Hi! I have had my 2004 6MT Coupe for about 3.5 years now. I recently decided to hold onto it for a while. That gave me the kick in the pants to fix a few things, and start a new round of mods. Thus, I have been reading up on the forum a lot more than normal, and created an account.

My name is Jake, and I am an aerospace engineer. I have a lot of hobbies including drums, guitar, video/audio/photo editing, video games, RC planes, and random fun gadgets (S-RAV). Having a baby, I have come to appreciate the fact that the G35 has a back seat!.

Here is the story of my car. Read if you like, or skim for the pics. I'll try to keep it brief.

My previous car was a 1997 Saab 900SE Talladega 2.0T 5 speed manual. It was fun for what it was, and fairly unique. It became time to get a real car, and I knew I wanted a G35. I had test driven a few different cars, and liked that the best. I went from browsing to driving one home in 1 weeks time. The one I found was a great deal, and had everything I wanted (6MT, Brembos, Spoiler, etc.). I spent some time on the phone with the lot asking about the car, and doing some pre-negotiating. Then, I bought a one way ticket to Houston.

I spent 5 hours at the lot investigating several concerns. I was on the fence about walking. Here they are with the resolution (either at the lot or after purchase)

CEL: Ran codes at autozone and was O2 sensor. Reset, and has never come on again.

VDC + Slip Light: This was freaky! When slowly pulling out of a parking spot the ABS turned on, and the car stuttered to a stop, then the lights came on. I did some quick googling to understand what was going on. VDC + Slip was failsafe mode on the traction control. The steering angle was off, so it was expecting one wheel to spin faster than the other. Reprogrammed the steering angle sensor for $150. Local dealer quoted me $600.

Aftermarket Stereo not working: Replaced fuse

Car wouldn't go into reverse. Aftermarket short shifter, and you just have to get used to "throwing" it into reverse. Now it is muscle memory (used to have some sort of lever to pull instead). I think stock ones you push down on the stick.

Car wouldn't ignite a few times (this is a security thing that you don't notice in everyday use). You have to just unlocked the door with the key fob for the car to start. If you are checking out a car, and leave the windows rolled down, doors open etc. you would get into a situation where you wouldn't unlock the car before starting it.

Talked them down to almost nothing, got a 1 year mechanical warranty, and a written guarantee that they would cover the cost of stereo repair/replacement if it was anything more than a fuse. I bought the car, and I have never regretted it!

Here it is at the gas station for the first fill up just off the lot. April 9th 2011. Had about 77k on it.


Here are a few of my favorite pics. The purple sunset photo is on a 36" canvas print in my theater room. It is obviously staged and edited, but the other two (F-16 and heavenly sunset) just happened to be cool scenes outside work.




Guys at work having fun when the baby was on the way. Says "Will trade for equally equipped minivan". Again, a nod from me for the back seat.


This is why I run Continental Extreme Contact All Weather. Happens about once a year. (usually not this deep).


Early Mods
Injen CAI with K&N filter
Magnaflow full custom exhaust (Heads to tails, I still have Cats)
Pioneer Stereo
Clear Corners
Spyder M3 Mirrors
06 HIDs
Flat Black Grill
Partially Debadged

Recent Work did this work myself
Lower control arms (last year)
Inner and outer tie rod ends (2 weeks ago)
Tein S Techs, Shocks, and SPC Camber Kit + rear tow bolts(2 weeks ago)
Headlight restore (last week)
Hand brake adjustment (today)





Future Plans
After replacing a loose tie rod ends and upper control arm, I still have rattles on the front suspension. I need to figure that out. (dealer and tire shop were dead wrong).

Driver side exhaust has a cracked weld on the mid resonator, and needs fixed.

Lots of ground loop noise from the stereo and I think it is from a bluetooth system that is installed. Been putting that off since getting behind the stereo looks to be a pain. Maybe do a full grounding kit at that time.

It took a semi truck tire tread to the front on the highway, so I'll be getting a new front bumper. I decided to work on the mechanical stuff first. Will throw in sides with it. I plan to do Kuruma Z and impul. I have looked through a lot, and that is the combo I love the most (Almost cliche from what I have seen, but I love the look). Perhaps some wheel spacers as well.

Plenum spacer after that.

May switch to stock mirrors.

the Pio has inputs for a backup cam, so that is a possibility.

Also, I want to do my own rig shot after I get my cosmetic work done.

I'm sure I'll get power hungry at some point, so we'll see what I can save for eventually.

Looking forward to my time here. That is all for now.

 

No need for a grounding kit
Also you suck at keeping it brief lol

 

Thanks for the info, and yes, not very concise, haha.

 

Just left Tulsa actually
Was there for 5 years at school.

 

Well congratulations! Did you get invovled in any clubs/meets around here? Also, do you have any recomended shops? I have heard of Humble and ToySpeed, that's about it.

 

There's Tulsa street cars which is actually Tulsa Ricers united
And as far as shops
Those two blow. Not the best town for import cars...muscle cars yeah