350Butcher

I'd get something like a Csl M3 or Whale tail sierra/escort cosworth or even a mint Mk1 or 2 Escort Mexico so much more enjoyable than new stuff with genuine excitement every time you get in it and turn the key with performance levels that can be enjoyed and exploited! If it had to be new then I do think, as has been suggested, that the new Lotus Exige is far more exciting than most others. I know some will take offense and shoot me down here but for your budget you can't buy the 911 you'd want, I'd bet you'll be disappointed after the novelty has worn off. I would say with that much to choose from, explore every avenue and go and drive EVERYTHING! I'm sure you'll know when you drive it what you want

Circuit-Days offer for April date is pretty tempting too!!

Hi Paul, hope you’re good? Yes we are gonna be making our plans now around this.....might see you there in September and maybe Spa too as we’ve been talking about ticking that box this year........already looking forward to it!

The “r” was a compound change for better wet grip, dry grip is almost identical between the 2. Have used both types for years and years, great tyres! On par with Michelin Cup rather than MPSS Might be worth posting manufacturing dates in the ad though.

Sorry to hear this is where you and this Z part company but I too would have a hard time with a car that's had so much repair work done. If the chassis has had such a hard hit there's a good chance you'll get issues down the line with things being out of line to rusting etc At least the insurance seem to be making you a reasonable offer, might be worth trying to squeeze them for a little more with it being a 1 owner car and in perfect condition though, my friend had some success with this when he was involved in a no fault collision that wrote his car off.........got to be worth a go! Wish you well with whatever you decide to do in the future with a replacement

Totally get it......there's no trophies for the track days I go on but the Zed is such a great and rewarding car to just get in and drive that I can't get enough of it! I shall check the dates and try and get to some of these, I've got Shelsley and Prescott fairly nearby so I'll come and say hi

Nice looking Zed! Sounds like your mount must’ve been knackered and well ready a change! You’re putting quite a bit of torque through it so not surprising really. I’ve tried to keep my car as road friendly and oem as poss hence trying to keep NVH to a minimum while doing upgrades that do the business hence the VT mount and OS giken diff too, yours is used more for motorsports than mine though it seems so alls good. Would like to see you running the car at a hill climb or sprint at some point, what series is it that you run in? And will you be doing it in 2018?

No probs just thought I'd drop in a recommendation in case you hadn't sorted one already. Have really enjoyed reading this thread and seeing all your hard work and dedication that's gone in to it.......looking forward to following the on going updates

On the road I can really say I noticed any difference......which is good as most transmit a load of noise/vibration that I really didn't want On track a big difference, not everywhere but on hard braking/acceleration usually while cornering at the same time it could be notchy or sometimes (on braking) I couldn't get a gear at all! Braking into the "old hairpin" at Donington was every time a problem getting 3rd. The car only had 26-30k miles on it too so the factory mount was in good shape and yet still when I fitted the Vibra Technics mount I don't get these problems any more!

You mention replacing the gearbox mount but I cant see that you listed the one you're getting. Thought I'd recommend this: http://www.vibra-technics.co.uk/nissan/350z/724/NIS234M/transmission_mount_ Developed on my car when I approached them to sort a mount that had all the up sides with none or the downs! I've done quite a bit of driving on it now and it supports the 'box well allowing better shifts on track with no NVH transmitted in to cabin.

Sorry to see this! I know people always mention speed straight away for every accident but that guy simply didn't even look! It was dark too so you can see the lights before the vehicle......I drive loads with work and see this type of thing all the time and its so frightening that so many people drive like this. I'm not a massive fan of dashcams but in a case like this its hard not to make a case for them. I did have a similar thing happen to me years ago (not quite as bad though) and although I thought it had not effected me at all I did find myself flinching everytime a car came to a junction as I drove past I guess in case they didn't stop again.......its only natural and it goes away in time and confidence comes back. Re insurance companies.......it is so frustrating that when you are the innocent victim you have all this agro to deal with now! As said already I would be very cautious indeed about where my car goes, they will look at the best deal for them and not you. Repair rather than replace damaged items etc......Is it not too unreasonable to go to a Nissan approved bodyshop? That way all parts will be replaced with oem parts and should be a top quality job for you. I do wish you the very best with getting it all sorted out...........and for the rest of the country lets hope that guy starts stopping and looking at junctions from now on too!!

Yeah I was really aiming at producing power higher up the revs, the cams, head work and manifolds are doing there job up at 6500+rpm where the factory engine is getting asthmatic. Given that the 4.0lt route requires custom rods and pistons must bump up price quite a bit? also for me I do like the idea of keeping the oil squirters in place as on track they've got to be keeping piston temps cooler and helping lubrication, reducing friction etc (only my opinion, not seen any true tests for or against) Think the GTR crank would be a hard job as it uses a chain driven oil pump for its semi-dry sump set up unlike the HR's pump gear driven straight off the end of the crankshaft. Unless you can take over the whole block and lubrication system into the 350, which would be great if you can, I doubt its an easy job..........but as always everything is possible if you're determined enough and happy to put the work in! The reason I really like the 3.7 conversion is because its actually a long rod stroker conversion, it'll be using a VQ37 crankshaft but with the slightly longer VQ35HR rods which gives (IF my maths are right) a good rod ratio for a hi rev application of 1.764 which sits between the 370z's 1.738 and 350z HR 1.863, it does require custom pistons for the 12:5 compression ratio. All together I'd hope to be making power to 8000+rpm and around 370HP..........and all for a fair price considering! The car will just be wanting for itb's after that..............but that is mega money then!!!!

I can’t read polish so I hope you were saying something nice about my build!? Ha ha Like what he’s done. Fair play for doing something new and creating good power. Any idea what his rod ratio was with it? And what’s he planning next with it? I’m assuming the oil squirts were deleted cos of clearance, think I’d like to keep them in for piston cooling and lubrication what with the track work the car does. It’s definitely given me something else to look into though and I’ll check in (to look at the pics anyway) and follow his progress.

Family always comes first!! Sounds like you've got loads of car stuff going on, bet the little turbo MX5 will be great fun.......and when you've finished your fling with zi Germans you can get yourself a well sorted Zed again............maybe go HR 2nd time round?? You wont regret it.......until it needs taxing of course!!

Thanks very much sir!! I only started this build thread cos I was hoping people would enjoy it so its good to hear some have and maybe it'll even encourage a few to get their spanners out and have a go too! Yeah very looking forward to the next bits going on

Not heard of this mate, did a bit of looking and seems its based on the DE more so wont really work with HR heads etc so not as easy as the 3.7 conversion. Sounds like a good build though, would like to know how your friend gets on with that though. Share some links when its up and running!

Went to Silverstone GP track day on Monday and can't believe how lucky we got with the weather.......bone dry, blue sky and full sun all day long.......they even gave us a bonus 30mins till 16:30 due to good light! Which was a double bonus as driving the final session while the last of the sun set was actually pretty awesome! Car as always really impressed me, the new set up giving the front end so much better grip and being able to trail brake in and pull it down to the low speed apex's with no understeer is exactly what I was after........could've done with adding a bit of anti roll bar for the long long fast corners but I'll do that for the next one. Engine wise, it was nice to get some real world performance comparisons down the long straights Silverstone GP layout has to see how it weighs up, it definitely has the legs on a E46 M3 and was on par with my mates M3 Csl and Porsche 997 Carrera S so I was pretty happy with that! But that is it for this year! Been a very enjoyable year with the car this year and I was a bit sad backing it in to the garage when I got home but already looking forward to 2018 with it. Have got a few plans for it, I will be making a brake kit using AP racing's forged AP9040 calipers and floating 362mm discs with custom brackets to relocate the caliper to the front most position on the discs to reduce pad knock off (same as Stop Techs trophy kit) and also try and incorporate an intake to attach cooling ducting too also. Through out 2018 I'm looking to source all the parts to build a forged hi compression (12:1) 3.7litre bottom end around a VQ37 crankshaft, VQ35HR rods and custom pistons......which I'll look to swap out next winter and should give me more revs and unlock a bit more power! I'll obviously keep the build thread up to date as and when I do them Here's a couple of vids from Silverstone........shame I didn't quite get clear laps in as I'm sure I would've been into the hi 2m30's!............hope you enjoy them! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoRigmqXLCg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo-uoPzrY1c

They've not gained anything over just decatting the car as they've not got any of the supporting mods required to free up the HP, stock cams, heads, intake etc so the manifolds are wasted. If it was breathing and revving higher then you'd see the gains........so 280ish@flywheel is about right I'd say It'll look pretty though........I think that's probably the main goal of this build

Did they even fit a plenum spacer to this!? I stand corrected about the numbers though fair play to them! 283@the wheels with 100 shot of nitrous........just under what mine made without any cheating gas!! Didnt they winge about getting a few cuts n grazes while working in there fully setup garage with fancy jacks and all the room in the world........and I thought it was us POMs that did that!!

Anyone on here with the White Nismo yesterday? Silverstone GP track day, never got a chance to come over and say hello but was nice to see that car on track!

Ahh that was a fail! Different accent........same result though

Those manifolds look familiar!! being America the car will make 350whp after they’ve fitted them.......

That's a much more track focused set up than I am looking to run especially as I'm planning to stick with using essentially road tyres so don't think I'd create the loads to warrant such high rates. Hows the on road ride quality with yours on 14/6's? Not sure my old man spine can handle that sort of thing anymore!! 18/9 is race car territory I think, I know the racers run my dampers with 20kg 6" springs in the front with using slicks. Mine are 11kg 8" which seems to be and feels right, the adjustment in the dampers is very impressive and by far the best I've ever operated with every click being noticeable with a broad range that does go from a genuine fully soft to fully hard so I can really firm the car up on the compression if/when I need to too My car as is feel really well supported it's not rolling through bends or diving on hard braking much while still giving good travel and a compliance which is creating much better grip and traction than previous set up......Granted I have only done one track day with them on and that was at the Rockingham which is not the best test but I was really impressed, I'll see how I get on at Silverstone on Monday.

Its been a while but thought I'd update this a bit! So the new suspension went on just in time for a proper test......road trip holiday to France followed by first track day at Rockingham! Install went well, they're really nicely machined and made items. Total weight saving for fronts inc springs was 2kgs a corner, the rears inc springs and SPL arms was 5.6kgs a side so in total 15kgs shed from the car! Add the 1kg a corner from swapping to the 18" wheels and it was over 19kgs of unsprung weight saved Fronts Used a Mikalor clamp for supporting the brake hose Rears with SPL rear toe links Top adjuster First thing after install was of course to get the geometry done......I've always hated laser alignment method, never felt like the cars been 100% right afterwards and the only time it has felt right is after good old skool strings and gauges..........Just cos a computer makes the number go green I've always wondered what the + / - is on the tolerance for that.......strings and gauges are as good as your eyes can make it! Car went to Q Prep in Peterborough and I honestly couldn't rate them higher.......car was booked in for all day......first thing was to discuss what I wanted the car to do and how I wanted it to behave.....then get a base setting.....go for a quick drive to settle and test.....re check and set to final settings....drive....recheck.......you get the idea! Till the car was returning with both me happy how the car felt and the settings remaining after a fairly hard run up the road was the car signed off as done. The car drove better after that than I've ever had it! On the road the new suspension although using 11kg front and 5.5kg rears springs, which is roughly double that of the Bilstein PSS10's on it previously, offers a very acceptable level of ride comfort and a quality level of damping to soak up the biggest bumps so first impressions were good..........and a bit of a relief as I really didn't want a rock solid car! The only time you really feel the spring rates are when you're driving at very low speed say over a bumpy car park when there's not the inputs to make the dampers move. On road I don't think they are quite as good as the Ohlins overall but I'm hoping that the gamble to trade this slight drop here for improved performance on track and 2 way damper adjustment will pay off. The only other thing worth noting was that converting to coilover rears with pillowball top mounts does transfer some noise into the car. All things considered though very happy and the trip to France around some passes and cols the car felt great and the front end better than ever when pressing on..............and I could still walk with a functional spine after hours and hours in the car On track the MCS really do shine though!! With more adjustment available I tried a few things with it to make sure I understood what had what effect and once I had dialled in something I liked the car felt amazing. The front end is so direct, so responsive and the rear feels really different as to how its supported and controlled, it took a while to trust it but after the morning was through I pushed on and really loved driving it how it is now. First track day in and I'm really impressed so hopefully with more track time and experience with it I can maybe get it even better Here's a little vid from a couple of laps of Rockingham https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4wkSzTCCNI Next track day at Silverstone GP on Monday 6th Nov..........can't wait!!

Think you've just clarified my point. I didn't rate the Z4 at all, its a fussy horrible car to drive and didn't feel that quick with 260hp, plus if fancy interior is something you want the quality is really bad for a BMW, Audi TT if understeer is your thing and the Porsche obviously is the only real consideration in your list but it would be the Cayman you'd want and preferably without 80k+ miles and that doesn't come at 9k sadly! All these cars are not without their own and sometimes much larger set of faults over the Zed too That is why we all love and have bought 350z's in one form or another