The Shark Build

[Stutopia]

I've read some really insightful and entertaining build threads on the forum and always wanted one of my own. In comparison to the work some of the extremely skilled members do on here, mine is a lot lightweight. My role has been more toward the conception, funding and supervision of the build than the actual hands on work. But I've done a few of these jobs and got my hands greasy in a car for the first time ever, so I am learning - albeit slowly.

 

As we've just celebrated out first 6 months together, now seemed like a good time to start. This will be more of a journal than a build, for the reasons stated above. I distinctly remember saying in an early post something about, I'm not planning to do any mods...

 

 

GROUND ZERO

 

This is her on our first night together. I was a little nervous (it can be like that the first time), I'd come from a 1.2 Clio and never even sat in a two seater, RWD, coupe with a monster engine before. I bought her stock except for the Scorpion, or so I thought. I later found out I'd inherited a plenum spacer and a Cosworth panel filter (I didn't know what I was looking at when I bought her!).

 

A 2004, UK, GT in GM with 33k on the clock.

 

 

 

I started off as intended, replacing a few tired looking bits. Namely an Evo-R Burnt Titanium knob from Redline Styling, going in for the very worn OEM knob.

 

 

 

Shortly followed by a red gaiter to liven up the cockpit.

 

 

 

Then the classic tax disc holder mod, a must-have early mod I’ve since learnt.

 

 

 

It didn’t take long for me to get bored with the Bose head unit and its lack of connectivity, so in went a Pioneer AVH-X2500BT.

 

 

 

I quickly realised it wasn’t the head unit holding back the sound in the Zed, it was everything else. At this point I unlearned everything I thought I knew about Bose. Thanks to Green’s Car Radio, Blackpool for my new kit.

 

Hertz HDP5 Amplifier

 

 

 

Hertz HSK 165 Components for the front, a 10� Clarion sub and some Hertz HCX Coaxials in the “rear’.

 

 

 

Her previous owner felt a Nismo badge was a reasonable performance mod, I didn’t. It went, along with the rest and some nice black burgers arrived to replace them. I also did a maintenance mod and had some corrosion spots on the roof and passenger door dealt with.

 

 

 

Kept it real by doing a couple of textbook mods next. A cargo net (the most practical Zed mod I think) and a stubby, courtesy of Redline Styling.

 

 

 

 

I kept going for the musical mods as this is where I felt most comfortable and ripped out the solid speaker grilles, carved them up and clothed them in glorious lilywhite.

 

 

 

Another “up to standard� mod next (I was still kidding myself I wasn’t going to do much) as the old brake lights came off and the LEDs went on, thanks to DavidBaker8130.

 

 

 

Whilst this was happening I had to deal with the asymmetrical fog/rev/indicator clusters and go crystal, light OCD demands symmetry.

 

 

 

Picked up my first ever rattle can and set about dealing with the Zed’s penchant for tired looking plastics. Plastidipped the drivers door switch trim.

 

 

After a near miss with a child who felt running comes before looking when alighting a bus, I decided to improve stopping power as the last MOT had an advisory for a corroded brake line. Zmanalex once again, with the HELs.

 

 

 

Back on the maintenance trail the corroded W brace underneath went in a skip, new one from Zmanalex.

 

 

 

In my quest to get the boot to open on one pop, the struts (SGS Engineering) were replaced, the lift springs (Zmanalex), the boot weight removed and new bumpons added to the lift springs. It still refuses to pop every now and again, probably just for old time’s sake.

 

The Rays were a constant blip on my radar and thanks to Alloy Expert, Blackpool they were fully refurbished.

 

 

 

Whilst she was in I was determined to get rid of the assortment of Bridgestone rubber (thanks Ekona for the tyres thread, I learnt and awful lot). I was stunned by the difference the Michelin’s made. Initially I soiled myself at the price, but it’s one of the best things I have done on the Zed. The tramlining went, the roar went, the steering stepped up, the feel improved, the TCS stopped winking, the back end stopped tying to overtake me. In short, if you are thinking of tyres, look no further. Having previously bought ditchfinders on the Clio, I was stunned by the difference tyres could make. Do it.

 

 

 

A Zunsport Grille from Redline Styling was next on the list, as I started to drift away from doing upkeep mods and into styling mods.

 

 

 

Not long after a box arrived from across the pond from B2 Auto Designs.

 

Shiny Hood Dampers

 

 

 

Tanabe Sustec Brace with a Titanium Pro-Bolt kit

 

 

 

Motordyne Plenum Spacer

 

 

 

Mishi Magnetic Sump Plug

 

 

 

Thanks to Ironhide a shiny red cooling panel landed and went directly in.

 

 

 

The pleasing finish of the plastidipped door switch trim was not as rugged as I had hoped, so I secured some of these from RT. The finish is top and they look the nuts, I’m not even a CF fan generally, but I love these.

 

 

 

I was coming up for a P3, so I decided to go the whole hog and get a pack from Alex, some belts from Cougar Store and some Muteki Lugs from Tarmac Sportz. Changed the gearbox and diff oil too.

 

 

 

The drop links and under tray were flagged at the service, so another parcel headed south from Zmanalex with the drops. Whilst they were being done, it seemed rude not to pick up a Samco hose kit from Cougar Store and a well timed sale from tony.r123 meant a matching Samco intake pipe would fit in nicely. Keeping things red in the bay, a Horsham Developments grounding kit went in, great little mod this, smoothed my throttle response at low gears immensely. I only did it for the colour scheme as well

 

 

Undertray from Tarmac Sportz, this really is a great item. My plastic excuse for an undertray limped off in embarrassment when this was unboxed. Shame no one can see it most of the time.

 

[Stutopia]

Phase Dos

 

 

The rear wiper delete took my fancy one day, it’s now one of my favourite mods, it really ties the back end together.

 

 

 

I’ve never really been a bodykit kinda guy, but my head was turned by...

 

A Veilside V1 lip from Tarmac Sportz

 

 

 

A gorgeous Circuit Sports CF diffuser from Redline Styling

 

 

 

A set of side steps from Aerokit

 

 

 

All fitted and coded by St Anne’s Bodywork centre, whilst she was in for a front bumper re-spray to sort a “smart” repair by a previous owner which was flaking.

 

Back in the spirit of maintenance, I had the mirrors gloss blacked, to cover another “smart” repair and the bubbling handles sanded back and re-sprayed.

 

 

Last but not really last, as I’ll be in for more mods no doubt. Added my first ever private plate and kissed goodbye to the plinth.

 

 

 

Future Plans

 

I have some lightweight pulleys waiting to go on and a clicky rear axle fix coming up soon.

 

I really feel I’m starting to reach the point where she is coming up to scratch; except the interior plastics still irritate me (I’d love to have them clad in leather), the exhaust has a slight blow so I’ve started browsing, I guess a remap makes sense, the seats could do with a refurb or maybe just replacing, the engine bay needs some more attention, I need a polished plenum. Beyond that I’m getting out, I’m choosing life...

 

...maybe a little coilover action wouldn’t hurt. I’m not addicted at all

 

 

Lastly (for now) this is not only my first proper car and the first time I’ve modded anything, it’s also the first time I’ve joined a proper forum. I’ve learnt a huge amount in the last 6 months, seen some awesome/hilarious stuff, and benefited hugely from the collective wisdom of others. Thanks to those traders who’ve raided my bank account and put up with my noobish questions when purchasing. I’ve been to a few different forum stores (named and shamed above) and all of the customer service I have received has always been top notch and the advice spot on, not had a hard sell yet

 

But it’s not just the professional advice that’s been great, there’s been loads of other stuff too. This place makes owning a car like the Zed a much more comfortable proposition for someone like me, there’s literally nothing you guys don’t know (except maybe the cure for Zeditis), so thank you one and all!

[Will370z]

Very nice, and a good little write up.

 

Car looks very good and lookslike you have lots of plans.

 

Totally agree on the michelin tyres, made a big difference for me too.

[spursmaddave]

Nice write up and some top notch mods, no expense spared

[ddcboyle]

Whats the purpose of changing the w shape undercarraige part? Didnt think it had a purpose other than stop rocks hitting exhaust

[SteveRS]

Looking really great Stu

[Hooch]

Awesome post dude, now there's even more stuff I have to buy for mine!

[Scott TMN]

nice progress fella, was a good read. will be keeping my eye on this!

[Stutopia]

Whats the purpose of changing the w shape undercarraige part? Didnt think it had a purpose other than stop rocks hitting exhaust

 

Not sure to be fully honest. It was flaking into rusty pieces so I figured that if it was meant to be there, it wasn't meant to be falling to bits. I'm going for rigidity and an extra 10bhp!

[Stutopia]

Thanks for good feedback gang, I was a bit worried I'd not done enough stuff!

 

Should add a thanks to SMD, for advice on crystal fogs and ICE. Extremely helpful.

[spursmaddave]

Thanks for good feedback gang, I was a bit worried I'd not done enough stuff!

 

Should add a thanks to SMD, for advice on crystal fogs and ICE. Extremely helpful.

 

No worries, hope I get to hear that sound system one day

[ATTAK Z]

Very nice tasteful mods

[mattross1313]

Very good project thread, great read

I would hardly say you havent done much, its much the same as how my project thread started off! Keep up the good work matey!

[bizz]

Good work Stu. It's looking really tidy and very nice example.

 

I know what you mean about the forum though. I only joined a little while ago but everyone is friendly and got lots of useful hints, tips and comments. No stupid keyboard warriors or haters on here!!!

 

Keep up the good work man

[MikeeB]

Nice write up, you've certainly been splashing the cash on your Z.

 

The alloy refurb looks great, almost chrome?

[Stutopia]

"Chrome effect" it was described as, which sounds a bit rubs TBH. I picked it from example wheels, probably would've turned my nose up at the name, but really pleased with them. Didn't want to go dark on a GM.

 

Also easier to keep clean than real chrome

[wmr1980]

Great write up. Making me think already of things I want to do when I finally get mine! Looks really smart.

 

Did you manage to fit that sub in the same space as the Bose one by modifying the hole or was it a straight fit?

 

Love the carbon fibre - is that just a wrap?

[Stutopia]

Thanks, I've tried to keep most of it fairly stealth but the gear knob and gaiter are a bit lairy compared to the rest.

 

I believe the sub was indeed a straight swap, I must admit I left it to a pro as the ICE was a bit on the expensive side for me to explode by accident. The CF on the trim is dipped I believe, by the skilled hands of RT. Sadly I think he's packed up his tank now and retired.

[Reeco]

Awesome build mate, a lot of subtle exterior mods have made it look a lot better! Also loving the carbon fibre driver control trim, might have to get one!

[hensh65]

Looks top notch mate

 

Although i am confused your avitar has an azure zed when yours is silver ?

[Stutopia]

The avatar is my other Zed, from Gran Turismo. I'd be less keen on getting that kind of air in my GM!

[Keyser]

Great thread

 

Keep us up to speed on your "Not modding"

[Stutopia]

Great thread

 

Keep us up to speed on your "Not modding"

 

Hehehe. Next not mods are not installing reverse camera, not getting Berks, not changing centre caps and definitely not plasti-dipping the rear strut cover. Photo updates to come... sometime

[Stutopia]

Little update for today.

 

Finally got the reverse cam working as intended, not especially complex job but still took two goes. The kind of job that requires patience (especially jamming the headunit and centre console back in - grrrrrr) which I am not blessed with. Couple of thanks to dish out, firstly to AFTERSHOX for this guide:

 

http://www.350z-uk.c...l-–-superguide/

 

It was indispensable for ripping out the trim and routing wires I strongly urge anyone thinking of doing this mod to read this first. It might not all apply, but a lot will.

 

Thanks also to BulletMagnet for some tech support when this was not looking so good for me, and also SMD - is he even still around here these days? Probably on some Saga Jaaaag owners holiday - for answering a few questions before I got going and giving me some pointers and the confidence to give it a whirl.

 

Pics below, just cos I love 'em.

 

Pretty the cam, just pokes out the plate bulb space - much less prominent than the pic suggests.

 

 

The output up in the bridge, fully auto-switching now - thanks BM.

 

 

Well pleased with this little mod, especially since the rear wiper delete and return of the rain. One of the more practical mods and all for about £30.

[Stutopia]

Not every step with Zeditis is a step forward, thanks go to a little bit of steel on some plant pots for this undesired "mod".

 

 

An embarrasing trip back to the bodyshop to get her fixed but not to bad at £65

 

Looks like I need a cam up front as well...