M.Bonanni's 370Z Project "Born Again"

M.Bonanni · 01-07-2010, 06:49 PM

For those that don’t know me, I am the former owner of Double Down Motorsports, an old vendor on these forums. Unfortunately my company went out of business, but one of the things I have left from it is my 370Z. Originally purchased as a demo car for my company and the products I sold, my 370Z was used for a lot of new parts development and testing. I have already started a thread about the car entitled “DDM Project 370Z” almost exactly a year ago. In one short year the thread gained over 40,000 views and has grown to 42 pages long. For this reason, and the reason that Double Down Motorsports is no longer in business, I felt I needed to start a new thread to signify the “re-birth” of my 370Z project car.

For those that want to read all 42 pages of my first build thread, you can find it here...
DDM Project 370Z

In 2009 this car was built as a daily driven time attack car with most of the emphasis put into on-track performance. As much fun as that was, things will be different for this car in 2010. With a new team to drive for in time attack and a much smaller budget this 370Z unfortunately will not be seeing much track time in the near future. That does not mean I still won’t continue to build it with a “function over form” approach. My heart lies with building race cars, not show cars and although it will be on display more than on the track in 2010, it will still be built with the intention of turning a fast lap around a road course.

Here is a list of current modifications as it sits right now:

Engine + Cooling
- Injen Technology Dual Cold Air Intakes
- Berk Technology High Flow Catalytic Converters
- Berk Technology Cat-Back Exhaust
- Mishimoto Coolant Hose Kit
- Mishimoto Low Temp Thermostat
- Jim Wolf Technology Oil Pan Spacer
- Password:JDM Dry Carbon Fiber Engine Compartment Covers
- Password:JDM Dry Carbon Fiber Cooling Plate
- Password:JDM Billet Oil Cap
- Odyssey PC680 Lightweight Battery

Transmission + Drivetrain
- Carbonetic 1.5 Way Limited Slip Differential

Brakes
- Challenge Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines

Suspension
- BC Racing ER Type Coilovers
- SPC Performance Front Upper Control Arms
- SPL Parts Rear Camber Arms
- SPL Parts Rear Traction Arms
- GTSPEC 4-Point Ladder Brace
- GTSPEC 2-Point Rear Lower Tie Brace
Exterior + Aerodynamics
- Kognition Design Variant 1 Dry Carbon Fiber Rear Wing
- EVO-R Carbon Fiber Mirror Caps
- EVO-R Carbon Fiber B-Pillars
- EVO-R Carbon Fiber Front Center Bumper Cover
- GTMotoring Tow Hook
- Custom Vinyl Graphics from 702Graphics.com

Interior + Electronics
- Password:JDM Balanced Shift Knob

Wheels + Tires
- Forgestar F14 Wheels (18" Track/19" Street)
- Nitto NT05 Tires (Track)
- Nitto Invo Tires (Street)
- Nismo 60mm Wheel Studs
- Muteki Tuner Lug Nuts

Having to shut down Double Down Motorsports was a big heart breaker for me and one of my ways of coping with it is to re-invent the car and come up with a new plan, a new look, and something new to get excited about. Step one is to re-invent the look of the car. This will be a multi step process.

The first thing I did is create a new vinyl graphics package for the car. I wanted to stick to a "time attack" car look and as much as I like the signature “DDM” color scheme of fluorescent green and black, I ditched it as it for a sort of “painter’s tape blue” and black combo. I tried to make a simpler and cleaner layout for logos as well. Here are some recent photos from the car’s latest track day at the 2009 Redline Customer Appreciation Day back in December at the Streets of Willow Springs.

It seems that every time I do graphics I am never happy and this graphics scheme will probably change a million times. Already since these photos I have removed the Bonanni Motorsports logos, numbers, and my name off the doors to further simplify the look. The name on the door, numbers, and the wing I only put on the car for track days anyway. It also bugs me that the bullseye is crooked. At the vinyl shop I made the decision to make it even with the ground instead of going with the bottom door seem and now I am regretting it so that will probably come off next. I keep going back and forth between doing a time attack look with the vinyl or going minimalistic, which I am sure most everybody would prefer to see, but I am not building my car for everybody so piss off

. Nonetheless, I still have sponsors for the car, and those sponsor's logos need to remain on the car. I just need to find a really cool way to showcase them.

The next step is to powdercoat the wing end plates and stands a matte black so they blend in better with the rest of the wing. I also want to find black hardware for the wing for the same reason. Then I want to take the car to have the tail lights smoked a bit and the door handles painted flat black.

Other places you can follow the progress of this car...
Web: http://www.bonannimotorsports.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bonannimotorsports

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bmstimeattack

Blog: http://bonannimotorsports.wordpress.com

01-07-2010, 06:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
M.Bonanni The370Z.com Sponsor Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 2,575 Drives: Fast Rep Power: 1320	M.Bonanni's 370Z Project "Born Again" For those that don’t know me, I am the former owner of Double Down Motorsports, an old vendor on these forums. Unfortunately my company went out of business, but one of the things I have left from it is my 370Z. Originally purchased as a demo car for my company and the products I sold, my 370Z was used for a lot of new parts development and testing. I have already started a thread about the car entitled “DDM Project 370Z” almost exactly a year ago. In one short year the thread gained over 40,000 views and has grown to 42 pages long. For this reason, and the reason that Double Down Motorsports is no longer in business, I felt I needed to start a new thread to signify the “re-birth” of my 370Z project car. For those that want to read all 42 pages of my first build thread, you can find it here... DDM Project 370Z In 2009 this car was built as a daily driven time attack car with most of the emphasis put into on-track performance. As much fun as that was, things will be different for this car in 2010. With a new team to drive for in time attack and a much smaller budget this 370Z unfortunately will not be seeing much track time in the near future. That does not mean I still won’t continue to build it with a “function over form” approach. My heart lies with building race cars, not show cars and although it will be on display more than on the track in 2010, it will still be built with the intention of turning a fast lap around a road course. Here is a list of current modifications as it sits right now: Engine + Cooling - Injen Technology Dual Cold Air Intakes - Berk Technology High Flow Catalytic Converters - Berk Technology Cat-Back Exhaust - Mishimoto Coolant Hose Kit - Mishimoto Low Temp Thermostat - Jim Wolf Technology Oil Pan Spacer - Password:JDM Dry Carbon Fiber Engine Compartment Covers - Password:JDM Dry Carbon Fiber Cooling Plate - Password:JDM Billet Oil Cap - Odyssey PC680 Lightweight Battery Transmission + Drivetrain - Carbonetic 1.5 Way Limited Slip Differential Brakes - Challenge Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines Suspension - BC Racing ER Type Coilovers - SPC Performance Front Upper Control Arms - SPL Parts Rear Camber Arms - SPL Parts Rear Traction Arms - GTSPEC 4-Point Ladder Brace - GTSPEC 2-Point Rear Lower Tie Brace Exterior + Aerodynamics - Kognition Design Variant 1 Dry Carbon Fiber Rear Wing - EVO-R Carbon Fiber Mirror Caps - EVO-R Carbon Fiber B-Pillars - EVO-R Carbon Fiber Front Center Bumper Cover - GTMotoring Tow Hook - Custom Vinyl Graphics from 702Graphics.com Interior + Electronics - Password:JDM Balanced Shift Knob Wheels + Tires - Forgestar F14 Wheels (18" Track/19" Street) - Nitto NT05 Tires (Track) - Nitto Invo Tires (Street) - Nismo 60mm Wheel Studs - Muteki Tuner Lug Nuts Having to shut down Double Down Motorsports was a big heart breaker for me and one of my ways of coping with it is to re-invent the car and come up with a new plan, a new look, and something new to get excited about. Step one is to re-invent the look of the car. This will be a multi step process. The first thing I did is create a new vinyl graphics package for the car. I wanted to stick to a "time attack" car look and as much as I like the signature “DDM” color scheme of fluorescent green and black, I ditched it as it for a sort of “painter’s tape blue” and black combo. I tried to make a simpler and cleaner layout for logos as well. Here are some recent photos from the car’s latest track day at the 2009 Redline Customer Appreciation Day back in December at the Streets of Willow Springs. It seems that every time I do graphics I am never happy and this graphics scheme will probably change a million times. Already since these photos I have removed the Bonanni Motorsports logos, numbers, and my name off the doors to further simplify the look. The name on the door, numbers, and the wing I only put on the car for track days anyway. It also bugs me that the bullseye is crooked. At the vinyl shop I made the decision to make it even with the ground instead of going with the bottom door seem and now I am regretting it so that will probably come off next. I keep going back and forth between doing a time attack look with the vinyl or going minimalistic, which I am sure most everybody would prefer to see, but I am not building my car for everybody so piss off . Nonetheless, I still have sponsors for the car, and those sponsor's logos need to remain on the car. I just need to find a really cool way to showcase them. The next step is to powdercoat the wing end plates and stands a matte black so they blend in better with the rest of the wing. I also want to find black hardware for the wing for the same reason. Then I want to take the car to have the tail lights smoked a bit and the door handles painted flat black. Other places you can follow the progress of this car... Web: http://www.bonannimotorsports.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bonannimotorsports Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bmstimeattack Blog: http://bonannimotorsports.wordpress.com __________________ MikeBonanni.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MikeBonanni Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MBonanni36 Function > Form Last edited by M.Bonanni; 01-23-2010 at 12:35 PM.