same here, no pop up ads or anything on my end.

 

thanks, guys. it was a trick ad that expanded a few seconds after I scrolled down and tried to hit the reply button. No big deal, just pissed me off at the time. sorry about the rant..

this weekend, early morning of course because it's 110 during the day, I'm going to remove the CD00A out of the '03 and take a look at the JWT clutch and flywheel to check the condition. both of these components were on the '03 when I bought it so I'm just going to swap them into the '04 if they're good.

I drove the '03 just a few miles down the highway and back when I bought it, because it wasn't street legal. The JWT clutch is very firm with a short grab point. almost like an on/off switch. I don't know how many miles were put on it when I got it. I'll drop some photos here when I get it out. If it doesn't look worn, then I'll use it. I would rather have a less firm grab but I can get used to it.

I need to get my '04 back in the garage bay and get this stuff swapped over. I'll find out tomorrow morning before I do anything else. supposed to be able to disable the immobilizer by inserting the key in the driver door.

I need to finish the brake fluid flush in the Z3 which is in the way right now and get the Boxster in there for plugs and coils. it looks like a very easy job thanks to Cliff's Garage. I already have e-torx sockets. then that's going to the Porsche dealer for a new coolant pump, hoses, and belt before I ship it to my daughter. it's a fun little car but I hate the tiptronic. Even in manual mode it's irritating. but she loved it...

I'll share some photos. I've only got 5 hours in the morning before it's too hot to work. but at least I'm in the mood to do it again. I haven't done much in the last couple months due to work.
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I have the jwt clutch in my Z and it definitely is pretty rough for the street. It holds good power and has lasted forever so no complaints. I bet those shifts are pretty slow in that boxster but your daughter probably could care less haha.

 

thank you for letting me know about the durability of the JWT. That's a really great sign that this one will be in good condition. I have no reason to suspect it's not, it didn't slip at all, but I don't know how hard it was beat on at the track in this car before I bought it.
she went bonkers over the Boxster when she was here last month. so yeah, she doesn't care about the transmission. :-)
turns out it already had new plugs and an engine drive belt installed 2 years ago so I don't need to do that after all. saved me some time and money.

 

nice, thats a sweet car for her!

 

Hi guys. well after a year sitting in the driveway under cover, the 350Z is back in the garage for continued development. it felt good hearing the engine turn over with no complaint this time. it has a quarter tank with stay-bil. The last time I had trouble with it, could have been a key chip issue or the battery might have been too low, confusing the ECU. this time, it was no sweat. and I was relieved.

first order of business, swapping the clutch and transmissions with the 2003. I'll put up some photos when I get into that. now that the weather has broken, I'm finally back in the garage and it's nice. basically took the summer off. it was a scorcher.

I WAS going to hang on to the 03 for the engine and misc spare parts but I've changed my mind. I just want garage space instead so I'm going to get it street legal and then sell it. I'm sure some drift/autox fan will pick it up.

I still need to order a new rear Lexan window.

after having not touched the car in so long, I was really surprised at how chirpy it is. just moving it around in the driveway, not taking it out on the neighborhood street, it's astonishing. compared to the other cars, this thing is a real track car. All of the solid stuff really makes an amazing difference. You can tell instantly. That was fun. I'd forgotten how great this car is... and that's with a stock clutch.

I'm going to take a look at the clutch in the '03 when I pull that transmission. If it's in good shape, then I'll swap it.

The last task to be done is body work. The front bumper, a few dents and dings that I'd like to get fixed up. it is just a track car but I want it to look cool. so it needs vinyl and I want to start with clean body panels.
interior looks great. No problems after sitting for so long. Air tight. I was pleasantly surprised.

​​​​​​I'll be doing weight reduction as well. not trying to preserve the interior anymore. I'm going to leave the floors alone and pull everything else. including cutting out sheet metal and removing AC/ heater, etc etc. center console, everything.
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Hi fellows.
My initial inspection of the car after the long time away from it made me feel rather ruthless because I'm going to tear it up completely this time. I have the same attitude toward the Z3 when I ripped the hell out of it and the result was very satisfying. if I like this platform, I'll buy a nismo as a street car. similar attitude with a Z3, if I want a street car, I'll get a M roadster.
I have a lot of work to do but it's going to be a fun fall / winter. I'm tearing everything out. headliner, windows, regulators, plastic, sheet metal, ripping it all out.
while getting started with weight reduction, I'm looking at things I've overlooked in the past like the rear hatch latch. it needs to go. I'm trying to decide whether to use hood pins on the hatch or quick release fasteners.
I have metal brackets that can be bolted in for pins through the CF hatch. That seems like a more solid solution. but quick release fasteners are pretty easy to install. and I'm thinking of doing the same thing with the bumpers.
I want to be able to quickly pop off the front and rear bumpers for loading/unloading and working underneath.
kind of wondering what you fellows think of this in terms of safety on the track. If you've got redundant fasteners, they're not all likely to fail and dump car parts on the track?
The front is a bit of a dilemma because I have the Z1 under shroud and it really does a great job of strengthening the bumper.
maybe I could do quick release push button pins between the bumper and the supports underneath. there are small ones available. and then fasteners up top. so dropping down, I would pop off four push button releases underneath and then maybe 4 above to release the front bumper.
what are you guys think? Right now it's all screws and rather time-consuming.

 

Finally popping out the rivets to remove this trashed window from the Seibon hatch, and getting ready to order a Lexan from p4p.

I'm really trying to decide whether to get the vents or not. I'm going to cut vents into it if I buy a solid one so it might be worth it to just do it now. I'm going to be removing/tossing the door windows. this car will never do anything besides HPDE/TT.

and this car will never see rain. I'll never go out on track when it's raining, either. and if I get caught in weather, I've got a waterproof CoverCraft cover. so I'm leaning toward the vents. it's an extra $100.

 

after I get a few dents repaired, and the front bumper prepped, I'm going to get a vinyl wrap. I'm going to do the full car including the CF hood and hatch.
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it's a ways off yet but I came across this vinyl that looks good. Vicrez Vinyl Car Wrap Film vzv10227 Light Glare Dark Grey.

 

Just seeing this. I was undecided to the rear window also, but now I'm glad it solid. It would be just another thing I would have to worry about. I know you can say the car won't be in the rain, but you never know what you get on a track weekend. I already have to put the side windows back in every time it's about to rain, with the slotted rear I'd have to cover the car as well. Not worth it imo.

I tend to stay away from the prism type vinyls but that might look good in person. If you get it done post some pics.

 

I came up with a solution to the trailer issue. as far as storing it. $100 per month. so I measured my driveway and from the edge of the house to the sidewalk it's 21 ft halfway into the sidewalk is 23. The local trailers plus dealer has 7x16 dual axle trailers that come to 20 ft total length. so this is most likely what I'm going to do in a few months during winter. I'm sure everyone would say to hold out for an enclosed but this is a good step for me and I'm not really sure if I want the huge investment of an enclosed. yeah I know it's great for camping in the paddock but one thing at a time. I'll upgrade later.




I'm still looking at the ISR LTs. $750 with the '02 extensions from https://www.nisformance.com/ISR-LTH-p/isrlth2.htm. might just put in the order because it's a good price and I've been sitting on this for over a year. I'll be taking out the exhaust to work on the transmission and clutch so it would be a good time to do it.

 

thanks for the good advice, as always. I was just thinking about drilling my own holes into it for venting but I don't want to crack it.

since I'm completely removing the side door windows, I'm committed to dry weather driving. I'm not even going with Lexan side windows, just pulling all of that out of the doors.

 

A few things to consider with such trailer. Make sure the ramps are long enough to load your car without it bottoming out. Might need to carry additional ramp extensions or boards if they are not, and then you'll need somewhere to store them. If possible, get independent axles. The spring axle setup with a common block in the middle makes it much harder to replace tires as raising one wheel allows the other wheel to drop down. Also, those setups tend to bind up easily. Also, get radial tires not bias ply that come by default with a lot of cheaper trailers. Make sure the tongue has enough room for a storage box so you can store straps, wheel chocks, etc. Also make sure that with the car on the trailer there is enough room to install a tire rack in the front. Trust me, sooner or later you'll want to carry a spare set of wheels with you. One more thing, check if the fenders are removable to make it possible to open the car doors when loaded.

 

good suggestions. thanks!

 

Got the rest of the rivets out. need to trim the coilover cables. to stay on track, i need to attack the drivetrain right away and not get distracted by the interior. my goal first is to pull parts off the 03, swap them, and get that car running and for sale.
That situation was a bad idea but I learned from it. I'll put the oem 18s on it. That car came with three sets of enkies which I sold off because they don't fit around akebono calipers. since the car is not worth much, I'm going to put the power stop rebuilds on it and sell the Brembos separately. with the powder coating, plus rotors and new lines, they should bring a decent price.
I'm always tired on Fridays but I'm going to try to get started on the first transmission. not in a hurry... I'm doing some home renovations as well.

 

The ISR LTHs arrived. I'll have to talk a photo. it's interesting getting back into this car after a year. The 350Z has a tough engine and plentiful parts so it's a great choice for this hobby. in the past year I've enjoyed exploring other makes and models. I'm not in too deep into the 350Z. compared to real comp race cars, I've only spent about 10K, plus the 10K purchase price. it's really not a lot for a track car. I think all that's really needed is the diff rebuild. so I'll be into this car about 25k total. really not bad at all for a fun hobby.

in the past year since storing the 350Z, I've played with a Cayman, Boxster, Z3 2.8L, Mustang 5.0, and that was a worthwhile experience. I found that I'd really like to buy a 2012 Boss 302. Don't like the 13 styling. Love the 12s.

I also did a lot of research and talked to a lot of people at Porsche Rallys and at track events, and I don't think I'm going to buy a 911. If I were, it would be a 997 S. The Cayman scratches that itch really nicely.

I finally got the BMW Z4M coupe out of my system. I was really fond of the styling but watched a lot of videos Saw some IRL and decided it not a great choice. honestly, if I'm going to buy another BMW, it's going to be an E36 M3 or E46 M3. legendary cars. Spec3 is a fun group of people. I'm never going comp because I'm not competitive and my reflexes aren't that great anymore at my age now. but it's still a fun group of people.

I'm already familiar with E36 hardware in the Z3. I don't know which I would go with. The S54 engine in the E46 is an extraordinary engine. I'm still thinking about a Z3M with a S52. there was even an S54 in the last year of production of the Z3M, 2002. That would be a great choice. not a lot of people really know how incredible the S54 is. racers know of course. A lot of guys transplant them into a spec 3 car.

given the huge aftermarket support for spec 3 and spec E46 these are good choices for a hobby car, street or track. One guy told me that all of the time I put into my Z3 would translate nicely to a E36 because the hardware is the same.

I think I'm going to end up with one TT car, the 350Z, where almost every nut and bolt has been replaced at this point, and probably two HPDE cars for when I'm in the mood. I'm keeping my first edition CS because I love it so much. I'm going to do all of the track upgrades even though I don't plan on driving it hard. just because. it's getting a numeric short shifter and cables, a baffled oil pan, IPD plenum, GT3 82 mm TB, roll bar, harnesses, wing. The car just feels like it needs these things. I probably will take it out once in awhile but it's mostly just for fun. I don't want to **** it up on the track.

yeah, I need a wing for the 350Z. I was going to install the duck bill thing on the back and it just looks shitty so I'm not even going to bother. I am doing a paint correction and dent repair session at a local body shop and then I will be doing some vinyl work on it.

but first things first, the trans and clutch swap, diff rebuild, and getting these headers installed. I'll get started on that this weekend.

 

 

NISformance, who sold me the headers, also offers a mail-in ECU flash service (to California). I decided to pull the trigger on a kinetix velocity intake so I won't have to mess with the tune again later. I'm not planning on changing the MAF diameter or installing bigger injectors. dabbled with the idea of FI but don't need it for my goals.

So overall: LT headers, velocity intake, TB, CAI, no cats, single pipe exhaust, removed AC. this combination with tune should be worth 40 hp.

The one time I've been to the track in the past year, this car just screamed from what I had been used to, because the cam position sensors were faulting and I didn't know it, so the ECU was pulling timing that whole time. slowest part was the driver. with these power mods it will be hella fun.

this is good enough for me. when I get the diff rebuilt, the car will be done. should be a fun fall/winter.

then it deserves some body work and wrap. The car has been ugly for 2 years and it's time to do something about it. not going to replace any more body panels, but I am going to install fender vents.

 

Cleaning up the mess so i can crawl under this car again. putting all of my leftover OEM parts from the '04 on it after parting out the good stuff. it's going to be tight getting the transmissions out. I might have to lift them both up a couple more inches using a block. this is the max on my jack. I will find out soon enough!



while cleaning up, I removed the cowl and I don't think I'm going to put it back. The battery is going in the rear. but every opportunity I have to simplify, I'm going to do it, based on this car not ever seeing rain. gives me a lot of freedom when I don't need to worry about anything getting wet. and you might say that's a bad idea, but I have a nice waterproof car cover if I get rained on on a track weekend.

this photo specifically I wanted to show how big and bulky and heavy the wiper motor mechanism is! All of these unnecessary parts are going to contribute to my goal of 2,900 lb. The hatch and seats probably already took out 200. The door windows, audio system, Bose speakers, window mechanisms, a/c, heater core, it's all going. maybe 2,800.

 

forgot to mention, the interior was watertight during storage on my driveway which is good but the undercarriage was coated in a layer of black widow webs. That was fun! I brought a power washer into the garage and literally sprayed under the car and then turned on fans to dry the water. it was nasty and I hate spiders.

point being, I'm not ever storing a track car outdoors again. I felt ashamed at the condition of the car and I finally got it cleaned up now. That kyb bumper is going up for sale because I have a fiberglass one that's already painted.

and I am in a bit of a hurry to get this 03 put together, the swaps done, and out of the way so the Z3 can come back in here. I have it double covered but I don't want it sitting out there for long.

this 03 is getting the original cats, etc. but I'm not going to do any more work on it. The fuel gauge sending units were $300 and that didn't fix the problem. it's wiring or the gauge. and the passenger door **** won't open from the inside. I'm just going to disclose these two flaws and then register the car, insure it, and stick it out on the road for sale. maybe $4,000 would be fair.

All the stuff I parted out of it:
* fiberglass Nismo style bumper
* Nismo differential (which died, but still)
* CF hood / hatch
* CD00A transmission
* JWT clutch
* three sets of Enkie wheels that I sold / traded
* Cusco coilovers which I'll let go with the car
* Brembo calipers and rotors, and I added OEM stainless lines, which should bring $1,200. (OEM / power stop brakes will go on it)

so, hey, 3 years ago this is where I was. Bad idea buying the car. but at the time it made sense to have one street, one track. That was before I bought the Cayman and it changed all of the rules.