A little update on whats to come.

Berk Cat-Back: It was supposed to be done and ready for me to pick up and take home on Sunday when I was down in Southern California, but it didn't get done, they promised me it would ship this week so this is on standby again for now.

SPC Front Control Arms: These are out for delivery on a UPS truck right now so I will have them today, install probably tomorrow.

Hotchkis Sways: Scheduled for delivery tomorrow, install probably Wednesday or Thursday.

Carbonetic Rear Diff: Still going through the break in process. I am going a little more overkill with my break in than the directions state, but Carbonetic forwarded me the break in procedure they suggest for my application so I am following that. The procedure is 15-20 minutes of figure 8s immediately after install, change fluid, 15-20 minutes of figure 8s again, change fluid, drive 700 miles, change fluid. I still need to do the second set of figure 8s and change the fluid again before driving 700 miles.

Side Skirts: I couldn't resist and ordered the carbon side skirt add on things that VIP Status had on his car. Don't think they will provide much aerodynamic performance gain, but they look so damn cool! Those will hopefully get here near the end of the week as well.

Nismo Diff Cover: Still haven't gotten confirmation from Nissan as to whether or not the 350Z diff cover will work on the 370Z so this hasn't been ordered yet.

Project Kics Magnetic Diff Plug: On backorder for now, but I am getting a number of them in. I believe they will work on the engine oil plug as well.

i love those sideskirt things!! and im reallllllllly waiting for berk's catback. its been way overdue

I know, and they feel bad about it too but they have been really busy trying to fill backorders they said, which comes first naturally.

On another note. SPC front control arms came in today. Will install them tomorrow along with the Hotchkis sways if they show up in the early part of the day.

Are u planning on sticking those side skirts on with nothing else ? I would think it throws off the lines of the car because you get that uneven look. Like when someone throws on a huge front bumper with no side skirts...ehhh not good.

Other than that, I love what your doing with the car, great job!

Yeah haven't quite decided on a front lip yet but eventually one will go on. The side skirts are pretty subtle, but if they look out of place with the stock front/rear bumpers I will take them back off and save them for when I get more body pieces.

I'm not exactly crazy about it, but that top secret front lip might go well with those sides...

...would love for someone to release a complete accent kit as streamline as those sides are!

agree with that Danny! Would be nice for a subtle lip kit all around that is styled like those skirts.

Not really looking to get a super crazy expensive lip that serves no aerodynamic function to just beat up on the track. It will either be cheap and look good to where I don't care about replacing it every so often when it gets too beat up, or it will be strong and functional. Trying to work with a few different companies to get them to do a front lip/splitter combo that will provide function and form.

You and I are thinking alike on front splitter... I'd err towards getting the cheap/disposable kind at least initially until I get serious about trailering this car

Break in on the Carbonetic 1.5 Way LSD is finally complete! Can't wait to track test it next month.

SPC Performance front upper control arms went on the car this morning as well. The install was a little bit more of a pain in the *** than I had hoped, but could be due to my coilovers. The bolts holding the arms to the body of the car were too long to come out. The hit the spring, so I had to un-do the sway bar end link and top three bolts on the coilover and lower the coilover out of the top mount so I can move it around and get enough clearance to remove/re-install the bolts. Camber adjustment on the SPC arms is a bit crude and not the easiest to adjust because its hard to find the necessary tool that fits up in the crowded wheel well area with enough clearance. Not to mention the bolt is 27mm which is a large size which most don't have in their toolbox. I had to use a 27mm short socket, pivot joint socket attachment and ratchet and get it at just the right angle to be able to loosen/tighten the camber adjustment bolt. There may be a better tool for this job out there somewhere, I just don't have it in my tool box. I just pray that these arms are designed well enough to hold my camber settings under extreme track abuse without slipping. Unless I find the perfect tool to make adjustments easy and they perform flawlessly at the track, I think I will still swap them out for SPL Parts front upper control arms when they are available. I have not dialed in my alignment yet since I am leaving the car up on jack stands until my sway bars get here and I can install those. I probably wont set my alignment until tomorrow but I will probably just set it back to where it was at around -1.5 degrees until I get closer to my next track day the 1st & 2nd of August.

For those who remember, I picked up a rock on the highway a few months ago that cracked my windshield. Since then the crack has gotten pretty huge and I have spent the past few weeks calling every glass shop and manufacturer in the books trying to avoid spending the $1100 that Nissan wants to charge for a factory replacement and install. Good news is, today I found an answer as to when manufacturers plan on making a cheaper aftermarket replacement windshield. Bad news is, its not until 2010 so looks like I am stuck getting raped with an $1100 windshield replacement bill. I pray that this doesn't happen to any of you before 2010. This little setback puts a big strain on my build budget for this car so I may not be getting anything else for the car unless its a sponsorship deal for a while.

Also just registered for my next track event. The Super Lap Qualifier/N.A.S.A. Time Trials event at Auto Club Speedway on August 1st & 2nd. The race is in Fontana (SoCal) so if you can, come by and check it out! Would love to finally meet some of you SoCal 370Z guys.

that sucks about the windshield. Your insurance not cover the replacement?

Good luck with the swaybar installation tomorrow!

My deductable is $1000 so its not worth the added premium to claim it. :(

ouch, ya that makes sense. claim it was an uninsured driver that threw a rock at your window, that should be good for a lower deductible :roflpuke2:

lol, my father in-law owns the Nationwide insurance agency that I go to and unfortunately he is very much a play by the rules type of guy so I'm screwed. :(

wow, your father-in-law owns it and he didn't hook you up on no deductible for the same price? definitely a play by the rules guy then!

You have no idea.

Can't really blame him, if everyone did that the whole system would probably work much better, and premiums might even be lower.

Mike, I had asked a while back about your windshield, thanks for coming back with the info. It'd be nice to see a shot of where the crack is at and what it looks like, just for us curious cats out there :).

Awesome about the LSD, you managed to drive 700 miles pretty damn fast!

Miguez: I didn't drive the 700 miles yet, just the two 20 minute figure 8 sessions and the fluid changes that follow. I don't know if I will hit 700 more miles this month, but if not, I will just change fluid again right before the race on August 1st & 2nd, then again afterwards.

Hotchkis sways just showed up. A little to late for me to install today so they will have to wait until tomorrow.

Still waiting on:
Project Kics magnetic drain plugs (diff & engine oil)
18" Forgestar Wheels (aren't we all? :D )
GTSPEC 2-Point Sub-frame reinforcement brace (Still don't know when they are shipping it to me to test fit)
Carbon side skirt things from VIP-STATUS
New factory replacement windshield :mad:
Berk Technology Cat-Back Exhaust (supposed to ship this week)

Ordering Soon:
Nitto NT05 Tires (275/35/18 front, 285/35/18 rear)
Track specific brake pads (probably Ferodo DS3000)
CCW Classic 18" Wheels (IF for some reason the 18" Forgestars get delayed more than they already have)
Upgraded power steering oil cooler

Projects that are in limbo:
Upgraded oil cooler setup (Still not sure which direction to go. Waiting on travisjb's new setup to debut)
Differential cooler kit (in the same boat as with the oil cooler setup)

Couple quick photos...

SPC Performance Front Upper Control Arms:
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/370zspcarms1.jpg

Hotchkis Sways (going in tomorrow):
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/370zsways1.jpg

I have a 20" crack running horizontal along the base of windshield, so appreciate the info... wonder if there are any repair methods that could hold us over 6 mos while we wait for aftermarket glass?

I will update on oil cooler kit by end of week... diff cooler kit update in a couple weeks

:happydance:

I installed the Hotchkis sways this morning! The front was incredibly easy to install, the rear was a little more complicated but I still would call it easy. Just have to un-bolt one of the factory chassis braces and part of the exhaust to get enough clearance to remove/install the sway. About 10 extra bolts in addition to the 6 on the sway bar, all easy to get to. Street driving impressions tomorrow.

Here's a shot of the front sway installed...
http://www.doubledownmotorsports.com/370zsways2.jpg

I set the rear sway in the middle position as I will be adding a lot more front grip via larger tires and negative camber. I fear that if I put the rear to full stiff while at the same time adding much more grip to the front, the car will be oversteer happy.

Speaking of tires, I also placed the order for a new set of Nitto NT05 tires for the 18" wheels. I went with 275/35/18 front and 285/35/18 rear. I am limited to a 285 max width tire in the Redline Time Attack series and I still wanted to keep a little bit of stagger between front & rear.

cool. we're running my rear sways at full soft... with fairly aggressive setup, still on street tires and diff out back, that's plenty stiff. once we move to sticky tires, may tighten it up a notch or two.

Just took the Z out for a little test drive after the sways/camber arms were installed just to make sure everything was working properly. I am amazed at how much difference the sways made even just mild street driving!

Was placing orders to stock back up on parts today and decided to order a set of 18"x9.5" front 18"x10.5" rear SSR Type F in matte black. I will keep these for myself as a back up plan in case the 18" Forgestars don't get here in time for this next time attack. If they do get here in time I will just keep them in stock ready to ship for a customer who wants them. If not, I will use them probably only once and sell them when the 18" Forgestars arrive.

http://www.ssr-wheels.com/images/typef/black_lrg.jpg

ya, those are hot!

Just got word that the finned differential cover from Nismo that fits the 350Z/G35/Titan/Armada/etc. will not fit the 370Z. :(

^^ who would of guessed...lol

i was thinking it probably would....

I was so confident that it would that I almost ordered one lol. Its the same LSD as the 350Z so I figured the whole rear end housing and everything was the same. Guess not.

is there any finned covers for the g37??

not that i am aware of

Interesting ........ I would think because of the same differential (R200)being used, it would fit. Do you know what the difference is, that makes it not fit?

Just a different shape apparently.

Got bored around the house today so I decided to de-badge the rear of the 370Z. :D

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

^^^Thanks. Agreed.

Oh, also, I forgot to post about this, but it seems that the SPC Front Control Arms are hitting the top of the wheel well under load. I hit a small pothole the other day and heard and felt a big thud coming from the front of the car. It was a metal to metal thud not the tire hitting the fender liner. I haven't investigated this hunch yet but I have no idea what else it would have been since the arms were the only thing changed at that time. Hopefully there is an easy solution otherwise the stock arms will go back on and the wait for SPL arms continues. I do not want to be hitting the control arm at the track every turn. The limited travel and the hard hits would probably have a more negative effect on handling than not running enough negative camber. It also seems that travisjb may also have the same problem. Both he and I are going to investigate it on our cars in the near future.

Re the SPC control arms hitting... swung by redline motorsports on the way out of town friday and we took a look at how things are lining up... could not see anything to indicate that rubbing was occurring, but it is uncanny that both Mike and I experienced the same noise under the same conditions... need to look into this further before we can say definitively what is happening

Car did well on my trip to Utah... I HIGHLY recommend the twisties between arizona and utah! I'll try to capture some video of the canyon driving on my way back

Cool cool, just as an FYI for you guys, my SPC stuff isnt make any sounds or rubbing afaik. Everything seems to be in order.

I thought I was going crazy. I have the SPC control arms also and have the same noise. No rubbing can be found on tires or fender lip. It has to be the arms.

For me, happens when I'm cornering then hit mid-corner bump.... only when turning right so far... not ready to issue a verdict yet, but need to keep looking into spc arms... rcz may have a slightly higher ride height set or just hasn't been driving hard enough ;) time will tell