I've always loved cars and the idea of driving cars on track. However, growing up I never had the opportunity to flex that muscle as my parents were not into cars as much as I was so we always prioritized other things. Fast forward to this year when, after years of wanting to drive on the track, an opportunity to drive with Hooked On Driving at The Ridge just outside of Olympia, WA came up. Date was late April, which promised to be cold, but clear. Since I had no track car at the time, I decided that my daily driver, a 2018 Audi Allroad (tuned, lowered, suspension-ed, and tire/wheeled) would be my ride for the day.

The day came and I had an absolute blast. I was hooked up with a coach who had a 350z and was absolutely crushing it in the instructor group, out driving Porsches, BMWs, and Audis. Had a great day, but on the last session, I sent the Allroad off the track into a bunch of saplings. While not as bad as it could have been, it ended my day and definitely left a lasting impression on the Audi.



Track day with the allroad

Damage on the allroad was about $4k, of course it wasn't covered by insurance. After talking to my wife, she suggested, that, if I was serious about this track thing, I should looking getting a car that, if it goes into a wall, I can move on from without it hurting the pocketbook so much. With that, I started shopping. I considered lots of different cars, guided by my track coach who I hit it off with and stayed in touch, but it came down to 3 options; BMW e46 330ci, NC Miata, or a 350z.

I really wanted to get the BMW, the balance is great, great aftermarket, power to get going fast, but the drawback there is the cost to get it ready for the track. Knowing that I'd have to at least fix the rear subframe cracking and likely some engine problems, before I even got it on the track, it would be a few grand just to get it ready to go. Next up was the Miata. We all know the answer is always Miata. I drove a lot of them, sat in a lot both stock and set up for the track, but I never fit. (I have super long legs and a relatively short torso for being 6' 2") My legs always came up by the steering wheel and I could never get comfy. Additionally, people were asking $9k+ for 150k+ milage Miatas, so I threw that option out as well. That left me with the 350z.

I also drove a lot of Zs, but none track ready because we have so few here in the PNW. I always felt I could get comfortable and I fit with a helmet on in stock seats with the headliner, but just barely. There were a few for sale in the greater Seattle area, but no one followed up after I had test driven them so I started looking outside of Seattle. I found a few in Portland but one guy who actually responded. It was a 2006 Enthusiast 6MT with 158k miles. The seller shared all the paperwork he had on the car and the history he knew about it. Seemed pretty solid so I lined up a PPI at an independent shop in Portland and spent a whopping $5.60 plus 40k air miles to pop down to Portland and hopefully, buy the car.

The seller picked me up at the airport in the Z (sketch I know, but I didn't have any cash on me so I figured I was relatively safe). Nice kid, just out of college, trying to get some cash to buy a pickup truck. He tossed me the keys and I drove to the shop for the PPI. Car was okay on my test drive, clutch was shot and the AC didn't work, but other than that, seemed okay to me. I chatted with the shop owner after the PPI and he told me all I needed to hear. I decided to buy the car. We headed to a bank, transferred money to him, he signed the title over to me and that was that. I was the proud 8th owner of a 2006 350Z!

Drive home was uneventful. The car drove like I was expecting. The most exciting thing was the rain I hit just outside of Portland.



Parked in front of the house after the drive from Portland

The next thing to do was to get a new clutch installed and try to get the AC fixed. I got that work done by a local Japanese specialty shop as I've never done any clutch work before. I upgraded to the Z1 Mild Performance clutch and flywheel kit. The shop noted a few more things that I should fix while they were in there so I said yes, figuring it was probably better safe than sorry. After that fix, the clutch felt much better and could put down a lot more power. At the same time I ordered the clutch, I ordered a whole bunch of brake upgrades and new fluids from Z1.



Stuff to upgrade/maintain the Z


A little caveat, while I'm mechanically inclined, I've never done any kind of work on a car except for changing oil so while the Z is my track car, it's also a learning platform for me so I build confidence as I change cars down the road.

I got the back into my shop behind my house, threw it up on jacks, and started working. First thing I did was change the diff oil. I used Red Line 75W90. it didn't look too bad, but I figured I might as well swap it out before the track.




Next was the most daunting to me, the brakes. Luckily you can get your mechanic certification from YouTube so I figured I would be okay. I upgraded my pads to Carbotech XP10s (front) and XP8s (rear), the Z1 drilled and slotted rotors, and Motul 660 fluid. Once all was said and done, I don't know why I was worried. It was pretty easy. I bedded those bad boys in and I was ready for the first track day in the Z!



Brakes!

I took the Z down to Pacific Raceways to drive with ProFormance Racing School. I got my solo track credential that day which was pretty cool! I learned a lot about the car that day. The steering wheel was too big, the driver's seat was super sketchy, and I probably needed to remove weight from the car. Before I drove home that evening, I ordered a steering wheel hub and disconnect from Amazon and found out when the local motorsport's store was open next.

The next week I headed to 425 Motorsports in Kirkland, WA and picked up a steering wheel, Sparco Evo L seat, seat rails, Planted seat bracket, and associated hardware. Once the parts from Amazon came in, I headed to work!



New wheel installed, and the interior gutting beginning

Rear storage section and trunk gutted

Getting the seat just right and installing it took much longer than expected. I had to go buy 2 kinds of drill bits because the first wasn't the right kind, as well as go buy different hardware to make my 3pt seat bet work. Needless to say, I was finally finished at 9:30p and exhausted.


Mounted on the bracket

Installed in the car

The next day I headed down to the Ridge again for SCCA Track Night in America. The drive down was horrible as I still didn't have AC. It was 93deg in the car and I was SOAKED in sweat the entire afternoon. I vowed never to do that again until I fix the AC. The track day was good. The organization of the day leaves a lot to be desired, but it was fun. No instructor was okay, had a spin, but hey, nothing bad happened!



I look much cooler here than I actually am

I had a few more track days in the Z with Audi Club, Porsche club, and HOD. Learned a lot and actually had my original instructor again with HOD. He and I had been chatting a lot all while I was doing this work. He's given me a ton of information and feedback on the car and how to improve it. Having him as a coach with HOD was awesome. I felt like I jumped leaps and bounds that day. We talked a lot about next steps for the Z and what he'd do. After that discussion I ordered a StopTech Trophy 6piston BBK (which I'm still waiting for 5 mo later), Konig Hypergram 18x10.5" wheels, and scheduled the Z to go in for a cage in December. I had a lot of work to do to get the Z ready for the cage, but I wanted to get some stuff done before my last track day of the year, Quattofest with Audi Club down at Portland International Raceway.

The biggest thing I needed to get done was remove the sheetmetal of the speakers/cubby space behind the seats. I took a sawzall and spot-weld drill bit to the car and pulled out a whole bunch of crap.



Still had some stuff to remove but the bulk was gone.

Some of the sheet metal taken out.

While doing all of that I also got the Z ready for Quattrofest. Rotated the tires, checked the brakes, changed brake fluid, topped up everything else. I was ready for the first road trip in the Z.

Heading down to Portland was easy, loud, but easy. Quattrofest was a blast and I learned a TON about driving in the wet, especially with this car. This thing is tail happy and wanted to step out on me at every corner it felt like. It was never truly dry at at PIR, and it was a great learning experience. In fact, I also had my original instructor again, with Audi club. That was awesome given how well he knows Z cars. Truly unforgettable weekend and I can't wait to go again in the wet!

As I got home from Quattrofest, I waited until 425 Motorsports was ready to install the cage. Since I had about 6 weeks until they needed the car, I figured I'd do some deferred maintenance. I ordered a valve cover kit from Z1, new AC condenser and high pressure line from CZP, and picked up a new clutch line from the dealer. I was hoping to do all this work during thanksgiving break with my Father-in-law, who has built many cars in his time. I figured he would be a good set of eyes to watch me in case I screwed up. With best of intentions, we only got the valve covers done, but that was what I was most worried about doing myself. It was fun working with and learning from him. It'll be super helpful when he moves onto our property later next year when his tiny house is built.



Nasty oil in the plenum.

Look, I did a thing!



Replacing all the gaskets because we can.

Valve cover off about to be reinstalled.

While we were reassembling, I installed new sparkplugs as well. It couldn't hurt!

It was finally time to drop my car off to 425 Motorsports for the roll bar. After 2.5 weeks at the shop, I picked up the car a few days ago. It's amazing! They built a false floor for the driver's side foot well, custom roll bar, and rear strut brace.



Custom "false floor".

Rollbar and strut brace installed.

I've still got a lot of stuff to do, clutch line and AC, but that'll have to wait until after Jan 8th, when a few buddies of mine are going to hit up a dyno. Curious to know what the Z puts down with 160k miles on the clock...

 

Nice work. Good call from your better half on getting a dedicated track car. "Cars are meant to be driven" welcome to track life. ONE OF US!!!

 

Suspension components are slowly rolling in. Whiteline front sway bar and end links arrived. These will be waiting patiently until my coilers show up.

 

track builds!!!

 

Looking good, I just did the same to my Z but I didn’t cut out the rear metal stuff.

 

It's definitely work to get rid of the spare sheetmetal. I figured, I'm going to get a cage welded in, might as well go all the way...

Finally got around to ordering suspension this morning. Z1 FUCAs and Bilstein B16 PSS10 coils. Expecting them to show up in the first few weeks of January. I was deciding between the SPL and Z1 FCUA and ultimately decided on Z1 due to both cost and the fact that I will likely 'set it and forget it' when it comes to alignment. As Iearn more about suspension settings and how my car behaves I can decide if I want to drop another $1k on SPL Parts...likely not.

 

The Z1 FUCAs are more work to get dialed in but dependable and a better value. Make sure to go with spec'd torque otherwise the bushings bind. Good luck!

 

Good call on the suspension components. Learn to dial-in the FUCAs (3-5 degrees negative) and play with the sway bar settings before doing too much else. Use slight tire pressure changes to do any micro tuning.

BTW- that's a roll bar you've got in your Z, not a full rollcage.

 

I was thinking 2deg negative since I drive this to/from the track. 3 or more will wreck my commute tires. Good call on the sway bar settings, will mess with those on track.

Never said it was a full cage. The shop calls them half-cages, I know it's a roll bar :-) Either way, it's safer than it was, and that's what matters.

 

Not trying to be difficult. It's just that several build threads here confuse roll cages with roll bars. Many of our members are young motorsports enthusiasts and need to know the difference. Shops can sometimes confuse matters by using terms like "half cages", when they are actually triangulated and reinforced roll bars.

Good luck on your build.

 

I hear ya. Want to make sure we’re all on the same page and share proper information. I’ll be sure to use roll bar in the future. Good call looking out for younger/newer enthusiasts.

 

im tryin to decide on suspension components as well, i looked at the Z1 set, let me know how they hold up. they seems to be great value. Ill be in the same boat, set and forget so adjustability isnt a big concern, I just want them to last on track.

 

I purchased a whole new coilovers set up, new UCAs, and replacement parts for said coilovers and I am happy to say that the packages have been delayed. Called FedEx yesterday, said there is no movement in my packages and that I just need to wait. Delightful. Was excited to get going on it this weekend, but it looks like I get to wait. On the bright side, I'm heading to the Dyno today to see what power my 160k mile Z produces to tide me over until fun bits arrive.

 

Dyno day was a lot of fun. Was run by the Avants car club here in Seattle and was held at CarbConn in Kirkland. Cool dudes running the shop and lots of sweet cars. Everything from an 04 Ford Lightning to multiple Porsches, 911TurboS, GT3, GT4, etc.

Getting the Z on the dyno was exciting no doubt. Since it had 300hp and 285lbft from the factory when new, I was expecting around 200hp and 190tq to the wheels. The car has 160k mi on the clock & was run without oil for a while (unbeknown to me). I have done a lot of "catchup" maintenance but I still didn't have high hopes. My hope and dreams were shattered because the car put out 257hp and 233lbft to the wheels. Almost exactly a 15% drivetrain loss from the crank when new. I was super surprised and extremely happy.



Dyno Results

 

damn those are solid numbers! what suspension parts did you go with?

 

congrats on that !

 

Finally, after FedEx figuring itself out, my suspension showed up. I purchased the Bilstein B16 PSS10 set up.

I wanted to go with something high quality, but more of a “set it and forget it” kind of thing. I don’t know enough about suspension tuning to justify KW Clubsport prices or tuning availability. Can’t wait to get going on the suspension this week.




To add additional excitement to Dyno Day, my batter was completely dead and needed to be jumped to get home. Luckily I was able to find a Optima Red Top at an Advanced Auto Parts and get that installed before moving the car from the garage to the shop last night.

 

have you thought about lightweight battery?

 

I did, but the cost/benefit isn’t there for me. If I was racing it would be a no brained. But for track usage, the extra $400 is better spent elsewhere.

 

Got to working on the suspension yesterday while my kid was napping. This was my first time ever doing suspension work and I was eager to learn. Turns out the most challenging thing was getting seized bolts that are from 2006 out. It took me about 2 hr for the passenger side and driver side removal. Then the kid work up. I got back to it after dinner and the driver's side went in super quickly.




I had to do some fab work on the strut tower brace to get the adjustment **** to clear on the passenger side. It ain't pretty but it works!




I was going to install my new front sway bar, but one of the bolts has decided it doesn't want to come out. So after 30min of trying to get it out, I decided to call it and just sprayed in WD40. I'll try again today before I drill it out.

Other than that, I removed all the rear suspension as I wait for a few things from Nissan to install the springs and shocks.

I also got good news that my BBK should ship the last week of Jan/first week of Feb. That'll be going in next!