Weekend Z Warrior Project: 99% complete
This is my 2015 black 6mt tech 370z Nismo. I bought her in 2018 with 8k miles, and she currently sits at 51k miles. I used to daily drive my Z through all four seasons, so as you can imagine it had its fair share of bumps and bruises, but I enjoyed every moment. Last year I had the opportunity to turn my Z into a garage queen. It was an idea that I went back and forth on for quite some time as I wasn't sure what exactly I wanted to do. I figured it would be expensive too. I enjoyed driving it like I stole it every day because that's what I bought it for and that's what it's meant for. On the other hand, this Z is one of my favorite cars...in the world. I was even contemplating on selling my Z (especially with the high resale values within the past two years) in anticipation of the new Z, but I changed my mind. They just don't make cars like these anymore and as life moves on IDK if I'll have another chance of enjoying something like this. Fortunately I was in a position to move forward with my plan of making it into a garage queen and I decided to essentially recondition and modify the car. I spent months researching and figuring out the direction I wanted to go. I wanted to keep it NA for reliability and budget reasons and I wanted to bring it back to show room finish. So, that's exactly what I did. Below is a list of what was completed (apart from general maintenance):
Performance Mods:
Exhaust
FI TDX CBE
Brakes
Z1 Slotted rotors
Centric Posi Quiet sport brake pads
Intake
Z1 MAF intake hose
aFe drop-in filter
ECU
Ecutek HW
License
Custom tune
Transmission
ZSpeed stage 1 clutch and flywheel assembly w/ CMAK
Suspension
Swift Spec-R lowering springs
SPL camber kit ( FUCAs, rear cambers arms, SPC toe bolts)
Z1 eccentric bolt lockout/elimination kit
Z1 poly rear diff bushings
Aesthetic Mods:
Carbon Fiber OEM style steering wheel
Seibon TS Style carbon fiber hood
Momo Anzio (Front 19x9.5, offset +20; Rear 19x11, offset +19)
15mm spacers 2x rear
Refinish front
Painted front bumper
Applied XPEL PPF to entire front end
Applied XPEL ceramic coating to hood
Other than the ZSpeed clutch assembly being installed around May of 2019 due to the OEM assembly failure, the rest of the mods began Nov of 2021.
There are only two things left to be done. I'm waiting for the brakes and rotors to wear out naturally prior to prematurely installing the Z1 slotted rotors and new pads. I have them and they are ready to go. Lastly, my tune is scheduled for next week, so I'm looking forward to that. A potential third item might be Koni Yellows once the OEM shocks/struts fail.
The only other things I wanted to do but did not were porting the lower and upper manifolds and install headers. With regards to porting the upper and lower manifolds, aside from the additional expense, I couldn't find enough concrete evidence proving the gains. Most local shops wouldn't do it, and I didn't want to bother with the whole core swapping process. Next, I already knew going catless was a no-go for me - just didn't want to deal with it. The next best option, IMO, was the Z1 STH paired with the VQ35DE stock cats or some other HFC. Not only would the hardware be expensive, but I have learned swapping headers in these cars is a major PITA which equated to significant shop costs. I guess this turned out well for me because when I called my Z shop to schedule a tune, they asked if I had modified my cats. Apparently more and more shops aren't tuning cars running catless or HFC and cops are cracking down on the shops that are. IDK how true this is, but I believe them because they are a well known and respectable Z shop on the East coast.
Anyways, all that being said, this was a great experience. Other than the two items mentioned earlier, I actually completed my project and am thoroughly enjoying my revamped Z. It was certainly an expensive project, but I learned a lot about the Z and cars in general. So, for that, it was worth it to ME. I probably wouldn't do this again to another car because I already got what I wanted out of the process. And, no, I'm not just saying "I'm done" lol I actually have to be as I have other responsibilities and I know when to draw the line. I must say, though, owning the Z has exposed me to so many different things in life that I otherwise wouldn't have had the opportunity to. I don't want to sound materialistic, but it's true and I'm sure many Z owners understand what I'm talking about!
Hope you guys enjoy the pic of my Z
