Barn Find 370z Build Journal

[Jrah2987]

About 7 weeks ago I took delivery of a 2009 370z Touring I found in Kentucky with only 82XX miles on it. The car is literally spotless, with the only issues coming from it sitting for so long (cracked tires, crusty hoses, etc.)

The goal of this build will be to make a well rounded N/A car, while primarily focusing on handling and weight loss, for occasional track days, without making the car unenjoyable on the street. I don't want any crazy power, as I'll be using this reliable platform to help me grow as a driver.

I'll be using this thread to document any/all work I do as a reference for later, since I have a bad habit of not documenting maintenance or mods I do.







First thing I wanted to do was start replacing all the fluids. I'm not sure if they have ever been changed, but I wanted to run the same fluids I've had success with in my Evo:



Feb. 16th, 2022:

I had to take care of 1 thing that was really bothering me before the fluids:



Much better.

Feb. 27th, 2022:

I also went ahead and started transferring a set of Sparco Fighters I had in my Evo over to the Z. I'll be waiting another 2 months for a Bride seat bracket to come in before I can move the driver's seat out of the Evo:



Once that was in, I drained the rear diff, which went smoothly:





Mar 1st, 2022

I then moved on to the coolant, using the OEM Nissan stuff. I also noticed the radiator hoses were a bit crusty, so I swapped them with Z1's silicon. I may do the heater hoses at a later time, but this is fine for now:







Mar 20, 2022

I then moved onto the trans fluid. This went smoothly as well, however I'm going to try and remember to buy an extra bottle of fluid for next time just to make sure it's completely filled:





Apr 5th, 2022

I then wanted to change whatever oil the dealer put in there with some AMSoil. I wanted to go ahead and get 2 birds stoned at once, so I ordered and installed a 25 row Setrab oil cooler from Z1 as well. Install was straightforward, however connecting the lines to the sandwich plate was a bit of a pain:







The only things I did extra, was removed a couple connectors behind the front bumper that was making contact with the lines and zip tied them out of the way, and ran the plastic covering to try and prevent it from damaging the lines. We'll see if it helped.

I also found a few reminders of how long the car had been sitting:





Current project

My next focus is a Nismo bumper conversion from Z1:





I wanted to pick these up now while the prices are still reasonable. I'm expecting the prices to jump once supply starts to run out.

I also have been waiting on a Greddy cat-back exhaust for a few months, which should hopefully be here in a few weeks. The weight savings on this alone make it worth it for me.

That's it for now; I will update when I have more work done. If you have any questions or comments, just let me know.

[SeeThruHead]

none of your images work.

[Jayhovah]

Originally Posted by SeeThruHead

none of your images work.

This.

[Jrah2987]

Welp, boomer moment I guess. Went to fix it and now everything is gone. I'll try again later.

[Trips]

Originally Posted by Jayhovah

This.

Originally Posted by SeeThruHead

none of your images work.

The Op's images have now been approved.

New members posts with images need to approved by staff to have images displayed. This is only till the new member gets to 8 posts.

Originally Posted by Jrah2987

Welp, boomer moment I guess. Went to fix it and now everything is gone. I'll try again later.

No need I'll simply delete it as a duplicate posts.

Welcome!

[danegrey]

looks as your having fun,

[Jrah2987]

Originally Posted by Trips

The Op's images have now been approved.

New members posts with images need to approved by staff to have images displayed. This is only till the new member gets to 8 posts.



No need I'll simply delete it as a duplicate posts.

Welcome!

Ahh, that explains it then. Thanks for that!

Originally Posted by danegrey

looks as your having fun,

I am enjoying it a lot, so far. I had a 350z about 12 years ago and always figured I would get another some day.

[Jrah2987]

Apr. 9th, 2022

Got around to installing the front Nismo bumper, as well as the Z1 undershroud. Bumper has pretty good fitment, and installed smoothly. The undershroud was a bit of a pain, but fits nicely and is great quality.







Only issue:


Apr 18th, 2022

Finished the Nismo conversion by installing the rear. The fitment on this one is perfect, from what I can tell.



Now to find a body shop to finish it up. I also canceled the Greddy exhaust order because of shipping delays, and ordered a true dual HKS Hi-Power that should be arriving on Friday.

[ZontheRocks]

Coming together nicely.

[Jrah2987]

Apr. 23rd, 2022

Finally some fun stuff... the HKS Hi-Power exhaust came in, and I had a chance to install it.









Review:

Quality - Seems like nice materials, however the welds are a bit rough and the provided gaskets looks like they'll be burned through pretty quickly.

Install - Straight forward enough, however I don't like that you have to remove your evap shield in order to prevent rubbing. Also, connecting the two pieces of the H pipe was a bit tricky because of the tight space.

Fitment - I should've done more research here... I'm not a fan of the final outlet fitment on the 15+ Nismo bumpers. They fit great on the OEM bumper, not so much here.

Sound - This is the perfect exhaust for someone concerned with noise. It's barely more noticeable than the OEM sound, even at WOT. That being said, it's not nearly loud enough for me. I'm hoping that adding test pipes and headers will open it up a bit more, but those will be done at a later time.

Next up, wheels and tires.

[Jrah2987]

Been a bit busy lately, but found some time to get some things done on the Z.

May 16th, 2022

The HKS catback was just too quiet for me, so I went ahead and ordered a set of AAM resonated test pipes. I love everything about these so far, from the fitment, to the updates they give you while they're being built. I will most likely go with AAM again if I choose to replace the HKS exhaust:




The sound is really nice with this setup. No drone or trumpet, and sounds great around 3500-4k. You still get the typical hiss with the test pipes, but I believe that's unavoidable and I'm fine with it.

May 20th, 2022

The tires that came with the car were dry rotting to the point where I didn't feel comfortable driving the car much, so I went ahead and ordered some wheels and tires. I went with what I will be using as my track setup for now.







Wheels - Konig Hypergrams 18x10.5 +25 (19lbs)
Tires - Yokohama Advan Apex 275/35/18

I know it badly needs a drop, and I know it needs a spacer in the rear... 20mm spacer is already ordered, and suspension is coming after brakes.

June 29th, 2022

I finally got the car into a body shop. It took them 4 week to complete the work, but I think it turned out really nice. I still need to get the DRL plugs fitted correctly, and the rear reflector installed, but here's how it sits for now:




I'm really happy with the emblem deletes, and the semi-gloss black. I also drilled some holes in the HKS tips to pull them out a bit more. It's definitely better than it was, but still not happy with it.

Next project is brakes - I ordered a full set of Akebono calipers, Z1's two piece rotors and brake lines, and some new street pads and fluid. I'd like to be able to do an event after the brakes are in, even on stock suspension, just to start getting a feel for the car.

Hopefully more updates coming soon.

[SeeThruHead]

it's annoying that most HKS pictures show the welded H-pipe and then when you order it you're stuck with a fiddly bolt together part

[Jrah2987]

Originally Posted by SeeThruHead

it's annoying that most HKS pictures show the welded H-pipe and then when you order it you're stuck with a fiddly bolt together part

Yeah, it seems like a lot of JDM stuff just shows generic pictures and you just have to hope it's accurate. I was trying to avoid doing what I did on my Evo, which is running 95% US parts, but sometimes I think it's better to be safe than sorry.

I still really like the exhaust, but I think it's better suited for a daily Z than what I'm going for.

[SeeThruHead]

Everyone on this forum hates AAM as they have a history of shady bs, and a history of shoddy workmanship.
I would much rather see made in Japan on pretty much anything I buy, vs made in america.

Just commenting on this specific HKS exhaust has been updated and no one updated the picture.

But if you go to HKSusa.com the picture is correctly updated to the new version

[Jrah2987]

Originally Posted by SeeThruHead

Everyone on this forum hates AAM as they have a history of shady bs, and a history of shoddy workmanship.
I would much rather see made in Japan on pretty much anything I buy, vs made in america.

Just commenting on this specific HKS exhaust has been updated and no one updated the picture.

But if you go to HKSusa.com the picture is correctly updated to the new version

Oh, interesting... maybe I just got lucky, but it seems like everything is great with my test pipes. No CEL so far, fitment is spot on, basically the same gaskets that came with my HKS, etc.

I'll keep that in mind if I decide to change the exhaust later on, though.