2500 pads in under 1000 miles: GREAT FUN! Edited January 28, 2016 by Growling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 (edited) After all the track time, and back home after the competition, the Z just became a road car, and what a beautiful road car it is. I love how special it feels. With the M3, it feels like a souped up saloon, but the Z feels like a focused, purpose built sports car, and I like that. I took the car on the 600+ mile round trip to Plymouth for a weekend away, and it really didn't miss a beat. So comfortable to drive: The track time took its toll, so I set about making the car as close to perfect as I can afford to.. It deserves it after being so great on track. After buying a new centre cap for the Rays after I lost one at Silverstone, I did the first mods.. A stainless Y pipe, and a quick wiper delete, and boot weight removal: Next up was suspension. I decided to really treat her to HSD Coilovers, and Driftworks Camber arms front and rear. After a bit of fiddling, I got them on in an afternoon. (You can see here what proper hard braking does to the paint of your Brembos!): This left me with a low car with rediculous alignment settings: A mate of mine kindly gave me a great deal on his JDM rear bumper, Diffuser, and a set of 18x9.5 wheels.. in a hideous red : I also ordered a Mines style lip. here is is after a bit of trimming: After a chat to the guy who does all my painting, he took my front and rear bumpers for a fresh coat. the front bumper had some serious stone chips, and I lost the little tow eye cover, so I grabbed a new one from Nissan before it went into paint: Eventually I got my bumpers back, and I'm well chuffed with them! I had the front bumper smoothed, and the front grill done in gloss black (You'll see the theme eventually). Front end fitting: Booty before and after: While I was at it, I baked the rear light and removed the red from the fog: I found a Japspeed backbox for cheap, so I had to grab it. After finding some bright spark has welded my mid pipe to my back box, I sourced a 30k mile mid pipe in great condition to complete the exhaust system. I havent fitted this yet. Dirty: All polished up: That brings me about up to date. Here she is as of today: The wheels and lip are currently in the paint shop, so I'm eagerly waiting to get them back and get the car in for alignment! There's plenty of plans for the car, mostly tidying and pampering. Thanks for reading Edited February 15, 2016 by Growling 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payco Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Nice work. Hope the bumper car aerial has been removed too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davectr Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Nice car, and nice story. Keep the updates coming 👠Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rav525 Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 That car history though! Someones had fun over the years! Looking forward to more updates, good luck with it all mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 (edited) Cheers guys. Nope, still rocking the bumper car ariel lol. I don;t mind it so much. Today I takled my manky interior switch panels. I'm on a mission now to make the car as mint as I can. Its sounds cliche, but i'm going for a real OEM+ vibe with the 350. I want it to look like some sort of Nissan factory special edition when I'm done. I'm not into all this stickers and bright colours stuff, I'm definitely going for understated. Here's my chipped plastics: The other one wasn't as bad, but still wasn't great. I went off to Halfords and got some plastic primer and some matt black. After I'd whipped the panels out, I grabbed some 400 grit and got them ready for primer: A couple of coats of primer: First coat of Matt black: And all done after 4 coats of Black: All back in the car. Well chuffed with the results. Factory fresh!!: I also ordered a new Door vent, as mines busted and looks like this..: Edited January 28, 2016 by Growling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie94gts Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Looks good. Nice job on the arm rests. It's coming along nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Had a spare hour earlier so got the arch roller out and rolled one arch in preparation for the new wheels and spacers. Here's a couple of befores: As the coilovers are set quite low I had to whip the bolt out of the damper and wedge the trailing arm down with a bit of wood to get my roller low enough lol: Plenty of heat gun meant I got away with no paint cracking and a nice even roll: Then a bit of Waxoil to seal it up while I'm there: The bloody paint reacted on the wheels so now I have to get them acid dipped before they can be painted again.. more waiting! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 (edited) Got a few more bits done recently. No pics, but I rolled the other arch ready for the wheels, which should be back from paint this week One thing that has been doing my head in was the cloudy, skanky headlights. I went in blind and just 'gave it a go'. I taped up the paintwork and got the elbow grease involved. I found some G6 compound in the shed and applied that twice by hand, followed by 2 coats of wax to hopefully protect them for a while. Some befores: Aaand some afters: Put in the new vent too: Edited February 18, 2016 by Growling 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Today was exhaust day.. fun fun. I had a Japspeed k2 back box, but in the face of all the negative comments about fitment with Japspeed exhausts I didn't even bother fitting it Instead I went with a 30,000 mile standard exhaust mid-pipe and backbox in as good condition as you could get for a used exhaust.The best part was it cost me just £30! My standard exhaust was absolutely knackered.. While it didn't blow, it sat wonky in the bumper, the tips were black, it had been chopped and welded so the backbox and mid-pipe were one piece, and a blow had been fixed with a diet coke can : The new exhaust looks so much better. Got it sitting just right after some fiddling and polished the tips : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Good and bad today.. I got the wheels and lip back from paint, but the wheels have had to go back.. really wasn't happy with the finish at all. The lip was fine though, so I got that on and am really happy with the results! The trimming before sending it off to paint really paid off and the fit is lovely: Should all tie in well when the gloss black wheels are on 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Gee_Dubz Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Looks great, nice progress, hope the wheels get sorted soon, I think your z would suit the side step/side skirt extensions in black, would flow well with the lip and diffuser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Thanks mate. Yeah you could be right with the side steps! I'll see how it is with the wheels on. I don't want it too busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j20rdan Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Looks lovely, the front lip suits it well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 (edited) Well i FINALLY got the wheels back. I ended up getting them powdercoated so I know they'll last and the finish is spot on: Taped up the lips before fitting the tires.. not taking any chances!: Time to get them on. Along with my Neo chrome steel internal drive wheel nuts (little pressie from the gf) Pleased with the results Tried fitting my Extended wheel studs and spacers today but the company sent me the wrong wheel studs.. Im not having much luck really Edited March 18, 2016 by Growling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Gee_Dubz Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) Looks sweet, i know ive said it already but i definitely think some side step extensions in black will flow really well with the lip and diffuser (wow that took 3 edits haha) Edited March 20, 2016 by Mr_Gee_Dubz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justthejedi Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Looking good and what a difference the headlights make to the overall appearance. Have you scraped the front splitter yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Saw this on FB, cracking OP loved that civic too. Nice compare to an M3 also, what's next for the 350z? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) . Edited March 20, 2016 by davey_83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) .. Edited March 20, 2016 by davey_83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veilside z Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Looking great buddy. Patience certainly pays off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growling Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Thanks for the compliments Extended wheel studs and Spacers up next. Not much after that I doubt, just a couple of little dings to come out and a detail I reckon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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