icer5160

iTrader: (4)

Late to the party...

Mic, sorry about the loss of property and loved one, tough times!

As for the shocks, I've used KYB Excel-G line products on multiple Hondas and I've been very happy with the results. That being said, these were simple grocery getter vehicles, not sports cars. KYB is also the OEM mfg. for most Hondas, so they are a great choice for an OEM replacement. The vehicles I used KYB struts on were a 2001 Acura RL 3.5 and a 2006 Honda Civic EX (4dr AT). The difference the KYBs made was night and day, no creaking/squeaking, handling vastly improved, felt as good as new in my opinion. But I must emphasize that these are not Sporty vehicles, just basic daily drivers where comfort is prioritized.

Onto the maintenance items for your garage queen OP. Aside from the fluids already mentioned, I would highly recommend a coolant flush and at a minimum a thermostat replacement (OEM with housing and gasket). I recently went through a bit of a Z restoration project of my own and I was shocked with how much corrosion was present in the coolant system. Pretty much every pipe fitting had large amounts of surface corrosion (hiding under the hoses), over time this corrosion will cause the rubber hoses to deteriorate and begin to leak. Luckily none of the fittings were total swiss cheese. A little elbow grease and some sand paper was able to clean up the fittings and prevent future rust pitting or leaks. I also replaced all the coolant hoses with fresh OEM units...since regardless of mileage, age is still a factor with anything rubber. If you want to go the extra mile while servicing the coolant system, upgrading to an all aluminum radiator and replacing the bleeder fitting near the battery box with an aluminum unit is highly recommended (OEM bleeder is plastic!).

As for bushings, if you haven't already done so, replace the OEM diff bushings, especially the subframe fluid filled bushing! I personally like Whiteline's products and that's what I'm using. No noticeable increase in NVH. I also installed the Gktech diff brace and I've been happy with the results (no noticeable NVH). For engine mounts, I purchased a set of BDE Billet/Poly mounts, but have yet to install them. I'm holding onto them for future use if/when my OEM mounts finally fail. As stated before, pretty much all Poly engine mounts will create some additional NVH. For the trans mount, I would stick with OEM and go with the Gktech inserts. I actually have their shifter return spring set and trans mount inserts that I'm planning to install (just trying to find the time to get back to work on my Z!). The front LCA compression rod bushings are known to fail, again I recommend Whiteline poly replacements.

The majority of the drivetrain slop comes from the engine mounts, trans mount, OEM clutch and flywheel, and the OEM diff bushings. I believe the worst offenders are the dual mass flywheel and diff bushings. Replacing these two items with aftermarket strikes the best balance between performance and NVH (again in my opinion). Very little slop is present with the stock engine mounts and trans mount (assuming they are in good working order). I know you said your stock diff bushings are in good shape, but I would just get it done as preventative maintenance....I'm of the same mindset for the stock clutch & flywheel (assuming you still have the stock clutch). If you do, odds are the throw-out bearing has seen better days and just from pure age may warrant a replacement (not a sealed unit, grease could have dried up from sitting or rust/corrosion could have set in).

Edit: One other area to consider checking. I recommend replacing your sway bar bushings, both front and rear. Many folks go with poly bushings, I replaced with OEM. These are super cheap and pretty easy as a DIY. You can always go the extra mile and upgrade to aftermarket sway bars and new end-links. Your original bushings are probably just fine, but again, rubber does deteriorate from age.

Whatever you choose, I wish you good luck! Plenty of knowledgeable folks on here if you need guidance or recommendations.
Cheers!
-Icer

Ryan-350Z

Wow thanks for all the feedback guys.

And Mic I truly am sorry for your loss. We are all here for our Z’s but we are also human and must also be here for each other. After all… this is a community. Glad to see people showing love for one another.

Ryan-350Z

To my friend Icer…. Man what a response. I truly appreciate your that very lengthy post and yr attention to detail as per prior posts.

Completely agree with the Honda factor. I was a big Honda/Acura guy before my Z. And KYBs were definitely decent on Hondas. But as you said, they are not designed like the Z is. As awesome as my s2k was it’s got nothing on the handling of a good Z.

So idk, I will hold off on the strut install for now. Since my OEMs are still working fine. And I will work at the other stuff first and see if I fix my issue. THEN we’ll see about the struts.

As for the the clutch and flywheel. I do know it has been replaced. (The original owner is actually an old boss of mine) so I know for certain it was replaced but he said it was just one of those OEM full replacement clutch kits. Nothing fancy or upgraded.
I would imagine the throwout bearing was replaced also because it came with the clutch kit.

ONLY THING I have noticed some is some slight chatter if I’m sitting and the stick is in neutral. But when I press the clutch in the chatter stops (makes sense since it’s disengaged when pedal is pressed) also when in gear there is no chatter. But I’ve heard that a lot of Z’s do this.

Anyway, yes I do actually have an aluminum radiator and some hoses. I just haven’t installed it yet. But when I do I will def check for that corrosion you spoke of.

All-In-All it probably is the diff liquid bushing as well as the two diff mount bushings. I can almost guarantee If I replaced those with whitelines id be smiling through every gear lol. I’m just avoiding it like the plague man.

I don’t have a lift and dropping the diff 2 feet off the ground is gonna be a nightmare. Plus I gotta press the bushings in and out and I’m just dreading it.
And I can’t imagine what a shop would do to my wallet for that job… probably at least a $1000 for everything.
So I’m gonna try the diff brace and bushing collars first. Since that’s a quick and easy install. But I have a feeling I’ll be tearing apart my rear end soon.

Im glad you liked the GK diff brace. That excites me to get it on check it out. I was looking at the same shifter spring kit myself. But trying to do the necessities first.

I really appreciate your input man.

Ryan-350Z

Thanks for sharing man. Yea I know… those white line products are seriously no joke.

And a set of WL bushings in the diff would probably be night and day.

Im just REALLY dreading dropping that diff on the ground.
If I had a lift I promise I would have dropped it months ago lol.

Thank you again for your input man.

Cheers

icer5160

iTrader: (4)

No worries! Any time. Dropping the rear diff isn't really the hard part (make some wheel cribs). But pressing out the forward diff bushings can be a pain if you don't have access to a press. For the subframe fluid filled bushing, I purchased the Z1 press kit. It worked as advertised. One lesson I learned from the experience is that you will want to clean the outer race area as much as possible. A little bit of penetrant oil or WD40 would also be a good idea. My mistake was not taking these extra steps and some of my aluminum subframe bushing bore was galled pretty bad by either a small piece of debris or a burr on the original bushing. I wet sanded the bore to clean it up and the new WL bushing really doesn't care, I'm just a bit of a perfectionist and I was kicking myself over this oversight. Maybe this is not avoidable, idk.

Z1 press is around $130 last I checked and you can make your own wheel cribs for about $100 in lumber and deck screws.

The chatter you hear is either the throwout bearing or worst case, it's your trans input shaft bearing. If the whirring noise really starts to get loud, you may need to have the bearing replaced in the trans. Always worth inspecting the input shaft for excessive play when doing a clutch job.
Cheers!
-Icer

Heel Til I Die

iTrader: (2)

A lift would certainly make it easier, but you can easily tackle this in the driveway with a jack. This thread gives a couple methods. I went with the reciprocating saw approach because I love the smell of smoking bushings.

https://my350z.com/forum/engine-driv...ml#post8564405

Just make sure you stick those new bushings in the freezer overnight the day before install to make things easier.