M@_

Hey guys!







I bought this beast of a 350z yesterday. It's of the 2005 variety. I am looking forward to learning more about the Z platform. I'm coming from 10+ years of hardcore Miata ownership (The Z still has an extra stablemate in the garage -- my 4th Miata). I'm not even going to get started on the differences between the two... but a summation would be ... power. All. Of. The. Power. That's going to take some getting used to, even in it's bone stock format with the pretty high mileage on this example, it still scoots pretty nicely.

Some feedback on the forum set up, I'm loving the "Top 100 Common Questions" thread! It's very informative and I've already learned a ton! In particular I liked reading about the plenum spacers, that's a new concept for me. I'm probably going to motion to start a similar thread on the Miata forums I've been a part of for ages.

From the Top 100 FAQ thread I've been able to make an educated guess that mine is just a base model. No High Rev, cruise control, or VSLD for me .

A little backstory on the car, truthfully I had almost zero intention of buying another car but, as all of us do when roaming the remote regions of craigslist, we find something either to good to be true or an incredible deal. I tend to optimistically think towards the latter being more likely. I found a different beat up Z selling for $1800, long story short it was an impounded repossession and really REALLY rough. It had clearly already been drifted on a track and was practically gutted bald tires and all. I told the guy it probably wasn't what I was looking for but did give him a low ball offer of 1k thinking I'd just continue drifting it. He actually accepted and shook my hand on the deal, but after I went to the bank I got a text message saying that he sold the car to someone else who showed up with cash and sold it for more. BOOO. So now I had a little bit of cash in my pocket and began looking at Zs specifically. Fast forward about a week, I ran across this one and decided to pull the trigger -- it was rough around the edges but bone stock and cheap enough so that if I wrap this around a pole tomorrow I'm not going to be too upset.

So far, this car is almost 100% in tune with every stereotypical broke/go wrong thing on Zs. You know I'm going to be using the hell out of that search function on this forum. This girl's gonna need a lot of love. Here's a listing of the problems I've come across so far:

• Driver Side window does not roll down (ebay refurbed motor is in the mail)
• Passenger door handle does not open from the outside
• Driver Side exterior A pillar is cracked and broken off. I'm constantly reminded of this fact every time I'm on the highway because I can hear the wind whistling over the window that also doesn't work. (I'm just learning about how freaking expensive those things are -- I'm hoping to do some junkyard hunting)
• Clutch is probably in ok condition, but occasionally comes up only halfway and I'll have to flick it up the rest of the way with my foot. There's a slave cylinder in the mail and I'm looking forward to addressing that problem -- probably my biggest pet peeve with the car right now.
• The Check Engine Light (CEL) came on literally right after I drove it off the lot of the mom and pop shop I bought it from. Apparently these things don't like to show themselves on 15 minute test drives. P0021. I'll be starting with the simple things on this one, oil change and service other vital fluids then reset and continue to diagnose if needed. From my initial research that code appears to be a little finicky with everyone who gets that code.
• 5th gear grinds every time. No, not just when it's cold, or just when the revs are in the stratosphere. When I say every time, I literally mean every time I go into 5th gear I'm grinding it in. No amount of double clutching, gentleness, or praying to automotive deities will change this. By the time I discovered this, I was already to emotionally attached to the car. I have since accepted it as part of one of it's unique automotive quirks.
• Rear struts for the hatchback are worthless (new struts in the mail)
• Horn does not work on the steering wheel, but the panic button on the key fob will blare the horn
• Air bag light flashes -- I'm guessing there was an event of some type where the bags deployed and then a new wheel center thingy was thrown on there without a bag. I'll probably find out soon when I start trying to fix the horn and if need be I'll either throw a resistor on there or get an actual air bag.
• Dome lights aren't working when getting into the car -- that's annoying as hell at night.
• Brake pads look ok but the brake rotors might be a little warped. It is tolerable and only really noticeable when you're looking for it. I'll do a pads and rotors change in the future, but right now I think there are a few more important things lol.
• I have just discovered that no amount of windshield washer fluid will convince the jets to spray onto the windshield
• The interior is ... probably how you can imagine any poorly kept Z is -- scratched to **** with the door panels occasionally coming loose. I'm going to be putting a lot of time and attention into getting the interior back to presentable. I've already found some pretty cool videos on refurbing interior trim pieces.
• Overall paint of the car is abysmal, I stopped counting the little dents, divots, cracks in the bumpers front and rear... it's just ... yeah... The car has a lot of character ok?
• Rear driver side tail light broken (the assembly not the bulb), ironically the car came with a new one in the back seat. It appears to have not been massaged in yet because of the rear bumper situation described above.

If you've made it this far, congratulations you deserve a cookie. Please silently say a prayer for the adventure I've signed myself up for on this car.

Also, if you look at the last attached image... I did a quick look at the VIN... apparently mustangs aren't the only cars that hit pedestrians. The running theory is that the car was previously owned by a baby momma who ran over her baby's daddy because he's wasn't paying any child support. My reason being, the car was disabled just enough so it had to be towed away, but the air bags didn't deploy. So, if someone were to inflict a maximum amount of pain on someone and still be able to get payments from them -- this is a shining example of what you could do. That is the only logical conclusion I've been able to come up with.

M@_

Update here Gents:

The transmission on this thing crapped out 400 miles later... so naturally I bought this turd a brand spankin' new Nissan sourced CD00A Transmission from Z1 Motorsports. Along with that .... Lightweight flywheel, and an unsprung clutch.
Photos from the install! Took me about 3 weekends to get it in. Was able to shoehorn it in without too much trouble, but it definitely was a challenge!



So Shineeeyyyyyyy
Old vs new.
Old transmission out! I wonder how hard it is to rebuild these things ....
The first drive after finishing!

Frostydc4

iTrader: (3)

Congrats and welcome to the family