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Installed a transmission cooler in place of the stock one, oil cooler, and relocated the horns to fit. Power steering might come next but I didn't have problems with overheating at blackhawk with a ~75 degree day.
Also installed brake ducting. The first track day discolored the clear coat on the calipers that was supposed to be good until 900F but also didn't change the base color, the orange spots, that's good until 650F . I don't love the routing of the duct on the passenger side but I didn't see a better way.
My wife actually just got this for my birthday, I was pretty impressed she found a toy 350z considering they haven't made the car for 10+ years...
And putting on snow drift tires was an improvement?
S'far as these model/diecast cars, Mattel puts out more of these old cars every week it seems. The people that run that division are actually car guys who base a lot of their 1/64th cars on real ones. Example: They licensed the JDM Legends logo for a trick Mazda FB that the JDM-L guys actually turned into a real car after Hot Wheels released their RX-7. And they haven't made that car in over 30 years!
Speaking of JDM Legends.... people (besides me who's already expressed my opinion to them) needs to scream at Motor Trend TV to bring back the only other show on their network that I truly enjoy (besides Bitchin' Rides)!! So many of the other shows are just crap. I guess the people who watch them and make them so popular just love the people who - while their builds are OK - are just hooning buffoons. (IMO) They love those cars and characters more than true quality builds with attention to detail (like the ones on JDM-L and BR). Although as much as I love Bitchin' Rides, their cars are rather formulaic and as much as they're beautiful customs, they're getting a little out of control on pricing and driveability in the real world. But amazing fab work!
Somewhere in the last couple of weeks I traced the weird sound levels from my radio to a blown driver's door mid-range/woofer. Today I finally got around to putting in a temporary replacement - I had a basic woofer/mid-range speaker lying around. The one that came out was an OEM Clarion 4 Ohm with a large magnet. I first tried to replace it with one from a spare door I had bought last Spring, but that speaker was also non-functional (weird thing, it was also an OEM 4 Ohm speaker, but the magnet was much smaller on that one). So I took the spare, cut out and stripped out the original rear frame and cone from the speaker mount, and then laid the replacement speaker over the top and screwed it down. I soldered the OEM connector pin tabs to the the new speakers contacts so that the original speaker connector would plug in again for the new speaker.
I installed the replacement speaker, and now I have full-range audio from both sides in the front - how cool
Also, I noticed that on acceleration in town I had a scraping sound from the rear. The economy "Quietflow" muffler that was installed during the previous owner's tenure is peeling apart, and when the rear end would dip the peeled metal from the muffler would drag on the ground. I have a like-new OEM system waiting to get installed over the Winter, so for them meantime I used a cut-off wheel on a Dremel to cut the offending material off.
UPDATE: The next day (10/21) after a hard pull leaving work, the exhaust got really loud, accompanied by a scraping sound from the rear. I pulled over and had a look, and the rear muffler had broken off from the connection to the mid-pipe. As I still had a ways to drive home, I pulled into a parking lot and removed the muffler - and it was raining...I used the trunk carpet on the ground so that I could get under the car without too much of a mess; and then the last, stubborn rubber exhaust hanger I cut free by using the sharp end of one of the tire removal tools THAT took a little while to scrape through...
Well, the Z will sit until Spring at this point, as I will replace the exhaust over the Winter (no time for that task, right now). I managed about 5k miles on it this Summer (my first miles on it, really) and it was fun the whole time
I just bought a set of billet brake adapters for my 350Z for a pretty penny. I will be using AMG 8-POT upfront, and SRT8 WK2 4-POT in the back. This will be insane... I been assured that it'll clear 18" wheels, I was shown it clearing OEM Nismo wheels up front.
I will be listing my Akebonos (Both & Rear, Adapter, OEM Pads/StopTech Street Pads) for sale very shortly, $800 if anyone is curious. I'm excited to see to how it pans out, I most certainly don't need that much braking power... but it's an investment!
09-15-2019, 03:33 PM
. I don't love the routing of the duct on the passenger side but I didn't see a better way.
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THAT took a little while to scrape through...
