Christian370Z's Progression Thread
 

I figured I would start this up just to give me some additional motivation to get stuff done to my new Z after seeing all of the amazing build threads and journals before me. Firstly, my goal for the car is to keep it relatively tame and low key (FI is in the distant future) with the trying and true parts and methods for extracting some extra power out of my Z.

Well, I did my first modification to the Z today! Two 6000k LED bulbs for the parking/city lights to give the front end a bit more of an edge which I think worked well. What do you think, yay or nay?


Before:


http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0001_1018.jpg

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0002_1019.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0003_1020.jpg

After:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0004_1021.jpg

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0005_1022.jpg

50/50 Shot, the LED is much brighter than the stock bulb in person:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0006_1023.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0007_1024.jpg

Matches the Bi-xenons nicely

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0008_1025.jpg

Tomorrow, I am driving to the Z store in Orange CA to pick up the Berk high flow cats and then I will stop by Stillen for the sway bars. I also have a new Stillen G3 intake enroute thanks to a fellow member and that will get powder coated textured black to match the plastic in the engine bay.

What's the bulb number? Are they 3157? Where did you get them? They look nice!

great headlights!

Thanks Phil! I got them at VLED, here is the link to the exact same ones: 2 V-LEDS 6K WHITE 194 13 LED LIGHT BULBS 158 168 2825

The bulb number is 194 for reference.

Those look great. I'm going to pick some up.

easy to change those lights??

Nice looks good

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Very easy. You simply remove one little clip in the wheel well (plastic push style) and then bend the wheel arch lining back to reveal the rear of the headlight assembly. Then, you remove the parking light bulb by twisting counter clock wise. Remove the stock bulb and install the new bulb but be careful because the LED bulb I linked is polarized so if it doesn't light up, just flip it over and reinstall.

Made some progress
 

Today was a very good day, I was bummed that the Z store did not have any Berk HFCs in stock (they ordered a pair, 2-3 days and I will have them) so I stopped by Stillen to check out their headquarters and to grab a set of their sway bars. It is amazing how large their operations are; they have 3-4 buildings just to handle their inventory and operations not to mention their mechanic shop where all the good stuff is. So I walked around a bit and paid for the sway bars and drove home to install them.

Let me just say that the front was super easy, but the rear was much more of a pain. Dropping the exhaust and rear subframe cross member and brace were not bad but it was just a bit time consuming since it was my first time working on the car. I then made the blunder of putting it in the wrong way round so I was sitting there trying to figure out why it wouldn't fit. All said and done, I enjoyed the install and it was a nice way to check out the mechanical layout of the car and get my first mod under my belt!

Pictures of Stillen:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u.../Photo1442.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u.../Photo1438.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u.../Photo1439.jpg

I know this car looks familiar, I remeber the red wheel faces from one of the threads I looked through but I can't think of it... Anyone here? It was in the last stages of getting tuned:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u.../Photo1441.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u.../Photo1440.jpg

My little spending spree at Harbor Freight:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0011_1028.jpg

The Sway Bars:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0009_1026.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0010_1027.jpg


If I am honest, I could not feel a huge change between the stock and Stillen sway bars driving around town but once I hit the highway and took some on and off ramps, holy mother of jesus. It had no percievable body roll and felt pinpoint accurate. Honestly, I could only imagine what a good set of coilovers could do for this car but I think that the only time they would make a difference is on a track because there is no way you can use the handling potential and prowess this has even with just sway bars on almost any public road. Since I had to disconnect the muffler, I also started it up sans muffler and it sounded awesome which made me lust for some exhaust mods.

Stay tuned for exhaust and intake work!

I just found it, I think it is Phimosis' Z.

Looking good Christian. I have the Stillen sways down on my list, glad to hear they are working well.

I put a few miles on the Stillen Sway Bars and I have to say, what little body roll there was stock is now solidly erased. It just corners so hard and flat with the rear sway set to the softer setting and feels very well balanced with no hints of understeer or getting light in the rear which is exactly what I want.

Moving Right Along
 

I went to the Z store to pick up my Berk High Flow cats today which was a lovely drive through gridlocked traffic on the 405. I knew that most if not all G37/370Z owners have painful stories to tell about removing the stock cats and trust me, I was second guessing myself about halfway through. First, you have to remove the Y pipe which was easy enough and I had that out in 30 minutes. Next, I undid the clips holding the O2 sensors to their wiring loom on the body. Now, the truely fun (or dreaded) part: getting extensions, and a 30 inch breaker bar and accessing the top stud on the cat through the engine bay. Now, I am a noob to mechanical work so I was very nervous about going any further (no mechanic in CA will touch non CARB stuff).

I have the tendency to confuse which way to pull or push to undo bolts when I am under the car so I caused myself a little more grief but mother of god, those bolts were unbelievable for a car with 200 miles on it (see picture). After breaking a stud, I was scared that if I couldn't get the rest, I was screwed. But I found a few tricks online about gaining leverage with a wrench daisy chained to the bottom of another and finally got the stockers out:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0012_1029.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0013_1030.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0014_1031.jpg

Eat my shorts nasty stud:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0015_1032.jpg

Stock versus Berks (in middle):

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0016_1033.jpg

Next on my list is to ditch this puny Y pipe with a full cat-back or a Tanabe:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0017_1034.jpg



Thankfully the Berks use new hardware with nuts and bolts versus studs which will make future work on it much easier (and without a Nissan gorilla tightening the bolts). I have to say I am not very mechanically inclined but I feel very accomplished for successfully completing an install that a lot of people would have brought to a mechanic. Bottom line is if I can install these, anyone can!

On Road Impressions:

Even with my limited time with the car (I am also adhering to the break in procedure), I can feel that there is more power in all areas of the power band. The most noticeable change was in how much harder the midrange comes in which feels like a surge. And the sound: I am extremely happy with this part. It now has the type of exhaust note it should have come from the factory with. It sounds almost stock under 3k rpm but once you give it some throttle, it growls and the signature Z exhaust note emerges. I would say it is double to triple the volume of the full oem exhaust, but it does not add rasp. Rather, it sounds deep and smooth which is something I was not sure what to expect after reading alot of reviews saying it sounded raspy.

Up Next: Stillen intakes that will be powder coated texture black to look more OEM+.

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0001_1035.jpg

Cold Start with Berks
 

For some reason, the embedded video is not working so here is a direct link to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QXVknKdjHE

I am going to get my Stillen intake powder coated this week. Does anyone know how much power can be picked up with a good custom tune? I might look into SpecialtyZ down the road.

Fairwell to the Saab
 

It is with great sadness that the Saab is officially out of my custody. The auto relocation company came to pick up the new gen to take it to it's new home in New York. I have learned almost all my automotive know how by dealing with all the mods and trouble this car has caused me. I have slaved over this car but I could not justify letting it languish since I got the Z.

To be honest, it feels wrong not having it in the garage as it has been around me for most of my life and the attachment I developed after the ungodly amount of time I spent making sure it was perfect is scary to think about...

I just hope that this auto relocation company does not trash the car like the last one but I protected the car as much as I could which is why it is hard to see it out of my hands.

Walk around video:



http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0005_1038.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0006_1039.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0007_1040.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0008_1041.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0011_1044.jpg

Being loaded up, wasn't pleased about the company it was facing on the trailer:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0012_1045.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0015_1048.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0014_1047.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0017_1050.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0019_1052.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0020_1053.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0022_1055.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0023_1056.jpg

A final quick photo op by the ocean:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u.../Photo1443.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u.../Photo1444.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u.../Photo1445.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u.../Photo1446.jpg

wow that Saab was in outstanding shape...

great start! I like the lights! good choices on your first mods... might think about a rear diff next, and oil cooler

Thanks Lee, it was a labor of love. At the time of sale, it was putting down roughly 285whp/290wftlbs or 350 crank hp which made for quite a few surprises for E46/E92 M3s, EVOs, and STis but the chassis was aweful. In the end, I realized (too late) that I could not overcome the fundamental weaknesses of the car and detuned the car which felt so much better.

Thanks Travis! The oil cooler is next on my list, I got a great deal from a guy at Stillen on their 25 row Setrab cooler kit so I would have it done along with a crank pulley. I have yet to see oil temps above 220-230 but I haven't been pushing the car much at all since it is still in break in.

I finally got my intakes back from powdercoating today after suffering through switching my CT driver's license to my CA driver's license at the DMV. I went for textured black since I wanted a clean, OEM look in the engine bay and I really didn't like the way the intake looks in its polished form. What do you think? I like it, and will be installing them tomorrow!


Before:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0001_1035.jpg


After:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0034_1066.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0035_1067.jpg


I know that the whole concept behind having polishing intake pipes is to reflect heat but honestly, I doubt this will make much of a difference as the primary cool air benefits of the G3 intake come from having the filters located in the bumper. Coming next will be a Tanabe Y pipe and later this year, a custom road tune from SpecialtyZ to round out all the bolt ons!

When you do a YouTube link just put the part after the v=, I did it wrong the first time as well.

Looking good!

Awesome Chris, thanks for correcting that! I did that in my Y pipe thread after reading AK's embedding instructions, don't know why I never rectified this thread.

How do you like your BC coilovers by the way?

Gotta get those bulbs nice find.!

The BC coilovers rock, good default spring rate and damping range. Probably the only downside for a street vehicle that occasionally hits the track is that the rear adjusters are at the top of the shock tower, which happens to be hidden by all that plastic in the trunk. I believe extenders are available to solve that problem.

Dude cool stuff. Are you gonna put on the intakes before i come check out your car for the hfcs next week??? NooooOOOO hahah

I have to say that I have not really heard anything bad about them which is excellent because they are much cheaper than stepping up to the Tein/HKS/KW options. I figure if I am going to start messing with the suspension past the Stillen sways I already have, I might as well do it right with coilovers.

Hey, it will just give you more motivation to buy an intake! Unfortunately, I will have little time to install it before I go back to school for the semester so tomorrow is a good time for me. No worries though, you will still definately get a gist for the way the exhaust sounds!

Intakes look good, I like the OEM-ness of this build :)

Did I not send you the extenders!!!!? I'll check my garage... sorry!

Glad you like em!

I have the extenders but I couldn't be bothered figuring out how to install them :)

Intakes are in
 

It took me about 3 hours to install my Stillen intakes but I was pleasantly surprised that it was a much easier job than I was expecting. I used the dremel to trim back the air intake passages in the front core in order for the pipes to clear which turned out very nice, then it was a matter of getting all the pipes where I wanted and then tightening down all the fasteners and clamps. Once I finished, I reset the ECU in car and started it up to check for any issues to which there were none.

The bumper went back one and I finally got to look at the finished article; it is perfection in my opinion, the look is exactly what I wanted as it looks sleek and oem but yet the texture black powder coat has just a bit of sheen to give it that something extra. I am very happy with it, now to head out for a nice drive!


How the filters sit in the front bumper recess:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0036_1068.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0037_1069.jpg


All finished, love it:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0038_1070.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0039_1071.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0040_1072.jpg


Next up will be the Tanabe Y pipe and a custom road tune!

^^^ that looks insance. :yum: i love how it looks like.. its just supposed to be there lol. props to being different :tup:

looks really good. I like what you did to the intakes.

Thanks guys! I wasn't quite sure what they would look like in person after choosing the color at the powdercoating shop but I canno't be happier as it really gives the engine bay much more class than the polished finish.

I took it for a few drives and wow... It sounds like an animal and it breaks the tires loose in second, much much more punchy up above 5k rpm. I believe that between the Berks and the Stillen intake, the balance between intake and exhaust noise is perfect but eventually, a Fast Intentions CBE is in the future.

Has a very stock low profile look, I like it. Now I want to get mine powercoated, LOL.

Go for it Chris! I also think that a black chrome powdercoating would look killer as well, but I think this OEM plus look suits my tastes for now.

Tanabe Y Pipe is In!
 

I got my Tanabe Y pipe from my favorite UPS truck this morning so I immediately got to work getting rid of that nasty stock pile of restriction and in with the beautiful new Y pipe. The car already has Berk HFCs installed so this mod was more to tie in the HFCs to the rear of the exhaust because I personally believe the largest restrictions in the OEM exhaust are the factory cats and the Y pipe.

After the stock Y pipe was removed, I didn't realize that the Berk outlet diameter was almost an inch larger than the oem Y pipe so that was killing my gains. The exhaust diameter in the OEM piece also had varied diameters, the smallest point of the Y pipe measured 1 1/2"!

My measurements for the inlet and outlet diameters of the stock Y pipe are as follows:

Cat to Y pipe: 1 3/4" for both inlets of the OEM y pipe
Y pipe to axle-back: 2 1/2"

Tanabe Y Pipe diameters:

Cat to Y pipe: 2 1/4" for both inlets
Y pipe to axle-back: 2 3/4"

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0001_1085.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0002_1086.jpg

Just to make a point, the diameter of the inlets for the Tanabe Y pipe match the Berks... Now look at that restrictive OEM piece.

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0003_1087.jpg

Comparison of the two at the smallest point of the OEM Y pipe:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0004_1088.jpg

And Installed:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u..._0005_1089.jpg



In Car Conclusions:

With the ECU reset and the Tanabe Y pipe in, I felt a huge jump in power not only in the top end, but mostly the mid-range. The car just pulls so hard now that I feel the exhaust is very well rounded with the exception of the rear muffler section. The sound actually changed more than I was expecting; the tone is much deeper and less raspy, adding a bit of volume past 4k rpm. However, the exhaust is still fairly quiet under 3k rpm which is great for those who are interested in being low key when cruising but really letting the car sing up top. Fit and finish was excellent as well with nice welds and a very smooth merge at the end of the Y pipe.

I highly recommend the pairing of HFCs with an upgraded Y pipe for those that want to get rid of the two most restrictive areas of the OEM exhaust. Videos to come later!

Forgot to add: there was a slight hissing when engine braking/decelerating below 2k rpm with the Berks and the OEM Y pipe but that is completely gone now. There is not hiss whatsoever with the exhaust and I have to say I really like it!

Don't know why it hissed this time, if you rev the car it hisses but decelerating in gear does not produce that noise. Anyway, here is the warm start: (will get cold start tomorrow AM)

so how was the wait for the berk exhaust?