longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) 02/11/19 - The car has now been sold on ----------------- Back in May 2012 I was finally able to afford to buy my dream car, a big, quick, rear wheel drive, Japanese sports car. At the time I was torn between a Mk4 Supra or the 350Z. From my research, both were roughly on par in terms of performance in stock form and both had good reliability making them a nice base platform for modifications. The more modern car swung it for me in the end. And the colour! I never intended to buy a limited edition 350Z but when it came up, fairly local, in my price range, and in excellent condition it was too hard to resist. Part of me regrets not getting a normal 350 as I'm in a constant internal battle between going all out on the modifications or leaving it stock / OEM+ because its limited edition. So far mods have been kept fairly subtle. ----------------- Purchase After a couple of months searching I stumbled on a yellow GT4. I'd read about the GT4's but never expecting to find one in my price range, 20-something miles from me, with full Nissan history, almost new MOT, no dents (door dings), perfect interior and only 40k on the clock. Off I went to view the car. After a very thorough inspection, test drive and chat with the dealer, I left a very happy man and £350 (deposit) lighter. After the test drive I must have spent a good hour just sort of staring at the car, calm and collected on the outside, screaming internally because I just wanted to take it there and then. There were a couple of minor problems, the car was due a P1, tax was about to expire, it needed new brake pads, the clutch was on its way out but would last a bit longer before it would start slipping, it had some stone chips and the Bose CD changer was temperamental to say the least. Before the deposit was taken the dealer agreed to give it a P1 equivalent service, fit new brake pads and knock six months tax off the price. They also tried to fix the Bose head unit (which they did and it worked for about 2 weeks!) and touched up (very professionally I might add) the majority of stone chips. Two or three days later after blagging the day off work to collect, the missus and I arrived to see my little beauty up on ramps having its pads changed. Paid up, limped to a petrol station with the DTE reading '-----' and then set off into the sunset (kinda). Of course all good stories have their sad moments and a couple of months after purchase I had to sell my pride and joy at the time, a 1997 Mk2 Rev4 Toyota MR2. It was a sad day to see her go. I should have just kept it. ----------------- Day of collection: And how she looks now: ----------------- Changes/Mods/Replacements complete (in date order): June/July 2012 - Replaced clutch with Exedy clutch and OEM flywheel (dual mass), replaced Bose headunit with Pioneer AppRadio2 Sept 2012 - New tyres - Falken 452's all round, Dec/Jan 2013 - Nismo gear knob, 380RS pedal, 350Z floor mats, gas bonnet lifters, stubby aerial (Civic aerial) March 2013 - Aftermarket alarm with remote start April 2013 - 20/25 Eibach spacers, TaperPro gold lug and locking nuts June 2013 - P3 service, braided clutch hose and new slave cylinder to fix the sticky clutch problem, HKS drop in panel filter, remove boot weight to stop it eating me July 2013 - Boot divider Aug 2013 - Remove spacers and fit 19" gloss black LMGT4 alloys (19x8.5 ET25 front, 19x9.5 ET30 rear), clear LED reflectors and LED bulbs (internal, side, number plate, side indicator lights), silver front indicators Sept 2013 - Fit reverse camera, relocate drivers heated seat button, aero wiper blades Nov 2013 - Painted brake fluid and battery cover lettering in yellow, fitted carbon fibre air diversion plate. April/May 2014 - Milltek exhaust system and Berk high flow cats. Aug 2014 - De-fried-egged the rear clusters, fitted LED reverse and log light, fitted cleared out rear fog light and P1 service at Japex Sept 2014 - Uprev and plenum spacer fitted by Abbey Motorsport. Oct/Nov 2014 - Hosetechnik braided brake lines, hawk ceramic pads front and rear, replaced heater ECU. Dec 2014 - Personalised registration and new battery Jan 2015 - Facelift LED rear lights fitted Feb 2015 - Replaced TPi wheel nuts with Nismo steel wheel nuts. April 2016 - P2 service, Berk HFC's replaced with stock cats and LMGT4's replaced with stock GT4 alloys. Aug 2016 - Alarm replaced with Cat1 alarm. March 2017 - Brakes replaced all round with DBA T3 discs and Brembo HP Sport pads. Also replaced the drop links front and rear with Whiteline adjustable links. April 2017 - Work Emotion T7R alloys in white (18x8.5 / 18x9.5 - ET30 all round) as well as some Yokohama AD08R tyres (245/40/48 - 265/40/18). Also replaced the PCV as a precaution. April 2018 - P1 service + new boot struts from SGS Engineering (Nismo spoiler version for extra propping power ) May 2018 - Gran Turismo sun strip. June 2018 - Windscreen replaced due to a chip that cracked when repair attempted. Sun strip didn't last long! Aug 2018 - Replaced sun strip. Apr 2019 - P3 service at Japex Future plans and ideas: A list of a few things I'd like to do in a rough order of priority. This list will no doubt go through many changes based on my current seesaw position of 'keep it stock, its limited edition' and 'modify the hell out of it'. Harness bar - http://www.gcfabrica...7_13654174.aspx Recaro Speed or Pole Position bucket seats or perhaps Corbeau Sportline RRB Clip in 4 or 5 point harness, retain standard belts for day to day. Coilovers - Thinking KW V3 or Ohlins Rear ARB Mishimoto oil cooler Baffled oil sump Paint a few bits an pieces (door handles, engine cover, rear brace cover). Nissan Bi-Xenon (06+) headlights Edited November 5, 2019 by longsh07 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andysmee Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 I'm at the beginning of this journey, but mine has the v1 kit already... I might have to sell it and get a Zed I *can* modify with a clear conscience. will follow this with interest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jp606 Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) Looks lovely, the black wheels really suit it. How do you find the head unit? I need to replace my stock one with something better and was looking at the AppRadios. Edited October 26, 2013 by Jp606 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) Looks lovely, the black wheels really suit it. How do you find the head unit? I need to replace my stock one with something better and was looking at the AppRadios. Thanks The AppRadio was a bit flakey with my old Samsung Galaxy S2 (think the connection on the bottom of the phone was a bit dodgy) but since moving to an iPhone 5 and updating the software its been solid as a rock. Couple of annoyances, you cannot use and iPod or the radio and Smartphone (apps) at the same time, just one or the other. The other is that the way you have to connect up an iPhone 5 means you can no longer use the old style iPod connector at the same time. Edited October 26, 2013 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Look's great especially with those wheels on yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 Cheers guys. Im really happy with the wheels. Glad I spotted Octet selling them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) June/July 2012 Replaced clutch with Exedy clutch and OEM flywheel (dual mass), replaced Bose headunit with Pioneer AppRadio2 Clutch stuff: Love the very Japanese cartoons on the boxes Headunit: Out with the old - In with the new Edit: Updated my wiring to work with iPhone5. Note the old style connector doesn't work with this setup. Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) Sept 2012 New tyres - Falken 452's all round All four in one Zed! Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) Dec 2012/Jan 2013 Nismo gear knob, 380RS pedal, 350Z flood mats, gas bonnet lifters, stubby aerial (Civic aerial) Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) March 2013 Aftermarket alarm with remote start. The guy who installed it was a clown. He smoked while working on my car (which made it stink for weeks), dropped his torch on my rear quarter and dented it, blew a fuse that controlled the dash (which I ended up replacing myself because he couldn't figure out what the issue was!), damaged the heater control ribbon cable and then left the job half finished with no remote start and very bad wiring! The owner of the company ended up coming to visit and practically reinstalled the alarm from scratch and finished the job that eejit he sent before messed up... The owner did take money off so I could have the dent repaired which I have yet to do as a bit of elbow grease and polish has improved it a lot since the picture below... Total install time - 3 days between two installers. No pictures of the actual alarm or remote start or anything just of the dent and damaged ribbon cable... Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) April 2013 20/25 Eibach spacers, TaperPro gold lug and locking nuts Perfect birthday present, nice set of spacers and some gold wheel nuts - Thanks mum Before: After - My pro iPhone photography from different angles makes it super easy to see the difference Oh and I also build this little bugger around the same time Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) June 13 P3 service (including replacing rubber clutch hose with braided hose to fix the sticky clutch problem and HKS drop in panel filter), remove boot weight to stop it eating me Off with no damage! Box of P3 goodies - Cheers Alex Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) July 13 Fit boot divider - Thanks to Ian for making me a custom two tone boot divider, I love it and the quality is fantastic Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) Aug 13 Remove spacers and fit 19" gloss black LMGT4 alloys, clear LED reflectors and LED bulbs (internal, side, number plate, side indicator lights), silver front indicators Reflectors first - Cheers Chris, these things are brilliant but if I ever do this again im having the wheels off! And the LMGT4's! Little too much poke with the spacer on! Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) Sept 13 Fit reverse camera, relocate drivers heated seat button, aero wiper blades All this mess... For this little bugger! Moved the seat heater button to be symmetrical! Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Great pictures. It's always good seeing people do there mod's themselves rather than just rocking up to a garage & throwing a load of cash at them to get them to do it. Excellent. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 Great pictures. It's always good seeing people do there mod's themselves rather than just rocking up to a garage & throwing a load of cash at them to get them to do it. Excellent. Thanks buddy I don't do everything myself on the 350. Things like services and the clutch were done by Japex. My 106 track toy/winter car on the other hand has all been on the drive! http://thrll.com/car/1997-peugeot-106-12869 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Great pictures. It's always good seeing people do there mod's themselves rather than just rocking up to a garage & throwing a load of cash at them to get them to do it. Excellent. Thanks buddy I don't do everything myself on the 350. Things like services and the clutch were done by Japex. My 106 track toy/winter car on the other hand has all been on the drive! http://thrll.com/car...ugeot-106-12869 Still at least you do as much as you can yourself. I do as much as I can myself too but there's always something with car's that it just isn't feasible to do yourself at home whether it's because of equipment/time constraints or something else. Bet that 106 is fun on track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Great progress Matt. Looking forward to seeing future developments. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Excellent Looks stunning mate 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delz0r Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Great thread! Awesome colour . Any pics further back of the LED reflectors on? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 Great pictures. It's always good seeing people do there mod's themselves rather than just rocking up to a garage & throwing a load of cash at them to get them to do it. Excellent. Thanks buddy I don't do everything myself on the 350. Things like services and the clutch were done by Japex. My 106 track toy/winter car on the other hand has all been on the drive! http://thrll.com/car...ugeot-106-12869 Still at least you do as much as you can yourself. I do as much as I can myself too but there's always something with car's that it just isn't feasible to do yourself at home whether it's because of equipment/time constraints or something else. Bet that 106 is fun on track. True, plus this way if the day comes I have to sell her I can say she has a good reputable history The 106 hasn't seen a track yet due to various mods taking longer than expected. For example I wanted to lower it on springs, only by 40mm and put some adjustable shocks on. Simple right? No. Ended up replacing the entire rear axle and rebuilding most of the rear brake lines! Leaving it as is for now (unless a cheap Janspeed manifold comes up for sale) then next year will be the first track session in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 (edited) On 26/10/2013 at 23:13, delz0r said: Great thread! Awesome colour . Any pics further back of the LED reflectors on? Here you go Edited September 19, 2019 by longsh07 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delz0r Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Looks great, I definitely need to add them to mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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