My Cars Weblog

Track Racing History

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 13:33:00 GMT

NISSAN 350Z

September 25th, 2004 - Redline Track Events Open Track Day

This was the first time I have taken the Z out on a track besides autocross. The event was held at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, NV. The track was 2.2 miles long with two good straights and 10 turns including a double apex. There were no points involved and it was not a race, it was just for fun. I was really impressed with the way the Z did on the track. I was passing Subaru WRX STIs, and Infinity G35s with no problem. I was right in there with an Acura NSX, but could not pass him. The only cars I got passed by were a brand new Lotus and a highly modified Ford SVT Focus. The only problem I had was about 75% of the way through the second 30min. session my stock DOT 3 brake fluid hit its boiling point and my brakes went out. I got off the track safely and let the brake fluid cool down and they went back to normal. I did not run the other two 30min sessions. There was a passenger with me for all of the laps I made on the track.

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Autocross History

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 13:24:00 GMT

NISSAN 350Z

September 12th 2004 - Las Vegas Region SCCA event #13

This was my first autocross event and my first event of any kind in the 350Z. I had an awesome time. My best run was 48.2 seconds which put me in 3rd place out of 4 behind two Honda S2000s who were running in the 47s. I raced the B Stock class and all of my runs, besides one (my fastest), were run with a passenger. I liked running the race, I liked working on the course, and I would recomend autocross to anyone.

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Car show history

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 13:19:00 GMT

1970 CHEVELLE

October 9th 2004 - 2nd Annual Run for the Son Car Show

This was a good show with a turnout of about 100 cars. The Chevelle did not place top three in any of the catagories resulting in no awards for me. It was my first show and I think that the Chevelle held her own next to the rest of the muscle cars. I did get two votes for the Spectators Pick award. Thats better than none.

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2003 Nissan 350z Track Edition Specifications

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 13:10:00 GMT

COLOR:

Liquid Aluminum

Charcoal Leather Interior

TRIM:

Track Model, Coupe

ENGINE:

VQ35DE - 3.5 liter DOHC 24-valve V6 alluminum alloy engine with CVTCS

Horsepower - 287hp @ 6,200rpm

Torque - 274 lb-ft @ 4,800rpm

Displacement - 3498 cc/213 cu. in.

Bore and Stroke - 95.5mm and 81.4mm

Compression Ratio - 10.3:1

Maximum Engine Speed - 6,600rpm

Gas Mileage Stock - 20mpg city, 26mpg highway

DRIVETRAIN

Longitudinally mid-mounted front engine/rear-wheel drive

Carbon-fiber composite driveshaft

Six-Speed close-ratio manual transmission

Gear Ratio:

1st = 3.79

2nd = 2.32

3rd = 1.62

4th = 1.27

5th = 1.00

6th = 0.79

Reverse = 3.45

Final Drive Ratio (:1) = 3.54

Viscious Limited Slip Differential

Traction Control System

Vehicle Dynamic Control

WHEELS AND TIRES

18”x 8.0” Front, 18” x 8.5” Rear - Rays super-lightweight 6-spoke forged alloy wheels

Tire size = P225/45WR18 Front, P245/45WR18 Rear

Tire Pressure Monitor System

BRAKES

Brembo Braking System - 4 piston caliper with 12.8” x 1.18” vented front discs and 2-piston caliper with 12.7” x 0.87” vented rear discs

4 wheel Anti-Lock Braking System.

Electronic Brake Force Distribution

Brake Assist

SUSPENSION AND STEERING

Front: Independant 3-link aluminum alloy suspension with stabilizer bar and strut bar

Rear: Independent 4-link alluminum alloy suspension with stabilizer bar, strut brace, and alluminum alloy subframe

Ripple-control shock absorbers

Enigine speed-sensitive power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering

AERODYNAMICS

Comprehensive underbody airflow management

Front: Zero lift

Rear: Zero lift includes front chin spoiler, rear underbody diffusers and rear spoiler

Drag coefficient: 0.29

DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase = 104.3 in.

Overall Length = 169.4 in.

Overall Width = 71.5 in.

Overall Height = 51.9 in.

Head Room = 38.2 in.

Leg Room = 42.6 in.

Shoulder Room = 53.6 in.

CURB WEIGHT

Stock = 3,225lbs.

Weight Distribution = 53/47

CAPACITIES

Interior passenger volume = 50.5 cu. ft.

Cargo Capacity = 6.8 cu. ft.

Fuel Tank = 20.0 gallons

Engine Oil = 5.1 quarts max, 5.0 quarts recommended

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS

Interior: Perforated leather-appointed seats

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2003 Nissan 350Z DOT 5 Brake Fluid Issue

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 09:34:00 GMT

9/2004 - Car was taken to Desert Nissan for maintenance. I asked the dealer if it was ok to put the Bel Ray DOT 5 Silicon brake fluid that I had brought to them in my car. The service writer said it was no problem. They flushed the brake system and replaced the stock DOT 3 fluid with the Bel Ray DOT 5 fluid.

10/2004 - After picking up the car I returned it to the dealer complaining about the brakes bieng soft. They re-bled the brakes. I picked the car up again later that day and returned it immidiatley after pulling out of the dealership with the same problem. The service manager, servise advisor, and the mechanic that worked on my car assured me that it was fine. The next day I took it to Just Brakes and the manager there told me that he would not touch it and that every piece of rubber in my brake system needs to be replaced. I called a technical advisor at Bel Ray and he told me that the brake fluid would work fine only if they completely flushed out every bit of the DOT 3 fluid.

10/14/2004 - I went back to Desert Nissan today so they can check the brake system for damage and to see if they could find any Jello type substance in the system which is a byproduct of mixing DOT 5 with DOT 3. They said they could not find any damage or Jello type material. I had them flush all of the DOT 5 completely out of the system. They did this 4 of 5 times for each wheel. Then I had them replace the fluid with the stock DOT 3 again. My brakes feel normal again. I am going to contact Bel Ray again tomorrow just to make sure that everything should be ok.

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2003 Nissan 350Z Maintenance History

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 09:24:00 GMT

1. Has had regular oil changes with Mobil 1 synthetic oil as or 10/14/2004

2. Has had 30,000 service done by Jiffy Lube.

3. Brake fluid was flushed and replaced with Bel Ray DOT 5 Silicon brake fluid, driver's side window mechanism was adjusted, “BRAKE“ and “SLIP“ lights would not go off and that was fixed. Work done by Desert Nissan. 09/2004.

4. Was taken back to Desert Nissan to re-bleed brakes due to a “soft pedal“. Was driven off of the lot and immediatly returned for the same “soft pedal” problem. Was sent away because the service manager said that they were normal. 10/2004

5. Taken back to Desert Nissan to re-inspect brake fluid and make sure that no DOT 3 fluid was left in their causing the brake system to need to be replaced. 10/2004

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2003 Nissan 350Z Track Model modifications so far

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 09:16:00 GMT

MODIFICATIONS

1. Injen Cold Air Intake

2. ~~Bel Ray DOT 5 Silicon brake fluid~~ No longer in system. Nissan Spec. DOT 3 is back in there.

3. Brake Fluid and Battery covers were painted Chrome Silver to match the exterior of the car.

4. Engine Cover was painted Chrome Silver to match the exterior of the car.

5. The two black plastic pieces on the top of the rear strut bar were made smooth and painted Chrome Silver to match the expterior of the car.

6. The top panel with the “Z” emblem on the rear strut bar was painted a gloss black and the “Z” was left Chrome.

7. XM Sattelite Radio. LED Display was mounted in the compartment where the navigation screen would go. Control center box was mounted in the glove compartment behind the passenger seat.

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1970 Chevelle Maintenance History

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 09:09:00 GMT

1. Has had regular oil changes as of 10/14/2004

2. Origionally had a TH350 automatic transmission. Shortly after the new engine was put in I fried the the clutches. I had those replaced with better ones and about two weeks later I blew out second gear. After coming to a conclusion that the TH350 could not handle the horsepower and I would rather have a 4 speed I put in a TH200-R4.

3. The car was involved in a small hit and run which resulted in a replaced passenger side quarter panel, door, drip rail moldings, wheel well moldings, door handle, and a passenger side mirror was added. The passenger side mirror that was added is the wrong mirror and does not do any good from the view of the driver's seat. This has not yet been fixed. All work on this was done by Bill Heard Chevrolet.

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1970 Chevelle so far...

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 08:58:00 GMT

MODIFICATIONS:

1. General Motors H.O. 350 crate engine: 330hp 380ft.lbs, 9:1 Compression Ratio, 2001

2. Hooker Super Comp Headers

3. General Motors High Torque Mini Starter

4. Holley High Flow Mechanical Fuel Pump.

5. March Performance Pulley Set

6. K&N 14” Air Cleaner with X-Stream Air Cleaner Lid

7. Chrome 100amp Alternator, One Wire

8. Flex-a-Lite Dual electric fan kit

9. 2.5” Dual Flowmaster system with 40 Series mufflers

10. OEM Style Chrome exhaust tips

11. Edelbrock IAS Shocks

12. Hotchkis Performance Sport Spring Set

13. Hotchkis Performance upper and lower Control Arms

14. Optima Red Top Battery, re-located to trunk

15. Jeg's Battery Disconnect switch

16. Eagle Alloy wheels, 18x8” rear, 17x8” front

17. Toyo Proxes Tires

18. Richmond Gear 3.73 Ring and Pinion

19. Eaton Posi-trac Locking rear differential

20. 200-R4 automatic transmission

21. B&M Megashifter ratchet shifter

22. Grant Challenger steering wheel

23. Pioneer 4” kickpanel speakers

24. Pioneer 6”x4” under dash speakers

25. Simpson Latch FX 5-Point harnesses, Floor Mount

26. 20% Tint on all side windows

27. Limo tint on back window

28. Replaced drivers side quarter panel window

29. Replaced Dome Light

30. Replaced both sun visor mounts

31. Chrome Radiator cover plate, Mr. Gasket

32. AC Delco 8mm Spark Plug Wires

33. Sony X-Plod CD player

34. APC Chrome fire extinguisher

35. Lakewood Driveshaft Loop

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To whom it may concern:

mbonanni1856 — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 08:33:00 GMT

This weblog is created mostly for me to keep...well, a log on what I do to and with my cars. All I will post on here are race/show results and modification info. I doubt too many of you care how I do in the races or what I do to my car.

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