Paolo M came to ZCG for a differential build on his 370z. The G35/350z and G37/370z cars all share the same diff bushing failure due to aggressive driving or simple wear and tear. From Nissan, the OEM diff bushing is filled with silicone, and will burst/leak this fluid resulting in a noticeable clunk when shifting.  Paulo’s Z34 had the tell-tale sign of the diff bushing failure, with visible leakage on the cover:

 

Nissan will not replace the bushing alone. By design, Nissan wants you to replace the entire rear subframe at a substantial cost.  Fortunately, Whiteline makes a really nice bushing that can be installed and it is a mandatory solution whenever we perform a diff job at ZCG. In addition to replacing the diff bushings, we replaced the bearings, changed the final drive and installed an OS Giken limited-slip unit:

 

The diff is removed from the Z and OS Giken LSD prepped:

  

We check the pinion depth by testing the wear pattern on the ring gear with paint:

   

For an added piece of security for the differential we installed a NISMO diff cover. Its extra oil capacity and finned design aid in cooling for hard driving. The unit was filled with OS Giken gear oil:

 
We finished with an engine oil change and Paolo was back on the road. He’s visited ZCG several times and we like working on his Z34. Enjoy The Ride Paolo!

 

We have been working with Mike M and his 2006 Z33 since last year. With every visit to ZCG this 350z gets upgraded in both power and chassis areas. In November 2017, with 111k miles on the VQ a Vortech supercharger was installed with supporting mods:

   

Chassis improvements: KW V3 coil overs, SPC front/rear control arms, Hotchkis sway bars and a full alignment. We also installed ART pipes to replace the factory cats:

 

Hotchkis front and rear sway bars:

   

ART Pipes:

  

Mike’s latest visit to ZCG included fueling, gauges and more power upgrades. The fuel system was converted to support E85/ethanol starting with a Walbro 485 in-tank fuel pump:

 

Next, a CJ Motorsports Stage 2 fuel return system help keep up with the Walbro pump:

  

Increased fuel demands of E85 require larger fuel injectors so we installed IDX 1050CC units. A Zeitronix ethanol sensor is critical for monitoring E85 content:

  

The brains to managing the E85 content is a Haltech Platinum Pro plug-in. A PLX Devices dm6 AFR/gen4 gauge pod also accommodates the Zeitronix ethanol sensor readout:

  

Final power adder was a 2.87 pulley for the supercharger and our ZCG air bypass for the race gate:

 

From the dyno charts below, having the ability to change the ethanol content of fuel allows for more hp/torque.  More smiles per gallon as well with E85 currently at $1.99/gallon

(left) Baseline before Haltech tuning: 331hp/286tq and (right) baseline to 91 octane tune with Haltech: 346hp/303tq to the wheels

  

Final 91 octane tune with the Haltech: 364hp/306tq at the wheels:

 

75% Ethanol tune: 421hp/345tq to the wheels:

 

To balance an extra 126hp power from the Vortech we installed a Stoptech Big-Brake Kit. Up front are 332mm ST40 calipers in red, with slotted rotors:

 

Stock vs Stoptech:

  

The new brake also look great behind the Enkei RPF1 wheels:

 

Enjoy the Ride Mike!