Tires ordered, new TPMS Sensors (long dead) and programming will be done when the tires are mounted (mid/late next week i'm guessing?) Ordered some 5mm CNC Hubcentric Spacers for the front wheels if I decide I want the extra track width... (since the front wheels are oem, in manufacture, offset and size, under the rules I can vary this by up to +- 7mm legally)
Things left to do:
- Fluids Change (rear end and tranny)
- Fix Exhaust
- Bleed Brakes
- Order FSB (After first event, want to see how badly it's needed/how big of a bar to get)
Opti
HalfDork
3/25/16 7:47 p.m.
If you havent order tpms sensors, check out titan tpms. The early c5 sensors are nla or stupid expensove from most manufacturers,like 150 a sensor, its bad enough people pay to have them rebuilt.
I got mine from titan tpms for like 30 a sensor and theyve been kicking for probably 6 months to a year
Opti wrote:
If you havent order tpms sensors, check out titan tpms. The early c5 sensors are nla or stupid expensove from most manufacturers,like 150 a sensor, its bad enough people pay to have them rebuilt.
I got mine from titan tpms for like 30 a sensor and theyve been kicking for probably 6 months to a year
Dave at SoloPerformance (right in my backyard) has them in stock, and he's mounting/ordering my tires, so just went with his. He's got my front tires but the rears have yet to show... First Autocross is this weekend (sunday) so it may be on All Seasons!
Transmission Mount was inspected and found to be faulty. Replaced. 
Diff Fluid will be refreshed tonight, looking to find the correct Trans Fluid to refill at some point too.
Need to track down some sail panel weather seals and try and fix some of the rattles/creaks.
First Autocross in the books (on 500tw all-seasons), car definitely needs some brake-related maintenance (bleed and inspection of rear rotors/pads) but did act predictably and showed me how much better the RE-71's should be. Did decide on adding the Hotchkis Front Sway bar (35mm) as the car was a little tail happy.
Video of fastest run: https://youtu.be/CoitmNHw9Oo (about 2s behind class leaders)
New Tires installed:
Bridgestone RE-71R in 245/40-18 up front on 18x8" Front
255/40-18 on 18x8.5" rear
Second Autocross in the books: 22nd Overall PAX of 135 and 4th in Class - C Street
Car performed well but really didn't get a hang of the incredible grip until 5th runs. Car easily had a 46s run in it as configured. Dropping in brake pads (Hawk HP+) and bleeding brakes this week. Will drop on Hotchkis 35mm bar before next event; car really wanted to rotate (and roll over). This Should Help
Swapped out the transmission fluid with Redline MT-85 the day before the event, made quite the noise and shifting difference.
More Parts arrived, 'dat hotchkis bar (as big around as my wrist!)
- ATE Typ 200 (super blue, without the blue) Fluid
- Hawk HP+ Front and rear pads
- New parking brake shoes (drum-in-disk)
- Additional set of 5mm hubcentric spacers if I need to run them on both front and rear.
- Hotchkis 35mm, 4 way adjustable front sway bar (Part number 22413F), urethane bushings
Great site, and a real Nationals-style course. Looked like fun.
jstein77 wrote:
Great site, and a real Nationals-style course. Looked like fun.
Thanks! we're lucky enough to have two sites for the region, the one in the video and another a bit further west in an arena parking lot (actually has 7' of height gain, so some off and on camber elements, cresting over hills, etc)
Brake pads and parking brake shoes installed. Wife is working today so will bleed tomorrow (and probably install front sway)... Off to help a buddy move.
Brakes (and clutch) bled today. Just need to swap the front sway for the Hotchkis this week sometime (next event a week from today).
Front sway installed on second from stiffest setting. Hawk pads bedded in; these things are AMAZINGLY grippy.
Rear hubcentric spacers may not work; there's a small (~1mm) chamfer that'll need to be taken out of the hub side. I'll drop these with a machinist buddy at the next event and see what he can do.
St. Louis Region Autocross Event 3 in the books; results are pleasing (and infuriating).
Front sway and brakes (even with the damp surface) helped more than i'd like to admit.
Solostorm lost my OBD2 dongle sync for my fastest run, so no tach data.
Best Run (48.399 raw clean) good for 12th/113 overall, 1st/10 in class:
<a https://www.youtube.com/embed/zj6AIUPfAq0
Best Run (47.377 dirty) would have been 3rd overall and 1s ahead of the field in CS:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/xwDYAsIVogo
Audited results now up: Class Results (1st in C-Street) Index Results (12th Overall)
bump; updated results, initially thought i'd placed 2nd in class, in audit the T&S Chief found a cone call against the (now 2nd place) miata. 
I'll get him the right way next time 
Great thread. I just picked up a 2003 350z myself so am keenly interested in your antics. I was going to do a Track Night In America event in VA but it was cancelled.
Glad to see you're letting it all hang out on the AutoX course.
Event 8 Results (no good video)
19th on Index (of 114 Drivers)
5TH in Class! (spread was ~0.4s between 2nd and 5th!)
Year End (official) Results in the books, 3rd in Class for the year, 18th/326 Drivers overall and my codriver piloted it to 2nd of 164 Novices. Great Year for a Cheap Project!
I've determined i'm going to keep it one more year and then probably sell in the spring of 2018 so that i can fund either a C5 Z06/C6 Z51 or a 09-14 WRX or 135i?
What does everyone think? (hypothetical ~$15k limit, weekend/autox only car)
In reply to Autolex:
Figure out the most competitive car, that's easiest on tires, and with the smallest/cheapest tires. 
Ignoring that, the C5 ZO6 seems like a whole lot of fun for the money. 
New year, new tires, new fluids. Car's largely unchanged other than running a set of 255/40-18's square this year (got it back today from dave at soloperformance) and an alignment. I swapped out the oem lugnuts (3.5lb for 20 of them) for some gorilla open ended lugs that are 1/3 the weight. Hopefully top 10 this year!
The car performed WELL at it's first event. Much more neutral on 255's square, was a VERY rainy event, had 100+ prereg and half of that showed.
If i'm going to average in the top 10 (locally) then this is a good start!
Class Results, Event 1 and Pax Results, 5th Overall!
Flying the #18 (18 of the top 20 drivers from last year)
After about 2 years of ownership, this 350Z has been sold. In it's place a very unmolested 2005 Subaru WRX sedan has been purchased. Timing couldn't have been better, I sold the car for $7800 and bought the Subaru this weekend. My wife is due with our first child three weeks from today!
Congrats on the upcoming arrival.
