Have $4200 to spend on mods
 

Since my Nismo got hit and I am fortunate by obtaining good amount of $$$ due to damages (nismo factory exhaust $3300 + mod savings) I will treat it as my Z never got hit :ughdance:
Already had Ark grip which got damaged but still have cnc hfc. After countless hrs of searching I made a following list of mods which should put me around that $4200 price range. What you guys think?

Ark grip exhaust
Akuma intake
Uprev tune
TWM STS + weighted shift knob
Z1 34 row oil cooler and their brake lines + motul rbf 600 brake fluid
brake pads I think CL RC 5+ but still not 100% sure
powdercoating wheels gloss black and yellow calipers

FI exhaust
Akuma intake
Uprev tune
TWM STS + weighted shift knob
Z1 34 row oil cooler and their brake lines + motul rbf 600 brake fluid
brake pads I think CL RC 5+ but still not 100% sure
powdercoating wheels Gunmetal and yellow calipers

Not a fan of black wheels. I would go with a FI Exhaust and a Stillen G3 intake. Or just save it for a TT or SC

I had ark grip and I loved the sound. Perfect for my taste. Personally have no experience with FI exhaust plus the wait is just not good for me right.
Im sure gunmetal would look good as hell but black is what I really want.

Ha ha we're in the same boat. I'm doing the same thing. Definitely picking up Berk HFC and Stillen cermaic headers (already have the stillen G3 intake).

Probably going to spend the rest on powder coating my calipers red and blow whatever's left on CFE's shop for interior parts.

I was gonna go with stillen G3 but decided with Akuma intake which looks very promising.
If you get the headers make sure to get it tunes otherwise you will be running lean.
No exhaust for you?

Last priority. I'm one of the few who actually kinda likes the exhaust note on the nismo CBE. Pretty sure HP gains are minimal anyway.
So anyway, when the headers and cats go on i'm going to have it thrown on the dyno and pay for the uprev license and tuning.

Question about that though: Once the tune is done, will I lose it if my battery goes dead? Am I better off just buying my own aftermarket tuner?

The nismo exhaust was definitely too quiet for me but I guess everyone has their own taste.

Once your ecu its flashed with a tune it will stay there.

Yeah I agree it's quiet but it's not offensive - looking for HP gains first. It's just last on my list or now.

Edit: Plus I'm told the header/HFC install will make the car a great deal louder so I'll be interested to see what that sounds like before making changes. If it sounds raspy, it's gone for sure.

based on the research I think CBE would be better option for you if you are looking for most gains. Nismo exhaust is still pretty restrictive. Supposedly headers dont give much hp and for a lot of ppl here the cost and install is not worth the gain. Are you gonna install the headers yourself or have shop to do it?

Did some poking around and can't find a direct comparison between the stock nismo exhaust / FI / Stillen. Suggestions? I'm not going to swap it out based upon exhaust note alone.

If I'm going to do HFC, might as well do the headers at the same time. The garage that will (more than likely) do the work isn't going to charge me extra for the headers if I do the cats at the same time. Fairly certain HFCs do have noticable gains - don't they?

Better get that in writing, The exhaust man,s are a M Fer. Very little room to work.

I have berk cats. and I noticed the difference in sound and Perf.

Yeah the cats will give noticable gains and I would get that in writing as well because headers are much much harder to install. Theres just such a little room to play with. Some shops usually charge about at least 600 to a 1000 per install for headers or lth. It all depends on the shop.

So two more questions:

-Is there a link somewhere that will let me compare HP gains amongst exhausts? Stock NISMO, Stillen, Greddy, Ark Grip, FI etc?

-Anyone had any experience with lettering on calipers? I spoke to a shop today that basically told me that trying to add a nismo logo to powder coated calipers won't work well and even if they can pull it off, they'll look like crap after a year or two. I PM'ed this question to Mike - just curious if anyone else has attempted it.

Edit: Never mind on #2. Mike is worth the wait apparently.

Most cbe system will give you similar gains with minimal differences.

What did Mike say about lettering calipers? Im about to powdercoat mine and wanna put nismo letters as well. Maybe high temperature decals?

He powder coats, then does the lettering, then does clear coat on top of that. It looks fantastic as long as you stick with black lettering (or so he says). I'm on the wait list for his "swap" calipers so I can get this done. Can't beat his price.

Eh - then what's the point of getting rid of the nismo exhaust unless you just want a different exhaust note?

Here we go:

http://www.the370z.com/intake-exhaus...termarket.html

So none of the aftermarket exhausts are really going to add much to your performance but they will change the tame exhaust note. Figure I'll eventually swap it out but I'd rather go with bolt-ons that deliver performance first.

Any good quality aftermarket exhaust will give you decent gains over stock nismo exhaust. Where do you see in that thread saying it will only change the note not performance?

That sounds pretty good. Ill ask my local powdercoater if he could do anything similar like that

So if it's comparable to FI, I'm fine with it.

Go through Mike if you can. You won't be able to beat his price assuming you don't mind a bit of downtime.

I probably would go through Mike but Im powdercoating wheels as well and shipping for those would be pretty expensive so kinda not worth it to save few bucks especially when I have a really good powdercoater around my area here in jersey.

Man I'm antsy. I have a call with my agent for the diminished value claim on the car tomorrow so I'll know what my budget is. Either way, the calipers are getting done.

As soon as I have a estimate on the DVC I'm going to order the HFCs and ceramic headers.

Let me know how it goes. I need to file a claim myself for DVC.

Which hfc are you gonna go with?

Berk.

ive seen nismo's with exhausts pull of higher numbers on the dyno. So it def gets gains over the OEM nismo.

also, you should pick an exhaust on the sound alone and looks.. Honestly, how many of you / us are going to really notice.. or even use a variance of 5whp... but you will be listening to the tone the most.. and looking at it also quite a bit.

Yep, it's on my list of things to swap out. I like the Stillen exhaust style/tone so I'll probably head down that road sometime early next year.

This stuff drives my girlfriend crazy because every time I do something to the car I say, "Ok I think I'm done messing with the car. There's nothing left to do with it" then 2 months later...

$500 --- Akuma 2.75" Intakes w/Fuel Tune
$550 --- Motordyne ART Test Pipes (new version with O-ring seal)
$1500 -- FI exhaust
$500 --- Uprev Dyno Tune
$290 --- Stillen Brake Ducts
$550 --- Z1 34 Row Cooler w/Lines

You would be around $4500 probably with all of that installed. Should make 310whp+ SAE easy and addresses the major concerns if you track the car (brake overheating, oil overheating).

I have cnc hfc for now but they leak so Im gonna try z1 exhaust gaskets so I should eliminate that. I wanna go with ark hfc which supposely eliminate hiss but still there arent enough reviews on that so Im gonna wait little longer.

I never heard FI exhaust in person and I loved the way my ark sounded so Im gonna go back to that one.

I was looking at stillen brake ducts but I dont think they fit nismo. Do they?

Anybody have more information on this caliper painting? Who is this Mike fella? I was quoted to have my calipers painted red with NISSAN black lettering painted on at around 600$. I was told anything other than high temp paint would be worthless

His forum username is "Mike"...and he'll do it for $350. There are entire galleries devoted to the stuff he has done.

I'm doing mine in red with "Nismo" in black on them. Can't wait

Nissan 370Z Forum - View Profile: Mike

^
This guy right here.