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Here is the look I am considering. I realize the front bumper is like Art, everyone has an opinion including just stick with OEM. Same bumper, two different paint jobs. Thought I would share it though.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 04-28-2021 at 11:49 AM.
Been silently watching your build since the beginning, especially the addition of the supercharger kit. Wanting to do that to my mostly track 2005 for awhile now but alas, my time has passed. However, thought I'd comment on your choices for a front bumper. The paint scheme of the first pic really looks sharp and would definitely be my choice for street driven Z. The second pic looks mean and would be my choice for a pure track car. As you said, you might be tracking the car later on but I think the first paint scheme would still be my choice. Just my opinion. Good luck with whatever you choose.
The fun continues. I have a few things on tap for the Z. I ordered a new steering wheel about 2 months ago from Poland because it was the only place I could find one that was all leather wrapped (no carbon fiber) that I liked. The steering wheel arrived yesterday and it is seriously a work of art. What a great job they did on it. The steering wheel has the flattened bottom and is much thicker than stock and feels great. Super happy with it. The wheel was bothering me as once I got the new leather seats they have kind of a mat finish to the leather and suddenly the shiny leather steering wheel did not look so great. It came with the switches which is a surprise, but I might just use the ones off my current steering wheel.
I also having some overheating issues when I sit for like 20 minutes with in 90 degree plus heat. After some research, I am going to replace those Mishi fans with some Spal fans which should fix that issue. I should get the fans in this evening and may work on installing them in the next few days. Kinda a project to do so with the zero space clearance with the supercharger. I have been staring at it trying to figure out the easiest way to get that done. LOL.
I have three more things on order. One is a new front bumper. Decided to stick with the OEM look which was a tough decision as there is a lot out there I like. My thinking is I want to stay pretty true to the what the car designer intended and keep that stock look. The current front bumper is pretty chipped up from wear and tear and someone bumped something with it as well. The car was never wrecked, it looks like, from going deep into the car many times that someone drove it into a ditch and bumped something just hard enough to dent the bumper and bend one of the super thin metal bumper brackets, which I just bent back and remounted the bumper at the time. The guy who owned the car before me had stripped a fair amout of the interior to set it up for track racing, but only owned the car like 6 months and I am guessing he went off the track once judging from the dent and the grass and stuff under the car. All of this stuff was cleaned up over a year ago, but just giving the history on it. Should look great with a fresh clean bumper.
I also found a person in Poland again, odd, that is making a new gauge display for me with white lettering and also the ability to do every color you can imagine for all the gauges. I know the heritage of the orange lettering, but frankly that is one thing that I never really liked much about the car as it just feels very old to me. Should be fun. I might hold off on the steering wheel install until the gauges come in. And last, but not least, I have ordered some custom headlights that can do just about anything. My 16 year old REALLY wanted that one, I just kinda wanted the Audi look lights, but it will be something fun anyway. That will be coming later this month. Glad to say I found someone local in Houston to do the work.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 05-08-2021 at 05:59 AM.
The fun continues. Shot a video for this one. Basically replaced the Mishimoto fans that were not cutting it with some Spal fans. The spal fans are moving way more air for sure! No comparison. Turned out to be a time consuming project just because there is zero space to work with (what's new) and I had to get creative to avoid taking the entire car apart. LOL. Finished up yesterday bleeding out the air of the radiator and will probably get it out for a drive today to see if it holds together and then the final test. Sitting still in the Texas heat with the AC on for 20 minutes plus and seeing if the car stays cool.
A comment on bleeding the air out. Wow, I have done this a lot with my projects and I have gotten pretty good at it, but it is always a 40 minute or so project with a lots of excitement. haha. First it has to much fluid in the funnel and I have to remove it with turkey baster to keep the level down in the funnel. Then when the heater kicked in, so much air came out it that it bubbled so hard fluid went ever where like a volocano! Then, because the air has come out, you end up pouring more fluid back in to replace the air that left. Just takes some time and patience for sure. I should video that some time for entertainment.
I may have made a mistake in how I joined the wires, but I guess time will tell. I soldered them as I am very good with a soldering iron and shrinked wrapped them. Then I sat down last night and thought, hmmm, wonder if the solder will get hot enough in there to let go? Looked up the chart and it should not, but kinda more close than I would like. Pondered that, and thought, well let's let it roll and time will tell.
I think I am to old to have any future as a Youtube person and I have no desire to edit videos so I just string a bunch of short ones together, so pretty boring, but thought it might be of help to someone considering buying a Mishimoto fan shroud.
It's been awhile, but a few more updates have happened. I have added white on black gauges that effectively can do any color on the rainbow with my iphone linked to it. Mostly I am going to just set it to white. Looks great on a sunny day as it glows a nice bright white like a modern car. This was done by a lady in Poland I worked with who communicated throughout the entire process and did a great job. The second upgrade is multi-color lights. I really liked the "Audi" look and so was mainly going for that, but went ahead and did the multi-color as well. Came out very nice. It was great to do it locally and the guy who owns the shop is really a true Artist who takes pride in his work. Note how the both of the lights are a dark color rather then white light fixtures which helps make the whole flat black light fixture really no nice even when off. The lights are both brand new Depo's so the picture looks like a glaze on it, but it is just the reflections. It's the details that make it work.
Ordered a new front bumper, but they are unable to get them at this time. Will probably wait until Fall to look into that again.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 07-09-2021 at 04:34 AM.
Looks fantastic! Quick question - did your Z have the Factory XID lights or just the halogen ones?
I may need to replace mine (they are crazy hazy) and have the XID ones are those are hella expensive. I just had to replace two cam sensors, one crankshaft position sensor, six coil packs and one entire fuel pump assembly.
Looks fantastic! Quick question - did your Z have the Factory XID lights or just the halogen ones?
I may need to replace mine (they are crazy hazy) and have the XID ones are those are hella expensive. I just had to replace two cam sensors, one crankshaft position sensor, six coil packs and one entire fuel pump assembly.
I had the factory XID lights. Yes this was crazy expensive to have done. Having a bit of buyer's remorse, but I really am enjoying them. The Depo lights are very hard to find if you want the 2006 and up type. They have the larger lenses which look better when you add in the lighting. The oem ones are another level of expense.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 07-11-2021 at 08:22 AM.
Thought I would post this from last weekend. We were running on a shifter kart track so very tight. My son went first driving and it was our first time on this track. You can hear the blow off valve going as we run through the track. We ended up having some overheating issues. Oil ran low 240's and eventually the motor started to get hot and we had to let it cool down. Got a few things to do on that issue. First, we have a giant license plate in front of the grill that I will take off next time! I lowered the plates to make the car look better, and it is not problem on daily driving, but surely that will help on the track. Someone recommended an antifreeze additive from Amsoil. Read up on it and it looked promising. Last, but not least, probably will pay a a visit to the tuner to check the car out as I have not been back since the original set up.
Turn up the volume, it helps! You can see us running down a Corvette and then getting smoked by a Cayman. LOL. A lot of father/son fun!
The car is pushing in the turns and I feel like I could use a wider tire up front. Running the OEM v1 rays for the track and have a 245 width on there. Thought I could maybe squeeze some 255's on there?
Looks like a ton of fun. Very much a bridge between autocross and a full track. I think the narrow front wheels are definitely holding the car back with the narrow tire. It also seems like yall were spending a lot of time with the clutch in and then gear hunting on exit. Otherwise it sounds great and glad the car did well. Low speed high rpm courses like that run continuously are about the hardest you can possibly be on the cooling system. Much more stressful than a big track where you can get more airflow.
Looks like a ton of fun. Very much a bridge between autocross and a full track. I think the narrow front wheels are definitely holding the car back with the narrow tire. It also seems like yall were spending a lot of time with the clutch in and then gear hunting on exit. Otherwise it sounds great and glad the car did well. Low speed high rpm courses like that run continuously are about the hardest you can possibly be on the cooling system. Much more stressful than a big track where you can get more airflow.
Yes, this was his first time out on the track and he got better in the 2nd session. Still, I think both of us could most definitely benefit from some driving instruction and are most certainly rookies still. We are doing a list of things for the heat. 1. Remove front license plate, 2. Add racing cooling additive for the radiator 3. Installing Nismo thermostat 4. Reprogramming the fans to come on sooner. The car is in the shop having those last two things done (along with a few other things). We are considering the Path Finder mod, but not sure if that has real value or not? After all that, we will get it back on the track and see how it holds up.
Also, looking at squeezing on some 255 width tires on the front, currently 245's. Seems to be the widest wheel I can get on an 18" OEM V1 Nissan Ray track wheel. Looking at them right now and think I can go to a 35 sidewall rather than a 40 also. Looking at maybe moving up to the RE71r tires rather than the less expensive Federal's I have on there now. You can really feel the car pushing (understeer) as you come out around the corner on the back stretch before you hit the straight.
Yes, this was his first time out on the track and he got better in the 2nd session. Still, I think both of us could most definitely benefit from some driving instruction and are most certainly rookies still. We are doing a list of things for the heat. 1. Remove front license plate, 2. Add racing cooling additive for the radiator 3. Installing Nismo thermostat 4. Reprogramming the fans to come on sooner. The car is in the shop having those last two things done (along with a few other things). We are considering the Path Finder mod, but not sure if that has real value or not? After all that, we will get it back on the track and see how it holds up.
Also, looking at squeezing on some 255 width tires on the front, currently 245's. Seems to be the widest wheel I can get on an 18" OEM V1 Nissan Ray track wheel. Looking at them right now and think I can go to a 35 sidewall rather than a 40 also. Looking at maybe moving up to the RE71r tires rather than the less expensive Federal's I have on there now. You can really feel the car pushing (understeer) as you come out around the corner on the back stretch before you hit the straight.
http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/wol...BOLTS_juke.pdf This shows the flow paths and different head gaskets between the motors. The pathfinder mod shifts a larger portion of the water flow through the block and sleeves instead of the head. This makes it much more similar to the HR flow. It does add a second thermostat to the system, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It will not provide substantially more cooling total because you are not increasing coolant flow, or removing any additional heat through the radiator. It will keep the block and heads at a more uniform temperature which is good for the head gasket. I would recommend it and I think many people have done it successfully.
Removing the license plate would be a great first step. You should also make sure that your block off panels behind the front bumper are in good order to ensure that all of the air that makes it through the grill is going through the radiator and not escaping around to the sides. Some carefully cut alumalite or sign board and adhesive backed foam can make a very well sealed grill duct. A couple pieces of tape around the hood latch opening also prevents a good bit of air from bypassing the radiator. They make nice block off panels, but just taping it would be a good first step.
Lastly, the real solution here, that is less ideal is to add big ugly hood vents, properly positioned right behind/above the rear face of the radiator. https://racelouvers.com/350z-03-06-c...st-tt3-6-spec/
http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/wol...BOLTS_juke.pdf This shows the flow paths and different head gaskets between the motors. The pathfinder mod shifts a larger portion of the water flow through the block and sleeves instead of the head. This makes it much more similar to the HR flow. It does add a second thermostat to the system, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It will not provide substantially more cooling total because you are not increasing coolant flow, or removing any additional heat through the radiator. It will keep the block and heads at a more uniform temperature which is good for the head gasket. I would recommend it and I think many people have done it successfully.
Removing the license plate would be a great first step. You should also make sure that your block off panels behind the front bumper are in good order to ensure that all of the air that makes it through the grill is going through the radiator and not escaping around to the sides. Some carefully cut alumalite or sign board and adhesive backed foam can make a very well sealed grill duct. A couple pieces of tape around the hood latch opening also prevents a good bit of air from bypassing the radiator. They make nice block off panels, but just taping it would be a good first step.
Lastly, the real solution here, that is less ideal is to add big ugly hood vents, properly positioned right behind/above the rear face of the radiator. https://racelouvers.com/350z-03-06-c...st-tt3-6-spec/
Wow. Those are exceptionally ugly vents. LOL. I think I will do it in steps. First get this next round of modifications done and then see how the car performs. The last two modifications are more drastic, like the hood vents and possibly a different bumper with more ventilation. Or the next mod might be to quit running the car on a shifter kart track and move up to the real track. That next step is kinda a bigger leap in terms of hassle factor (distance to track) and getting some level of instruction at the beginning. Also, my son is 17 which seems to exclude him from most track racing and this is something I want him and I to be able to do together. The next get together is mid-November so I will see how the modifications work and cooler weather will also be in my favor.
It has been awhile, but thought I would update my thread on the work that has happened. A lot of work got done to improve the cooling on the Z and some other improvements as well. Hopefully next month I can get her out on the track again and see how it does. Might be better to just list off everything.
1. New front bumper. Just wanted one that was not all dinged up from rocks and stuff.
2. New V3 Vortech Supercharger. Burned up the bearings on the old used ones. I have a deal with the shop as they will get the bearing rebuilt and sell it at some point and issue a credit to me for part of that.
3. Rerouted the intake up underneath the bumper and out of the engine compartment area.
4. Nismo thermostat installed
5. Pathfinder cooling mod done
6. Anti-freeze additive for better cooling
7. Oil change and new oil pressure sensor
8. New tune with new supercharger. Picked up an additional 25 hp(425hp on E85/ 385ft lbs torque(think that is correct)) and I can definitely feel the difference
Believe that is everything. The car is really noticeably faster(seat of the pants) and just flat out running great.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 01-24-2022 at 11:32 AM.
04-27-2021, 10:47 AM
