Guess they had to do something to save money to make a car as fast as a Porsche at half the cost.
I agree though, dark seats better. Interior color on my Z wouldn't have been my choice if ordering one.

 

Well, did something to the Z that I haven't since getting back from a month back at home (on island).

Jump started it and drove it a bit to charge it back up. Poor Z, neglected for eight weeks.

I've been thinking about getting it resprayed (top half anyways) and selling it with the prices escalating (like $13k for an '03 like mine with 187k on the clock and mine only has 78k! Laff!). But then, I get in, drive a block and think, "Who am I kidding? I'd be sad every day not having my second favorite Z of all time!" (of the 20-some that I've owned) So no, keeping it. Again. Hahahaha.

Long live the Z.

 

Installed my titanium hood prop yesterday, ignore the dirty engine bay lol.

 

Hold up, is that a Carbing strut bar??

 

Yes, there's a reason I've been recommending it to you!

 

only worried about fitment. I’m still bummed that I can’t run with the GT spec carbon fiber bar since it slopes downward for the DE. I need crazy thick spacers.

 

From what I saw everyone said the clearance was close to stock on the Carbing

 

I took the Z for its weekly drive (still working from home) and picked up some lunch for me and the Mrs. I started it up and was heading out of the parking lot at a staggering 3 mph and got the sudden jerk with the SES, TCS, and SLIP lights illuminated on the dash. I got home and pulled the code - yep, the inevitable 0340. It has about 110K on the clock, so it was about time for the camshaft sensor to go out.

I went ahead and ordered the Bank 1 sensor from Courtesy and figured I might as well get the Bank 2 sensor while I was at it. I've seen way too many posts on here about using aftermarket junk. A little preventative maintenance will pay off here as opposed to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra. I've changed out this sensor in my G before. I think the hardest part is getting the connector off

 

relocated a universal dorman coolant tank to the drivers side of the core support. Hacked up the aluminum bumper to make room for the Treadstone twin turbo intercooler. Motor is going in next week once i get the turbos back from balancing their new billet compressor wheels.

 

I use the rear as a temporary countertop to toss crap on. Its been sitting in my garage untouched for a couple of years now.

 

Installed Infinity Kappa 62ix speakers in the rear to complement the ones I put in the doors last year. Re-installed all the interior trim in the hatch and replaced the license plate bulbs.

Still need to finish installing the lift so that I can replace the front and rear subframe braces. But I'm getting closer...I moved the columns into position to "test-fit" them with our largest vehicle (a Dodge Ram Cummins). I'll have room to move them about a foot closer towards the garage door.

Here is a first attempt at a location for the columns of the lift I'm installing.


I used 1/2" steel rod as bearings to roll the columns into position.


I sized up the location of the columns against our truck. There's still about 3' from the rear bumper to the door, so I'll scoot the columns another foot towards to the door to allow more space to work around the front of the vehicles. Please excuse the mess in the shop...I've got a gew projects going on at the moment.

 

Curious, what color wrap is it now? Still that matte blue?

I fell for Mistuh Sparco's car when it was that Intense blue like the Z34 color, Monterey Blue...


Kept photo in my "Mic's Top 10 Z33" file. Laff.....

.

 

Tested the changes to the Mishimoto fan shroud (I added a bunch of cutouts and radiator flaps to encourage flow at high speed). Didn’t work, so the Mishi shroud is going in the bin. Going back to stock before Gridlife Midwest Fest.

 

You running hot?

 

I took a bunch of pics so I can work on making my engine more presentable and clean up some wiring in fall/winter. Ordered a DEI master harness kit for the project.

 

Yup, stock fans were dying. Ordered the Mishi shroud late night after a few pops. Had to rewire it to get split operation (1x fan low, 2x fan high/AC) and it was hot at Mid-Ohio. So I punched all the holes in the shroud and added flaps, added a 25 row oil cooler, still hot. Sooo…back to stock with replacement motors.

Less space to the block with the CSF rad and stock shroud, but it wasn’t overheating with the stock shroud. I haven’t had a good experience with Mishimoto anything, and I gather that I’m not the only person to have this experience with the Mishi fan setup on the Z33/DE.

 

I finally got around to fixing the loose ashtray/cointray in the Z today. One of the guiding tabs (the one on the left/driver side) had cracked, so the cointray would shift around - especially when opening or closing the door. I used just a little bit of JB Weld to strengthen that tab and positioned a toothpick - cut to length and wedged in place - to hold the tab while the epoxy cured. I also put some epoxy in the same corner on the right/passenger side tab, since I figured it was just a matter of time before that tab would let go.


The toothpick was wedged in place to hold the cracked tab until the JB Weld cured.

Another view of the toothpick propping the tab in place.

Here is an overhead view of the dab of epoxy in that corner. t doesn't interfere with inserting the cointray or with the movement of its cover.

 

@Sundown72
Nope, I've heard that it's pretty darn hard to beat the stock fans.
I don't race personally but I have noticed my temps getting higher than I'd like since the install of my headers. It's not uncommon for me to see ECTs north of 220 degrees in the summer here while stopped at a light or something.
All of that with the Varis cooling hood, I did notice that the Kinetix engine cover blocked a lot of the area between the fans and the vents so it's now been removed

 

How do you like the CSF radiator BTW, was thinking about getting that one?
Trying to stay ahead of the curve with cooling before I supercharge, currently brainstorming on reducing drag and improving cooling and aerodynamics with another local member.

 

I can comment on CSF here. Ran the CSF radiator for a year. That thing very very pretty. tossed out the old mishimoto b/c it leaked at the fins. both cooled just fine but CSF build quality felt and looked so much better. They are currently on backorder (both CZP and Z1). There are a few koyorads in stock at CZP tho