Benihana's 14 Black Nismo Journal
 

I decided I wanted to make a Journal of the progress I make with my new beloved toy. The intent is that my contributions might hopefully enhance other people's experiences. If others can learn from me, as I have gathered so much info from the contributions of you other fine Z owners, that would be great.

I bought my Z pre-owned with 288 miles on the Odometer. A car lover bought it new in the Fall of 2014, he drove it home, then drove it back a few months later and traded it on a GTR. The old adage of driving a new car off the lot reduces its value by 30+% is true. I was lucky enough to have had good timing and swooped in to buy it. During a snow storm.....

My car was purchased to start doing HPDE events and continue my Auto-X fun. Most mods will be track focused with some creature comfort and aesthetics adds to make it mine.

Car:
2014 Black Nismo #545
Bose Stereo
Sat Radio

Current Mods:

Aesthetic/Body:
- MA legal window Tint
- Removed dealer installed red vinyl pinstripe.
- Removed factory red stripes from mirrors, bow and stern
- Chrome Delete (I do this to all of my rides) - Mostly Plasti-Dip or other techniques
- Door handles and side markers
- Black badges for and aft but rear but left the O in Nismo red

Electronic:
- Ipad integrated into cubby (completed thanks to this site)
- I Used an iSimple Jamlink integration kit connected to the Aux port
- iPad runs music, Navigation with CoPilot connected to Dual XGPS150 Bluetooth receiver.
- DashCommand with ELM 327 wifi OBD-II sender

Wheels/Tires/Brakes:
- Stock Nismo staggered wheel/tire setup.
- Motul RBF600 brake fluid
- Carbotech XPS10/8 Front/Rear

Suspension:
- Nismo Stock setup
- Removed Shipping blocks. (Yes they still were in there when I got it Pre-Owned)

Engine/Breather:
- AFe Dry filters and HPS post MAF tubes
- Berk High Flow Cats

Brakess:
Carbotech XP10/8 F/R
Motul RBF 600 Fluid
Stillen/custom brake cooling kit

Other:
- Z1 34-row oil cooler kit w/thermostatic plate (I think I could have done fine with the 25 row)

Countermeasures:
- Valentine V1 on Blendmount
- May add AntiLaser or 'parking sensors

This pic was sent to me by the salesman who is also an amateur photographer.
http://www.the370z.com/members/benih...ure84630-z.jpg

I actually tried to buy This Car from another 370Z member and have it shipped back here to the east coast. I was litterally messaging Ebb559 while he was trading it in on a mini-van. Ug...

Long story short, the dealer 'couldn't' sell it to me because of all the crazy Kalifornia smog rules. I tried and tried to work a deal but they were too afraid of the lawyers to allow to to happen.

So the search continued and I wound up finding my Nismo and very happy about it.

I think this is still one of the nicest looking Zs I have ever seen. I need to learn how those headlights were done. Nice job man.
http://static.squarespace.com/static...g?format=1500w

Congrats on the car.
And good luck to the rest of your build.

And as far as your oil cooler goes, Better go the best thn regret later :D

Thanks Leroy,

Living in a cooler climate, I could have got away with the 25 row in addition to the water/oil cooler in the car already. With the temps still in the 40s-50s I couldn't' get the oil temp up to a level I felt safe flogging it.

So... I made some blocking plates out of black foam board and attached with the super high strength velcro-like stuff you would get with an EZ-Pass transponder. I simply cut the board to the length of the cooler and made it into two sections. One each above and below the Yamaha chassis dampener. (The dampener has to be flipped over to the passenger side when the cooler goes in.)

With sections blocking plates, I can remove one or both pieces as needed for warmer temps and track days. By adding or removing sections I can tune my engine oil temps as needed, it works great.

http://www.the370z.com/members/benih...-plate-off.jpg

top blocking plate off and on
http://www.the370z.com/members/benih...ock-plates.jpg

Congrats man! Nice nismo and let the fun begin!:tup:

3 Dummy Button Box
 

So after looking into what other folks did with the seat heater button space I decided to make in into a little extra storage space. The Z is tight and lacks storage space to begin with so every little bit helps.

I simply removed the screws holding the faux switches in and sliced up some black foam board from Michael's. I was just cutting and taped it together as a test fit and after no more than 20 minutes I had a finished box. It is press fit in, no glue or fasteners required. I drop my phone in there when it is time for spirited driving and I don't want it flying accross the seat onto the floor.

I think it cost about $6 to do (along with the oil cooler blocking plates) and total install time was 20 minutes while shooting the breeze with a buddy in my kitchen.

Installed view
http://www.the370z.com/members/benih...switch-box.jpg

Friction Fit
http://www.the370z.com/members/benih...ch-box-out.jpg

Mower Deck Axle License Plate Bracket
 

After debating whether to risk running no front plate at all, then installing a ghetto zip-tied temporary plate bracket in order to get an inspection sticker, I decided to bite the bullet and plunk down the shillings on the Mower Deck Axle front plate mount bracket.

I have to say, this is a quality unit for sure. After reading other members' reviews and learning that Larry at MDA would be accommodating, I placed the order with and simply provided some info in the PayPal notes field with my special requests.

I wanted the bracket to fit tight up inside and under the Nismo front bumper. And have angle to it to match the contour of the passenger side of the car.

Larry happily obliged and sent a shorter shaft and an angled washer in my kit. Although the shaft could have been 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch shorter to really tuck it in there I think the install is clean, the parts are very high quality and Larry shipped very quickly and the kit was packaged neatly and professionally.

All in all I couldn't be happier with the setup and it should prove easy to uninstall/re-install for the coming HPDE events, car maint etc.

If you are considering one of these plate relocation brackets don't hesitate to get one of these from Mower Deck, you will be pleased.

http://www.the370z.com/members/benih...-install-1.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/benih...ate-inside.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/benih...da-plate-2.jpg

Z1 Oil Cooler setup
 

I forgot to mention an issue I had with the Z1 oil cooler installation.

I got the top of the line setup with the 34 row cooler and all the chaffing material pre-installed.

The anodized aluminium fittings are supposed to be tight when they are assembled and should not require any tightening when you get them. Unfortunately, 3 of the 4 connections were not properly tightened when they were made. 2 of them leaked a bit. So, I had to go back and tighten them again. So far they are bone dry but I will be checking them frequently to be sure. Other than a couple of wrench marks on the fittings, they should be fine and I don't expect any more issues.

I did confirm with the fine folks at Z1 that end user tightening is not required or even mentioned in the instructions and they noted the minor mishap in my account.

Sooo. If you get one of these kits you may want to check but do not over tighten these connections. Better safe than sorry.

Nice plate relocator thing..can u provide a link to their parts website or something..
Nice work on the oil cooler, i myself have to gt mine, but i dont know if 34 row is overkill, i do plan on going FI in the near future.
And i am mechanically handicapped so i wont be able to do what you did with ur oil cooler

I'm with you on this one brother Leroy...........:iagree:

Wishing your Doggie - Snickers a nice day in Dubai :tup:

-Clifford

Sure. I thought I put a link in there but must have spaced it.

Click here for the Nissan/Ferrari plate mounts.


Also, I emailed the owner, Larry, that I wished the shaft were a little shorter and he emailed back that he is shipping me a shorter one and I can send the longer one back when I get it swapped.

Now That is Customer Service!!!

I just got the z1 19 row oil cooler(cuz I live the same cold place as you). Planning to install it today. So you are saying I should check the fitting to see if they are tightened properly? Do you use a torque wrench to tight them?

No. Not exactly. They are large dual hex fittings so torquing would require special shorty open end wrenches that adapt to a torque wrench square drive.

The fittings are supposed to be tight when you get them. I'd suggest just making sure they are snug and don't move easily.

Just put two wrenches on and make sure they don't move. If I had done this it would have saved us over an hours work rechecking everything after we found a slight seep. Please keep in mind that them not being tight is an anomaly and I probably got the one set in a run of 100 that wasn't tightened properly when assembled.

Z1 was quite surprised and apologetic about this so I'd guess the likelihood of it happening to many others is pretty low. Just better to check before but be careful as over tightening them is very bad and will make them irreparable.

Great! Thanks for the tips.:tiphat:

First HPDE
 

I am happy to report that I did my first HPDE event recently and it was just awesome. I did the Spring Fever event at NHMS with the BMW CCA.

First off, I would like to thank the board as a whole and especially members like AK and Rusty and others that have shared so much useful information. It is contributions like theirs that make it possible for the rest of use to do good research, modify our cars and get them to perform. I am a research junky and have spent countless hours on various forums learning, but only contributing the limited amount I am capable of giving.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! and if you read any of my contributions please keep in mind that I do not consider myself an expert but rather an informed participant.

So, based on what I learned here, my Nismo was well prepped for the first of what will surely be many great track days.

My instructor was impressed with the setup of the car. He took us out on our first 3 laps of the day and commented many times how well the car was setup. Obviously I can't take much credit for the Nismo itself, but having the right brakes/fluid and oil cooler made my Z super reliable. His first comment when he stepped on the brakes was "That's Authoritative!" :-)

Pics and some video to be posted. soon.