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This will be my personal thread to show everyone my build and for people to follow along in this glorious journey if they so choose.
To start out I purchased my 2003 350z Base model back in june of this year(2016) and it has made its way into replacing my other daily, and now my daily/dream build.
Basic info on the car:
109k mile clean title Base model
39k mile VQ35DE engine swap
6 Speed Manual
If you wish to follow me in this thread it will be very picture heavy and also may have reviews of some parts that I am putting into the build over time
Last edited by jperkins21; 11-02-2016 at 08:58 AM.
First things first I will start with some pictures and info on when I purchased this car. The previous owner didn't show the car much love and the oil rings were shot in the 109k mile motor that was in the car. The carpet was ripped out from being "stained and muddy" as the previous owner stated. Brand new black carpet went into the car and it sat until late july until i found a perfect motor for the car.
The car came with stock wheels that were plasti-dipped, the muffler was cut off and had a 4" pipe halfway welded into place, a dented passenger fender, a drivers quarter with a slight amount of bondo in it, a broken front lip, and dryrotted tires that probably werent going to make it very long
Needless to say, I purchased this car with the full intentions of going widebody/ Rocket Bunny as it has been a dream for a couple years now
The motor swap was flawless with a lift (I highly recommend a lift). We had the engine and transmission out by dropping the engine cradle completely. It only took us 1.5 hours to drop, and then a completed total of 6-7 hours to completely get it running and driving without ever doing a 350z engine swap before.
I will say that if you do an engine swap or even a clutch replacement, watch your pivot ball and make sure there isn't any clutch dust on your input shaft. Not sure if it was where mine was dirty and couldn't move the throwout bearing but as soon as i started the car for the first time after the engine swap, my pivot ball broke off the threads from inside the trans. It was only a $7 Nissan part but man it was a bummer having to take the trans loose again
Soon after getting the car back up and running to daily standards a new exhaust and wheels were the first few things on the list. I ordered a HKS Replica exhaust and bought a set of 20x9 +35 XXR 526 off a close friend
The HKS replica is a great buy for the money, sounds great and fitment was spot on
As for XXR haters, I havent had a problem with them yet. They are made in the same factories that produce work wheels, and have also passed the wheel inspections for Japanese wheels, so they are good enough for me
Last edited by jperkins21; 10-04-2016 at 11:15 AM.
Shortly after getting the wheels and exhaust on I sold another project that I had on the backburner and had to make the plunge into Rocket Bunny Territory. I ordered 20x11 XXRs for the back with some pirelli p-zero 305/30-20. And you may be asking"why go 20s when everyone else is doing 18s and 19s" and the simplest answer I could give was that I knew i wouldnt be happy with how 18s looked and I came from the minitruck scene so I had to be different and go with 20s.
I ordered the kit, and within a weekend I had gotten the flares, and front bumper on. Then the next weekend I had spent about 5 hours fitting the rear diffuser and the splitter. 2 weekends of kit install and straight to a car show with my buddy Jeremy and his challenger to support both my college and the USO
This has me updated up until about a week ago. Still have lots to do to the car as it is still fresh out of the garage from putting the kit on. And yes I do know i need to improve and fix a couple fitment things with the kits. Also as far as paint and color choices, I am not sure about that. I need to get everything done first before any other color gets put on.
Also it has been about 600 miles since the motor was swapped, and I highly recommend doing some sort of catch can. I decided to use two SMC water traps, mainly because I had them on my bagged s10 so I know they perform well, and they also have a particle filter in a small package compared to cheap empty cans.
In the pictures below you can see that after 600 miles of driving on the 40k mile engine, the passenger side pcv valve has definitely shot some oil down into the can (its the light filter and oil in the can), and then it appears that the driver side one has more oil vapors than actual oil (very dark filter and no oil in can)
Is that the official Rocket Bunny kit or is that the TKYO Bunny kit? Cause there seems to be a bit of a fitment issue where the fenders and the bumper meetup. Other than that it looks great man. Can't wait to see the final result!
DAcodered: It is a replica kit. The other side fits good. The drivers side I still need to trim and I also drilled the mounting hole a little over. Not having anybody to help me out me in a rush along with a massive storm that was shaking my metal garage
HRMoneyPit: no that is no where near the purpose of the kit
id really look into moving away from a cheap 20" wheel into proper suspension and custom wheel fitment.
A lot of people run this kit and can certainly share their proper offsets and suspension set ups with you.
To each his own though.
also, have the rear inner sheet metal tack welded and sealed. As a diy, im sure what was carried out works w the rivet thing and all.. but its really not the proper way to carry out a pie cut and fender trim. the labor to do it properly w longevity should be very inexpensive for any welder or body guy.
the cars are always a progression.. hopefully you have plans to " get it there" in the future regardless. Just offering my 2 cents to possibly save you some time in effort to get a far better finished product to enjoy.
Last edited by bmccann101; 10-05-2016 at 09:03 AM.
Just ordered a speaker box for under the strut tower. Going to be installing the box, the amp rack, two pioneer champion series 10" subs, and the pioneer d9601 1200w @ 1ohm amp this weekend if time allows.
I also plan on finding a spot to mount the amp either on the side of the box under the amp rack or somewhere not on the amp rack. I have an idea for the future, which requires my amp rack to be free for the time being
also, have the rear inner sheet metal tack welded and sealed. As a diy, im sure what was carried out works w the rivet thing and all.. but its really not the proper way to carry out a pie cut and fender trim. the labor to do it properly w longevity should be very inexpensive for any welder or body guy.
I agree 100% with both this quote and also on the wheels. These are just to get me by until i can spend the 1k+ per wheel.
I also did seal it to the best of my ability. rivets, seam seal, then undercoated. I would have welded it shut, but my welder was moved to Tennessee when my uncle took most of the shop tools
Looking great so far. Its always nice to see the DIY builder pulling off these kinds of builds to show that you don't need an endless budget and a high end shop. Cant wait to see the future progress!
Got some things done this weekend. Got my two 10s in with the amp and they pound so hard for only having .7 cubic foot each sub, and also to my surprise a fellow Z owner gave me a hell of a deal on a VIS carbon fiber hood! Progress feels amazing
Headlight restoration ASAP! There is a really good guide on how to recoat them with a UV protectant that makes them shine better than new I suggest you take a look at. https://my350z.com/forum/body-interior-exterior-and-lighting-diy/546558-diy-restoring-headlights-with-new-uv-coating.html
I'm with Brian. Go with smaller wheels, you won't regret it. It doesn't have to be 1k+ per wheel. Enkeis are great wheels and affordable.
Its looking good man and I agree with ZMoney you should do something about the headlights. I'd recommend getting the 2006+ Depo 350z Headlights cause the visibility at night is so much better.
Also just to throw a suggestion into the mix about the wheels. On my car I'm running VMR V710FF's. They came on the car when I bought it so I'm not fully sure what the previous owner spent on them, but in my little bit of research it seems like they'll set you back about $1200 for the set of 4.
Anyways good luck man and I can't wait to see how this turns out.
headlights are one of the next few things on the agenda. Just havent been sure on which ones I want, thats why i have held off for so long. I cannot restore mine because the passenger side is cracked and lets water in.
Also cannot decide on which wing i want to get. I have narrowed it down to three or 4
1) Battle Aero V4 chassis mount when it comes out
2) Rays Factory corner mount
3) Veilside 3 or 4) AMS GT wing (veilside and AMS are very similar)
I second the Battle Aero wing. They make an amazing product with a solid crash beam replacement to bolt the wing to the frame of the car. I'm waiting on the carbon blade to finish their V4 kit for my brother's WRX.
10-04-2016, 10:39 AM
jperkins21 Rocket Bunny Z Build Thread
