M.Bonanni Project 370Z V3.0 | Clean Slate
 

Yes, you got it, Version 3.0 of my 370Z build. Version 1 was from when I bought it until December 2009 when I built it as a time attack car and promotional vehicle for my old company (Double Down Motorsports). Version 2 was after I closed up shop at Double Down until I put it back to stock after deciding to sell it. I didn't end up selling it obviously so now here I am back with Version 3.0, starting over again from scratch.

Click Here to see the Version 1.0 thread.
Click Here to see the Version 2.0 thread.

After keeping the Z stock for a long time, and after months of debating with myself on what to do with this car, I have decided yet again to go towards a track build, however this time it will be much more thought out. For these early stages I will be aiming to keep the car within the N.A.S.A. TT-A class rules, although due to scheduling conflicts I can't hit any of the remaining 2011 N.A.S.A. So-Cal races with the car. Because of this, 2011 will be a development year for the car aimed at testing and tuning.

This version of the build is going to be very different for a few reasons, one being the strict limitations of the N.A.S.A. TT-A class, the other being the strict limitations of my severely reduced budget. The result will be a slow but methodical progression of the car, taking into account every detail of what I have learned in my years of racing and what I am continuing to learn. I aim to do a lot with a little and hopefully will see good results from the fruits of my labor. I have no mechanical training, no fabrication skills, and no shop but what I do have is knowledge, determination, and a 2-car garage. I am hoping that this will be the most interesting version for the track junky to read as it will focus less on just throwing a bunch of bolt-ons at the car and more on creativity and fine tuning to get every hundredth of a second out of the car.

I have been slowly working on the 370Z over the last few months so below I will highlight everything I have done up to this point to get this thread up to speed. :driving:

First things first, the starting point, a 99% bone stock 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring+Sport model.


I say 99% stock because there were a few minor modifications left on the car from Versions 1&2 of the build, none of which are performance enhancing, both of which were not worth the effort to remove and re-sell when I was parting the car out, but two things that I am happy that stayed on the car as it is two less things that I have to re-purchase!
The first of those two things is a set of Challenge USA stainless steel braided brake lines. These were the first Challenge USA brake lines installed on a 370Z in the states and are still in tip top shape, as one would expect. I will post a link in the next post to a blog entry I did that will go into more detail as to what the benefits of stainless steel braided brake lines are and why every track car should have them.


The second modification that was left on the car is a Jim Wolf Technology 1” oil pan spacer. This is an inexpensive mod that can offer a little more oil capacity (1 quart) for added insurance and heat resistance (6.75 quarts takes longer to heat up than 5.75 quarts). It’s not a life changing mod, and it certainly doesn’t negate the need for a massive oil cooler on this car, but for the price, it’s a good supporting mod to a reliable oil system. It can also be modified for an oil temperature gauge sensor should you decide to go with an aftermarket oil temp gauge.


And finally, the last thing that stayed on the car was my SPC Performance rear toe bolts which give you more range of adjustment of your rear toe, something necessary if you are lowered any more than 1.5” or so.

After getting excited again about starting with a clean slate on Version 3 of this project I couldn’t help but order a few small “mods” while I saved up for the first set of real modifications. A GT-R engine start button and Password:JDM balanced shift knob were the first to get installed.


The first real order of business was to re-build the factory Akebono brake kit. I did this brake rebuild right after I decided to keep the 370Z, but at the time I was still not planning on taking my 370Z back to the track. Here’s a link to a full rebuild article I did on my blog…

Slow Your Role | Project 370Z Brake Re-Build

Long story short I swapped the stock rotors for some Stillen J-Hook rotors, swapped the fluid for AMSOIL Series 600, rebuilt the calipers with all new seals, and replaced the stock pads with Hawk Performance HPS for the street. I also had the calipers powdercoated “Fire Red” form Mike the Powdercoater here on the forums. Since I have now shifted gears back toward a track oriented build I have gotten my hands on a set of Hawk Performance DTC pads for the track. I went with a split compound of DTC-70 front, DTC-60 rear for use at the track.

Next on the list was coilovers and I decided to go back with the same setup I left off with before I put it back to stock. I went with another set of BC Racing Suspension ER Series coilovers as I just don’t think there’s a better bang for your buck system out there for the budget minded enthusiast. I just went with the off-the-shelf spring rates of 12k front and 10k rear again as a starting point. Plans are to setup the car and focus on this area when testing at the track to see if I will need to change spring rates or not. Once I have dialed in the exact spring rates I want I will get some Swift Springs which are lighter and more consistent than the stock BC Racing springs. Here’s a link to another blog entry I did that gets more in detail with the coilovers…

All My Friends Have A Lowrider | Project 370Z Suspension Upgrade Pt.1

Around the same time, I also purchased some wheel spacers for my stock wheels.


I also purchased back my old set of SPL Parts Pro Rear Camber Arms from the guy I sold them to and installed those back on the car as well. I will get more into detail about these in Pt.2 of my suspension upgrade blog coverage which I will finish and publish after getting some front control arms and sway bars.

Next up, another random aesthetic modification, this time from FX Carbon Fiber film…


This is very cool stuff, has the same texture as dry carbon. I don’t care if its fake, it looks damn cool haha. Have plans to wrap the roof, mirrors, and front fangs eventually as well.

Now, back to the functional stuff…decided to get a Z1 Motorsports 25 row oil cooler kit. Again, at this time in the build I was not planning on getting this car back on the track, but wanted an oil cooler just in case I ever wanted to have some fun on a canyon road on a summer Sunday here in Vegas so I opted for the 25 row instead of the 34 row kit. Getting a little creative (detailed a few posts down) I hope to increase the efficiency of the 25 row cooler to the point where I don’t need to upgrade to something larger.

This is right around the point where I stopped arguing with myself and decided to shift my attention back toward getting this car on the track. Once the decision was made I started re-planning the build. Unfortunately for me, just participating in regular track days doesn’t cut it for me anymore. I am at a point where if I am at a track I have to be testing or competing, I have to have something to strive for. My first order of business then was to figure out where I wanted to compete with the car. Because this is still my daily driver and I am on a shoestring budget, wheel to wheel racing is out of the question simply because it would require a full roll cage so time attack or time trials is the best option. To make a long story short, I decided to build the car to N.A.S.A. Time Trials TT-A class rules. With my current obligations as a driver for Berk Technology in their BMW 135i, I felt the N.A.S.A. Time Trials series is the best bet for being competitive and keeping the build budget low. It is also the most legitimate time trials series out there aside from Redline Pro Time Attack and Global Time Attack.

So now with a new direction to move in, next on my list was a set of wheels & tires. Fortunately for me, my friend Zee Reid, whom I originally traded my 18” Forgestar F14s to in return for his stock wheels & tires when I parted the car out, was willing to make this trade again. He got his stock wheels back and I got my 18” Forgestar F14s back with a used set of Hankook RS-3 street tires, the same street tires (size and all) we use on the Berk Technology BMW 135i that have earned us street tire track records at 3 different tracks. The only bummer is now I don’t have the luxury of having a separate set of track wheels and tires so I have to daily drive on these. They are street tires so that’s not the issue, but like any tire, the more you heat cycle them the less grip they give you so they will never be as fast as slapping on a brand new set at the track, not that I could fit 4 wheels and tires, tools, etc. in the 370Z anyway if I did have a separate set of track only wheels & tires. That’s a luxury reserved for those with a truck and trailer or a friend with one that is also going to the track on the same day.

Now that I had track worthy tires, track worth brakes, and an oil cooler that will, at the very least, allow me to run a handful of laps I finally had a track capable 370Z again! There was still more that I wanted to do however before heading out to a track. First, for whatever reason, I don’t trust stock wheel studs on any car so I ordered a set of Nismo 60mm wheel studs for all four corners from Scott@FontanaNissan and installed those.

My next pair of modifications was my first attempt at creating my own parts or modifications. Before going to the track again I wanted two things; front brake ducts and ducting for my oil cooler. Again, once I finalize an efficient and proven package I will post up a detailed blog entry featuring these things but for now I will give you the short version.

Air goes in through the openings in your front bumper and is met with your radiator, oil cooler, etc. this creates a high pressure area, think of it like an aerodynamic traffic jam. Air then finds the path of least resistance so it will find any gap of unrestricted space to rush through. Like every production car I have seen, there are these gaps around the radiator and all over the front end so the goal is to block these off and provide all of the air that enters the front bumper only one option, to go through the radiator and coolers. A few hours and a roll of aluminum foil tape and I had the front end sealed up covering all of the gaps between the radiator and the radiator support. I also fabricated up some sheet metal panels to block other areas so air has no choice but to go through the radiator. The only other place that the air can go is into the stock intake ducts and that’s fine by me! To take it a step further I fabricated up some ducting for the oil cooler that leads from the grille all the way back to the radiator trapping any air that enters that portion of the bumper and forcing it through the oil cooler. The result should be a much higher volume of air going through both the oil cooler and radiator. Here’s a photo I took during mock up with the bumper on. I did paint the ducting black once it was finalized and tried to take some photos but they didn’t come out. You can see much more on this crappy cell phone pic.


Next on the list was the brake ducts and the main reason for this was because of the ABS “Ice Mode.” There is some speculation as to whether this is triggered by excessive heat and if that’s the case then I don’t want to take any chances. I got through an entire year of tracking the car without ever hitting ice mode until I got to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway outside road course. This track is harder on brakes than any other track I have taken the Z too and coincidentally the only track where I have experienced Ice Mode so although I am not 100% sure it is heat related, my personal experience supports the theory. Either way, I figure brake ducts are a good idea. Ideally you would have 3” + hosing feeding air into the center of the rotor and out through the veins in the middle, but my fabrication skills are limited and to fit 3” hose would likely require some cutting of things that I don’t want to cut unless one day my 370Z becomes a dedicated track car. What I did then is use 2.5” hose that gets air from the front fang area in the bumper and blows it at the rotor surface. Is it the most efficient way? No, but it will help, hopefully enough to keep me out of the Ice Mode zone if it is heat related.

So this brings me to present day. My car is ready for its first track day since I started this Version 3.0 rebuild! That first track day will be at Buttonwillow Raceway on July 10th with Extreme Speed Track Events. Although I am building this car for the N.A.S.A. Time Trials series, unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts I cannot make it to any of the remaining events in 2011. Truth be told its probably better since really my only objective this time out is to test and tune my setup. I do hear though that Extreme Speed does host a small amateur Z/G Challenge Cup competition for Nissan/Infiniti Z/G platforms.

So goal #1 is to test the effectiveness of the cooling things I have done to the car, and what better way to do it than in the middle of summer with what is supposed to be 95 degree ambient temps. Goal #2 is to start playing with tuning the handling balance of the car. Unfortunately at the moment the only adjustments I can make at the track are to the compression/rebound on the coilovers, and of course tire pressure so I don’t think I will end up with a perfect setup at the end of the day but what I can probably do is figure out if I need to make a spring change or not. This time out I am not going to focus on running a fast lap time since my goal is to test, not to mention mid-summer heat is not the best producer of fast lap times.

For those interested I will also be out at Buttonwillow on July 9th with Speed District Track Events, but I will be working as lead driving instructor instead of driving. I know one 370Z owner on here that’s already going, but would love to see more of you out there!

I'm excited to see what comes next!

:iagree:

Mike, I'm pretty sure those fire-red calipers are going to turn to crispy black pretty quickly :) Even my anodized AP's are more of a bronzed silver than racing gray now that they have hit 500 degrees.

I hope they stay looking good, but I will be ok with it if they turn brown...it adds character. :)

Oh, they will definitely darken up!!!

Want to buy a pair of front DTC 60s with two track days on them cheap?

Probably not, but thanks for asking!

M.Bonanni reloaded. Nice job. I plan to seriously track next year. I do have one day booked this year. Can't beat on her just yet (4K miles) Just holding out. I'll eventually need some great coilovers.

Psh, my first track weekend my Z had 900 miles on it. :driving:

I here ya.

This is exciting news, Mike! You know my car is a NASA TTA car so I'll be watching this thread and if okay with you chiming in with my own thoughts on occassion... good that your emphasis will be on tuning/tweaking vs bolt-ons...

There are a few posts in my build journal where I talk about the trade-offs of what fits into the TTA class... might be worth re-reading those as you plan out your points trade-offs

I love the way you laid out the progression as a step by step guide, very cool Mike! Even after being heat cycled, how do the RS-3s hold up in street use? Are they a big improvement over the RE050s?

Nice thread and very well thought out mods. I wish my wife would let me do the same on her car.

I guess it is easier to ask for forgiveness than ask permission......RIGHT???

Keep it up and good luck on the track day. Keep us updated.

V3.0 haha. This car has such an identity crisis.
I like the idea of a racer on the cheap, forces you to be more creative and keeps the ideas more accessible to us weekend warriors. I'll also be keeping an eye on this.

Mike, Have you considered running a Mocal Laminar Water oil cooler? I am just itching to switch to one, but there just isnt much to go on as far as data for these cars. The guys at AM Performance are using a similar water oil cooler from C&R Racing and they said it keeps them at 180-200 deg on the track. Both are very cool units and they don't block the radiator / are much easier to protect from debris and smaller, but relatively expensive ($420 for mocal, $650 for C&R). They do however allow the oil to heat up much quicker on startup, then it remains rock steady. Any input on this from the racers? Travis? I'm wondering if the stock radiator is enough to keep both the coolant and oil cool.

Thanks everyone!

Yeah I plan on getting caught up on your thread to see how in the hell your car fits into that class and still you can run Hoosiers. I am having a hard time planning my build while keeping within the points bracket for TT-A on street tires.

We tried a laminova cooler on the Berk 135i and it was a complete failure. I am sure they work great if you have the proper cooling system to back it up but that just adds to the cost of the whole package.

Back to the project and I have some bad news. Unfortunately I will not be able to go out and test the car at Buttonwillow this weekend after all. :(

The RS-3 tires that are on there right now have 1 track day left in them at best. I was counting on another set of RS-3s but that fell through. Since these are my only set of wheels/tires for the car, and its still my daily driver, I can't risk cording these tires until I have replacements ready to put on.

That's too bad Mike. The Miata folks have been complaining about the RS-3 for months, they are on national back order and no one can get them.

Yeah I am really bummed. Mine were not coming from Hankook, mine were coming second hand (barely used) but they decided to keep them instead. As for the Miata guys, they're probably just out of their sizes. Last I checked they still have a bunch of the sizes I need, I just can't afford a new set right now.




Travis - Clear your PM box, I have questions to ask you.

Thanks, that saves me a whole lot of pain and time.

really important point... i had the car re-classed based upon power to weight as TTA (no stars)... it allowed me to run the car at a much reduced weight... i was not using hoosiers though... that kicked me into TTS... was running 275 square NT01 setup in TTA trim... ask Greg for the same power/weight reclass that I had... I can email it to you also

love all versions of this car.
Definitely looking forward to results of the oil cooler panels. Did you only create plates for the sides? Or did you do the top and bottom also?

I love the track focus and performance dedication of this car.

What do you think about switching to Enkei Rpf-1s rims in 17-inch with 275 tire square set up? They are incredibly light and I am guessing 17' should fit stock brakes. I heard reducing rotational mass makes a huge difference in turns of driving feel. Correct me if I am wrong, but the forgestars are not exactly lightweight rims?
Also, on the subject of reduce weight, what do you think about single catback exhaust? that should cut some weight as well.

17's don't clear the sport brakes, but will clear the base brakes. Enkei's are great wheels though and they do make 18's.

Thanks! All 4 sides have to be boxed in to make it effective.

Like mentioned above, 17s will only fit on non-sport model cars, but the idea is there. The lighter the better. Forgestar F14s are actually right along the same weight range as the RPF-1s. As an example, the 18x10" Forgestar F14 is in the 18 lb. range while the 18x10" RPF-1 is actually in the 19 lb. range according to information I found on the internet. I didn't weigh mine personally. As for the exhaust, again lighter is always better but weight that is below the center of gravity and in the middle of the car, like an exhaust, is probably the least effective weight mod as far as handling goes. For me, power/torque benefits of an exhaust comes first, then weight. If power/torque gains are similar then go for the lighter one but if you gain more power at the expense of a little more weight, I think that will be more beneficial.

I did the same thing... it allowed me to drop from dual core to single core oil cooling and thus savings 5-6 pounds net weight on the nose

Mike, what did you make the panels out of and how did you bend them and connect them? I have a fairly complete home mechanic setup but no metal working equipment.

Neither do I, this was done ghettolicious style for sure but it works haha. I mocked everything up using cardboard then cut the templates out of thin sheetmetal I got at Home Depot. None of them have bends with the exception of the bottom piece that has a 90 degree bend so it can be bolted to the oil cooler bracket. I got that bend with a hammer and the edge of a shelf haha. The two side pieces are simply double-stick taped to the sides of the cooler and the top piece is double-stick taped to the top of the cooler. If I knew how to weld, I could have welded it all together at this point but I don't so I just sealed up the small seams where the panels met with duct tape. It sounds really flimsy but the bottom piece creates the main support and that is bolted to the car. And if you take the time to do it right all of the panels should fit snug just on their own with pressure. The double stick tape holds them on there surprisingly well and the duct tape prevents the panels from separating from each other under high pressure. I have done a couple of 100+mph runs (supervised by a professional driver on a closed course.....;) ) with zero signs of deflection or separation or anything else.

Even though untested I decided to post up a new mini article on my website and blog featuring Part 1 of my 370Z's planned cooling mods.

Cold Front | Project 370Z Cooling Upgrades Pt.1

Cool. I'm going to try this. Although I will probably bring it down to the sheet metal shop to get welded or borrow a welder and add a few tack welds to accent the duct tape :)

any chance you can tell us how to wrap the rear mid bumper piece? ordering the fx film. but have no idea how to do it lol

Travis, did you ever get to replace your glass with the Lexan?

Unfortunately I have no clue haha. I had mine installed by a professional. Try and find someone local to you that does car wraps and see if they will do a cheap install for you. Some stuff like the roof and other relatively flat surfaces are probably fairly easy installs, but the rear valance is not something I would tackle on my own.

yup. rear window only. haven't found a good solution for the windshield yet so leaving the oem glass for now. side windows are void.

i added a couple walkthrough vids on my journal just now if you want to see.