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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 05:04 AM
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Question What mistakes have you done?

I'm currently a week or two away from buying my first couple mods for my 08' 350z. With this coming up, I was wondering:

What mistakes have you guys made with your car?
I.E. buying used? Did you buy something too early? Wasted money on something?

Any knowledge would be helpful as I don't want to be making mistakes either
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 05:56 AM
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Bought a Godspeed turbo kit- Should of built my own kit. Would of saved about $1000
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 07:01 AM
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buying cheap parts only to swap out later with the stuff i really wanted.....wasted money
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 07:05 AM
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In the early days, Z33 owners were looking for easy, bolt-on mods. I had a nice grounding kit built for my VQ35DE. Not much money wasted, but it didn't do much but improve my imagination.
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 08:45 AM
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Originally Posted by travlee
buying cheap parts only to swap out later with the stuff i really wanted.....wasted money
Yea I'm not going down that road...

Last edited by NaaNee00; Mar 13, 2019 at 06:26 AM.
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 08:47 AM
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Originally Posted by dkmura
In the early days, Z33 owners were looking for easy, bolt-on mods. I had a nice grounding kit built for my VQ35DE. Not much money wasted, but it didn't do much but improve my imagination.
What should I be looking to buy that's non bolt-on?

Last edited by NaaNee00; Mar 13, 2019 at 06:27 AM.
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 08:48 AM
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Originally Posted by iideadeyeii
Bought a Godspeed turbo kit- Should of built my own kit. Would of saved about $1000
When should I build a turbo kit? From what I heard, I should build my motor first, and then put a turbo on it.

Last edited by NaaNee00; Mar 13, 2019 at 06:27 AM.
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 08:56 AM
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Upgraded to a BBK. Now if Fix-a-Flat won't work I'll have to get a tow. (Spare won't fit now).
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 09:15 AM
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Originally Posted by NaaNee00
When should I build a turbo kit? After a certain number of mods have been added? Or should I get it right now? From what I heard, I should build my motor first, and then put a turbo on it.
This thread is moving away from the original topic. My suggestion is to drive your Z33 for at least a year and learn how to drive it well. Spend the time researching any mods, and hone your driving skills.

Last edited by dkmura; Mar 11, 2019 at 09:18 AM.
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 10:13 AM
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Originally Posted by dkmura
This thread is moving away from the original topic. My suggestion is to drive your Z33 for at least a year and learn how to drive it well. Spend the time researching any mods, and hone your driving skills.
^^^ This. So much this!

I have many decades of experience in modifying for performance and years of W2W and Solo/TT racing under my belt. Still drove my Z for over a year to determine exactly what it needed to suit my skills and preferences. Happy with only chassis/alignment mods to dial in whatever spec I need for whatever tire/wheel setup and, power is enough to get me into and, more importantly, OUT of trouble.

#drivingschool - the one mod you can take with you forever; hence, the best investment you'll EVER make. I spent $3200 in 1977 on basics-to-formula-car and another $1600 in license re-training a couple of years later. That paid for itself in about ten years of my NOT needing more mods on various cars to extract the maximum out of them, easily saving that $5k in sunk cost hardware.

But after years of saying exactly this here and on other forums, yet to hear from anyone who's followed this advice; and who, instead favored hardware to make themselves "fast".... "Oh well" is about all I can say now.

OK, guys, there's my "used-to-be-monthly-but-now-only-annual" soapbox speech. I'll STFU now.

Last edited by MicVelo; Mar 11, 2019 at 10:25 AM.
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 10:43 AM
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Youre good Mic … find another soap box and preach!
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 12:06 PM
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Preach, brother Mic, PREACH!
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 01:26 PM
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Biggest mistake was popping my brand new CF hood when I arrived home for lunch.

Forgot I had meant to check the oil level as I was in a bit of a rush to get back to work.

Sucker flew up once i hit about 20-25 and even damaged my brand new CF front fenders. Now that hurt.

I swear I'm my own worst enemy.
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Old Mar 11, 2019 | 02:27 PM
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Built my own engine...
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Old Mar 12, 2019 | 05:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Conway_160
Built my own engine...
hahaha, I wouldn't do that again. Except mine was a G10 not a VQ35
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Old Mar 12, 2019 | 03:47 PM
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Originally Posted by jhc
Upgraded to a BBK. Now if Fix-a-Flat won't work I'll have to get a tow. (Spare won't fit now).
Get the 370Z spare for the sport model! That's what I did. It fits in the roadster spare tire compartment nicely

For a spare tire, it really doesn't look that bad.
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Old Mar 12, 2019 | 04:11 PM
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Originally Posted by iideadeyeii
hahaha, I wouldn't do that again. Except mine was a G10 not a VQ35
It wasn't bad just not fun either.
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Old Mar 13, 2019 | 06:24 AM
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Originally Posted by eZg
Biggest mistake was popping my brand new CF hood when I arrived home for lunch.

Forgot I had meant to check the oil level as I was in a bit of a rush to get back to work.

Sucker flew up once i hit about 20-25 and even damaged my brand new CF front fenders. Now that hurt.

I swear I'm my own worst enemy.
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Old Mar 13, 2019 | 06:32 AM
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Not buying OEM parts and going the cheap route at Auto Zone, etc... When your camshaft/crankshaft sensors go out [and they will at the least opportune moment] just buy the NISSAN replacements. The aftermarket ones don't work and will cause many headaches in the long run.
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Old Mar 13, 2019 | 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Conway_160
Built my own engine...
Elaborate more
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