Project Tree Fiddy: The £2500 350z
Discussion
After 4 and bit years of owning a MINI Cooper SD from new (first new car!), it was time for something less diesely, less mature, and less likely to cost me an arm and a leg to maintain. The reason why I bought the MINI was down to me doing 20k miles a year and wanting something I could pile the miles on, have fun, and enjoy not filling up so much.
The MINI was one of those annoyingly brilliant cars, much like a 320d, Golf GTD etc. They can go fast enough but also are supremely affordable to run (until they go wrong). The MINI was super fast along Norfolk's bumpy B roads, soaking up the undulating surface with relative ease whilst the twin scroll turbo diesel meant that you could stick in 4th and leave it there for most of the time!
However, it was quite compromised as a soulful car due to the clattery engine up front. It was something I could never truly gel with. Due to the pandemic and realising that the MINI never really won me over, I started seeking out something else...
Funnily enough, fate brought about a series of events leading to me now owning a written off and slightly shagged 350z. The story is that one of my friends had a 350z which was mechanically very solid but after a Citroen driver did a classic SMIDSY at a junction, it was now cosmetically a bit of a beater.
Here's how it looked post crash:
Insurance noped out of fixing it so wrote it off. However, all the car needed was a new crash bar, some new bumper clips and some bush mechanic genius with zip ties to slap the front end put back together.
Anyway, fast forward to a few weeks back and my mate decided he couldn't be arsed staying in England any longer, and has been one of the lucky few to get accepted into New Zealand, which meant that his car needed to go fairly sharpish so he could get the plane tickets bought.
With me bored of the MINI and wanting something 'proper', a £2500 350z with decent known history was difficult to pass up. Which leads me to the 350z parked on my drive (looking a little less broken).
A little about the car, it's a 2004 Blade Silver Nissan 350z GT with the VQ35DE 3.5 V6 VVT with 280hp. Here it is after a wash and wax, plus a spruce up of the interior:
Now I'm not a massive spanner monkey, only really dabbling in the odd tinker here and an oil change there. I barely touched the MINI as there was no point so I'm seeing this as an opportunity to re-learn some basic mechanics, try out some restoration tricks, modifications, and try out some bodywork jobs too.
This weekend was a chance to begin the first of the 'mods', installing an updated airbox and aftermarket panel filter. It's low hanging fruit and gives me a chance to work on the car without the risk of complete calamity!
Nerd note: The 350z went through a couple of incarnations; the DE and HR are the most obvious, but there were a couple of little changes throughout the years which can help improve an early car. For instance, the '06 350z features a slightly improved airbox which has a larger venturi to smooth out the airflow going into the plenum, this apparently results in better response, improved mpg and possibly 4-5hp gain (doubt it). A chap off FB had one up for £50 so snapped that up and purchased a snazzy aftermarket filter as well, to hopefully increase airflow and get some more induction noise, without worrying about heat soak.
I went for a Pipercross panel filter as i've got one in my Triumph Sprint ST 1050 and it does a good job of filtering the air, makes a decent noise, and is easy to service without any of the oil nonsense you get with K&N.
First job was cleaning the '06 airbox and fitting the new air filter:
Here's a close up where you can see the larger venturi:
Here's the difference between the Pipercross (aftermarket) filter and the stock paper one:
I then placed the filter onto the cartridge, applied a liberal amount of washing up liquid, sweared multiple times and then clipped the whole thing shut.
Success!:
Now to fit it...
There's really not much room in here! But after unbolting the old box, unplugging the MAF and wiggling it out; it was free!
Close up of the air filter... Yuck, cheers mate!
Dropping the new airbox in was just the reverse of removal. Had a chance to tidy up the engine bay and copper grease some bolts too:
After a quick blip up and down the dual carriageway to make sure everything was screwed in tight and nothing was throwing the codes, it was a good time for my girlfriend to have a go driving it. Now, unlike me who merely liked the MINI, my girlfriend LOVED the MINI! So selling this s***box 350z to her was going to be a tough sell.
I thought what better way then to let her drive it... as we all know, POWER CORRUPTS 
I directed her towards Suffolk via the Watton road as it's wide enough and quiet enough for her to get used to the car (She's only ever driven sub 100hp Corsas) but also experience a relatively fun, dynamic and occasionally fast road in a 'sports car'. She took to it really well and was thoroughly enjoying herself, especially giving it the beans and hearing the Cobra cat back roar
We stopped off so I could get a quick snap and then swapped seats and headed home!
So that's it for now, the plan for the car is to enjoy it, drive it and possibly do the odd track day. There's a possibility of a 2021 Nurburgring trip, or at the very least a jaunt to France.
For that to happen I would like to continue with the improvements. Next on the list is:
- Headlight restoration (I'm going to be using Holts kit)
- Leather seat re-dye on bolster to bring that back from the dead
- New gear knob
- Sort a rattle coming from the exhaust and re-align it
- Front bumper and bonnet
- Oil change and new spark plugs in the spring
- Refurb the alloys / buy another set
- Alignment and/or TEIN coilovers with new top mounts
- A re-bush but no idea on cost
Let me know if this was too wordy, picture heavy or even what you think I should do next to it! Be cool to get you all involved with this project
In the meantime, Happy Diwali and stay safe!
The MINI was one of those annoyingly brilliant cars, much like a 320d, Golf GTD etc. They can go fast enough but also are supremely affordable to run (until they go wrong). The MINI was super fast along Norfolk's bumpy B roads, soaking up the undulating surface with relative ease whilst the twin scroll turbo diesel meant that you could stick in 4th and leave it there for most of the time!
However, it was quite compromised as a soulful car due to the clattery engine up front. It was something I could never truly gel with. Due to the pandemic and realising that the MINI never really won me over, I started seeking out something else...
Funnily enough, fate brought about a series of events leading to me now owning a written off and slightly shagged 350z. The story is that one of my friends had a 350z which was mechanically very solid but after a Citroen driver did a classic SMIDSY at a junction, it was now cosmetically a bit of a beater.
Here's how it looked post crash:
Insurance noped out of fixing it so wrote it off. However, all the car needed was a new crash bar, some new bumper clips and some bush mechanic genius with zip ties to slap the front end put back together.
Anyway, fast forward to a few weeks back and my mate decided he couldn't be arsed staying in England any longer, and has been one of the lucky few to get accepted into New Zealand, which meant that his car needed to go fairly sharpish so he could get the plane tickets bought.
With me bored of the MINI and wanting something 'proper', a £2500 350z with decent known history was difficult to pass up. Which leads me to the 350z parked on my drive (looking a little less broken).
A little about the car, it's a 2004 Blade Silver Nissan 350z GT with the VQ35DE 3.5 V6 VVT with 280hp. Here it is after a wash and wax, plus a spruce up of the interior:
Now I'm not a massive spanner monkey, only really dabbling in the odd tinker here and an oil change there. I barely touched the MINI as there was no point so I'm seeing this as an opportunity to re-learn some basic mechanics, try out some restoration tricks, modifications, and try out some bodywork jobs too.
This weekend was a chance to begin the first of the 'mods', installing an updated airbox and aftermarket panel filter. It's low hanging fruit and gives me a chance to work on the car without the risk of complete calamity!
Nerd note: The 350z went through a couple of incarnations; the DE and HR are the most obvious, but there were a couple of little changes throughout the years which can help improve an early car. For instance, the '06 350z features a slightly improved airbox which has a larger venturi to smooth out the airflow going into the plenum, this apparently results in better response, improved mpg and possibly 4-5hp gain (doubt it). A chap off FB had one up for £50 so snapped that up and purchased a snazzy aftermarket filter as well, to hopefully increase airflow and get some more induction noise, without worrying about heat soak.
I went for a Pipercross panel filter as i've got one in my Triumph Sprint ST 1050 and it does a good job of filtering the air, makes a decent noise, and is easy to service without any of the oil nonsense you get with K&N.
First job was cleaning the '06 airbox and fitting the new air filter:
Here's a close up where you can see the larger venturi:
Here's the difference between the Pipercross (aftermarket) filter and the stock paper one:
I then placed the filter onto the cartridge, applied a liberal amount of washing up liquid, sweared multiple times and then clipped the whole thing shut.
Success!:
Now to fit it...
There's really not much room in here! But after unbolting the old box, unplugging the MAF and wiggling it out; it was free!
Close up of the air filter... Yuck, cheers mate!
Dropping the new airbox in was just the reverse of removal. Had a chance to tidy up the engine bay and copper grease some bolts too:
After a quick blip up and down the dual carriageway to make sure everything was screwed in tight and nothing was throwing the codes, it was a good time for my girlfriend to have a go driving it. Now, unlike me who merely liked the MINI, my girlfriend LOVED the MINI! So selling this s***box 350z to her was going to be a tough sell.
I thought what better way then to let her drive it... as we all know, POWER CORRUPTS I directed her towards Suffolk via the Watton road as it's wide enough and quiet enough for her to get used to the car (She's only ever driven sub 100hp Corsas) but also experience a relatively fun, dynamic and occasionally fast road in a 'sports car'. She took to it really well and was thoroughly enjoying herself, especially giving it the beans and hearing the Cobra cat back roar
We stopped off so I could get a quick snap and then swapped seats and headed home!
So that's it for now, the plan for the car is to enjoy it, drive it and possibly do the odd track day. There's a possibility of a 2021 Nurburgring trip, or at the very least a jaunt to France.
For that to happen I would like to continue with the improvements. Next on the list is:
- Headlight restoration (I'm going to be using Holts kit)
- Leather seat re-dye on bolster to bring that back from the dead
- New gear knob
- Sort a rattle coming from the exhaust and re-align it
- Front bumper and bonnet
- Oil change and new spark plugs in the spring
- Refurb the alloys / buy another set
- Alignment and/or TEIN coilovers with new top mounts
- A re-bush but no idea on cost
Let me know if this was too wordy, picture heavy or even what you think I should do next to it! Be cool to get you all involved with this project
In the meantime, Happy Diwali and stay safe!
Edited by drophead on Saturday 14th November 20:57
Edited by drophead on Saturday 14th November 21:08
If you're planning on a track day or two, then do remember to change the brake fluid and pads, possibly fitting better pads and higher temperature brake fluid. There's not a lot as brown trouser inducing as boiling your brake fluid at over 100 mph on the twisty bits. You can guess how I know.
And a change of oil and filter before such an event is also a good idea, as well as getting some suitable track tyres that will work in wet and dry conditions for the extra set of wheels you are planning.
And a change of oil and filter before such an event is also a good idea, as well as getting some suitable track tyres that will work in wet and dry conditions for the extra set of wheels you are planning.
Edited by QBee on Saturday 14th November 20:06
J4CKO said:
I think ladies love Zeds, of all the cars I have had my wife says the 350Z was the best.
They are great, not subtle but very engaging, my BMW is way faster but not as much fun.
They are great, not subtle but very engaging, my BMW is way faster but not as much fun.
My mrs loved my 350Z Roadster. We even made a daft 'mini road trip' video in it
Funnily enough OP, I now drive a Mini myself (albeit an R53).
ZX10R NIN said:
Nice work OP, suspension & alignment are the things to work on so you're going about it the right way OP.
Thanks! Yeah, it'll not only make it a sweeter handling car, it might end up being more comfortable with new parts. Just need to keep an eye on spend as it'll never be worth more than £3k or so due to its status.The Rotrex Kid said:
Nice work. Gotta be one of the cheapest 350Z in the country.
Probably! It's a tad scabby but the fact the it's watertight and has working heated seats plus Apple CarPlay is pretty awesome.QBee said:
If you're planning on a track day or two, then do remember to change the brake fluid and pads, possibly fitting better pads and higher temperature brake fluid. There's not a lot as brown trouser inducing as boiling your brake fluid at over 100 mph on the twisty bits. You can guess how I know.
And a change of oil and filter before such an event is also a good idea, as well as getting some suitable track tyres that will work in wet and dry conditions for the extra set of wheels you are planning.
Good advice, thanks. Might change the fluid out before xmas just so I get some practise in.And a change of oil and filter before such an event is also a good idea, as well as getting some suitable track tyres that will work in wet and dry conditions for the extra set of wheels you are planning.
TameRacingDriver said:
J4CKO said:
I think ladies love Zeds, of all the cars I have had my wife says the 350Z was the best.
They are great, not subtle but very engaging, my BMW is way faster but not as much fun.
They are great, not subtle but very engaging, my BMW is way faster but not as much fun.
My mrs loved my 350Z Roadster. We even made a daft 'mini road trip' video in it
Funnily enough OP, I now drive a Mini myself (albeit an R53).
Ha! I'm hoping to make a little vid of the 350z soon too! Yes, the R53 is a great steer and arguably just as raucous as the 350, just in a pint size form instead!
Been a busy weekend and week so only got round to updating this!
With a long weekend, I had a chance to attack that tick list from the previous post. With an eye on cost effective upgrades that bring life to the car and DIYing the car without completely ruining it, I set about restoring the headlights in the morning with some light leather restoration in the afternoon. If it goes right, I'll have improved the car quite nicely; if it goes wrong, it's not the end of the world.
First off, the headlights. I'm using Holt's restoration kit as it's the middle of the road for price (£15) but has really good reviews, plus the kit comes with everything you need including a sealant spray.
Now these weren't too horrific, but clearly the damage was only going to get worse. Plus, it really showed up the age of the car.
I started by getting some lightly sticky black tape from the garage to mask the area. I know I should've used 3M tape but this tape wasn't too sticky (or so I thought - read on!). I also got my trusty drill too.
Following the (rather lax) instructions of the kit, I started with 800 grit and wet sanded the damaged UV layer off. Using a drill makes it much easier to mince the UV layer up so you can then move onto sanding out the scratches you've caused. It's at this point that the headlight looks like utter trash and you start second guessing yourself!
I then smashed through 1000, 1500 and then 3000 grit paper. I made sure to keep the paper and the headlight surface wet every full 'lap' of the headlight. Once completed, the headlight end up looking like this.
Time for the 'abrasive polish'. After using the polish, I was a bit worried that I could still see some very minor scratches along the lens.
But then I put the sealant on to protect from UV rays, and buffed it twice over which then removed all swirls and scratches. Plus, I hopefully won't have to do this every year!
The other light was then worked on.
Had a whoops when pulling the tape gently off. I have a feeling that this panel has been sprayed at some point!
After a much needed bacon sarnie, it was time for the interior to get some attention.
This time I was restoring the slightly knackered bolster on the drivers seat using some varnish remover and leather paint, with an acrylic finisher (forgot to get a picture of the bottle!).
I first cleaned down the leather with a wipe and then used the nail varnish remover on the patches of worn leather. Once dried, I used the leather paint (and its teeny tiny paint brush) to carefully re-colour the worn areas. I let the area dry for 40 mins and then went over it again. After letting that layer dry for an hour, I applied two layers of the sealant and then left it overnight.
This was the first time doing this and if I'm honest, I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, I do feel I could've spent more time prepping the leather as the finish came out quite well but you can still see on the seat where I've been at it. However, if this blasted pandemic's taught me anything it's to lower your standards slightly and be pragmatic about what can actually be done. In the end, I'm quite happy with the result as it's vastly improved what it did look like, plus the rest of the car isn't exactly 'mint' so I can't be too fussy, can I?
Anyway, a good ol blip to the coast and back on Sunday to stretch the big 6's legs made me forget about any cosmetic issues it had.
I do have it booked in next week to see 'the man' about getting underneath it and seeing what bushes need doing, so I can then look at a decent alignment and potentially some further mods.
I also picked up some used RAYS for an absolute steal, I'm thinking of refurbishing them in a bronze-ish colour, like this:
What are your thoughts?
Thanks for reading
With a long weekend, I had a chance to attack that tick list from the previous post. With an eye on cost effective upgrades that bring life to the car and DIYing the car without completely ruining it, I set about restoring the headlights in the morning with some light leather restoration in the afternoon. If it goes right, I'll have improved the car quite nicely; if it goes wrong, it's not the end of the world.
First off, the headlights. I'm using Holt's restoration kit as it's the middle of the road for price (£15) but has really good reviews, plus the kit comes with everything you need including a sealant spray.
Now these weren't too horrific, but clearly the damage was only going to get worse. Plus, it really showed up the age of the car.
I started by getting some lightly sticky black tape from the garage to mask the area. I know I should've used 3M tape but this tape wasn't too sticky (or so I thought - read on!). I also got my trusty drill too.
Following the (rather lax) instructions of the kit, I started with 800 grit and wet sanded the damaged UV layer off. Using a drill makes it much easier to mince the UV layer up so you can then move onto sanding out the scratches you've caused. It's at this point that the headlight looks like utter trash and you start second guessing yourself!
I then smashed through 1000, 1500 and then 3000 grit paper. I made sure to keep the paper and the headlight surface wet every full 'lap' of the headlight. Once completed, the headlight end up looking like this.
Time for the 'abrasive polish'. After using the polish, I was a bit worried that I could still see some very minor scratches along the lens.
But then I put the sealant on to protect from UV rays, and buffed it twice over which then removed all swirls and scratches. Plus, I hopefully won't have to do this every year!
The other light was then worked on.
Had a whoops when pulling the tape gently off. I have a feeling that this panel has been sprayed at some point!
After a much needed bacon sarnie, it was time for the interior to get some attention.
This time I was restoring the slightly knackered bolster on the drivers seat using some varnish remover and leather paint, with an acrylic finisher (forgot to get a picture of the bottle!).
I first cleaned down the leather with a wipe and then used the nail varnish remover on the patches of worn leather. Once dried, I used the leather paint (and its teeny tiny paint brush) to carefully re-colour the worn areas. I let the area dry for 40 mins and then went over it again. After letting that layer dry for an hour, I applied two layers of the sealant and then left it overnight.
This was the first time doing this and if I'm honest, I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, I do feel I could've spent more time prepping the leather as the finish came out quite well but you can still see on the seat where I've been at it. However, if this blasted pandemic's taught me anything it's to lower your standards slightly and be pragmatic about what can actually be done. In the end, I'm quite happy with the result as it's vastly improved what it did look like, plus the rest of the car isn't exactly 'mint' so I can't be too fussy, can I?
Anyway, a good ol blip to the coast and back on Sunday to stretch the big 6's legs made me forget about any cosmetic issues it had.
I do have it booked in next week to see 'the man' about getting underneath it and seeing what bushes need doing, so I can then look at a decent alignment and potentially some further mods.
I also picked up some used RAYS for an absolute steal, I'm thinking of refurbishing them in a bronze-ish colour, like this:
What are your thoughts?
Thanks for reading
Edited by drophead on Sunday 29th November 21:09
Loving the car and the write-up. Top job on the seats too, that worked out a lot better than I imagined it would!
You've almost got an ideal package in that car. Fast and fun, but no worries about the occasional car park scuff, very little chance of it going missing, cheap enough to be happy to have a go at repairs yourself and the absolute worst case scenario you will get most of your money back breaking it for parts.
Use and enjoy
You've almost got an ideal package in that car. Fast and fun, but no worries about the occasional car park scuff, very little chance of it going missing, cheap enough to be happy to have a go at repairs yourself and the absolute worst case scenario you will get most of your money back breaking it for parts.
Use and enjoy
My mate had a later one of these with the Nissan engine in (think they were 315hp?), he had it a good few years and modified it tastefully, went to Nurburgring in it etc. it was such a good car and nothing ever really went wrong (we did get stranded in the black forest after the recently replaced aux belt shredded itself though!). It surprised us all on track too! He's had some really nice cars before and after it but we probably talk about the 350 the most!
I did the exact same thing about 3 years back, buying a 'non runner' '03 GT pack car from a lad in the forces for about £2200. It just needed a cam sensor.
Since then I've rebuilt the brakes, cooling pack, clutch, cam covers, exhaust and the steering rack, plus some other bits. The exhaust and intake plenum spacer weren't really noticable, but I strongly recommend a set of solid or polyurethane bushes for the steering rack. It's rubber mounted and the solids made a really nice improvement.
Since then I've rebuilt the brakes, cooling pack, clutch, cam covers, exhaust and the steering rack, plus some other bits. The exhaust and intake plenum spacer weren't really noticable, but I strongly recommend a set of solid or polyurethane bushes for the steering rack. It's rubber mounted and the solids made a really nice improvement.
MrBig said:
Loving the car and the write-up. Top job on the seats too, that worked out a lot better than I imagined it would!
You've almost got an ideal package in that car. Fast and fun, but no worries about the occasional car park scuff, very little chance of it going missing, cheap enough to be happy to have a go at repairs yourself and the absolute worst case scenario you will get most of your money back breaking it for parts.
Use and enjoy
Thanks, glad you're liking it You've almost got an ideal package in that car. Fast and fun, but no worries about the occasional car park scuff, very little chance of it going missing, cheap enough to be happy to have a go at repairs yourself and the absolute worst case scenario you will get most of your money back breaking it for parts.
Use and enjoy
It's been quite fun getting used to the 'character' of a 16 year old car after owning a brand new one for the past 4 and bit years, which has also meant working on things quite happily that you know will make a difference. Yeah the seats make a big difference when opening the door. Another thing I did was to wash all the metal work along the bonnet, inside the doors and also the boot; cleaning out all the gunk, leaves and moss has made a big difference to how 'clean' the car actually looks.james_gt3rs said:
Nice, I've been tempted by these, a lot of car for the money!
Yeah, they're not going to go any lower in price as the turds are being broken for spares so the thinning of the herd has already begun. I'm on the FB group and some chap just put his minty 30k mile DE model up for nearly £10k so the 'speculation' has already begun. scottos said:
My mate had a later one of these with the Nissan engine in (think they were 315hp?), he had it a good few years and modified it tastefully, went to Nurburgring in it etc. it was such a good car and nothing ever really went wrong (we did get stranded in the black forest after the recently replaced aux belt shredded itself though!). It surprised us all on track too! He's had some really nice cars before and after it but we probably talk about the 350 the most!
They're all Nissan engines but sounds like your buddy had the 'HR' version which almost a completely redeveloped 'DE' (what mine has) engine. Not surprised it's still talked about, compared to my MINI it's already got far more under my skin! It seems to make every journey a bit more of an experience. I'd say the most surprising thing has been how much my girlfriend wants to drive it! We came home from a walk last night and the 350 was looking pretty cool basking in the warm glow of our Christmas lights, she was taking pictures... of the car. 
Posting for posterity!
Paul S4 said:
Good write up.
I have always liked these cars, but the fuel consumption would put me off !
The coupe looks better IMHO than the convertible, and they look really good in silver/bronze.
Looking forward to your future posts....!
Thanks for reading! It's not too bad depending on how you drive. Some folks are getting over 30mpg on a run but I'm enjoying it currently so am getting just over 26mpg. At the moment, it's not bothering me too much as it's all worth it for the noise and throttle response I have always liked these cars, but the fuel consumption would put me off !
The coupe looks better IMHO than the convertible, and they look really good in silver/bronze.
Looking forward to your future posts....!
carlosvalderrama said:
I did the exact same thing about 3 years back, buying a 'non runner' '03 GT pack car from a lad in the forces for about £2200. It just needed a cam sensor.
Since then I've rebuilt the brakes, cooling pack, clutch, cam covers, exhaust and the steering rack, plus some other bits. The exhaust and intake plenum spacer weren't really noticable, but I strongly recommend a set of solid or polyurethane bushes for the steering rack. It's rubber mounted and the solids made a really nice improvement.
Oh cool! Do you have a build thread at all? Thanks for the tip about the bushes for the rack, I'll talk to 'the man' about that on Wednesday when I see him! Since then I've rebuilt the brakes, cooling pack, clutch, cam covers, exhaust and the steering rack, plus some other bits. The exhaust and intake plenum spacer weren't really noticable, but I strongly recommend a set of solid or polyurethane bushes for the steering rack. It's rubber mounted and the solids made a really nice improvement.
ChrisCh86 said:
Lovely car! At a bargain price too.
Keep up the good work
Thanks! Will keep this thread going. Keep up the good work
cerb4.5lee said:
I've got a F56 Cooper S and a 370Z...so we certainly have similar taste in cars.
I've always liked the 350Z and I love what you're doing with this.
Enjoy it.
Ha! Yes! What's the 370z like? I've always liked the 350Z and I love what you're doing with this.
Enjoy it.
drophead said:
Ha! Yes! What's the 370z like?
I'm really enjoying it thanks. I've always wanted either a 350 or 370 ever since I test drove a brand new 350 back in 2006. I just love the history/legacy of the Z car, and I've always loved the 300ZX Twin Turbo as well.
I love the older school approach of the 370 a lot, and I also really loved my old S14a 200SX too. I'm a big fan of a Nissan performance car for sure.
Enjoy your 350.
drophead said:
Oh cool! Do you have a build thread at all? Thanks for the tip about the bushes for the rack, I'll talk to 'the man' about that on Wednesday when I see him! :
No, I never remember to take pics, and I'm not usually clean enough to be touching my phone while I'm working on it anyway!The bushes are the best thing I've done so far, along with decent tyres and good alignment. The biggest issue on it by a big margin is rust. Not so much the shell, but all the brackets, bolts and bits stuck to it. I've never had to drill so many broken bolts. But it it fairly logical in its assembly, so not too tricky to work on.
If you end up needing to replace cam or crank sensors, buy very good ones. There's something about the VQ engine that destroys them.
Looks like a cracking buy.
I’ve always quite liked these and they seem to be a rarer sight on the roads than they once were.
We had an F56 MINI Cooper for three years, it was done but I never really cared for it. Which was odd considering how much I loved my three F53’s. In fact I take better care of the cheap 1 series we bought to replace it.
I also ditched the brisk diesel car too. My last company car was a diesel vRS, fundamentally a brilliant car but not exciting or interesting at all and the cost of BIK made me resent it somewhat.
I’ve always quite liked these and they seem to be a rarer sight on the roads than they once were.
We had an F56 MINI Cooper for three years, it was done but I never really cared for it. Which was odd considering how much I loved my three F53’s. In fact I take better care of the cheap 1 series we bought to replace it.
I also ditched the brisk diesel car too. My last company car was a diesel vRS, fundamentally a brilliant car but not exciting or interesting at all and the cost of BIK made me resent it somewhat.
Time for an update.
The time with 'the man' was brief but in a good way.
We hoisted the 350 onto the ramp to get underneath and make sure the rust situation wasn't horrific as it's this that kills all 350's. They're mechanically sturdy but suffer from tin worm like many JDM metal from this era. There wasn't much to write home about, new top mounts had been fitted recently it seems, and all the bushes were in decent fettle. Just some slight play in the rack when we were yanking on the wheel. Only question mark was over a slight bodge on one of the cats where some wire was holding it on. Looked like more hassle getting it off so we've just left for now until we next get under it.
Hmm! Anyway, that was basically it so down it came and spend some time to peruse the garage. Can anybody guess what this is?
Since then I've mainly been driving it and getting slowly more confident by pushing the car a little harder on some quiet Norfolk roads. It's a very well balanced car, plenty of adjustability in line whilst forgiving when you over do it. I did have this annoying rattle in the exhaust to sort though, so time to leave it parked and figure out how to fix the exhaust.
I located the rattle to a loose piece of exhaust trim right on the edge of the tailpipe. Hamfisted efforts to yank it out didn't go to far so a slightly different approach was needed... out came the dremel.
As with many jobs on the car, it was the first time i've used a dremel so it took some thinking on the spot, and a couple of different angles of attack, but in the end I managed to get the trim out!
Here's what's left which I think will be fine.
I then set about re-aligning the tailpipes as one was protruded slightly less than the other.
Since then, it mostly comes out to play at the weekends, especially the one we just had where it snowed all of Saturday. I can confirm that this is an utter hooligan with the traction control off!
Next up is trying to source a 2nd hand bumper and bonnet in Blade Silver, which I'm really struggling with. All the 350s being broken have mostly been involved in front end collisions which doesn't really help me!
The time with 'the man' was brief but in a good way.
We hoisted the 350 onto the ramp to get underneath and make sure the rust situation wasn't horrific as it's this that kills all 350's. They're mechanically sturdy but suffer from tin worm like many JDM metal from this era. There wasn't much to write home about, new top mounts had been fitted recently it seems, and all the bushes were in decent fettle. Just some slight play in the rack when we were yanking on the wheel. Only question mark was over a slight bodge on one of the cats where some wire was holding it on. Looked like more hassle getting it off so we've just left for now until we next get under it.
Hmm! Anyway, that was basically it so down it came and spend some time to peruse the garage. Can anybody guess what this is?
Since then I've mainly been driving it and getting slowly more confident by pushing the car a little harder on some quiet Norfolk roads. It's a very well balanced car, plenty of adjustability in line whilst forgiving when you over do it. I did have this annoying rattle in the exhaust to sort though, so time to leave it parked and figure out how to fix the exhaust.
I located the rattle to a loose piece of exhaust trim right on the edge of the tailpipe. Hamfisted efforts to yank it out didn't go to far so a slightly different approach was needed... out came the dremel.
As with many jobs on the car, it was the first time i've used a dremel so it took some thinking on the spot, and a couple of different angles of attack, but in the end I managed to get the trim out!
Here's what's left which I think will be fine.
I then set about re-aligning the tailpipes as one was protruded slightly less than the other.
Since then, it mostly comes out to play at the weekends, especially the one we just had where it snowed all of Saturday. I can confirm that this is an utter hooligan with the traction control off!
Next up is trying to source a 2nd hand bumper and bonnet in Blade Silver, which I'm really struggling with. All the 350s being broken have mostly been involved in front end collisions which doesn't really help me!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff