TravisJB Journal
 

This Journal is to track progress on my silver 6MT 370z... the car will be used primarily for the track and for occasional weekend road trips. I plan to keep the car street legal and within warranty. I will use these pages to update on modifications primarily. 4-AUGUST... OKAY, BIG UPDATE EXPLAINED IN LATER PAGES... CAR IS BEING CONVERTED TO RACE CAR... WILL BE A GRADUAL PROCESS THROUGH REST OF 2009! THANKS FOR CONTINUED SUPPORT FROM DOUBLEDOWN MOTORSPORTS, REDLINE MOTORSPORTS AND FORGED PERFORMANCE!

The car...
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u.../large370z.jpg

Here's my current project list as of 13-SEP
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...jectlist-5.gif


-----------------from 15-April------------------
For you photography buffs, I'm shooting with a 85mm fixed lens on a canon 5d mark ii... some of these were shot in near darkness, with ISO 1600... pretty cool! Unfortunately, it's my wife's camera and I'm not a great photographer so forgive the image quality

Starting with the engine bay... you'll notice that I've removed a lot from here... no wipers, don't need those in Arizona ! battery gone ! will show you that in a moment... can't see it but the washer fluid reservoir is goneso too ! you can see that I've removed the plastic engine cover
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5273.jpg

A couple more shots of the battery area
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5271.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5272.jpg

Battery has been relocated to the rear... as you can see, I temporarily have the OEM batter wedged in there on the other side of the brace... that's because my pc680 is in for a warranty check - left it idle for a couple weeks and it's not taking a charge... will be back soon.. you'll also notice the custom bracket... straight forward, bent 1/8 metal with padding along the insides to help with vibration... used existing holes on the sides, drilled 4 new holes on the top of the mount into cross-member
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5279.jpg

Here's a closer view of where we created a ground connection... grinded down the paint and drilled in a couple contact points
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5275.jpg

...

Here are a couple other angles of the back of the car with most of the plastic and matting removed... my car will stay this way, but I may at some point spray it with a ceramic sound/heat insulating material

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5277.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5276.jpg

I've also removed the headliner... at some point, planning to remove all the side airbags and related hardware... have a look at what's underneath your headliner... first one shows the passenger side, second one is looking from drivers window towards back of car and you can see more of the airbag actuation gear
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5282.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5283.jpg

Now on to mods...

I got about 5 boxes of stuff from Stillen this week... It's all laid out in my garage waiting to be installed ! :)

Stillen seemed like the right choice for all these products... I haven't installed any yet, so I can't say anything about performance, but the materials, construction, welds etc all seem A++++ top notch

In this first pic, you can see the CAI gen3 kit, their headers, and muffler
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...IMG_5284-1.jpg

A couple more angles of the same
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5262.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5263.jpg

More exhaust parts here
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5265.jpg

I have all the Stillen exhaust pieces except the HFCs, those should arrive tomorrow (THUR)... I saw some requests for detailed photos of those, I'll do my best

Here's an aftermarket muffler that I had made a few weeks ago... It sounds great, and works great, but I no longer need it... If anyone wants to purchase, please send me a PM... if you just want a great sound but don't want to do the whole exhaust, this is for you! 3" pipes, single muffler design... bolts on directly to your existing setup with no mods... UPDATE: SOLD !
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5264.jpg

Stillen anti-sway bars! Almost went with Hotchkis, but didn't find a compelling reason
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5266.jpg

Stillen underdrive pulley and Gates belt, good for a few HPs
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5267.jpg

Not sure if anyone else has these yet... SPC adjustable front control arms... I'm holding off on installing until I get my other suspension parts lined up, but the quality looks great and should save lots of time down the road when trying to dial in the suspension! I already have the adjustable rear control arms installed... Purchased from THMotorsports
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5269.jpg

And finally, here's an oil cooler
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5268.jpg

More to come !

Wow man... very excited to see your results.

Looks good Travis. Let us know how those swaybars affect the handling of the car :)

I am installing the crank pulley and the oil cooler tomorrow afternoon.

Travis,

You actually laid out the products on your nice epoxy coated garage floor versus your bedspread? What's this forum coming to!?

Jerk :icon18:

:inoutroflpuke: nice one.

thats alot of parts to put on at once!! hope u can dyno it (prefably b4 and after). but congrats. The car looks so naked! are u gonna cage it?

i am planning to put a cage in at some point, but will hold off a while... i'm still getting to know some of the local race groups and i need to study the specs of the different classes and decide which ones I want to compete in before deciding on cage design... planning to take my time on this decision

maybe we could create a pool to buy our friend rcz a decent bedspread ! ;)

Count me in! :tup:

haha. he probably has a back up Twister bedspread for when the ladies swing by!

Those are some great looking parts. Get them installed yet? :tup:

travis.. curious question. Were you going for the 'tilt-shift' photography to make the parts look miniaturized.. or was that a byproduct of the camera settings.. (aperture, f-stops, etc.)

[YOUTUBEHQ]tcky_HqXTVY[/YOUTUBEHQ]
(not claymation.. camera effect)

re tilt-****, yeah it does look that way... cool effect, but not from post processing, it actually is a result of the 1600 iso setting wide open aperture and shooting in near dark... agree it looks similar to what some ppl are doing with post processing... we'll see more pics like this on the net as ppl start using super fast cameras like the one i'm using... in case anyone is wondering about tilt-shift
Tilt-shift photography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Haha I hadn't noticed that the pics look like miniature parts....thats pretty funny.

hahahaha!

wow... I thought the miniaturization was a side effect of the vicodin i'm taking... Whew...

asides from that... The parts look great. I can't wait to see the results of them installed.

Picking up where I left off...

First, I managed to re-install my pc680 after work today... turned out i had a warranty issue on my battery - had an internal short... what luck i'm having ! :) here's the finished product
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5296.jpg

The HFCs arrived today too ! :tup: Now, I realize how, umm, selective you folks are regarding the photographic backdrop so I decided to pose them on top grade granite! I also tried to take a pic that shows the material inside the HFC
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5285.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5288.jpg

Finally, here's the most important pic I took tonight !... His first two words: "car" and "daddy" ! :)
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/IMG_5289.jpg

Too cool! I remember when...great days with my son at that age! :tup:

I look forward to your results. Subscribed! BTW do you know how much the over head airbags and accessories weigh?

...He likes to come into my office, sit on my lap and steer while I work the pedals on rFactor ! Anything daddy likes, he likes... it's a blast

Not sure yet, Zeto... but as soon as they are off the car, I will weigh them and share results... I'm guessing about 10-15 lbs all together

Not bad... Do you have the weights for all the other components you removed? Sorry for being a pain but I'm considering putting the Z on the Jenny Craig diet :icon17:

Looks like the same core as the Berk ones I have.

same core, according to josh at stillen

At some point, I'll weigh all the stuff I have taken off and post it in here and on the weight reduction thread... the wiper assembly was hefty... guessing I've removed about 150 lbs total... by the way, despite all the stuff I've removed, the cockpit itself is 100% in tact and still looks great... with dark tinting on the back window, nobody can tell the car is partially striped

Update... I just ordered coilovers from Mike at DDM! After some research, I'm convinced these are going to be the best compromise of price-performance and reliability. I also like that they are serviceable and adjustable in every way.

Coilovers

BC Racing : ER Series External Reservoir Coliovers

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...bcracinger.jpg

A bit off topic, but wanted to share a link provided to me by ConchZ2... AV ... this document covers nearly all of the audio / visual wiring on the Z! Also covered in the AV section here http://www.the370z.com/audio-video/3...70z-radio.html

One more quick note on the audio... was wiring in a sub tonight and had to pull apart the panel... in case you're wondering, the stock radio is v light weight!

I was going to say something about the photos of the parts. Looked like a bunch of toy parts :D Cant wait to see your results.

Nice Granite. Keywest brown? Looks like a Quartz material.(deals with Cabinets)

Chris

Thanks for your note Chris.... not sure on the countertop - wife does all that stuff ! my work is in the garage :)

install install install!

I hear ya ! next event isn't until may 2-3, so wasn't planning to rush it...

but I am itching to get these installed... I may drop the car off with my mech, Redline Motorsports of Tempe, AZ, this week... one of the best, only downside is he doesn't have a dyno in his shop, so we'll prob only have 1 before and 1 after

will update soon

btw, like the new avatar ! best angle on the car !

It better be, that's the only angle most people ever get to see. They don't notice till you're blowing past them at about that angle, and by the time they get one good look about like his avatar, it's a fading dot on their horizon ;)

haha... especially at 300.2 rwhp !!! :)

haha thanks :)

I just need to see what happens with your HFC install/header install. I would've done it already, but oil cooler had to be done asap. I am so glad its over hehe. After a few days and some hard driving, everything seems to be holding up ok...I think Im safe. (knock on wood).

Can't wait to do everything else, exhaust sounds good, but I want a little bit more db to it.

I suspect the headers will add to the sound but not HP... I'm told the stock exhaust manifold is plenty free flowing and nearly already equal length... def look forward to comparing once a few of us have it installed

Hey that works for me :D


Chris

Nice photos T - do you take requests regarding the photographic backdrops, because I'd really like to see your next parts on fur, if possible (any colour, I'm not fussy).

Doesn't have to be real fur.

I'll borrow the neighbor's dog !

So we're going to see your parts on the neighbour's dog?