98intrigue's long overdue journal
 

Well, since I pretty much lived through my single turbo build thread...and that build is dead...I figured it's about time I start one of those journal things.

So the modding bug got me when I was young. My parents gave me their 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue (ohhhhh that's where he got his screen name from!:rofl2:) when I turned 16. I went through 3 stereo setups and some 18" Mille Miglia wheels (Tire Rack special).
http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_i...0136_large.jpg

I remember my senior year of high school saying I'd own a G35 coupe one day...Well, on January 5, 2005, my reality dream car came true and I bought a used 2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe.

This thing was a long project. I like being original and being one of the first (a.k.a. wasting money on cars)...Alcantara interior, Turbonetics kit, DPEs, Kuruma bumper, authentic Nismo diffuser, etc...
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I even did a Top Secret bumper and full polished Iforged Aeros. This was maybe 3 months before I got rid of the car.
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I owned the title for the fastest single turbo G35 for quite some time... ran a 12.2 @ 115mph back in August 2008.
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The car was boosted HARD from 62k to 113k miles on the stock motor when it started blowing igntion coils. I went through 5 in less than a month. I knew it was a bad Utec or ECU, so I decided to part ways before anything bad happened.

I test drove a 40th Anniversary 370Z on a Tuesday with no hopes of actually owning one. I just REALLY loved the red iterior (already had suede like my G35 did) and my favorite color is purple, so the 40th Quartz fit my interests perfectly! I'm an impulse buyer... and bought it that Saturday, July 28, 2010. My first new car:happydance:

I needed help bringing both cars home since the dealer let me keep my G35 for a week to part it out.
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I had a love for the Z that was more than the G35 coupe...and I didn't think that was possible. I had the IForged Aeros on for a short time, as well as installed H&R lowering springs, Berk high-flow cats, and HKS Hi-Power exhaust 2 months into ownership.
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Ever heard a Z with open headers? :icon14:


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Then what made my car.... the SSR SP3s arrived a few weeks later :tup:
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Once my exterior mods were complete (except tint), I did a photoshoot...SSR was nice enough to feature them.
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I did one of the first Motordyne M370 tests and got a tune.
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Two months later, I decided it was time to get back into boost (biggest mistake I made). I let Lutz Performance build me the first single turbo kit. WHAT A MISTAKE! The car ran like crap from the day it was completed in May 2011 until the day the motor started ticking in October 2011
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I had the opportunity to meet a lot of great new people and see some old faces at ZDayz 2011. I even won 1st place Wild 370Z!
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I made my favorite video to date from ZDayz


On the way home from ZDayz, my headaches were just starting:mad: Thanks to Lutz, I blew my power steering pump, snapped the pulley, burnt through the passenger side wiring harness, fried the 120-amp battery fuse, and burnt through a power steering line. I was stranded in Georgia for 4 days, but Z1 M otorsports was amazing! They treated me like their best friend and even offered me a place to crash.
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In August, I had a friend do my car the way Lutz should have done from the beginning... dual 3" equal length intake piping into a 2-to-1 ProCharger intercooler. Oh yeah...a custom 3" exhaust with an 18" Magnaflow resonator and a 3" HKS Hi-Power Ti muffler
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The entire summer was spent trouble shooting and fixing little issues. Then in October, afer alllllll the heahaches...I was ready for a baseline run before I got retuned. I was running a base map from a GReddy TT car that Z1 tuned conservatively.

Street tires vid :driving:


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My first pass netted me a 11.8 @ 119mph. I put in some 110 octane, upped the boost to 13psi, trapped 122mph and the motor started making a faint ticking noise:stirthepot:


Then the final straw... About 1 month after the ticking started, I was literally 2 days away from writing a check for a built motor. This was the breaking point. An old man backed into my parked car. It was probably the cheapest fix I came across on the Z, but there were just too many signs that finally told me "STOP!"
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I took off all the exterior modifications that day. The next weekend, the turbo kit came off. Slowly, everything was removed from the car. Since the motor blew, I toyed with the idea of many different cars. I really wanted an S5 before the Z, but I no longer wanted one. My 2 close friends have a modded 997TT and a modded 996TT...so the P cars were really looking good to me, but they were a lot of money. A Z06? Too common... GTR? Out of my price range? Viper? Noooo :yum:

It all started when I was a kid... I think it must have been the Viper TV show that got me hooked on the Viper. I remember being babysat by my grandma and watching the show. At the age of 15, I was able to visit the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant. I was in heaven! I remember being in the main lobby and they let me try to start a 1996 Viper GTS Indy Pace Car, but the battery was dead. I was a little upset, but my time would come again.
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For my birthday or Christmas or for good grades, my mom would buy me a 1:18 scale Viper model. I remember in elementary school during the book fairs, I bought Viper posters. At 19, I started valeting cars. I worked for some very nice venues in Orlando, so I was able to drive my first Viper just a few weeks after I started.

When I first bought my townhome in 2010, I set up my Viper shelf in the garage.
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I set this as my background at work for motivation back in January
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I put my posters up in March as more motivation
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Still, the pondering question was how do I get rid of my Z? The motor still ticked. The Walbro fuel pump, Z Speed heavy duty CSC, aftermarket Flexalite fans, and aluminum radiator hose were still installed. I would have had to pay A LOT to get it back to 100%. I looked at used Vipers, but it only depressed me because I would need to be able to trade in my Z on the Viper.

Easter Sunday: I find a great deal on a 2006 SRT-10 Coupe. I call Monday morning to only find out it was sold. Darn :( Not like I could have gotten it anyways. I get a call from the dealership Tuesday letting me know they are just waiting on financing to go through and would call me if anything happened. Wednesday morning, I get a call... "The financing fell through!" :eek: I spent the day stressing out, trying to figure out how to get some money ready, how to get the Z out of my hands, etc. By Friday, April 13, 2012... I drove down 2.5 hours and picked up my new Viper. My dream car was a reality.

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Goodbye Z, hello Viper!
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When I bought the car, I knew it sounded louder than stock. Due to the strong smell of gas, I knew it had cat deletes, but still maintained the OEM rear crossover piping. The 2nd day I had the car, I installed a new K&N intake. The first week, I ordered a set of Eiback lowering springs. Before they even shipped, I ordered a Vipair cup kit. It came with adjustable collars so I could adjust the ride height and custom spring rate Eibach springs. I went with a 400/600 spring rate setup. I had scheduled the kit to arrive so I could do the install and come to ZDayz.

During the install, we found out I have 3 blown shocks:mad: From the factory, all new shocks are $3400 :eek: There are very few used shocks available and even piecing them together on ebay will run me $1000. Oh yeah, we alos found out I have 3" Borla mufflers :happydance:, but I still need to get rid of the crappy OEM crossover piping. This will help with the in-cabin temps, the drone, free up roghly 30 lbs, and get the pipes straight out the side for a bit meaner tone :)
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We dropped it lowww (refer to the first Viper pic to see how high it was when I bought it).
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I also Plastidipped 2 wheels to get an idea what I want to do with the wheels for now. I was not happy with the finish, so I ripped it off quickly.
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On our way to Cars and Coffee on Saturday
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And a shot I took at C&C
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I was saving up for wheels, but regretfully will have to put that off so I can buy some KW V2 coilovers..most likely tomorrow. I also decided I will be doing a black/purple theme. I asked for a quote today on metallic purple calipers, color matched center console and Viper SRT-10 emblems, and 40th Anniversary powdercoated wheels :tup: I'm holding on to the Z a bit I guess?

Nice update :)








DAN

Nice Viper!

very nice history of cars you got.

More info on that Intrigue!

:D

Sub for bad a$$ car

:tup:

Love it Ryan.

Great read to start the morning. Loving the Viper and the progress already. You werent kidding about jumping right into modding it!

Subbed. Loving the Viper. Too bad you had to miss ZDayZ this year. :(

See you next year. :tup:

love the progression! Congrats on your dream car!

Awesomeness :tup:

Must be this garbage computer at work but the pics are not working. Will check them out when I get home.