Well, I got to drive the car a lot over the weekend. It feels much better than when it was slammed. Unfortunately, I got nothing accomplished as far as modifications go. I am planning on getting some work done tonight. I leave Friday for Putnam Motorsports Park. Can't wait. I am extremely excited. Only a couple of things left to do before we go. Really enjoying the car now that I am able to drive it and not leave it on jack stands!

 

Alright, I was able to finally install the gauges last night. It became quite an adventure (get to that in a minute). The gauges work perfectly. I am very happy with them. They also match the factory gauge color very well.

Now - for the part that gets interesting. As you can see in the pictures, the combination gauge is working properly...that didn't last too long. I made a stupid mistake and didn't cover the back of the circuit board and it shorted out. Smoke was coming out of the dash - it was terrible. Such a n00b mistake. Oh well - I ordered another one and it should be here next week. I will make sure that doesn't happen again. Anyways - on to the pictures!

Day Color


Night Color


Night time driving

 

Last night I was able to get more work done :woot:

I installed my adjustable upper control arms, and new brake pads for the Rotoras. Install went well - was really easy. I am going today to get an alignment. I believe I am going with:
F: -2.8 Camber (or around there); 0 Toe; Factory Caster
R: -2.0 (or as much as I can get); 0 Toe

The brake pads are Rotora H6 pads. They are their aggressive track pad.

On to the pictures

 

Great build!

 

Definitely jealous of the BBK. Pretty sure you're going to rip your front suspension off when you brake...

 

Loving the gauges. Awesome build btw, I can't wait to see more!

 

Post pix of the whole car! Profile shot too!

Not that I dont respect the work that goes into stanced cars, but I like where this build is going

Keep up the good work!

 

Haha thanks guy! Didn't quite rip it off

Thanks man! The gauges came in handy at the track!
Thanks! I definitely do need to post more pictures. I will try to get some here soon.

 

Track day #1:
Overall - it went well.

To start, the car did very well on the trip to Indiana (about a 400mi trip). Towing the tire trailer was no problem for the Z. Very happy with the way that turned out.

So, before I made the trip to IN, I noticed my belts were looking pretty bad. I didn't have enough time to replace them before our trip - so I had to risk it. I made it most of the way to IN before the first belt broke. The A/C stopped and I was sad. No big deal. Kept going and replaced the belts in the hotel parking lot. That was all good. Well, I found out that truthfully, God didn't want me to have A/C for this trip because during the first session - some track debris hit my oil cooler and punctured the A/C condenser (SWEET!) so now I get to replace that.

Overall impressions of the car: The car did very well. I feel like it could use a small bump in power, wider front tires, and an alignment change. I experienced a lot of understeer throughout the day. I do have some small front tires, but I plan to change that. Otherwise, the car was great. My fastest lap was a 1:23.6 - slightly slower than I was in the G37. I think track conditions had a lot to do with it. The day was very humid, rainy, and hot!

If anyone has any suggestions on understeer or see something I am doing wrong, let me know!

Here is a video of my fastest lap and some pictures!

 

Looks great! Enjoying following your progress.

 

What front control arms are you using? I won't judge you

 

Thanks! Hopefully there is much more progress to come!
I sent you a PM!

 

Well, it has been a couple of months now. I just returned from Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL. Had a great time. Car did very well (other than heat).

Next modifications will be to the cooling system. My coolant temps got way too hot (I wasn't paying enough attention/was having too much fun with that Cayman/Elise)

I ran a 1:51.1 as my best time. Happy with that, but I left a lot of time on the track. This was my first time at Barber.

I have included a video. Reminder, this is my first time on this track. (Me frantically waving was me calling off the point-by)

 

How hot was it? how hot did your oil/water get after a session? (did you run full session without cooldown laps?)

 

thank you for rescuing this Z, first and foremost. Stanced, fatface gayillest hella*** is the worst fad to ever happen to the Z community.

2nd everthing looks awesome man, interesting choice on the re11. Ive found them to be a bit disconnected at the track. Ive switched over to MPSS

 

The ambient temperature was ~95* with ~45% humidity. Very hot to say the least.

My cooling system is stock, other than my oil cooler.

The first session I was able to run through completely. The next 3 weren't so great. I had to do multiple cool down laps.

Oil temperature stayed right at 240* (okay with that)
Coolant temperature would creep up to 240* (NOT okay with that)

Haha thanks man. It will forever have some battle scars, but I am making it better one day at a time.

I actually upgraded to NT01s. They are much better (obviously). I really liked the RE11s. I had good luck with them. They are now my DD tires. I wouldn't say they are the best tire for track - though.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention - the A/C condenser was replaced a week after it was broken. Fortunately at that time I had a DD so I didn't sweat my ballz off.

 

Alright so, I have neglected this thread for some time now. I am going to do a small update.

I have a front end pop. I don't know what it is from. So I replaced a lot of parts up there. I replaced inner and outer tie rods, and wheel bearings on both sides. There is a lot less popping, but I still have a pretty decent pop. I am looking at other options. Not sure what to do next.

Other than that, I changed the oil to Mobile 1 Euro formula. 0w-30.

Not much else to report. Enjoy pictures.

 

I'm debating on making a thread on my trailer z build............

 

Did you check the sway bar end links? I once had some popping, just needed some tightening!