2007 Nissan 350Z 313GT
Discussion
Great photos, and well done taking the plunge and getting on track! Car looks great in that slightly coppery grey, too.
It's interesting looking back on how the Z grew on you, from being not that keen on it initially to being unable to resist putting more miles than intended on it this year. If it helps encourage you, every mile driven only knocks 5p off the value, so might as well enjoy her!
Thank you. I very nearly did a lap the first visit in the Zed but bottled it. I think it must have been something to do with the number of Meganes coming off in various states of dismemberment on the back of Bongard trucks.
It’s certainly been a transformative 5 years - I drove one of the recent batch of hot hatches recently and couldn’t stand it. I didn’t like the fakeness of everything, the stupid exhaust pops and the over-assisted nature of all the controls. The Nissan is so much more old school and demands to be driven. Having said that, I would buy another 1M Leon Cupra R if I had the space (and justification) for three cars.
I commented on your thread the other day - you’ll have to let everyone know what you make of the car after you’ve had it a while. Really looks in very good condition. When you get the opportunity take a good look underneath as the rear arches can be prone to corrosion, as can the area behind the sills I mentioned and the so-called W-brace.
It’s certainly been a transformative 5 years - I drove one of the recent batch of hot hatches recently and couldn’t stand it. I didn’t like the fakeness of everything, the stupid exhaust pops and the over-assisted nature of all the controls. The Nissan is so much more old school and demands to be driven. Having said that, I would buy another 1M Leon Cupra R if I had the space (and justification) for three cars.
I commented on your thread the other day - you’ll have to let everyone know what you make of the car after you’ve had it a while. Really looks in very good condition. When you get the opportunity take a good look underneath as the rear arches can be prone to corrosion, as can the area behind the sills I mentioned and the so-called W-brace.
Edited by Alias218 on Saturday 7th December 20:04
After the return from Germany, I went to town on tackling the rear arches which had the beginnings of surface rust appearing:
The 350Z isn't particularly prone to rust, certainly no more than any other modern car, however they do have a number of crap traps, most notably around the rear arch sills where the outer wing skin is welded to the inner monocoque structure and also in front of the rear arches where a piece of plastic trim on each side traps dirt beneath it. When I removed these pieces on my car last year there was a good 15-20mm of caked dirt on each side I had to pick out. First picture is of trim piece in place, second of it removed post-clean muck clean out:
Removing these pieces of trim allows this area to be monitored and kept clean, while a thorough clean of the inner arch on each wash keeps the muck off these areas, though it is easy to miss bits:
However, Nissan only sealed the weld seams along the arch sills, and a significant portion of the tub metal is painted only which is just visible in the first image - there is a distinct tide line between the edge of the undercoated metal and the painted metal. Fortunately, the rust you see above is about as bad as it got on anything structural and is on the nearside to the kerb, so runs in the gutter. The offside was much better, but still required coating:
So, first job.
1. Get car up in the air, remove trim.
Fortunately, the area behind the bumper was 100% solid, if dusty. Unfortunately, the skirts were a right bugger to remove thanks to hiding the clips in area practically inaccessible without having the skirts off already... still, off they came and with no damaged clips.
Bits were scattered where they would fit:
2. Evict squatters.
I'm quite ashamed to say that while I removed the mum with as much grace as she would allow, the babies didn't make it - though I did try to relocate them.
3. Clean arches thoroughly.
The arches weren't too muddy as they had had a good clean when the car went from daily duties and had therefore not been driven the wet for some time. Nonetheless, it wasn't a great base on which to carry out corrosion treatment:
The arches were given a dry scrub down with an alloy wheel brush (narrow head, firm bristles) to remove any loose dirt and muck and to make the job of tidying easier - loose dirt is a lot easier to clean up than wet mud! Next, a plain water scrub to loosen more caked on dirt (sounds like a Mr Muscle ad...) followed finally by a clean with a degreasing agent to provide a neutral surface on which to start work. I bought some Rustbuster Safer Degreaser for this, which worked a treat. (https://www.rust.co.uk/product/safer-degreaser--89)
4. Sent off bracketry to be blasted and powder coated.
With the rear bumper removed, some of the iron work could be assessed. It wasn't all in great shape.
The assemblies were dismantled into their constituent parts, and the pop rivets drilled out to remove the bumper irons.
They were then sent to a local shot blasters and powder coaters to assess their condition and coat them in a corrosion resistant paint.
5. Don power tools!
My trusty Bosch multi-action drill came out for the next job. The corrosion wasn't such that it needed a grinder to take it back metal. Instead I opted for some wire brush bits for the drill (https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/power-tool-accessories/draper-2-piece-wire-brush-set) which were more than sufficient to take the rust back to clean metal, and remove a portion of the factory undercoating surrounding the area. They were excellent for getting into tight spots, though it must be said that they didn't last long.
This was quite a time consuming job on what wasn't a huge work area. I only took it back to clean metal where rust was evident, leaving a border of clean metal around the area - otherwise, if the coating was solid I left it.
6. Coatings
Once I was pleased with the metal work prep, I gave it all another thorough degrease and clean. Working quickly to prevent flash rust, I applied Bilt-Hamber Hydrate 80 (https://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/hydrate-80) to the exposed metal, overlapping onto the good paint/underseal to create a good covering.
The dark areas are where the Hydrate 80 has reacted with the steel beneath.
Leaving to dry overnight, I returned the next day to apply the next treatment: Bilt-Hamber 2K epoxy mastic (https://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/epoxy-mastic).
With that many warnings it has to be good!
In truth it was powerful stuff. It stunk and was quick to go off, so work had to be quick. It was, however, easy to apply with a brush, ensuring a good covering where necessary, overlapping edges to make sure there was nothing left exposed.
I left this for a further day to cure fully.
Next, I masked up the area and the bodywork surrounding the arches. Naturally, given I was sticking down polythene sheeting, the wind picked up
Once on, I could apply the next coating: Hammerite stone chip paint (https://www.hammerite.co.uk/product/stonechip-shield/).
Both arches received a few coats each, again overlapping the edges of the previous coating and again left overnight to dry fully.
The last coating to be applied was a good coat of Halfords satin black acrylic paint (https://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repair/car-spray-paints/halfords-satin-black-spray-paint-500ml). This was sprayed over the entire arch tub area.
This gave a nice clean finish to the job and a uniform appearance to the arches.
7. Collect irons from powder coaters.
The irons were in mostly excellent condition upon collection, as new in some cases. One of the bumper irons had perforated, but as it was behind the bumper and mostly for guide purposes it would suffice. Hopefully with the blasting and coating it wont corrode further:
On the whole, very pleased:
I had to reapply NVH foam that was removed at the blasters, so bought a roll of sticky back foam from Amazon and cut to shape (a none too easy job due to the awkward shapes!).
8. Rebuild.
The fasteners that were removed from the car were in a poor state, so were soaked in spirit vinegar to remove corrosion.
After a quick brush up, they came up almost new bar some pitting. They were then given a coat of zinc paint to protect the exposed areas (obviously the threads would be taken back to metal) to help give them some longevity. I'm not sure how effective this will be, but long term I would like to replace most fasteners with new hardware so will hopefully give them some life until then.
The irons were then refitted, the bumper irons put in place with new rivets.
The below is before and after any work began and is worth comparing.
Overall I'm quite pleased with the outcome. Will it be effective? Will it last? I'm not sure, but time will tell. In the long run I would like to do a full underbody restoration with new bushings, fasteners, brackets and braces as required, which would probably require the arches be taken back to metal again if required. However, for now this will suffice, given my limited work space and storage space.
For now this is it, the car is back in winter storage and next year may bring with it some new Bilstein dampers, Tein springs and perhaps some attention to the front arch area, including bushings. The driver's door weather strip is bought and ready to go on (£270 for a bit of rubber!
).
I hope you've enjoyed the read, but to be frank given the lack of interest in this thread I may not update again. If you like what you see (or not), speak up! I will be happy tinkering either way and hope to make it to a PH meet one day.
Until then, safe driving.
The 350Z isn't particularly prone to rust, certainly no more than any other modern car, however they do have a number of crap traps, most notably around the rear arch sills where the outer wing skin is welded to the inner monocoque structure and also in front of the rear arches where a piece of plastic trim on each side traps dirt beneath it. When I removed these pieces on my car last year there was a good 15-20mm of caked dirt on each side I had to pick out. First picture is of trim piece in place, second of it removed post-clean muck clean out:
Removing these pieces of trim allows this area to be monitored and kept clean, while a thorough clean of the inner arch on each wash keeps the muck off these areas, though it is easy to miss bits:
However, Nissan only sealed the weld seams along the arch sills, and a significant portion of the tub metal is painted only which is just visible in the first image - there is a distinct tide line between the edge of the undercoated metal and the painted metal. Fortunately, the rust you see above is about as bad as it got on anything structural and is on the nearside to the kerb, so runs in the gutter. The offside was much better, but still required coating:
So, first job.
1. Get car up in the air, remove trim.
Fortunately, the area behind the bumper was 100% solid, if dusty. Unfortunately, the skirts were a right bugger to remove thanks to hiding the clips in area practically inaccessible without having the skirts off already... still, off they came and with no damaged clips.
Bits were scattered where they would fit:
2. Evict squatters.
I'm quite ashamed to say that while I removed the mum with as much grace as she would allow, the babies didn't make it - though I did try to relocate them.
3. Clean arches thoroughly.
The arches weren't too muddy as they had had a good clean when the car went from daily duties and had therefore not been driven the wet for some time. Nonetheless, it wasn't a great base on which to carry out corrosion treatment:
The arches were given a dry scrub down with an alloy wheel brush (narrow head, firm bristles) to remove any loose dirt and muck and to make the job of tidying easier - loose dirt is a lot easier to clean up than wet mud! Next, a plain water scrub to loosen more caked on dirt (sounds like a Mr Muscle ad...) followed finally by a clean with a degreasing agent to provide a neutral surface on which to start work. I bought some Rustbuster Safer Degreaser for this, which worked a treat. (https://www.rust.co.uk/product/safer-degreaser--89)
4. Sent off bracketry to be blasted and powder coated.
With the rear bumper removed, some of the iron work could be assessed. It wasn't all in great shape.
The assemblies were dismantled into their constituent parts, and the pop rivets drilled out to remove the bumper irons.
They were then sent to a local shot blasters and powder coaters to assess their condition and coat them in a corrosion resistant paint.
5. Don power tools!
My trusty Bosch multi-action drill came out for the next job. The corrosion wasn't such that it needed a grinder to take it back metal. Instead I opted for some wire brush bits for the drill (https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/power-tool-accessories/draper-2-piece-wire-brush-set) which were more than sufficient to take the rust back to clean metal, and remove a portion of the factory undercoating surrounding the area. They were excellent for getting into tight spots, though it must be said that they didn't last long.
This was quite a time consuming job on what wasn't a huge work area. I only took it back to clean metal where rust was evident, leaving a border of clean metal around the area - otherwise, if the coating was solid I left it.
6. Coatings
Once I was pleased with the metal work prep, I gave it all another thorough degrease and clean. Working quickly to prevent flash rust, I applied Bilt-Hamber Hydrate 80 (https://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/hydrate-80) to the exposed metal, overlapping onto the good paint/underseal to create a good covering.
The dark areas are where the Hydrate 80 has reacted with the steel beneath.
Leaving to dry overnight, I returned the next day to apply the next treatment: Bilt-Hamber 2K epoxy mastic (https://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/epoxy-mastic).
With that many warnings it has to be good!
In truth it was powerful stuff. It stunk and was quick to go off, so work had to be quick. It was, however, easy to apply with a brush, ensuring a good covering where necessary, overlapping edges to make sure there was nothing left exposed. I left this for a further day to cure fully.
Next, I masked up the area and the bodywork surrounding the arches. Naturally, given I was sticking down polythene sheeting, the wind picked up
Once on, I could apply the next coating: Hammerite stone chip paint (https://www.hammerite.co.uk/product/stonechip-shield/). Both arches received a few coats each, again overlapping the edges of the previous coating and again left overnight to dry fully.
The last coating to be applied was a good coat of Halfords satin black acrylic paint (https://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repair/car-spray-paints/halfords-satin-black-spray-paint-500ml). This was sprayed over the entire arch tub area.
This gave a nice clean finish to the job and a uniform appearance to the arches.
7. Collect irons from powder coaters.
The irons were in mostly excellent condition upon collection, as new in some cases. One of the bumper irons had perforated, but as it was behind the bumper and mostly for guide purposes it would suffice. Hopefully with the blasting and coating it wont corrode further:
On the whole, very pleased:
I had to reapply NVH foam that was removed at the blasters, so bought a roll of sticky back foam from Amazon and cut to shape (a none too easy job due to the awkward shapes!).
8. Rebuild.
The fasteners that were removed from the car were in a poor state, so were soaked in spirit vinegar to remove corrosion.
After a quick brush up, they came up almost new bar some pitting. They were then given a coat of zinc paint to protect the exposed areas (obviously the threads would be taken back to metal) to help give them some longevity. I'm not sure how effective this will be, but long term I would like to replace most fasteners with new hardware so will hopefully give them some life until then.
The irons were then refitted, the bumper irons put in place with new rivets.
The below is before and after any work began and is worth comparing.
Overall I'm quite pleased with the outcome. Will it be effective? Will it last? I'm not sure, but time will tell. In the long run I would like to do a full underbody restoration with new bushings, fasteners, brackets and braces as required, which would probably require the arches be taken back to metal again if required. However, for now this will suffice, given my limited work space and storage space.
For now this is it, the car is back in winter storage and next year may bring with it some new Bilstein dampers, Tein springs and perhaps some attention to the front arch area, including bushings. The driver's door weather strip is bought and ready to go on (£270 for a bit of rubber!
). I hope you've enjoyed the read, but to be frank given the lack of interest in this thread I may not update again. If you like what you see (or not), speak up! I will be happy tinkering either way and hope to make it to a PH meet one day.
Until then, safe driving.
Thanks both. I can see numbers of these cars beginning to dwindle soon and it’s my goal to try and maintain this one as best I can so it remains one of the good ones. Given a lack of garage and therefore tools/storage space I can’t do what I would like but I do what I can.
If that spider was a False Widow then it looks like I was lucky not to get bitten!
If that spider was a False Widow then it looks like I was lucky not to get bitten!
Thank you for your posts and updates over the past few years. I don't have a 350Z though I am tempted by them/a 370Z.
Did you get the underbody Dinitrol treatment done this year or has it been postponed (sorry if I missed it in the above). I think I am probably at/near that stage with my Alfa and am wondering how effective it is having a third party 'expert' do this (rather than getting cold, filthy and depressed doing it myself...).
As an aside, I am always appreciative of people spending the time documenting/updating their car/project as I find it one of the most interesting areas of PH to see/read and I think one of PH's strengths - something that will always bring me back to the site. If people stop doing this then PH moves toward being just another vaguely interesting advertorial linkfest.
Thanks again!
Did you get the underbody Dinitrol treatment done this year or has it been postponed (sorry if I missed it in the above). I think I am probably at/near that stage with my Alfa and am wondering how effective it is having a third party 'expert' do this (rather than getting cold, filthy and depressed doing it myself...).
As an aside, I am always appreciative of people spending the time documenting/updating their car/project as I find it one of the most interesting areas of PH to see/read and I think one of PH's strengths - something that will always bring me back to the site. If people stop doing this then PH moves toward being just another vaguely interesting advertorial linkfest.
Thanks again!
carlosvalderrama said:
Excellent timing on this update, I was just in the middle of figuring out whether to buy Bilt Hamber or Dinitrol stuff to do a similar job on my 350Z. Thanks for the clear images and order of works.
How's your bonnet by the way? Turning to Aspirin underneath, or is it OK?
I did a fair bit of research myself as to which products to use. These went in well and complemented each other. It’s too soon to say how effective they are. I’ll have a good look in the spring when the cover comes off. As for the bonnet, it’s holding up fine. I keep it clean underneath so hasn’t any corrosion aside from a little around the catch. It would probably benefit being taken back to metal and resprayed eventually, but for now I’m happy with it. How's your bonnet by the way? Turning to Aspirin underneath, or is it OK?
Om said:
Thank you for your posts and updates over the past few years. I don't have a 350Z though I am tempted by them/a 370Z.
Did you get the underbody Dinitrol treatment done this year or has it been postponed (sorry if I missed it in the above). I think I am probably at/near that stage with my Alfa and am wondering how effective it is having a third party 'expert' do this (rather than getting cold, filthy and depressed doing it myself...).
As an aside, I am always appreciative of people spending the time documenting/updating their car/project as I find it one of the most interesting areas of PH to see/read and I think one of PH's strengths - something that will always bring me back to the site. If people stop doing this then PH moves toward being just another vaguely interesting advertorial linkfest.
Thanks again!
Thank you. Did you get the underbody Dinitrol treatment done this year or has it been postponed (sorry if I missed it in the above). I think I am probably at/near that stage with my Alfa and am wondering how effective it is having a third party 'expert' do this (rather than getting cold, filthy and depressed doing it myself...).
As an aside, I am always appreciative of people spending the time documenting/updating their car/project as I find it one of the most interesting areas of PH to see/read and I think one of PH's strengths - something that will always bring me back to the site. If people stop doing this then PH moves toward being just another vaguely interesting advertorial linkfest.
Thanks again!
I didn’t get it done this year (again) as I wanted to tackle the more pressing areas myself first. I’m not sure if I will get it done now as the coating probably won’t reach hard to reach areas, above the rear sub-frame and differential for instance. Ideally I want to remove everything on the underside of the car to get a clear view of things, but I don’t think the Dinitrol service covers the wholesale removal of components as the garage in question, while very good, isn’t a restoration specialist and may not appreciate having a ramp tied up for days/weeks while the work is carried out between day-to-day jobs. While they probably would do it, the cost would likely be prohibitive. I’ll to enquire further and see, but it’ll more likely be something I would do myself on the drive, though I need a bigger house first!
Of course, whether you do it yourself on your Alfa or get a third party to do it entirely depends on the third party in question.
I suspect, there are a lot of people who (like me) read these threads with interest but seldom comment.
I don't have a Zed but they've always been on my radar as 'one I might own' so it's always interesting to see what people do with them and what needs attention.
So keep up the good work and interesting posts
I don't have a Zed but they've always been on my radar as 'one I might own' so it's always interesting to see what people do with them and what needs attention.
So keep up the good work and interesting posts
Really good read , keep it up!!
I was a youngster when these were released and I owned a civic type r at the time , I yearned after one and (tried) to sit in one at my local dealership and I couldn’t fit , probably just hadn’t adjusted the seat properly , It had the almost orange interior leather from what I can remember.
Fast forward a few years and I was given a 370z as a courtesy when my Gtr was being serviced , found it quite a fun car for the short time I had it.
Can’t help feeling I missed out by not owning one back in the day!
I was a youngster when these were released and I owned a civic type r at the time , I yearned after one and (tried) to sit in one at my local dealership and I couldn’t fit , probably just hadn’t adjusted the seat properly , It had the almost orange interior leather from what I can remember.
Fast forward a few years and I was given a 370z as a courtesy when my Gtr was being serviced , found it quite a fun car for the short time I had it.
Can’t help feeling I missed out by not owning one back in the day!
Mark Benson said:
I suspect, there are a lot of people who (like me) read these threads with interest but seldom comment.
I don't have a Zed but they've always been on my radar as 'one I might own' so it's always interesting to see what people do with them and what needs attention.
So keep up the good work and interesting posts
Thanks. You’re probably right, and while it looked like I was fishing for platitudes (I wasn’t), it’s still nice to know that people enjoy reading what I’ve written. I don't have a Zed but they've always been on my radar as 'one I might own' so it's always interesting to see what people do with them and what needs attention.
So keep up the good work and interesting posts
Fckitdriveon said:
Really good read , keep it up!!
I was a youngster when these were released and I owned a civic type r at the time , I yearned after one and (tried) to sit in one at my local dealership and I couldn’t fit , probably just hadn’t adjusted the seat properly , It had the almost orange interior leather from what I can remember.
Fast forward a few years and I was given a 370z as a courtesy when my Gtr was being serviced , found it quite a fun car for the short time I had it.
Can’t help feeling I missed out by not owning one back in the day!
There’s still time! Though it must be said that the good cars are drying up fast. Having said that, having owned a GTR will probably take the shine off it somewhat. I was a youngster when these were released and I owned a civic type r at the time , I yearned after one and (tried) to sit in one at my local dealership and I couldn’t fit , probably just hadn’t adjusted the seat properly , It had the almost orange interior leather from what I can remember.
Fast forward a few years and I was given a 370z as a courtesy when my Gtr was being serviced , found it quite a fun car for the short time I had it.
Can’t help feeling I missed out by not owning one back in the day!
Alias218 said:
Mark Benson said:
I suspect, there are a lot of people who (like me) read these threads with interest but seldom comment.
I don't have a Zed but they've always been on my radar as 'one I might own' so it's always interesting to see what people do with them and what needs attention.
So keep up the good work and interesting posts
Thanks. You’re probably right, and while it looked like I was fishing for platitudes (I wasn’t), it’s still nice to know that people enjoy reading what I’ve written. I don't have a Zed but they've always been on my radar as 'one I might own' so it's always interesting to see what people do with them and what needs attention.
So keep up the good work and interesting posts
Fckitdriveon said:
Really good read , keep it up!!
I was a youngster when these were released and I owned a civic type r at the time , I yearned after one and (tried) to sit in one at my local dealership and I couldn’t fit , probably just hadn’t adjusted the seat properly , It had the almost orange interior leather from what I can remember.
Fast forward a few years and I was given a 370z as a courtesy when my Gtr was being serviced , found it quite a fun car for the short time I had it.
Can’t help feeling I missed out by not owning one back in the day!
There’s still time! Though it must be said that the good cars are drying up fast. Having said that, having owned a GTR will probably take the shine off it somewhat. I was a youngster when these were released and I owned a civic type r at the time , I yearned after one and (tried) to sit in one at my local dealership and I couldn’t fit , probably just hadn’t adjusted the seat properly , It had the almost orange interior leather from what I can remember.
Fast forward a few years and I was given a 370z as a courtesy when my Gtr was being serviced , found it quite a fun car for the short time I had it.
Can’t help feeling I missed out by not owning one back in the day!
Please keep up the posting though, I can live vicariously through you ; )
Fckitdriveon said:
Somehow I think that ship has sailed , Never meet your heroes isn’t that what they say?!
Sometimes it is worth meeting your heroes though. It hasn't always worked out that way for me, but regarding my 370Z I wished I'd done it sooner. I also still really want tick the 350Z box too, and a test drive in one back in 2006 really planted the seed for me. I do love a Z car for sure.
cerb4.5lee said:
Sometimes it is worth meeting your heroes though. It hasn't always worked out that way for me, but regarding my 370Z I wished I'd done it sooner.
I also still really want tick the 350Z box too, and a test drive in one back in 2006 really planted the seed for me. I do love a Z car for sure.
Somehow I think that ship has sailed , into my 3rd Gtr now and I think that would sully any 350z experience.I also still really want tick the 350Z box too, and a test drive in one back in 2006 really planted the seed for me. I do love a Z car for sure.
Like I said keep up the posting !
cerb4.5lee said:
I'd love a GTR big time so I can understand where you are coming from in fairness. 
95% of the time the car makes no sense , it’s hard riding (albeit much better than the early ones) , it gets very hot in summer , still clunks and grinds at times, the interior is dated despite being a 2019 car, Nissan have run out of ideals with the r35 platform now and it’s time to move the game on. However when the stars align, that 5% is priceless and has me grinning from ear to ear.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff