Your car is sick...... Matte Black wheels right??

Yessir! Thanks. :)

Nice...

just making sure you dont forget... :tup:

I didn't forget and we took the videos but something on the camera is screwed up. So the video part is all messed up but you can still hear it. I will make a video still later.

Are these the 19x9/19x10 or the 19x9/19x11 combo?

I love the style of these wheels.

Those ones are the 19x9/19x11s (the matte black ones usually on my car).

I did have a set of piano black 19x9/19x10 on the car also for an event...
http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/rtawsir1.jpg

Are the offsets custom with these wheels or not?

Yes they are.

Sweet. Now I remember on one of your earlier posts you said that the rears could have been pushed out another 5mm. Is that because of how much you have the ride lowered and alignment?

No, the Matte Black ones on my car were the first ones to actually go on a 370Z. The rears on my car are a +33 offset, but now they recommend a +28 for the rear. My car does make them look more sucked in than they really are though since I am running some negative camber out back.

Ok, cool. Thanks for the info. ;)

Got my new Carbotech pads in! Well...at least the fronts. I screwed up and accidentaly ordered non-sport package rears so I have to re-order those lol.

I went with their XP10 front and XP8 rear which is what their tech recommended after we had a discussion about my car. I am trying desperately to get some track time in on the 30th of this month but it is a 50/50 shot whether I will make that test day or not. If not, then I will test these pads out towards the end of September.

And as always, you can order Carbotech brake pads at www.DoubleDownMotorsports.com :D

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370zctbrakes1.jpg

Thanks for posting pics of the Piano Black wheels.

Let us know how those pads work out, I'm had my eye on the Carbotech's for a while now just couldn't figure out which one would be best.

And to keep the wheels shiny, spray them down with Eagle One "Keep Clean" before you head to the track. It's amazing at repelling brake dust.

Will do on the pads and thanks for the tip on the Keep Clean stuff. I will have to try that out! I assume there is no risk of that stuff being flamable with excessive heat right? :)

Nope, it was initially recommended to me by a friend who tested it out on their Corvette Z06 at the Glen, the stuff works great!

Ok so the car will finally come home from Password:JDM on Tuesday the 8th! Well, I will pick it up on Friday the 4th, but spending the holiday weekend down on the beach while I am there :).

Once its back here in Vegas, the scramble begins to get it ready for a test weekend on the 19th & 20th at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, then the Redline Time Attack event at the same track a week later. Here is the to do list, including some new parts to install and test fit!

- Change transmission & differential fluid (wish I could get my JWT clutch/flywheel installed but don't have the budget right now)

- Install second Mishimoto oil cooler. No I never got the one back from the guys I lent my first one too and because of budget restraints a custom setup is not in the cards right now so I got another Mishimoto setup.

- Test fit Jim Wolf Technology VQ37 Oil Pan Spacer. Yep, thats right! Should be in my hands to test fit next week! The spacer should add approx. 1 qt. of oil capacity which will help keep oil temps in check. I will also install my Project Kics magnetic drain plug while I am at it.

- Test fit SPL Parts Sway Bar End Links. These are the end links from the 350Zs, but we think there is a good chance they will work on the 370Z as well. We'll find out!

- Install NRG Innovations steering wheel hub, quick release, and deep dish steering wheel. Should get the wheel closer to me for better driving position and shed some weight getting rid of the air bag. Only downside is losing the air bag and steering wheel radio/bluetooth controls. Luckily there is tons of run-off area at Spring Mountain and no walls so I am not too worried about not having an airbag. Might swap back to the stock steering wheel/airbag for street driving.

- Get Nitto NT05 tires mounted on 18" wheels. Since Forgestar still does not have their 18" wheels in yet, I have a back up set of SSR Type-Fs just in case.

- Remove trunk plastics/spare/tools

- Adjust ride height (raising it a little since the 18" wheels/tires have a smaller overall diameter than stock)

- Corner balance

- Alignment (finally able to add some negative camber up front with the SPC arms!)

- Install Carbotech XP10/XP8 brake pads

There are a few things that are also still up in the air and may or may not get here in time for the test weekend. The 18" Forgestars are on that list of course, along with the Challenge Stainless Steel Braided brake lines which I am supposed to test fit. Also a few new braces and such from GTSPEC may or may not get here in time to install/test before this time attack.

Picked up the car from Password:JDM on Friday! They got the radiator cooling panel, battery/brake fluid covers, and prototype shift knob done! I will be dropping the car off again probably in October so they can finish the engine cover which is 90% of the way there. All parts are 100% genuine dry carbon fiber or high quality aluminum. All Password:JDM parts are made 100% in house in the USA.

Here are some photos...

Dry Carbon Fiber Battery/Brake Fluid Covers:
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com...terycover1.jpg
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com...luidcover1.jpg

Dry Carbon Fiber Radiator Cooling Panel:
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com...lingpanel1.jpg
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com...lingpanel2.jpg

Theft Proof Oil Cap:
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/pwjdmoilcap1.jpg
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/pwjdmoilcap2.jpg

Shot of the entire engine bay:
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com...enginebay1.jpg

Pre-Production Aluminum Shift Knob:
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com...shiftknob1.jpg

The shift knob pictured is the pre-production model. The production versions will be largely the same except they will feature the colored washer system option pictured below. They will also be offered in a variety of anodized colors.

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370zpwjdm2.jpg

Man thats stuff looks nice! Keep us updated!

I like the carbon fiber in the engine bay. That is a great idea. How much weight does it save?

Any weight savings will be minimal. The radiator cooling panel doesn't replace anything, it just sits over the existing plastic in the engine bay. The battery/brake fluid covers are full replacements of the stock plastic pieces, but the stock plastic pieces don't weigh much. So these mods wont really gain or lose you much weight at all. More for looks.

Just got word that some new GTSPEC chassis braces should be in my hands early next week for test fitment :D. I also think I am going to swap out the JWT Pop-Charger intakes to an Injen dual intake setup to see how it compares.

Double Down Motorsports is now an authorized dealer for NonStopTuning so I will be running their underdrive pulley kit instead of the Unortodox Racing crank pulley. :D

Did a little bit of work on the car today...

I fabbed up a new mounting bracket for the Mishimoto Oil cooler that positions it so it is 100% in clean air flow instead of being partially covered by the bumper. I am still waiting on the Jim Wolf Technology oil pan spacer to get here before I finish installing the rest of the lines and such for the oil cooler so I can put everything on at once and not have to drain the oil twice.

While I had the bumper cover off, I also decided I would replace the Jim Wolf Technology Dual Pop Charger intakes with a new Injen Technology Dual Cold Air Intake system to see how they compare. I also did not re-install the washer fluid bottle included in the Injen CAI kit for the purpose of saving weight on the front end.

http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/370zinjencai1.jpg

http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/370zinjencai2.jpg

I have a ton of work to do on the car before this next weekend's test event out at Spring Mountain Motorsports Park before competing in Round #7 of the Redline Time Attack Series a week later at the same track. I really want to make this test weekend since there are so may new parts on the car since last time it was on track. The only problem is that I am waiting on a bunch more parts to come in so my hopes of getting a lot done this weekend are somewhat shot.

Tomorrow's agenda:
- Change Transmission Fluid & Install Project Kics Magnetic Drain Plug
- Change Differential Fluid & Install Project Kics Magnetic Drain Plug (if it fits)
- Test fit SPL Parts Adjustable Sway Bar End Links

The only other thing I can do at this point is install the NonStopTuning Crank & Alternator Pulley Kit which arrived today, however I don't have a lift so I probably won't be able to get the leverage needed with a breaker bar to get the stock one off. Might have a local shop with a lift do that install.

Updates from today...

Project Kics Magnetic Drain Plugs do not fit in the transmission or the differential. Gotta find some other ones that do.

SPL Parts 350Z end links don't fit the 370Z :(. The good news is that only minor changes are needed to make them fit so I expect that problem to be resolved very soon and we should have 370Z specific SPL Parts sway bar end links in our near future!

So all that was accomplished today was changing the differential and trans fluids. Now we are just waiting on parts.

I did order these though since I am now an authorized dealer of Race Ramps!

Wheel Cribs - I got the 8" tall ones. They should be perfect for adjusting the sway bar end links once we can get them to fit! Not to mention easier and safer than jack stands for things where you don't need to take the wheels off. Also cool for checking tire clearances and such from under the car with the suspension compressed.

http://www.raceramps.com/images/whee...race-ramps.jpg

Scale Ramps - These will make life so much easier not only for corner balancing, but also just to use to get some more height to slide a jack under the car since it sits so low.

http://www.raceramps.com/images/scal...-stock-car.jpg

I am working on getting all of Race Ramp's products up on our site, but if you want to order any just let me know!

Carbon junk looks great Mike! Car is turning out quite nice.

We are very happy to have Double Down Motorsports as our first Authorized NST Retailer on these forums.

Many thanks for your interest in our site and products, and for your help and support. Good luck and have fun with all your projects!!!

:driving::driving:

^^^Thanks Mike! Hopefully I will be able to get your pulley on the car very soon!

Oh no, more Mike's?? :rofl2:

Welcome to the forum!

wow, I'm behind!! I just saw your post from nearly a month ago, lol. :hello:

Alright, cutting it really close for this weekend's testing session before next weekend's time attack, but I think I can make it happen.

The JWT Oil Pan Spacer kit should be showing up sometime on Friday, hopefully sooner than later. That, along with the rest of the Mishimoto oil cooler kit and Project Kics magnetic drain plug will all go on the car Friday night. My 18" Forgestars look like they wont get here until next week at the earliest so instead of skipping my test weekend waiting on them, I will mount my Nitto NT05 tires to my back up SSR Type-F 18" wheels on Friday as well.

I had to sell my last set of Carbotech pads I had in stock to a customer who needed them for last weekend and I don't think my replacements will be here in time so it looks like another run on the Hawk HP+ for the test day. The pads and wheels will go on the car Saturday and the trunk plastics/spare/subwoofer/tools will come out. Then I will set the ride height and corner balance followed by alignment and we will be ready for testing on Sunday!

Next week hopefully my Challenge brake lines, NRG steering wheel/hub/quick release, 18" Forgestars, and new GTSPEC 6-Point chassis brace and fender braces show up. If they do, all of that will be installed and re-corner balanced/aligned before the time attack on the 26th & 27th! Also hoping that I will have time to take the car down to a shop with a lift to have the NST crank & alternator pulleys installed.

YOu wouldn't happen to be going to the POC/Speed Ventures event at CalSpeedway on Sunday?? =)

Knowing your a P-car man yourself figured you might be out there.

If so we will see you there!

Would love to talk shop with ya,

Let me know.

:tiphat:

Ah, no I will be out at the track in Pahrump with the Las Vegas Region PCA. We'll meet up for sure at the time attack though!

Some updates before this Sunday's test run.

Not all of the parts showed up for this weekend's test run unfortunately. Literally 5 min. ago some parts came in though and I will spend tomorrow doing the following so the car can be ready to go to the track and test on Sunday!

- Install JWT VQ37 oil pan spacer. Adds one quart of fluid capacity putting me at 7 quarts with the oil cooler. Hopefully this should help with cooling!

- Install GTSPEC 6-Point Chassis Brace. Yes its massive and going to be awesome. Partnered with the 4-Point ladder brace the car should feel like its caged now!

- Install GTSPEC Fender Braces. Another front end chassis stiffener!

- Finish installing Mishimoto Oil Cooler kit. The cooler is already mounted but I have been waiting on the oil pan spacer to install the lines and sandwich plate so I only have to drain the oil once.

- Set ride height. Going to raise the car probably 1/2" since the car sits a bit too low as is and my 18s have a smaller diameter than my 19s so once those go on that will lower the car a little again.

- Get Nitto NT05 tires mounted on SSR Type-F Wheels. 275/35/18 front 285/30/18 rear mounted on 18x9.5" front and 18x10.5" rear wheels. Matte black of course :).

- Install Hawk HP+ brake pads. Unfortunately my Carbotech pads didn't arrive in time since I had to re-order them after selling the ones that were supposed to go on this car to a customer in need.

- Corner balance. Going to scale the car with a full tank of gas since thats where I will probably run it at with the fuel starvation issue not resolved.

- Alignment. Finally get to dial in some negative camber up front with the SPC control arms!

Then its off to the track on Sunday to test for next weekend's time attack. There should be a few more parts showing up next week that will go on the car before the time attack as well.

Well, unfortunately I didn't get the car ready in time for the practice day yesterday so I will have to wait until the time attack to dial it in. :( Good news is that the Jim Wolf Technology oil pan spacer is on, Mishimoto Oil Cooler is back on the car, and the Project Kics Magnetic Drain Plug fits in the stock oil pan! Got the tires mounted on the SSR Type-F wheels as well. I should have the test fitment set of Challenge brake lines as well as a GTMotoring tow hook coming in on Tuesday so those will go on the car. Also have to test fit GTSPEC's new fender braces and 6-point chassis brace. Then corner balance, alignment, and my "time attack" vinyl layout, Carbotech brake pads, and I am ready for competition this weekend!

Just ordered up some new seats! Unfortunately they won't be here in time for the time attack, but they will be in the car for SEMA which is really why I am buying them. Now all I need is a roll bar/steering wheel/hub/quick release! :)

BRIDE Zeta III in Hyper Black w/rails:
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/zetaIIIblack.jpg

sucks you couldn't get into the practice day =/

Are you expecting to still be riding on the SSR's this weekend for the time attack?

Grats on the new seats! Are you selling your old ones? I could use lumbar support and I think you had touring....:tup:

Yeah it was a bummer to miss the opportunity to test before the race but I have not had the luxury of testing before any of the time attacks I have competed in ever so its nothing different than what I am used to :). I just hope the car isn't too far off on the setup because as a one man team (driver/crew cheif/mechanic) it takes me a while to make changes in between sessions.

As for the SSRs, I will plan on running them unless the Forgestars show up on my doorstep by Thursday. I know they still aren't ready to ship as of yesterday but getting close. Luckily it only takes one day to get from Forgestar to me here in Vegas. My luck though they will show up on Monday lol.

As for the seats, I am keeping them for now. I will probably swap the BRIDE seats in for SEMA for now until I get the rest of the proper safety setup to keep them in the car all of the time. Even then, I might just only use them for time attacks.

Pics of the SSR's mounted? It would be much appreciated as I have been leaning on these myself.

Thank you!

Nick J.