Hey all! My name is Zack, and I recently (kinda.. 6 months ago.. lol) purchased my 2003 G35 Coupe 6-Speed Manual. This won't be my first time with the VQ, so I'm happy to have some prior knowledge. I owned a 2006 350Z 6-Spd which I miss dearly, and prior to the G.. had a 2008 IS250...The G is my love-child between the two.. but mostly because I miss my Z. I've been lurking for quite some time, but had to join in on the fun after making full use of the gold mine that this forum is.

I decided to restore this beast to the best of my abilities. For the most part, I'm taking care of all of the mechanical issues before I jump into cosmetics and aesthetics. Since I am a college student, it has to be one thing at a time. Luckily, I'm able to do all of my own work which gives me some more financial comfort to make this thing what I want it to be. I want to make subtle mods close to OEM, but still badass and mean looking. Trying to ball on a budget.

Completed work I've done up to this point:
- Headlight Restoration ($30 3M kit)
- Replaced Steering Wheel: (Leather Shop wanted $160 for a re-wrap, but found a beautiful newer OEM wheel for $65 on eBay and put it on no problem. All the controls work thankfully!)
- Air Filters: Cabin/Engine
- Rear Wheel Bearing (learned a lot doing this)
- Obviously Oil changes lol
- Starter (just went bad this past week - easy fix)

Mechanical work to be done:
- Replace front struts/strut mounts: (parts coming in tomorrow - will be done this week)
- Change the Differential Fluid (this week as well.. hopefully it quiets down the rear end hum)
- Valve Cover Gasket Replacement
- Transmission Fluid/Clutch Fluid flush (trying to get my clutch to feel nice.. having a hard time.. the lock nut on the fork easily gets loose and I can't fit a wrench. Loctite and hand-tightening helps some.)
- Fixing a water leak in the rear end that leaks into the trunk. Its coming from this weird cracked seam under the taillights. Going to try some RTV.

Cosmetics I plan on doing:
- 06/07 spoiler (probably will buy trunk w/ spoiler mounted from a parts car)
- Clean up my curb-rashed wheels (previous owner).. courtesy of ChrisFix.
- Find some Rear Splash/Mud Guards

- Remove crusty old rear chip guard
- Desperately need to fix tears in leather. Other than that, the interior is near mint.
- Need to replace the torn up lower engine cover/undertray piece.

Possible future "mods":
- REALLY want a set of G37s rims
- wheel spacers..maybe? doing more research
- Possibly will lower it with 07/08 Z springs..(will not put on lowering springs, can't necessarily afford coilovers.)
- Maybe updated OEM taillights/headlights?
- .. and more to be determined.. there's always more.. lol


Not filtered, just different time of day.

BEFORE.. makes me queesy

AFTER.. 100% worth it

 

Nice, congrats on the car. Make sure to get some clear coat on those headlights or they'll be oxidized in a year, just tape off the headlights and set up a curtain/dropcloth around everything to prevent overspray, pretty simple.

 

Will do, thanks!

 

Nice pick-up of a sport package wheel with the orange stitching.... definitely an improvement LOL

 

Hmmm. Wait, is my teeny tiny phone screen tricking me into thinking it's orange stitching?

 

Hahah nope! It is orange stitching! I absolutely lucked out with this wheel. Personally, I wasn't even looking for a wheel with orange stitching. I was just looking for leather in good condition and the same controls as mine. Definitely lucked out

The previous owner had a cover over the wheel, which I personally hate, but couldn't get myself to grip onto that dried out nastiness lmao. 100% worth every penny.