| And beyond!! (in a Buzz Lightyear voice) So I finally got around to installing a bunch of suspension parts I've had in storage for about a year and a half. My SPL coilovers from the 08 group buy, SPL tension rods I got shortly there after, SPL upper arms (used from na300zx(OH)) for the front stuff, Powertrix upper rear arms (used from Joe(NoVA) bought 4 years ago, damn!) and Powertrix traction rods (used from fourZero 3 years ago). Didn't get the traction rods on because my air impact gun was acting up, and the last person to touch those bolts overtightened the ever living shit out of them. Thanks to the above members and vendor (SPL parts) for the great transactions and great service. All were great to deal with. First a shot of the boards I use as lo pro ramps. 2x10s screwed together: 
Out with the old: 
In with the new: 
Outback: 
Then I put on some stock wheels and drove it to Autobahn Performance in Peabody for a corner balance and alignment. Great place, recommend it to all local guys. Professional and did a great job. Car is now balanced left to right 50/50, and front to back 54/46. Total weight without driver 3425lbs. The car feels amazing now, so connected, solid. Also pretty rugged over bad pavement or harsh transitions, but on nice roads or even modest roughness, it’s amazing. The ride height is great too, about a 1.75" drop all around. The same afternoon I did my brakes, I also did some cosmetic work. I finally swapped out my tinted tails for my Jspec set I have from my old silver car: So she went from this: 
To this: 
And I also had to buff out these paint marks. Luckily there were no real scratches or dents, just some transferred paint. Hit the side of my storage garage parking late one night. Not drinking, just overtired and frustrated working on a local kid’s car. 
I used some 3M Rubbing Compound and it came out amazing. Followed up with some Meguiars Show Car Glaze and all was right with the Z again. I then had plans to glaze, wax and S100 the whole thing, but due to time constraints, the waxing got cut out, so it was just a glaze and S100. So I also wanted to install my newly purchased brake set up before I drove to PA, because my old ones were old, like from my silver Z old. I purchased one of the last known sets of 350Z track rotor adapters from Bernie a while back, now I needed rotors. Friend of a friend recommended me to Zeckhausen Racing, and I had a great experience with them as well. Dave gave me great advice and a great deal on the brakes I needed. I ended up going with the Stoptech 2-piece 350Z slotted track rotors with matching 1 piece 300ZX rear rotors, with Stoptech Street Performance pads all around. The rear rotors were being made at Stoptech, so the whole shipment was held up. It got to Zeckhausen on Wednesday, I had them at my door on Thursday afternoon with just ground UPS shipping; great turnaround. The puny OEM brakes. This is one of the newly refinished OZ wheels as well, I’ll get to that later. 
And then the new 12.75” rotors installed: A retouched and super brightness/contrast version of the pic I took that night: 
And one from Carlisle: 
I didn’t do the rears because I ran out of time due to the above cosmetic stuff and the fact my driveway was blocked by construction until 5pm. So I finished at 2am on Friday before leaving for Philly at 10am that morning, but the rears had plenty of life left, so I wasn’t concerned. No one even noticed (or mentioned) that the rears didn’t match the fronts. Yes, I know the pad doesn’t 100% contact the rotor and I knew that when I bought the adapters. It’s still many times better than stock, and doesn’t break my bank. Once I rebuild my OEM calipers and install the stainless lines with new fluid, it’ll be even better. The 2 piece rotors weigh 8 ounces more than stock, and have a 1.75” larger diameter. I’ll double check those weights later, but they’re pretty spot on I think. That’s it for now, I need to give her a good wash and wax then head out for some pictures soon. Next on the list is the Selin dual intake, installing the sub box I just got from Chris, the aforementioned caliper rebuild and painting with stainless lines, then a dyno day to tune this pig up. I’ll also have to get some better pics of the refinished wheels and post about that process. Let me just say, if you have the time to wait, pay someone else to do it. It’s not easy, nor is it fun, it is a labor of love. Thanks as always first and foremost to TT.net and Greg and company for their very hard work, especially recently. I couldn’t have done it without the site. Thanks also to the members whom I’ve sold stuff to and bought stuff from: Joe (NoVA) (he’ll never see this, lol), Dave (na300zx(OH), John (FourZero), Bernie (Bernie (NoVa)), Kuah at SPL parts, Charles at Powertrix, Dave at Zeckhausen Racing
"I'm glad I have the MSP mani's." - jschrauwen 22:20:13 06/10/08"...Downpipes own. They own everything...anything...all there ever was and will be...they should be stock on all
cars. Screw the environment, emissions, noise! I love them...I shall name my first-born after them with glee..." -
SeedyRom 05:13:20 10/03/02 "i love the cock" - genic 22:20:47 09/25/03 "I hope you get fucked in the ass with a pringles can." - ni[X]it 14:53:53 02/02/06 "Either ignore him or beat him up. Anything else will be over his head." - Marshall 12:28:23 08/18/04 "i've got to the point where i can drive the Z at its limits and i want more" - shadowZ 16:29:56 08/31/04 "I was way more timid then than I am now about getting in there and yanking on things." - TT XTZ 13:30:34 07/25/05 "Just ran out to get some knee pads. I'm ready now... BRING.....IT.....ON... :-) " - Dave N 19:04:30 10/31/07
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Lots of recent work getting the car ready for Carlisle… - 
