Nissan 370Z Forum - GrooveStyle's Build

UPPDAAYYTTEE!!! :tiphat:

Let's get to it!

Finish clamping IC piping & remove material for 90 deg coupler fitment by IC uppers

I took my dremel to my radiator support to allow for clearance for the couplers
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps8svgn097.png

I have some contact with my radiator hose and the IC piping, I'll be sure to keep an eye on that. I also better tightened down that coupler after this pic
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psis33hwqy.png

I also found close contact with the passenger side air filter, so I removed some plastic that protruded towards it
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psvw1ajgdn.png

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pseq5pcvvw.png

After getting the IC piping fitting well, I removed the from IC's to allow for work on the power steering cooler and oil cooler, and then went to install the downpipes.

O2 sensor connection on the driver side was very tight to water line plumbing, but got it to work with the help of a buddy.
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pslecrom1s.png

Then I went on to tighten down the locknuts on the downpipes. Got creative again, using a ratchet with a crow's foot on it
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pssn33zign.png

and yet more creative for places that didn't allow for a ratchet due to the passenger side fuel line heat shield
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psrgldgn5n.png

I then began fabrication of oil cooler brackets to hold up my 48 row tru cool oil cooler and beefy oil lines I had made
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psy7iitcgh.png

I made a sort of strap to go across the top, and a u-shaped bracket on the bottom. Definitely not the prettiest, but it functions fine and looks good once installed. I have measurements that I can pass along to anyone interested in making some for their cooler. Feels really solid.
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psqtcyglry.png

locking nut hardware I used
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pszuby7asn.png

trial fitting
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psq56fmri5.png

it was too cold to properly paint the brackets. First time I tried to shoot the paint was all sputtery (learning moment). I'm not gonna wait till spring to tear it all apart again and paint during nice weather, so I set them in front of my space heater and the parts under my halogen lamps. After they warmed up, it sprayed just fine

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psz2urbhad.png

While the paint was drying, I started work on the oil pan.

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psyvoh85sw.png

I washed it out the day before and got the metal dust/flakes from the casting removed, reinstalled the baffle and loctited it in.

Surprisingly enough, getting that oil pan off of the car took an incredible amount of force. Nissan must use some hulk-level strength RTV, it was really weird. After a fair amount of prying and working it with a pry bar, I got it off.
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psgnw92zue.png

pan:
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pszkk4sh6c.png

I thought I was over the hill after getting it off, but that OEM oil cooler caused some issues with fitment to the oil pan. It was close, but the oil pan would contact it a little bit.

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps1ne8wnb7.png

I tried bending the tubing a little, but ultimately I ended up shoving the pan on and progressively tightening the bolts until the oil pan mated properly. This bent the oil cooler more, but at least this caused it to bend in all the correct places to allow the hammer head pan to be installed.

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psuf2vb2c0.png

After the pan was trial-fit, I put RTV on and bolted it up. The drain hoses followed.
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psnkjmqqoy.png

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps95hd3l47.png

The oil cooler brackets were then dry. Don't they look purty?
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psyq6afjen.png

Oil cooler installed
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psvfpkzlsz.png

You can see my mounting points really easily here. I used the two bolts on the far right and drilled a hole in the support in the center for the top strap. The u-bracket sits in the holes of the lower support

I've heard heard many people have had success with home-made hoses, but I've heard one too many horror stories about failure of oil lines for me to feel comfortable making my own. I went to the local Napa and had them make me some lines out of their high pressure hydraulic line. I KNOW this is overkill. The store owner said that the lines should outlive the car. I told him that was the idea!

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psh0tzfktt.png

Then I pre-filled my oil cooler and hooked up the hoses. Good to go!
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psmnoa0ne3.png

Pic of the hoses hooked up to my Mocal sandwich plate
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psjvt85m9h.png

With that done and out of the way, I moved on to the power steering hoses. Got them on to the cooler
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psrmvitxbl.png

A quick shot of the passenger IC and Oil cooler.
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pswi4040vw.png

That's the only time I can show it off. Once the driver's side IC is on, it's really sandwiched in there
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psutbvohwz.png

Oh yeah, I had to bend the horn bracket a little bit to fit it back on
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psc9yjdh2l.png

Then I moved onto the fuel pump!
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psp42wpw3b.png

Removed
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psmyec16sa.png

I thought the fuel level sensor was cool. Never saw one up close before. The float is attached to a wire that rides along this area:
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psbch5vy7g.png

Here's the new fuel pump ready to go in. It came with a sleeve to hold it in the pump.
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psbwdh6uyl.png

I had to remove some plastic in the pump, but didn't want plastic particles from a dremel. Turns out a sharp knife will cut out the plastic quite well
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps7etfuksd.png

I did some wiring, and the pump was complete
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psui0hczoa.png

ready to go back in
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps2hjnashs.png

I connected my steering shaft coupler, and noticed that my oil drain line was very close to the shaft, as was my coolant line. I cut the oil drain line a little more to make sure that there was always clearance to the steering coupler
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psauwtceh9.png

Then test pipes went on
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pssow387ox.png

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psamue8cb4.png

And I was pretty much done in the engine bay besides sensor wiring.

I had already run my gauges for my triple gauge cluster (defi red racer boost, oil pressure, oil temp), but I still needed to set up my AFR and EBC. I decided to tap into the power for the passenger 12V lighter and use an already established ground by the cabin air filter.
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pssnmsfbuv.png

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psrhnfeath.png

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psp5nsn8fm.png

I'm going to save you the details of all the soldering and wiring.... but it was kinda involved. Long story short READ BOTH THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GAUGE AND FOR THE SENSOR. I thought they were one in the same, but the wires for the gauge harness do not match up with the colors to the main harness..... I also was not shipped instructions for the gauge. It wasn't until trouble-shooting my weird afr values that I discovered this. Just read both manuals 5x and you'll be good.

Here is my chaos:
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psdutyiznp.png

I drilled a hole in my cubby to feed the wire to my Greddy EBC and fed the boost controller through.
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pswowpvpf6.png

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psdauxunb0.png

Since I had a boost gauge already and now have a boost controller, I needed to hook up my vacuum reference to both gauges. I mounted them in the wall of my battery compartment together.
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps5b9ndo1c.png

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps2hsahuzq.png

I also had my buddy Jon over and he made a bracket for the boost solenoid and we mounted that outside of the batt compartment (i need to add a pic here)

It actually all worked really well. I also cut a hole in that wall to feed a vac line and another on the top of the wall to feed my AFR O2 sensor wire. I think it turned out quite nice.

I also got my CJM Fuel pressure gauge in the mail! Very easy to install, looks great, great price, fast shipping. Check it out, it'll be great to help when tuning.

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psnle91g4h.png

Before:
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pswyphoni2.png

After:
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...psefy7vhfp.png

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pscdcsqp3e.png

After that was all working, I filled my fluids, flashed my tune and was ready to fire her up! :happydance:
http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...pskwfuhyim.png

Videos are coming, having issues uploading them currently. Anyone have any questions? Things they want to see? I still have some buttoning up to do, this is a great time for me to show what I've done if you're looking for any additional info/pics.

I will finish my cubby up, finalize my A-pillar mount, and do some further tidying up. Should be on the road doing some data logging once this snow clears off. :driving: