wstar's Journal

wstar

Well it seems to be all the rage, so I'll start a journal thread here. I've been keeping a running log of what I've done to the car at how many miles (approximately), as well as inbound/pending/wishlist items, etc in a textfile so far, so I'm just going to move all that data here and update it as I go in this post. Miles are approximated to the nearest hundred.

Current Mods/Setup:

Base Specs:
2009 Platinum Graphite, 7AT, Sport and Touring Packages
No factory nav unit, no splashguards

Big Stuff:
Stillen Gen 3 Intake
Stillen Headers
Berk HFCs
Fast Intentions catback (18" res + CF muffler options)
Stillen Lightweight Underdrive Pulley
Hotchkis Swaybars (rear set to middle for now)
Hawk HPS Brake Pads
CZP Braided Brake Lines
Stillen Oil Cooler + Mocal 180F thermo plate
AAM Oil Pan Spacer

Little Stuff:
Stillen grounding kit
Plastic engine cover deleted
TB coolant lines deleted
Washer fluid system deleted
Spare tire + subwoofer deleted
XM/Voice modules deleted
Intake heat-shielded
Battery switched to PC680 and relocated to trunk
Speed Bleeders
FilterMag
Magnetic oil drain plug
Blinder M25 Laser Jammer
Veil paint

Fluids, etc:
Motul 300V for oil
Water Wetter + factory mix for coolant
Motul RBF600 brake fluid

Car Log:

300 miles: Hardwired my Valentine One radar detector to the wires on the back of the passenger 12V lighter socket
1200 miles: Installed Stillen Headers (ceramic coated) + Berk Tech HFCs
1700 miles: Installed Stillen Cat-back exhaust
1800 miles: First oil change. Nissan Ester 5W30, 5.25 qts, new Nissan filter, new crush washer
2200 miles: Installed Stillen "Gen 3" Long-tube cold air intake
2400 miles: Removed 12 fl oz engine coolant mix with suction bulb from main radiator cap, replaced with 12 fl oz bottle Redline Water Wetter.
2500 miles: Discovered that the dealer gave me bad locking lugs, replaced with standard wheel nuts for now. Dealer ordering correct locking lugs to replace
2700 miles: First dyno runs. DynoJet results were inaccurate and tossed. Dyno Dynamics gave 300 rwhp and 243 ft/lb tq.
2800 miles: Installed FilterMag onto oil filter
2900 miles: Installed Stillen grounding kit, removed plastic engine cover for good (all it does it look pretty and trap heat).
3000 miles: Installed Stillen underdrive pulley
3200 miles: Removed windshield washer fluid system completely
3200 miles: Removed Throttle Body coolant lines
3300 miles: Removed XM/Voice/Bluetooth modules, Spare Tire, and Subwoofer, placed tools + emerg equipment in rear to replace
4038 miles: Changed oil. Motul 300V + K&N HP-1008, new crush washer
5000 miles: Installed intake heat shielding
5900 miles: Battery Relocated. Now running on PC680 in the trunk
6500 miles: Installed Hotchkis Swaybars
6950 miles: Installed braided brake lines, HPS pads, speed bleeders, flushed fluid to RBF600
7000 miles: Installed Stillen Oil Cooler, Installed AAM Oil Pan Spacer
7000 miles: Oil Change (K&N HP-1008 + 300V 5W30 again, but lots more of it )
7850 miles: M25 Blinder installed
8400 miles: Veil paint added to headlights, front logo, and a few unfortunate spots on the car paint
9150 miles: Oil Change (K&N HP-1010 + 6qts 300V 5W30), swapped in Mocal 180F thermo plate
9220 miles: In my continuing effort to remove weight from the car, I had a professional remove my passenger window
9600 miles: Installed Fast Intentions catback

Currently waiting in garage:

Thermo-tec heat shields for headers and starter (will I ever get around to this? It's such a PITA)
Intake Ducts/Hoses from aircraftspruce.com (from Modshack's thread, so I can try to make something for the Gen3's)

Parts in transit, arriving soon:

Forgestar wheels, 18x9.5 F + 18x10 R (I think / hope, they better be)

Stuff on the todo list soon (nothing shipping yet):

Michelin PS2's for the Forgestars, 275/35+295/30
Trans cooler? 7AT can act up a bit when you get it too hot, as I've found
Coilovers - find quality adjustable ones that don't break the bank, and allow ride height adjustment up within an inch of stock.
Get various adjustable suspension bits
Alignment and corner balance magic once the wheels/tires/coilovers/arms are all in place

Some 2pc brake rotors from CZP once I tear up the stock ones a bit, mostly to dump weight
Sort out what to do with the rear end (fluid upgrade, external cooler, replace?)
ECU tuning when it becomes available, UpRev is my current preference.

Oil pressure gauge solution, possibly a water temp one too.

Longer Term Stuff:

Supercharger? If the cost, reliability, warranty, results, etc all look good for my case. Waiting impatiently for more vendor data.

Transmission upgrades may be necessary to go with the above if it happens.

Seriously considering a slightly higher-stall torque converter regardless, and wondering if anyone's going to make kits to enable the 7AT to shift a little faster and harder (mechanically/hydraulically -speaking I mean, not the ECU delay).

Lastest Dyno

Dyno Dynamics @ EngineLogics (done @2700 miles, very outdated at this point):

__________________
09 370Z 7AT PG Sport/Touring w/o Nav
Journal thread || 300.2 rwhp / 242.7 rwtq (Dyno Dynamics, outdated)

ChrisSlicks

Great detailed start to your Journal.

As for the brake pads:
I got my Hawk HP+ pads today but I probably wont get a chance to install them as I'm going on vacation for a week starting Saturday. I will have them installed before my next auto-x session on the 25th so I'll let you know how they perform.

travisjb

great start ! i think i'll steal your idea about the crush washers and oil analysis service ! also, you may want to get a trickle charger for when you change out your battery... if i didn't already have one, I'd get the new kind that plugs into cigarette lighter socket

wstar

Steal anything you like, just don't steal my car I'm stealing lots of stuff from your posts (and everyone else's). This car is staying relatively comfy and pretty though (it's not a track car, and I plan to make road trips and go out to dinner in it and such) so it won't get the extreme weight reduction treatment like yours is.

BTW, both of our lighter sockets are disconnected when the key is off, so we can't trickle through them.

__________________
09 370Z 7AT PG Sport/Touring w/o Nav
Journal thread || 300.2 rwhp / 242.7 rwtq (Dyno Dynamics, outdated)

RCZ

This is going to be a nice one to keep track of. Thanks wstar for the detailed updates!

__________________
310WHP(+54) 230WTQ(+26) (Mustang) Thanks to Horsepowerlogic.com! + Stillen!
Stillen [Supercharger/Headers/HFC/CBE/Oil Cooler/LW Pulley]|KW V3 Coilovers |SPC|Hotchkis|H&R|Nitto NT05|Z1 Trans. Mount|UpRev Tune@HPLogic

wstar

Just got done installing the underdrive pulley from Stillen. Crankshaft bolt was a bitch to get loose, but it seems that's always the case on every car.

Service manual references a tool to hold the starter gear teeth in place while you're loosening and tightening the crankshaft bolt (see Svc Manual, Section EM, top of pg 53), whereas Stillen's instructions go with the standard "remove starter and use a prybar on the teeth there". With two people on a lift, I think the Stillen thing would've worked better, but alone crawling under the car trying to work both ends of things, I really wish I had that stupid little tool. It's basically just a triangular piece of metal with two bolt-holes, I imagine it can be ordered cheap from Nissan, or just fabbed with a grinder and a piece of steel. Just FYI for anyone else doing a self-install on this, it might be worth it to look into that.

Driving impressions:

Regarding the now-slowed accessory pulleys: I didn't notice anything different really with the steering or the AC, at least on a short night drive. The volt gauge moves a bit more, especially idling after startup (flicking the throttle moves it up a bit), so you can kinda tell the change in the alternator, but it's still staying over the 14 mark, I don't think it's going to be an issue.

I wasn't expecting to feel much difference driving, given that pulleys aren't generally a big power gain. However, my butt dyno was pleasantly surprised at the results of this mod. We'll have to see on a real dyno later if there are any actual HP gains, but I'm guessing at least a small bump there. What I really noticed though is that the car is just more responsive to throttle input now. Shifts (7AT in my car, remember) are a bit snappier, as the rpm changes (up and down) for shifts are even faster than they were before. You can really feel the difference when you sit around 4k in a given gear and ride the throttle close to even, alternating between accel and engine braking. The transition between those two states is faster and more responsive. Overall I'm really impressed with the change in the car's character from such a simple mod. I don't know what else to say besides re-iterating "more responsive" again

No pics of the car, it's not like a pulley is that exciting looking anyways, but here's a couple of install-related pics.

The pullers I had in my garage were all too long and bulky for the tiny cramped space you're working with on our crank pulley. I went by O'Reilly (generic auto parts place, like AutoZone, etc) and picked up one that worked well enough. It's a tiny cheap "gear puller" that happens to be small enough. I couldn't quite get both legs through the pulley at the same time (it's really cramped), so I took a bit of length off of one of the feet with a dremel cutting wheel (less than 1/4" I think). This is what you're looking for if you want to try to find it at a local place (and you can see my edit to one of the feet too):



Also, the belt tensioner on our car is rather tense. I was using a cheapo 3/8" socket wrench to hold mine open during the belt re-install. It couldn't take the torque, so the square drive got twisted. Poor little wrench:

__________________
09 370Z 7AT PG Sport/Touring w/o Nav
Journal thread || 300.2 rwhp / 242.7 rwtq (Dyno Dynamics, outdated)

wstar

Bumping for the update above, since apparently edits don't bump the thread as unread.

__________________
09 370Z 7AT PG Sport/Touring w/o Nav
Journal thread || 300.2 rwhp / 242.7 rwtq (Dyno Dynamics, outdated)

arcticreaver

dang, you have suped up your car in a every short amount of time!!!!

i'll probably check here since you are doing all the things i want to do. thanks for your journal!

wstar

Got a good drive in today, 30 miles each way on the highway. Bright sunny day, air temp about 80 outside, but bright hot sun and no clouds. Traffic was light enough on a couple of sections to really open up on the highway a bit too. Even top-gear acceleration seems better than before with the new pulley in place, I'm kinda surprised. No problems with the underdriven AC fighting the heat today, it was blasting very cold air, even in the parking lot.

I didn't cruise at about 125 for a number of those miles, but I imagined it in my head for a while, and oil temps stayed fine. Even dropping down to 5th for a while at those speeds with the AC blasting, it can't quite break 240 on the oil temp gauge. I can get it hotter with extended high rpm driving at low speeds, but on the highway I think it really doesn't *need* an oil cooler. Oh, and damn this car really tracks around long highway curves at speed like a train on tracks

__________________
09 370Z 7AT PG Sport/Touring w/o Nav
Journal thread || 300.2 rwhp / 242.7 rwtq (Dyno Dynamics, outdated)

semtex

Thanks for the write-up on the pulley install! That's actually the next thing I'm doing now that I tackled the headers. +rep.

__________________
"There are no small accidents on this circuit." -- Ayrton Senna
318.1 WHP & 250 ft/lbs TQ (Dyno Dynamics (10/28/09))
Stillen G3 Intake, Headers, CBE, Pulley / Berk HFCs / GTSpec Ladder Brace / Setrab Oil Cooler / UpRev-tuned by Forged Perf.

RCZ

very cool, we tried installing mine over the weekend but we couldnt get the pulley out because we couldnt get the pulley bolt out. Just kept turning everything with it....

__________________
310WHP(+54) 230WTQ(+26) (Mustang) Thanks to Horsepowerlogic.com! + Stillen!
Stillen [Supercharger/Headers/HFC/CBE/Oil Cooler/LW Pulley]|KW V3 Coilovers |SPC|Hotchkis|H&R|Nitto NT05|Z1 Trans. Mount|UpRev Tune@HPLogic

wstar

First off, if the engine is turning, then you don't have the starter wheel locked down. Pull the starter off and put a prybar in there against the teeth so that you can hold the engine in place by that while you break the bolt.

I feel your pain, and then some. Imagine me laying under the car on Rhino Ramps taking that bolt off solo, one arm on the prybar at the rear of the engine, one arm on the breaker bar up front. It can be done, just takes a bit of creativity and a lot of grunting. At one point my prybar slipped and the elbow of my other arm went crashing into the pavement when everything let loose, I've got a nice bruise and some torn-off skin from that one.

Even my impact wrench didn't move that bolt, although it might have if there was a straight shot with it. Having to use an extension and a universal to reach it kinda kills the direct impact effect.

The trick that finally broke the bolt (I think anyways, the break wasn't very crisp, but I had success right after with some really hard pulling by hand again) was to use a floor jack. I held the prybar in place on the rear while I jacked up a floor jack with the other hand against the shaft of my breaker bar.

__________________
09 370Z 7AT PG Sport/Touring w/o Nav
Journal thread || 300.2 rwhp / 242.7 rwtq (Dyno Dynamics, outdated)

travisjb

Holy sh-t, that's determination ! saves you from getting one of these anyways

wstar

I deleted my washer fluid just now. I'm going to take a look at the TB coolant thing, but I may need to just button it up and make a parts run for that first.

Anyways, two other incidental things while I have the car in pieces. One, for those who were wondering about the closed-off ducts in the fangs of the front bumper, here's a pic from inside the bumper when the bumper is off the car:



Also, I had started the car up for a few minutes on the ramps and then shut it back down, and I started inspecting the exhaust. Turns out the big center flange (near the crossmember we had clearance issues with) has a bad gasket. The condensation in the exhaust system was leaking out from the bottom of the flange, that's how I noticed. When I went back and felt it cold, you can tell there's a chunk missing from the bottom of the gasket's edge. Hopefully replacing this gasket will solve some of my rasp issue, but I'll need to find an appropriate replacement first.

It probably got torn up from having that flange loosened and retightened (and the general area beaten and heated) many times over the course of a week or so while I was getting the crossmember clearance thing sorted out. Makes me suspicious of the other gaskets forward of this too, as they were also loosened and re-tightened multiple times.

__________________
09 370Z 7AT PG Sport/Touring w/o Nav
Journal thread || 300.2 rwhp / 242.7 rwtq (Dyno Dynamics, outdated)

miguez

Hey wstar,

So what do you figure those closed-off duct openings on the bumper are? I don't have my Z yet so I can only guess from pictures.