King Pearl White 370z build thread custom CF
 

Purchased a 2015 Pearl White 370z with 13k mi CPO with extended warranty etc.. last April. Been dragging my feet on starting the build thread so the posts are going to come fast and furious since i have 8 months worth of progress to catch up on.

http://i.imgur.com/cOFg2ZI.jpg

I didn't plan to get to crazy with this car but I tend to get really carried away when I start a project.

IT is a 2015 base model, I figured i was going to spend money upgrading things might as well save money on the purchase.
I think the original owner must have curbed the wheels because the Nissan dealer i bought it from installed the 2016+ base wheels.

First thing first, a little Carbon!
http://i.imgur.com/x9VOpk9.jpg?2
just to get rid of the awful fake chrome dealer frames.

then some interior touches...

door switch panels
http://i.imgur.com/jgv1xrM.jpg

Shifter Bezel, Stereo Bezel
http://i.imgur.com/6RJk0tk.jpg

Ignore the stereo. we'll get to that bit.

obligatory GT-R start button, because stock one looks like garbage
http://i.imgur.com/tlgsDSJ.jpg

Next up, was the dome lights, the stock Z ones look like trash.
http://i.imgur.com/3UDnrux.jpg
GT-R lens swap with iJDMtoy custom fit LED boards I like to call this the daylight mod. It is 100% way too bright and i love it.
http://i.imgur.com/9epr0ZJ.jpg
I try to avoid iJDMtoy but the custom boards are pretty wild.

upgrade vs stock
http://i.imgur.com/rY2fHeV.jpg

Daylight!
http://i.imgur.com/u13cNct.jpg

This thing sounds like a prius...

EXHAUST!!!!!!!!!!!

This is what Brown can do for you

http://i.imgur.com/HzpC0BS.jpg

stock out. this thing is HEAVY. I really hate it.
http://i.imgur.com/In6sFVM.jpg

New one ready to bolt up. Invidia Gemini Catback.
This thing is Gorgeous.
http://i.imgur.com/LvHN2AD.jpg
From the flanges to the welds to the bends.
Invidia really delivers, and they are pretty cheap for the quality. I have no idea why people seem to think they are cheap garbage. I did a lot of research on this before I bought it and it definitely has the best sound I could find. It seams like a lot of people get a more Ricey sound with the VQ the Invidia is definitely a more throaty sound.

I would rate it a 7/10 with the stock Cats. Fairly quiet still though.

Now it Needs To BREATHE!!
Please AEM you are my only Hope.

Lets start this post by saying I WILL NEVER ORDER FROM THE Z STORE AGAIN. Multiple reasons for this. I ordered this Intake at the same time as a CF rear diffuser. They told me the Diffuser was backordered and my order would ship in 8-10 weeks. I needed to install the intake before it started raining so I paid an extra shipping fee of $35 to ship them seperate. The Diffuser and the intake arrived within a Day of each other WTF.

Then i started the install

Box seems a little beat..
http://i.imgur.com/QSOpHIu.jpg
Thought I was finding shipping damage
http://i.imgur.com/Eh28CEQ.jpg

But I just continued to install
http://i.imgur.com/Eh28CEQ.jpg

wait a shipping reciept?
http://i.imgur.com/ZqhwGpi.jpg

Then i Realized I was sold a Used intake.
http://i.imgur.com/5eSQG4Q.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/dnH8O4J.jpg

wires were all **** for the relocated washer fluid bottle, The Zip ties were all cut, the hoses were all installed, Bolts came like this

http://i.imgur.com/oriB8u3.jpg

Then I found this Taped to the bottom of the box under all the packing material

http://i.imgur.com/FlJqeaM.jpg

I'll give you a hint. Thats not me. Anyone know Cheshire? let him know the Z Store sent me all his personal information.

I contacted the Zstore and they told me I could return it. at this point my car is already in 100 pieces and its more work to put it back to stock that finish the install. I sent them all my photos, and one Customer service rep told me he thinks the 340 sharpied on the box was a marked down price, maybe he could get me a $100 refund. He also said he would try to get in contact with who returned it and Find out the reason. See if anything was defective. He never followed up.

Then they started giving me the runaround. I was being cool about everything on the phone, but they would just tell me I needed to talk to someone else who wasn't there. the last 3 times I called they just hung up on me when I told them who I was.

Addendum: The Z Store reached out over the forum, and offered a $70 refund, received it yesterday. Better than nothing, still disappointed I had to put them on blast here to get it. The rep who reached out seems like a good guy, I think it might be the same one who seemed helpful once when I called. Thanks James.

AEM intake is a really involved install for an intake. it's not listed for use for models later than like 2013. The only hiccups I ran into was some interference between the DRLs and the filter. I just squished the filter a little. the Etune MAF adjusters seem to work great.

It does require you to remove both front wheels and the front strut tower brace. and permenantly remove the washer fluid bottle and install a smaller one in a different location.

http://i.imgur.com/wFQIDxV.jpg

Got some Tint done at some point. 5 on the rears 30 on the fronts.

http://i.imgur.com/7Hvh3wf.jpg

CF diffuser Installed
http://i.imgur.com/UieYTwT.jpg

I had been pleasantly suprised by the Quality of EVO-R Carbon. A little less impressed with the rear diffuser. Fit wasn't great, some Ugly sheet metal screws were supplied to mount it and a tube of black silicone to glue it if the screws weren't desired.

Only problem with this is I had to stretch it wider to get it to fit. So I had to use the screws on the bottom side to get it on. I wasn't crazy about gluing anything to my paint either. Livin La Vida Loca I guess

can you make some clips of the exhaust? looking good

i made this video.


It mic quality is garbage (static) but there is no wind at least. I used a remote mic set up closer to the exhaust. The cold start at the beginning is just the go pro built in mic. the rest of the video is the set up shown at the end.

I tried to drive both casually and agressive to give you an idea.

I Live in CA but I never have to smog because of the county I live in so I went catless. I havent got to posting that yet. I have a lot more to post.
Waiting for a sunny weekend To record the catless tone. it is MUCH MUCH deeper sounding. I rated catted a 7/10. with Z1 test pipes its a solid 11/10

Right after the intake I bought some Z1 test pipes off Craigs List, I dont usually buy used parts, but i figured test pipes couldn't really go wrong. Ordered new gaskets from Berk.


http://i.imgur.com/miCZ2sM.jpg


Lost the original images some how. only have this trash.

I couldn't get the holes to line up on the cross brace for the cats. So i just took it out, i figured a lot of the other test pipes don't use it. I assume it's mainly for supporting the weight of the cats. I threw them on the scale IIRC the test pipes were a 19 lbs weight reduction and the catback was around a 48 lbs reduction?

anyone else have to use a monstrosity of an assembly of extentions and BIG effing breaker bar to loosen the bolts to remove their cats?

Mine backed out the studs instead of loosening the nuts. That was after soaking them in wd and trying the map gas torch.

Now that my exhaust was nice and loud, I really had a problem with the impotent stock stereo. I started doing research and saw a few posts where people placed a subbox between the strut brace and divider wall. I just couldn't help myself, ended up going super hard on a new stereo.

I molded a custom Sub Box out of carbon Fiber, and Skinned the MDF with Carbon.

Here's the summary:

http://i.imgur.com/bDYd4La.png

Pioneer AVH-5800bhs (I think, its from memory)
2x Flo 4ga wiring kit
3x Kabel Direkt RCA
12ga sky high audio OFC speaker wire
10ga sky high audio OFC speaker wire(for subs)
2x Skar audio MA-8 Subs
Skar Audio SPX-65c Component Set
Skar Audio TX4 $' 3 way speakers
Skar Audio LP-1000 Monoblock
Skar Audio LP-80 4 channel
Kicker 2x4ga grounding block
Plastic Speaker and tweeter adapters from amazon.
Fir tree zip ties to secure wires
Dynamat lite. (30% the weight 70% the performance of OG)
AVH-x parking brake bypass
Axxess ASWC-1 steering wheel control retention


I also bought a 2011+ usb retention harness adapter. It wasn't right. i only needed a MiniUSB-F to USB-M adapter

Also a lot of CF fabric, Resin, 3M drop cloth plastic, tape, disposable mixing cups, carbon sheers, mold release spray, oh and a Metra stereo dash/harness kit.

The awesom part of that was the EVO-R CF bezel is molded to fit this and not the stock Bezel.

I wired everything and installed in direction of current flow I suppose. First 2x 4ga hot leads.
There was this nice space between the battery and box for the ANL fuse blocks

http://i.imgur.com/zEoUxOy.jpg

Both Wires In.

http://i.imgur.com/80vTpXI.jpg

I could have used a single 0 gauge but i like to keep it seperate and color code everything so make diagnosing problems simpler in the future.

I won't go into detail about the power wire routing, I used the same boot everyone does. there are a ton of threads. I pulled up the floor molding and routed it under the carpet with some distance, so i could rout the speaker wire through the holes in the clips and keep some distance between them.

It was like christmas

http://i.imgur.com/sv1vq27.jpg

I spent many hours, getting the wire routing perfect and secured at all points. I fit the speaker amp into the recess in the right foam piece here, and cut a recess into the left foam piece using a sharp kitchen knife (non serrated). Also Dynamtted the whole trunk area.
http://i.imgur.com/6SDSdv0.jpg

Bettter View of sub amp
http://i.imgur.com/2uRfRSY.jpg

Component set woofers, new vs Stock
http://i.imgur.com/D6I60Fc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qFtnkt1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SZL3BH5.jpg

Ran new 12ga wiring from the amp in the back to the doors. Mounted the crossovers under the dash with industrial strength adhesive velcro. Ran the wiring through the door plugs and grommets

http://i.imgur.com/Hfhhyku.jpg

Amazing most of this plug is unused. seams like it would be cheaper to use a smaller one.

Door Speakers installed with adapters. the adapters were built in a way that left a lot of holes in the sides of them, they wouldn't seal to the door at all. I patched them all up with Silicone and electrical tape.

http://i.imgur.com/o6C9QqD.jpg

there are some tricks to the door plugs. YouTube is your friend. Also i disassembled the plugs, it helped a lot. I cut the sh** out of my hands on sharp metal edges under the dash.

At first I didn't drill the holes big enough in the drivers side plug causing it to pinch the wire and not allow the plug to engage fully. Couldn't tell until I fired everything up and my windows wouldn't work. I lost a night of sleep over that one. I was afraid I bent some of the pins in the plug. Replaced the wire and drilled the holes bigger Fixed it. I felt the plug engage fully, and i knew.

adapter plate for the tweeters was a little small... See assembled one on the right.

http://i.imgur.com/teuJvw0.jpg

No Pilot Bit? No Problem.

http://i.imgur.com/ftZTPR4.jpg

Stock Vs New

http://i.imgur.com/58Ec8kz.jpg

Installed

http://i.imgur.com/WFPCfqn.jpg

Had a few clearance issues with the stock cover and the metal grill. For the life of me I couldn't get the metal off the tweeters. So i ground the plastic ridges off the plastic cover with the Dremel.

Front speakers wired and everything Reassembled. Head unit installed with everything wired together. First test, On Any Sunday on DVD of course.

http://i.imgur.com/7vA4w03.png

Traced the carpet onto 3/4 MDF to make the faceplate. I've seen the other posts where people placed subs here and they say you cant do it in one piece, but you definitely can. you have to put it in at a funny angle but it works.

http://i.imgur.com/yEYCM7M.jpg

I did some preliminary volume calculations on the size of the box if I used the whole space, It was around 1.2 Cu FT. and I only needed about .8 for the Subs. Lucky, because I couldn't fit the 4" rear speakers in the location of the Stock 3" mounts. So I decided to trim the box down a little and place the 4" rear speakers in the wings of the Faceplate.

http://i.imgur.com/Xcjxhti.jpg


Also with the Size of my Subbs the magnet clearance was EXTREMELY tight. So I had to make sure my mounting locations were perfect. I did some AutoCAD drawings and a lot of measurements to make sure my sub locations were perfect. This is how you drill circle holes with high precision.

http://i.imgur.com/m3oMYDI.png

Faceplate formed.

http://i.imgur.com/N6q4xHs.jpg

I missed some Pics of the next steps. I painted the face plate black to make sure the wood color wouldn't show through that carbon fiber, only using a single layer. Then I skinned the Faceplate. Set a thin layer of resin on it, let it tack up. Apply Carbon Fiber Fabric, Thick layer of resin, allow to dry 24+ hours. Sand, Next Coat, allow to dry 24+ hours, sand, next coat, allow to dry 24+ hours, sand, next coat, allow to dry 24+ hours. sand polish. It took probably 2 weeks, between work and cold weather.

Finally once finished i could cut the holes out for the speakers.

http://i.imgur.com/NmviCAQ.jpg

This dremel bit cut through it like a hot knife through babies.

http://i.imgur.com/3U4jexl.jpg

You can see here the ugly look of the edges. I'm not to worried about them, they won't be Visible.

4" Skar Speakers mocked up against face plate.

http://i.imgur.com/QYUaQDc.jpg

For anyone about to say "Staging" that's ridiculous. It sounds like garbage when your sound only comes from the front. There is a seriously empty sound in the rear. For all those that counter "well I'm a musician so..." Shut up. I'm a musician, and just no. Staging is for people too poor to afford rear speakers or to dumb to properly balance the sound.

Faceplate finished, next was to mold the actual box. There were some obstacles to this. Some Items located in the space I wanted my box. I haven't really seen much addressing these.
Mainly this Guy:

http://i.imgur.com/8iyqaVL.jpg

Which for the life of me I couldn't find information on. After google searching all the part number codes on it I found the website of the manufacturer. All in chinese. Google translate let me find out that is is the brain for the Voice control of the Handsfree system on the newer 370's, and also possibly the Antenna. I tried disconnecting it completely, Everything worked Fine, except the steering wheel controls. Damn. I guess it needs to stay. So i unbolted everything, glued in some foam padding, and wedged/zip tied it down as far in the corner as I could get it.

Also this Thing Labeled Siemens so I assume it is for the Security System. I relocated to the other side of the strut brace.

http://i.imgur.com/tAzWht3.jpg

And the Manual Hatch release. which is in a really dumb spot from the factory, that you can barely reach without disassembling the whole interior. I relocated it to be accessible through the Car Seat Anchor hole in the carpet.

http://i.imgur.com/mZnNqPG.jpg

I built the mold shape in the space with all the cardboard boxes I had lying around from ordering all the pieces. There are a number of studs coming off the body poking up into my space I just stuck Rubber caps on. If you're really desperate for space or really brave i guess you could cut them off.

http://i.imgur.com/DTl2mfi.jpg

Notice the edge space I left for the Speakers.
Here you can see the hands free box I just mentioned and the wire I ran for the speakers, hanging out.

http://i.imgur.com/4M9PUid.jpg


Then Masking. It is super nerve racking using a buttload of epoxy resin inside your baby. I lined the box with 3M drop Cloth and Packaging tape because in my preliminary tests Epoxy doesn't stick to them. Mold Release was not necessary, and seemed to put a film on the surface of the finished epoxy that was almost impossible to get off and prevented additional coats from sticking.

http://i.imgur.com/X1z0u7c.jpg

Next CARBON!!!!
Same process as the Faceplate. Lay down a thin coat, Let it tack. Lay Down Carbon Fiber Fabric, Soak with epoxy. Let dry.

http://i.imgur.com/sWXnJ9s.jpg

I'm sure not using multiple sheets and a vacuum process on the initial lay you could say I'm not truely benefiting from the strength of carbon fiber. Whatever, I Gambled It worked. I spent the next month with the box adding additional layers of carbon and epoxy to thin spots and reinforcing things. Laying the box at one angle and working on one part at a time because epoxy runs as it dries. It really wasn't a pretty picture. But it was for weight not looks.

After a month or so of epoxy work I deemed her fit for service. Used the dremel to clean up all the edges and rough spots. Then measured the volume. Roughly 6.25 Gallons.

http://i.imgur.com/Jt1S6oK.jpg

She was STOUT, when i was finished. but still weighed only ounces. If it's less than a pound my scale couldn't weigh it so IDK the real number.

Next was Bonding the two pieces together. I used an entire tube of clear silicone to bond them together. placed the subs and a gallon of water on them to make sure they sealed. I didn't get a good picture of this, but you can see it here, at the top. Also you can see the Amp Wiring better and the mounting of the Siemens device.

http://i.imgur.com/vdwnPFc.jpg


I guess thats about all, I've already posted the finished pic. I wired the subs at 4ohm 250 watts for a kind of break in cycle I suppose, Just being Cautious. Then rewired them for 1 ohm 1000 Watts. the pulled the sub box and lined the bottom of it with Weather Stripping as rattle stop. She's a killer.


http://i.imgur.com/bDYd4La.png