The lights... We rolled out at 5:30am so I had a chance to use them this morning.
They appear to be some aftermarket projector, hid, led something. I'm honestly not sure. They are decent, but not impressive. They don't throw a lot of light down the road. The high beams don't really do anything for distance either. I'm not sure they are adjusted correctly, so that's something I'll be looking at in the future. At this point I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. I will have to do some digging.
The autocross today was a lot of fun.
First impressions. The tires must be about 1000 tread wear. I'm also pretty sure the passenger front strut is doing nothing.
The first run was just bad. All over the place, I managed to get through one gate sideways and still laid down a 57+. By the end of the day I got that down to a 51.009. Needless to say this thing drives a little different from the Abomination.
The engine is super willing. It will break the rear end loose on demand. It pulls like a train all the way to the 7000 rpm rev limiter. I absolutely love the way this thing sounds.
The brakes are phenomenal. Maybe the best I've ever experienced. Other than the A/C, which is also outstanding, they may be my favorite part of the car so far. They are slightly rear biased and between them and the engine I can put the rear of the car anywhere I want. I won't be touching them other than a flush with new fluid.
I think with a set of Koni Sports, 18" wheels, and decent rubber, it will be a very fun car to drive on the course and off.
Unfortunately the entire family was in the same run group so no decent pictures were taken.
Next up on the hit list will be shocks and struts. Hopefully by the end of the week.
More to come.
Check out the Hotchkis front and rear sway bars. You'll probably want adjustable endlinks, as well.
The car has a lot of potential. PJ Corrales runs one in ESP and it’s a fast mofo.
Made the time this afternoon to get it under cover.
It almost doesn't fit in the shop.
Every pic I see I shake my head at how clean that is. Looks like a great start. Can I ask what you paid?
In reply to java230 :
$4700
The automatics are a good bit cheaper around here, but the 6 speeds seem to be holding their value.
In reply to Toyman01 :
Seems very very reasonable.
I did finally get a chance to shoot some pictures today. I also spent some time putting leather conditioner on the seats and such.
Under the hood is nasty. I don't think this engine has been cleaned since it left the factory. I'm a little nervous about pressure washing it though. It also appears that the cam sensors are unplugged. But, I can't find the other end of the plug anywhere, the ecu isn't throwing a code, and it's running great. So I'm not sure what's going on there. More digging will be necessary.
The interior is decent and clean. There is a spot on the seat bottom that has been patched. I'll take it to my upholstery lady and let her fix that for me.
Dash layout is pretty nice.
Enormous wheels with very nice brakes.
The body is very straight.
As a bonus, it has a outstanding head unit in it. It's taken some figuring out, but I really like this thing.
More to come.
You're lucky yours came with an aftermarket deck. Those bezels are crazy expensive.
At first look I think that engine has been swapped and you have a later engine swapped in. Possibly an HR motor with the regular DE intake? I forget all the various variations and updates they got over the years. My experience is mainly with the FWD versions of VQ.
A 2003 definitely shouldn't have variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust cams, and your engine shot clearly shows the bump on the timing cover for the exhaust side cam actuators (along with the un-used connectors).
Edit: you have a "rev-up" engine swapped in, not an HR. From 2005+ manual trans cars
Run_Away said:...Edit: you have a "rev-up" engine swapped in, not an HR. From 2005+ manual trans cars
Hmm. That's interesting. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Higher redline and more power but higher oil consumption than a non-RevUp engine. That plenum spacer is most likely paired with an MREV2 lower plenum, a combo that nets substantial power gains.
In reply to G_Body_Man :
True.
My question is, does the engine make any more power without the VVT on the exhaust cam. The Revup engine has better cams and there is a cam gear that defeats the exhaust VVT so it can be used in a non revup car. I'm not sure how to find out if they did that, or just didn't plug it in and left the cams at whatever the default setting is. It doesn't look like they changed the ECU or the engine wiring harness. There are no codes set. There aren't any provisions for the missing plugs in the harness. So I'm guessing it's using the 03 harness and ecu with the later engine. So where does that leave me?
There is a shop in town that specializes in Nissan. They are more into the drift crowd but they do seem to know their stuff. I may stop by there and see if he knows anything about the car.
Toyman01 said:There is a shop in town that specializes in Nissan. They are more into the drift crowd but they do seem to know their stuff. I may stop by there and see if he knows anything about the car.
What shop?
If you are thinking about Showzone, then run away fast and don't look back.
In reply to Daeldalus :
That bad? One of the autocross guys local has used them for some of the work on his 280. What they did for him looks pretty decent and works well.
Their work is decent as far as I know.
But they are super sleazy people to deal with.
Quoted my father 1800 for paint and body work. Just a little cheaper than the other places he checked. When it was done they gave him a bill for 4400. Told him they would keep the car if he didn't pay up. After that he paid them to put some new mufflers on the car and new tips. We came to get the car. New tips were installed but not the new mufflers. They told us that the mufflers don't fit right so they didn't put them on. They kept all the money for the work and would not return any of it.
Then later I was looking to buy a car that the owner had parked there. They told me i couldn't look at their customer's car without his permission(admittedly reasonable) they then call the owner and buy it out from under me just to then sell the car out front for double the listed price originally
In reply to Daeldalus :
Thanks for the heads up.
I have a favor to ask. Could you please look under your hood and tell me which port of the master cylinder goes to which port on the ABS module? MC1 and MC2 are the bigger 1/4" lines, but I don't know which one goes where. I have scoured the internet for a diagram that makes this distinction but I can't find it.
Looks like this:
In reply to maschinenbau :
Will do. It will be this afternoon after work.
Thanks, you're the man!
The front port on the master goes to MC2. The rear port goes to MC1.
Dang it, gotta re-do what I did last night. Thanks though!
I should have posted this a couple of days ago.
I made a decision on the wheels.
Motegi Racing MR131 Traklite Bronze Wheel 18x9/5x114.3mm, 35mm
The plan is to run a 245/40 18. That will be about a inch smaller in diameter than what is on it now and give me a little more clearance to the fender liner.
Motegi says it will clear the Brembo brakes on the 350Z so it should clear the Brembos on the G35. We will be finding out for sure as soon as they show up.
We met some friends for dinner tonight. Is that you grandpa?
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