etarui

Hello everyone,

I am fairly new to the Nissan Family. You can find a quick introduction of my car here: https://my350z.com/forum/new-owners/...ven-again.html

My car was also in the Vehicle Spotlight at NissanRaceShop.com: http://www.nissanraceshop.com/blog/9...D=0&route=blog

I have been fortunate enough to get some assistance on my build from Fontana Nissan, NissanRaceShop.com, Hankook Tires, and City Tires Online.

I plan on focusing this year on attending as many open track days as possible, and obtaining my competition license for wheel-to-wheel racing. After lurking around here for a while, I realized there are a lot of really cool builds and helpful members on the My350Z board.

I will use this thread to highlight my progression through the 2012 season. So far, I have attended a Speed Venture event at Auto Club Speedway, and one at Adam's Motorsports Park with K.R.O.P.S. (Keep Racing Off Public Streets).

Here is a clip to one of my better runs at Auto Club Speedway:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzmhD...PVnr06vEpIFO5_

My next event will be at Big Willow with Extreme Speed Track Events on 02/04. There are a couple of other Z's signed up and I'm looking forward to meeting them.

More to come =)

jnathan68

iTrader: (29)

I have seen your car on Fontana Nissan's facebook updates. Nice looking ride.

I will be at the Extremespeed event on the 4th...drive a 2008 red Nismo. Should be a great event, fun track. see you there.

etarui

Awesome. I think I have seen some of your posts and videos. Looking forward to it.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

See you out there next weekend, i'll be in my silver 03.

etarui

Awesome! I'd love to learn more about your experience with Time Attack. Are you thinking about entering the 2012 MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Challenge?

Fixxxercask

iTrader: (21)

Welcome. Always good to see another track dedicated Z.
There are a lot of good and helpful track guys on this forum. I think we do a good job of sharing info with each other.

Good luck!

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

I only have a rollbar for 2012, next year i'll get a full cage to play. I would love to get out there and run against Scott.

etarui

I'm working on reducing more weight. I'm nearly finished with gutting out the trunk area. Today I removed the last of the sound deadening material from the trunk and rear fenders. I also removed the rear windshield wiper and random screws which aren't providing any structural support. I am going to work on removing the metal speaker enclosure over the next couple of weeks. As if it wasn't difficult enough, I think it is going to be even more challenging for me since there is already a custom roll bar welded in giving me even less room to work. This is going to require cutting the rear enclosure into smaller sections for removal.

etarui

It was great meeting you Len & Jason at Big Willow! You are both excellent drivers and have provided me with a lot of inspiration.

I'm in the process of tweaking my suspension. I am trying to induce more understeer as well as lowering the preload torque on the LSD. I'll be testing the revised setup at Auto Club Speedway on February 25th with Speed Ventures.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

Let me see what I can do to join you out there

jnathan68

iTrader: (29)

Good to meet you as well. I am registered for the 26th at Auto Club are you running both days or just the 25th?

etarui

I haven't registered yet...but was planning on the 25th. I'll see what if I can make it out both days.

l30thelion

iTrader: (3)

I also have a welded 4-pt rollbar and am thinking about having the metal speaker enclosure removed. Would love to see pics of how you do it in case I decide to go through with it.

Btw, love the pics of your car.

etarui

It's been a while since I have posted, so here's the latest and greatest.

The last event I went to was a SpeedVentures track day at Auto Club Speedway on February 25th. The car was running great and I was doing well, hitting 2.00 minute laps during my first session which was faster than I did the entire day back in January. Modifications done to the car since then included replacing an 02 sensor, crank sensor, adding on an APR GTC300, and putting back in the rear sway bar. I was carrying relatively more speed through turns which means my brakes had to work a little harder. During my 2nd session, by brake light came on, my check engine light came on, and I noticed my temperatures were rising too much. I backed off and the brake light would go off and the temps would drop. But as soon as I would get back on it, the brake light would come back on and temp would go back up. I pulled off the track and realized I was leaking brake fluid...a lot of brake fluid. Here are a couple of pictures of the aftermath:





Since I was in Fontana, I brought the car into my good friends at Fontana Nissan. After inspecting the vehicle, they found that my other 02 sensor went bad, but they were unable to identify the source of the leak. Although I already had steal braided lines, I figured the most likely sources for a leak would be either somewhere in the line or at a fitting. As such, I replaced the lines with a set of Goodridge at all four corners.

This was probably a good idea since the lines which were on the car (installed by previous owner) were custom, and they were just hanging around. They did not use the factory mounting points (the factory bracket was actually removed). I assume this could have caused some undue stress on the lines/fittings as they may have had too much tension when turning. This was a PITA since the factory bracket should be a lifetime part, so there were only 2 in the country. I had to wait as Fontana Nissan sourced the part for me from Texas.

I have also been stockpiling parts. Since my car was overheating, I picked up a Koyo R-Core Radiator, Koyo Cap, Samco lines, a new thermostat & gasket, and 2 bottles of MoCool. I also decided to redo the suspension setup, and picked up KW Clubsports, Whiteline front control arm bushings (Part #'s W52991 & W52992), SPL Front Uppers, SPL Rear Lowers, and SPL Rear Traction Bar. Here's a picture of the parts in my garage:



I haven't gotten around to the installation yet, but did decide to shed some more weight. Here's a shot of my interior and the pile of trash that came out. My best guess is that the pile weighed 30lbs.





I'd like to thank Fontana Nissan, NissanRaceShop.com, Corner3Garage, KW Automotive, and SPL Parts for your recent support!

jnathan68

iTrader: (29)

Some nice goodies going into the car . Looking forward to seeing you out there.

Did you see that a few of us are thinking of doing Auto Club the day before the Fontana Meet? Would be a great place to test out all those new parts

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

Oh dam, looks great, looks like your car is making a huge step up. Need to figure out when we can all hit the track again soon.

etarui

Great idea! So Auto Club Speedway on the 5th? I'd be down for that. I'll try to keep up with you two =)

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

Still working on my kitchen pass to stay down in SoCal all weekend. I should be able to come out and play. A few new things done to my car too.n

jnathan68

iTrader: (29)

Yes, there are a couple guys thinking Auto Club on the 5th. Based on the parts going on your car and how quick Len is, I might be trying to keep up with you two

BoomerZ33

iTrader: (23)

nice job