New to this forum and here's the scoop.
My son got a great job out of town over a year ago and left his broken Pontiac G6 GT convertible. After repairing everything on it my wife and I really enjoyed doing a top down cruise now then. Now he moved into a house and we are going to have to give it back. Well I started looking for a convertible for us. Lots of Z3 & 4's, Mazda's, really was tempted just to do a Mustang but then I saw it. An 05 Orange "Lemans Sunset" roadster for sale about 40 minutes away.
I remember very well when these came out and how much I wanted one! For whatever reason(had children) they "drifted" out of my mind and I went thru a slew of 90's Honda 3 door hatchbacks and even a CRX. Finally got sick of them Ohio rust buckets!
So years gone by and I see this 05, adult owned, automatic (important so wifey doesn't ruin another clutch) and went to look. Test drive, loved it, story about adult owned the seller is 73 and bought it off an older guy that passed away where it was sitting for a couple years. Seller had a Z restoration shop repair everything, $3500 later he decides he doesn't want it. He had lots of "kids" look but they didn't want the automatic. Well to find a pretty rust free twenty year old car in Ohio is a freakin miracle. Plus it has like new Nismo exhaust with converters all the way back, all new rotors, calipers and pads, new tires, wheels powder coated and new leather seat covers too.
I ran a car fax and it came back no issues, from Arizona then Florida most of its life, nothing bad, plenty of maintenance records and at 73K miles I'm really pumped to drive it home tomorrow! Couldn't beat the price, seems way less then anything out there. So now where do I start?
Maintenance book recommendations? The W brace looks pretty rusted but the rest of the car is clean. He said the exhaust was really rusted thats why it got replaced and said its the Enthusiast model, has garage door opener in mirror, no sub woofer and only engine mod is a cold air intake. Some dings and chips in the body and the plastic tape strip where the top sits on the body looks awful. I watched youtube for things to look for and all the bushings look fine. Did not hear ticking at cold start either, oil pressure stayed up at 30 while idling after it was heated up. The color on the wheels is kind weird but it was done professionally.
Hope i can get some good advice and drive to a meet up sometime~

 

Congrats on the purchase! Looks like you found a real gem.

In terms of maintenance, I would consider replacing the struts. The originals typically go around 50-70k mi.
Next, I would replace the rear differential bushings. The rear bushing (fluid filled) also usually fails quickly, if not already then soon because of dry rot and age of the rubber.
For the W Brace, you can purchase brand new OEM or go with an aftermarket (multiple options available). Personally I like the OEM one.
I would do the "pulley delete" upgrade, it's OEM (just matches the late 2006 enhancement). Drops some weight and less drag on crank.
Living in Ohio, I would look into a rust preventative underbody coating (something like THIS), even if you plan to garage the car in the winter months.
I would ditch the CAI and go with a stock airbox from an 06 Revup equipped Z. CAIs look and sound cool, but unless you routinely clean and re-oil the paper filter element, you can cause premature wear on your engine. Very fine dust particulates will get through. I had the JWT popcharger on my 1st Z and kept it cleaned and oiled, but fine dust still made it into the intake.

Pay attention to your rear wheel bearings, nothing urgent, just listen for that roaring sound when at freeway/highway speeds. The rear bearings on these are prone to failure. There is an upgrade path to 370Z axles and bearings, but it's a lot pricier vs. sticking with the originals and only replacing the bearings.

I know you mentioned a lot of regular maintenance has already been done. But I would still keep an eye on items such as radiator, radiator hoses, thermostat, brake fluid, PS pump fluid, coolant, and transmission fluid. I know the vehicle is low mileage, but the car is nearly 20 years old. If any of these fluids are still original, they have long since expired and need to be flushed/replaced (regardless of mileage).

Parts supplier websites to check out:
nissanpartsdeal.com (my personal go-to for OEM parts)
z1motorsports.com (good source for OEM and aftermarket/performance)
conceptzperformance.com (good source for OEM and aftermarket/performance)
specialtyz.com (aftermarket/performance parts)
zspeed.com (aftermarket/performance parts)

Enjoy the Z! These are amazing cars, very reliable (aside from normal maintenance for their age). Take care of it and it will treat you well in kind.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

Thanks for a great reply!

 

Welcome! I have an '05 roadster as well. I'm also formerly from Ohio (Sandusky) and my family moved down to NC in '96. That LeMans Sunset looks to be in pretty good condition. I agree, the wheel color looks a little questionable with the paint, but to each his own. There are plenty of aftermarket options available if you want to change those and you could probably find some OEM wheels fairly cheap secondhand.

Definitely agree with Icer on the rear diff bushings. If they haven't been replaced, they're likely toast. You can easily tell if you look at the rear subframe and see the tell-tale black ooze snail trail like this:


Personally, I went with some Whiteline bushings to replace those. There are lots of great write-ups and guides in the DIY section.

If you're looking to maintain stock height and replace the struts, Bilstein B6 would be a good option with the stock springs.

How old is the top? If it's original, it may be due for a replacement if there are any tears. I went with the Robbins/Haartz Stay fast cloth top. It's better than the vinyl OEM fabric. Hopefully, you aren't plagued by any roof issues. I've been lucky enough to not have any.

 

I noticed and like the Bilstein shocks for sale. The top is original and has a couple of small repairs. I did not see the black ooze and learned about it from watching utube. The seller had ramps and I used them front and rear to inspect it.
thanks for the help also

 

The typical spots for the top to start tearing are at the bottom on either side of the back glass and at the top ridge on the corners near the back as well. It can seem like a daunting task to replace the top, but I did it myself with some basic tools.

The lack of black ooze is a good sign, but it may have just been cleaned off. You'll know if the rear bushing is blown or not if you hear/feel a noticeable "clunk" from the back during shifting while doing some, uhh, spirited driving.

I hope you enjoy it!

 

Nitpick: Bilstein B6 for stock springs, B8 for lowering springs, B4 (if available, don't think so) for stock/OE replacement.

B4 you say anything, Heel, remember that I'm old and befuddled.

 

​​​​​​​you misspelled ancient

 

P-r-e-h-i-s-t-o-r-i-c.

Better?

Not to mention E-P-I-C.

 

Hey old timer! B6 is for stock height and B8 is if you're lowered!

Could it be? A rare blunder from the suspension/wheel guru?

https://www.bilstein-shocks.co.uk/bl...nd-bilstein-b8

 

Heel is correct. Otherwise I would have purchased the B8s with my Nismo Coils.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

He has some-timers

 

That's what I said.

🤡

My last Z has been gone for one year today. Cut me some flack.

Oh, you did.

 

Well drove it home! Wifey took the first 15 minutes to a restaurant, big smile 😀 the whole time. She even nailed it a little at a green light just to try it out. She said "Wow, it's fast!" After she let off the kid in the Honda next to us caught up and blew by us, lol.
So it does feel like shocks are in order. Also the drivers manual doesn't say synthetic oil 🤔 Anti freeze choice just says Nissan type. So open for suggestion here?

 

Synthetic oil is not a must and you can run conventional dino oil. Personally, I always use Amsoil 5W-30, but to each his own. One thing about oil, if you check the spark plugs and you see any of them covered in oil, then new valve cover gaskets are likely in order. They're a common maintenance item. You might still be ok with only 73K miles.

As far as coolant/antifreeze, the Nissan "green" antifreeze was primarily used through 2008 and then Nissan/Infiniti switched over to using blue for 2009 and later.

Smiles per miles.

 

Adding to what Heel said.

For the antifreeze/coolant, I think Nissan still sells the green stuff in concentrate, if you're lazy like me, go for the Long Life Blue Coolant, which they sell 50/50 pre-mixed at around $30 per gallon, you will need to purchase 2 gallons. The overall formulation between green and blue is similar and compatible, meaning you don't need to do a thorough flush of the coolant system before adding in the blue (safe to mix them). A simple drain and fill will suffice. If you find that the original coolant is nasty/dirty, I would run a flush cleaner solution through the system, and follow-up with some rinse cycles using distilled water. If you plan to do this on your own, make sure to look into how to properly fill and purge the air from the coolant loop. There's some extra steps involved that a typical vehicle doesn't require.

In terms of oil, to each their own. I prefer Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, I'm switching over to 5W-40 on my next service (been running 5W-30). I service my oil & filter every 3500-4k mi or every 6 months, whichever comes 1st (my Z hasn't been getting driven often due to ongoing refresh and upgrades, nearly done though!). I stick with OEM Oil filters, but WIX makes good quality stuff as do many others. Once you pick an oil, it's usually a good idea to stick with it as some brands of oil do change their additive package compositions. In some cases switching brands can result in one additive package working against another additive package. The science behind lubrication is deeper than I though and only recently I started learning about the more technical side of engine oils.

Heel raises a good point on the valve covers. The OEM spark plug tube seals are not serviceable, meaning if you stick with OEM, then you need to replace the entire valve cover assembly (expensive!). There are aftermarket aluminum valve covers available now with serviceable seals. Once my originals go, I'll be switching over to the CZP aluminum valve covers. The entire kit/package is much cheaper than OEM and I always prefer aluminum engine parts over plastic!
Cheers!
-Icer

 

Just noticed the air intake is crap, need a quick fix until I pick out a good replacement. I saw the wire tied install when we looked it over but did not realize until today the filter is trash. I made another post of this in the intake tech area also.

 

Yikes! I was afraid of something like that. If you go for an aftermarket unit, at least go with one that has a heat barrier. But I stand by my recommendation to go for an OEM box from a 2006 Revup (going to be hard to find used).
Cheers!
-Icer