My G35 Story: Restoring a 2003 6MT G coupe to like new condition.
My G35 Story: Restoring a 2003 6MT G coupe to like new condition.
I'm the original owner of a 2003.5 6MT G35 coupe with Brembo brakes. This car has been my daily driver for eight years. When I first saw it in 2003, I new I had to have it. I've never seen such a combination of looks, power, reliability, and kick *** oem brakes. The car was just so hot with classic sexy lines.
I'm probably one of the first forum members of G35Driver and 6MT, but I forgot and lost my username when I changed my ***.net email address to gmail. This is why it shows I joined in 2009.
The only modifications I originally did to the car was to immediately change the brake pads to Hawk ceramics. The oem pads gave off way too much brake dust and made the wheels dirty within one day of driving. The next thing I did was wrap all of my windows with tint. When I say, "all. I mean everything including the windshield." I chose Huper Optik 60% ceramic tint. I think it cost around $800 but it was the best investment. My interior has no signs of sun or heat damage.
Fast forward to summer of 2011. My G35 was showing considerable damage from California sun and the black obsidian paint had swirl and spider web marks, along with a number of paint chips on the front bumper.
I was at the point of having to decide to either sell the car or restore her. Since the car had been so reliable and I could never give her away I decided to restore her and dress her up a bit.
I started by first repairing any wear in the interior. Which was replacing the worn driver and passenger seat bolsters. I then moved on to fully servicing the car. I started with a full flush of all fluids and cleaning my throttle body. Unfortunate my throttle body was damaged from the cleaning procedure so I replaced it with a new model. I then replaced the spark plugs to Denso iridium plugs and replaced air and in cabin filters.
Next was exterior modifications and updates. My coupe seemed like it was lacking something on the front and seemed too round. A Gialla polyurethane front lip fit perfectly with the lines of the car and gave it a lower profile to the ground. The rear stock diffuser seemed too plain, so I slapped a Nismo diffuser there. It gave a nice subtle change.
Then it was time for paint. Keeping with my theme of restoring to stock with subtle modifications I chose factory black obsidian paint. The original color of the car. This time with extra layers of clear coat! G35 drivers know what I mean. Two and a half weeks later the car was ready.
Eyes are the door to the soul, and for cars it's the head lamps. I replaced my 03 headlights with new 2007 projectors. What a remarkable change having crystal clear headlights make. Wow!
Next I moved on to the exhaust system. I decided to go with a Nismo S Tune catback exhaust. As you forum members know the exhaust has to be modified to fit the G Coupe. With the addition of the extension between the y pipe and mid pipe along with extending the Nismo exhaust tips a few inches the fit was flush and perfect. The Nismo exhaust tips fit perfectly flush with the Nismo rear diffuser. The two pieces where made for each other.
Now it was time to update the wheels and suspension. I went with OEM style Tokico High Performance shocks. Incredible difference from my oem shocks with 110k miles on them. Stillen cross drilled and slotted rotors replaced oem rotors. They look incredibly better than stock rotors but were surprisingly much less expensive.
Finally I chose to finish the car with 19inch 2011 Nissan forged wheels made by Rays Engineering Japan, keeping with my idea to use as much Nissan parts as possible. These wheels were very wide, but incredibly light for their size. They are an upgrade option for the new 370z. I wrapped the wheels with Bridgestone Potenza Sport RE0760 tires. 255/40 in the front and 275/35 in the rear. Unfortunately the wheels in the front did not fit without rubbing and I was forced to use H&R trak 20mm wheel spacers and replace my factory lugs with new extended lugs.
I'm more than happy with the outcome of my restoration. The wheels are flush to the fenders, the exhaust note is quiet at idle and at cruising speed, but sounds incredible during acceleration. The suspension feels new and the ride height is perfect for daily driving in a large metro area.
I'm back in love with my G Coupe!
Check out my site 1HourBreak.com the 100% Natural Sedative. Stress, anxiety, insomnia are things of the past.
http://www.1hourbreak.com
I'm probably one of the first forum members of G35Driver and 6MT, but I forgot and lost my username when I changed my ***.net email address to gmail. This is why it shows I joined in 2009.
The only modifications I originally did to the car was to immediately change the brake pads to Hawk ceramics. The oem pads gave off way too much brake dust and made the wheels dirty within one day of driving. The next thing I did was wrap all of my windows with tint. When I say, "all. I mean everything including the windshield." I chose Huper Optik 60% ceramic tint. I think it cost around $800 but it was the best investment. My interior has no signs of sun or heat damage.
Fast forward to summer of 2011. My G35 was showing considerable damage from California sun and the black obsidian paint had swirl and spider web marks, along with a number of paint chips on the front bumper.
I was at the point of having to decide to either sell the car or restore her. Since the car had been so reliable and I could never give her away I decided to restore her and dress her up a bit.
I started by first repairing any wear in the interior. Which was replacing the worn driver and passenger seat bolsters. I then moved on to fully servicing the car. I started with a full flush of all fluids and cleaning my throttle body. Unfortunate my throttle body was damaged from the cleaning procedure so I replaced it with a new model. I then replaced the spark plugs to Denso iridium plugs and replaced air and in cabin filters.
Next was exterior modifications and updates. My coupe seemed like it was lacking something on the front and seemed too round. A Gialla polyurethane front lip fit perfectly with the lines of the car and gave it a lower profile to the ground. The rear stock diffuser seemed too plain, so I slapped a Nismo diffuser there. It gave a nice subtle change.
Then it was time for paint. Keeping with my theme of restoring to stock with subtle modifications I chose factory black obsidian paint. The original color of the car. This time with extra layers of clear coat! G35 drivers know what I mean. Two and a half weeks later the car was ready.
Eyes are the door to the soul, and for cars it's the head lamps. I replaced my 03 headlights with new 2007 projectors. What a remarkable change having crystal clear headlights make. Wow!
Next I moved on to the exhaust system. I decided to go with a Nismo S Tune catback exhaust. As you forum members know the exhaust has to be modified to fit the G Coupe. With the addition of the extension between the y pipe and mid pipe along with extending the Nismo exhaust tips a few inches the fit was flush and perfect. The Nismo exhaust tips fit perfectly flush with the Nismo rear diffuser. The two pieces where made for each other.
Now it was time to update the wheels and suspension. I went with OEM style Tokico High Performance shocks. Incredible difference from my oem shocks with 110k miles on them. Stillen cross drilled and slotted rotors replaced oem rotors. They look incredibly better than stock rotors but were surprisingly much less expensive.
Finally I chose to finish the car with 19inch 2011 Nissan forged wheels made by Rays Engineering Japan, keeping with my idea to use as much Nissan parts as possible. These wheels were very wide, but incredibly light for their size. They are an upgrade option for the new 370z. I wrapped the wheels with Bridgestone Potenza Sport RE0760 tires. 255/40 in the front and 275/35 in the rear. Unfortunately the wheels in the front did not fit without rubbing and I was forced to use H&R trak 20mm wheel spacers and replace my factory lugs with new extended lugs.
I'm more than happy with the outcome of my restoration. The wheels are flush to the fenders, the exhaust note is quiet at idle and at cruising speed, but sounds incredible during acceleration. The suspension feels new and the ride height is perfect for daily driving in a large metro area.
I'm back in love with my G Coupe!
Check out my site 1HourBreak.com the 100% Natural Sedative. Stress, anxiety, insomnia are things of the past.
http://www.1hourbreak.com
Last edited by legalizeit; Oct 16, 2011 at 06:48 PM.
Thanks buddy! I want this car to last another 8 years.
I'm positive I can get over 250K miles on the VQ engine especially with the use of synthetic fluids and short change intervals.
Anybody know what's the most miles put on a G with original engine and power train?
I'm positive I can get over 250K miles on the VQ engine especially with the use of synthetic fluids and short change intervals.
Anybody know what's the most miles put on a G with original engine and power train?
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