Dipper

Got a sneak peak at my wheels that I sent off the be modifed and refurbished. Cant get over how well they look! Ive Always like the Rays but always thought they were missing a little something. But now with the smooth spokes. And the embossed black text. You know they are a Rays wheel and little more special. Feel like a poor man's TE37 lol. Can't wait to get them back.

My Rays wheels were looking pretty tired. They had been painted (Probably more than once) so the paint was quite thick, and the colour was inconsistent. So decided to try something different. They were black and although I'm not one for black alloys they didn't look too bad on the red car. However I've decided to do things a bit different as allot of people have the Rays. And the Rays always looked like something was off on them to me. They are still at Ultamotive wheels getting the work done. But here's a few photos of progress....

Finally got round to getting these fitted. Was a bit of a faff getting the bumper off. I only loosened it on one side. Then with a little key hole surgery managed to get in behind the bumper. Disconnect the old indicator/rear fog unit and replace with my previously modded clear one. (I fitted a red bulb in place of the red lens) all back together and the back of the car looks nice and symmetrical now.

That's cool yeah. rare to see white ones

Nice sneaky v1 nismo bumper on there. Is is white or silver?

You're not wrong. It was set to off road at that height! Had to take it waaayyy down. Lol. I'm still fine tuning truth be told. I didn't even consider weight saving you know. That's a bonus. I know the after market subframe is a good bit lighter than oem too. So should see a few kilos shaved off so! It's mad a 1.0 litre engine micra has the same filter as a 3.5 litre. Bonkers

Next up was the front coilovers. All these Jobs by the way, I've never done them before. I'm just flying ahead here with a mixture of youtube videos, naivety and misplaced confidence. But so far things are going well. Electrics unclipped from the strut brace, Strut brace off. Disconnect drop link. Unbolt the old shock/spring tower from the top and the big bolt on the bottom. Not forgetting to disconnect the brake lines and sensor wires from the old shock. And lean on the hub to get it out. Installation was straightforward. But adjusting to the correct height. Oh my God. What a seige. Took about 4 times wheel off and on to get it near correct. At least I can measure now and just match it to the other side. As for the damper settings. I just set it to 16 of 32 (halfway) and will adjust as required.

While it was up in the air. I treated the car to a quick oil change and filter change. Never ceases to amaze me how small the oil filter is. Added a red magnetic drain plug while I was at it.

A few more bits done today. Still working on the front end. Suspension. Old drop links and anti roll bar off. New Whiteline ones on. Bit of rust converter painted on here and there too. And a lick of paint to the front subframe. Once it's dry the new ultra racing subframe going back on.

A mixture of Moog and Tarmac sportz brand. Moog for the inners. Tarmacsportz for the outers.

So In my standard fashion I'm still bouncing around a loada jobs. Finally got round to cleaning up some of the front subframe before final fit. Rust converter on. And while waiting for it to work and later painting it. I gave the inner and outer tie rods a change. The old ones were looking pretty rusty and not inspiring confidence. I had to saw the old ones in half to get the rubber boots off too. As they were so seized together as one. Once all the parts are on it get a propper alignment too. Just gauged length of them off the old ones for now.

Oh 100%. Most all moving parts down there need a refresh. Banana arms bushing seem ok. I think at least one has been replaced, before my ownership. The lower control arm bushing on one side looks a bit worse for wear mind you. It's probably going to be added to the list. (The list that never stops growing)

A few steps closer today. I managed to get the big m14 nuts off the front sub frame. Without breaking the captive studs. (They were really on there) required the blow torch and the big breaker bar to get them moving. The rest of the m10 bolts came off without too much bother. So front subframe is now off. The ultra racing one ready to go on. I bought new hardware too. For reference. You need: -two m14 nuts. 1.5 fine thread. -six m10 bolts with 1.25 fine thread. (25mm long) I've mocked up the new brace. But I'm going to brush up and go over some areas with rust converter and a touch of paint before full reassembly. Also I've ordered new inner and outer tie rods before anyone mentions the state they are in!(shocking really, how did they pass mot?)

Just a cheap brand off amazon. I think they are "Gunpla" so even more surprised they worked. But even if they are cheap. Couldn't fault them in this instance. I've had to order a blow torch as the big 19mm nuts are well stuck. I've heard about a few people breaking the captive threaded studs these attach to. So not taking any risks. Heat required....

I realise I'm jumping around a bit. A few half finished jobs on the go But currently the car is on axle stands with a few plans for winter fixes. So i picked up the ultraracing front brace and I'm halfway through removing the old rusty one. It was going ok untill I rounded a bolt. (Despite being really carefull, using 6 point sockets and a gently gently approach) Anyway, I had some extractor sockets from when I was doing the kidney brackets.(didn't end up using them there) and with out much expectations I hammered one on. Have to say I am soooo impressed. Hanging off it with the breaker bar. It held fast and removed the bolt. 100% my new favourite tool.

Looking sweet my man!

So I bought an ALMOST set of coilovers. A set of BCs for the 350z. They were going really cheap. But are missing some parts. Ie. the rear dampers! (Lol) I've got the adjustable rear springs and seats. Now I contacted bc to see if i could buy separately and they were looking well over 500 pound just for the rear damper assy (non true coilovers) So I was exploring other options, For rear damping. The Tein enduro pro plus seem to have a a rear damper that you can adjust too. And I can get a pair for like 300 euro. So I might go down this route. Any thoughts? Unless some random is breaking a set of BCs. ?

Yeah I'm in northern ireland so slightly different mot set up here. But I failed mine on the rear cross member mentioned. I bought a new one. But seen that it would be a mare to fit. So I just ripped the old one out and never replaced it. Fitted new kidney brackets and a whiteline w brace. And took it to a different mot test center. They have a look. They see shiny new parts. It's passes. Even if they've mentioned "rear cross member" most mechanics are not familiar with 350z. They can just see if it's rusty or not. If it ain't present. It ain't rusty. And it won't fail. Every 350z owner bins them.

Heat gun might work better. I didn't have one. The glue however runs the entire perimeter of the lens. So I'm kinda thinking all the glue would need to be heated in unison to get the lens moving at all. So yeah maybe someone with a heat gun can try. But oven worked well. No melting of plastic or browning of the clear lens.

Yeah same here. It scared me a bit. But now having a spare light made me less fearful. Little to lose. Glue doesn't need long in the oven at all to soften. So risk of things melting is low as long as you leave it in for a minute at a time. My process I had it in and out maybe 5 times. The glue would get hard again quickly once out of the oven.

Next mod on the list: Rear red lens fog light removal. After following a previous "how to" guide on this site. I stuck the rear bumper light cluster in the oven. And using some trim removal tools.pried the lens away from the black housing. Once opened and clearing away the sticky glue. I took out the red lens and the mirrored backing. Both of which came away easily. Back in the oven for a minute to make the glue tacky again. And resealed the unit. Confession. I was worried about wrecking my lights. So I bought a cheap 2nd hand unit off Ebay to try this mod. Since it was successful. Next I just gotta get a red bulb to replace the affected fog light, take off the rear bumper and fit the new clear lens. Which hopefully add some symmetry to the rear of the car

Another sneaky little mod. The black Zunsport grill added. Still a little bit unsure about it. But will leave it on and see if it grows on me.

So popped up the gearstick surround bezel. Disconnect the ribbon style harness wire connecting them. The dials are held in by a single black screw and clips you have to pry back. Two on top and two on the sides. (I didn't spot the side ones at first.) Lever them out with a screw driver and they pop out. I did a quick function test before reassembly. All the controls seem to work so I reassembled them and voila. A little more bling added to my interior.

Oh good question. I know there is 3 types of heating controls. The ones that came in my early 2004 350z. Then the one with the slightly larger silver rear bezel. (I assumed this was a rev up change. But maybe it's a japan import thing) And then the ones that come on the interior facelift models on the HR and such with the silver rotating parts and black rear housing. The 3 types I know of pictured here:

Yeah some wet wipes, q tips and then some tissues to dry it off and reassemble.