Hey guys,
Finally I'll start a thread about my car and mods on this forum. Let's start from the beginning. My name is Vince and I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Last year (March 2011), I bought a 2006 6MT Black on Orange 350Z Grand Touring from New York state. The car has all available options: Rays Track Wheels V2 (18F/19R), Brembo, Nagivation, etc. and had only 19,000 miles on it. I joined OurVQ forum and I went to their first 2011 meet - was 5 days after I got the car hehe. I remember, I said to everybody: "I like my car like it is... I don't wanna mod it... wanna to keep it stock... bla bla bla". But after I've seen members' car, I was like a kid. On the next day, I was already ordering a JWT Pop Charger and booking a windows tint appointment.
This is how my N/A project begun

Here are my mods so far:

March 13, 2011: Bought the Z
April 02, 2011: Tinted 50% Front and 5% Rear
April 02, 2011: JWT Pop Charger
May 07, 2011: BC Racing Coilovers
May 22, 2011: Dome LEDs
May 23, 2011: Nismo Black Aluminium Shift ****
May 23, 2011: Z Tire Valve Caps
June 03, 2011: Berk Technology Test Pipes
July 14, 2011: Black CF short 1.75" antenna
Aug 08, 2011: Reverse Light LED, License Plate LEDs
Aug 20, 2011: Orange Muteki SR48 Lugs (fits the brembo)
Aug 22, 2011: Motordyne Mrev2, Motordyne 5/16 Iso Thermal Plenum Spacer
Aug 27, 2011: ExoticSpeed Y-pipe, Fujitsubo Legalis R exhaust
Sept 1, 2011: Uprev Tune, 94 octane map
March 9, 2012: Rear wiper delete kit
March 25, 2012: 15mm wheel spacers all around (removed and sold)
April 13, 2012: Hankook Ventus V12 245-40-18F (OEM size) 275-35-19R (OEM size is 265-35-19), wheel alignment on April 23, 2012.
April 13, 2012: CF Gauge Bezel Trim
April 21, 2012: Tomei Expreme V2 Headers
April 21, 2012: Random Technology HFC's (Berk TPs sold)
May 14, 2012: Blacked Out Emblems
May 25, 2012: Seibon TT Carbon Fiber Front Lip
May 25, 2012: Nismo S-Tune Cat-Back Exhaust
June 27, 2012: APR Carbon Fiber Radiator Cooling Plate
June 27, 2012: Project Kicks 10mm and Ichiba V2 15mm Wheels Spacers

I'll be keeping this list up to date. I'll post details and pics in further posts.

Comments are welcome

 

A few pics when I bought the car:

 

April 02, 2011: JWT Pop Charger

 

April 02, 2011: Windows Tint - 50% Front and 5% Rear

 

May 07, 2011: BC Racing Coilovers

 

May 23, 2011: Nismo Black Aluminium Shift ****




It took me about 5 minutes to change it, without any damage or so on the OEM shift ****. I used 2 vice grip:

 

May 23, 2011: Tire Valve Caps

The best mod I ever made

 

June 03, 2011: Berk Technology Test Pipes

Pics:










Sound clip:

 

July 14, 2011: Black CF short 1.37" antenna

Seriously, I think it should be the first mod for everybody. A short antenna is around 20-25$ and it will replace the **** ugly OEM antenna on 350Z.

 

July 14, 2011: Black CF short 1.37" antenna

Seriously, I think it should be the first mod for everybody. A short antenna is around 20-25$ and it will replace the **** ugly OEM antenna on 350Z.

 

Aug 20, 2011: Orange Muteki SR48 Lugs

They do not 100% fit with the Brembo... but looks good
Yes I know I've to get better pics hehe!

 

Aug 22, 2011:
Motordyne Mrev2,
Motordyne 5/16 Iso Thermal Plenum Spacer

I've learned a lot when installing both Mrev2 and 5/16 spacer. The most important thing I learned is: "Vince, do not install something else yourself" LOL. Let professionals do it :P


Battery disconnected, Strut bar removed, engine cover removed and air intake tube disconnected from throttle body:









The old Lower Plenum Manifold:







The Lower Manifold Iso Thermal Gasket:







Mrev2 Manifold vs Old Lower Manifold








&?/"&*? bolt:







Mrev2 installed:





5/16 Plenum spacer installed:




The plenum internal spacers:









CCV Install (Coolant Control Valve):

 

Aug 22, 2011:
Motordyne Mrev2,
Motordyne 5/16 Iso Thermal Plenum Spacer

(Part 2)


Re-torque all plenum bolts to 40-80-100 inch/lbs:















Reinstall the Strut Bar (with strut bar spacers):










Note:

Never use a regular socket wrench. It is too easy to OVER TORQUE the plenum bolts - use a torque wrench. And this is what happened to me. I over torque one bolt because I was using a regular socket wrench - the bolt has broken in the plenum and it was a pain to unscrew it (see my pics)
It is important to follow the recommended procedure to install the new plenum bolts: Tighten all the bolts to 40 inch-lbs in the numerical order shown in the diagram. Then torque all the bolts to 80 inch-lbs. Then re-torque bolts 7 through 18 to 100 inch-lbs. And remember, 100 in-lbs torque is not much force at all. That's why it is important to use a torque wrench!

 

August 27, 2011
ExoticSpeed Y-pipe
Fujitsubo Legalis R exhaust

The installation was quite easy, like all aftermarket exhaust I guess. We had one issue... One of the two bolts that join the mid-pipe and y-pipe was stripped. So we had only 2 options: 1) Cut the bolt with a Hacksaw, 2) Remove the exhaust in one piece. Finally, we had do both options. To remove the exhaust in one piece, we had to remove a wires protector and a exhaust protector. It was not a big deal.

I really like it. Most of the people know that I don't like loud exhaust, so that's why I chose the Fujitsubo exhaust. The sound is a bit deeper, but keeps the VQ engine sound. The sound is louder from 0 to 3000 rpm. It's hard to believe, but I find my current setup (test pipes + y-pipe + exhaust) is LESS loud above 3000 rpm than the stock exhaust with test pipes.

Pros: a bit deeper, not too much but more aggressive, a bit louder, close to Nismo exhaust, no more rasp
Cons: tip diameter huge: 117mm, stick out of the bumper too much.


Pics:















Sound clip coming soon.

 

September 1, 2011
Uprev Tune on 94 octane map

The car has been tuned by Johnny's Motorsport in Laval: http://www.jonsmotorsports.com/ on a 94 octane map on a must dyno.

• Base run (w/ mods): 241 rwhp - 231 wtq, 14-15 AFR
• Tuned (w/ mods): 248 rwhp - 235 wtq, 12.6 AFR

The peak gain is not huge, 7 rwhp and 4 wtq, but the curve changed a lot. Most of the HP gain is between 5200 and 6200 rpm (+10-15 rwhp). Most of the Torque gain is between 2500 and 3700 rpm and 5200 and 6500 rpm (+10 wtq).

I have a lot of torque for a Revup engine. I guess it come from Mrev2 and Plenum Spacer. The car was running lean at 14-15 AFR, because of the JWT Pop Charger. If I look at the numbers/peak gain, I regret a little. BUT if I look at the low-end torque gain, the hp/torque gain in high rpm, and the car runs now 12.6 AFR (what it should be) instead of ****ing lean at 14-15, I DO NOT regret. Overall, it's a good investment, very good investment.


Last run on the dyno:



Base run (w/ mods): 241.0 rwhp - 231.8 wtq




Tuned: 248.2 rwhp - 235.5 wtq