TjLaZer's Monterey Blue "Nismo" Z
 

I thought I would start my own journal for my Z before I get too far into the mods and stuff so here I am about 5 months late. My name is Tim and I have a 2009 Monterey Blue 370Z Base Sport.

I had a 2006 Athens Blue Infiniti G35 Coupe on lease and the lease ended in Dec. I had been eye balling the new 370Z for a while and since blue is my favorite color I wanted it in blue. I have to admit, I was not too crazy about this color blue, and I really liked the Athens Blue but the color has grown on me and I think its fine. It was a hard color to find, especially with the 370. In mid Dec 2009 I was checking out local stock online and I saw one for sale at Larson Nissan at Fife, WA. A 2009 Monterey Blue! It was the base with Sports package, which is what I was looking for as I liked the Rays 19 inch wheels with Akebono brakes! I kept checking the ad and it was there all through the Holidays. After Christmas I thought I should go down and check it out, but decided to wait until January so I can try to get a better deal if I decided to buy! (on a 2009 so I could say its a year old give me a deal!) I knew that I would end up buying the damn thing!! Well early January I stroll in to take a look at her.... Took her for a test drive and knew I wanted one. I had test drove a 7At a week before in white, and while I liked it I wanted a 6MT.

Dealer was not working with me and wanted 2K over invoice so I told him I would think about it and walked. A couple days later they called and said they could do $31K. I said I would have to see if I could get the loan and that $30K was the best I could get right now. About a week later they called and said they could do $500 below invoice and they would handle the financing! I said OK lets do it! And on Jan 25th I got the Z!

Car at the dealership awaiting it's new owner:
http://www.the370z.com/attachments/m...dealership.jpg

Blue Nismo 370Z!

I really wanted to get the Nismo edition 370Z but since I LOVE blue I was torn with what to do. Do I just get a Nismo and paint it? Do I suck it up and just get a Base/Sports and just do mods and call it good? I was really dissapointed that Nissan did not offer blue for the Nismo. Total bummer. Well after some thinking I decided to just get a Base Sports in Monterey Blue with the intention of adding the Nismo body kit to it later on as time and money allowed. The first mod was definately to get the Nismo wheels and it was something I planned on getting when a good priced used set came up. Yes some say it might be better to just sell it and get a Nismo at this point but like I said, I wanted Blue. And I did not want to repaint a brand new car! It usually is not the same as the factory. Besides, I like to slowly mod my car and do one thing at a time! It's funner that way and gives me a sense of pride.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/m...nismo-370z.jpg

EDIT - Nismo Conversion is done! See here:



I also attached is a Word Doc with the complete list of all the parts that are needed to do a full conversion minus the Wing! You can add the EVO-R if you want to save ~$2,000. ;)[

Here is an album on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3976048...7626766627166/

Pictures

I really liked the Nismo edition wheels and decided I wanted to buy a set. But they are not readily available for sale. In Feb just a month after I had the car I decided to check out eBay and there was a set for sale! I ended up getting them for around $3,000 shipped. They came with the OEM tires and TMPS so it was a simple swap. I was pretty happy! I like the OEM 19" Rays but they are in need of spacers bad and I just hate having to use them, and these are .5" wider and lighter to boot!

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/m...e-z-my-z-2.jpg

Next thing I did was get illuminated Kick panels from Cjanik with blue LED's.

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...lates-pass.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...tes-driver.jpg

And I also ordered a Gentex Homelink mirror and wiring kit on eBay. Installed them both myself. They turned out great! Hooked up a homemade InvinsiCord to my V1 ;)

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...nvinsicord.jpg

Next was some tints! I got 35% on the doors and 20% in the rear. The tint shop was saying the local police have been cracking down hard so I decided to just stay legal.

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...es-20-rear.jpg

Baseline Dyno done today at Drift Office in Auburn, WA! Only mod was Redline 5W30 oil

First run 286wrhp 236tq 4th Gear
Second run 287wrhp 247tq 4th Gear
Third run 294rwhp 247.72 5th Gear

They insisted in doing it in 4th but I had them do the 3rd run in 5th!

Great numbers for a dynojet... should've been closer to 275.:tup:

Finally got the K&N Typhoon intakes installed! Bought them from the Z Store for a great deal. Install was very simple. Excactly what I wanted.

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...n-intakes.jpeg

First impressions were wow they sound great! Butt Dyno also felt a power increase!

Did a after Dyno to see what kind of numbers the K&N Intake makes. Came out about 6rwhp increase. It was a much hotter day though in the mid 80s. It was mid 60's on the baseline dyno day.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/i...fore_after.jpg

Was debating which exhaust to get. I really liked the video of the GTHAUS Meisterschaft GTS exhaust:

YouTube - Meisterschaft 370Z and G37 Exhaust by GTHAUS

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...st-section.jpg

So I decided to get it along with some ERZ HFC's and got them installed!

The ERZ HFC's are great. Fitment was perfect and the quiality seems real good. No issues with them at all and no CEL light so far. And for $369 shipped, you can't go wrong!

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...4-erz-hfcs.jpg

I had heard about the horror stories about the dreaded demon bolts. But little did I know how much of a pain it was going to be. The driver side demon bolt was the worse though. Took me and a friend over 4 hours to remove just the driver side cat alone! For a while there it was not looking too good! Thought I was gonna have to limp to Midas to have them take a stab at it! But in the end I was able to get it off! (Though through drastic measures!) Had to cut the cat in half and pry the end open enough to get an air chisel in there to break the bolt! Amazing....

Here is a pic of the cat: Demon bolt was being a little pest. Had to resort to some unorthodox measures:

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...-escapade.jpeg

After a few days of my shiny new exhaust I decided it was just too loud for me. I guess I'm gettin too old. LOL (38) I also live right near the city (and a state trooper lives right next door to me to boot! Got some complaints from the neighbors too!) and my gf just does not like it so I thought I better get a tamer exhaust and keep the peace... Here are some videos that I made. I really do love it and I think it's awesome!

GTHAUS Meisterschaft GTS and ERZ Hi Flow Cats! Idle and rev.



GTHAUS Meisterschaft GTS and ERZ Hi Flow Cats! Inside cabin sound check. Camera mounted on inside of windshield.




GTHAUS Meisterschaft GTS and ERZ Hi Flow Cats! Drive off/by ala YOUTUBE style ;)




Decided to get the Fast Intentions CBE with 18" resonators. I heard another local 370Z owner with that setup and test pipes and it was much tamer! I'm sure the neighbors and girlfriend will be much happier! :)

Next up was the suspension. I got some Hotchkis sway bars and had those installed at the same time as the exhaust. Pretty easy mod.

http://www.hotchkis.net/_uploaded_fi...7promo_pic.jpg

I also wanted to get some RS*R springs but they are not avail here in the US yet. So.... I decided to try out the Nismo S-Tune suspension. Posted a wanted ad and bought a set from the classifieds. Got em installed (with some trouble) but mission successful.

First impressions were, well they are stiff! Very stiff. (I guess I am old now) Well definately would work well on the track! I like them except for one thing. They raised my car .5" !! That's just wrong. I expected a .4" drop. No such luck on my car... So now I am looking into some aftermarket springs with about a .5 to .8" drop. Don't want to go lower!

Comparison to OEM struts:
http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...ension-kit.jpg

The ride after the install.
http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...-installed.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...-installed.jpg

Next I got the Nismo fascia and Nismo edition side skirts from my local Nissan dealer. Not doing the rear bumper at this time. Need more funds!

No shipping cost which brought a good price for me. I simply picked it up at the Nissan dealer with my SUV. Cost was $1,600 for all the parts (front fascia and side skirts)

Got them painted at Burette's Collision in Lakewood, WA for around $600. I am now awaiting some parts to get them installed soon! Stay tuned!

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...ia-painted.jpg

MB Nismo! Man its gonna look great. They really should have made the nismo available in our color...

Have you remeasured since the suspension has had time to settle to see if the Nismo suspenison now gives you the .4 drop as advertised? I have the same suspension setup except I have Stillen sway bars.

I also just got a set of Nismo wheels. I should receive them tomorrow.

Well it was originally a little higher than 28" and now it's right at 28" front. Rears have been right at 28 from day one with no settling. I think thats normal as when I look at Nismo edition 370Z's I can see the front has a little higher gap than the rear. I did not have that with my OEM suspension. Planning on getting some springs soon. Leaning towards Swift Spec R's. :ugh2:

That's one reason I decided to go with 255/40/19s in front and the Nismo stock size 285/35/19s in the rear. My Nismo wheels didn't come with tires. Going from 245s to 255s in front should help fill in some of the gap in front.

October 12, 2010: Got my Fast Intentions Cat Back with 18" resonators finally. Swapped out my Meisterschaft GTS with it and I was surprised how quiet it was. I should of got the 12" resonators but I was scared it was going to still be too loud. My neighbors saw me installing it and thanked me LOL.

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...re-install.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...-installed.jpg

October 2010: Pre ordered a set of Swift Spec R springs for the 370Z. Will have them by the 19th of Oct. I think these will complement the Nismo S-Tune shocks nicely.

1.2" drop on the front
1.0" drop on the rears

I'm not gonna lie, I am kinda partial to the color! I wonder why...

Swift springs arrived!

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...spec-r-box.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...ec-rs-370z.jpg

Will try to get them installed this week...

OK teaser shots! More to come soon! Waiting on the Z emblem for the front from the Z store...

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...comparison.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...comparison.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...comparison.jpg

No, don't do the Nismo body on your Z!!! I love how clean the car looks with the Nismo rims, that is exactly what I want for my car followed by a healthy drop. I am warming up to the Nismo body style, but I do like the elegance of the stock body as well.

Clean Z and nice progress, the Nismo wheels look good on your Z.

clean Z man

NiceWork bro!:tup:

Swift Spec R springs installed! They were a pain to install as the springs are not evenly spaced so it was hard to get the spring compressor on the coils enough to compress them but I did do it. The springs are very nice. They feel stock and absorb a lot of the small bumps like OEM, but once you get on them they really tighten up. The drop also seems nice and so far it's only 1" on the front and .75" in the rear. But I am sure it may settle a tad more down to the stated 1.25" front and 1" rear.

I was torn on which shock to mount these on. I decided to just use my OEM shocks so I can resell the S-Tunes and try to recoup some of the costs. It just wasn't worth it to me to use the extra dampening of the S-Tune shocks. I never track the car. But I can easily say the S-Tune are definately stiffer of the bat. I noticed a big difference. They were pretty stiff. Once example was when I drive over this railroad crossing near my house, I had to literally slow down to 20mph driving over it or it would rattle he hell out of the car. With the Spec R's I could go over it faster and it was not as bad.

OK here are some crapy Seattle rain shots. I am loving the drop so far and I actually hope it does not settle more...

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...right-side.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...-left-side.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...left-angle.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...rear-angle.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...amber-shot.jpg

hey bro, definite improvement form the last time i saw your car! we can be brother's soon (when i get my stuff put in). very nice !

Very nice! Great color choice too:tup:

Nice drop. Your ride is looking awesome. I love the Nismo wheels on the car. :)

Why haven't you install the Nismo front bumper yet?

Car looks super sexy with the nismo rims. A nice slam and your set. Can't wait to see the nismo front. Could be like the V2 for the 350z.

Nice work!

Chris

Finally got the Nismo wheel logos done up with Mike's vinyl cutouts. They are great and make the wheels look so much better. You can also paint the letters but this seems like a much better option since it can easily be removed. Not too bad to install, but you need a steady hand and patience...

Front:

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...inyl-logos.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...wdercoater.jpg

Rear:

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...wdercoater.jpg

Rear Nismo bumper was ordered and is in, just have to go pick it up and get it to the autobody shop to get painted! Hope to get it all installed soon.

http://www.z1motorsports.com/g37_370...600&page=popup

Hopefully I can get the front fascia on this weekend, just in time for Golden Gardens 2011.

nice progress bro, I got the vinyl letters from mike as well but still thinking about putting them on or not.

this is looking really good

A whole car shot with the NISMO letters in vinyl in hi-res.

nice Z!

Man that is nice! I've got to get a set for my Nismo wheels. Got any contact info for Mike's vinyl cutouts?

Mike the powdercoater is a forum sponser on here.

See the bottom of this thread:
http://www.the370z.com/wheels-tires/...els-but-5.html

Thanks. I didn't realize you meant Mike the powdercoater.

Front fascia installed. Was not too bad. The lower spash shield can easily be used, you only have to drill 4 holes into the Nismo diffuser so it can attach to the OEM splash shield, and two more screws line up holding it in place. There are two that are not used but no big deal.

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...th-bumpers.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...installed.jpeg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...installed.jpeg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...installed.jpeg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...0-photo-4.jpeg

The blue nismo is looking sweet. The front bumper looks great!