NJVinny350z's 2003 Touring 350z. [Progress Thread]
 

Ok, first let me introduce myself.

My name is Vinny, I live in East Brunswick, NJ and I have a fully loaded 2003 Touring in Super Black, that I picked up in May of 2011.
When I bought the car, it has ~52,000 miles on it, and was in pretty good condition. It had 5% window tint all around, along with tinted headlights and taillights.

Here's some pics from when I first got her, keep in mind I had no idea how to take halfway decent car pictures at the time. (seriously wtf was I thinking.:icon39:)

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/7511/3512d.png

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2450/3502q.png

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/6686/3503.png

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/5850/3510x.png
(orange peel, I know :icon14:)

Well the car basically stayed stock for a while until I finished paying it off, at one point me and my buddy took a photoshoot.

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/8960/final2w.jpg

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/4048/350z1i.jpg

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/3199/350z5.jpg

One day I decided I could no longer stand the orange side markers, and picked up a can of plasti-dip (my first mod), and took some more pics (many of which I forgot to photoshop my license plate out, so I'm not posting them.)

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/5...fwall024v1.jpg

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/9...affwall046.jpg

This brought me to the winter. I saved up during the cold weather and decided to start actually modding the car.

My first big purchase was my wheels. I decided to go with these guys:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c..._6134-500W.jpg

Varrstoen 2.2.2's in matte black with red time attack pin-striping. 19x9.5 +12, 19x10.5 +12

My next step was the suspension. I initially was going to go with some springs, until my buddy had convinced me that coilovers were the way to go, and dropping the extra money would be worth it. He was right.

I invested in BC Racing BR Coilovers from a vendor here on my350z, that also came with an SPC rear camber kit.

http://www.hptmotorsports.com/prodim...F-02-GDBLG.jpg
http://g35driver.com/forums/attachme...s-img_0004.jpg

A few months and a refund check later, I bought the final remaining piece, tires.

http://www.rims4less.com/prodimages/..._V12_EVO_2.jpg

I came to my senses, and took off the headlight tint due to decreased visibility at night.
I also got pulled over for my tints, and had to have them removed while being sentenced to a mandatory court appearance.

I put everything on, and got my fenders rolled. After waiting months for everything to finally be finished (mainly due to the lack of funds :o) I finally had everything on and ready for this spring.

I removed the taillight tint to bring out the red in my car with the new wheels.

Here are the most recent pics:

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9104/newqd.jpg

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/2900/350pic2.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4070/350pic3.jpg


Mod List:

BC Racing BR Coilovers
Varrstoen 2.2.2 Wheels in Matte Black with Red Pinstriping,
19x9.5+12, 19X10.5+12
Hankook v12 tires, 235/35/19, 255/35/19
SPC Rear Camber arms with Toe Bolts
RDX Antenna
Plasti-Dipped Side Markers

(It's not much so far but I'm working on it.)

Future Mods:

Spacers, 15mm rear, 10mm front
JWT Pop Charger
Black Painted Door Handles
Blacked out 06+ Headlights
Shine Amuse A-Spec front bumper and front splitter in carbon fiber
INGS+1 N-Spec Side Skirts
INGS+1 N-Spec Rear Bumper
Nismo S-Tune Exhaust

(and a lot more but I'll keep it realistic for now :icon39: )

Looks nice. Good coilover choice...I like mine. Leave the door handles silver is my vote.

Looks wayyyyyyy better without the smoked lights! Nice Z!!!

very clean...Im surprised you sprung for such a nice suspension and went with Varrstoen rims...they look good but in my head it just doesnt add up.

No one but us will know anyways so whatever :dunno:

Clean

How much did you spend on wheels and tires total.

Looks good man.

Good work. Wish I had gone with those tire sizes but I wussed out and went with the standard 245/35 ane 275/35....so now I'm stuck with +12 net offsets of else I rub. Oh well...I'm dumb haha

Jersey roads dude. you don't want the CF front splitter, get the FRP version trust me ;)

Thanks :thumbup:. I'm still torn between blacking them out or not, I just feel like the door handles stand out too much. I'll probably wait until I get the headlights before I decide for sure.

Thanks :icon38:. Removing the taillight tint was a tough decision. I had never seen the car without tint on the taillights and didn't really know what to expect, but it all worked out in the end.

Thanks. :thumbup:

Well the way I look at it is that it's a lot easier to throw some new wheels on there if I wanted to, rather than swapping the suspension so I mine as well do it right the first time. Plus I'm a broke college kid who doesn't have 3 grand to drop on wheels just to be able to say they are real.

I really don't wanna make this a volk vs replica thread, but I see where you are coming from.

Thank you. :)
Wheels: $1340 shipped with lugs, valve stems, and hubcentric rings.
Tires: $875 brand new shipped.

Thanks, you decide on your suspension yet?

Thanks. :icon38: Honestly, I was stuck between these and those tire sizes too. I did some research and found a Z with my same wheels with these tires and decided to try it out. Worked out well, a slight stretch and no meaty tires, exactly what I wanted.


Haha, yeah I guess you're right. I definitely hear you on the jersey roads. I'm far from having the money for it anyway. I saw your lip had a very small crack on the bottom passenger side when I was at JDS. (I saw your "To Do List" too btw :thumbup:) I'm guessing you're speaking from experience. :icon17:

Looking good!

Thanks Willy. :cool:

Looks good, I like the blacked out tails and headlights over oem, but that's just me. Shame i could have just traded taillights with ya and saved ya the trouble of taking the tint off . Lol. How has that tire set up been with jersey roads , I wanna go lower profile but livin in NJ myself don't feel like goin broke replacing tires

Jersey Shore Vinny??
lol jk-
Digging the black dude. I was torn between black and db.
Looking good!!!

Looks better without the tinted tail lights. I'd leave the door handles and the emblems in silver as well. The Z looks nice. If you can get a set of 06+ headlights, then it would even better. Enjoy it!

nice progress so far Vinny! car looks great in person :thumbup2:

Thanks. No complaints on the tire setup so far. But NJ roads can definitely be a pain in the ass.

That joke never gets old :icon22:
But thanks. DB was my second choice :icon38:


Thanks. I'm saving for some 06+ headlights now. If they were only cheaper :icon14:

Thanks Jas. Couldn't have done it without you guys. I actually need to talk you guys sometime next week. I'll text you when I'm available. :thumbup:

Ya i think im going with Stance.

Coming along very nicely!

Thanks for getting rid of the head/tail light tints... Car looks great now with dem' TE37's