Best of the best on this 350z – Endless Racing 6 big brake kit, Zeal Coilovers with Eibach race springs, Roberuta Cup Kit (to adjust height on the fly), Esprit forged adjustable a-arms, and a bevy of Whiteline and SPL bushings. The end result is going to be out of this world, stay tuned!
As initially announced here, Tomei finally introduced their ultra lightweight Titanium exhaust and Y pipe for the 2003-2008 350Z. We just got one in recently, and wanted to be the first to show off the actual pictures. The initial impressions are awesome – the quality of the welds, the little details such as the etched logos, spring clips, and price, all combine to make this a terrific addition for the Z. No soundclips yet, as we’re still waiting on the headers to come in, so the engine can be installed, then to the body shop for paint (in other words, it’s gonna be awhile) but we will post installed pics and video as soon as we can.
Interested in one for your car? Drop is a line at z1sales@z1auto.com
A pretty easy DIY install if you have the right tools. This can also be used as a DIY for the SPL solid compression rod bushings too, though they need to be pressed in as well.
What you will need: wratchet and socket set, press, die set, heat gun, pry bar, rubber mallet, factory service manual. Time required: unrushed, you can do it in about 2.5 or so hours.
Process: This is in abridged form, consult the factory service manual for torque specs as I don’t have them handy. Note the front splash gaurd can be left in place, or can be removed totally, your choice. The swaybar can also be left in place, as can the lower control arm.
1. loosen wheels while car is on the ground
2. jack the car up or put on lift. If using a floor jack, suggest putting jack stands under the side points, under the front door.
3. Remove wheels
4. Remove cotter pin for the ball joint from the compression rod to front hub/knuckle. Use a 19mm socket to remove the nut and free the ball joint.
5. Remove the front crossmember – there are a series of 14mm bolts and 1 19mm bolt.
Front Crossmember Removed:
6. Remove front compression rod using the prybar
7. Now, the fun stuff! The stock busings are a very soft rubber, and encased in a thin aluminum shell. You will need to go to your press cup set and find the right one to fit the inner section, so that you’re pressing on the aluminum case, not on the arm, and not on the bushing – 1-11/16 is perfect for the job. This will ensure all the torque the press yeilds, is going towards pressing the bushing free. I’ve seen some use sockets for this, and I can’t stress enough how much I don’t recommend this. Sockets were not meant to have this sort of force on their thin walls. Could it work? Sure. Is it smart? Nope. Get a good press cup set. They are inexpensive and designed for this exact type of job.
7A. Depending how old the car is, where you live, and other factors, you may need to provide some liquid, or heat encouragement to the bushings. A small butane or propane torch comes in really hand here, and/or a can of your favorite penetrating oil (Nuts Off works great for these jobs, though it was not used for this install).
Once the factory bushing is removed, you’re left with:
8. Next up, install the Whiteline Bushings. These do not require a press. You’ll notice once side of the recepticle is chamfered, the other side is not. The mallet comes in handy for the side that is not chamfered. Using the supplied grease, generously apply to the inside of the empty “socket” as well as to the side walls of the Whiteline bushings. These install as ‘halves’, sort of like a sandwich. The supplied metal tube is then put in place down the center, and this is what the bolt will ride in. Again, use the grease on the walls of the metal tube too, and tap in place with the mallet.
Installed, the new bushings look like this:
9. Now, re-install the arms back to the car. For the cotter pin, probably best to replace it, as they are thin and don’t like being bent and re-formed back in place. Safety wire can be used as an alternate as well. When reinstalling the compression rod, to get the ball joint to sit, its easiest to have a friend slowly turn the wheel from full lock, back towards center, and use the rubber mallet to tap the arm. This way, the ball joint rests squarely, and you’re able to fully engage all the threads.
10. The rest is self exaplanatory – reinstall the front crossmember to factory torque specs, reinstall the wheels, and lower the car. Don’t forget to torque the lugs in a star pattern once the car is on the ground!
What you’ll feel when you’re done? Holy cow, steering response!!! Particularly if you’ve done, or are doing, the lower control arm bushings at the same time. If your car had any wandering to it, even after an alignment, it will track straight as an arrow now. Where the factory bushings are not fully encased in rubber (which gives them their softness but also what causes them to fail), the Whiteline units are full urethane, much more surface area, and much less deflection.
Enjoy
Happy birthday to Yutaka Katayama – the father of the Z
Love cars, love people, love life!
Get rid of the slop in your steering rack with these direct replacement urethane bushings. Includes the mounting bushings and center bushing, these urethane versions will eliminate the tired, dried out factory rubber ones. The reward is much better steering feel and quicker overall response.
We’ll be doing a full install write up soon!
Got a question about a used part you’re considering? Need some installation pointers on what other items/parts you will need for that upcoming install? We get these questions all day long…but often from people who never purchased the parts from us in the first place. So, if this describes you, we can still help. Our advise starts at $100 per hour, with a minimum 1 hour charge, maximum of 5 hour charge. We’ll help walk you through an install, assist you in scrutinizing that used parts purchase, etc!
Yes, this is serious – contact us to order
Either you know what this is and your giving me my well deserved props right now or you have no idea what the hell this is and you are wondering why I am posting this. I’d explain but I have no time and I wanted to post this before I run out to class. If you need to know what this is just google it and you quickly see how dope this piece is.
I finally ordered the clutch and L.S.D. for my build a few weeks ago and they both arrived at our shop yesterday.
For the clutch I went with the O.S. Giken STR2CD, because I honestly have no patience for obnoxious clutches on a street driven car. This clutch should have no problem holding the torque that I expect my motor to output. As I write this it is already in transit to my machinist/motor builder to be balanced with my crank.
I weighed it and its 32lbs for the complete clutch and flywheel assembly.
It’s so pretty…
I also made sure to grab a O.S. Super Lock Limited Slip Differential while I was at it.
So Kwame got off his lazy ass today and dropped his damaged, stock subframe. A brief encounter with a guardrail in the rain left this one with a fracture. Next up, swap the new one in, complete with the Whiteline and SPL bushings, as well as convert all the remaining rear rubber bushings to the Whiteline urethane ones as well. Rome wasn’t built in a day, this car sure as hell won’t be either (in fact it’s been exactly 1468 days since the car has been driven!)….but it will be worth it when it’s all done. There won’t be another Z33 out there as well balanced as this.
So I actually got up off my lazy ass and worked on my car on Friday night. I swapped out my brand new Cusco A-Arms and replaced them with a set of used Esprit A-arms. I know that sounds kind of ass-backwards but I did with good reason.
The Esprit A-arms adjust camber using shims where as the Cusco arms utilize screws set into a sliding base plate to adjust camber. I don’t think I have to explain to you how much easier it is to slide in a shim, torque down two nuts and be on my way. Esprit A-Arms have a retail price of $1100 plus shipping brand new. Needless to say when I was initially purchasing A-arms I didn’t bother looking into Esprit because they were twice the price of the Cusco (which are also excellent).
In any case, as luck would have it Adam ending up finding a set of used arms (from the Sumo Power 350z drift car back when it was being parted out) and he purchased them with the intent of installing them on his own car. Long story short there were a few parts missing and due to time constraints he was unable to install the Esprits.
Well recently I took it upon myself to have the missing parts custom machined and I threw the A-arms on my car. It worked out well for everyone as one of our buddies needs my Cusco arms anyway. Maybe just maybe I’ll start working on my car more frequently.
…I finally got the rest of my Whiteline Polyurethane Bushings in. Win! 🙂
Late nights ahead...
LMAO. Adam is probably reading this saying “What is this fool posting?” Let me set the record straight and say that NO WE DON’T SELL CAR AUDIO! Now that that’s out of the way onto the point of my blog title…
So for those of you who don’t really KNOW us we are car audio buffs probably just as much as we are car performance buffs. We have this philosophy of building balanced cars when it comes to our own personal builds. What good is having a street car that is only good at doing one thing? Better yet how enjoyable is an Endless Big Brake Kit or an A.R.C. thingamajiggy when your sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the Long Island Expressway? The answer is not very enjoyable at all. I’m a firm believer that a good sound system is something that you can enjoy WHENEVER you are in your car regardless of where you are or what you’re doing. Even the Stig rocks out to a good track while he is doing his thing 🙂 .
Anyway, here is what I have in my Z. Some of you may have seen these pictures before, but it dawned on me as I was in the garage tonight that I have never posted these on the blog, so I figured why not? Â Some may consider it a little excessive and I agree it is but everything I have done to this car so far is excessive in some degree.
Equipment List for the most part:
I’m not done with this interior yet. I’d like to sell these seats which I haven’t even had an opportunity to use yet and purchase a set of ASM Recaros in what other color but black and blue. I also plan on purchasing a processor in order to fine tune the entire stereo.
Lastly MAJOR MAJOR thanks to my boy Dave at Performance Outfitters Group for doing this dope ass install and tune for me. Â He went above and beyond my expectations and treated my car like it was his own. I highly recommend them.
…yes it is. Oh well, I just got my timing and cam covers back from the powder-coater this morning. I had the timing cover done in what Rays Wheels calls “Magnesium Blue” and I had the cam covers polished. Everything came out perfect, props to Action Powdercoating.
I took some pictures with my battery and brake fluid covers as well as their respective shrouds which I had previously painted Magnesium Blue as well. I also took a side by side with a spare center cap I had laying around so that you can see how spot on or off the painting/powdercoating is. Last but not least I had to also add in my newly acquired Rare JDM Harness Cover so that you can see one of the reasons why I had the cam covers polished.
So right now my Magnesium Blue Collection consists of:
I’m done as far as that goes. You know how us brothers can get overboard with the accessorizing…
Who leaves the house like this?
Visit our shop's website!!!
Kwame
Z1 Performance
Jonathan
Corner Balance 