My 370z "unicorn"

filip00

Completely unplanned but after last track day I decided that I should get a steering wheel spacer. Too many times have I thought that the steering wheel is just too far away for me.
I bought one off of spacershop.com - some other member has linked it in the thread about it. The harnesses for all the functional keys on the steering wheel need to be extended, but the airbag wires are OK, just long enough so that they don't need to be extended. Installation was not a problem, though I must note that I think that it's impossible to get the steering wheel perfectly straight. I think the grooves on the extender piece aren't completely aligned, because I tried to align it perfectly, and even did a realignment - I still don't have the perfect straight alignment. No big deal, I'll go for alignment and fix it - once I install the steering spacers to get a bit more angle on the front.

Went for a wet drive on the track yesterday and the steering wheel position is perfect, right in my hands, not that I need to be stretched out. That being said, there is a downside to it. Reaching for the turn signal stalk - that's just ridiculous. It's now FAR AWAY. Not kidding, but I literally need to move the hand off the steering wheel to reach the stalk - but it's worth it. The driving position is SO much better now.

Anyway, here's a few pics of the car, along with the other car that's actually practical to use. On the pics of the Z, you can also see little upgrades that I mentioned previously - the oil pressure gauge, functioning fantastically and looking nearly OEM, as well as the fire extinguisher in front of the passenger seat. Not a huge one, but better than nothing.

filip00

Some pics from the track few weeks ago

vtec to vvel

Now go get your Takada air bags replaced!

vtec to vvel

How do you prevent from your seats getting dye transfer and no wrinkles?

filip00

I NEVER wear jeans when driving this car. It's most often just sweatpants or some super light pants. I condition the leather once every month or two, and I make sure to NEVER sit on the side of the seat. I was taught loooong time ago to not make those mistakes

vtec to vvel

You have the cleanest seats I've seen, like brand-new-out-of-the-box clean lol.

filip00

They really do look like new but to be honest, the car itself has just 16k miles, so it wasn't that hard to take care of them...

vtec to vvel

True, but considering your car is a 2009 AND the previous owner(s) seemed to have taken care of it (at least the time they drove it when they were in town anyway), so props!

I remember back when I got my '07 350Z, the car had maybe 8K miles when I got her, and the seats looked like some fat@$$ sat on them and never moved.

filip00

That's why this baby is a unicorn

filip00

Few more updates I didn't post yet.

So, during winter hibernation, I also said I'll refurbish the wheels. I felt too lazy to go over full wheel refurbishing, then complete repaint, so I just did a quick fix.

This is what the worst wheel looked like:



It's not just a surface scuff or scratch, it's PROPER curb damage. I asked the tyre shop if they can fix this, and they said that it would take some welding and additional work, and it seemed too much for my taste. So I looked into alternatives and found that there's a metal epoxy that can be used for fixes exactly like these. So I ordered JB Weld - being a metal epoxy resin which when hardened, should be virtually the same as metal. So I decided to give it a shot and see what happens.

I first used a very rough sandpaper and roughened the surface, then added some metal epoxy, then next day I used the sandpaper again and made sure it's smooth. I didn't document that process, nothing special there - just the smoothened surface:



Then I did a complete shot in the dark and bought a rattle spray can color that looked the same as my wheel color.



And once out of garage, this is the result......





In normal daylight the end result is actually alright! It's not perfect by any means, if you look very closely it actually looks horrible....but it's better than it was. It'll have to do for this season. Maybe next year I'll take some time and do a proper refurb of the wheels.

filip00

Another update, but this time more meaningful - I installed steering rack spacers. I got them from GKTech, they weren't too expensive, but it did involve getting new tie rods as well. The end result is not crazy, but it's a bit more degrees of angle than original. Check pics of before and after.

filip00

Another few bits checked off the list today:
-RBF Motul 600 brake oil
-braided steel brake lines
-EBC Bluestuff brake pads

Just one more piece of the puzzle remaining - the brake cooling ducts. Haven't gotten around to installing them yet, I was always a bit discouraged until now, because I'm not *entirely* sure where to put them. I was looking at how to route the pipe but I can't find the optimal way. I also looked through several solutions that I found on the internet - but none were clear enough. Any tips?

vtec to vvel

Hopefully these can help:

DIY - Brake Cooling Ducts

DIY: Oil Cooler AND Stillen Brake Cooling Ducts (Lots of Pics!)

Z1 Brake Cooling - Install with Pictures.

filip00

Was a bit busy these days so didn't post updates.
The trip is on! Yesterday we reached out destination




On our way here, we drove the Autobahn and I had a chance to freely test how the car performs at high speeds. Reached 250km/h a few times, it could probably go a bit faster, but the traffic was too busy to force such speeds. At cruising speeds of 180/190km/h, the car can be calmly driven with one hand, oil temp stuck at 90°C, all perfect. After 1000km checked the oil, not a drop missing. So far so good!
The brake pads I installed - EBC blue stuff, behave fantastic, strong bite and absolutely no fade.

JARblue

A magnificent destination! Enjoy your time there

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