New to the 350 family. What would be some good upgrades?

[USMC350z]

Hello everyone, Im in the Marine Corps and in Afghanistan. I recently bought an 03 350z and am looking to spend some deployment money on making it a sleeper. Although im not the most educated in the car yet, I do know the basics. Anybody have an idea on what items i need (detailed list if possible) to make this car better than it already is?

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard... and more importantly, thanks for your service!

Check out the posts just above yours (with the red push pin next to them)... I think you'll find a lot of preliminary info there to help narrow your focus.

Enjoy, be safe, and come home soon!

[USMC350z]

Of course, I love doing it and its a lot of fun believe it or not haha.
I will read those posts and try to get a better understanding of what im looking to do, thanks!

[USMC350z]

Alright, well after reading up a little bit. I have narrowed my "wants" a little bit more.
I dont want to make the fastest z on the planet, i just want to do enough to out do the z next to me or give him a run for his money. I dont want to spend 10g on upgrades but maybe 6 or 7. Id like to go with the NISMO S suspension first then jump into maybe a single turbo on the stock block, only having to upgrade internals that need to be reinforced to handle the turbo. Im a little unclear what the ECU is used for but from what i understand, I want one. lol. I hope this will help someone help me make a list of products. THANKS.

-GONZO


*in addition, it would be a daily driver. just for a side note.

[370Z/28]

Thank you for your service and keeping us all safe! Enjoy your Z.

[USMC350z]

geeze, after looking up some parts that i want, the total without tax is roughly 12000. I looked at the NISMO S suspension for about 1500, A momentum single turbo kit for about 8000, & Haltech platnum pro ECU for about 2500. Anybody have better sugestions for these items at a cheaper price but still a dependable item?

[BusyBadger]

Wow, I'm off NICO for a day of training and everyone welcomes the new guy before I get a chance. Like everyone else has already said, thanks for your service. It always makes this old soldier smile when someone in uniform joins NICO.

Cost really depends on what you want to do. And there are always alternatives, that's the nice thing about the Z. It's been around long enough that you won't be working without a blueprint, or at the very least - a sketch. What trim level is your Z? If you don't know and need help finding out go here.

If you're looking for some more speed there are plenty of things you can do to make the Z get and go without having to drop a wad of cash on a forced induction system. I certainly won't tell you not to go the turbo route (even though it's pricey) but there are a few of us on here that have either owned, driven or ridden in a Z or G that's been boosted and it can really upset the power curve, balance and drivability of the car.

If you're like me and your thing is looking for roads that are anything but straight there are plenty of things you can do to stiffen up the chassis, firm up the footing and really make your Z stick to the road and go where it's pointed.

The first thing you should do before you start doing any modifications though is give the car a thorough exam and make sure that everything works like it should.

Welcome to NICO and the Z family!

[USMC350z]

Thank you Badger, my z is the touring model.
I drove this z for the 2 weeks i was home on pre-deployment leave. It works perfect, It was actually my moms & she just let it sit in the garage and only used it for a "weekend drive" about once every three months. once i got boots on deck here, she was telling me she was going to sell it so 8g for an 03 with 40000 miles wasnt too bad. So i bought it and now im looking to help time pass and start making it go a little bit faster. Ive already stated what I want and what my intentions are for the car. I also dont want to spend 12,000 on it, If you know of any alternatives for me, feel free to let me know about them and where i can read up on it/you can teach me. thanks badger

[jerryd1987]

hey bro good to see another service member with a z first things first if you want any type of power gains that wont make you disappointed with your z power adder is the way to go supercharger, turbo, nitrous. the DE dosnt respond as well to bolt ons as the rev up or HR and you really have to sink some money into it to make some power. most ive seen from non forced induction was a 4.0L stroker making 350 hp at the rear wheels and the guy had over 20k into it(for comparision it will cost about 20k in parts for 700 rear hp with forced induction if you do the work yourself, same price double the power lol.)

if you are only looking to spend 6-7k i would say start looking at used parts, hopefully i dont get in trouble for this but send me a pm and ill give you the website to the only active z forum ive seen online even here is slightly more active then most but its still lack luster at best(no offense nico jut not alot of activity here.)
if you want new stuff its going to cost you a bit more and theres alot of stuff you havnt even looked at yet theres alot more to turbo kit +ems =done and unfortinatly you decided to go with a platform that is VERY expensive only thing ive seen more expensive is the supra.

If you want to go with new stuff i recommend osiris uprev for tuning if your not going for broke the haltech is nice but not needed its niche imo is for a do it yourselfer who wants a damn good ems(which stands for engine management system its your engines brain and tells it how to run.) for pro tuning its hard to beat the extra features of proefi especially since the 48 box can be had cheaper then the haltech or more features and the 128 box is only slightly more expensive then the haltech. also figure in tuning uprev will cost you about 300-500 for the software then figure about 500-1000 for tuning depending where you go. for turbo kit its hard to beat the momentum but you can go with a boosted performance mid mount kit. and it can be had with fuel pump and injectors for a little over 5k for his 6265 Journal bearing kit. pro's of momentum kit is it comes with everything you need even the tune, pros of BP kit is its a little cheaper and the quality is just as good, however you have to find your own tune you should still be about 1000-1500 cheaper then momentum though but you have to go to different forums to buy it as he dosnt have a website he operates through different forums.

Another thing you will need will be a new clutch im not a fan of the stock one anyway you add power and its trouble, dont need anything fancy jim wolf tech will be great for you. the trans is another problem the cd003 trans that came in the 03's is junk, with such low miles and the way you say the car was driven i doubt it was warrantied for the cd009 unit figure 600-1000 for this and if you dont then plan on driven like a granny or shredding the gears in your transmission even with just spirited driving not even full blown lets do this driving. i highly suggest upgrading the radiator at a minimum, and preferably a oil cooler as well mishimoto radiator isnt too expensive some silicone hoses would go well with it. cost for a oil cooler would be about the same as the radiator but very beneficial go with a plate style not a tube and fin, tube and fin just arnt that good with the increased efficiency of plate and fin designs nowadays. guages and wideband, definatly need at least a wideband mayby aem or innovate along with a gauge need wideband gauge and boost as well as a place to mount them. dont worry about fans your stock ones should be good as long as they work. also add in an exhuast for the turbo kit i would def buy a good one dont cheap out here. bolt on parts will help your power band as will ball bearing turbo instead of journal bearing(for instance my turbo make 80 hp more then journal bearing under the curve but max power is the same.) as bolt on parts have a much bigger effect on FI but they arnt required. another thing that isnt required but highly recommended is a fuel return system, this isnt required but it will help with a steady flow of fuel, the stock system pushs fuel up and it sits there until its used FRS constantly flows it up to the front and back to the tank. figure in labor for all this stuff as well, since you dint know what an ems is im guessing you dont know much about how this car works so installation is best left to the pros figure a couple thousand for that and about 10% of your total extra for unseen problems as there always are some.

As you can see theres alot to think about and i know im forgetting s*** but i just came back from r&r and still recovering from the time zone change but if you want more power forget about suspension or anything else until the fi is done. as you said the nismo alone is 1500 and thats not even a very good suspension not adjustable at all, for a decent one figure about 2500 and if you plan on tracking the car figure 3000-3500 for a good suspension that eliminates the toe bolts in the rear. again ill send yah a link to forums you can contact BP for his turbo kit if you want and can send you pics of some work he did for me in addition to my kit but i dont wanna get in trouble posting it in the message, theres also alot of info there from alot of people who have gone FI its also prob the most active place for vendors to post that are big in the z car community all of them with high hp cars. (IP had a 1200 hp drag car, hal at dynosty has a 744 hp non sleeved car, SP was making over 1000 hp as well, VTR posted a little recently, gtm is big but i havnt seen much lately, forged performance posts all the time)

on a side note where is your normal duty station? if you ever come to schofield barracks on oahu(bout 30 mins from pearl harbor) beware the silver z with straight pipes and street slicks or my car will eat you lol

[USMC350z]

Hey man, yeah i love all the info and opinions you gave. Im stationed at Lejeune. Lets talk more and if you dont mind, id like your help to get a sure list of products down. Ive got 6 months left so ive got plenty of time to figure this out. Thanks, ill pm you for that website.

[USMC350z]

Either im retarded and i cant figure out how to pm you or I just dont have the option. pm me if you can or we will find out another way to get in contact

[BusyBadger]

Budget and goal are the two most important things you're going to decide early on.

If you start modifying your car without a goal out it's very likely you'll wind up with a "whole lot of nothing" when it comes to your car. We've all seen it, a little of this and little of that, but no real focus on what the car is really going for (unless it's maybe multiple personality disorder). Without a budget in mind (a realistic one) you might start laying the groundwork for your well-planned forced-fed beast only to run out of cash and sell it before it really even got started.

These things certainly aren't as fun to talk about as an HKS Rotrex supercharger or a set of Moton Clubsports but search the internet for a while and you'll see that there are a loads of threads and FS ads about people ditching their project(s) for one reason or another. The success stories...well, they're harder to come by.

I can go on and on about the pre-planning and attention to detail that goes into a well built car. Too often people rush their projects, because they want to get out and drive - who doesn't? But take a look at What Broadfield has been up to and see attention to detail taken to an extreme level. I'm certainly not trying to sound like Debbie Downer in this post (that's gone on far longer than I intended), rather I want people to be happy with what they're working on and not waste a lot of money and time doing it.

But two mods everyone that wants a fast car needs to have: suspension & brakes. And don't skimp on the money. After that...track time.

I suggest anyone considering extensive modifications to their Z read this before getting to far along: Everything you need to know before you modify your 350Z.

[jerryd1987]

***Competing forum link removed***
its cool to go there for the people but nico club is alot better for front page updates and seeing cool stuff on other nissan cars, ***Competing forum link removed*** is pretty much just people updating on the 350 and most of the activity is in the FI forum but there is a wealth of knowledge there on our platform.
pay special attention to cass, binder, alberto, xkr, str8dum1, and myself of course lol im jerryd87 although i dont have my project done i have alot of experience from building my own camaros, a few others know a bit as well you can also find boosted performance on there to ask him questions about his kit if your interested.
most of the sponsors post regularly as well

unfortinatly im far from the states even when im not deployed lol, 3 hour flight from honolulu just to get to cali =/

[jerryd1987]

everything badger says is true although i would have to say depending on setup brakes may not be a requirement outside mayby fresh rotors and some better pads, if road racing then yes it will help a ton with fade but anything else not too much. The better option for everything outside road racing where your brakes arnt getting too hot would be stickier tires, the bigger brakes will just help dissipate heat better stock non-brembo breaks with abs turned off will over power the stock tires easily, you loose a ridiculous amount of brake power to abs but make sure you know how to drive without it as alot of people now a days dont know how to.

Suspension is definatly a plus for any type of racing but i would say save for a good true coil over set up vs like the nismo setup or stock style coil overs. true coil overs remove the toe bolt in the rear and the stock spring buckets. This is a good thing because alot of people have trouble with the toe bolts slipping even with some of the aftermarket ones and it changes alignment. Imo do it right or dont do it i would rather spend the extra 1000 bucks to have it done right and be happy then to do it the other way and not be happy and then pay even extra. you tell me what you wanna do bro and i will gladly help you with suggestions. Oh yah i dont think i mentioned a lsd before prob going to want one of those as well as even the vlsd that comes in everything above the base sucks. just be aware though when everything is said and done 6-7k is a really tough budget and your gona be scrounging for good deals of used parts. personally i would set a budget closer to 10k and try to find deals, hopfully outside tuning you can do most the work yourself. later ill try and post a possible set up for parts but trying to do homework, talking to wife, and also trying to fly back to my normal fob in about an hour.

[jerryd1987]

ok i lied here goes a sample parts list lol sorry
boosted performance midmount kit with injectors and fuel pump $5300(cant remember exactly i got alot of upgrades should be around here mayby a little less.)
osiris tune by authorized tuner $300 + $200 if you want the cable so you can datalog highly recommended.
mishimoto thermostat, radiator, silicone hoses $325 if you email injected performance they can give you like a package deal
plate and fin oil cooler 19 row $300-400 depending on brand can grab em from summit racing dont get tube and fin there not as good.
mocal sandwhich plate for oil cooler $80-90 bucks depending where you buy it from
electronic boost control kit $80 bucks
electronic boost controller $300-700 depending which one you go with you should look at a bunch and determine what you like in your price bracket.
guages prob looking between$200-700 depending on brand at a minimum get boost, oil temp, and afr with brand being at least autometer
jim wolf tech flywheel and clutch kit $775
carbonetics lsd $1400 a little pricey but a very nice unit
cjm stage 0 fuel return system $425
cant think of anything else yet but as you can see roughly 10k for parts if you can find deals it will drop and this should get you to around 450 hp, anything above this requires a built shortblock as the de rods bend at about 450 hp ill add more if i think of it but this should get you going. bolt ons like cams, intakes, headers will help make more power at lower boost but not needed especially for a lower power level.

You will also eventually need different tires and probably wider wheels to stick em on, some of the track edition wheels could be a nice option for cheap with some 245 or 255's on the rear

oh yah forgot cd009 trans $600-1000 for that one.
and also an exhuast but that will vary greatly on what you like listen to sound clips of cars with different exhuasts to see what you like.
good websites for alot of this stuff are import parts pro, sound performance, injected performance, gtmotorsports, cj-motorsports, forged performance those are the big ones, i think sasha can get you the osiris uprev with your kit as well if you buy from him but i dont remember 100%

[jerryd1987]

email me at [email protected] for website nicoclub is being a pain about outside forums even though other forums have no problem with people linking to nico club. again no offense nico club but you might have a bit more traffic if you dont have rules like that as linking helps you members

[audtatious]

Akebono big brake kit is a must

[audtatious]

Akebono big brake kit is a must