Hahaha, thanks man. Next up is the Odyssey PC680 battery. I will probably just mount in in the factory battery location for now until I have more time to really plan a relocation to the trunk that will be fairly easy to access and still retain use of the factory spare and tools.

Then hopefully wheels :).

what benefit of the new battery...solely weight?

Yep

Odyssey PC680 battery installed finally! I chose to keep it in the stock location for now until I find a mounting solution for the rear that retains the stock spare & tools and is easily accessible.

http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/370zpc680.jpg

Holy shi*!! What's the weight on that battery? I was considering a dry cell.


EDIT: Nevermind, I searched google....not bad

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc680.htm

14 lbs.

Stock one is 35 lbs.

I take it those arms allow for more camber adjustment over stock? Do the stock arms have adjustable keys? Sorry for the dumb question, I haven't looked at the suspension yet.

I assume you're talking about the SPL Rear Camber Arms? Yes, they offer much much much more adjustment over stock. +/- 10 degrees over stock actually. The stock arms offer very little adjustment.

OK, thanks for the info. Wow, that's quite a bit more...

yes, more than you would probably ever use lol.

I'm sure someone will put them to the test at some point and lay a Z out on shockwaves or cylinders. That's the only time I could see needing that much adjustment.

The shop car is looking great BTW. A ton of changes in a short time!;)

Thanks, hopefully more to come soon. :)

It needs wheels...bad...

Did you guys end up getting rails for the BRIDES?
I saw a teaser picture a while ago with the passenger seat replaced but if I recall correctly it was only temporary.

No, the teaser pic had the rail for a 350Z. We are still waiting on BRIDE Japan to send some to the US. Still no solid confirmation on an arrival date from them.

In anticipation of the time attack coming up at the end of next week, here is what will be done to the car prior to the race...

- Change transmission fluid
- Change differential fluid
- Drain washer fluid
- Change coolant
- Change brake pads to Hawk HP+
- Corner balance

Starting on the punch list Monday.

Started today on my prep for the upcoming Redline Time Attack this weekend! Unfortunately, running the 370Z was a last minute decision so I am not able to add a bunch of new parts to the car for the race, but I will do what I can with limited time and resources to give myself any advantage possible!

I started by gutting the trunk are to see how much weight could be saved. I grabbed a screwdriver and a 10mm socket and 10 minutes later, here are the results!

All of this stuff pops in and out with ease and will be put back in after the race...
http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370ztaprep1.jpg

Then I started weighing what was removed. This is the sun shade/privacy thing that stretches out over whatever you're carying in the back. No need for this in time attack! 3 lbs. saved...
http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370ztaprep2.jpg

Now some of the interior plastics. These are the pieces that cover the rear strut towers. 5 lbs. saved and easy access to the rebound adjustment on my BC coilovers!
http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370ztaprep3.jpg

The rest of the trunk area plastic and styrofoam. 10 lbs. saved!
http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370ztaprep4.jpg

Just like on the 350Zs, there is a weight bolted to the hatch...
http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370ztaprep5.jpg

...and it weighs 2 lbs...
http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/370ztaprep6.jpg

And the grand total wieght savings for 10 min. worth of work is 20 lbs! I had previously weight the stock BOSE subwoofer, spare tire, and tools and the weight of those totals out to be 50 lbs. So that's a grand total of 70 lbs. weight savings in a matter of 10 min! The best part is, all of this stuff is just as easy to put back as it is to remove.

Now the only possible downside is that this amount of weight reduction is all off the back of the car. I have swapped the OEM battery with a lightweight Odyssey battery to help offset some of that, but I will find out later what the front/rear weight distribution is. Worst case is that I may need to add some weight back to the rear.

I also installed the Hawk HP+ Brake pads. They fit perfectly and the install was incredibly easy thanks to the design of the Akebono calipers. The car is still up in the air on jack stands awaiting more work tomorrow so I haven't driven the car with the pads in yet. I will bed them in later in the week and then provide my on-track impressions and pad wear analysis next week after the time attack.

Good news! I was able to corner balance the car within a good enough range that I didn't have to add any more weight back to the rear!

Car is now corner balanced to a 50.4% cross weight, 55%/45% front to rear bias, and 51%/49% left to right bias. All with the driver (me) in the car. If I find myself bored enough within the next few days, I may tweak with it a little more to try and get that perfect 50% cross weight.

Total vehicle weight with 1/2 tank of gas, no driver came in at 3230 lbs.

Tomorrow I will set my alignment and cold tire pressure then take a trip to my vinyl guy to get the sponsor logos put on the car.

Just got back from my vinyl guy. Looks pretty ricey on a stock appearing car, but hey, sponsorships are the backbone of racing. Gotta do what you gotta do...

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

no! make the stickers go away!! yaaaa gotta do what u gotta do. but DAMMMMMN those are big lol. i woulda tried to just put them on the bottom, like just on the side skirts and maybe some going up the front quarter panel (like where the light up Z emblem is). otherwise, sexy car man.

See, although that would look cleaner, I am good to my sponsors. I am one of the few who realize that a logo on a track car is no good if you can't see it from 50' away going 100mph. :) Have you ever seen a professional race car, like a NASCAR or CORR truck or something up close? All of the logos and decals look huge and obnoxious, but when they are on the track, from a spectator or camera's point of view, it looks normal.

For car shows you can get away with much smaller logos and have the same effect.

very good point. you can bust a ricky bobby and put a huge decal on your windshield!! haha.

hahaha, for the right amount of money I would.

Glad to see your Z coming along.

The stance looks fantastic. Can't wait for your initial track impressions.

Thanks! Slowly but surely, its getting there. I am dying to get wheels though.

I am very excited to get out to the track, not only to test the car itself, but to test the coilovers, oil cooler, and brake pads too. I am very curious to see what times it will run at Buttonwillow. I will be very very happy with anything below 2:04.000 and very bummed if its slower than 2:07.000.

Still no adjustable front camber right? At least you picked some up with the lowered suspension. Are the SPL front camber adjusters going to be an adjustable upper A-arm design?

Yes, the SPL front upper control arms will be essentially the same as their upcoming Version 2 350Z arms, but made to fit the 370Z obviously. They will have camber adjustments and +/- 1 degree of caster adjustment.

http://www.splparts.com/main4/parts/...PLFCAZ33v2.jpg

Unfortunately the test fit car they had fell through and they are back to square one looking for a 370Z to play with to fabricate the arms. I don't even have an estimated ETA anymore, but anyone in the Austin, TX area should contact SPL if you don't mind leaving your car there for a few hours for measurements.

As for my car, with the lower ride height the front camber is sitting around -1.6 degrees. Not near enough most likely, but better than nothing.

what about your rear camber? Where is that at?

I have adjustable rear camber arms so that I can mess with. :) I will probably set it at -2 or -2.5 to start and bring my tire pyrometer to the track with me so I can make any necessary adjustments. :driving:

damn dude (OP) you sound like a guy who really knows his stuff. I would love to have you as a next door neighbor. I would want to be your suspension apprentice.

Looks like its gonna turn into a sexy a$$ car. Lets see some vids!

^^^Thanks. :)

The time attack went very well yesterday. I will do a full writeup on it later today. :)

Going to be ordering these soon!

Forgestar F14s in Matte Black 19x9 19x10. My offsets should have much more of a concave than this photo :).

Forgestar is a brand new company and I will be track testing their wheels for them. They are one piece flow formed wheels that are designed to be light weight and clear BBKs. I should be able to sell these to the public by mid April!

http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/forgestarf14.jpg

And they will be wrapped in Nitto NT05 tires.

http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/nt05.jpg

If I weren't competing this season in time attack I would do an 11" rear wheel and a 275/305 NT05 tire stagger, but having to stay under a 285 tire is killing me. After this past time attack, I really think that the Z will prefer a little bit of stagger between the front and rear. The 350Zs were the same way. Ideally I would like to run a 265/285 stagger, but there isn't many choices for a fast street tire in those sizes for 19" wheels. I think I may be stuck running 275 width tires all around.

When the wheels come, I will also be switching to Nismo 60mm extended wheel studs and Muteki open ended lug nuts.

http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com...wheelstuds.jpg

http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com...open_black.jpg

Small change of plan on the tires...

I will have two sets of wheels/tires now. One for street/show, one for the track. The street/show setup will have 19x9 front, 19x11 rear Forgestar F14s with 275/305 Nitto Invo tires, which I just ordered :)...

http://images.europeancarweb.com/fir...tread_view.jpg

The track setup will have 19x9 front, 19x10 rear Forgestar F14s with 275 Nitto NT05s all around.

Woah digging your nitto's.
How much?!
[:

The Invos in 275/35/19 and 305/30/19 retail for $1122 from Discount Tire.

The NT05s in 275/30/19 all around retail for $1048 from Discount Tire.

1122 better be for all 4. even thats breaking bank! but i love that setup. 9s in the front an 11s in the back. perfect! f14s ftw too. ima have to get me a pair

Yeah, thats for all four lol. Its the sizes that kill the price.

what do those wheels weigh in at? are they forged?

Not sure on the weights yet, I will weigh mine when they get here. :)

The wheels are "flow formed" which is the same technology used to make Formula 1 wheels according to their website...

"Flow Forming is a production procedure that turns the wheel (or rim section) over a special mandrel and three hydraulic rollers using tremendous pressure. The pressure and turning then force the rim area to form against the mandrel, creating the shape and width of the rim. During Flow Forming, the rim actually "flows" down to create the full rim width. During Flow Forming, pressure applied to the cast rim actually changes its mechanical properties, so its strength and impact values become similar to those of a forged rim. That translates to up to 15% less weight when compared to a standard cast wheel. Our technological breakthroughs in heat treating allow us to increase dent resistance without having to make the wheel heavier."

Well, my street/show set of Forgestar F14s will be all matte black, but I think I might get a little more creative on the set I will use at the track... :)

http://www.ddmtimeattack.com/forgestarf14tastripe.jpg

Nitto Invos showed up today!

275/35/19 front, 305/30/19 rear...

http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/nittoinvo.jpg