Did you get my PM? Rest of the parts will arrive to you soon, I sent you the tracking info bro.

Stay dry, I know I wont. Rain sucks!

haha, not 1:00 AM this time but I've done that before. I had Tuesday off so I worked on the car at the early hour of 8:00 PM. :)

I love the avatar, just wanted to give you a little crap. :) In addition to the Honda ATVs I've owned I've had a few Honda bikes too, probably five or six. I'm a fan of both brands for sure. I should probably branch out and see what else is out there though...

Ya sorry for not getting back to you earlier, I did get your PM and looking forward to the new (to me) parts! My Z is gonna be part base, part touring, part sport and part Nismo - IOW very confused!:rofl2:

These are gonna look sweet in black on ur car!

Thanks man, I'm excited to get them on the car in a couple months!

good stuff
 

i just finished reading your journal. Thank you for having such an impressive write-up. im thinking of tinting my headlights too but kinda the opposite from yours. you have the main headlight part tinted but i only want the white part reflector thing tinted. lol

Thanks and good luck! Hope the tinting goes well and post some pics up when you're done!

I had the day off from work and am on the tail end of being sick the last few days so it felt great to get outside in the sunny, relatively warm weather, pop the hood on the Z and install the JWT Pop Charger.

Wait, Pop Charger? The intake with no gains? Yep, that one. The price was right on these, they're known for a good sound (if not HP), and I've been going back and forth trying to decide between the two more popular choices (Stillen, Injen) then reallized with my plan to FI at some point down the road why not go small on the intake for now and go big with FI later.

The guys that have said these sound really good are completely correct. The Pop Charger really wakes things up at half throttle and above. They sound great.

A buddy stopped by to lend a hand and his help was appreciated, but it was a very straightforward easy install. Only had to raid the toolbox for two missing nuts, everything else went smooth.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...op-charger.jpg

Then is was time to head out to test the Pop Charger on the road on the way to the tint shop. It was time to go a little darker with the tints. I've got a picture in my head of my Z in a few months and it's slowly getting there.

Got back form the tint shop and these goodies all showed up:

SSR Type-F Matte Black 18x9.5+22 front 18x10.5+15 rear - Thanks Mike!
http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...-5-15-rear.jpg

SSR Type-F Matte Black 18x10.5+15 rear 20.5 lbs.
http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...r-20-5-lbs.jpg

SSR Type-F Matte Black 18x9.5+22 front 19.6 lbs.
http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...t-19-6-lbs.jpg

eibach springs
http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...ch-springs.jpg

SPC camber arms
http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...amber-arms.jpg

Hotchkis Sways
http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...hkis-sways.jpg

Just hit 10k miles the other day, just shy of 6 months after buying the Z. The next six months are going to be even more fun with all the new goodies. :D
http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...k-6-months.jpg

Are those Mike's old wheels?

Cars gonna look great man!

Yeah, Mike finally got rid of them :)

I changed my mind about running these ^ wheels, but I wanted to let everyone know what a class act Adam (Motoextreme) is - if you ever have a chance to do business with this guy you won't be disappointed. The Nismo 19's are great looking wheels, I just decided to stick with 18's for now and Mike's price on the SSRs was too good to pass up. The Nismos are on their way to Australia to serve as track wheels for a guy with a really big BBK. Enjoy bezzita!

how come you haven't posted up your exhaust yet?!?!??

Should be here tomorrow! Can't wait! :tup:

damn i envy you.....i think what i miss most is not only the sound but more importantly the gains. i am shocked that it was that noticeable to me and still i feel like im driving a vq35DE 350z. feels so restrictive. =)

Dang bro, it looks like we are going to be running some pretty similar suspension set ups to say the least! The car is shaping up great and those SSR's are going to look killer. I think the only place we differ is as of right now I don't have plans for F.I. but if I ever get there you can bet it will be a GTM stage 1 TT kit.

Keep up the good work!

Hey Dub! FI is waaay down the road for me, probably shouldn't even be mentioning it yet. Someday...:driving:

Yeah we'll have similar suspension setups for sure. We'll have to compare notes. Now I just have to find the time to get all this stuff on the car!

^^I have the same problem.. Hopefully i can get it all put on by the end of march!

WOOT! FI exhaust showed up today. A big :tup: to tbonesteak for the great deal and to Tony at FI for the help shipping these to me. How many vendors would help ship a product they had already sold and installed - not too many! Thanks Tony!

And tbonesteak is a great guy who made this deal as easy as it gets. Thanks man! Maybe I can get this beauty installed this weekend :excited:

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...26-fi-woot.jpg

Haha Thanks man. You are pretty awesome to deal with as well. Post some detailed review! Enjoy!

Dude i received your picture messages!!! Post a review and weight the 18s already! lol

^Haha OK! :D

Tim, are you sure you sold me a used CBE? I think Tony may have switched your "used" one and sent me a new one. From the condition of the exhaust to the way it was packaged - looked new to me! Tony included a new bag of hardware/gaskets/instructions, etc. Two :tup: :tup: to Tony for treating me just like a customer who bought directly from him. I'm impressed!

I spent a few hours in the garage today installing my new CBE and listening to college basketball on the radio. Doesn't get much better than that :)

F.I. TDX vs. stock
http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...x-vs-stock.jpg

I need a bigger garage :icon08:
http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...dx-install.jpg

Sound - 10/10

Holy ____! This is exactly what I was hoping for. Sounds fantastic! My car sounds like a sports car should, alive! I love it. Perfect. The first cold startup after installation was deep and loud. Out on the road it has just enough sound in the cabin - not too quiet, not too loud. Drone at 3k RPM on the highway is minimal, I've had much worse with other aftermarket exhausts on other vehicles. I told my wife it's a little louder than I expected and she asked if that's a problem, I said not for me, she said not for her either - good! :D

Another unexpected benefit from the added volume is I have a better feel for my engine speed - my shifts tonight while testing out the new exhaust were as smooth as they've ever been - nice.

I'm still on the fence about adding HFCs, it sounds so good now I don't want to mess it up. If I do get HFCs I'll go with resonated HFCs from Tony.

Performance - 10/10

The butt dyno approves. Definitely feel the gain with these. I'll try to get it on a real dyno sometime but it's not a priority right now. I forgot to reset the ECU before going out for a test drive and I could tell the car wasn't used to the CBE, on/off throttle was a little jerky. Right after install I cleaned up then drove with the wife to the hospital to visit my Dad (knee replacement), so I kept it pretty tame except for opening it up once or twice. Can't wait to get some more miles on these to get a better feel for the gains.

Installation - 10/10

The hardest part of this install was breaking the nuts loose on the stock exhaust. I had to use some penetrating oil and hit the socket wrench with a rubber mallet to break a couple of them loose (air tools didn't work). Once the stock exhaust was off it was super easy thanks to well-written instructions (with photos) and a complete set of necessary nuts and bolts. Trimming the heat shield was no big deal, very simple. Anyone on the fence about installing these yourself should feel confident. Although I would recommend a lift, my two jack-stand method didn't give me a lot of room under the car :icon14:. No shims were necessary to align the tips - they were spot on.

Looks - 10/10

While under the car installing the CBE I was impressed with how good these look. The mirror finish polish on the mufflers, resonators and tips looks fantastic. The tips in particular look great and my wife agreed - she likes 'em.

Clearance - 5/10

This is the only negative for me. When I pulled out of the garage I was not happy to hear my new CBE scraping at the bottom of the driveway. My driveway is a little steep, with a taller than average lip at the asphalt/gutter edge from a recent repaving. When I pulled back into the driveway tonight I took it at an angle and didn't scrape, which is good, but plans to install the eibach springs I already bought are on hold until I figure out how this is going to work. Somebody on here had Tony weld on some skid plates - might be a good idea if you have a steep driveway.

All in all I'm happy, now if I can talk the wife into a new house with a bigger garage and better driveway :D:D:D

my driveway had nice 1- 1.5" drop from the driveway to the street. Home depot sells cold patch pothole filler that i use to fill in the dip and make it so i clear it most of the time pretty easily and im not even lowered! stupid aero package

congrats. sometimes changing the angle of the car as you steer through the spot where you bottom out can help with clearance.

I was that guy, definately should do it, whats a few extra bucks for the insurance. Worst case, you don't need them, and you can't tell you have them.

Looks good, and how you feel about this exhaust, is exactly how I feel. I love driving this car, with this exhaust.

Is trimming the heat shield necessary? I hadn't read that yet and plan to do my own install. If necessary what did you use to trim it? All I have are basic tolls (nothing to cut with) so I want to make sure I have everything I need to do the install. thanks

^Thanks guys.

Yes it's necessary to trim the heatshield. It's right above the mufflers at the very rear of the car. It's very easy. I used a pair of snips I had in my toolbox, if you don't have a set they're not very expensive (if you have a Harbor Freight Tools near you they sell them cheap). The shield is very thin metal, even a pair of heavy shop scissors would get the job done.

How long was the wrench you used to loosen the nuts? Hopefully I get my berks next week. Thanks

Haha I told you they were literally 60 miles old! and Tony is an awesome dude who goes the extra mile to help a brother out. As far as the clearance goes, maybe you can post some more pics of the undercarriage and other angles and Tony can chime in? I've never had problems going thru the steepest driveways with the exhaust on, and I pushed it pretty far. All in all I'm glad it worked out and once your car gets used to the exhaust, the gains will be much more apparent. Good stuff!!

Tim

The wrench I was using was a standard 3/8" socket wrench, probably 5-6" long. If I would have had more room under the car I would have slid a cheater pipe over the wrench and it would have broken loose easy I'm sure, but I didn't have enough room. If you have access to a lift that would make this job an easier one. The nuts that gave me trouble were the 4 nuts at the very front of the exhaust (2 on either side), I suggest spraying some penetrating oil on them the day before if you can, giving it some time to soak in would help.

Good suggestion Tim, I'll take some pics. Yeah I'm excited to get out and drive it today, I'll be able to have a little more fun driving it without a passenger to consider:driving:

Thanks again man, sorry you couldn't keep it for yourself. I can see why it might me too much for the 50-70 year old non-enthusiast set. You hooked me up bro, I got a discount and got to cut in line :excited:

Jeff

i just installed mine on Sunday, piece of cake, although I baked mine onto some ramps and while it was a tight squeeze towards the front, I was able to get everything in without an issue. I have to adjust the height of one with some washers.

As far as the heat shield goes, you don't have to cut anything. It's real flimsy tin so all you need to do is bend the corner about 45% away and its fine.

sound is intoxicating for sure!! haven't done any highway testing yet for drone though...but as you say, the car's interior is on the loud side to begin with...

^Good info about the heat shield and good suggestion about the ramps.

Sounds great, doesn't it?:driving:

Spent today installing some stuff. Was on the fence about installing the eibach springs but decided to go ahead and try them out. Along with the springs I installed rear camber arms purchased from thmotorsports, a sponser here. I decided to use a lift for this install so I got a chance to try out a local DIY shop here in town - pretty cool concept and a nice setup for DIYers without their own lift.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...2-13-10-52.jpg

My buddy Tyler helped out today - thanks man!

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...2-13-11-07.jpg

Big difference between the OEM springs and the eibachs (these are the fronts)

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...2-11-50-24.jpg

Even with the lowering springs I'm happy to report that my F.I. exhaust doesn't scrape on my driveway as long as I take it an angle. Those used to lowered cars know to take dips at an angle but the first time I pulled out of my garage I just wasn't thinking about it. I've been carfeful since then and haven't scraped again.

I also installed Hotchkis sway bars, a big thanks to ChrisSlicks for his front & rear sway bars DIY threads - helped a bunch! +1 Rep :tup:

I'm going to get an alignment tomorrow - my car handles like crap right now with the alignment all thrown off. Any suggestions for alignment settings with this setup?

-1.5F, -1.3R with the hotchkis bar set to medium in the rear.

Where is that shop at shrute?

Thanks RCZ!

Corner of 1300 South and 700 West in Salt Lake.

thanks man. Thats pretty cool I have never heard of a shop like that.

I must say, that DIY shop is pretty neat. I like that. What's the cost?

It's on the website he linked.

what is the recommended front hotchkis bar set to?
thanks