Hey guys, it's been awhile since I've posted here contributing or inquiring to any other users' posts, but I've started driving my Z again after having it garaged all winter and I would finally like to start doing some work to it.

First off, it feels GREAT to be back driving my Z after a winter of driving an 05 Touareg V8... it was nice because I snowboard up in Vermont with my girlfriend, but it's too much vehicle for me right now at my age and with my financial situation.

For anyone that wouldn't know, I currently have an 03 Z Touring SS with about 55k miles on it. I had thoughts of swapping it for an 06, but after contemplating it for a few weeks, I'm going to be keeping the 03 and working on it instead... something about it that I just love.

I had a few things that came to mind and questions that followed when I started planning out my options as far as modding and was hoping the more experienced posters here could offer some assistance.

I'd like to replace the clutch; the previous owner was a young woman (gorgeous woman, but I do question her ability to drive stick) that had to sell the Z because of a break up between her and her boyfriend. I'm assuming it was his car, and she was driving it/taking over payments towards the end of their relationship... nonetheless, the clutch could be replaced. I've heard mixed opinions reading through the forums about stock and after market clutch systems. Would it hurt to go with a JWT clutch? Anything in particular that works well with the Z?

I am almost positive my transmission has gone to ****; grinds in 3rd, and sounds like it's going to rattle apart when in N. I've read up about it on these forums last year, and even took it to two different Nissan dealers, neither of which said anything was wrong with it... Should I just bite my lip and have it replaced at my expense?

I'm planning on getting the wheels/exhaust mods asap. Looking into the HKS Hi-Power True Dual exhaust and Volk TE37 9.5F/10.5R 19s, but can't decide which color would look best with the Silverstone paint... which also leads me into my next question.

As much as I personally love the Silverstone paint color, I am VERY interested in having my Z painted black. Part of the reason why I was even considering looking for a newer Z was so that I could take the chance and get a black one like I originally was looking for. I'd like to know what my options are for quality paint jobs. I would prefer not to have it painted by someone only willing to half-*** the job. Has anyone had their car painted and able to offer some insight?

Body kits and living in NJ with these terrible roads and potholes everywhere, is it even possible to have a kit, drive my Z as a DD and not tear it up? I was considering the ings N-SPEC but don't want to dump that kind of money into something that's going to be shred to pieces...

Also, financially permitting, if it were to come up, does it make sense to be spending the money to go FI on my 03 Z with almost 60k miles?

I'm going to have about $20,000 laying around within the next month and feel this is a great time to work on my car, any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

Addressing your paint issue: Not really worth painting your car in my opinion. Assuming your paint is still looking great, why would you change it? A complete color change requires pulling the engine, getting inside the trunk, doorjambs, etc... It costs A LOT to get a good quality paint job and its not worth getting just getting an OK paint job on a car that looks great still.

 

If your going FI on your DD. You might want to keep it to a mild setup. Otherwise, it will be in the shop more often than not.

It's normal for the Z's transmission to be loud. You may just want to upgrade your clutch & flywheel.

I wouldn't repaint the Z unless the paint is really really bad. Get a new body kit & it will look like a totally different car & you won't even think about repainting it. You can get a full body kit without damaging it just as long as you don't lower the car from stock height.

 

Yeah, I thought about doing the exact same to my SS 03 Z but it is too expensive and not worth the month in my opinion. I don't think that FI would be stupid at this point (I have a friend with an 03 G35 that put a supercharger on at 45k and is now going TT at 60ish and has had no problems. If you are going TT they will probably build the motor any ways, the weak link would be your tranny (and most 03 stock trannies, haha). As far as body kits, it depends on what you are going for with the car. I personally did some Tanabe springs and other suspension mods (listed below) and I can't do any body kits because I won't make it over speed bumps or driveways with any lower fascia. I autocross and roadcourse race the car though so for me, the clean sleeper look is cool and I don't rub on things as much. The Volks are beautiful wheels but they are pretty expensive so between that and FI you may be pushing it with $20K depending on how aggressive of an FI setup you are planning for and who does the work. Any ways, good luck with the setup. I'm asking myself a lot of the same questions right now (45K miles on my car-FI or wheels? Haha).

 

If you have about $20 laying around to put into your z, you can spend every bit of it on FI or you can ration it out and get wheels, tires, suspension, brakes, exhaust, clutch, flywheel and a good FI kit. That will still take all of that money you have just laying around.

 

JWT Popcharger | S2K Shorty

You already have one hell of a start.

 

Heh, I wanted to keep my Z pretty stock until I had enough money laying around to do a decent amount of work to it. The S2K Shorty adds 13hp to the wheels though, theorized and dyno'd.

Thanks for the advice so far guys; rationing the money does seem like a more appropriate option for me at this point, rather than spending it all on an FI kit + supporting mods... maybe a clean sleeper with some NA mods would be possible in the near future.

I'll keep you posted.