davey_83 Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Absolutely love AG for this use also, amazing turn around. Better than when it left the forecourt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Schwier Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 A few updates, lots of progress. The first being an issue that I picked up on the drive home from picking the car up...gearbox issue, crunch from 4th to 5th. Not good! So I got the car down to Horsham Developments and told them I thought it was a worn syncro, they were skeptical at first until they test drove it and saw how bad the crunch was, very alarming as the car has only done 30,000 miles, so two things the issue needed to be sorted and I needed a full health check to make sure I had not bought an absolute dog. After taking the gearbox off and stripping it down what I initially thought was correct, worn syncro. You can see in the pictures just how worn the teeth on the ring are. Parts from Nissan EU was going to take 5-6 weeks so Jez ordered them from Nissan US and they took 2 weeks to arrive. New syncro and other parts replaced, gear box cleaned and built back up! With the gearbox back in, fresh genuine fluid, I also had purchased a new transmission mount from vibra-technics for Jez and the team to fit. Also whilst the car was down at Horsham I had the slave cylinder replaced (as the gearbox was already dropped) and a wheel alignment as the car didn't feel right. Turned out the alignment was out by quite a bit so glad I got that sorted too. General health check done as well, everything was ok. Driving the car back was an absolute dream, really is the experience I should have felt from the start! Private reg on! A trip to C&M with a couple of friends, great atmosphere as always! Nice photo taken by our friends over at Drive-R. New tyres! As mentioned before the previous owner had put standard sized 370z tyres on the rears (275-30-R19) shame as they were Michelin Pilot Sport 4s, and up front were some Advans. Odd tyres were driving me crazy so new tyres all around. As many of the Nismo owners I upgraded to 305-30-R19 on the rear and 265-35-R19 up front. Went with the Pilot Sport 4s. Tempted by the new Bridgstone Potenza Sports as they have been on par with the 4s on all the testing done so far but too early to test the tread wear so was safe and stuck to what I know. Car looks and feels so much better now, just gives that perfect look where as standard sizing the wheels look a bit lost in the arches. MOT! Car passed with flying colours so thats another year done. Exhaust, now I've never been a fan of short tails especially when the OEM Nismo system looks so good. The car had come with short tails on and the owner didn't have the original back box. Tbf the short tails don't sound too bad but they look awful A very kind gentleman was giving his OEM system away for free as he had just upgraded, so I snapped at the chance. After two hours spent cleaning it up using various grades of tar remover, wire wool, microfibres and Mothers Mag polish, it came up well! Exhaust on, looks so much better. Lost nearly all sound but I'm not overly bothered plus the cabin noise is so much better, can hear more of the engine noises which is nice. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Those old tailpipes would have bugged the hell out of me. 1. They're so thin they literally remind me of baked bean tins. and 2. I just gotta have smooth polished tips. Rolled tips with branding embossed is my idea of tailpipe nirvana. If only an exhaust place could maybe modify the OEM rear silencer to return some aural delights. I seem to remember some have stripped the wadding from inside before but can't remember how good that sounded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Fantastic work fella as per, driving experience must be back to how it should be. Did the selling retailer not wish to contribute towards the defective repairs under sellers warranty? 10 hours ago, HEADPHONES said: If only an exhaust place could maybe modify the OEM rear silencer to return some aural delights. The noise remedy is called high flow cats 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgv1 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 I was today years old when I found this thread... looking forward to the updates 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msitpro Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Does the 370's traction control not have an issue with 265/35/19 and 305/30/19 ? Rear is shorter than the front slightly. Also the total height of both is a fair bit smaller - more arch gap now? Also surprised that 305s fit without smashing the arches under compression - unless you have rolled/pulled arches or those 305s maybe measure 275-280 for the tread section? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortPaul Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Hi mate i am running the same size with no issues 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Schwier Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 @HEADPHONES I think I've seen somebody do that before and it sounded awful. I'll eventually buy a nice aftermarket system but for now very much enjoying stock. @davey_83 Didn't even bother, I bought the car for such a good price even paying for all the work I wasn't out of pocket 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Schwier Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 20 hours ago, msitpro said: Does the 370's traction control not have an issue with 265/35/19 and 305/30/19 ? Rear is shorter than the front slightly. Also the total height of both is a fair bit smaller - more arch gap now? Also surprised that 305s fit without smashing the arches under compression - unless you have rolled/pulled arches or those 305s maybe measure 275-280 for the tread section? Nope none at all, car seems to drive better. Went on a 'spirited drive' and went over and into some quite substantial bumps and dips in the road - absolutely no problems. Spoke to a few others that had done the same before I went ahead with the change and no problems reported by other owners either. To the eye the arch gap seems to be the same, haven't done measurements. The bigger tyre gives an extra width that pulls the wheels out of the arch a bit without putting spacers on the car, as you said it also adds extra width on the other side as well but like I said before the clearance is fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justthejedi Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Stunning car Lewis, you've done an amazing job. I prefer the Mk1, if it had the MK2 seats it would be perfect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Schwier Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 Finally my new front diffuser arrived from Japan. I had bought and received my Z Speed under-tray from Z1 Motorsports a while back but didn't bank on having to replace the front diffuser AS WELL! My original under-tray was absolutely trashed, and was hanging on by about 3 bolts, a few self taping screws and cable ties. It would bottom out over the slightest of bumps and would flap around violently above 70mph. TBH it was ruining the driving experience and got so bad I didn't want to drive the car until it was sorted. So long story short I went to order a 370z Aluminium under-tray from Torqen then quickly realised that the MK1 Nismo has a different under-tray to the standard 370z and MK2 Nismo...great so after to speaking to @dave_7 he told me about the Z speed one from Z1 Motorsports. All in I paid £491.52, eye watering I know but it needed to be done, pay the money forget about it. Then after going to fit it I quickly realised the front diffuser which the front of the under-tray attaches onto, pretty much every plastic tab was snapped So finding a new front diffuser it was! Nissan UK/Europe had nothing so looked on Z1 and to my surprised they had it listed on the site...the price was just, I thought the under-tray was bad. I expected it to be expensive being an exclusive original part by my oh my. All in I was going to cost me near £800, I honestly couldn't stomach that and at this point I was really deflated about the whole situation. After mentioning this to my customer who owns Ross Sport, he kindly said he would try and help me out as they ship parts in from Japan every week. He was able to get me the part for £720 all in so at least I had saved a little bit of money. When I received the text through saying found the part, will be £720 all in I replied yes thats great thanks, put my phone down, forgot about it and would just deal with the financial heartache once the part arrived So here is OEM + Old Diffuser vs Z Speed + New Diffuser. Everything was easy to install...thats if you don't discover snapped bolts in the pressed rivet mounting points After spending hours trying to extract the bolt without damaging the thread of the rivet we gave up and just drilled out the rivet itself. Was lucky a friend came to help out and keep me company throughout the night. It was only the two back points that were like this so cable ties will do until I put another rivet into the hole we drilled. Everything on and now feels solid, hats off to Z Speed the under-tray is a very nice bit of kit (ignore our greasy finger prints haha) A whole weekend of driving planned and for the first time driving the car with zero faults, I couldn't actually believe how much the under-tray situation was effecting the car, I suppose it makes sense as the airflow underneath the car and in the wheel arches is being majorly effected. Ace Cafe Forum meet, was good to see new and old faces, have a catch up and talk cars, weather was beautiful! The next day I went on a drive organised by the Suffolk Tuners, never met anyone from their before but saw another drive they put on via social media and it looked amazing. So me and a friend decided to go. We drove from Thetford to Felixtowe Pier. Again the weather was perfect and it was a great day, great people, nice selection of cars. A couple of 350z's a MK2 Nismo, 720s, GTI, Supra, TTRS, M6 to name a few. Moving on a few weeks I had a cancellation at work so used the time to get my car in and finally get the wheels refurbished and do the front brake hubs to match the rear. Hubs sanded down, masked up and painted with Hammerite. Went with the OEM silver look as had already done the back ones that colour. I actually think from factory the hubs are black but oh well! I also cleaned the wheel arch liners, de tarred them then coated with Gyeon Trim. Also whilst I was cleaning I popped this cover off to flush all the crap that this traps, its such a bad design, very surprised they carried it over from the 350z, doesn't make sense to me. I will sand down and seal properly at some point as you can see its already rusting. Hubs complete, brake calipers cleaned, machine polished and coated. New bleed nipple covers put on as well. Looking fresh! Wheels back from the refurb place, I decided to sway away from the OEM colour slightly and went for a darker metallic grey, so pleased with how they have come out! I think they suit the darker tone of the car very well with the roof being black and the internals of the lights. Of course these were coated too. IPA wipe down, then coated with Kamikaze Collection Stance Rim v3. Wheels back on. Just waiting on brand new lug nuts and new Nissan Centre caps to arrive from Z1 and that will complete the whole wheel area. Going to take a break now with the car as I've definitely spent a lot more money then expected over the last month. But really happy at where its at now 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidv10 Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Car is looking great! Interested to see what is next. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_7 Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Great update! Wish my wheels looked that fresh. Do it right, do it once is definitely the right mentality imo, even if it does empty your wallet 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadmaster Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 On 29/01/2021 at 08:06, dave_7 said: Great job on the engine bay, that waxy gunk is like sh!t to a blanket My V2 Nismo has that gunky layer on the engine bay paintwork - I thought it was just mine, but maybe something done in production? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadmaster Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 @Lewis Schwier What a great write up - I think if I had the V1 wheels and spoiler, my V2 would be 100% perfect! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortPaul Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 2 hours ago, Lewis Schwier said: Finally my new front diffuser arrived from Japan. I had bought and received my Z Speed under-tray from Z1 Motorsports a while back but didn't bank on having to replace the front diffuser AS WELL! My original under-tray was absolutely trashed, and was hanging on by about 3 bolts, a few self taping screws and cable ties. It would bottom out over the slightest of bumps and would flap around violently above 70mph. TBH it was ruining the driving experience and got so bad I didn't want to drive the car until it was sorted. So long story short I went to order a 370z Aluminium under-tray from Torqen then quickly realised that the MK1 Nismo has a different under-tray to the standard 370z and MK2 Nismo...great so after to speaking to @dave_7 he told me about the Z speed one from Z1 Motorsports. All in I paid £491.52, eye watering I know but it needed to be done, pay the money forget about it. Then after going to fit it I quickly realised the front diffuser which the front of the under-tray attaches onto, pretty much every plastic tab was snapped So finding a new front diffuser it was! Nissan UK/Europe had nothing so looked on Z1 and to my surprised they had it listed on the site...the price was just, I thought the under-tray was bad. I expected it to be expensive being an exclusive original part by my oh my. All in I was going to cost me near £800, I honestly couldn't stomach that and at this point I was really deflated about the whole situation. After mentioning this to my customer who owns Ross Sport, he kindly said he would try and help me out as they ship parts in from Japan every week. He was able to get me the part for £720 all in so at least I had saved a little bit of money. When I received the text through saying found the part, will be £720 all in I replied yes thats great thanks, put my phone down, forgot about it and would just deal with the financial heartache once the part arrived So here is OEM + Old Diffuser vs Z Speed + New Diffuser. Everything was easy to install...thats if you don't discover snapped bolts in the pressed rivet mounting points After spending hours trying to extract the bolt without damaging the thread of the rivet we gave up and just drilled out the rivet itself. Was lucky a friend came to help out and keep me company throughout the night. It was only the two back points that were like this so cable ties will do until I put another rivet into the hole we drilled. Everything on and now feels solid, hats off to Z Speed the under-tray is a very nice bit of kit (ignore our greasy finger prints haha) A whole weekend of driving planned and for the first time driving the car with zero faults, I couldn't actually believe how much the under-tray situation was effecting the car, I suppose it makes sense as the airflow underneath the car and in the wheel arches is being majorly effected. Ace Cafe Forum meet, was good to see new and old faces, have a catch up and talk cars, weather was beautiful! The next day I went on a drive organised by the Suffolk Tuners, never met anyone from their before but saw another drive they put on via social media and it looked amazing. So me and a friend decided to go. We drove from Thetford to Felixtowe Pier. Again the weather was perfect and it was a great day, great people, nice selection of cars. A couple of 350z's a MK2 Nismo, 720s, GTI, Supra, TTRS, M6 to name a few. Moving on a few weeks I had a cancellation at work so used the time to get my car in and finally get the wheels refurbished and do the front brake hubs to match the rear. Hubs sanded down, masked up and painted with Hammerite. Went with the OEM silver look as had already done the back ones that colour. I actually think from factory the hubs are black but oh well! I also cleaned the wheel arch liners, de tarred them then coated with Gyeon Trim. Also whilst I was cleaning I popped this cover off to flush all the crap that this traps, its such a bad design, very surprised they carried it over from the 350z, doesn't make sense to me. I will sand down and seal properly at some point as you can see its already rusting. Hubs complete, brake calipers cleaned, machine polished and coated. New bleed nipple covers put on as well. Looking fresh! Wheels back from the refurb place, I decided to sway away from the OEM colour slightly and went for a darker metallic grey, so pleased with how they have come out! I think they suit the darker tone of the car very well with the roof being black and the internals of the lights. Of course these were coated too. IPA wipe down, then coated with Kamikaze Collection Stance Rim v3. Wheels back on. Just waiting on brand new lug nuts and new Nissan Centre caps to arrive from Z1 and that will complete the whole wheel area. Going to take a break now with the car as I've definitely spent a lot more money then expected over the last month. But really happy at where its at now Looking box fresh mate 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Umster Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Loadmaster said: My V2 Nismo has that gunky layer on the engine bay paintwork - I thought it was just mine, but maybe something done in production? It's a wax based coating, everyone has it and whilst it looks terrible, it's functional. So don't remove it unless you plan on replacing it with something a little more transparent. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 You could have blown me over with a feather when you told me at Ace Cafe how much the new splitter and Z speed under tray set you back 🤯 Sitting pretty now fella and the wheels being done will give you peace of mind now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasesonix Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 I love this car, I have a 64 plate, can't remember what number it is. Didn't realize there were only 120 in the UK, is that right? Mine is stock except for the exhaust upgrade. I just replaced the back box for two resonated short tails. The sound is perfect now. Not crazy loud, just enough to get noticed. I upgraded the slave cylinder for a heavy duty one when the master went a few months ago so that's one thing off my mind. Only thing to do now is get the body undersealed some more. I love the attention the car gets, and how I don't see another like it on the road unless I go to a meet. Went to a modified car show couple of months ago and couldn't see another 370 anywhere never mind a nismo. Just a handful of 350s. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GranTurismoEra Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Those seats look more comfortable than the Recaros. Id recommend the light grey Recaro instead of red from Mark 2 if looking for new seats in future. £2500 though unless you get the foam and get it stitched Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Schwier Posted August 14, 2021 Author Share Posted August 14, 2021 (edited) @Jasesonix very nice! So true, unbelievable how much attention it gets and its because you don't see them anywhere and has huge road presence. The Mk1 seats are extremely comfortable just don't look as good as the Recaros. Edited August 14, 2021 by Lewis Schwier Spell check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Schwier Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 A few updates over the last couple of months... Unfortunately Nissan use a faux alcantara on the steering wheel so the quality is not great and the fibres tend to build up. So used Colourlocks leather sanding pad and fabric cleaner. Worked a treat! I think I will end up getting it re-trimmed by Royal but thats good enough for me atm. Minor service was due, car has only covered 4,000 miles since its last one but it had been a year so thought I would keep it fresh. Used genuine Nissan oil and filter can't go wrong with it. Also did a general health check whilst the car was up on the ramp. Also got these cool little keys rings from a little company, saw @Andy_Muxlow had purchased a pair so I went ahead too. Pleased with them, nice little touch! Lastly I bought the Z1 intakes. Bit of a late night bored scrolling this purchase I have to admit but oh well very nice addition. Went to fit them myself and then quickly realised my oil cooler is located where the air filters are ment to sit, not mentioning the mess of wires that are for the lights. I'm no auto electrician but blows my mind why there is so much wiring for just two halo rings. So I'll have to try and relocate the oil cooler and tidy up the wiring. Not what I was expecting 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 Great job on the steering wheel, I did not know you could bring that material back from that state. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortPaul Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 On 14/08/2021 at 06:38, Jasesonix said: I love this car, I have a 64 plate, can't remember what number it is. Didn't realize there were only 120 in the UK, is that right? Mine is stock except for the exhaust upgrade. I just replaced the back box for two resonated short tails. The sound is perfect now. Not crazy loud, just enough to get noticed. I upgraded the slave cylinder for a heavy duty one when the master went a few months ago so that's one thing off my mind. Only thing to do now is get the body undersealed some more. I love the attention the car gets, and how I don't see another like it on the road unless I go to a meet. Went to a modified car show couple of months ago and couldn't see another 370 anywhere never mind a nismo. Just a handful of 350s. Nice to see another v1 on the forum, i haven't seen you on here before bud 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Schwier Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) A few updates and a one year ownership review. Happy new year everyone thats reading! Santa came through with some Nismo goodies, floor mats, oil cap, fuel cap and oil drain plug I also had my Nismo red accent stripes replaced and roof re wrapped. The Nismo striping were in bad shape and the roof wrap wasn't the best (done by the previous owner) so wanted it refreshed. First up the Nismo striping, now the obvious thing to do was to buy the genuine stickers but after looking I decided against this..as per with anything Nismo the prices were outrageous plus they no longer make the front one. Back one was $250 and the wing mirrors were $88 each! So I got in contact with Mikey from MKS Customs who does all the wrapping/vinyl stuff for my customers. He was certain he could get a good colour match to the Magma Red and get the dimensions OEM like. So I went ahead and bought the OEM wing mirror stickers from Z1 so Mikey had reference to the real thing. I think he done a great job and saved me huge amounts of money. OEM: Before and after: Had Mikey order in some Inzotek wrap from the States for the roof, anyone in the industry who is familiar knows that Inzotek film is the most paint like finish vinyl there is and do some absolutely amazing colours. Haven't had a chance to polish and take photos yet but the finish is unbelievable and looks exactly like paint, the gloss and smoothness is incredible. (Roof done in Gloss Black) Finally fitted new centre caps after coating them. Only replaced 2 out of 4 as the others were okay, after a quick polish and touch up they were as good as the new ones. As for the other crap I have no idea what one of the previous owners were thinking. Quick wash and QD and car is now ready to be put away for the winter. My garage at the new house is still filled with building materials so car will be taking residence at one of my good customers house. All tucked away until Spring time So I've owned my car for just over a year now, 4,300 miles covered, 700 of those over 3 days in North Wales w/ @Killick.z Honestly its been everything I dreamed of and more, every single time I drive this car I have a smile on my face and often when I'm cruising, listening to some great music I have a real sense of gratitude for the car and all things in this crazy, beautiful, mad thing we call life. The performance of the car is all I need to satisfy me on public roads, a great balance between comfort and performance, a wonderful grand tourer with individuality and race car traits. I personally get a lot from driver engagement and the character of a car which the 370z has bags of. N/A, RWD with Manual gearbox will always be a winner for me. Aesthetically I genuinely think the Mk1 Nismo is one of the most beautiful cars out there, obviously I'm bias as I have an emotional connection with the car but I work and spend intricate time with some of the best cars in the world and It never takes away my appreciation of the stance and silhouette of my car. Absolutely love cleaning/working on it and every single time I park up I find myself looking back at the car in awe. The specialness that is the Mk1 Nismo , in the rarity and looks will always justify my choice in where maybe other cars trump it on performance. North Wales road trip was the highlight of the year for me, really got to put the car through its paces from fast pace B roads to motorway cruising in all weather conditions. 700 miles in 3 days and the car didn't skip a beat, just made me love the car even more then I already did! Edited January 6, 2022 by Lewis Schwier 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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