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And so it begins. I just bought a project car for my son(15) and I(55 years old) to work on. A 2005 350z Enthusiast model I think (yellow paint job). The good news is the car only has 47k well document miles on it and looks beautiful. The bad news or good(still not sure on this one) is the last owner started making the car a track car(I guess) and taking things out (like airbags) and putting things in like Momo steering wheel and 2k car stereo system that rocks!. The other good news is the Mechanical is solid with apparently no mods at all. The car did get an entirely new clutch in 10k miles ago. Going to have to prioritize on the projects. The good news is my son is enthusiastic and can climb under the dash etc, the good news is also I am financially able to do what needs to be done. LOL First goal is to get it through an inspection and street legal. For fun, and input from others who have been down this path before me, I thought I would document and ask questions along the way. I would classify myself as a mechanically inclined rookie not afraid to figure stuff out.
1. First question is one headlight has condensation in it and he tells me a crack. I know I need to replace the headlight, but what one should I buy? Seems to be a variety of them out there.
2. Horn does not work on Momo steering wheel. Pretty certain that needs to be fixed. I see lot's of stuff on the web on this one, so no answer needed unless you have a tip on what to look for. I will pop it open and see what is in there wiring wise. If you know a good link or wiring diagram or something let me know.
3. Change the tint to street legal as I literally I was pulled over by DPS State Trooper 10 miles after I purchased the vehicle! Luckily, he let me off with a Warning.
I will add some pictures shortly to get it started. Also,should the previous owner be on this website and recognizes his car, take no offense, we all have different goals for our car and mine are just now evolving. Starting pictures next.
Cliff Notes: 1/16/2021 1 year, 4 months summary update for those who do not want to read through this novel. Thought I would just list everything done to the car so far. Not in perfect order and summarized in some areas(lot of minor parts). A lot of minor work as well along the way. Smaller bits and pieces not listed off. Ironically, the car has had really zero major mechanical issues. Engine and Transmission have been solid. 54k miles on it at this point. Just me "improving" it. All it "needed" when I bought it was New Valve Covers, Diff Bushing, Tires. Of course, I needed to replace some missing interior trim pieces.
1. New Michelin Super Sports 245/19's front, 275's rear
2. New Nismo S tune Sport Exhaust
2. New Rear Bushing
3. Added Z1 Bushing Inserts to Sub Frame
4. Z1 Differential upgrade kit (New Cover and diff fluid)
5. Z1 Master Cylinder Brake Brace
6. Airbag re-install (Side and Front passenger), Steering Wheel (Took out Momo, and back to OEM) Trying to ensure my 16 year old has good odds should the worst happen.
7. Airbag computer replacement. Finally got that airbag light to go out with this one.
8 Driver side headlight and light bulb replacement. Fogged out. Replaced missing Fender liner to ensure it stays fixed.
9. Interior Trim pieces replaced used (Passenger lower side, various pieces, trunk etc.) The previous owner was thinking he was going to track it, but never got it there, thank goodness he did not touch any of the mechanical's at all)
10. Brand New Center Waterfall Interior Trim and Door switch panels. Just particular and wanted it perfect in those areas.
11. New Bilstien Shocks, Used Nismo springs, all new rubber. Wanted to keep original ride height with better suspension.
11.5 Used Brembo Brake Calipers, New Z1 Rotors, Stoptech Pads, Stainless Steel lines, Motul Fluid The brembo's are sooo much better than OEM on this year model.
12. New Pioneer Radio and 4 speakers
13. Sound proofing in rear and speaker areas. Dynomat products only.
14. New MortorDyne Y pipe (Better air flow and sound. I was slowly upgraded exhaust for the supercharger install)
15. New Complete Gasket replacement, OEM Valve Covers, Plugs (actually replaced the plugs twice as I went to colder plug later for the supercharger
16. New AEM High Flow Cats Recommended as I went in for my first supercharger tune.
17. Used Vortech Supercharger(New External Pulleys and Gears), New Intercooler. Nice V2 oil cooled version. Cracked it open to find pristine internals.
18. New CSF Radiator Keeping it cool.
19. New 34 Row Oil Cooler (Setrab) Keeping it cool
20. UpRev and Arc Software Install and Tune for E85 and Premium Plan to mostly run E85 as there is a pump 1.5 miles from my house. Will run fine on Premium though.
21. New Innovate Multi-function Gauge (AFR, Fuel Type, Fuel Pressure..), Oil Temp Gauge
22. New 750cc Deatschwerks VQ Drop In Injectors
23. New Oil Pan Spacer Put this in primarily to make it easier to run lines for Supercharger oil cooling
24. All new silicon hoses in most places. Just replaced them when I could and was in the neighbor hood engine wise.
25. New Carbon Fiber Cover Bling
25. Carbon Fiber oil and battery cover More Bling
26. New Cusco Strut Brace Bling
27. All new belts, gaskets, fluids everywhere work was done.
28. New Front Sway Bar, Hotchkis Bar, SPL Links. New rear OEM links This front Sway bar really made a difference in the feel of the car. Stays flat with less roll.
29. 2nd set of wheels. OEM 18" Rays (light ones) with Federal Tires for Autocross Did this to stay in certain class and run faster times. May sell them now that I have so many mods.
30. New lower control Arm bushings and ball joints
31. New leather seat material (Black and yellow) (purchased, not installed yet, will be done professionally.)
32. New Window Tint (Ceramic Tint) The old ting was super dark, kinda purplish, and frankly cheap quality. Put in quality tint.
33. New hood supports Get that crappy open hood support bar out of the way
34. New Carbon Fiber latch cover Bling Covers that opening right in front of the radiator.
35. New Stainless Steel Radiator overflow
36. New AEM 340lph fuel pump Installed so I can take advantage of E85 and larger injectors. More flow please.
37. UpRev with ARC
38. Refinished Ray Volks wheels to a dark metallic color with clear power coat
39. New Interior Carpeting
40. Dynomat and Dynopad the passenger area
41. New dead pedal
42. New scuff plate trim on both doors at the bottom
43. Custom leather wrapped steering wheel. Flattened bottom and thicker wheel. Made in Poland.
44. Upgraded to Spal fans on Mishimoto Shroud
45. Custom Multi-Color Dash Gauges with White on black numbering
46. Custom headlights, brand new Depo's with full multi-color lighting
I am getting a conservative tune on the engine for the supercharger install as I want more HP, but don't not going for braggin' rights. Once I get the car back from the tune I will update it. If something goes wrong with the engine along the way, probably going to put a built motor in it. If everything goes well, will just be driving and maintaining it for years to come I hope.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 07-09-2021 at 04:32 AM.
OK, pictures to start the project. Noticed the fogged out headlight ( needs to be replaced) and Steering wheel with non-functioning horn. Well, and also the missing interior pieces which are everywhere missing. Going to be re-doing the entire interior.
Welcome and congrats on your new-to-you Z33 purchase. The color of your car is labeled Ultra Yellow and it looks like it ended up in good hands. As for your questions, the low-res pics don't provide enough detail to see whether the headlights are halogen or HIDs. But my advice is to replace them with factory HID units if possible. They look and function better than anything aftermarket and remain available from CL, Ebay or the local classifieds on this board. Same goes for searching for airbags and all the other missing interior parts. As for the Momo steering wheel, you might want to buy a stock one (with an airbag) for your son. Good call on the window tint- all it takes is one missed car while making a turn for an inexperienced driver to have a serious shunt.
Finally, since you're planning to have your son drive a powerful RWD car, give some thought to giving him some serious driving lessons. By that, I mean sending him to a professional driving school where they'll educate him on the basics of weight transfer, car control and how to shift properly. It'll be the gift of a lifetime that will serve him (and you) well!
Good luck with restoring your Z, it sounds like the perfect father/son project. Explore this site and you'll find a wealth of information and helpful members here.
Thanks so much for the reply and pointing me in the right direction. Yes, my son is going to actually get a very low horsepower used inexpensive safe car as his daily driver to school and back. This will be a car he and I work on and he drives on a limited basis. If I buy the factory HID units, is there some issue or pieces I will need to buy if the originals are halogen?
You know, just this conversation has convinced me that while the Momo looks "cool", my son's safety is more important to me. I am going to get the airbag situation corrected and get back to "code".
There is a great race track south of Houston and I am thinking he and I could do a driving school together.
Thanks so much for the reply and pointing me in the right direction. Yes, my son is going to actually get a very low horsepower used inexpensive safe car as his daily driver to school and back. This will be a car he and I work on and he drives on a limited basis. If I buy the factory HID units, is there some issue or pieces I will need to buy if the originals are halogen?
You know, just this conversation has convinced me that while the Momo looks "cool", my son's safety is more important to me. I am going to get the airbag situation corrected and get back to "code".
There is a great race track south of Houston and I am thinking he and I could do a driving school together.
Truthfully, I haven't ever swapped HID headlight modules into a Z with halogens, but do a search here and I believe you'll find your answers. Also, it's great that you're thinking ahead and starting your son off with a lower powered car (manual transmission, I hope?) to start with. And getting the two of you into a pro school at MSR or other track is also a wonderful idea.
Congrats! I think your assumption that the car was being converted to a track car is too kind for what was actually happening. I am glad to see its going to an owner with a plan.
I've got a spare steering wheel with airbag out of an 06 (not sure if it works on an 05 or not) and some of those interior bits if you are interested.
If you keep the momo wheel, they are kind of a pain in the *** to wire the horn up, but it is possible. Unfortunately the method is usually dependent upon the steering wheel adapter that you have. If you do keep it, I'd recommend looking into which adapter was installed, and make sure you get one that will at least collapse in the event of an accident. Good luck
CZP sells the 8-pin pigtail harnesses and you can splice the wires together. (https://conceptzperformance.com/czp-...in_p_19166.php) CZP has different color wires, so you'll need to follow the pinout diagram from the FSM or in my post.
OEM 06+ HIDs can be expensive, and my recommendation would be to pick up some DEPO headlights. If you're feeling up for a retrofit, crack them open and swap in an STi-R lens from TRS (https://www.theretrofitsource.com/sti-r-54617.html)
Welcome to the board, Jim, and congrats on your purchase. Please heed DK's advice and replace that steering wheel. Although aftermarket steering wheels look cool, I have worked crashes (even minor crashes) where they have snapped and caused severe lacerations to arms, even a MOMO. Plus, with the lack of an airbag, they will be extremely unforgiving in a more severe crash.
As for the headlights, fire them up. The difference between halogen lights and HID's is obvious during start-up and when powering off.
Are you looking for headlights that are just of quality, or a set that look cool AND are of quality? If you are looking for both, there are plenty of reliable manufacturers out there that make sets that look good and are reliable. Do your research before purchasing. Many sets that you buy off eBay or Amazon are not sealed properly and will not last long before you end up with condensation in them as well. If you just want reliability, stick with OEM.
Hey all, after a lot of searching and part gathering my son and I started the first round of attaching interior parts back together. Made the effort to let him do the work with me talking him though it . You know it went well when he said it was "fun" and he worked on it right until he had to leave to get to a bday party with some friends. So a great first round of work and more attaching parts yet to come. Will post some pics when we are done with that phase. So, I did finally find an OEM steering wheel that was in great shape from a low millage car with an air bag. My son has been saying he wants to be engineer since he was like 8 years old as he enjoys the math and is pretty good at it(says proud Dad). At any rate, he is a pretty typical video game kid, so it is nice to get him off the computer and in the garage working on something physical.
I am still on the hunt for headlights. The headlights on the car look brand new (at least the passenger side headlight) so I am finding it difficult to find a used driver side headlight that I think will match up in terms of wear and tear. I have seen read a LOT about using 06 and up headlights on an 05 car and I am frankly confused on whether that works or not or even how to do the wiring. From what I read, the 06 and up headlights project substantially better. I believe I have "HID" headlights because the outer lens cover says H7 D2 , think I got the numbering right. My understanding is that implies Halogen high beams and HID low beams. Correct?? I am OK with aftermarket or OEM lights, but given what I am reading, I have not heard of an aftermarket light that is of good quality? Let me know either way. Oh yeah made a trip and came back with a bunch of tools. Mainly a floor jack, stands, chocks, and a lot of basic wrenches and tools. Who does not love buying tools?
On an interesting side note, it turns out I live on a street packed with engineers and gear heads. Two out of three of my neighbors have hydraulic lifts in their garage and they own multiple project cars. LOL. My immediate neighbor was walking outside my house and we started up a conversation and he came up the driveway to check out the car. I have lived next door to this guy like 14 years and we have pretty much just said "Hello" from time to time. Well, 45 minutes of conversation later we had a great time and he offered his help. Which I am certain I will need as we get into the mechanical's. I am an IT guy and mechanically inclined who used to work on his car in his teens, so basically a novice. I think I will find my neighbors to be very helpful!
I found a Zshop (https://szrpro.com/) quite by accident while looking for donor car parts. I am taking the car in there in a few weeks to have them give it a look over mechanically. We will see what they find and now I have neighbors to get a second opinion on things. My neighbor looked under the car while he was visiting and was shocked how clean it was underneath. Of course, I have never even looked. I checked it out and yes, it looks brand new under there with no alterations. Hopefully, the check up reflects that as well. Thanks for the kind comments and help so far.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 10-06-2019 at 06:22 AM.
Freise, I found the steering wheel before I read this, but thanks. I may take you up on the interior bits offer once I get what I have installed and see what is missing. My back hatch plastic (the big section where the trunk latch is) has some broken attachment points. You happen to have that piece handy? It's a pretty big piece. Going to try to make it work, but I am 50/50 and so starting to look for another of those.
CZP sells the 8-pin pigtail harnesses and you can splice the wires together. (https://conceptzperformance.com/czp-...in_p_19166.php) CZP has different color wires, so you'll need to follow the pinout diagram from the FSM or in my post.
OEM 06+ HIDs can be expensive, and my recommendation would be to pick up some DEPO headlights. If you're feeling up for a retrofit, crack them open and swap in an STi-R lens from TRS (https://www.theretrofitsource.com/sti-r-54617.html)
Nice followup post, Jim. The pics showed well and one thought on your headlight issue is to do a careful examination of exactly what is causing the fogging. It could be a good lesson in materials science for your son and requires heating in your oven, so warn the wife! Maybe disassemble it, clean out the mist and reseal to see if you and your son can salvage the DS unit. The older units really do have decent light output and I still use them on my Z racecar when the sun starts to set. Keep up the good work!
Nice followup post, Jim. The pics showed well and one thought on your headlight issue is to do a careful examination of exactly what is causing the fogging. It could be a good lesson in materials science for your son and requires heating in your oven, so warn the wife! Maybe disassemble it, clean out the mist and reseal to see if you and your son can salvage the DS unit. The older units really do have decent light output and I still use them on my Z racecar when the sun starts to set. Keep up the good work!
Contemplating it. Nothing to lose given the headlight is broken as it is essentially.
Good Morning. Yesterday my son and I successfully pulled the top passenger dash out and installed the deleted airbag. The good news is the previous owner cut the wires from the airbag to the plug when he deleted it, so when we put in the new air bag we were be able to directly plug the airbag into the wiring harness. I have a feeling this airbag re-install will become my nemesis. So, I need to find my first ODBII device. Ironically, at this point the number one thing it will need to be able to do is read the SRS system, so I can check everything out as I reinstall the system. I have been reading and reading, but have not found one that "fits" so I thought I would ask. Some of the new "cool" blue tooth versions I looked at do not read the SRS system, so no dice there. Would prefer one that works with my iphone, but it could also work with a Android tablet or a laptop as I have that as well.
On a more "interesting" note, we were installing the lower driver side dash pieces and as I took a look in there before having my very flexible 15 year old dive under the dash I notice there is a bolt missing that holds down the driver seat! Yeah, that is not a good feeling. So, of course I did a check of both seats and the good news is the other bolts are still there. The bad news is as I slid forward the driver seat to check I found a bunch of airbag wiring hanging out back there. Have not investigated that yet, as I have had enough surprises for the day. So, the plan is to complete the passenger side dash re-install (waiting on a part for the lower dash) then either do the OEM Steering install (waiting on airbag screws) or go for pulling the headliner out to start installing the curtain airbags in the ceiling. Pictures to come.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 10-09-2019 at 04:45 AM.
Jim- I use and recommend UpRev's Cipher software as it can read ECM, ABS and BCM sections and provides code translations. The tuning suite I have includes both the Osiris tuner (which you might find interesting) and Cipher, and is installed on your laptop. Pricy, but worth it as it works on all my Nissan/Infiniti products.
The wiring under your PS seat looks like it could be for monitoring weight in the seat. That way, the system disarms the PS airbag if nobody is sitting there.
This will tell you what trim level you're starting with and exactly what you'll need to buy for. Example: if it's a base model, you won't be needing (even though already purchased) all of the buttons/controls that the other trim levels offered (radio, cruise control, etc). But it also tells you if you have VLSD in the rear pumpkin or whether or not TCS (traction) or VDC (vehicle dynamic control) are on the car. Yes, you can go looking for the associated sub-systems (yaw sensor, TCS/VDC control buttons) on lower left front panel, that sort of thing. Why go looking for stuff if the car is known to NOT have the features?
On headlights, sounds like you may have figured it out already but the easiest way to tell (without removing the headlight) is how they turn on: Instant turn-on to full bright on cold start = halogen. If they take a second to "warm up" (like on a dimmer switch), they're HID. You can then confirm this when taking the light out of the fender.
The debate on whether to upgrade the lights is up to you and your budget. IMO, a move up to '06+ lights (with or without lens or ballast upgrade) is still a positive upgrade. The '06+ Bi-Zenon lights ARE a cut above the earlier lights. Better cutoff, whiter n' brighter light and a simple installation using the available 6 to 8 pin connectors (listed previously in thread) or on EBay or.... wherever, They're available. Nothing wrong with the stock halogen units; the '06+ are just better. When shopping for lights for upgrade, consider the aforementioned DEPO lights. This company makes replacement units for MANY cars and are the closest thing to "OEM equivalents" as compared to the other junk out there.
I STRONGLY SECOND dkmura's suggestion on "enhanced driving skills" that can be learned at many venues. In slightly different words (but meaning the exact same thing): Driving school (beyond high school driver's ed/training) is the ONE modification that transfers to every car your son will ever own. It also helps for a new driver to gain respect for the car, vigilance of other drivers/cars, and just plain reinforcing common sense with skills. Spending a few dollars on this now will set him up for life. On top of that, did I mention how fun gaining car control is? Hahahaha.
Again, great project for you and your son, I'm in for future installments.
09-29-2019, 04:37 AM
New to me (2005 Nissan 350z) Project Car
