Z refresh teaser.
Cheers!
-Icer


Out with the old, in with the new!

 

In preparation for eventual bodywork (rust issues) on my 2005 350Z, I lucked out and found a recently imported to MI from TX 2003 350Z, instead. I towed it home today (the motor threw a rod through the block at 120k miles).




*Next* winter I will move my 05's engine over to this '03 (I have a number of projects stacked up). I need to plug the VIN of the '03 into the checker, but the '03 also has Cruise Control and TCS like my '05, so it should also be an Enthusiast. My '05 has the spoiler, but not this '03.

It's so nice - to look underneath and see components, and not just corrosion and rust 😁

 

Oh let's see.. What have I done...
Put the last mechanical parts on my engine swap, that was cool.
Now it's just small details and we can then start it up

Finished the bash bar paint, the engine harness is just waiting for a poly swap grommet, Optima sent me a battery, we fabbed a custom catch can, added all my final blower water lines and fittings, no leaks now.

 

I was pushing it today...

450.5 miles and a 19.4gallon fill-up of the 20gallon tank

The computer said I had averaged 25.0mpg on that tank, but the fill-up itself is indicating more like 23.2mpg (I always top off the tank when filling, but that's not exact, either).

 

Hey Khnitz,

Be careful about tank top-offs. I define topping-off as forcing more fuel into the tank after the pump handle has automatically shut-off. Doing this can cause permanent damage to the charcoal cannister and lead to evap. codes among other problems. Living in CA, this is a serious problem since you can't pass smog with any kind of evaporative emission DTC present.

If you're experiencing problems filling up the tank (not uncommon on 350Zs), there's a TSB about it and I even covered the fix for this on my Z updates in this thread. It's not a fun fix, but the parts are cheap. Ever since I installed the bracket inside the fuel tank following the TSB, I have not had any troubles filling up my tank to full.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

I don't let it spill over, but I usually let it settle for a few seconds after the first time it clicks off, and then add a little more. It's more visible when filling my diesel Ram - the diesel really foams when pumped into the tank and will take some time to settle. Filling my diesel in that manner can allow me to get another gallon or more into the tank before it is truly full.

As for emissions codes, I've had a perpetual 0455 EVAP leak code since I've owned the car. We don't have the smog check here (I used to deal with it when we lived in NE IL), so it hasn't stopped me from using the car.

 

I see, that code might be related to rust issues (based on your previous posts) at the cannister or purge valve (assuming your fuel cap seal is in good shape). Overfilling the tank can lead to clogging the charcoal cannister, which can lead to other weird problems. In short, it's just not worth topping off the tank on a modern vehicle. You might get a few more oz of fuel, but the risk of causing damage outweigh the benefits of a few more miles of range on a fill-up.

Seeing your recent Z project of your own reminds me to get my Holiday update done! Work has just been crazy and I've been leaving the office super late, everyday, exhausted. No will-power to do a detailed write-up. But things are slowly calming down at work. No joke, it's been nuts, for about 9 months, I've been putting in 10-12 hour days on average.
-Icer

 

Oof! I hope that winds down (successfully) and back to normal levels soon!

I made a job change last Spring that let me get away from that kind of schedule. Thankfully, it's worked out great so far. The new job allowed me to take on that next Z project, too 😊

I've known about the "too full" thing, but have never run into an issue with my filling habits. The biggest problem I run into is annoying my wife with how low I let the tank go before filling up...I guess I make her unnecessarily anxious on our road trips with that 😁

 

Z Refresh Holiday Update...

I took about 3 weeks off during the Holidays and I spent a lot of that time wrenching on the Z. Items I covered...

1) Installed Fluidampr crank pulley.
2) Installed OEM CATs to prepare for smog in the spring (actually just got the notice from DMV).
3) Installed Motordyne TDX2 Catback Exhaust system with rolled SS tips(finally retired the Bassani system, already sold!).
4) Replaced both front LCA OEM bushings with Whiteline.
5) Installed air-guides/deflectors for front brakes (purchased from member advertising on these forums).
6) Installed new OEM front headlamps with GTR Lighting Switchback signal bulbs, OSRAM 5000k HIDs, and Diode Dynamics DRL bulbs (5000k).
7) Installed iJDM Toy front bumper switchback LEDs.
8) Installed EVO-R rear spoiler (Paint matched when I had the front end repainted).
9) Installed new OEM mud guards (Also paint matched when I had the front end repainted).
10) Installed my repaired driver's seat bucket (Bolster foam was cracked and broken, now good as new).
11) Replaced rear hatch emblems with new OEM, decided to go with JDM “Fairlady Z” emblem.
12) Installed the new vanity plate! Waited nearly 12 months for the DMV.
13) Installed new OEM rear hatch struts with new brackets and new assist springs.
14) Took the car to Z Car Garage (ZCG). They replaced the front lower ball joints, compression rod bushings (Whiteline), 4 wheel alignment done, and re-tune for running with CATs.

In short, lots of work done in a fairly short period of time.

The Fluidampr install wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I used my 1/2" Icon breaker bar with a jack handle slipped over it to get the bolt broken free. This was not easy, but I got it done. Re-installing was straightforward, but I did have a little trouble getting the new pulley lined up. Unlike the OEM pulley, this unit felt like it's press fit. I ended up having no choice but to use the crank bolt to get it fully seated (after 1st confirming it was lined up with the keyway). Was this piece necessary for my Z? Absolutely not. But does it enhance the driving experience? Absolutely, yes. These cars were designed from the factory to use a heavy dual mass flywheel. The OEM flywheel design helps subdue torsional vibration from the crank. By switching to a single mass flywheel, albeit a heavier option @ 18.4lb, you get some gearbox chatter at low RPM when shifting into 1st gear from a stop. In my case this chatter/noise was minor due to the flywheel choice I made, but it was still present, just for a shorter RPM duration. With the Fluidampr pulley, torsional vibration is canceled out over a much wider operating range & frequencies. The OEM crank pulley is purpose built/designed for a very specific RPM and frequency range, one that was designed with the OEM clutch & flywheel combo in mind. For me, the extra bonus of the Fluidampr is the bottom end protection it adds. Sure, an NA Z truly doesn't need this level of protection, but it definitely won't hurt anything. Perhaps it's the placebo effect, but the Z seems to Rev smoother. I feel less vibration in the shifter and pedals. Who knows, someday I may go FI.

TLDR: I no longer have gearbox chatter noises at low RPM with the Fluidampr. Seriously, in terms of noise level, I cannot tell the difference between a bone stock clutch/flywheel/pulley setup vs. my Z with the Zspeed clutch/flywheel and Fluidampr installed. No irritating noise, everything is smooth, quiet, & comfortable while still maintaining performance. I would highly recommend this pulley to anyone experiencing the obnoxious gearbox chatter with a light weight flywheel (like the JWT).

Moving on...

I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the Motordyne TDX2 Catback system. It's a beautifully designed system and I was tired of dealing with the exhaust flange leak issues with the Bassani X-Pipe. Smog is coming so I also put the CATs back on, it was kind of fun running the ART pipes while it lasted, but the rasp was horrible when combined with the Bassani. I've been driving the Z for a while now with the TDX2 and all I can say is "I love it!", even with the CATs on, this system sounds great, zero rasp, no annoying trumpets either. It's got some grunt to it, but not obnoxiously loud. The build/construction quality is excellent, leagues ahead of the Bassani system. I had zero flange alignment issues with the CATs. The included steel gaskets work fantastic, no leaks, no fuss, no mess. The only negatives or cons I can say about the system are final fitment tuning and that you need to remove the rock/heat shield from the evap. cannister to provide proper clearances. Let me elaborate a little more. Because this system uses v-band clamps, the pipes can all be rotated or indexed to get their alignment squared off with the rear bumper while also providing proper clearance around the rear sway bar and W or M brace. This proved to be incredibly tedious and time consuming. If you adjust the left side, it impacts the spacing on the right side. If you adjust the right, it does the same for the left. It took a lot of time and fiddling to ensure nothing was rubbing and the rear pipes were aligned with the bumper cut outs. By far the hardest piece to clearance correctly was the center resonator chamber/muffler, which lives directly above the W or M brace. You have very little clearance (perhaps 3/8") due to the larger diameter piping aft of the resonator. But eventually I figured it out, now everything is spaced properly and looking sharp.

While I was under the Z doing the Fluidampr install, I discovered my driver's side LCA inner bushing had failed. I was surprised and at the same time, not surprised. The car is 18 years old, albeit with low miles, rubber dry rots and cracks. After putting on the new Bilstein B6s with the Nismo Coils, the bushings were probably getting pounded harder than ever. Honestly, I was relieved in an odd way, because now, it was time to install some Whiteline poly bushings, and at the same time, I knew this was the source of the metallic squeak/creak I was hearing! Luckily, I hadn't put a lot of miles on the Z with the bushing in this state. The alignment was definitely out of spec with the control arm like this. But oddly, the vehicle tracked straight, however I had noticed my steering wheel was slightly off center. I already have an HB 12t Arbor Press, so I just needed a set of bushings and a press die that would work. I ended up making the die out of some spare 2" pipe my brother had in his garage. We had to hog out the inner diameter of the pipe slightly (maybe took 1mm of thickness out of the wall) using a grinder with the same bit I had used to "port" the collectors on my DC Sport Headers. These LCA bushings from Whiteline have a dangerously thin outer sleeve and the poly bushing sticks out a lot, this makes using something simple like a socket, very sketchy. In the end, it all worked beautifully. I was able to press out the old bushings without issue and get the new Whiteline bushings pressed in. I replaced both the inner and outer (strut fork) bushings on the LCAs myself. Re-installing was easy. As a side note, cracking the inner LCA bolt/nut was NOT easy. I had to rely on my Icon 1/2" breaker bar again (money well spent!), even then when the bolt finally cracked loose, it sounded like my socket broke! I don't understand it, the torque spec for the inner LCA bolt/nut is 96ft/lb, but this felt like I had to exert 200ft/lb+ of force (like cracking the crank pulley bolt). I've had some bad luck with over-torqued fasteners on this Z, luckily nothing broke or stripped on me this time.

As a fun side note, the steering wheel was back to perfect center after replacing the LCA bushings and I don't feel any additional NVH in the suspension by switching to poly. The car actually feels slightly softer on the bumps. The outer strut fork bushings were already cracking and collapsing. I wouldn't be surprised if they also started to harden up. Definitely worth the effort. Nothing negative to say about it, Whiteline makes good stuff.

After the LCAs were done, I installed the front brake air guides or deflectors. I picked these up from Bmsluite, here's a link to his listing. Honestly, these are very well made, they are very sturdy. They did require a little bit of extra finessing to clear my LMGT4s w/ 245/40/R18 MPSSs in the front. One side was rubbing the tire at full wheel stop, just every so slightly. A little bending and some trimming with a Dremel easily resolved the issue. These look good, no ground clearance issues for me (not lowered). Can't say I have done any independent testing with them to know if they make a significant difference or not. But I get the feeling Bmsluite wouldn't go through the trouble to make these if they weren't functional. I think for the price, these are great.

Well I've written a lot and it's getting late here. I'll continue the Holiday update thread another evening. Enjoy the photos!
Cheers!
-Icer


MD TDX2 XYZ Pipe

MD TDX2 Mid-Pipe

MD TDX2 Axle Back. (Camera guy seems to be tipsy).

OEM Pulley removed.

Fluidampr installed. (Check previous post for side by side Fluidampr vs. OEM pulley)

The extent of the bushing failure.

You can see the LCA was rubbing the subframe on driver's side. This was the cause of the squeak and steering wheel alignment issue.

Pressing out the factory bushings.

Pressing in the Whiteline bushings with homemade pipe die.

LCA and Brake air guides deflectors installed.

Side view of LCA and deflector.

 

I made my self a little switch panel for track days so that I can control my rad fans, fog lights, and my yaw sensor. But my switches for the rad fans were getting hot. Long story short my switches were inbetween the power wire when they should have been inbetween the ground. So I corrected it and now I’m going to find out today if that fixed the problem or if staying up till 12:30 am on a school night was a waste of time.

 

Are your switches activating relays to power those accessories, or are they in-line with the power to the accessory (radiator fan, etc.)? They should be activating relays, as then the relay takes the current to power the device, vs. it flowing through the switch.

I say this because when I was a teen, I mis-wired a friend's foglights when I added them to his Audi 4000. The foglight wiring burned up. Needless to say, I have used switches to activate relays for higher-power accessories ever since

 

That's pretty nice you got rid of the cement mixer noise at idle associated with going with a lightweight flywheel. I've personally gotten used to the noise, but good to know for a possible future project! Awesome review as always, Icer!

Yesssss. My initial install also took a lot of minor tweaks and slight rotations to get everything lined up just right, but it is very well made and the construction is top notch. Even though it drastically changes the VQ exhaust note, I love the sound. I ditched the "suitcase" center muffler and replaced it with the MD high flow resonated muffler delete pipes. It's definitely much louder now, but in the best of ways and not terribly annoying. I still haven't made any video or sound clips of the new setup, but I hope to get around to it soon.

I saw MD recently came out with some ART CATS which appear to be the ART pipes with catalytic converters. They are pricey, but maybe something you can use to pass SMOG?

 

[QUOTE=Heel Til I Die;11123530]
I saw MD recently came out with some ART CATS which appear to be the ART pipes with catalytic converters. They are pricey, but maybe something you can use to pass SMOG?[/QUOTE]

As icer knows, no non-OE cat is legal here in CA. But, hopefully they just look to see there are cats and/or even if they see aftermarket or suspect gutted cats, they might just sniff the pipe. [WIshful thinking...]

But here in the valley, no one will risk their BAR license. Maybe in less dense Brentwood? Good luck, Mark!

 

Yep, sadly, Mic is absolutely correct. CA is insanely strict on aftermarket replacement parts for "anything" emissions related. Can you get special exemptions for aftermarket CATs? Yes, but the process with the DMV and state is lengthy. This process may include a state ref inspection of the vehicle. Afterwards, you will need to present your special exemption paperwork to every smog shop you take the vehicle to going forward (which they don't like dealing with by the way). Generally speaking, I've only heard of these types of aftermarket CAT exemptions being done on older vehicles where OEM replacements are simply not available anymore. CA is in the business of forcing people towards newer, "greener" options. The actual science behind emissions doesn't really matter to the state bureaucrats. If you want to keep your old, but still solid vehicle on the road, CA makes it very costly. To the point where it might actually be cheaper to buy a new or newer vehicle, preferably one that doesn't run on petrol.

Ultimately, it's more of a headache.....but it's nice to dream about what it would be like if I lived in a free state like NV, AZ, or TX.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

this is neat. I'm clueless when it comes to wiring, but could you provide a diagram or explain how you wired this to a switch? also does that mean now you have to manually switch fans on and the ECU no longer kicks it on when needed? The idea of shutting the car off and having the fans run to cool the bay down after a session sounds nice.

 

I need some help i’m really considering dumping my first car even though i absolutely love it.
It’s a 2006 350z that came with a VQ35DE Rev Up in it. Long story short I blew the motor in 6 months. I ended up swapping a non rev up motor into the car (on accident i didn’t know what i was buying) and it runs good 99% of the time I was told I need to get a 2005 ECU to make it run perfect idk how true this is. I have 1 major problem when it comes to the car though and figuring out what i’m doing moving forward. The car was state reffed for a cold air intake and loud exhaust. The exhaust is no problem I have a
stock one to pass decibels at the ref. And I have a CARB legal intake now. My question is will my car pass at the ref with a 2003 ECU in a 2006 Nissan 350z the car has cats and everything else is stock. Is it worth setting up the referee appt and just praying for the best result or should I dump the car ? Or should I go buy a new rev up for $3k and put that into it

 

There is a difference between the O2 sensors (and wiring) used on the '03 vs. later Z's, so I don't think the 2003 ECU will work for you.

 

Where did you get the rear air defectors?? Beautiful build!

 

Been working on a total revamp of the 350z platform. Started my build out mostly with maintenance and some minor improvements like poly diff bushings and subframe collars.

Currently working on my suspension refresh stage. Installed Cusco sway bars, SPL front/rear camber arms and traction arms, and installing my HKS Hipermax S coilovers soon.

Every bushing in the car has been replaced except for the transmission and engine mounts. Many other modifications have been done as well. Looking to install a fresh JDM motor at the end of the year and a new steering rack then going FBO next year.

 

From Bmsluite. He has them listed on Ebay. His forum classified post can be found HERE.
Note: These are only for the front brakes (not rear).
Cheers!
-Icer