JLarson's build thread

[JLarson]

Fast Intentions catback followed. I found a good deal locally - $700 for a setup, in perfect condition. I'm fairly obsessive over details (hence my job), so I'd determined I wanted the gains from the Fast Intentions. I'd also heard good things about the sound of the exhaust. Those went on the car without issue, but even unresonated, they were a bit too quiet for my taste (and for that matter Megan's).

[JLarson]

Around this time, Megan and I started going to local meetups with a group called VQPhilly. Lot of awesome people, and this is where I met Craig, also known as the Craigster, and He-Who-Helpeth-Install-Headers. More on that later. Craig was running a built 350z with close to 700 whp from a supercharger that he'd modified himself. The sound of his car was like a freight train powered by all the fires of hell. It was amazing.

Megan really enjoyed the car group, and since she was in the market for a car, the next logical step was to find her one that suited her more practical desires!

[JLarson]

The solution was a G37x sedan. Yes, I know a coupe is way more sexy. Yes, I did try and argue in favor of that. But she wanted an AWD sedan, with real passenger space, not just seating for leg amputees. We drove this home the same day Mike (Socce) from the forums came to do some work on his car with me.

Mike and I tackled his intakes, upper manifold, lower manifold, front rotors, and oil cooler before we ran out of time. We did run into a few hiccups - he'd been sold Stillen Gen3 intakes from a G37, not from a 370z, and we didn't have the tools to modify them for his use. He kindly sold them to us, so my wife had intakes on her vehicle the first week of use. She did have a few moments of panic when I pulled out the dremel to cut the rad supports to make room, but this subsided.

[JLarson]

Although the G37x was mostly suitable for Megan, she did find herself missing the roar of the exhaust on my 350z.

So her birthday present was something a bit special.

[JLarson]

By now, we were into early November, and I had enough projects to keep me busy for a while. I knew my next procurement would be Long Tube Headers, if I could find any priced reasonably. I really wanted Motordyne, since they have the swappable catalytic converter, but I found a deal on Fast Intentions that was entirely too good to pass up.

They arrived still heat wrapped. I needed to see what was underneath, so I stripped it off, and sandblasted it at my shop. After talking with Rusty, I determined a coating would best suit my needs, and JetHot provided me with a nice red high temperature solution.

[JLarson]

Installation of the long tubes was accomplished in December, the week before Christmas, by the grace of the Craigster (who has a lift - blessed be his name!). 14 hour install time. My review is written elsewhere on these forums. Paired with the sound of the unresonated FI catback, I can tell you that I no longer felt it was too tame. Holy God. I set off car alarms, frightened small children, and inspired lactation in the unwary.

[JLarson]

I was racing the clock now, with a dyno tune scheduled for the 26th of December @ RT Tuning. My Christmas gift from the wife was 63mm throttle bodies. My in-laws gave me Z1 Bushing Inserts.

I picked up the z1 intake upgrades, and modified my crash bar using a sawzall and metal cutting blade. Welded it at my shop.

[JLarson]

Originally Posted by JLarson

Although the G37x was mostly suitable for Megan, she did find herself missing the roar of the exhaust on my 350z.

So her birthday present was something a bit special.

Side story on the installation of the Motordyne... As we were installing the rear canister, I was under the car holding it in place so the bracket aligned correctly. Megan leaned down to look under, while operating our rather torquey drill to fasten it in place. Overtorqued it, spun the drill butt into her lip.

She ended up almost biting through her lip. Few minutes later, she mentions to me she might need stitches after we finish. I hadn't seen the injury, so I look up and see blood oozing from this very deep and ragged looking gash. Prepared to drop everything and take her right then.

Like a champ, she says "No, we're almost done, let's finish my exhaust."

We wrapped it up, fired up the car, and the deep rumble fills the garage. Classic Megan quote: "I really want to smile, but that's going to just make this start bleeding again!"

[JLarson]

I said I'd talk about Zdayz 2018. I had mentioned in passing to my wife that Zdayz looked like a lot of fun. It also just so happened to coincide with our 1 year anniversary weekend. She startled me by being hugely in favor of the trip! So we planned our trip, leaving Thursday evening, and returning Sunday.

What a trip! We left around 4 pm from just outside Philadelphia, PA. By the time we hit Virginia, we were experiencing pretty constant rain, and it became painfully apparent that my rear tires were not holding the way they should (uneven wear caused by an alignment issue, as I discovered later). For the first time in its entire existence, my traction control actually came in useful, when at one point my entire back end broke free and almost snapped me out of my lane. (The good news - our near death experience was a good way of convincing my wife that I needed Pilot 4S tires. Thanks to Rusty for the advice!)

We stayed in an AirBnB in Roanoke, Virgina, and continued the trek the following day, arriving at Fontana Village late afternoon. For the first time, the Z was starting to look fairly common...

[JLarson]

Once we registered and entered a few raffles, we went looking for food. From stalking everyone on the forum, I recognized Madwi and EastWest hanging out on the deck. I wandered over, introduced myself, and they welcomed us warmly!

We spent the evening hanging out with JC Hammond, Zoren, JarBlue, Rusty and Mrs Rusty, DePointFive0, Madwi, and EastWest. Best group ever. Incredibly nice people!