2007 Nissan 350Z 313GT
Discussion
Hi guys, sorry I didn't reply sooner - I didn't realise someone had posted on here!
If you want a good example of a 350Z, I would jump on now as prices for low mileage examples, particularly the VQ35HR engine'd ones (like mine), are creeping up. There are a lot of bad examples out there. These cars are pretty prone to rust, and a significant portion of posts on the Facebook groups now are about tackling rust. Many have had rubbish kits and mods fitted, and many more not looked after as they have been in the doldrums, picked up for peanuts and not maintained. Be extremely careful when buying, if you do, as if you don't know where to look you can be caught out. There are still some excellent cars out there, but most I would say aren't worth a second glance.
It's still very much alive, though, and getting a few tentative drives at the moment. A little earlier than usual, but as I moved house in January the cover had to come off to move it, so it stayed off. I made it about 5 miles a few weeks back, saw tons of fresh salt and thought "f
k that", turned around and washed the arches down when I got back 
As alluded to above, I have a list as long as my arms for things I want to do - bushings, new suspension components (Tein and Bilstein, not eBay special rubbish *shudders*), treat the entire underside, remove front end fittings and refresh those, Enkei RPF1s, seat re-trims, etc. it goes on. However, time and, now thanks to the new house, money are not forthcoming enough to be able to do this stuff. The good news is I now have a garage, so plenty of space to keep tools, a work bench, rooms for car bits etc. in the future!
Don't expect to see any interesting updates this year, but I have no intentions of selling up so they'll come in due course
Jlss1999 said:
Hello,
Found your thread very informative. How the arches holding up from last year? Might embark on this journey myself, very much want my 350z to be a pristine example.
James
Thanks! The arches are still in good condition - they were done in July 2019 so coming on 2 years now. I still mean to drop the rear-end off and treat the whole underside, but time constraints have prevented that so far. Found your thread very informative. How the arches holding up from last year? Might embark on this journey myself, very much want my 350z to be a pristine example.
James
If you want a good example of a 350Z, I would jump on now as prices for low mileage examples, particularly the VQ35HR engine'd ones (like mine), are creeping up. There are a lot of bad examples out there. These cars are pretty prone to rust, and a significant portion of posts on the Facebook groups now are about tackling rust. Many have had rubbish kits and mods fitted, and many more not looked after as they have been in the doldrums, picked up for peanuts and not maintained. Be extremely careful when buying, if you do, as if you don't know where to look you can be caught out. There are still some excellent cars out there, but most I would say aren't worth a second glance.
Mr Tidy said:
I only discovered this thread today and found it a great read, so thanks to the OP. 
A 350Z was on my short-list in 2014, but after a first test drive in another Z I just fell in love with a BMW Z4 Coupe. So much so that I'm on my 3rd now, but this one is an M.
They do seem to be have been aimed at the same potential buyers, and I do wonder how things might have turned out if I had driven a 350Z.
Anyway I hope this one is still thriving and getting plenty of TLC.
Thanks for the comment! A Z4M is a great car. Probably a step up from the 350Z to be honest. Having not driven a Z4 of any type I can say how they compare, but I would wager the Nissan is probably less refined, though still a very comfortable and capable mile-muncher. Very reliable too! I've covered 50,000 of the 83,000 miles on mine and it has never, not once, had a mechanical failure. Even the clutch, which are usually prone to going after 40,000 miles or so, is still OK after 55,000 miles. A 350Z was on my short-list in 2014, but after a first test drive in another Z I just fell in love with a BMW Z4 Coupe. So much so that I'm on my 3rd now, but this one is an M.
They do seem to be have been aimed at the same potential buyers, and I do wonder how things might have turned out if I had driven a 350Z.
Anyway I hope this one is still thriving and getting plenty of TLC.
It's still very much alive, though, and getting a few tentative drives at the moment. A little earlier than usual, but as I moved house in January the cover had to come off to move it, so it stayed off. I made it about 5 miles a few weeks back, saw tons of fresh salt and thought "f
k that", turned around and washed the arches down when I got back As alluded to above, I have a list as long as my arms for things I want to do - bushings, new suspension components (Tein and Bilstein, not eBay special rubbish *shudders*), treat the entire underside, remove front end fittings and refresh those, Enkei RPF1s, seat re-trims, etc. it goes on. However, time and, now thanks to the new house, money are not forthcoming enough to be able to do this stuff. The good news is I now have a garage, so plenty of space to keep tools, a work bench, rooms for car bits etc. in the future!
Don't expect to see any interesting updates this year, but I have no intentions of selling up so they'll come in due course
Edited by Alias218 on Saturday 13th March 20:51
Long time no update!
And still no update
I'm after recommendations for bodyshops in Essex that are adept in metalwork, e.g. cutting out and replacing with proper sealing and treatment.
Unfortunately, on the NSR where the inner and outer arch skins meet rust has taken hold and the only remedy will be new metal. This was just starting when I tackled the arches a few years back but the best I managed was to slow it down a little. It still hasn't perforated the metal so you wouldn't know it without looking closely, but this needs nipping in the bud ASAP now.
I know of a couple of bodyshops around the Chelmsford area, but they seem more attuned to accident repairs than car surgery.
Any recommendations gladly received
And still no update
I'm after recommendations for bodyshops in Essex that are adept in metalwork, e.g. cutting out and replacing with proper sealing and treatment.
Unfortunately, on the NSR where the inner and outer arch skins meet rust has taken hold and the only remedy will be new metal. This was just starting when I tackled the arches a few years back but the best I managed was to slow it down a little. It still hasn't perforated the metal so you wouldn't know it without looking closely, but this needs nipping in the bud ASAP now.
I know of a couple of bodyshops around the Chelmsford area, but they seem more attuned to accident repairs than car surgery.
Any recommendations gladly received
It's time for an annual (ish) update! I have something to share for once, so brace yourselves for some below average photography.
First things first:
Ooh, intrigue!
So, if you look back through the annuls of this thread, you'll see many references to my future plans for this car that usually reference something from Enkei, and something from Bilstein. As is often the case with these things, life gets in the way and in my case this was a house move, then lots of redecorating / unfking past owner's DIY (still ongoing), then new bathrooms, then wedding... it was just one thing after another. All positive, but it left little time or money for my poor old Zed.
But fret no more! During one of my semi-annual browsings of all thing aftermarket I was once again looking at the price of bits. Now, it has to be mentioned that my hope for ever buying these bits was diminishing by the year. Naturally, things kept getting more expensive. What was going to cost quite a lot of money, was now going to cost an awful lot of money. Until, that is, the wheels I'd been lusting after for nearly 10 years were on sale! In the size I wanted! It was at this point that the "fk it" threshold was reached and four 18" x 9.5j RPF1s were hastily added to the basket of the vendor (Torque GT) and duly bought before the sensible part of my brain figured out what was going on. One jiffy later, and an invoice had wended its way into my inbox.
It was at this point that I had bought the wheels and nothing else. The nothing else in question unfortunately was not on sale, and was still an awful lot of money. But, in for a penny, in for a pound!
It had been my plan to buy Bilstein B8 dampers married to Tein S-Tech springs. A tried and tested marriage resulting in a good fixed rate, fixed height fast road suspension setup. Unfortunately, Nissan had other ideas. The problem with using the Bilstein / Tein combo was that the other accoutrements that make up a suspension strut were not part of the deal. I could either buy new top mounts, bushes, nuts, bolts etc. or strip down the struts already on the car and re-use those parts. The issue with this was of course that these parts are 16 years old. It's seemed to me to be counter-intuitive to re-use these parts, so I toddled off to Nissan with a list of part numbers for new items.
"Hello", I said, "can I have a quote for these part numbers?"
"Of course", replied the Nissan service guy who duly disappeared to fetch a price for me.
Some time passed, and I wondered if the fellow had hopped onto a plane to Yokohama to ask in person. But, return he eventually did.
"Yeah," he began. I wasn't filled with hope. "So, this is cost per item - times two for each side. Many of these parts are also on a three month lead from Japan."
I looked down. I looked up. I chuckled. I walked out (having thanked the Nissan guy for his time).
£1,100 for new consumables. It wasn't a terribly long list, neither were the parts particularly complex in nature. Bear in mind, this £1,100 was additional to the cost of the Bilsteins and the Teins and I would have to build the buggers.
I got back onto the proverbial blower to Torque GT and enquired about a good set of coilovers to compliment the 350Z. They suggested some MeisterR Zeta CRDs. A good mid-range option suited to fast road driving. The "fk it" threshold having long since been crossed, another invoice soon landed in my inbox.
Next: tyres. I was hoping to get some Toyo R888s. I don't do many miles in the Zed these days so the soft compound of these didn't matter too much. But no. The sizes I wanted, 255/40 front and 275/40 rear, I couldn't get together. I could only find the 275/40s. I mulled over buying the OE fit Bridgestone RE050A tyres that I had always used. However, I couldn't find these either and they're old and a bit crap anyway. What was available that was new and not crap? Michelin Pilot Sport 5s. Good reviews, released last year and available in the sizes I wanted! Smashing!
How much?! Oh for goodness sake.
Something about sunk cost fallacies crossed my mind, but it was swiftly suppressed as once more the "fk it" button was pressed. I was all set.
First to arrive (after some less than stellar performance by Parcelforce), the hitherto teased Enkeis:
Oh my. I'd be lying if I said I didn't look at them more than is healthy for a man to look at some aluminium cylinders. But these were Enkei RPF1s, the wheel I had wanted for what was at this point approaching a third of my life. And they were gorgeous. The ideal wheel for the 350Z. There are other wheels that suit the venerable Zed, but none quite like the RPF1.
Next, the tyres. Now these were stored for a short while in my dining room. It was at the time that we had our warm weather in June. The residual release compound Michelin use to release the tyres from their moulds became soft and imparted themselves onto my nice wood floor. So now, forevermore I shall have "Michelin" stained in mirror text beneath my dining table.
Ah well. It's on the replace list anyway.
It was at this point that a I was struck by a quandary. I had four wide wheels, and four even wider tyres to shift to my local tyre place. Aside from the 350Z (not a chance) I also own a Fiesta. It was like the car was made for the job!
The place I use, Tyre Smart in Witham, have always treated their customers cars with care and professionalism and this time was no different. In fact, the wheels caused something of a minor stir as some employees enquired about them and their final destination. As always, after a short wait the wheels were shod in rubber and there was nary a mark on them. Ace service as always.
Plenty of rubber on these - no rubber bands to be seen here.
A week or so later, up turned the suspension. I opened the box and was greeted by the prettiest looking suspension components I had ever seen! Forget the blue and yellow of Bilstein, the anodised red on black made quite the impression. So far, so good. MeisterR are not long established, so I have to say I went out on a bit of a limb in buying them.
If nothing else, they do look nice. 2mm pre-load, 32 way adjustable damper compression and rebound, adjustable height. Knowing nothing about suspension setup I popped the dampers to 16 (middle ground seems sensible, right?) and left it at that for the time being.
At my next convenience, I began the task of swapping everything over. Now, this isn't a massive job however the car had been buttoned up 16 years prior in Kaminokawa, Tochigi prefecture and not touched since. It was also on the driveway, which with the best will in the world is a colossal pain the in the arse to work on. However, I have to say that the car had impeccable manners and through up no real drama. The worst of it was removing part of the brake line from the OE strut. The bracket to which this part was fastened yielded before the nut so I couldn't apply any real torque to it without the bracket starting to twist. A pair of adjustables to hold it still later, and off it came. Smooth sailing from here on out.
First job, fit some spigot rings. Now, the standard hub spigot on the 350Z is 66mm. The RPF1s, being made for all manner of vehicles, were 73.1mm i.e., too big. A lesser man might have thought "fk it" and slapped the wheels on anyway in the hope the studs would centralise it sufficiently. Well, I had expended all the laissez-faire attitude I had to give, and now was time for some control. Fortunately, RAYS do some nice turned aluminium spigots rings to step down the bore of the wheels, so these were fitted (with a dab of copper slip should I wish to remove them in future). I was expecting some drama fitting them but they went in with no more than some well applied thumb action.
Fronts first, up went the car onto my trusty Halfords axle stands on wooden blocks (since replaced with rubber blocks as they started to crack over the duration of this job!) and I surveyed my foe - an old strut.
The part I had been dreading most was the released of the upper ball joint. The strut won't come away without the upper arm being freed to make space. I had borrowed a friend's ball joint splitter for this task. I was tooled up. Except it didn't fit. Bugger. However, quelle surprise when after having loaded the suspension up to remove the nut the ball joint practically fell away of its own accord once the pressure was relieved from the hub. All it required was the daintiest of love taps and out it popped. Marvellous!
Out came the strut and that was that.
In went the new one, job jobbed! Naturally, everything was torqued to spec. There was none of this FT nonsense here.
Rinses and repeat on the other side and I was halfway there.
The rear was jacked up, the sketchy looking wooden blocks re-employed and I cracked on. The rear would be easier, not that the fronts posed any challenge. I had a pair of spring compressors to remove the old items and install the new ones. Aforementioned trusty friend had loaned them, so I knew I was in good hands despite the previous hiccup with the non-fitting ball joint splitter.
The bds didn't fit.
Oh well. Under went the jack to take the load, the spring bucket bolt was removed and the bucket lowered. Out popped the springs with some persuasive manoeuvres and in went the new ones. Jack the spring bucket back up and button it all up again.
Lovely job. Rinse and repeat again and I was nearly there!
I should add that at each corner I had measured prior to the removal of the old strut the distance from hub centre to arch apex. I used this as a basis for setting the ride height on the new suspension aiming for a 15-20mm drop. With the new wheels on the car, I have to say it was pretty damn close and I not made any further adjustments to ride height since having it back on the road. There is some minor scraping on the front when the car goes over some larger dips so I am toying with the idea of lifting the front a smidge and turn the damper knob up a few stages to firm things up just a tad. I'd probably do the same to the rears (turn the stiffness up a little that is), however I can't get to the dials on the rear dampers hidden as they are within the body work. I'd have to remove the dampers again to get to them. Not a big job, just a pain. You can drill holes to reach the knobs if you are so inclined, and indeed extensions were supplied for just this purpose however I am not pre-disposed to drilling holes in my car so won't be doing this. The fit and forget element of the Bilsteins is what sold me the idea of fixed rate everything but I am where I am with the coilovers so I'll just have to find some time to adjust.
Anyway, I am reasonably happy with the car as it sits and minor scrapage aside it drives very nicely. It took it back to my guys at Trye Smart for a four wheel alignment on their Hunter to bring the car back in line with OE where possible. The standard arms provide very little in the way of adjustment so I have what I have to some extent, but it's not too wild with 0 degs steer ahead, -1.5degs camber at the front, and -2.25degs camber at the rear. Rear toe is out of spec by 6 minutes offside, and 2 minutes near side. Not sure why and there is no adjustment for rear toe. We're talking less than a mm (0.8mm) out of true for 6 minutes and 0.2mm for 2 minutes so it's not the end of the world but it's annoying to have it out of spec.
With this done, the next up task is in October where I have the car booked in for some surgery (see my previous [and unanswered
] post). The rust on the NSR arch requires chopping out, and fingers crossed it hasn't progressed to far from what is visible. Best case, the rust can be cut out and a patch welded in. Worst case, the rear quarter will need to come off and be replaced after repairing the inner arch. Fingers crossed it is the former. It will also be having the roof repainted due to a stone chip that has caught the red peril. Longer term (hopefully not 10 years this time) I hope to have a full underside resto. How far I go with this will be price dependant, but I have seen a place that does wonderful work albeit for considerable cost. We'll see. Between now and then, I have some UV protection for the headlight lenses to apply (having given them a good resto again last week), and some Gtechniq C4 to bring back the lustre in the wing mirror bases.
Special shout out to Torque GT who supplied the wheels and suspension. Not wanting to anger the mods, I do want to call out their impeccable customer service throughout. The guy at the other end of the email was superb and answered all questions promptly and thoroughly. Really, in this age of the zero fk approach to customer service, it was really refreshing to deal with a company and individual who valued their customer. I wouldn't go anywhere else now for all things Japanese.
I hope this has been of some interest, and I imagine the next update will follow on from the rust repairs. Until then,
First things first:
Ooh, intrigue!
So, if you look back through the annuls of this thread, you'll see many references to my future plans for this car that usually reference something from Enkei, and something from Bilstein. As is often the case with these things, life gets in the way and in my case this was a house move, then lots of redecorating / unf
king past owner's DIY (still ongoing), then new bathrooms, then wedding... it was just one thing after another. All positive, but it left little time or money for my poor old Zed. But fret no more! During one of my semi-annual browsings of all thing aftermarket I was once again looking at the price of bits. Now, it has to be mentioned that my hope for ever buying these bits was diminishing by the year. Naturally, things kept getting more expensive. What was going to cost quite a lot of money, was now going to cost an awful lot of money. Until, that is, the wheels I'd been lusting after for nearly 10 years were on sale! In the size I wanted! It was at this point that the "f
k it" threshold was reached and four 18" x 9.5j RPF1s were hastily added to the basket of the vendor (Torque GT) and duly bought before the sensible part of my brain figured out what was going on. One jiffy later, and an invoice had wended its way into my inbox. It was at this point that I had bought the wheels and nothing else. The nothing else in question unfortunately was not on sale, and was still an awful lot of money. But, in for a penny, in for a pound!
It had been my plan to buy Bilstein B8 dampers married to Tein S-Tech springs. A tried and tested marriage resulting in a good fixed rate, fixed height fast road suspension setup. Unfortunately, Nissan had other ideas. The problem with using the Bilstein / Tein combo was that the other accoutrements that make up a suspension strut were not part of the deal. I could either buy new top mounts, bushes, nuts, bolts etc. or strip down the struts already on the car and re-use those parts. The issue with this was of course that these parts are 16 years old. It's seemed to me to be counter-intuitive to re-use these parts, so I toddled off to Nissan with a list of part numbers for new items.
"Hello", I said, "can I have a quote for these part numbers?"
"Of course", replied the Nissan service guy who duly disappeared to fetch a price for me.
Some time passed, and I wondered if the fellow had hopped onto a plane to Yokohama to ask in person. But, return he eventually did.
"Yeah," he began. I wasn't filled with hope. "So, this is cost per item - times two for each side. Many of these parts are also on a three month lead from Japan."
I looked down. I looked up. I chuckled. I walked out (having thanked the Nissan guy for his time).
£1,100 for new consumables. It wasn't a terribly long list, neither were the parts particularly complex in nature. Bear in mind, this £1,100 was additional to the cost of the Bilsteins and the Teins and I would have to build the buggers.
I got back onto the proverbial blower to Torque GT and enquired about a good set of coilovers to compliment the 350Z. They suggested some MeisterR Zeta CRDs. A good mid-range option suited to fast road driving. The "f
k it" threshold having long since been crossed, another invoice soon landed in my inbox. Next: tyres. I was hoping to get some Toyo R888s. I don't do many miles in the Zed these days so the soft compound of these didn't matter too much. But no. The sizes I wanted, 255/40 front and 275/40 rear, I couldn't get together. I could only find the 275/40s. I mulled over buying the OE fit Bridgestone RE050A tyres that I had always used. However, I couldn't find these either and they're old and a bit crap anyway. What was available that was new and not crap? Michelin Pilot Sport 5s. Good reviews, released last year and available in the sizes I wanted! Smashing!
How much?! Oh for goodness sake.
Something about sunk cost fallacies crossed my mind, but it was swiftly suppressed as once more the "f
k it" button was pressed. I was all set. First to arrive (after some less than stellar performance by Parcelforce), the hitherto teased Enkeis:
Oh my. I'd be lying if I said I didn't look at them more than is healthy for a man to look at some aluminium cylinders. But these were Enkei RPF1s, the wheel I had wanted for what was at this point approaching a third of my life. And they were gorgeous. The ideal wheel for the 350Z. There are other wheels that suit the venerable Zed, but none quite like the RPF1.
Next, the tyres. Now these were stored for a short while in my dining room. It was at the time that we had our warm weather in June. The residual release compound Michelin use to release the tyres from their moulds became soft and imparted themselves onto my nice wood floor. So now, forevermore I shall have "Michelin" stained in mirror text beneath my dining table.
Ah well. It's on the replace list anyway.
It was at this point that a I was struck by a quandary. I had four wide wheels, and four even wider tyres to shift to my local tyre place. Aside from the 350Z (not a chance) I also own a Fiesta. It was like the car was made for the job!
The place I use, Tyre Smart in Witham, have always treated their customers cars with care and professionalism and this time was no different. In fact, the wheels caused something of a minor stir as some employees enquired about them and their final destination. As always, after a short wait the wheels were shod in rubber and there was nary a mark on them. Ace service as always.
Plenty of rubber on these - no rubber bands to be seen here.
A week or so later, up turned the suspension. I opened the box and was greeted by the prettiest looking suspension components I had ever seen! Forget the blue and yellow of Bilstein, the anodised red on black made quite the impression. So far, so good. MeisterR are not long established, so I have to say I went out on a bit of a limb in buying them.
If nothing else, they do look nice. 2mm pre-load, 32 way adjustable damper compression and rebound, adjustable height. Knowing nothing about suspension setup I popped the dampers to 16 (middle ground seems sensible, right?) and left it at that for the time being.
At my next convenience, I began the task of swapping everything over. Now, this isn't a massive job however the car had been buttoned up 16 years prior in Kaminokawa, Tochigi prefecture and not touched since. It was also on the driveway, which with the best will in the world is a colossal pain the in the arse to work on. However, I have to say that the car had impeccable manners and through up no real drama. The worst of it was removing part of the brake line from the OE strut. The bracket to which this part was fastened yielded before the nut so I couldn't apply any real torque to it without the bracket starting to twist. A pair of adjustables to hold it still later, and off it came. Smooth sailing from here on out.
First job, fit some spigot rings. Now, the standard hub spigot on the 350Z is 66mm. The RPF1s, being made for all manner of vehicles, were 73.1mm i.e., too big. A lesser man might have thought "f
k it" and slapped the wheels on anyway in the hope the studs would centralise it sufficiently. Well, I had expended all the laissez-faire attitude I had to give, and now was time for some control. Fortunately, RAYS do some nice turned aluminium spigots rings to step down the bore of the wheels, so these were fitted (with a dab of copper slip should I wish to remove them in future). I was expecting some drama fitting them but they went in with no more than some well applied thumb action. Fronts first, up went the car onto my trusty Halfords axle stands on wooden blocks (since replaced with rubber blocks as they started to crack over the duration of this job!) and I surveyed my foe - an old strut.
The part I had been dreading most was the released of the upper ball joint. The strut won't come away without the upper arm being freed to make space. I had borrowed a friend's ball joint splitter for this task. I was tooled up. Except it didn't fit. Bugger. However, quelle surprise when after having loaded the suspension up to remove the nut the ball joint practically fell away of its own accord once the pressure was relieved from the hub. All it required was the daintiest of love taps and out it popped. Marvellous!
Out came the strut and that was that.
In went the new one, job jobbed! Naturally, everything was torqued to spec. There was none of this FT nonsense here.
Rinses and repeat on the other side and I was halfway there.
The rear was jacked up, the sketchy looking wooden blocks re-employed and I cracked on. The rear would be easier, not that the fronts posed any challenge. I had a pair of spring compressors to remove the old items and install the new ones. Aforementioned trusty friend had loaned them, so I knew I was in good hands despite the previous hiccup with the non-fitting ball joint splitter.
The b
ds didn't fit. Oh well. Under went the jack to take the load, the spring bucket bolt was removed and the bucket lowered. Out popped the springs with some persuasive manoeuvres and in went the new ones. Jack the spring bucket back up and button it all up again.
Lovely job. Rinse and repeat again and I was nearly there!
I should add that at each corner I had measured prior to the removal of the old strut the distance from hub centre to arch apex. I used this as a basis for setting the ride height on the new suspension aiming for a 15-20mm drop. With the new wheels on the car, I have to say it was pretty damn close and I not made any further adjustments to ride height since having it back on the road. There is some minor scraping on the front when the car goes over some larger dips so I am toying with the idea of lifting the front a smidge and turn the damper knob up a few stages to firm things up just a tad. I'd probably do the same to the rears (turn the stiffness up a little that is), however I can't get to the dials on the rear dampers hidden as they are within the body work. I'd have to remove the dampers again to get to them. Not a big job, just a pain. You can drill holes to reach the knobs if you are so inclined, and indeed extensions were supplied for just this purpose however I am not pre-disposed to drilling holes in my car so won't be doing this. The fit and forget element of the Bilsteins is what sold me the idea of fixed rate everything but I am where I am with the coilovers so I'll just have to find some time to adjust.
Anyway, I am reasonably happy with the car as it sits and minor scrapage aside it drives very nicely. It took it back to my guys at Trye Smart for a four wheel alignment on their Hunter to bring the car back in line with OE where possible. The standard arms provide very little in the way of adjustment so I have what I have to some extent, but it's not too wild with 0 degs steer ahead, -1.5degs camber at the front, and -2.25degs camber at the rear. Rear toe is out of spec by 6 minutes offside, and 2 minutes near side. Not sure why and there is no adjustment for rear toe. We're talking less than a mm (0.8mm) out of true for 6 minutes and 0.2mm for 2 minutes so it's not the end of the world but it's annoying to have it out of spec.
With this done, the next up task is in October where I have the car booked in for some surgery (see my previous [and unanswered
] post). The rust on the NSR arch requires chopping out, and fingers crossed it hasn't progressed to far from what is visible. Best case, the rust can be cut out and a patch welded in. Worst case, the rear quarter will need to come off and be replaced after repairing the inner arch. Fingers crossed it is the former. It will also be having the roof repainted due to a stone chip that has caught the red peril. Longer term (hopefully not 10 years this time) I hope to have a full underside resto. How far I go with this will be price dependant, but I have seen a place that does wonderful work albeit for considerable cost. We'll see. Between now and then, I have some UV protection for the headlight lenses to apply (having given them a good resto again last week), and some Gtechniq C4 to bring back the lustre in the wing mirror bases.Special shout out to Torque GT who supplied the wheels and suspension. Not wanting to anger the mods, I do want to call out their impeccable customer service throughout. The guy at the other end of the email was superb and answered all questions promptly and thoroughly. Really, in this age of the zero f
k approach to customer service, it was really refreshing to deal with a company and individual who valued their customer. I wouldn't go anywhere else now for all things Japanese. I hope this has been of some interest, and I imagine the next update will follow on from the rust repairs. Until then,
Thanks both. I have to say I’m very pleased with them.
The reason I haven’t opted for any centre caps is for a couple of reasons. They’re not to my taste, and they don’t fit anyway. The front drive shafts extend through the centre bore of the wheels so the caps don’t fit over them. They fit on the rear but then that would look asymmetrical.
The reason I haven’t opted for any centre caps is for a couple of reasons. They’re not to my taste, and they don’t fit anyway. The front drive shafts extend through the centre bore of the wheels so the caps don’t fit over them. They fit on the rear but then that would look asymmetrical.
samoht said:
Looking great. I agree RPF1s are top wheels for the 350. Actually the stock wheels are pretty good (esp with spacers) so IMO it's only worth changing if you're putting something great on - like these.
Putting MPS4 on my 350Z was brilliant, it would charge down streaming wet B-roads, the TCS just imperceptibly trimming throttle inputs when needed. On inferior tyres the TCS was incredibly slow-witted, clumsy and intrusive, but just upgrading to Michelins suddenly made it top-notch.
Visually I think your car would benefit from being a few cm higher at the front, so that would work well if it also stops the scraping as you mention. You could always do the ride height for now, and then only invest the time in putting the damping up all round if it's still scraping I guess.
Thanks. RPF1s are the wheel for 350s IMO, more so even than the TE37. The standard wheels are nice, and RAYS so a top brand, however as you say their offset is rubbish which while this can be fixed with spacers I don’t like spacers, particularly when you need 25mm to push the wheels out sufficiently. Plus, the rears are still 8.5” wide in 245 section tyres so look a bit too narrow. Having 9.5” wheels on 275 section tyres really fills the arches out and it looks great from the back. Putting MPS4 on my 350Z was brilliant, it would charge down streaming wet B-roads, the TCS just imperceptibly trimming throttle inputs when needed. On inferior tyres the TCS was incredibly slow-witted, clumsy and intrusive, but just upgrading to Michelins suddenly made it top-notch.
Visually I think your car would benefit from being a few cm higher at the front, so that would work well if it also stops the scraping as you mention. You could always do the ride height for now, and then only invest the time in putting the damping up all round if it's still scraping I guess.
I’ve not driven the car in the wet yet as I don’t tend to drive it when rain is forecast (which is all the time at the moment…), however dry performance seems to be good.
I agree. The front is a bit too low for my liking, so I’ll probably wind it back up by 10mm or so at some point. For a first pass it’s sufficient. The rears are more or less spot on for my taste so I’ll leave them where they are. If, as you say, the scraping persists I’ll look to stiffen things up a little.
Well, as it turns out raising the front "at some point" turned out to be today. I was intending on today being a sit around in my pants and do nothing day, but the need to do something about the front ride height got the better of me, and so after an hour or so of fiddling it's at a better height.
Just in time too, as the ever-present rain has just started to fall once more.
I'm happier with the height now, with the gap between arch and tyre broadly the same front and rear. I've just got to see if the scraping has been resolved too.
Just in time too, as the ever-present rain has just started to fall once more.
I'm happier with the height now, with the gap between arch and tyre broadly the same front and rear. I've just got to see if the scraping has been resolved too.
tallpaul26 said:
Where abouts are you considering for the underside restoration? I’m researching specialists for a project of mine so would be good to compare services (and price)!
A place called Autotorque, in Aylesbury. There are some photos of their work, and I think I'll let them speak for themselves. Price wise, I'm expecting lots! I think there was a guy on here who had his S2000 done and it was low 5 figures - but this was a complete nut and bolt job. LactoseJoe said:
I think the Blitz dampers are probably better to suited to U.K. roads - faster and smoother than the Japanese roads I’m used to. I found with the original springs suspension would bottom out on some terrain with my ride height. I should specify I’m running the Blitz on an R34, when I had my Z I was using Tanabe Sustec Pro with EDC which were fantastic.
I am loving how clean this is, there are a lot of ruined “hot boy” 350Zs out there these days. When they become scarce, no doubt the Z will be a classic.
These are MeisterR coilovers just FYI. Do they share parts with the Blitz items? I am loving how clean this is, there are a lot of ruined “hot boy” 350Zs out there these days. When they become scarce, no doubt the Z will be a classic.
I couldn't agree more. There are a lot of utterly trash 350Zs out there, so I want to keep it nice and clean. "OEM+", if you like.
bumskins said:
Looks lovely OP, great choice of wheel and looks perfect without the centre caps IMO. RPF1/TE37 are a couple of wheel designs where the replicas never look great, but those Enkeis you've got have a nice bit of offset 
Thanks! I had another look and I don't know what I was thinking - the caps will fit over the ends of the driveshafts after all! I might get some generic Enkei ones rather than the RPF1 type. I did a lot of Googling to get the right offset. Choose the wrong offset and you get wheels with convex spokes which don't look as good. I went for 18 x 9.5j ET15 all round, and just staggered the tyres to keep the diameter the same as the standard wheels to keep the car happy. The wheels sit nice and flush now, whereas the standard wheels get lost in the arches without spacers.
cerb4.5lee said:
A lovely choice of wheel and tyre. 
It looks great!
Cheers Lee - I reckon they would look alright on your Zed It looks great!
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