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I replaced the city lights in the headlight housing with 9 bulb LEDs. The difference is startling...
Before After
While I was at the store I figured I should replace my license plate lights. I got slightly smaller 5 bulb LED lights. Also I polished the housings which were kind of cloudy from age. I discovered that both of my original license plate light bulbs were burned out so they needed to be replaced anyway. Here is the amazing result:
After changing out some of the light bulbs to LEDs, I turn my attention to underneath the car again. Specifically I wanted to change the anti sway bar bushings for some urethane bushings. For under $40 yes, the anti-sway bars can be more efficiently used because urethane is a firmer material than rubber.
I started with the front bar. I removed the belly pain which gives complete access to the anti sway bar bushings. When I removed the bushing brackets, I noticed that the bushings were cracked and crumbling.
I lubed the new bushings and installed them. I left the belly pan off because I want to locate a pesky oil leak. I'm suspecting either the oil cooler seal or valve cover gasket. I may just replace both out of abundance of caution because those are two very common oil leaks in the 350Z.
The rear bushings were in good condition but I replace them anyway. I went for a test drive and immediately felt the more precise handling. But I got an additional benefit even though I replaced both front lower control arms and compression arms, I still noticed a clunking sound sometimes when I went over uneven surfaces. That clunking sound had vanished so clearly it was the worn out anti sway bar bushings. The suspension now is completely quiet. I'm very happy with this modification because handling is improved and the clunking sound is gone and it did not even cost me $40.
While on my quest to improve the car just a little bit with things like the urethane bushings and LED lights, I considered the factory Bose stereo. I thought about possibly replacing the head unit with a modern unit, possibly even a touch screen unit. But in all honesty I really wanted to keep the car as Factory as possible and just improve it a little bit. Changing the speakers are out of the question because of the unusual impedance of the Bose system.
Someone suggested to me the idea of and FM transmitter so I can play music from my phone on the car radio and also make and receive telephone calls through the radio. I went to Target and purchased an FM transmitter which plugs into the 12-volt Outlet. It's a rather remarkable little device.
some years ago they made these but they didn't seem to be a very high quality. The more modern ones seem to work much better and have a better reputation than they did years ago according to my research online.
the FM transmitter I got was the brand Just Wireless and it cost about $30. I tuned the radio to 87.7 and I set the FM transmitter to the same frequency. I chose this frequency because it is below the normal frequencies used in the United States by commercial radio stations so there should not be any interference.
if my phone is on Bluetooth and I get in the car and turn the car on with the radio set to 87.7, I get a voice that tells me the battery voltage and whether or not the Bluetooth is connected. Once it is connected I can play music from Spotify or YouTube videos or whatever. I can also make and receive phone calls. I find that the person on the other end of my phone calls hear me quite well and I hear them very well on the factory radio. With most if not all states requiring hands-free use of cellphones, this is quite a good device and it gives the car a more modern feel. This technology didn't exist much if at all when the car was made in 2005. Most cars made after 2010 seem to have this technology. Anyway I'm very pleased with the result.
I'm going to continue my quest to make slight but effective improvements to the car. One of the things I would like to do is hook up the steering wheel radio controls from my Nismo steering wheel so that it will operate the stereo. I looked up the wiring diagram for the 06 and above 350Z cars and discovered that there are three wires that go from the steering wheel switch to the stereo unit and end at connector M39 in the back of the stereo unit. I'm going to figure out a way to run some wire from there too the connector at the steering wheel. There are two other wires that go to the steering switch and they are to illuminate the steering switches for both the radio controls and the cruise control. I'm go to see about hooking those up as well so I have illuminated switches on my steering wheel.
other than a K&N air filter change, I've done nothing to improve the performance of the engine. Actually I did put the factory Nismo muffler on which saved about 8 pounds of weight but most likely did not cause an improvement in horsepower. I did change the PCV valve as an abundance of caution and was pretty cheap at about $11 from AutoZone. I thought about and oil catch can but I don't think I'm going to do that.
I think one of the most effective modifications for the 2005 non rev up engine is a plenum spacer of 5/16 in. I would like to do the plenum spacer and possibly remove the throttle body heater since the car will very rarely see very cold temperatures. I may replace the intake tube with a mishimoto tube. In all likelihood, I will probably leave the intake alone except for the plenum spacer.
The only exterior lights that I haven't touched are the rear turn signals. I think close to $200 is a lot to pay for the LED turn signals I have seen on the market. Therefore, I'm considering making my own, much like I did with the front drl's. I think sequential LED turn signals would give the car a little bit of a snazzy appearance while not being too ricey.
Anyway that's the progress and some thoughts of future projects. Thoughts and comments are welcome
Here is an update of things done to the car. I had an oil leak and I believed that the oil leak was coming from the valve covers. While I had the valve covers off I figured I would do multiple projects at the same time. I bought a 1/2" plenum spacer and installed that as well as new spark plugs in addition to the new valve covers and gaskets. The good news is that the car seemed to have better performance from the intake spacer. The bad news is that the oil leak is still there, I think from the valve cover gaskets still. Also once a plenum spacer is installed, the engine cover doesn't fit unless it is significantly trimmed. I also discovered that the top of the plenum contacts the strut brace. For now, the plastic engine cover and strut brace remain off the car. I'm a space up the strut brace and reinstall it.
I also added an air horn to the intake on the throttle body side of the air filter box, similar to the 2006 300 horsepower engine accept my air horn is much larger.
I found a used Y pipe from an HR engine....2007-2008. I had to remove a couple of underbody trays but the performance increase was noticeable.
My alternator went out a couple of weeks ago. I replaced that as well as the belt tensioner pulley.
I believe it was a couple of years ago, I replaced the driver's side window regulator and motor. It never seemed to work particularly well and it finally stopped working. This past weekend I replace both regulator and motor on the driver side and it works great.
I've noticed a knocking sound pretty much since I got the car but it's getting worse. I have heard that timing chains make a rattling sound but this sounds more like a rod knock but I'm not certain. With 215000 miles on the clock, I may be due for an engine change. I'm thinking of a low mileage JDM Engine. Does anyone know if the JDM engine has the same horsepower as the usdm engine?
Last edited by DeusExMaxima; 01-20-2020 at 01:44 PM.
Starter went out. Nissan does not make a starter for this car any more so I had to go aftermarket. What is interesting is that I pulledthe starter to have it tested and it tested good. I put it back in the car and it didnt work. After a bunch of monkeying around I decided to pull the starter again and replace it. The new starter works great and continues to work great.
The clear coat has peeled off in most areas so I decided to polish the paint until I repaint the car. It looks much better. I used Griots tire shine and boy is that stuff good!
Over time and the California sun, my paint has seen better days. The clear coat has been peeling for some time. I am thinking about a color change and the only color I would change it to would be red, if I decided to change. I did a poor rendering but here it is:
I love red, but only if the Z is totally stripped and the engine bay, door jams, hatch area, etc. are all included in the respray. Otherwise, keep it super black, or a black variation like Malbec black..
I love red, but only if the Z is totally stripped and the engine bay, door jams, hatch area, etc. are all included in the respray. Otherwise, keep it super black, or a black variation like Malbec black..
Holy crap you're still around. I still have my '08 Nismo BTW.
Update**** I added a Takeda intake and a Stillen TD exhaust. This makes the car louder of course but not bad.
Going back to painting car red....Im thinking about buying a red convertible and installing my Nismo parts on it after having the body parts painted red. Then Iwould install my old parts on the black Z and sell it.
Just curious but.... How much would my black 350Z with the Nismo parts on it be worth on the open market? Needs paint and new top, engine has 219,000 miles.
09-20-2018, 08:53 PM
