New 370Z Owner / Member
 

Well with my TDI Passat being bought back some time soon, I decided I'd pick up something more fun to drive as a daily driver. Ended up picking up 2016 370Z Sport Tech model:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/3701.jpg

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/3702.jpg

Perhaps not the best daily driver here in Ohio, but it's definitely a lot more fun to drive.

My dad luckily still had a set of 350Z wheels left over that he was willing to let go reasonable (another Rays set even), so that set got cloned TPMS sensors, and Snow tires.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370zsnowtires.jpg

Even though it's a daily driver, it will still get a few mods:
- FI cat back has already been ordered, 2 weeks into the wait. Non resonated.
- Berk HFCs are already sitting in the garage
- TWM shifter was ordered tonight, I'll do that when I have the car off the ground for the exhaust.
- Stillen Intake Gen 3 Intake (Still Got to order this, figure no rush, usually no wait on these, so closer to when the exhaust is due)

Congratulations on your Z and welcome. :tiphat:

Congrats and welcome to the family!

Welcome :hello:, looks great, enjoy!

Welcome to the party,
WOW, what a difference those wheels make!

Thanks everyone.

They aren't my cup of tea compared to the stock wheels. However, just for the winter, they're fine. I didn't try the stock tires in the snow, but I will say compared to how my Mustangs always did in the snow they made a huge difference. Well worth the money.

The backspacing wasn't wasn't as bad as I expected though. Overall the fit is acceptable, and for the price, considering it's a nice set of wheels, I can't complain.

Sadly with those tires, the car does better than my Jeep in the snow now. Only difference is the Jeep doesn't get stuck (well shouldn't), or at least has enough recovery equipment to get out of what I get into usually. However I'm keeping it out of the salt after this summers clean up, it'll still get wheeled, but no more salty winters for it.

congrats on the new Z
:driving:

Welcome to the 370Z forum

:worship:

-Clifford :welcome: :tup:

No, I get it. I would've done the same. They just make the car look dated! Like a 350, goes to show ya the huge difference a set of wheels can make :tup:

Welcome to the owners club!

Smart move with the winter tires and wheels!

With those mods you should consider a tune. I'm planning to get an Ecutek tune in the next few weeks.

Congrats and welcome.

And yes, the stock tires SUUUUCK in the snow. Especially if it is a wet snow. I had to park my car for a week and drive a rental until I got my snow tires.
With the snow tires, it's a crap load of fun in the snow.

Congrats. We dont have to do the O....H.... spelling yelling thing that everyone in OH does do we. :)

Congrats on the new ride and its great to see you picked the fastest color...

Thats on the list of things to do. I'm just trying to decide if that's really my stopping point or not.

From all the reading I'm doing, looks like my next thing maybe the Z1 CMAK kit anyways. Trying to decide what the failure rate of these slave cylinders actually is. Looking at the spreadsheet, kind of surprising to see several 2016s on there. Figure it'd be easier to do while everything is still new and I don't have to fight with anything that's rusty.

Congratulations and welcome!

I'm in Columbus, where are you in Ohio?

I also run 350Z wheels and slightly oversized winter tires on my '11 for winter.

I'm near the Dayton area, closer to the Wright-AFB if you know the area. Roughly an hour west of Columbus.

I would have liked to go a bit narrower (225s) on the winter tires, but the 245s kept the overall diameter the closest so I figured the speedo would be the closest.

Well my TWM shifter showed up. I'll wait for a little warmer weather though to actually install it.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...wmshifter1.jpg

I did pop the lighter clutch pedal assist spring (whatever you want to call it) in today. That did help the clutch pedal feel. To be honest if the clutch pedal is any stiffer I don't really notice it.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...tchspring1.jpg

Voodoo shift knob, while cold as a block of ice in the morning, still feels better than stock shifting wise in my opinion. However I know that's all personal opinion.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370Z/voodoo1.jpg

I took a few minutes to clean up the Berk HFCs, it really only took maybe 5-10 minutes at most per cat. My dad had them left over from when he got rid of his 350Z, I was surprised how well they cleaned up. I probably could get them cleaner, but they aren't going to be seen again.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370Z/berkhfc1.jpg

It's so much nicer stacking the 370 wheels/tires compared to the Jeep tires...

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics.../370tires1.jpg

You live kinda close to a good friend of mine who drives a red '15 370Z Nismo. He also installs clear bra and does paint correction for a living.

245-mm width is fine for central-ish Ohio winters. There isn't a whole lot of snow and ice precipitation here and most days the roads are just dry or wet. Mine is an inch taller (245/50/18) to boost ground clearance.

Well we had some nice weather today, so I decided to take advantage of it, and get some of these parts installed. At least no one is surprised anymore by me taking apart a brand new car.

First up was the new shifter. Hardest part about this honestly was getting the audio connectors disconnected. Once I figured out I could easily get to them by removing the cup holder, it went in no problems.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...wmshifter2.jpg

OEM shifter just before removal:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...wmshifter3.jpg

I ended up using the piece to hold the shifter boot up as a finishing part on top of the boot. Underneath I'm using some half inch silicone hose and a half inch washer to hold the boot up. As well as another piece of silicone hose to solidly locate the boot on the spacer. Honestly I think TWM should include two of those black pieces, it would make the kit a lot nicer. Had I known I would have asked for two, even had I needed to purchased the second one. Either way I think this way it looks more finished.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...wmshifter4.jpg

The other project was installed the new Stillen G3 Intake, which means pulling the bumper.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...stilleng31.jpg

Lots of bending things here and there. Cut one stud off to gain some clearance between the left filter. It's a tight fit, that's for sure.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...stilleng32.jpg

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...stilleng33.jpg

Took it for a test drive though, don't hear any rattles, so everything is good.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...stilleng34.jpg

Nice ride...

Have you looked into or are you aware of the Ohiogzgtr club out of Columbus ?
Lot's of good people in that group.

Haven't heard of them. My free time is rather limited though.

Might be getting my exhaust soon. Saw in the FI thread order 1584 had shipped, and my order is 1588. Getting closer!

Well I decided these had to go:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...370emblem1.jpg

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...370emblem2.jpg

I usually prefer the no the clean look, but I really liked the Fairlady emblem, so I had to get one:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...370emblem3.jpg

Also UPS dropped off goodies, after what's seemed like a very long 3 month wait...

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...fiexhaust1.jpg

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...fiexhaust2.jpg

The car is in the garage right now in the air. I'll start the install in the morning.

well welcome to the club and enjoy the mods
remember to drive it, then drive it harder

Well it's been cold out, but I've stock piling parts in the garage. Got parts for the Jeep, motorcycles, and quite a few for the 370. Got a box from the Aircraft Spruce the other day, as well as a few other goodies recently. Still waiting on my Hotchkis sway bar set.

Courtesy of Fast Intentions:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...rowcooler1.jpg

Fly1 spoiler, going to install it as is, but still unsure about the Carbon fiber. I may get it painted. Going to wait and see how it looks.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...y1spoiler1.jpg

Got the complete set of vents. Between this, duct work from Aircraft spruce for the air filters, and the new oil cooler, the car should run nice and cooler this summer.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...trackspec1.jpg

Sway bars showed up yesterday:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics.../swaybars1.jpg

The box of goodies from Aircraft Spruce:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics.../ductwork1.jpg

Really just waiting for some warm weather now. We'll see if I get to the suspension this summer or not. I have some things to finish up on the Jeep that may distract me.

Welcome to the 370Z forums. Congratulations that is one cherry looking 370Z you have. The Nissan 370Z will make a really fun daily driver! How many times did you have to visit the Volkswagen dealership service department or your mechanic with that Volkswagen TDI Passat?

I never had any problems out of my Passat. It was a great car, 48-52 MPG pretty much always, as I was mostly all highway. Even a bad tank was 45 MPG, and the car had get up go when you needed to for what it was. Only thing I had to do was change oil in it. Added exhaust fluid to it just at oil changes.

It was a great car. I got a great deal on it when I bought it new, but the buy back deal was too sweet to pass up they offered basically what I paid new for the car after I drove for the year. I couldn't turn it down.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics/misc/vw1.jpg

The mileage really was unbelievable for a large car, I'm not kidding when I say it was routinely 48-50+:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics/misc/vw2.jpg

I ended pulling all the emblems off the car, except the VW off the back.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics/misc/vw3.jpg

The only thing I didn't like is in the US you cant get the car fully loaded with the manual transmission, so I had to forgo a few options to keep my manual transmission.

Well I went back and forth, but I decided having just a carbon fiber spoiler wasn't going to look right. So I dropped the spoiler off at the painter this morning. I'll get it back in a week. (Hopefully)

Enjoying your thread here.... keep it up...

A box showed up from Z1 yesterday, power steering cooler. I think this is everything I need now for when I pull the front bumper again.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics.../pscooler1.jpg

Picked up my spoiler from the painter today:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...y1spoiler4.jpg

Should be getting warm in couple weeks and I'll be able to actually work on the car, and start installing stuff.

A power steering cooler is always a good idea. Do you plan attending any track or auto x events with your Z?

Yes, hopefully this year. Had the bikes on the track, never got to take any of my cars, other than the drag strip (and I that doesn't really count), so that's on the to-do list.

Well finally got around to installing my spoiler. So I swear I read Fly1 spoilers use factory holes, and either I mis-read this, or this was greatly exaggerated. I may have been going into this with too high of an expectation though. I made lemonade out of the situation, but I'm not impressed. I think may have ordered one of the cheaper variations if I had done if over again.

So I did manage to get the factory spoiler off in one piece, however it wasn't any fun:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370Z/spoiler1.jpg

As with everyone, the worst part was cleaning all the tape off:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370Z/spoiler2.jpg

There are seven holes that won't be used by the Fly1 spoiler in the deck lid. Worst yet the spoiler doesn't exactly contour to the hatch, so you really need to seal up the holes. I used push pins, siliconed down to seal them:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370Z/spoiler3.jpg

The outer hole needs to be drilled. There is a hole there for a push pin from the factory, however it's not in the correct location so on top of being drilled, you'll need to walk it over towards the center of the car. My recommendation would be not to go all the way through though. Because would interfere with the gasket surface on the bottom. Instead I drilled a access hole off to the side. Be prepared to be frustrated as this is very difficult to get the bolts started still. Watch it though the hole below that is for a push pin for the interior panel. In this manner no chance of leaks, damaging the seal, or wind noise:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370Z/spoiler4.jpg

The spoiler does look good:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370Z/spoiler5.jpg

Now the problem was no matter how I positioned the spoiler it did not fit the contour of the hatch perfectly. There were areas the tape did not touch. This left a gap water, dirt, wind, etc could get under. I used a syringe filled with clear silicone to get under the tape to fill the gaps. Only in the areas that were lifted obviously:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370Z/spoiler6.jpg

Now I know how this sounds. Once done, and smoothed it's all underneath everything. The silicone is not visible. It's under the tape. Here is the front, done. It doesn't look a caulked bathtub, I swear:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics2/370Z/spoiler7.jpg

I did notice my 2016 does not have the weight on the hatch like earlier models.

Overall I was a little disappointed in the quality of the spoiler, as I had a big higher expectations of it. Perhaps that was my fault. That being said, I still think it turned out good. It's definitely an improvement over the sport spoiler for sure.

Since I've put my exhaust on, randomly, I would get a check engine light due to my HFCs. However once every other month wasn't so bad. Last week it became a daily occurrence. My fuel economy didn't change, my AFR didn't change, and my performance hasn't changed, so time to do something about it. I called up Dynosty who did my tune, and they were great as always. They gave me all my options, I ended up picking up everything, including a bluetooth dongle, and they sent me a modified version of my map so my check engine light would stop coming on.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics.../ecutekbt1.jpg

It will be nice not to be resetting that light every evening.

Well started cutting the hood today for the Trackspec hood vents. Started off by washing the car so tape would stick to the hood. Figured good time to post a picture of the car with the new spoiler:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...y1spoiler5.jpg

Removing the hood really is the easiest way to cut these holes.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...trackspec2.jpg

Vent holes taped off for cutting:

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...trackspec3.jpg

Had to flip the hood to finish cutting. 95% of everything cut through, but little pieces had to be cut from underneath.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...trackspec4.jpg

Finally so none of the grey primer, or bare aluminum showed, I taped off everything again, and painted everything black. This will also keep the aluminum from corroding.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...trackspec5.jpg

I’ll start back up in the morning. So far it seems to be going smoothly.

Finished up the hood vents today. Everything went pretty smoothly. I did pick up an air riveter just for this. It was worth it's weight in gold for this job.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...trackspec6.jpg

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...trackspec7.jpg

On the under side of the hood, I used some adhesive to reattach and seal the hood support back to the sheet metal in a few places where it was now just floating. Figured it couldn't hurt. Also I noticed in the rivets included the short ones were stainless, the long ones were plain steel. Just as some extra insurance, I took some clear coat and coated the top of each rivet just to help prevent rust.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...trackspec8.jpg

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...trackspec9.jpg

Didn't get as much done this weekend as I'd like. These vents, while not difficult to install, were time consuming. So maybe next weekend I'll pull the front bumper and do the oil cooler, power steering cooler, sway bars, and duct work for the intake.

Spent Friday evening and all day today working on the car. The oil cooler and power steering cooler turned out to be more involved projects than I first thought. In particular the routing for the oil cooler lines took some creative thinking. Ended up making two brackets to help keep the line in place, and where I wanted it on the front side, yet let it move a little on the engine side if it needs to.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics...oilcooler1.jpg

The stock front sway bar definitely looks tiny now. I didn't get to the rear one yet. Still debating on that one. However the front one is on.

http://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpics.../swaybars2.jpg