WINDSCREEN WASHER SYSTEM JULY UPDATES Another section that i was able to tick off the list of completed sections this month was for the windscreen washer system which I was able to collect all of the required parts to be able to assemble the system back onto the car. I managed to find most of my spare washer system parts which I stripped down and put through a cleaning cycling in my ultrasonic cleaning machine making them as good as new again. BEFORE AFTER SILICONE HOSE LINE UPGRADES (SAAS P/N: SSVH34MM) After the cleaning process was completed on all of the spare parts, I then went about upgrading some of the water hose lines for the washer system using the same silicone hoses I used for the carbon canisters upgraded hoses, just because I know I have plenty of spare silicone hoses left over, so why not use what I have. I first cut to length the pair of short length hoses that connect to each of the front washer nozzles. I then cut to length the longer hoses that connects the LH washer nozzle to the RH washer nozzle and then connected all 3 hoses together. I was hoping to cut to length the hose that goes from the plastic y piece shown above which connects the washer nozzles to the washer pump on the reservoir but I was unable to remove it from my car in its current condition and I'll have to wait until after the car is back on the road before I can make a replacement hose for it.
PARTS ACQUIRED DURING THE MONTH OF JULY A late addition to add to this months part acquisitions which I only decided to purchase on the second last day of the month but I am excited to see how this new aftermarket part will help to improve my car's look overall in the future. STEDI H3 CONVERSION LED GLOBES FOR MY NEW FOG LIGHTS (STEDI P/N: LEDCONV-H3-SOLID) Much like the Narva LED globe upgrades I did on the front indicator assemblies last month, I thought I would do the same upgrade on the fog light assemblies and so I will be replacing the factory halogen H3 fog light globes with a new set of Stedi H3 conversion LED globes which have a raw lumens count of 1,100lm along with a 5700K true white light colour output which I am very interested to see in action when I get my car all back together again. Initially I was worried about the possibility of clearance issues with the LED globes fitting inside the fog light assemblies due to the fact that these new LED globes were obliviously much longer then the standard H3 globes are in size. But after a couple of quick measurements I did using the dimensions listed on the Stedi website, I was confident that the globes would fit without any issues. During my test fit of the Stedi LED globes into the fog light assembly, I discovered that because of the alluminum casing at the end of the LED globe, the retaining clip that normnally would lock and hold the globe in place was unable to able to fully lock down into its seated position and instead I was only able to get the retaining clip to go about 2/3 of the way and there is no way to get the retaining clip to go into a fully locked position with this LED globe inplace. However even with this situation, I found that both the globe and that retaining clip which are now wedged together, appear to be locked into place and I have found signs no movement or dislodging of the globe with the retaining clip in this position shown above. So I'm going to roll with this setup and see how things go I guess. All that is left to do now is purchase an special adaptor connector from online stores like CZP or Z1 motorsports, which will allow me to connect the new LED H3 globes into the factory wiring connector inside the fog light assembly.
Finally I am nearing the end of this rebuild project and the progress I have made and the parts I have purchased and received this month have put me on track to hopefully have my Z back together again and driving in the next few months time. This month I also completed the modifications for the Koyo aftermarket radiator and 2000 model Version R factory side skirts as well as preparing my Stillen SMZ nose panel and several other parts that I've been stripping down for the last few months for their final restoration paint process to be done next month.
RADIATOR, TRANS COOLER, COOLANT OVERFLOW AND AUX FAN UPDATE (PART 5) For this month's 5th update on the cooling system developments, I finally got onto modifying my Koyo aftermarket radiator to allow for the installation of the OEM 300ZX NA radiator fan shroud to be possible. While I was at it I also swapped over the basic drain cock that came on the Koyo radiator with the 300ZX specific version I purchased several months ago to complete the modifications to the Koyo radiator. Koyo NA Radiator Modifications One of the last remaining tasked left to do for the cooling system, was to modify the Koyo radiator to include all of the mounting point along the outer aluminum frame of the radiator to allow for me to be able to install the factory NA 300ZX fan shroud onto the Koyo radiator. We started by first marking out the locations of each of the 4 mounting holes using both my original NA radiator and my new fan shroud as reference guides using a marker and a punch. Once we were happy with all of the locations of the markings we had made for each of the mounting points, my Dad began the process of drilling out each mounting holes. Once all of the holes had be drilled out, I then did a test fit of the OEM fan shroud onto the Koyo radiator using a full set of new factory mounting fasteners I purchased to complete the installation. As you can see everything lines up perfectly and I am very happy with the results. OEM 300ZX Drain Cock Replacement (Nissan P/N: 21440-01E00) Another item that I wanted to add to the Koyo radiator which I felt was necessary, was to replace the basic drain cock that came on the Koyo radiator with the one off of the 300zx radiator as it included a drain hose feature which would make draining the coolant from the radiator alot less messy in the future. Before After The installation was straight forward and I am very happy with the replacement drain cock on the koyo radiator.
BATTERY AND BATTERY MOUNTING UPDATE (PART 3) Another small update for the battery section which is now 100% complete with all of parts required now accounted for. Battery Rod Hold-Down Replacement & Comparison (Nissan P/N: 24425-89907) If you all remember back in June, I posted about a strange occurrence where one of my battery's hold-down rods had mysteristly formed corrosion on a small section at the bottom end of the rod. Well I am grateful I finally decided to replace it with a brand new one as you can see not only is there a large amount of metal missing from the rod but it also appears to have weakened the metal to the point where the lower hook on the end of the rod is now bent out of shape. I will be very interested to see if anything happens to this new battery rod going forward especially since I'll be adding to the battery hold-down part the new rubber insulator grommets to hopefully prevent a electrical circuit from occurring and causing corrosion to form on the metal.
NOSE PANEL UPDATE (PART 5) Moving onto the nose panel & bonnet section now, where I am trying to tie up a few loose ends that I have yet to tackle for the nose panel which has been basically untouched since my Dad had painted it back in October last year. First there is a mounting bracket for the nose panel which needs to be stripped down and prepared for some new paint as well as some work on the nose panel itself removing unnecessary wire mesh from the underside of the panel and I also masked off the areas where the cutouts for the louvers are which will also be getting a touch of paint applied to the exposed wire mesh to finish off the final look that I'm going for with the nose panel. Nose Panel Bracket Paint Stripping Process (Nissan OEM P/N: 62340-30P00) Funny enough out of all of the paint stripping work I've been doing over the last 6 months or so, I forgot to remember to strip down the metal support bracket that attaches to the front lower section of the nose panel which holds a rubber seal in place to help with installing and mounting the nose panel into position on the core support and up against the front bumper bar without damaging the paintwork on both panels. Now over the years I've collected several of these metal brackets with 4 sets along coming from all of the used nose panels I purchased during the early stages of the rebuild project. Nose panel bracket collection showcase. As you can see pretty much all of brackets I have here, have all seen better days which is no surprise as Nissan only applied a single coat of paint onto these brackets and after 30 years of being subjected to the environment the protective coating has deteriorated and allowed rust to form under the paint. So after carefully inspecting all of the spare brackets I have, I picked the best condition one out of the bunch and got to work mounting the bracket up into my new vacuum stand bench vice and after a little bit of work with the wire wheel and impact drill I was making some progress. After a few days more of work using my impact drill and my new 250watt bench grinder, I was very happy to see the bracket stripped down and ready for a few coats of KBS rust seal and chassis topcoat paint. Stillen SMZ Nose Panel Modifications & Paint Prepping (Stillen P/N: 108820) With the mounting bracket now sorted, I turned my attention to something I have been wanting to do ever since I got my hands on my very rare Stillen SMZ nose panel which is to remove as much of the useless chicken wire mesh the previous owner had installed onto the underside of the panel. For a long time now I have felt that the wire mesh covering the center section of the underside of the nose panel to be unnecessary and covers up some of the rare features this SMZ nose panel has for its history, so I have decided to cut out as much of the wire mesh as I could from the center section of the nose panel and hopefully revealing more of what is hidden underneath. Taking a closer look, you can see that the wire mesh has been glued down onto the panel and sectioned off where the cutouts for the 3 louvers on each side of the panel are located. Using a small side cutting tool, I began snipping away the edges of the wire mesh material along the outer perimeter as close to the adhesive material as possible. After a short amount of time I had cut out all of the loose wire mesh material that wasn't bonded to any glue traces on the outer edges or in the center of the panel. As one last step I decided to try and pry off the glue blob that was still present in the center of the panel and to my surprise the blob of glue came off without causing any damage to the fiberglass material on the underside of the nose panel. Finally after months of waiting I can finally reveal to you all with actual clear photo evidence this time around that this nose panel I purchased from Japan is an original fiberglass Stillen SMZ nose panel with the included Stillen business card present and a hand written Stillen part number now clearly visible for you all to see and I am very happy that I decided to do this job. Now the last item to work on was to begin preparing the topside of the nose panel so that I could apply some paint over the exposed wire mesh sections located between each of the 3 cutouts for the louvers on either ends of the topside of the nose panel. The plan is to apply some gloss black KBS chassis topcoat to the wire mesh so it will look more natural then it current does with the wire mesh currently painted in a silver body colour which doesn't look right to me at all. So I pulled out some painters masking tape and began applying layers of tape over the painted areas of the panel I don't want to get the gloss black chassis paint on. After about half and hour or so of work, the panel was all masked up on both ends ready for the next big step. But I will admit it wasn't the easiest job to do and trying to mask up the areas deep down in each of the cutouts for the louvers was a pain to get the tape in there let alone having the tape stick down where I wanted with no real easy access which was frustrating and time consuming. I just hope I've masked up enough to prevent any of the gloss black chassis paint from making its way onto the silver body painted areas of the nose panel. Nose Panel (Taping up louvers for paint 3)
2000 MODEL VERSION R SIDE SKIRTS RETORATION PROCESS UPDATE (PART 2) After a year of sitting in storage at my Dad's place, its finally time to continue with the restoration process on my pair of factory 2000 model version r side skirts which were removed and painted mid last year. For this update my Dad and I will be going over the steps we needed to take in order to reattach all of the side skirts factory mounting hardware that unfortunately came off during the removal process. With both of the side skirts placed upside down on a table, I began sorting out and mocked up the location for each of the 22 mounting tabs which are stamped with either L or R for left and right and number from 1 to 11 which made sorting out the mounting tabs very straight froward. Next we needed to prepare the polyurethane underside of both side skirts where each of the 22 mounting tabs were located, using a Dremel and wire wheel as well as a chisel we scuffed up the surface of the polyurethane material before cleaning the entire area down to prevent contamination of the surface during the bonding process. Then the mating surfaces for each of the 22 mounting tabs were also scuffed up as well, all in an effort to help with bonding the mounts to the side skirts and prevent the chance of the mounts detaching again in the future. With all of the grinding work completed, it was time to apply some adhesive to finally bond the mounting tabs to the side skirts and I decided to go with a Sikaflex 527 bonding glue which I have known for years now is a really strong bonding agent for this type of situation and would be ideal for this time of application. Working on one mounting tab at a time, we slowly worked our way along each of the side skirts applying a sufficient amount of glue to the mating surfaces of each of the 22 mounting tabs which were then placed into their correct positions on the underside of each side skirt and pressed firmly until the glue had set in place. The process was quiet effective and with all of the mounts now back in place, I will be putting both of the side skirts back into storage to allow the glue to fully dry for as long as possible. Next step is to mount both of the side skirts back onto the car which I hope wont be too difficult to do but I'm not sure if the factory mounting setup I added to the car back in 2012 will hold the skirts fully or if more glue will be required.
PARTS ACQUIRED DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST A huge month of part acquisitions has arrived for the project and boy I can not wait to show you all what I purchased for the Z this month. First up I managed to get my hands on a very rare optional automatic shifter after a year of searching and it has been a long time coming but I can finally say that I have received 'THE LAST" parts order for this rebuild project and with it comes the boost of motivation I desperately needed so I can finally start actually pre assembling various parts from several sections ahead of the final stages of the re-assembly process for the project which I hope will happen within the next month or 2. So without further delay lets have a look at what I parts I received for the month of August. Optional Navan Automatic Shifter Purchase (Z32 Version) (Nissan P/N: C491V-40P00) Back in 2022 I purchased my first optional Navan automatic shifter from a seller on eBay in Amsterdam. Overall the unit was in ok condition and I paid roughly $400 AUD delivered for the shifter which I intended to install after the Z was back on the road. I was excited to finally have one of these rare shifters in my collection after not really wanting one for the longest of time. A year later while browsing through yahoo auctions, I found an auction for the sale of a another Navan shifter and in a moment of curiosity I looked over the listing and what I found amongst the list of photos in the auction was something I hadn't expected to see. There was a photo of the original Nissan/Navan Parts label which indicated that this specific Navan shifter being sold was a Z32 specific version. Now this was something I didn't know about at the time and I initially assumed that all of the Navan Auto shifters were the same but after comparing the Navan shifter I had in my hands with the one in the photos on yahoo auctions, I realised that I was wrong and that there are specific Navan shifters for different cars. With this new knowledge I was able to determine that the Navan shifter I purchased in 2022, was probably to suit an Nissan Silvia S14 model and I could spot differences between the two Navan shifters from what I had and from what I could see in the photos from the yahoo auctions listing. This prompted me to then restart my search for another optional Navan automatic shifter and this time I would make sure to buy one that will suit a 300ZX Z32 model and for the past year or so I have seen several go up for sale on yahoo auctions at a price range of between $400+ to $600+ AUD which were a little too high for me to bite the bullet on when I needed to focus my funding on buying parts that I actually needed to get to be able to put the Z back on the road and so my initial plan was to just wait until after I had the money to make the purchase and or wait until after the Z was finally back together again. Luckily for me in July of this year, I found the one that I eventually purchased and I brought it for amazing low price of $300 AUD delivered, which is half of what I was willing to spend on one several months earlier and it came complete with the shifter indicator trim piece and even the entire shifting mechanism which I don't really need but its always good to have a spare I guess. When I received the part midway through August, I was of course wrapped with the purchase and the condition of the shifter is excellent to say the least. I even compared the S14 Navan shifter with the Z32 version and you can clearly see the length differences between the 2 shifters so I'm glad I never decided to modify the S14 shifter and instead it is currently up for sale on eBay. The Final Parts Order for the Rebuild Project The final parts order I made through Concept Z Performance contained every last minute and remaining 300zx part I needed to finally say I have all of the parts required to put the front end of my Z back together again. Trying to be as prepared as possible I spent a good month double checking all of my parts inventory at home so that I didn't miss anything in this order. I initially budgeted the order with about $400 AUD in parts and roughly $100 AUD guesstimate in freight charges but that price it turns out to be on the very optimistic side of things and the final total cost I ended up paying for the entire order turned out to be closer to $1000 AUD including freight which was over double what I had estimated and my wife wasn't very happy about to say the least. But this is the price we pay for purchasing items from overseas and I only wish I had access to shops like CZP here in Australia and not have to pay nearly $300 in freight charges just to ship my order over from the USA to Australia. Thankfully online stores like RGS performance who in my opinion is the best 300zx parts vendor we have here in Australia will continue to release and provide new and existing aftermarket and OEM parts for us Aussie 300zx owners to purchase from and with very low and even free shipping options its hard not to consider purchasing from Rob for your local 300zx parts in the future. Still as much as it cost me almost a fortnights pay and a cosey bed to sleep in for a night. I am just happy I can stop spending so much money on the Z at least for a little while and instead I can now focus on just putting the Z back together and enjoy driving it once again after nearly 3 years of it sitting in my Dad's front yard. Powertrix Carbon Fiber Air Guide Full NA Set (Powertrix P/N: CF3PRAGNISZ32) Starting off with the big purchase that came in my final parts order from CZP, was the full set of carbon fiber air guides made by Powertrix which I purchased as a way of helping me to cover over the repaired but poorly looking radiator core support. Ever since I started this rebuild project I have been going crazy for carbon fiber add on parts and this is just another one that I wanted to have and they look fantastic out of the box. I will need to make a few modifications to each of the 3 air guides in order for me to be able to not just mount the air guides to the core support but to also install a feature that I've never seen anyone else so far do before with these types of aftermarket air guides and that is to add in holes for the ability for me to clip in the factory VIN chassis plate onto the top of center air guide instead of having the guide cover over the plate and keep it hidden underneath as well as add all of the factory engine labels that are located along the core support. 2010 Nissan Murano Universal Optional Sports Horns (Nissan P/N: 25070-30P01) The other big part that I guess is worth mentioning, is the set of optional sports horns off of the 2010 Nissan Murano that I purchase to replace my original factory Z32 horns with and give my Z a bit more of a modern sounding horn. Funny enough I had been against doing this for a long time as I felt that upgrading the factory horns was 300ZX blasphemy and also a waste of money but my mind has come around to the fact that I have been putting in a lot of time and money into upgrading several parts on the car during the rebuild, so why not upgrade my factory Z32 horns setup while I'm at it and the fact that these new horns can be easily installed onto the 300ZX with no modifications needed was a no brainer for me and the fact that these horns are original OEM Nissan parts also made the purchase worth going for in my opinion. However this late change could have complications associated with it as the new horns are much larger in size and my planned factory Z32 horn covers setup might experience some sort of clearance issue with these new bigger horns but I was hopeful that would not be the case. Unfortunately when I attempted to test fit the new sports horns and the factory Z32 horn covers, I did indeed come across clearance issues that made it impossible for the sports horns to be able to fit under the factory Z32 horn covers. More testing is required to know for sure but I may need to look into changing the mounting setup for the new sports horns and or modify the plastic horn covers to allow for both of them to be able to fit onto the Z as I am intending.
At long last the final phase of the rebuild project is in full swing now and I have been very busy checking over as many of the sections of the project that I can to make sure I have everything that I will need when it comes time to put this car back together again. The other big development that also occurred this month was the completion of my restoration work on a whole bunch of metal parts which I have been slowing working on restoring over the past 8 months or so and with that accomplished now done, I can then focus my attention to when I will actually be reassembling the car back into a fully functional an drivable machine once again. The current plan is to do it over a 2 day weekend, with me staying over at my Dad's place to allow me to have as much time as possible to slowly install everything back onto the car and deal with any issues that might arise during the reassembly process. The excitment for me right now is definately building and I just hope that all of this work and planning will make putting the Z back together as straight forward as can be. Unfortunately all of this content and effort has caused me to miss my timely monthly update window for the past 2 months which I apologise for and I will be working extra hard now to try and catch up my progress reports so that any further progress reports will not be so delayed going forward. Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ADAMZX Instagram: instagram.com/adamzx_z32
FINISHING UP THE RESTORATION PROCESS FOR A BUNCH OF MISCELLENOUS PARTS Starting off the progress report this month, will be the process I went through of me applying a new durable and glossy paint coating to several miscellaneous support and mounting brackets that I have spent the last 8 month or so preparing for new paint which I need to do before I can then reinstall those parts back onto the car. Back in April of this year, I tested out spray painting a couple of metal parts I wanted to restore using a spray on chassis paint made by Raptor and though I was happy with the look of the part after the coating had dried, the durability of the paint finish turned out to less then what i was expecting it to be and so going forward, I wanted to look into a more durable and easier to apply paint coating. That is when I found out about a paint coating system made by KBS, which according to the internet and a mate of mine who had first hand experience using this new paint coating system. Would give me the high glossy look and finish I was going for as well as give me a very durable anti corrosive paint coating that would not chip off easily and be able to protect the metal surface of the parts for an extremely long time. The other benefit of me using this new paint coating was the fact that I could apply the paint using a brush on method which I figured would be a lot easier for a novice painter like myself, to be able to apply the paint to the parts from inside the comfort of my garage. After all of the issues I had trying to use a spray on chassis paint, I was hopeful that this new brush on paint method, would eliminate some of those issues such as trying to paint parts in a confined space as well as not having to worry about any overspray from falling onto the walls and floor of the garage. Like with everything I do, I collected as many paint resources and equipment as I could to try and make the painting process as straight forward for myself as much as possible. I purchased several natural bristle brushes and even some roll on paint tools just incase one method turned out to be better then the other. The 2 paint coatings I will be using for this process will start with an initial application of KBS's rust seal which is the anti corrosion paint layer to protect the metal surface of the part from rusting in the future. I will then apply a second paint layer of KBS's Black Top Chassis Coater in a high gloss black finish and its purpose is to provide a protective UV paint finish for the rust seal paint layer so that it doesn't fade overtime from direct sunlight. The setup of the garage consisted of 2 cheap clothes hanging towers I purchased from the local hardware store and would allow me to hang each of the parts from at a suitable height using tie wire. A small table was also setup covered by a tarp so I could paint the exposed grill mesh sections on the Stillen nose panel. Lastly to protect the garage floor as much as possible I placed a medium sized drop sheet down onto the garage floor below the painting area just to prevent any kind of paint spillage that may occur during the painting process from getting onto the garage floor. Next I then needed to hang all of the parts to be painted from the clothes towers I had setup up, spreading them out as much as possible. With everything setup I popped open the first paint can and began painting the first couple of parts and this is where the issues that I hadn't accounted for began to appear using this type of brush on application. The first issue I found was the fact that as I tried to brush the paint onto the light weight parts, it would obliviously get pushed away preventing the new paint from really getting on the surface of the part. So to combat this I used an additional hold down point using a tie wire to tension the part and make it more stable and thus not move but this ended up making the part begin twisting on a pivot and so I was having to fight the natural movement of the part hanging downwards while I attempted to brush on the paint on by hand. This became very frustrating very quickly. The second issue I had was with paint runs which were unavoidable using this method on such small parts and though I attempted to fix as many of the runs as I could, it meant me having to go over the same part multiple times before I could move onto the next part slowing down my progress. Still with all of those issues aside, I did end up completing the first coat on all of the parts successfully but it took me about an hour or so to get all of the parts sufficiently coated in paint. The recommend dry time for the rust seal was 12 hours, so I left the parts to sit overnight and then start over again for the second coat which would be the chassis top coater. The next day I applied the black top chassis coater to all of the parts using the same brush on method which again was tough to apply as I still had all of the above issues to deal with for this second coat but I managed to get it all done in the end and though it was an experience I would never do again all at once, I was happy with how the paint finish turned out for the most part. And the best finish I ended up getting for the entire process, was with the nose panel which came out exactly how I wanted it to with all of the exposed cutout louvers painted in gloss black which looked so much better then it did before and it really goes well with the silver factory paint colour of the panel. If I had to do it all again I would definitely be using a spray on method of application for this type of paint job, mainly because the parts I was painting were so light weight that there was no effective way to hold the part steady while I painted it using a brush and it meant I couldn't get a consistent coating like I wanted.
AIR CLEANER SYSTEM SEPTEMBER FINAL UPDATE The first section we will be looking at for this month is the air intake system (SEC-165) and all of its related components. The system includes the air filter housing assembly which houses the 2 panel style air filters, as well as the location of the mass air flow sensor. Connected to the MAF sensor are air intake hoses that direct air flow from the air filter housing and up into the 2 throttle bodies attached to the intake plenum on top of the motor. As my car is an NA model this section also includes the specially designed resonator hose setup attached to the intake ducting's found in (SEC-628) which help to reduced engine noise on the VG30DE engines which the turbo model cars do not require. All of the plastic and rubber components for this section where restored using a 3 stage cleaning & coating process I developed myself with a thorough initial cleaning of each part inside and out using a 4:1 ratio of simple green concentrated all purpose cleaner (SG13003) and water followed by a treatment with Bowden's Tar Tar Tar (BOTTT) to remove any remaining staining on the surface of the parts before a coating of Meguiars ultimate protectant Dash & Trim Restorer (G14512) was applied to not just protect the parts from the elements for a short while but to also bring the shine and colour back to the rubber and or plastic components making them look like brand new parts again. This section also saw me replace several parts as part of many upgrades that occurred during the rebuild project. For this section specifically the Mass Air Flow Sensor needed to be replaced as the original MAF sensor had been crushed during the accident. My initial plan was to swap out the internal sensor and circuit board from the damage MAF sensor into a spare but fautly MAF sensor which had an undamaged housing. With the help of my Dad we were successful in transplanting the sensors from one housing to another but further testing of the unit was required before we could weather seal the housing back together. To cover my bases, I also decided to buy a spare brand new aftermarket MAF sensor which I purchased off of eBay, just to save me time if the repaired original MAF sensor ended up malfunctioning even after it had been repaired so to speak and with the spare MAF sensor in hand, I could swap it in and be able to proceed with the re-assembly of the car and not have to wait for a replacement sensor to be shipping in which could take weeks to arrive depending on where its coming from. I also replaced all of the original and rusty looking OEM 2 band style hoses clamps for the factory resonator hoses with brand new Tridon SMP stainless steel smoove banded hose clamps (SMP2XP) which will not rust in the future as well as not damage the plastic and rubber hoses due to the smoove band design of the new hose clamps. For upgrades I replaced the factory panel style paper air filters with a pair of K&N High Flow air filter (33-2036) replacements which are reusable and will reduce servicing costs in the long run. Air Filter Housing Assembly & Mass Air Flow Sensor & Hardware Intake Pipes & Hardware Resonator Hoses & Hardware
AIR INTAKE DUCTING SEPTEMBER FINAL UPDATE Following the previous section here is all of the components of the air intake ducting's section (SEC-628) which contains the 2 main air intake ducts which draw air from the wheel wells and direct it into the air filter housing assembly as well as the 2 mounting brackets for the air intake pipes that mount to the frame rail under the headlight bucket panels. Using my 3 stage cleaning & coating process, I was able to fully restore both of the plastic intake ducts back to looking like brand new again. I also went about restoring as best I could, a pair of mounting brackets which secure the 2 intake pipes located under the headlight bucket panels using the previously mentions KBS rust seal and chassis topcoater. As for upgrades for this section, I replaced the original pair of factory intake piping's rubber mount grommets with a pair of Zspec silicone replacement grommets (PSGRMMTS). Even though they are sold to suit the replacement of the factory rubber grommets on the power steering reservoir, they are also direct replacements for the rubber grommets on the intake piping's mounting setup. Intake Ducting & Fastener Layout LH Intake Ducting & Fastener Layout RH Air Intake Piping LH & RH Mounts & Hardware Layout
CARBON CANISTER UNIT, VACUMM HOSES & HARDWARE SEPTEMBER FINAL UPDATE Next up is the carbon canister unit from SEC-173 as well as the 3 vacuum hose's located in SEC-223 that connect from the 3 upper hose ports on the top of the carbon canister and then connect to individual hardlines mounted to the LH side frame rail, these hose lines connect the carbon canister to the fuel tank. The carbon canister was restored like all of the other plastic parts I've removed during this rebuild project and the unit did come out looking pretty good after its restoration process. I also replaced all of the old and rusty OEM spring tension clamps where needed with brand new aftermarket cadmium plated spring tension clamps. I also upgraded the 3 factory rubber vacuum hoses for the carbon canister with brand new SAAS silicone vacuum hoses. Each hose was cut to length to match the factory hose it was replacing. Once everything had been collected, I then pre-assembled the carbon canister with all 3 of the new silicone vacuum hoses and accompanying hose clamps installed into place which completes my preparations for these 2 sections for the next stage of the rebuild project. Carbon Canister Unit Vacuum Hoses & Clamps
NISSAN MURANO SPORTS HORN & HORN COVERS SEPTEMBER UPDATE After the success of the test fitting for the new Nissan Murano sports horns and the OEM 300ZX horn covers onto the Z last month, I am hoping that this will be the final update for this section (SEC-253). I am eager to see the final setup and sound these new horns will make once the Z has been put back together again hopefully in the next few weeks. Nissan Sports Horns Kit Horn & Horn Cover Layout LH Horn & Horn Cover Layout RH
2000 MODEL FRONT SIDE INDICATOR ASSEMBLIES PRE-ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER FINAL UPDATE Time to switch things up a little bit and look at some lighting components now and first up we have the 2000 model front side indicator assemblies from SEC-261. These are of course brand new units which I purchased in 2022 as my original assemblies were unfortunately damaged in the accident. Along with the new indicator assemblies I also went about finding a set of replacement LED globes for the new assemblies to update and modernise this part of the lighting system on my Z. With all of the parts now sourced, I began the process of pre assembling the indicator assemblies with the new LED globes before they can finally be installed back onto the car. The first step in the process was to replace the factory halogen indicator globes with a brand new set of Canbus style LED replacements (18272BL) that I picked up from my work. The new LED globes were inserted into each globe socket and locked into place. You will also notice in the above photo, that I have also installed onto each of the globe sockets, my hand made custom wiring harness adapter which I made back in 2011 to allow for me to connect the later model indicator assemblies onto my early model body wiring harness on the car, making the install all plug and play. All that was left to do now was to insert and lock in place the now assembled globe sockets into each of the front side indicator assemblies. All in all a pretty straight forward install. But what I am most excited about for this section specifically is to do with these new Canbus style LED indicator globes which I hope will produce the correct resistance value through the indicator wiring circuit so that the OEM flasher relay located inside the car will function exactly like it does when a set of halogen globes are installed inside the light assemblies. I have been wanting to solve this issue for several years now and is why I haven't installed any LED indicator globes into my car up till this point in time. Unfortunately I wont know for sure if the new LED globes will cause any negative affects until I put the Z back together again and turn the indicator switch on and hopefully everything works as intended. 2000 Model Front Side Indicator Assembly Layout LH (Part Codes) 2000 Model Front Side Indicator Assembly Layout RH
FRONT JDM FOG LIGHT ASSEMBLIES PRE-ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER FINAL UPDATE Following the progress made in SEC-261 on the front side indicators, now its time to focus on the process of assembling the brand new JDM fog light assemblies from SEC-263 which I also purchased in early 2022 so that I could replace the absolutely destroyed original fog lights after the events of the accident. So the plan is to obliviously assemble the 2 halves of the fog light assemblies into a completed light assembly but while I am it I also took the additional step of upgrading the factory parker and H3 fog light halogen globes with brand new LED versions further modernising the lighting scheme on the Z. Installing Fog Light Rear Housing Rubber Seals (26153-30P00) Starting off the process is the installation of the main rubber mating seal that inserts into a channel along the outer edge of the inside on the rear housings casing. The seal are designed so that they can only go in one orientation into the outer channel and without it, moisture would most likely be able to enter inside the fog lights and burn out the globes inside the light assemblies prematurely. Once in place the seals fit nice and snug along the channel. Narva LED Parker Wedge Globe Installation (18240BL) Next is the installation of the new Narva branded LED T10 wedge globes which will replace the original halogen globes for the parkers inside the fog lights. Stedi H3 LED Fog Light Globe Installation (LEDCONV-H3-SOLID) Now onto the installation of the new Stedi H3 LED conversion globes which will require the use of an connector adapter which I purchased from CZP and made converting from the factory H3 globes to the new LED H3 globes a plug and play affair. Finishing Off The Assembly Of Both Fog Light Assemblies With all of the new globes now inserted into their respectful globe sockets, I then carefully installed each globe socket into their factory locations inside the front lens housing. Marrying the 2 halves of the fog lights was the next step in the process and it wasn't without its challenges, as getting the internal wiring harness all tucked in and out of the way, proved to be more difficult then I was expecting and it took me a few tries before I eventually succeeded in getting the 2 halves together for the first time. The final step in the process was to lock the 2 halves of the fog lights housings together which required 4 mounting fasteners located at each outer corner on the rear housing to be hand tightened down to secure everything in place. I also loosely installed the 3 rear mounting nuts onto the mounting studs which be necessary to install the fog lights onto the reo bar during the final reassembly stage of the rebuild. All in all the assembly of both of my new fog lights was a fun experience and not too difficult for me to complete. I am happy with how they turned out and I am excited to see how the new LED globes with look when illuminated at night. Fog Light Assembly LH Layout Fog Light Assembly LH Layout
TOW HOOK & HARDWARE RESTORATION SEPTEMBER FINAL UPDATE My original factory front tow hooks have finally finished their 8 month restoration process which has been something I have been wanting to do for years now. The hooks now have a beautiful gloss black paint finish to them and should blend well with the all black lower splash guards under the front of the car. Like all of the other parts, I started the process back in March of 2024 where I first had to strip down all of the old factory silver paint off of both tow hooks. I first attempted a chemical paint stripping method which was only able to remove half of the paint off of the hardened steel metal surface of the tow hooks. Not wanting to waste anymore time after the failure with the chemical method, I then went to town on the tow hooks using an abrasive method which finally gave me the result I was chasing. Finally after 5 months of prepping myself for paint, I then coated the exposed metal surface of both tow hooks first using KBS Rust Seal and then KBS blacktop chassis coater making the look you see now. The end result was a high glossy black paint finish that is extremely durable and long lasting which i hope doesn't chip off if i ever get my car towed again in the future. Knock on wood Overall I was very happy with how they turned out in the end. Tow Hook & Fasteners LH Tow Hook & Fasteners RH
INTERCOOLER DUCTING, UKDM OIL COOLER MOUNTING & CARBON CANISTER HARDWARE SEPTEMBER UPDATE Moving onto something a but bigger and a little more complex is SEC-640 which contains several different components for 3 key setups located in the front of the car underneath the front bumper bar. They include the 2000 model NA intercooler ducting setup as well as the remaining components for the rest of the carbon canister setup. The last set of components listed in this section is related to the mounting setup for the UKDM oil cooler which I plan to install as part of my automatic transmission cooler upgrade sometime in the future one day. Carbon Canister Mounting Bracket Restoration & Lower Vacuum Hoses Preassembly Having already preassembled the upper part of the carbon canister in SEC-173, I can now finish off the assembly of the lower vacuum hose setup as well as go over the restoration process I went through with the carbon canister's mounting bracket. Like the upgrades I mentioned in SEC-173 where the 3 upper rubber vacuum hoses were replaced with cut to length silicone vacuum hoses, the lower hoses also got the same treatment but only for the smaller 6mm sized diameter hose, as there are no silicone replacement hoses, that I know of for the special Y hose piece that connects to the lower hose port on the bottom of the carbon canister. All of the original spring style hose clamps for these hoses were also replaced with new aftermarket hose clamps to complete the upgrades for the carbon canister. Then there is the restoration process I went through with the carbon canister's mounting bracket which like the several other metal parts mentioned eariler, required months of work to strip down a prepare the metal surface of the bracket so a new more durable paint coating could be applied to not just restore the look of the bracket but to also protect it from degrading in the future. Due to the mounting brackets size, chemically stripping the old factory paint turned out to be quiet difficult to get any kind of results, so an abrasive method was used to finally get the bracket down to bare metal. The mounting bracket was coated in KBS Rust Seal before a second coat of KBS chassis topcoater was applied to complete the restoration of the mounting bracket. Pretty happy with the results overall. Carbon Canister Parts Layout 2000 Model Intercooler Ducting NA Model Setup Final Update Next we have the final update on the very rare 2000 model NA intercooler ducting setup which I am going to be installing onto my Z to further follow the factory setup of the 2000 NA models cars as much as I can. I was lucky to have been able to source 95% of the components for this setup brand new from Nissan when I did and I only had to fabricate one of the outer brackets as they are now discontinued new from Nissan in Japan. The fabricated bracket that we had to make, was cut out of a flat sheet of steel, which we hand bent it into shape using the original bracket I was able to source as a template along with installing a pair of nut rivets into the lower section of the bracket which will hold one side of the plastic intercooler ducting. The bracket was painted using a Raptor gloss black roll bar & chassis spray paint (RRBGB/AL) to protect the metal from corrosion and renew the gloss black paint finish to be better then brand new. Overall I am wrapped with the new bracket my Dad and I were able to make. Intercooler Ducting Complete Part Layout UKDM Oil Cooler Mounting Bracket Restoration September Update Last but not least is the update on the restoration process for the UKDM oil cooler bracket that I will be using to install not just the UKDM oil cooler onto but to also install the Sonny power steering cooler onto as well one day in the future allowing me to complete the factory setup for both of those items. Anyways, the process like all the others required me to strip away all of the old factory paint off of the metal surface and I tried several difference methods, including chemically trying to strip the paint away, then I tried soda blasting which didn't end up going so well for me and I barely removed anything off of the bracket but that ended up being my air compressor not being setup correctly for me to blast properly. Anyways like I have discovered during this rebuild project, nothing beats a good old wire wheel abrasive paint stripping and once I figured that out it was a breeze getting the mounting bracket back to bare metal. The next step in the process was to paint the entire mounting bracket using KBS Rust seal and KBS chassis topcoater to make this part look a million bucks once again and I am wrapped with how this mounting bracket turned out. Unfortunately I will not be installing this oil cooler bracket setup onto my Z just yet as I am fast tracking the re-assembly process for the front end of the car and the extra time it would take for me to complete the restoration of several other parts for this setup to be functional on the car would just drag this rebuild project out longer then it already has gone on for, so I will be skipping the installation of the oil cooler bracket setup for another date in the future. UKDM Oil Cooler Mounting & Support Bracket Part Layout
AIR INTAKE DUCTING SEPTEMBER FINAL UPDATE For the final section I'll be covering this month, will be SEC-747 which has all of the components related to the lower engine splash guards or under shrouds. It also contains the part codes for the front upper air guide panel and a pair of lower frame rail brackets which I was able to restore back to brand new again. Upper Air Guide Restoration Completed The upper air guide panel went through a quick and easy restoration process way back in February. BEFORE AFTER One of the exciting discoveries I made with this part during the rebuild project, was figuring out the original mounting location and setup for this air guide panel which mounts onto both the reinforcement bar and the air filter housing. Lower Frame Rail Brackets Restoration Process Completed Located underneath the front 2 frame rails these mounting brackets went through a lengthy restoration process which included stripping the brackets down and then repainting them using the KBS coating system. BEFORE STRIPPING AFTER STRIPPING Once stripped down, I used a wire wheel to scuff up the metal surface before paint was applied Then the brackets were coated in KBS rust Seal and KBS Black Top topcoater to achieve the desired look I was going for. Overall I am pretty happy with the end result of the restoration of these brackets. Front Air Guide & Frame Rail Brackets Layout Z1 All Aluminum Front Lower Splash Guards or Under Shrouds (Z1 Motorsports P/N: 21033) One of the new and exciting upgraded parts that I purchased early on in the rebuild project was the new 2022 Z1 all alloy set of front and rear lower engine splash guards which have been designed to replace the original plastic versions of the 2 front and rear engine splash guards that over time get covered in oil, sag, discolour and eventually fall apart. I replaced my original pair of OEM lower engine splash guards back in 2011 with a brand new set and I was hopeful that these brand new splash guards would last at least 20+ years before they would start to deteriorate but what have I found is that even after only 10+ years of regular use while on my Z, the new OEM plastic guards have already began to show their age and for a long time now I have been looking into buying a replacement set of metal splash guards and it just so happened that Z1 released their new set of all alloy under shrouds soon after I had my car accident. The new Z1 under shrouds as they call them, will be able to hold up against all of above issues with no problems as each splash guard's metal surface has been professionally coated in an stain black anodized finish and on top of that the new guards come included with additional air vents to help increase airflow through the front of the car to help direct outside cooler air into the engine bay from under the rear splash guard which could assist in keeping engine temperatures down for my Z in the future. The kit also came with a full set of anodized mounting fasteners to replace the old factory units with and I was very happy with the overall quality of the new splash guards when they arrived. I did a quick comparison between the Z1 guards and the OEM variants and the only main difference I found that wasn't included in the new Z1 under shrouds was the mounting points for the factory lower support foam panel for the lower lip of the front bumper bar. The new z1 design had removed the 3 mounting points from the guard and there was no way to retrofit it to the new front splash guard either which was a bummer but not a deal breaker for me. I am very excited to install these onto my Z in the coming weeks. Z1 Aluminum Front Lower Splash Guard & Hardware Layout Z1 Aluminum Rear Lower Splash Guard & Hardware Layout
