Well about two months ago i came across a guy on craigslist selling an 2005 stock 350z hood already painted super-black. I'm huge on the DIY projects so naturely i took this task on. I was able to get the extra hood for $150 and the hood was in great shape. I began by printing off the nismo rs templates and laying them out on the hood to where i wanted them. I removed the templates, laid out a layer out blue painters tape on the hood under where each of the templates were placed, then i put the templates back on. I measured from every angle on the hood to ensure perfect line-up and i mean to the exact millimeter. Then i began by cutting the under support beams with a dremel and EZ-cut metal wheels. After that I cut-out the basic shape of the vents with the same tool and bit. The dremel with that bit can only cut straight lines so i had to use sanding bits to round the corners and the edges of the vents. The edges are as smooth as they get, I sanded by hand up to 600 grit. Next i bought a kh3 and clearcoat touch-up pen and painted the edges of all the cut-outs. Then I experimented with installing mesh and that was a nightmare. I bought charcoal colored aluminum mesh from home depot and some black roofing shingle silicone to adhere the mesh to the hood.

Let me say that the job itself isn't that hard but the only tool i found to work with smooth cuts was the dremel tool. By doing this project I found out how cheaply made a dremel really is. I bought a Dremel series 4000 from Home-Depot and ended up burning up 3 of them. I know what your thinking, that im careless with tools but really I was only able to make a single line cut before the dremels began to over heat. This project took me days because of how crapy dremels are. They take 2-5 minutes to get super hot and 2-3 hours to cool down. Luckily Home-Depot let me swap out everyone i broke for a new one.
Total investment:
Hood=$150
Dremel=nothing because i returned them all
Dremel Bits=roughly $30ish
Paint Pen=$25
Mesh=$8
--------------------------------------------------
Total= approximately $213

I was skeptical about if i'd like it or not and after installing it on the car, I have decided that it's probably my new favorite hood (before it was the CF ts style hood which i have seen in person as well). This hood flows very well with stock lines so for anyone debating on whether to do this or not, I say go for it. I'm only 18 so if i can do it by myself I'm sure you all can.

Let me hear your opinions on whether you love it or hate it.

Basic lay-out before i began dremeling




The after product

 

Looks great, can't wait to hook mine up.

 

Not too shabby for a DYI. You better get paint on there though before it catches a rust virus.

 

not bad but i think the grilles made it look worse installed.

 

Love it

 

Looks good ut please lower your car before u do any other mods lol

 

looks good i guess would love to see it better executed on a more aggressive car

 

well done br0

 

I dont get it. What do you think is going to rust and what isn't painted? The hood is aluminum and so is the mesh, not to mention they are both already painted, edges and all (the mesh looks unpainted in the pictures but it is really a dark grey almost black). LOL
I'm still in debate myself about the grills. In the pictures they look silver but in person they are really dark gray almost black. I'll try it out a few weeks and decide then if i want to take them off. I drove with the vents of for about a week, the only reason i put them on was because bugs where always getting chopped in half at the vents.

I'm in debate about lowering it. If i do ill only lower it with aftermarket springs. Not to big on the hellaflush due to bottoming out and trouble lifting it on jacks in a garage. I'm always putting it on jacks for a project and lowering it would make that a bit difficult to raise.

I'm working on it. Hopefully i'll be getting the nismo v2 front, ing sides, and ing rear within the next few months or so. I pay for everything on my car so working a minimum wage job takes awhile to save up the big bucks.

 

Ok, okay. The edges where you Dremmeled looked unpainted.

 

Looks good for an 18yo. Better then some "pro" job that charge way more.

 

Looks very good!

 

Nicely done.

 

Guess you aren't worried about getting caught out in the rain?

 

The rain doesnt hurt the engine, just dirties it up a bit.

 

Looks awesome! Many props to you!

I like the rust comment... seeing that the hood is aluminum.

Keep an eye on that shingle silicone. Would hate to see it get too hot and start to drip.

 

nice job sir !

 

Looks good, great job!

 

sweettttt

 

ROFL