16 Nismo to 14 Nismo conversion
 

Work commenced. Just want a place to record the journey. Slow progress incoming.

Teardown mostly done.

A couple of questions bc really curious about this.
1. What made you go the conversion route vs just buying/getting a 2014 and trading your 2016 away?
2. How are ‘obtaining’ parts especially like the trunk and spoiler - reason why I ask is that I have considered maybe looking at trying to get a V1 Nismo trunk but want to keep the V2 for trade-in or just to ‘go back to OEM’ if I want to etc.

Overall - the color that I would really look to trade in my current Z would be to get a Nismo in Magma Red - that is just my favorite color followed closely by the 40th anniversary color. Regardless - definitely following.

V1 isn’t available with automatic. It’s the wife's car. She isn’t much of a car person, but she has clear preference in looks. Only GT3RS variants and V1 Nismo are considered “forever car” for her. V2, while very good looking in her eyes, doesn’t hit the same for her. I have an 09 V1, and she just can’t stop drooling over it.

I bought a replica wing, painted along side the body kit, but found a great deal on a color matching V1 hatch a couple nights ago, save me whole lotta trouble (plugging holes, drilling new ones, paint…)

Rest of the parts I ordered from Z1.

That is awesome - can’t wait to see the final results.

Decided that we'll go without the little fender lips that came stock on the V2.

Front was cooperative. Rear needed heat gun.

Cut out and bended a little thin plastic to cover the cutout that was previously filled by the rear fender lip mounting tab.

Installed painted door handles.

Extra: side by side of the silver vs dark chrome door handles.

Light bulb day:

Switching out some bulbs. Installed Philips WV2 HID (4800k), VLEDS 164 (5000k), 921 (5000k), 7443 (Amber) bulbs.

Waiting on a soldering iron so I can redo the wires for rear fog light.

LED bulbs I have tried, with a few I haven’t tried but purchased @ big discount….I’m a fan of the instant on-off with LED’s.

Wrapped a note around the DRL wire so I don’t forget in the future, just in case.

Bought a set of Z32 center caps, sprayed them KAE.

Also bought some fake Rays caps because the color just match, clear coated them myself.

Still playing with ideas.

The Z1 undertray seems to be lighter and thinner than the ZSpeed one.

Front end is in. One of the toughest part in this whole process is ordering then waiting for additional hardware. All them little clips and rivets….

Side skirts in and rear bumper mock up

Note: When unmounting the original, rather impossible to preserve the mounting bracket as 3 plastic clips on each side are "till death do us apart" type.

The OEM fog light holder for the V1 Nismo bumper is no longer in production. The only option is EVO-R. I don't care for the carbon look, so it's painted the KAE gray to match the lower trim of the two tone.

Also, an extra hole approx. 4.5in x 4.5in need to be cut to accommodate the back side of the fog light. If opting for the EVO-R light, a much smaller cut will do.

Redid wires to rear fog. Chopped the wires and added connectors in between.

Blew a fuse trying to test an old 921 bulb. No power to both gauge cluster and reverse light (so gave me hope that it wasn’t the reverse gear switch), wasted a few hours swapping 10a fuses.

All these are relatively new to me. I was raised in a concrete jungle, never been in a hardware store until my second life here in America. Now I’m blessed with the luxury to learn in my own garage.

My part of this deal is basically done. Just need to stick on new emblems. Tires and TPMS get transfer on Friday.

The hatch deal didn’t go through; eBay seller actually made a mistake in his ad. I ended up sourcing a used wingless hatch locally. Body shop will handle mounting the wing, minor PDR, and painting. I’m not too comfortable on drilling holes in this area.

V1 Nismo hatch is longer. Not sure how it will line up with the body kit. I know it is a Nismo only piece because of when my 2012 Nismo got totaled.

Ooo thx for the heads up. Didn’t know that. I’ll see how it plays out. Worst case I’ll have to spend another 2.5k for a used one on eBay + paint. Hope it doesn’t come to this.

The V2 for sure sticks out due to the “integrated” rear wing.

Added a little badge where the V1 # plaque would be

Loving the old school Nismo badge!

You're doing great work--very impressed.
Can you provide the source for those center caps?
Thanks!

Thanks. Z caps are used ones from EBay. Nissan center caps are 54mm diameter.

The fake Rays are from AliExpress. Those are just plastic black blanks with various stickers of your choosing.

Oh and I just found this:
https://dynamicledemblem.com/product...-nissan-z-54mm

Worked hard last week, cleaned up the garage enough to park mine back into the garage, right before the cold front hit.

Wife picked the Z center cap. “Easy choice” she said.

V1 Nismo's are my jam. LOL

You sure about that? I ran a wingless hatch from a base model on my 2011 Nismo and it lined up perfectly. I know the V2 bumpers are longer (to line up with the hatch) but never seen or heard anything about the V1 hatches.

The silver side marker has always bugged me a little. So I sprayed them KAE.

First attempt wasn’t very good, primer didn’t get to some of the edges of the “Z” so paint wasn’t sticking. I baked it a little and got the “Z” out, repainted it. Not perfect, but as good as I’m gonna get.

Car is done :)

We are going to just keep the V2 body parts and wheels. Original hatch and spoiler remains. Just in case.

Coating on the rotor hats came off and had some surface rust. Fixed that with some primer spray.

New (used) hatch was sanded down and resprayed, matched the tint, wires were transplanted. Only thing is I have some rattling sound inside the hatch, gotta chase that down later.

Car will very soon go to a detailer for a more serious paint correction, front bumper PPF, then ceramic coated.

Detailer has the car for this week. PPF on front bumper.

Those are red painters tape.

In the meantime, wifey is thinking about changing her mind and plotting on ways on getting the GT3RS....lol kidding.

Looking good and awesome progress!

Why not just teach the wife to drive stick and get a V1 Nismo?

She knows how, but not her second nature. The poor visibility, that front end, too much “pressure” to add manual on top. She drove mine back in the days and she ain’t bout that life ha.

V2 got some good stuff that came stock. Black headlights, seats, hers is the tech pkg so it already has Bluetooth and backup camera. Interior pieces in general like those darker door handles and the steering wheel. Better sound deadening (namely rear fender liners uses a fabric like material vs smooth plastic), slightly more gentle suspension for a daily.

Just to err on the side of caution, be ready to buy the GT3RS :stirthepot:

:roflpuke2:

Shhhh!