Diddy's Thread!
 

Hey so I've been on here for a little while so I figured it was time to go ahead and do this thing. My story - not too exciting. I first saw a Monteray Blue 370z cruising around in my home town in '09. I fell in love with the car instantly and vowed that some day I'd have one.

That day came in December of 2011. I had just moved to the St. Louis area and decided to pick up a certified 2009 Touring 370z!

http://www.the370z.com/members/diddy...626-photo5.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/diddy...ure54620-1.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/diddy...622-photo1.jpg

The car actually came with a tint, Stillen G3 and Nismo side skirts.

I found the forum when my steering lock failed. I googled the problem, found this forum and quickly realized what a great community and group of people it was!

Since then I've done some light modding:

Engine/Drivetrain
M370 Intake
Stillen G3 Intake
5Zigen Catback
NST Pulleys
TWM Short Shifter
RJM Clutch Pedal
Z1 Transmission Mount

Suspension/Handling
Whiteline Sways
RE11s 245front 275rear on base wheels

Just for Fun
GTR Start/Stop
GTR Map Lenses w/ LEDs
iSimple

Ordered/To be Installed:
Elite Engineering Catch Can

On my Mind:
BBK
Coils/Camber Kit
Front/Rear Endlinks
JDM Foglight
Tune
Southbend Clutch, Flywheel & CSC
LSD
Winter Wheel Set-up
...Racelogic?


Thanks for looking!

http://www.the370z.com/members/diddy...6-photo-29.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/diddy...9-photo-39.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/diddy...9-photo-40.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/diddy...8-photo-39.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/diddy...8-photo-41.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/diddy...2-photo-42.jpg

looking good man! let me know if you still want that lip! Or roof spoiler lol

Thanks! Yeah bring the front lip Ill see how it fits!

Looking good brother!


40THZ owner

Great color. I really like the pictures.

Thanks!

Got some parts from forum member rhd today! Ordered on Saturday and got here Monday, thanks!!

To be installed Friday...

Attachment 65744

Looks good. Good luck with the mods!

Z1 Transmission mount going in...

Attachment 65928

Attachment 65929

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/30/neda8una.jpg

Pulley in.

Attachment 65933

Nice!

What are the benefits of the new tranny mount?

The benefits are they it is more solid than the OEM piece, this allows the transmission to be a little more firm in the car and keep from moving around. It's supposed to make the feel of the transmission sharper and yield more power from the drivetrain to the wheels instead of some being lost through the movement of the transmission. Similar idea to motor mounts.

The one I got is the Z1 Urethane mount, not a completely solid piece (which they do sell as well). The advantage to the urethane mount is less NVH compared to the solid mount. I'm going to give the piece about 100 miles to settle in and give some feedback/review. I can say that just in my quick highway drive home I didn't feel any additional vibrations in the cabin or in the shift knob.

edit: Duh! I had the pulley installed today!! It's definitely a lot more responsive than the OEM set up. Also my car has more of a deeper, more throaty, sound while putting the foot down! ....Will do a review of this too later! Thanks rhd!

Ok so now unfortunately some not so pleasant news. I bought the car used a year ago, since then I have put 9,000 miles on it. There were new tires on the car when I bought it and I obviously didn't have an alignment done. The following situation is completely my own fault for not checking on the tires or looking for any problems.

Attachment 65942
What you see above is one of my front tires, with a really bad amount of wear on the inside. Both front tires are like this unfortunately.

Attachment 65943
This is a depth from the inside of the tire, you can see it's down to 3/32.

Attachment 65944
This is the depth from the outside of the same tire, about 7/32.

Attachment 65945
This is a picture of my rear tire on that same side. The tread back there is 6/32. I put this up just to show that I don't drive like a complete a$$hat and the rears still have pretty good treat life.

The mechanic who worked on my car today told me it was likely a toe adjustment that needed to be made in the front. He said if it is just a little bit out, that can cause the inside of the tires to be worn down. It looks like a case of really bad camber wear but I have stock coils/arms/etc.

I'm definitely embarrassed I didn't notice this until the car was lifted and I almost decided not to post this. But then again if someone can learn from my mistakes and avoid a situation like this I'd feel a little better. Basically the lesson I took out of this is get a proper alignment done, even when you buy a car, even when it's certified from the dealer. Because now I have two front tires that are completely useless. And after having some other parts installed it definitely took the wind out of my sails today.

Not sure if I should link this to another part of the forum and again I don't know how uncommon of an issue this is. But even if you have a bone stock suspension, get an alignment done, don't trust that the dealer did it correctly when they sold you the car.

RJM clutch pedal installed! It really is night and day, feels so much more like a normal engagement. Takeoff is better so is 1st to 2nd! Not fun to install but soooo worth it.

Also, 245 & 275 RE11s on order!

Got the RE11s put on. Here's a follow up picture to how bad the front toe was....

Attachment 66676

4.1 each side making it 8.2mm total when it should be 1 on each side 2mm total. Live and learn.

Time for a thread bump.

Got my hands on a motordyne m370 intake, or it's in the mail at least, which will go on when I get time. Plan is to get headers before the end of the year and then tune it. Then next year I'll focus more on suspension and braking.

How did this pass under my radar?!? Subbing :)

So a little update, I've been busy with work lately and neglecting the car. I got the M370 manifold but I had to tend to other business before doing so.

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...t-intakes.html

So like I mentioned before, bought the car used, it had Stillen Gen 3s on it when purchased. I didn't know to check and make sure whoever had the car before me installed the intakes with the hosing to protect the AC lines. This was not done and two years later I discovered an AC leak. Nissan quotes it as a 4-5 hour job which adds up considering the part is only $27. So I replaced it and wrote up a DIY just incase anyone else out there runs into this issue.

Diddy,

Where in the Lou do you live?

Hope to meet you at the next meet.

John

Hey John!

I'm inside 170 at the UCity/Clayton border.

Where are you at? And definitely looking forward to meeting you!

:yum::yum:

Now we need a meet! Gotta see you car in person!

there having a meet on June 22 I heard at Fast Eddies.. but I'll be coming back from my Mexico vacation trip that day..I dont think I'll make it in time :(

Aw dang sucks you won't be there but jealous you're going to Mexico!!

Just ordered an Elite Engineering Catch Can! Should be perfect with the M370, special thanks to wstar for the catch can writeup and answering all my questions.

Next I've gotta get a tune. I can't decide between Ecutek and Uprev. The goal is a performance map, an economy map for best mpg, and if ecutek can do it, a launch control/no lift shift map. If ecutek can do that there really wouldn't be any need for racelogic which is way too expensive as it is. I guess just wait and see if ecutek follows through on their claims and at least be able to load multiple maps.

I am interested in a tune for ours as well. I have not done much research into it though.

I've only done a little, little bit. That said, I'm probably looking I to an etune. Idk too many dyno places around here.

GTR map lenses and LEDs.

Wanted to do a late night comparison when it's really dark but I'm on nights this whole week and just wanted to put these in.

Before
Attachment 70904

Halfway/comparison
Attachment 70905

Finished
Attachment 70906

LEDs used
Attachment 70907

Elite Engineering catch can now in.

Attachment 71000

Note to self 35900 check in 1k.

Hey so I just got engaged, which is awesome!

But this is a car forum no xanga, so that being said, I'm looking to do some cheaper mods for the next few months.. Any suggestions?

I've been thinking about upgrading the brake pads, rotors, lines.. I've got base breaks so I kind of want to get some lightweight rotors, any suggestions there?

Thanks!

Congrats man!

Attachment 72739

Should add this to the cheap mod thread!

Hi Diddy, did u manage to install the crank pulley from underneath the car or did you remove the front bumper and radiator?
And did you use a pulley pulling tool or did you do w/o it?

Thanks for advice