So I turned in my car over to Specialty Z and Seb for hub service to clear our my axle click issue once and for all and more importantly get my 4.08 final drive installed. Dropped it off Wed. picked it up Thurs.

Click is gone. So I am happy with that. It was annoying to hear the click each time I press the pedal gas it.

The big news for me since I'm N/A is getting 4.08 final gear installed. The car is much more fun to drive and glad I did it. No gear noise, no whine, need to shift sooner than usual. Was told by Seb that there's an impact to SRM where a small delay occurs between the blip and the car responding to the downshift and can be resolved by an ecutek tune. After driving the car, I knew right away what he meant and now plan on a tune to eliminate that lag. it is negligible but I can pick out the difference. It is so much fun to drive on the street and the freeway. I could see what people meant about impact to mpg but you can manage that by shifting sooner to higher gears. I did an uprev tune 2 years ago and interested what ecutek does. Glad I did this mod. Left my old gear with him just in case :)

Lovely transformation, and beautiful Z!!

Very nice.Car looks great.Tastefully done.

Glad to hear you are enjoying her so much. :tup: :driving: :driving:

Blox Magnetic Drain Plug
 

There are many articles on the pros and cons of magnetic drain plugs. I'm not here to point either out but rather share my experience with these things. Went to SpecialtyZ for a tune and the recommended gear oil change after about a month of installing 4.08 final drive. Since the car was up in the air and it was time for an oil change I went ahead and had them do it. Here's what they discovered.

I've had these Blox magnetic drain plugs for a long time and perhaps should have replaced it sooner. The bottom line is these are soft, they don't last as long as OEM plugs, and perhaps better off using an oil filter magnet if you want to capture metals. The thing was cracked, bent, and stripped. Check it out.


Stripped


[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/804/4...44d9ce89_c.jpgADSC_1257 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

Cracked


[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4784/...03b3e3de_c.jpgADSC_1259 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/798/4...022e07b3_c.jpgADSC_1266 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/792/2...848f215d_c.jpgADSC_1268 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


Bent


[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4781/...09ce524e_c.jpgADSC_1283 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/817/4...33106557_c.jpgADSC_1277 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


These shots are dedicated to bokeh lovers.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4771/...7501b1b0_b.jpgADSC_1269 by Raf, on Flickr

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/787/2...6fbca5c0_b.jpgADSC_1275 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

Dude, I need to make sure I keep an eye on mine. SZ did an oil chang on mine about 3 weeks ago so I am guessing it's good to go for now!

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

TWM vs PW JDM
 

Picked up a TWM "Piston" shift knob. Switched out my old Password JDM knob for this. I like the weight, I like how it looks. Was it worth it? Only if you buy the TWM the first time. Other than a WAAAAY better looking knob, it is not much of a significant change on overall experience if you switch over.

Here's the album:

TWM Piston Knob

[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4610/...0eb9bd33_b.jpg2018-03-01_07-25-01 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/820/4...6d55d89a_b.jpgADSC_1397 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/891/4...7c3e0f93_b.jpgADSC_1401 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/809/2...eab7e63c_b.jpgAaDSC_1431 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/901/4...5a6a5c57_b.jpgADSC_1443 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/820/4...352da8af_b.jpgADSC_1409 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

CarbonSignal Love
 

These arrived over a month ago. Too lazy, too busy, too many excuses not to do it or to sit and wait to install. Well, the time has come to do it. I will say that the finish is awesome.


Arrived nicely packed.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/913/4...f5392e73_b.jpg2018-07-12_08-41-49 by Raf, on Flickr

Jacked her up. Again....too lazy and had to force myself. :shakes head:

[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1775/...c31905ae_b.jpg20180817_124147 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

Test fitting.

[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1813/...e27b31e4_b.jpg20180817_124240 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


Ran a tape line to know exactly where to run my VHB tape.

[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1838/...faf2ae93_b.jpg20180817_124932 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


I have no intentions of getting embarrassed by flying side skirts. Double layered 3M VHB at the center.

[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1774/...c399b2d4_b.jpg20180817_132914 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1771/...b497601c_b.jpg20180817_132902 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


Installed skidplates on each side. Aluminum @ 1.5" each side. I also used self tapping screws to hold it in place. This ain't going no where. :tup:

[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1813/...03c83125_b.jpg20180817_150746 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1838/...273c3b32_b.jpg20180817_150809 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1836/...2b53d6e6_b.jpg20180817_155559 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


Installed!!! :happydance:

[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1774/...dfd69e6a_b.jpg20180817_155344 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1868/...2a04d147_b.jpg20180817_155409 by Raf, on Flickr

Next up --- brake pads, rotors, and powder coated calipers in pearl white!!!!!

Skid pads were a great idea. Car looks awesome.

Raf, glad to see that you are still going strong. Where did you go to have your kits painted again? I remember you mentioned it during our short convo but I totally forgot.

Hit six figures this past Thursday. Every mile was with a smile.:tiphat:

[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1949/...db65f07a_b.jpg by Raf[/IMG]


And the pic before that......


[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1945/...d46e0691_b.jpg by Raf[/IMG]

CEL's been on intermittently and described to the shop what I saw the first time an image came out from the gauge. Thought it was the cap because of this but code says evap leak.

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...18aefb58_b.jpg2019-07-02_08-25-52 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


Checked underneath and noticed the muffler butted against the evap canister. That had to be replaced.

While up on the rack, we noticed that the gas tank was dented on both sides. The darn tire shop jacked from the tank. The good news -- no cracks, no leaks, just dimpled bottoms.

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d11c3425_b.jpg2019-07-02_08-32-01 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2183f43d_b.jpg2019-07-02_08-33-29 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

Crazy wide shot.


[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d9544dfd_h.jpg_8506535 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

Been having shifting issues. Grinding, notchier than usual, stiffer, inconsistent pedal feel. Manual guys know the feeling. Noticed the fluid in reservoir reduced. Filled it up twice in the last two weeks. More like slave issue but went ahead and replaced everything.

Picked up the ZSpeed kit and got EZ street clutch, flywheel, CMC, CSC delete combo installed today at Specialty Z. I must say that this kit is a great option for you to consider. Clutch feels great and allows for smooth shifting. It is lighter than the Specialty Z/RPS clutch that I had been using. Their (RPS/SZ) clutch and flywheel combo is great by the way and I recommend it as well. I haven't driven it hard yet so more to come. I think the magic sauce is the CSC relocation kit for serviceability. This should be the first move when the CSC goes bye bye.

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0f629da5_b.jpg_8507615 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

Glad we could help! That is a great driving kit!