Old Lady to Young Lady Part 7

Previously when I had my Momo steering wheel on my Nissan Fairlady Z installed at Redsun, there was a gap and would cause unnecessary honk when I touch the bottom of the wheel. Instead of sending the car back to Redsun, I decided to get some tools and apply some elbow grease to do it myself. First I had to get a Torx key set for the screws holding the horn and airbag assembly. I realized that the horn is always not in the center. I suspected it could be the spring holding the airbag was not strong anymore. So, I opened up some more parts to swap the top and bottom springs but it is the same as before. It could be that the design is like that. I then put everything back together and instead adjusted the position with the 2 screws. Somehow I manage to lock it correctly and now it would not horn even if I pressed the bottom of the steering wheel but there is still a gap at the horn.

 

During the same visit to Redsun, I also had them remove my gear knob as I wanted to change it. It was difficult to remove and also the new STI gear knob I bought would not fit. It would be a waste to throw the beautiful gear knob I bought and buy another one. So, I went to my friend and asked him to help me make an adapter to fit the gear knob. The adapter must have a screw hole for the shift shaft (10 mm) and a screw bolt for the gear knob (12 mm). It took a week to have it done and he attached the gear knob to the adapter. It was well done and fit like a glove with the STI gear knob. When I screw it on the shift stick it was so tall that it have the same height as the original gear knob. However, the shape of the STI is better to grip and shifting feels much better. I love how it looks way cooler than the original one. You can also notice that the shift boot has fallen, revealing a bit of the shift shaft. There is a plastic at the end of the shift boot that supposedly hold on to the original gear knob so it would not fall. I planned to have that modify so it could cover the adapter.

I also bought two Nismo parts for the engine bay of my 350Z. These Nismo parts were the engine oil cap and radiator cap which were bought new from Japan. I asked my friend who works there to buy and bring back to me. It was a small and an easy change from the stock ones to the Nismo one but it makes a whole lot different. The stock engine oil cap is a regular plastic like any ordinary car while the Nismo has a silver finish and has a quick lock style that only requires one full turn to lock. I was worried about the pressure produced by stock radiator cap because it is 15 years old and would be a good time to change a new one. These are usually one of the first mod any enthusiast would have done and I am no exception to this. 

Both Nismo parts in action.

Originally the petrol cap is tied to the body of the car by a plastic cable. However, the cable on my 350Z is broken and every time I pump petrol, I had to find a place to put the petrol cap. When I found a cheap petrol cap still attached to the cable, I had to buy it all the way from Japan. I have received it but I do not have the time to change it myself. That will be a task for next year.

Old Lady to Young Lady Part 6

Around 1 month ago, I was driving my Nissan Fairlady Z to work. It has been 3 weeks since I driven the 350Z because I was working overseas. However when I was driving back from lunch, I heard a weird humming sound. I turned off my air conditioner and the sound was still there. Next I turned off my engine and the sound was still there but as soon as I turn it off, I saw smoke came out from my front right wheel. I quickly open my hood and see smoke coming out of the coolant tank and brown stains nearby. I did not see the meter and did not know my engine overheated. After 2 hours of cooling down, I filled up the coolant tank with water and drove off. As soon as I drove for 10 minutes, it was overheating again. This time I filled up water in both the coolant tank and radiator. I found out the radiator was very empty and altogether filled up 6 liters of water. Ever since that day, I only drove to work and nearby my house in fear it might overheat again. Surprisingly, nothing happened all this while and I even managed to drive it all the way to a car show without a hitch. I was relieved but still it would be better to send the 350Z to the workshop for a checkup. It was only 2 days ago when I experienced another overheating. The next day, I sent the 350Z to Redsun Motorsport.

During my second overheat, I stopped in front of a car accessory shop and was told that it could be caused by a faulty radiator, faulty radiator fan, jammed thermostat or leaking coolant tank. However after observing a few days, I noticed there was no leaking and the fan was moving. It most probably needs a new radiator (RM 690) or a new thermostat (RM 480) and either one would cause my wallet
some damage. Redsun spent one day flushing the liquid inside the cooling system and found out the overheating was caused by a jammed thermostat. It was rusty and occasionally does not open to allow coolant to pass through the radiator, explaining why the overheating was not constant. The solution was pretty simple. Redsun removed the thermostat and bypass it instead of replacing it with a new thermostat. I was dumbstruck by this decision and questioned whether is this solution going to work. The owner of Redsun asked me to ask my friend, who drives a Nissan Skyline V35 with HKS Supercharger (tuned by Redsun) that had its thermostat removed as well. If the Skyline is fine with that amount of horsepower, I think it would not be a problem for me. I certainly prefer this solution as it only cost me some labor charge and new coolant, making this my cheapest visit to Redsun. After driving it for a while, I realized the bypass causes the engine to take longer time to reach optimum temperature as coolant is always flowing through radiator even though it is not hot.

Thermostat was removed and the frame is reinstall for the bypass to work.

Fully rusted thermostat

Wurth (Germany) Radiator Coolant used (actual used is -68c Red)

Since the 350Z needs to visit Redsun, I took the opportunity to have them install some new mods that I bought previously. First thing was a very rare, optional Momo steering wheel offered by Nissan in Japan. I never liked the original steering wheel of the 350Z as I think it is ugly but the thought to change it did not occur to me. However when I saw the Momo one for sale, the opportunity came and I bought it immediately because it was rare and cheap. There is two version of Momo offered (photo below). Initially I preferred the left one but after looking at the right one, the sportiness of the design overcame me. It shares the same design of the steering wheels found on Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7/8/9. As it was offered by Nissan, the fitting and installation was easy. It definitely looks better than the original one and increases the sportiness of the interior 10 folds. When I first driven with the Momo wheel, I felt the weight is slightly lighter and the padding on the bottom is a bit different. I am satisfied with how it makes the interior more sportier but I noticed the position of the horn is not centered and the horn sounded when I press the bottom of the wheel. I will have to redo it on my own.

Too big gap on top

The second item that I had them install was a gear knob I bought off a Subaru WRX STI. Previously, I tried to remove the original gear knob on my own after watching a few videos on YouTube. However, the gear knob was stuck and would not budge. I gave up and decided to have Redsun have a try at it. Redsun told me the gear knob was glued to the shift lever and might damaged the gear knob. I asked them to go ahead as it was already badly scratched but unknown to me, they went and cut the gear knob forcefully. Further bad news was the STI gear knob would not fit the lever as the thread hole of the STI knob is bigger. So now I am left with the carcass of the gear knob for temporary drive. The best solution I could think of is to make an adapter in order to not waste the knob I bought. I asked my friend to fabricate the adapter and hope it works.

My failed attempt to remove the gear knob

Original Gear Knob

Bits and pieces of Gear Knob after cutting

All that remains for temporary use