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cefiro_drifter

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Right before i start i must warn you im a drifter at heart and i tend to do "drifter" mods on everything i own. That means i use the more " cost effective " way of modifying :thumbs:

 

With that in mind if ya dont like it then please feel free to post all comments and critism but just remember its my car and i WILL do it my way and if you ask my wife she will tell you that im aLWAYS right :#1:

 

Right so the story starts as i got my 350 by swapping it with my incredibly clean AE86 with a **** from scotland. What he failed to tell me, after i asked him specifically, is that the fans werent working, thermostat didnt work and subsiquently on my way home from liverpool it overheated on the side of the M25 10 miles away from home :rant::bang:

 

so with that i got straight on the phone to my good friend Leon at EPracing and ordered one of there Alloy rads with twin 13" leccy fans. Its totally unbranded and thats fine with me as its a sealed metal object that allows water to flow around it and get cooled. Cant see why a name shoudl add 100's on top.

 

sorry i didint take loads of pictures but i couldnt stop laughing at the pathetic radiator nissan used in the first place, its an absolute joke. Anyway once i got the rad and fans from EPR i needed to get them fitted so with very few people i trust working on my cars it was easy to pick someone. Straight down to F1 Moto near brandshatch to get Nev Payne on the case. the man built my R324 drift car and thanks to his backround of building customr bikes where everything is on show he is annoyingly anal when it comes to things being meticulously neat and perfectly placed. He may not be the cheapest around but when you see his wiring work and machining skills you knwo why

 

out with the old

 

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in with then New rad and fans

 

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Minty ( nev ) hard at working trying to working out wiring in the new fans to the old stock wiring, after a few hours we gave up and just ran them on a manual switch

 

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Then the fun started :bang: after tryign to bleed the system using every method we could think of ( about 18 times ) we were still getting air locks and only hot air when under load and cold air on idle. With time running out and realising the thermostat was screwed i didnt have time to get a replacement and thanks to the one way screws that nissan use so you cant just replace the thermo so i went all match.com and introduced my thernostat to mr A grinder , nice chap with GSOH and very clean cut

 

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ahhh a match made in heaven

 

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so with the dreaded task of bleeding i found an old thread on Driftworks written by a very angry ginger dwarf from liverpool with owrked a treat

 

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all sorted no over heating, infact i can sit in traffic for 30-45 mins after driving for a hour and the temp barely gets over half way without the fans on. The rad is at least 5 times thicker than the stock one and iirc holds about 8 litres of water meaning plenty nice cool water to keep temps down and if it gets warm i either turn the heating on for a few mins or flick the fans on and watch the temp drop. Same system i have had on all my skid cars and it works perfectly and the whole set up costs less than one second hand fan motor :yahoo:

 

Only mod i had to do was trim the edge off the stock air box but now it sounds beefy lol

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So with the temp issues fixed then next port of call is to get it looking better. I only had to speak to one person to sort out some wheels. Ben at Rarerims has been helping me out for years while i was in Team Green competing in BDC and with there new Grid Drifts coming in i bugged the living @*!# out of him for the last month and finally they were released yesterday and on sale.

 

Ben: 10.5x19 et20 all round ???

me : why yes sir, that will do nicely in black please and thank you

 

Ordered, paid, awaiting delivery :D

 

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and they will be wrapped in 245/35/19 Avon ZZ3's. I fecking love this tyre. amazing value, incredible grip and they look pretty sexah to. Used them on the front of my skid cars for the last 2-3 yrs

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thats it for now. Next mod will be in a few weeks time in the form of Jerrick ( i love this guy ) sending me the latest versino of the MiesterR zeta R coilovers which convert the rears to convention spring mounted on the shock so i can go very low :D. More on that when i can find the money to pay for them

 

Then i shall be getting the wonderful guys at LittleKnocks in wokingham to smooth off the front bumper, wings and rear bumper and give it a full respray in the brightest white i can find. I have been using LK for many many years and they have again helped me out hugely whilst i was drifting. No job was ever to big or small for them. Every monday after a drifting round i would turn up with the bodykit stashed in the glove box/ashtray in 1000's pieces and they would swear for 8 hours, tell me i need to learn how to drive and stop showing off and then get on with piecing the puzzle back together and repainting it. Theyve sprayed 4 of my last cars, repair 100's of bumpers and done countless other work for my family and friends. They are incredible value for money and are avid petrol heads with a car list as long as mine. tom the owner used to have a 350 and at the moment has done a ground up restoration on a very late model mk1 gti that honestly is cleaner than VW factory could ever have made it. Again pics of this when it happens

 

thanks it folks :D

 

welded diff soon too !!!?!?!?!? yay for me

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cheers mate. I have a feeling im gonna dissappoint alot of the more " purer " 350z owners with this build thanks to using ALOT of unbranded/knock off/ebay stuff including shell own brand anti freeze, mobil 1 10w 40 oil, cheap unbranded tyres, welded diff, fake bride interior, hard wired fans, no A/c , no ABS, No TCS, stretched tyres and so low i wont be able to get ANYWHERE

 

but to hell with it as long as it looks gangsta LOL

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tbo mate 90% of people starting drifting usually modify there cars completely wrong. 350's are great handling drifters out the box and , with any rwd car, it will drift no matter what power it has aslong as its got a diff that locks properly. Stock LSD's are ok in the wet but usually worn out and too unpredictable most of the time, Getting a diff welded costs 30-40 quid and thats it and will and i would do that if you cant afford a peoper 1.5 or 2 way diff. Depending on budget all you need, and in this order is:

 

locking diff ( welded or 2 way )

suspension be it lowering springs to stiffen it up or coilovers

decent seat to keep you in place

practise

practise

practise

practise

oh and a @*!# load of tyres lol

 

thats its.

 

im going more drift look than balls out drifting car. Definately be using and thoroughly abusing the living crap out of this at mallory park and lydden hill but im keeping the full interior, sound system and all the other luxuries apart from the ones i dont need or like. Ive had the fully stripped out cars and tbh its just too uncomfortable to drive, even on track lol.

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Looking fwd to seeing the finished article. I'm sure it will fit in your port folio of drift cars nicely but I wish u did buy mine and worked ur magic on it, I never had the balls to lower it for Glasgow's roads :lol:

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Glad to hear the stock 350z is a good handler! I wouldnt be welding the diff tho... its going to be a daily driver as well!

 

You got any plans for clutch and handbrake? Depending on how you initiate a drift obviously, how strong are the stock drivetrain items?

 

 

Welded diff has absolutely no effect on day onday driving apart from skipping and tyres making a noise on tight turns. Once it's above 5mph you wouldn't know

It had one in. I've have 60 odd cars and about 45 of them have been red and I can say at least 40 of them have had welded diffs and I usually do 25-30k a year everything from 80's pick up trucks, mx5's, mr2's to 5 series bmws and supra's

 

Stock drive train is pretty solid tbh on these apart from clicking drive shafts which aren't really an issue. Mine are clicking but I only replace stuff when it's broken and not working lol. Iirc the boxes are good for about 400 lbs torque but early models have syncro issues.

 

Stock handbrake seems to lock up well but then I have brembo's on mine and it's locked up at 80 with just man size tug :thumbs:

 

Clutch wise gonna stick with the stock one and upgrade when it's burnt out. Should hold fine as I'm not gonna be goin for any more power at the moment. I tend to be very mechanically sympathetic and I'm a big fan of massive scandi flick entries. Was famous for them at one

Stage in bdc lol. Managed to have a guy scramble to get out my skyline at llandow after one lap even thou he paid for 3 as he said he heart couldn't cope With the flick entries i was doing. Surfice to say my ego was MAAAAHIOOOSIVE that day lol

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hahaha nice! He shouldnt have bothered getting in with a drifter if he didnt want to go drifting! Big scandi flicks sound the way forward! couple of years back when i was drifting (attempting to) my mx5 i was either shift locking from 3rd to 2nd, or just a dab on the brakes with turn in worked a treat for me lol :thumbs: didnt have a decent diff though, so was sideways for a time, until the diff realised what was going on and decided to stop feeding power to the outside wheel :lol:

 

this was a few years back now, but think im going to try and get back into it - keep us updated on events you get down to, there arent too many 350zs on the drift scene it seems!

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I don't tend to shift lock to much unless it's not my car lol. Best way to drifting your own way, people can tell you what the best way is til they blue in the face but at the end of the day it's all down to practice and which method you feel comfortable.

 

Yeah not to many purely down to costs of cars and parts. Drifters are usually poor pikey like people lol

 

I'm lucky as my 350 cot me less than a stock s14 ;)

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To be honest mate I think most people are quite receptive to a 'build thread' if its being built for the right purpose........building the car to semi-professionally drift round at a drift event is not going to get quite the same response as building a car to drift around your local Tesco carpark at 11pm whilst plotting your latest truck highjack and racing for pink slips.

 

Looking good so far - love the wheels.

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To be honest mate I think most people are quite receptive to a 'build thread' if its being built for the right purpose........building the car to semi-professionally drift round at a drift event is not going to get quite the same response as building a car to drift around your local Tesco carpark at 11pm whilst plotting your latest truck highjack and racing for pink slips.

 

Looking good so far - love the wheels.

 

+1

 

If it is built for one purpose alone and you obviously have the knowledge then it will be a good thread :snack:

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  • 2 weeks later...

right small update time.

 

Right so i ordered my new rota grids off Ben at RareRims the day they were released, in fact i think i messaged him about half a dozen times that day askign when i could pay, could i pay , is now ok to pay, when do you want money !!!!! They were busy unpacking them and at about 4pm he took my readys and Tuesday they were delivered. Tuesday evening all 4 had 245/35/19 Avon zz3's wrapped on them :D

 

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unfortuneately i couldnt get them on the zed as ran out of light and time :thumbdown:

 

So they sat in my bar til sunday when i finally had a spare 10 mins to get them on. May i add they were sitting for almost a week fully inflated ( remember this )

 

So here some pics

 

10.5x19 et20 all round

 

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rear fitment is good but needs 20-25mm spacers and the front is perfect but F*********************************K me its close to the calipers !!!!! im gonan get either 15 or 20mm spacers on the front as i have a feeling it will camber in a fair bit when lowered

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thank god they are straight as an arrow as i recon it would hit with the tiniest hint of a wobble

 

anyway some more pics

 

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cant believe how a car can still make 19's look small lol.

 

Anyway managed to get to work fine only to walk outside 1 hour later to find a flat tyre :bang: No screw's or nails sticking out, to visable holes, tears or slits in the tyre and each wheel has brand new valves and cores. Have no idea but god dam im getting fed up with all the lil things going wrong all the time.

 

Im also having to deal with a battery that dies when it wants. Can leave it for a week and it will start or leave it for 2 hours and its dead. No lights on/ left on, no interior lights on, with and without the alarm on and off. AAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH

 

 

coilovers next :D

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Probably the seal round the rim. I had the issues when my 20s went on.

 

Low with big wide rims, I like it already.

 

A lot of my friends are farmers so I'm used to seeing the 'agricultural' approach to mechanics. Also, I've worked in many crapholes and I've often had to Engineer a solution using less than UK standard methods!

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yeah i think its just the beed seal. Im getting it off tomorrow then going down to Merit tyres (who always help me all the time and thanks to me they now know all about stretching tyres and how to do it without a cheater lol) to check for leaks and re-seal. Just a real pain as i want to drive it.

 

HAting the 4x4 ride height and cant afford coilovers for a while so might just chop a coil or two off the stock springs

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Glad to hear the stock 350z is a good handler! I wouldnt be welding the diff tho... its going to be a daily driver as well!

 

You got any plans for clutch and handbrake? Depending on how you initiate a drift obviously, how strong are the stock drivetrain items?

 

 

Welded diff has absolutely no effect on day onday driving apart from skipping and tyres making a noise on tight turns. Once it's above 5mph you wouldn't know

It had one in. I've have 60 odd cars and about 45 of them have been red and I can say at least 40 of them have had welded diffs and I usually do 25-30k a year everything from 80's pick up trucks, mx5's, mr2's to 5 series bmws and supra's

 

Stock drive train is pretty solid tbh on these apart from clicking drive shafts which aren't really an issue. Mine are clicking but I only replace stuff when it's broken and not working lol. Iirc the boxes are good for about 400 lbs torque but early models have syncro issues. Zmanalex runs over 600whp through standard block and its fine. Boys in the states running much higher

 

Stock handbrake seems to lock up well but then I have brembo's on mine and it's locked up at 80 with just man size tug :thumbs:The handbreak works drums on the zed

 

Clutch wise gonna stick with the stock one and upgrade when it's burnt out. Should hold fine as I'm not gonna be goin for any more power at the moment. I tend to be very mechanically sympathetic and I'm a big fan of massive scandi flick entries. Was famous for them at one

Stage in bdc lol. Managed to have a guy scramble to get out my skyline at llandow after one lap even thou he paid for 3 as he said he heart couldn't cope With the flick entries i was doing. Surfice to say my ego was MAAAAHIOOOSIVE that day lol

 

looking good so far, will look much better once lowered though. I think the stretch tyres makes it look a lot higher as the tyres look alot lower in profile when stretched.

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