I drive an OB 2005 Infiniti G35 coupe 5AT. I got it salvaged for $8,000, it had 82xxx miles and it was my first car. I thought this would be cool to keep updated seeing as I lose and change phones too fast to be able to keep all my pictures and remember these memories...

Good Times:

I bought it on November 28, 2013. I gave my parents the money, and they brought it home. I was surprised to see it cause I had seen it with a lot of body work needed. When I first saw it, it looked nothing like this. Shitty quality I know, but I had a crappy phone at the time and wanted to take pictures. I also decided to name her. I named her Chloe.




Here is a daytime picture


I didn't plan to mod the car at all. I liked how it looked. But then again, I had not seen what could be done with the car yet. My girlfriend bought me something a few days after I got the car. I'm a Packers fan, so it just seemed logical.




I started looking more into G35s. I stalked a lot of the posts on this page just to learn more about what I got myself into with this car. I also took the time to search on Instagram about other G35 drivers. I happen to stumble onto The Thirties Instagram (@The_30s) and I thought they were pretty cool. Plus they were local as well. I hit them up and started talking to them. I attended a few of their meets before officially joining.




Like anyone that loves their car, I decided to do an impromptu non-professional photo shoot. Here is the best picture I ended up taking.


I guess sometime in between this I started to want to do a chrome delete. I don't know why there's a picture of my taillights. It's the only picture of my grill that I had plasti dipped.


I liked how the grill came out, and decided to do the wheels as well.
Before:


After:


I also got a bit carried away and plasti-dipped my taillights. It didn't last long either. Got a ticket for it probably 10 days later so I ended up taking it off.


One day, while driving on the freeway, the truck ahead of me dropped wood chips and stuff. I had a car to my left and a car to my right, so I took all the pieces of wood head on. I cracked my bumper down the middle and received chips everywhere on the front bumper.


When I got it fixed, I also decided to get a custom aggressive lip and a friend let me have his poly eyelids for free. Only because one of them was almost completely snapped in half. While I was at it, I told the guy to not put the front plate. Here is what the end result looked like. Goodbye bug eyes.


I loved the way it looked. Aggressive and custom. I decided to find something else to change. I had a 'slight' mod bug. Anything small that I could DIY I would try it. Interior lights were first. I hated the yellow glow. It didn't flow well with how I wanted my car.
Before:


After:


Quick shoot with the green interior lights. I actually got a lot of hate for them on facebook pages. People didn't understand the difference between interior lights and neon lights...




Took the car out for a few pictures. Really liked how the front bumper looked.








I bought some eibach lowering springs and I also did a resonator and muffler delete.

Bad Times:

On September 4th, 2014, I had just dropped off my girlfriend at her house. It was 2 in the morning. No, I was not drunk. No, I was not speeding. No, I was not acting up. I was at a stop light waiting to make a left. The light turned green, and I made my turn. One of the wheels locked up, one kept on getting power and I ended up skidding towards the opposite lane and oncoming traffic. I was headed straight towards the curb and counter-steered hoping I wouldn't hit it. I guess I must have gone over oil or something, because I had no traction this whole time, and out of nowhere I picked up traction again. The thing is that I was counter-steering and it swerved me onto the curb on the right side. My airbag deployed and dazed me.

I've always told all my friends and my girlfriend that this car was going to kill me one day. And that if I died, I wouldn't mind dying in this car. This day, I figured I wasn't being truthful.

I went over the curb, took down a lot of bushes, my airbag deployed and seatbelt locked up. I ended up on some guy's lawn. There was smoke inside and outside the car. I was dazed and terrified. I smelt something burning (burnt rubber) and I thought the car was going to catch on fire. The homeowner came out of his house and looked at my car. I remember looking up at him and knocking on the window. He ran towards my car and knocked on my window. I looked at him and gestured to him I couldn't take my seatbelt off. He budged open my door, and helped me take my belt off. Then dragged me out of my car onto his lawn. I was still dazed but he helped me get up. Asked what happened, asked if I was okay and smelled my breath to see if I was drunk. I don't drink and drive so my breath didn't smell like anything. Car also didn't catch on fire. All the smoke was from the tires skidding around everywhere. He helped me get the car off his lawn, told me he didn't see any damage to his property (besides my tire marks on his lawn..) and told me I should get the car out of here before cops start cruising by (his neighbors might have called the cops or something I guess). I got AAA to get me and Chloe back home. I was hurt, and it was too late to be able to clearly see the damage. I slept it off and woke up hoping it had been a dream the next day. Sadly, it hadn't.

Sadly (or not, depends on how you think of it) I don't have pictures of the crash or where the car came to a stop. I did have pictures before, but I got a new phone and those pictures were forever lost. I am very grateful though. There has been more than 5 people to tell me that the amount of damage me and my car received from that crash seemed to little for what actually happened. I'm not too religious, but I thank whoever or whatever was looking out for me that day.

Even Better Times:
I'm a broke college student. I didn't know what to do. The damage that I had done to the car seemed too much for me to fix on my own. I was really sad because for the first few days I considered selling the car or parting it out, but I didn't want to let it go. I'd go out and sit in the car, some mornings. School was about to start and I had to choose between saving up for books, or starting to fix my car. Being the responsible person that I am, I decided to start fixing my car.

I inspected damage




Cracked front bumper along with chipped paint



Front lip was ripped right off, I'm sure it's still salvageable if someone would like to buy it (So-Cal area LA, OC, IE)



Bent and cracked wheel along with blown tires (Wheel are for sale, pretty cheap, let me know if interested. LA OC IE areas)

I had a friend's dad who's a mechanic come in and inspect my car. I didn't want to tow it to a shop yet. He told me I had bent outer tie rods and cracked front lower control arms, and a small part of the frame was being wrapped around around the lower control arm (Right? How does that even ****ing happen? I wasn't even speeding..)

I decided it was time to start working. I already knew what I had to fix and it was just time to start fixing.



Kuruma Z front bumper has been one of my favorite bumpers since I first saw it. I had to get it. It sat pretty low, but I thought it was because of the flat tires that I had at the time.





Ordered one of these bad boys, didn't do enough research on them and thought I could be able to get installed without a harness bar at the time.

Also bought some 18x8.5F/9.5R VarrsToen ES2 I had a really good deal on them with tires and couldn't let it go. The previous owner had spray painted the wheels black and when he changed tires on them the paint chipped everywhere.

I didn't realize both seatbelts had locked up, and decided to order another set of Takatas. By that time I realized I had to get them installed with a harness bar.



Bought an NRG harness bar

Seatbelts were taken care of, just need to get them installed. Had wheels, had a front bumper. Needed to take care of my steering wheel, and then actually get the car to run by fixing up the suspension.



Bought an NRG short hub



Bought an NRG quick release

Also bought a wheel, but it's in back order. Estimated arrival date: 1/09/15

 

Bought cool yet simple and cheap stem caps



Got the rest of my money together bought lower control arms and tie rods, and got the car towed to a shop at 8 in the morning, I had school later. I got a call later in the day from my dad that the car was good to go and he was going to drive it home.



I got home at 11 that Friday, and I went out for a cruise with another The Thirties member. All my lights were on. The car didn't have an airbag, the Takatas are just thrown over, it needs an alignment, and it didn't have a front bumper. But I was so happy to finally be able to drive it. Gave her a full tank and came back home at like 2 that day. I gave her a new name. Called her "Project Black Phoenix" just because it seems as right as she's about to die, she comes back to life.



Took her out to a well-deserved car wash. Spent 7 dollars getting all the long accumulated dirt and dust out of her.



Bought a CF splitter and a close friend of mine and The Thirties member let me have 2 mounting rods.



Finally took her to a shop to get the Kuruma Z painted and installed, the CF splitter installed, and the mounting rods installed as well. My little brother took these pics when they went to go pic my car up. I was in school during that time so I couldn't pick it up when it was ready. These pictures do her no justice. I smelt a photoshoot coming on











A lot of wheel gap, but she's low. Couldn't make it look the way I want it exactly. So now these 18s are for sale with tires, and I'm looking for ES2s again but in 19s

The mounting rods broke a few days later when I was smashing on the freeway. The splitter is bolted on securely, but I use velcro straps to hold it to the bumper even more. At 80+ on the freeway, I hear the splitter hitting the front bumper in the center and it scares me. I don't want it to fly off. These things ain't cheap haha



Full Front Face Lift Fridays (was taken on a Friday)



I'd take this *** over Kim K anyday



Looking back at it



I actually just finished installing the NRG harness bar today (12/25/14). It took a while, but I thought it would take longer. All I need is to take it to a shop to actually drill through te bottom and put the plates in for the belts.



I went over glass on a bald tire. Called AAA and told them my situation. I also asked if they had low friendly tow trucks because my car is literally 2 inches off the floor. Lady on the operator said yeah they did and they were sending someone over. Clearly, she must have thought I mean 2 feet cause there was no way in hell I was getting on the tow truck they sent me. Luckily, I ended up slowly driving the car to my buddy's house and left it there over night.



I bought 2 front tires (235/45/18) because they both had camber wear (horrible alignment).





And I also figured it was time to at least dip the wheels a flat black because they honestly disgusted me how bad they looked. The fronts don't have as bad as a wheel gap as they did before now. I do need some spacers up front still though.



Ouch! A thirties member backed up into me.. I don't know if to fix it right now and MAYBE miss a car show on Jan 31st, or just fix it after that. I think I'll just fix it after. I rather not risk it.





Bought some 4D CF wrap just to play around with. Was able to get the door trim off and wrap it. Didn't look half bad so I might do just a bit more CF on the inside.



Anyone know how to fully take this trim off? 2005 G35 Coupe 5AT



And uh, steering wheel still isn't here. Says it should be here on the 30th. That is cutting it really close for the show... Hopefully I won't have to go in with this steering wheel..



Steering wheel finally came in! Not in time for the first show but whatever. I ended up installing it at around 12 am the same day because I was so excited to use it. As you can also tell, I was finally able to do part of the center console in CF as well. I'm thinking about maybe finishing that up today.



About time I got these fully installed. Got some custom brackets made so they wouldn't have to drill through the bottom of the car and mess up my carpet



This was a come up! A friend wanted to trade his Injen CAI for my stock and I couldn't resist the offer.

Lesson learned. Hit a toolbox in the middle of the road at 2am.
Toolbox - 1
Fiberglass Bumper - 0


Rolled around like this for a while. Not too bad of a look. But definitely couldn't wait to get another bumper.


Redid part of the center console again because it was peeling.


Finally got my front bumper on! Poly this time, was still waiting on my splitter and my mounting rods


This is a 275/45/18 size tire. . .


Finally got to install my splitter and mounting rods.


Decided to redo (again) my interior trim. This time I did everything


Also did my gas cap cover . . .


Went down to a 275/40/18 tire in the rear
Was really liking my setup too


Went to get my wheels coated. The guy that said he would do them held on to them for a month. All he ended up doing was stripping them, and claimed that he couldn't do them anymore. I ended up having to pay $60 just to get them out of his hands. Thankfully, the guys over at New Year Metal (@NewYearWheels_Rene) in Santa Ana helped me out and finished my wheels in 2 days.


Got some custom decals done for the wheels since Varrstoen only offers these in lime green.
Yes, I rock Varrstoens (proudly, as you can see). No, I don't care that they're replicas. Yes, I can't afford TE37. No, I will not stay with stock wheels.
I also went down a tire size again. These are 275/35/18 Nitto NT555


I also did this.
Green extended pointed tip lug nuts.
Ricey? Maybe. Different? Definitely.



Ended up lowering the front a bit more. Messed up and lowered it too much. In this picture approximately 1 and 3/4 of an inch off the floor.


Raised it up just a bit. Just enough to not struggle so much since this is my daily.


Bought a Top Speed exhaust and some Megan test pipes.
Why Top Speed? Because it fit my budget, it sounded nice, and because it fit the range of 2.5"-2.75" inch mandrel bent piping in order to maximize power
Why Megan? Test pipes are just pipes to replace your cats, fit 2.5", and because it was resonated to reduce rasp.


I didn't take a picture, but I was also tuned. Osiris UpRev.
Opened throttle body 100%
Rev limiter set at 7.2k RPMs
Removed speed governor
Fans turn on at 91 degrees now to keep the engine cooler
Etc.

I kind of blew my engine racing a month and a half ago. Yes, that is the freeway. In "Mexico". Don't lecture me. I've done a lot worse, and I can't get away from it.


Pistons 1 and 2 are poking through the block. Anyway, the car is at the shop right now.
Decided to go with the same VQ35DE only because I've heard putting in a VQ35HR is a lot of labor, and a lot of people have told me might as well just get an HR instead. I also looked into a VQ37VHR but the same goes for that one. The thing that convinced me most is the fact that I would have to start with a stock engine all over again. School is coming up and I earn less during these times. So modding will be going extremely slow. Another thing that convinced me was the fact that going FI on an HR is more expensive than FI on a DE. Now, while the new block is getting put in, I decided I might as well get some headers.


I'll post more pictures when I get the car back. Shop says they should be done either this Wednesday or Thursday.

So far, up to today, 8/17/15 (1 year, 8 months, 20 days), this is how far my car has come. I'm no where near done (but then again, who really ever is?)
If you're interested, follow me on Instagram to stay up to date on my build @LFG35C

 

Awesome story and car! The project name you gave is just as sexy
I remembered seeing this on instagram too. Can't wait to see how it turns out in the future.
Merry Late Christmas! (Whether or not you celebrate it)

 

Thanks man that's very much appreciated! Yeah I started posting a lot when new parts started coming in. Merry late Christmas to you too! Happy holidays

 

Sucks your car has been through the wringer so much, but glad it's coming back together..

A couple things:

Get rid of that front splitter. Will cause nothing but trouble on the streets.. And it looks meh... especially with that velcro..?
For your next set of wheels, please get center caps. And pay attention to the offsets.

Oh, and I hope you're not driving around without airbags...

 

Car looks nice. The green is a nice change up as everyone always has white and it's not poser like red.

Wheel color suits those better but I would chase a pair of gorgeous oem 19s if I was you.

Keep the thread updated!

 

Thank you by the way.

With the splitter, the only reason I have it is because the front bumper is fiberglass and the car sits low. I'm going to get a poly Kuruma Z when I'm able to afford it. The reasoreasoot the FG one is because I needed a front bumper and because I needed to spend a lot of money on other things as well.

I will. I actually ordered some centercaps a day or two ago. I don't like how it looks without it, but little by little I'll slowly get to fixing the small things.

Sadly, I am. And I will. I'm waiting for my aftermarket NRG steering wheel to come in. The only airbag I will not have is the driver's side steering wheel airbag. I wouldn't put anyone else's life at risk because of something I'd want.

 

Thanks man, I'm glad you think it looks good!

I just wanted something different you know? I hang out with a whole G and Z crew so I have to do something that sets me apart haha

I'm actually looking for some 19s. It's my dream to one day get my hands on legit volk te37s but for now that's way out of my economic range. I love how they look and varrstoens are something I could afford. At the time that I got these though I was just looking for wheels because mine were bent and cracked and I never liked them that much.

I will however look into it, see if any of my friends have any black OEM 19s and see how they look on my car!

 

you are aware that you have to wire in a resistor so that the car thinks that you have a driver side airbag right? and as far as driving around without an airbag, as long as you actually have a harness bar to attach that harness to you should be fine.

 

Yeah I know that. I researched it when I decided to get an aftermarket steering wheel

 

Alright man just makin sure you aren't inadvertently puttin people in danger.

 

what nrg harness bar did you get, what size (length). and how was it installed, (bolted to original bolt points or new holes drilled?

 

Good looking out bro! But yeah I did my research for this one haha

 

https://www.getnrg.com/products/seat-belts-and-safety-harness/seat-belt-harness-bars/hbr-002

This one is the one I bought. And I used the upper and lower seatbelt mounts to install it

 

Updated from 12/25/14 to 1/24/15