Custom Machined Parts For Your 370Z

LinPark

I was going to suggest that as well - I think a rough look around the polished Z would set it off but I'm not sure how easy that would be to machine. Some sort of graveled look or sand texture would really look cool.

Also, has anyone tried to debadge the engine cover? Maybe we could get dimensions for that and replace all the hamburgers at once.

Caravanshaka

the hamburger on the engine cover can come off in about 90 seconds. unbolt the 2 bolts on the front half of the cover, flip it over and bend back the 4 tabs holding it in place and it comes right off.

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kenchan

yah, or maybe it can be a 2 piece unit. front piece with the aluminum Z logo, back piece with just the background (black or CF pattern), screw them together, then mount onto the car with sticky tape...

otherwise it's going to look like a silver burger with a faint Z on there.

scruffydog

This is the carbon Fiber look. I've also lower the tabs...what do you guys think? I'm afraid that it may be too thin as the new thinkness is only 1mm. This definitely emphasizes the oval shape and takes away the wings (tabs) look. I think it's almost pointless to have the wings to the edges.

But then again, it'd look weird either way with or without tabs because without the tabs you'll have 2 empty holes.

tbonesteak

wow havent had a chance to read the entire thread but count me in if you make anything even remotely close to that!!!

kenchan

most definitely the CF version for me.

Jordo!

I really like that too

Will you make these to replace the rear emblem too? It's a different size than the front.

Expected cost?

BTW, if you want to omit the two end tabs (the "burger patty" from between the "buns"), one way would be to make the whole emblem larger, and have a solid base with a raised section on the back that fits into the logo space like a puzzle piece. Will look nice and clean that way so long as it doesn't get too big...

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AgStacker

That's a really good idea, but I think since we've come so far with the current design, we going to use it as is (ZF-2A) but I'll keep your idea in mind for any future versions.

scruffydog

Great idea, and I can easily modify it, but the downside to that is it will still need a fillet circle to cover up the nubs that aligns the existing emblem (part of the bumper). Also, that design may look super big....so I dunno...

But then again, over time emblems on cars have gotten bigger and bigger. I just saw a 1992 Honda Accord front emblem recently....did u check out the size on that emblem?

Ztoon

Super low 2R-4A is fantastic. As well, having the flat surfaced tabs will give us the opportunity to finally get rid of the burger look.

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scruffydog

and almost impossible for a thief to steal the emblem unless they have a screw driver...

AgStacker

The textured design looks great on the model, but would be near impossible to machine in one piece, a better approach would be to make ZF-2A-O with the "floating Z" and attach a separate piece of CF or knurled aluminum to the back of the emblem. I don't know jack about CF so I most likely would not be able to provide this piece . I think painting/powder coating the emblem two colors (silver & black?) will provide plenty of contrast.

which brings us the the next point in the design. Finish. I would think powder coating would be the best looking and most durable choice, however I do not know if it is possible to powder coat something in two different colors. Any one with experience in this field please offer your advice. Also any powder coaters/painters/platers in the Bay Area looking for some work feel free to quote me a price (2,10,100) and/or post some examples of your work.

AgStacker

Wow we have lots of designs now, but we'll have to agree on just ONE (front and rear) for the time being. I want to make all the popular styles and please all the people following this thread, but realistically I'm afraid that wont happen. It's a lot of work to make these badges, and the window of opportunity for me to get these parts on to a machine is very small, you see its like this....

I do not own the machine shop that these parts will be produced in, but I have been working there for 8 years. The owner is a very good friend of mine and allows me to use the equipment for my own projects from time to time. So... obviously these badges will take a back seat to the day-to-day business of the shop. The owner does not give a sh!t about 370z badges with the new style Z, at least not yet.

This project will not be allowed to disrupt or interfere with the normal flow of the shop in anyway. What that means is basically this:

There are 21 CNC machines in our shop. Only 4 of them meet the criteria required to produce these parts. ( ball nose milling is a PITA) The only time I can use these machines would be from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning 6 am. Since this project can not interferer with the shop's business, I must wait until one of these machines has finished a production run on a Friday/Saturday and would otherwise sit empty over the weekend. I can NOT "tear down" a production set-up, make my parts, and then replace the original set up before the shop re-opens on Monday. Thus I must wait until the perfect opportunity arises. When will that be? I don't know, not too long, but If I were going to make 4 or 5 different styles it would probably take months of waiting.

That said I vote for ZF-2A, and ZR-2A.

scruffydog

I can totally feel you on this; which is why I would advise everybody to be realistic about which one you pick. Like AGStacker said, he is working really hard to fit a schedule in for these prototype emblems to be made. Unfortunately, these are not parts that we can mass produce and expect people to buy them like candy, so they will never be seen as a high priority in ANY machine shops. Unless of course, hundreds or thousands of these are sold and we're trying to make a business out of this, then that's a different story.

Anyhow, I'm on the same boat as AG with the ZF-2A and ZR-2A right now. As much as we all like to have the middle portion (fillet) of the emblem to be color matched to body color (whether if it's powder coated or painted), it's best to leave that as a second operation (for you guys). I suggest if we're applying any finishing to it, we should do it to the whole badge.

As for the people that don't like the fillet part, you can either paint it yourself, or I think it's best to just have the body shop (or yourself) to shave off whatever tabs that's protruding into the hollow parts of the emblem and paint it prior to applying the emblem. Because at the end of the day, you're spending that much work to get an emblem that's machined, you might as well go all the way and do it right.

As for the two piece idea, it's a good idea except it's really not ideal because it's not cost effective way just so we can have a 2 tone surface. Double side tape can be really tacky. Another method is we can have (which i don't recommend) is have the top piece pierce through the bottom piece and have it sandwich between the bumper. And then we can have it thread into a lock nut on back side of the bumper. Of course this will require drilling 2 holes, but now for sure it'll be secure and nobody can steal it. But I can see this being super hard to machine and will cost super expensive.

AGstacker, do you need me to send you the files again, or do you have both the front and back? I think you only have the front files.

LunaZ

If the carbon fibre backed badge ends up looking like the side markers, that would be awesome!

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