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Hey Tuzzio, how stiff or strong are those struts when closing the hood? I'm a bit worried about "bending" or "folding" the hood with gas support struts if they aren't tuned correctly for the application. Just based on your opinion do you think these Z1 struts are adequate without being over-powered? Is the hood flexing to a scary degree or does it require a lot of force to close?
Cheers!
-Icer
I had them before the carbon hood, you have to be careful, you can hear the hood crack if you grab it from the tip and it's been open for a while. I got around it by grabbing the hood closer to the shock location.
Give it 90-days to fully cure, and then invest in some PPF for the fresh front bumper.
Quality PPF isn't cheap, but it's worth it in the long run. I had Xpel installed on my freshly painted bumper and honestly I can't even tell it's there. You can also wax/coat PPF. For the pet hair in your interior, I highly recommend picking up a Lily Brush. These things work amazing for removing pet hair without damaging carpet fibers. Icing on the cake, but I would also recommend having your rear window tint re-done, if you decide to splurge for PPF on the bumper, I would combine that with a quality window tint install, most shops offer discounts when you stack the work in a single appointment.
Bumper looks great! Painted plastics vs. Metal always has subtle shade differences from lighting because of the different substrate material, but that looks pretty spot on from my vantage point over the interwebs.
Cheers!
-Icer
thank you.. very much... I have already got a quote for windows.. yayy about 250. That's 2 side windows and and rear windows. The PPF on the bumper is totally going to cost a penny.. but that's ok. As for the cure part you mean don't wash it or anything for 90 days?
As for the cure part you mean don't wash it or anything for 90 days?
No, I mean don't put waxes, coatings, or PPF on it for 90 days. The paint under the surface of the clear coat is still curing (sometimes called outgassing as the solvents evaporate), this process can take a long time. You can speed things up by exposing the bumper to sunlight. Many paint shops bake panels to speed up cure times. The trouble is this process isn't consistent, it depends on the body shop who did the work, what type of paint they used, what kind of mix ratio, and whether or not they bake the finished panel. Also you have to consider ambient temperatures and humidity at the time of painting and after.
Some say a week is all that is needed. I should think 30 days is a safe bet (if the piece is kept dry in a warmer, low humidity, environment), but my paint guy recommended 90 days so that's what I waited. Most professional body shops recommend 90 days, this is probably for liability reasons as you can cause damage to both paint and PPF if installed to soon.
Cheers!
-Icer
No, I mean don't put waxes, coatings, or PPF on it for 90 days. The paint under the surface of the clear coat is still curing (sometimes called outgassing as the solvents evaporate), this process can take a long time. You can speed things up by exposing the bumper to sunlight. Many paint shops bake panels to speed up cure times. The trouble is this process isn't consistent, it depends on the body shop who did the work, what type of paint they used, what kind of mix ratio, and whether or not they bake the finished panel. Also you have to consider ambient temperatures and humidity at the time of painting and after.
Some say a week is all that is needed. I should think 30 days is a safe bet (if the piece is kept dry in a warmer, low humidity, environment), but my paint guy recommended 90 days so that's what I waited. Most professional body shops recommend 90 days, this is probably for liability reasons as you can cause damage to both paint and PPF if installed to soon.
Cheers!
-Icer
Understood. Its currently sitting in my office on the top shelf lol.. it will not be moving until it cures.. so maybe I will throw it on next month.. at least I know its safe and off the floor.
While on vacation visiting friends in FL this week, I managed to score a Z1 lightweight crankshaft pulley and idler pulley eliminator kit for the VQ35DE off the local FB marketplace listings 😁
This will get installed on the replacement engine for my '03 project.
Don't say that.. it will just be little stuff after that. mechanically the car is fine, cosmetically the cars is good, I think all I need is audio. not building a show car or a race car.
While on vacation visiting friends in FL this week, I managed to score a Z1 lightweight crankshaft pulley and idler pulley eliminator kit for the VQ35DE off the local FB marketplace listings 😁
This will get installed on the replacement engine for my '03 project.
I'd watch out using lightweight pulleys, if anything you should get a fluidampr.
Don't say that.. it will just be little stuff after that. mechanically the car is fine, cosmetically the cars is good, I think all I need is audio. not building a show car or a race car.
Haha, Well hopefully nothing major mechanically. I wasn't putting that bad juju out there in the universe. I just meant that based on what you've put into it so far, I think you may have a hard time not doing anything else.
I'd watch out using lightweight pulleys, if anything you should get a fluidampr.
I'm not 100% on installing the lightweight pulley. I did some quick research here for comments on them and those seemed to focus on overall durability of certain designs, but the Z1 crankshaft pulley had positive feedback (for durability). And, as a machined part, it sure is purrty
What drawbacks are you wanting to highlight? Additional felt engine harshness?
Haha, Well hopefully nothing major mechanically. I wasn't putting that bad juju out there in the universe. I just meant that based on what you've put into it so far, I think you may have a hard time not doing anything else.
ahhh!!! thank you thank you.. i need to just have a goal reach it and stop.. its too easy to have a major drawn out 10 year build dream.. i dont want that.
I'm not 100% on installing the lightweight pulley. I did some quick research here for comments on them and those seemed to focus on overall durability of certain designs, but the Z1 crankshaft pulley had positive feedback (for durability). And, as a machined part, it sure is purrty
What drawbacks are you wanting to highlight? Additional felt engine harshness?
I don't think it's anything you'd feel, but you have to take in consideration it's technical name "harmonic balancer" that's why it has rubber, to dampen harmonics in the crank.
A solid chunk of aluminum (although pretty) won't dampen anything, but I can't really speak to what effect that would have, but I'd like to think that if Nissan put the rubber in there it's for a reason.
On the other hand, a lot of people with modified engines end up with a better harmonic balancer to help the engine cope with higher stress, so it might be worth looking into. IIRC you are boosted right?
Advantages to a lightweight Crank Pulley is simply less rotational mass, meaning less drag or power lost during the combustion process. This can be translated to faster Revs-up & down.
The disadvantage is that the pulses/shock from the cylinders, to the con-rods, to the crank, from the combustion process, will be more pronounced. This can lead to premature wear/failure of con-rod and crank bearings, especially on boosted engines. For an NA application you're probably ok in the long term if you don't beat on it everyday.
Engine harmonics are very important and something I think the average car guy doesn't take into consideration. In extreme circumstances (high rpm, boosted), without proper management of these harmonics, blocks can literally fly apart
Cheers!
-Icer
While on vacation visiting friends in FL this week, I managed to score a Z1 lightweight crankshaft pulley and idler pulley eliminator kit for the VQ35DE off the local FB marketplace listings 😁
This will get installed on the replacement engine for my '03 project.
I installed this on my DE. Ive been running it for about a year with no issues. I did also do some reading on this before slapping one on. Im not boosted its a stock DE and I dont beat on it much. I went with a black one though. I kept the stock harmonic balancer in case i want to put it back on.
