350z, drifting & a questionable car history
Discussion
Had my 350z for a few months now so thought I’d do a little thread on it.
[/url] IMG_3411 by Gooles Boolington, on Flickr
Quick car history from the last 6 years before we get into it;
Started out with a MK5 (facelift mk4) Fiesta 1.3 with the old kent pushrod engine. Lasted 2 months before I chopped it in for a 1.25 Zetec – 17 year old me wanted a twin cam engine with a rev counter. Great little car. Caught the RWD bug 6 months into my first year of driving and picked up a Volvo 360 with a welded diff for £500.
Drove it around and tried to learn how to control a slide. Cool little car with a 2.0 carbed redblock and 100bhp. Felt fast to me at 18. Eventually got the hang of it and then got rid of it for a bog standard S13 200SX.
Promptly blew the headgasket after 3 days. Sat for 3 months while I tried to sort it, eventually put a new CA18DET in but it never quite ran right and I had no idea what I was doing so sold it on.
Picked up a 328i, which had ebay coilovers and a welded diff. Learnt how to properly drift, kept it for about 6 months and then got 6 points on my licence. Bit of a killer at 19...
200SXs were still cheap to insure and so I did the obvious thing and bought an absolutely hanging, rotten and badly modified one for too much money.
Blew that one up too, sold it on and got an MX5 1.6 MK1. Lasted 3 months, liked it but got sick of dailying it. Also kept on doing aux belts in it.
Picked up this clean little 325i in 2014. They were still cheap and plentiful back then. This was a nice factory manual M50 car which frankly I should have never got my hands on.
Made it look cool, welded the diff and took it to Lydden Hill on a drift day...
and wrote it off. Painful to look back onto now…
Bought a cheap cheap E34 520i spontaneously off of facebook, picking it up at midnight 150 miles from home. Was alright other than the fact that it had just one wiper and the coilovers were completely blown. Cool thing to smoke about in. 2.0 M50 was peppy enough and the shape and interior cemented my love for E34s.
Managed to swap it for a 1991 non vanos 325i Saloon that had been barried up.
Had a blown diff. Swapped in a 3.15 welded diff, made it look nice and used it daily for about a year.
Did 5 drift days in it and plenty of street driving in it.
Great car, should have never sold it. Owner after me got side swiped by a HGV and the engine eventually ended up going into my mate’s Touring.
I then bought another rotten overpriced S13 to build up. It wasn’t road worthy (are any of them?) so I picked up a cheap cheap 320i saloon to ponce about in. It was standard for about 2 hours (other than a handy synchro delete on every single gear in the gearbox) – by the end of my first day of ownership I had it looking like this:
I then smashed the sump (obviously) and decided it was easier to put a 2.8 in then change the original sump. Put a 2.8 in but left the original gearbox on as I thought it just needed a new slave. Turned out it legitimately had no synchros left. More daily double-declutching, but this time with circa-200bhp.
Also picked up another mk1 MX5, this one with a full track spec. Brilliant car, savage to daily though.
I then managed to clock a TT99 ban in 2016, so had 6 months to enjoy the pleasures of southern rail and pushbikes. Sold the E36 (thank god) and got my mate to pick up and store an S14 200SX rolling shell in his unit.
We built it up to an almost complete car from a bare shell, but ran out of money (I was in the midst of my undergrad degree at the time).
I picked up a K11 Micra as a daily. Great car.
Sold the S14 within 4 hours of advertising it. Arranged my pal to deliver it on a truck, and whilst they were up in the midlands delivering it I found another one to buy and got them to pick it up on the way back. This one was a Silvia with an N/A SR20DE – 160bhp. Not a bad setup imo.
It was absolutely hanging and had 341,000km on the clock but I persisted with it and got it looking pretty nice.
Eventually the SR20DE did its bottom end. Whilst sourcing a new engine I saw this E34 540i 6-speed come up for sale and snapped it up. Incredible fast road spec with BCs, polybushed, s/s exhaust, etc etc. Brilliant car but had been abused through the last 4 owners and was tired by the time it came to me. Loved driving it though. I cleaned it up the best I could, de-barried it and dailyed it for a while. Favourite car I've had and will have or build another at some point.
Put a new engine in the S14. Kept it for a year in total and then sold it to a girl who drove it 1000km back to the south of france at midnight. Bizarre.
Still had the E34 but was constantly working on it to keep it on the road – drivetrain was solid but had loads of niggly issues. Anyone who’s had a tired E34 will understand just how many things can break on them without warning.
Used the cash from the S14 to buy this E36 328i at the beginning of my third year at uni. Great car. Did loads to it, did a drift day, dailyed it, did 20k in a year, moved house with it and generally used it properly. Had it looking like this after 6 months
Was working on it every weekend but loved it and it had a great spec. However I then finished my undergrad and managed to get a place at a London uni for a taught Masters. Moving to London would mean losing space to work on cars regularly, and also meant I couldn’t have something mega low. The E36 had to go.
Also had an E38 740i for about 3 months. Fab car.
[/url]
I moved back to my Mum’s for summer as I landed an internship, and picked up an E39 530i Touring (mainly to move house in) and a 1.6 MX5 with a roll bar and HSDs. Great fun, great combo. E39 did its gearbox and air suspension within a month though. Sorted the gearbox, moved house and sold it on for cheap to another enthusiast. MX5 was great but I missed having fast tin-top coupes.
I then moved back out and found a place in south London. No off street parking ofc - whatever I got had to be reasonably reliable and not require constant spannering
I still had the E34 throughout – couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. I was doing bits and bobs here and there but I started my Masters in September and couldn’t afford to spend time on it. I advertised it and got offered a 350z as a swap. Was never interested in them as they seemed heavy and I don’t like 2-seaters, but the idea of having a car that was 10 years newer than my usual stuff but still did the whole RWD drivers car thing appealed. Went to go see it and did a deal.
Wasn’t at all what I’d normally go for spec wise; had loads of stickers on it, a big plastic gearknob, holes drilled in the bumper, was on lowering springs instead of coilovers, etc. But it drove well and was a convenient deal. I took it in looking like this
Bought HSDs, a Recaro SPG, some wheels, loads of small bits and it now sits like this.
I did a drift day in it last week and it was spot on – needs some better cooling and could do with a little more steering lock but I really enjoy the chassis and powertrain and overall it’s a great package.
Plans are to keep it for now and keep on improving – however I’m always on the lookout for another 200SX. Short of a 200SX or M3 I’m not sure where I can go faster or have more fun this side of 10k – plus the 350z happens to be ULEZ compliant. Always a bonus, especially as I live close to central london.
Having had 9 E36s and a bunch of s-bodies, the 350z IMO drives like a chunkier S14 and absolutely pisses all over E36s and E46s chassis wise. Why these haven't taken off as a cheap track hack is beyond me, but I'm all the happier for it as there are plenty of affordable, well taken care of examples out there for people to own and use.
Overall its a great car; pretty reliable, not bad to insure at 24 with mods declared etc, fast, looks alright and handles well. They're as cheap as they'll ever be now and I'd highly recommend one over anything with a BMW badge this side of 10k.
Here's a little video of our last drift day if anyone is interested.
https://youtu.be/ErsxCkHIbhM
[/url] IMG_3411 by Gooles Boolington, on FlickrQuick car history from the last 6 years before we get into it;
Started out with a MK5 (facelift mk4) Fiesta 1.3 with the old kent pushrod engine. Lasted 2 months before I chopped it in for a 1.25 Zetec – 17 year old me wanted a twin cam engine with a rev counter. Great little car. Caught the RWD bug 6 months into my first year of driving and picked up a Volvo 360 with a welded diff for £500.
Drove it around and tried to learn how to control a slide. Cool little car with a 2.0 carbed redblock and 100bhp. Felt fast to me at 18. Eventually got the hang of it and then got rid of it for a bog standard S13 200SX.
Promptly blew the headgasket after 3 days. Sat for 3 months while I tried to sort it, eventually put a new CA18DET in but it never quite ran right and I had no idea what I was doing so sold it on.
Picked up a 328i, which had ebay coilovers and a welded diff. Learnt how to properly drift, kept it for about 6 months and then got 6 points on my licence. Bit of a killer at 19...
200SXs were still cheap to insure and so I did the obvious thing and bought an absolutely hanging, rotten and badly modified one for too much money.
Blew that one up too, sold it on and got an MX5 1.6 MK1. Lasted 3 months, liked it but got sick of dailying it. Also kept on doing aux belts in it.
Picked up this clean little 325i in 2014. They were still cheap and plentiful back then. This was a nice factory manual M50 car which frankly I should have never got my hands on.
Made it look cool, welded the diff and took it to Lydden Hill on a drift day...
and wrote it off. Painful to look back onto now…
Bought a cheap cheap E34 520i spontaneously off of facebook, picking it up at midnight 150 miles from home. Was alright other than the fact that it had just one wiper and the coilovers were completely blown. Cool thing to smoke about in. 2.0 M50 was peppy enough and the shape and interior cemented my love for E34s.
Managed to swap it for a 1991 non vanos 325i Saloon that had been barried up.
Had a blown diff. Swapped in a 3.15 welded diff, made it look nice and used it daily for about a year.
Did 5 drift days in it and plenty of street driving in it.
Great car, should have never sold it. Owner after me got side swiped by a HGV and the engine eventually ended up going into my mate’s Touring.
I then bought another rotten overpriced S13 to build up. It wasn’t road worthy (are any of them?) so I picked up a cheap cheap 320i saloon to ponce about in. It was standard for about 2 hours (other than a handy synchro delete on every single gear in the gearbox) – by the end of my first day of ownership I had it looking like this:
I then smashed the sump (obviously) and decided it was easier to put a 2.8 in then change the original sump. Put a 2.8 in but left the original gearbox on as I thought it just needed a new slave. Turned out it legitimately had no synchros left. More daily double-declutching, but this time with circa-200bhp.
Also picked up another mk1 MX5, this one with a full track spec. Brilliant car, savage to daily though.
I then managed to clock a TT99 ban in 2016, so had 6 months to enjoy the pleasures of southern rail and pushbikes. Sold the E36 (thank god) and got my mate to pick up and store an S14 200SX rolling shell in his unit.
We built it up to an almost complete car from a bare shell, but ran out of money (I was in the midst of my undergrad degree at the time).
I picked up a K11 Micra as a daily. Great car.
Sold the S14 within 4 hours of advertising it. Arranged my pal to deliver it on a truck, and whilst they were up in the midlands delivering it I found another one to buy and got them to pick it up on the way back. This one was a Silvia with an N/A SR20DE – 160bhp. Not a bad setup imo.
It was absolutely hanging and had 341,000km on the clock but I persisted with it and got it looking pretty nice.
Eventually the SR20DE did its bottom end. Whilst sourcing a new engine I saw this E34 540i 6-speed come up for sale and snapped it up. Incredible fast road spec with BCs, polybushed, s/s exhaust, etc etc. Brilliant car but had been abused through the last 4 owners and was tired by the time it came to me. Loved driving it though. I cleaned it up the best I could, de-barried it and dailyed it for a while. Favourite car I've had and will have or build another at some point.
Put a new engine in the S14. Kept it for a year in total and then sold it to a girl who drove it 1000km back to the south of france at midnight. Bizarre.
Still had the E34 but was constantly working on it to keep it on the road – drivetrain was solid but had loads of niggly issues. Anyone who’s had a tired E34 will understand just how many things can break on them without warning.
Used the cash from the S14 to buy this E36 328i at the beginning of my third year at uni. Great car. Did loads to it, did a drift day, dailyed it, did 20k in a year, moved house with it and generally used it properly. Had it looking like this after 6 months
Was working on it every weekend but loved it and it had a great spec. However I then finished my undergrad and managed to get a place at a London uni for a taught Masters. Moving to London would mean losing space to work on cars regularly, and also meant I couldn’t have something mega low. The E36 had to go.
Also had an E38 740i for about 3 months. Fab car.
[/url]I moved back to my Mum’s for summer as I landed an internship, and picked up an E39 530i Touring (mainly to move house in) and a 1.6 MX5 with a roll bar and HSDs. Great fun, great combo. E39 did its gearbox and air suspension within a month though. Sorted the gearbox, moved house and sold it on for cheap to another enthusiast. MX5 was great but I missed having fast tin-top coupes.
I then moved back out and found a place in south London. No off street parking ofc - whatever I got had to be reasonably reliable and not require constant spannering
I still had the E34 throughout – couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. I was doing bits and bobs here and there but I started my Masters in September and couldn’t afford to spend time on it. I advertised it and got offered a 350z as a swap. Was never interested in them as they seemed heavy and I don’t like 2-seaters, but the idea of having a car that was 10 years newer than my usual stuff but still did the whole RWD drivers car thing appealed. Went to go see it and did a deal.
Wasn’t at all what I’d normally go for spec wise; had loads of stickers on it, a big plastic gearknob, holes drilled in the bumper, was on lowering springs instead of coilovers, etc. But it drove well and was a convenient deal. I took it in looking like this
Bought HSDs, a Recaro SPG, some wheels, loads of small bits and it now sits like this.
I did a drift day in it last week and it was spot on – needs some better cooling and could do with a little more steering lock but I really enjoy the chassis and powertrain and overall it’s a great package.
Plans are to keep it for now and keep on improving – however I’m always on the lookout for another 200SX. Short of a 200SX or M3 I’m not sure where I can go faster or have more fun this side of 10k – plus the 350z happens to be ULEZ compliant. Always a bonus, especially as I live close to central london.
Having had 9 E36s and a bunch of s-bodies, the 350z IMO drives like a chunkier S14 and absolutely pisses all over E36s and E46s chassis wise. Why these haven't taken off as a cheap track hack is beyond me, but I'm all the happier for it as there are plenty of affordable, well taken care of examples out there for people to own and use.
Overall its a great car; pretty reliable, not bad to insure at 24 with mods declared etc, fast, looks alright and handles well. They're as cheap as they'll ever be now and I'd highly recommend one over anything with a BMW badge this side of 10k.
Here's a little video of our last drift day if anyone is interested.
https://youtu.be/ErsxCkHIbhM
Edited by Gooly on Monday 6th May 20:33
147lusso said:
Nice car history. Sort of similar to me, I actually looked at that same E34 but ended up buying an S13 (wish I bought the 540!) Was it owned by a dude who worked for Merc F1 before you?
It was indeed - he did a load of good stuff to it but the shell and loads of ancillaries were knackered, it had a hard life before he owned it. Great car though, worth buying if only to confirm the fact that I need to build one myself one day.therealsamdailly said:
awesome car history
Appreciate it, definitely had some fun stuff beforeDave. said:
You can get a few extra degrees of steering by removing the lock stops...
Need to get rack spacers on the tie rods first, and then will be cutting down the bump stops. Seems you can gain a fair bitcerb4.5lee said:
A great write up and car history! 
The sideways bug has certainly got a hold on you for sure!
Enjoy the 350Z and I absolutely love the colour.
Thanks, the colour believe it or not took a while to grow on me, not normally one for shouty colours but love it now. Cleans up really nicely. Hard to go back to anything else once you've had a fun rowdy RWD imoThe sideways bug has certainly got a hold on you for sure!
Enjoy the 350Z and I absolutely love the colour.
superkarl said:
Are you being sarcastic when you say ‘made it look nice’ ?
No, but then if we all liked the same stuff then the world would be a pretty boring place. For example, I wouldn't be seen dead in a bloated looking 8L with a naff private plate.Gooly said:
Dave. said:
You can get a few extra degrees of steering by removing the lock stops...
Need to get rack spacers on the tie rods first, and then will be cutting down the bump stops. Seems you can gain a fair bit.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff