BuckeyeBoys

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~

icer5160

iTrader: (4)

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