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 Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101

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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeWed Dec 30, 2020 10:37 am



Nissan 350z (Z33)

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Build Sheet for 350z:



1994 Nissan S14

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Build Sheet for S14:



Toyota Supra

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Build Sheet for Supra:



1985 Mazda RX-7 FB

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Build Sheet for RX-7:


Last edited by Cougar on Wed Aug 18, 2021 5:13 am; edited 12 times in total
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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeWed Dec 30, 2020 10:37 am

BANK STATEMENT

Spoiler:


Last edited by Cougar on Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:05 pm; edited 30 times in total
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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeFri Jan 01, 2021 5:26 am

I have been around for a while but decided to start a story again, from fresh this time. If you enjoy reading the updates then keep an eye out here or if you prefer the more brief posts I’ll be on the Facebook page!

Part 1 - Buying a car

After scouring eBay and AutoTrader for weeks I found a car that I liked and that looked un-molested, it was an early model 350Z. I’ve heard the early ones have a few issues but I guess all that depends on how the car has been treated and if these have ever been recalled. The car itself looked clean and well looked after and with only 54,000 miles on it it seemed to have an easy life. I contacted the owner and set up a socially distanced viewing. I was pretty certain I was going to buy it but still nice to go over it properly.

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I arrived at a busy farm with tractors and other farming machinery dotted around, the 350 had been put under a tree out the way of traffic. The owner was an elderly gentleman that had purchased the car 15 years ago as a weekend toy. But has been parked the last 7/8 years due to ill health. His son had borrowed it on occasion but he said it’s done less than 500 miles a year for a long time now. All services have been carried out by a Nissan dealer every year to keep it running. It had a recall in 2015 too which was dealt with.

All in all it was a very clean car that had a very easy life. It was listed a little higher than other 350’s on the market but it was easy to see why. It was factory standard with just one of the exhaust resonators deleted to give it a bit more of a grunt when up in the revs. We talked for a while and I transferred the money into his bank and I collected the keys.

My plans aren’t to trash it drifting as this is still my only car and my way of getting to and from work, don’t get me wrong I will still be having fun in it but it’s not going to be a missile!

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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeSat Jan 02, 2021 7:21 pm

Part 2 - Snowing

After a whole 48 hours of owning the Z33 I woke up to snow.. and lots of it! I had originally decided against driving it in the snowy conditions but after a few hours of sitting inside I decided to boot up and see how it reacted! My thought process was that I knew the Z is a heavy car and it might not struggle despite being RWD. So I cleared the snow off it and headed out. I’m no stranger to drifting but I am however a stranger to the Z, so everything I experience in this car is new to me.

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Pleased to say I didn’t crash it! I managed a few miles when I got to a group of rocks with a little car park at the bottom, parked up and decided to try and get a better view of the snowy hills. Obviously had to take a top pic of the 350 whilst I was up there didn’t I.

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Stayed a little while until the snow started to fall again so I made tracks back to the car, good thing about having a modern daily drifter? The heaters work sublime! I didn’t really have a destination in mind I was just out on my own, enjoying the car and having a nice explore. I came across a path that had not been cleared so had to see how the Z handled being sideways a bit. Being a V6 with around 270hp and fresh snow under the wheels it didn’t take much encouragement to get the back end out. And it felt easy to control! No snapping from the steering, no awkward feelings. The car felt very comfortable, I can only imagine what it’s going to be like on dry concrete.

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That’s it for now, I made my way home safe and sound. Decided against washing it as there isn’t really much point in this weather. Oh, I also managed to buy a second hand K&N cone filter for it! So when that arrives I’ll get it fitted, should make the car breath a little better and add a little induction noise!

DIS OldManTiger and MichaelC like this post

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MichaelC
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MichaelC


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeSun Jan 03, 2021 11:50 am

Any big plans you want to share yet? Wink

Love the story, makes me want to get mine going again.
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Darthm0ng
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Darthm0ng


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeSun Jan 03, 2021 3:45 pm

Me likey!
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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeMon Jan 04, 2021 6:45 pm

MichaelC wrote:
Any big plans you want to share yet? Wink

Love the story, makes me want to get mine going again.

I don’t as of yet I’m afraid 👀

Darthm0ng wrote:
Me likey!

Thanks my guy 👌🏻

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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeWed Jan 06, 2021 5:56 pm

Part 3 - Modifications

I haven’t been out much in the 350z, I cleaned it after getting back from my outing the other day and it’s snowed again since covering the car so I’ve taken the advice of the government and stayed home. But staying home is dangerous, as I have not much else to do other than work things and browsing car parts.. as I have proven to myself after purchasing a set of un-used BC Racing coilovers. I have been wanting some coilovers since I got it, alright they should arrive by the end of the week I’m going to wait until the weather is better to fit them.

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The snow is due to clear by the end of the week so a little outing may be in order this weekend, hopefully some of the boys are out to play too!
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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeSun Jan 10, 2021 5:02 pm

Part 4 - Instillation and Friends

Being good friends with Michael, the owner of Circuit Produce, has its perks. I called him to ask a little favour to see if he has a ramp available for a few hours that I could borrow to install my BC’s. As we’re in the midst of another lockdown business is a bit slower than usual so he said to bring it down and he’ll help me out. Good guy! Can’t recommend his work enough, plenty of tools to do any job big or small!

He was impressed with how clean the 350 was for a near 17 year old car, paid a little over the odds but at least I can rest easy knowing I don’t have a lemon on my hands! Within about 2 hours we had the BC’s installed and on the lowest setting they could go, not an issue seeing as I’m still on stock wheels but Michael has agreed to help source the wheels I’m after, kind of hard to get them as they’re not in production anymore. This is just a picture of the Z resting next to Michael’s track spec E46.

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We sat for a while waiting for the sun to go down so we could go out and test the 350, didn’t want to get a fine for being out during a lock down 😶 night fell and Michael pulled the S13 out of its spot in the garage and we headed out. The car felt a lot stiffer, as to be expected and it cornered a lot flatter! Didn’t feel as much like a boat, glad I didn’t cheap out on coilovers, they’ve made the world of difference to the car! We found a closed road and had some fun, couldn’t stay long as his S13 is quite loud so would no doubt attract some unwanted police attention.

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We didn’t have someone to take photos so no action shots, but we did some tandems in. I think I need to invest in some steering lock mods to help aid the 350. Did spin out a few times, no crashes though so we’re all good!

Here’s a pic of the S13, just because it’s beautiful and I love it!

Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Aac81710
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MichaelC
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MichaelC


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeSun Jan 10, 2021 5:06 pm

Oh stop, you're making me blush!
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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeSun Jan 10, 2021 5:13 pm

MichaelC wrote:
Oh stop, you're making me blush!

😉😉
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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeSat Feb 06, 2021 4:34 am

Part 5 - Covid and a unit

It’s been a while since I managed to find time to sit and write an update on what’s been happening! Around mid January I unfortunately caught the dreaded Coronavirus. I wasn’t too bad with it just a cough and fatigued. I had plans to work on the car in my driveway as I always do but didn’t want to potentially pass it onto a postman or a neighbour so I stuck by the rules and didn’t leave my house for 10 days. I planned on doing lots of revision on my car and properly studying parts and what will be best for the Z33. In actual fact all I ended up doing was watching Netflix and sleeping. A hard life I know 🙄

On my second day of isolation I got a text from Michael, the dude that owns Circuit Produce, telling me he sourced me a set of wheels I asked for and he had his wheel guy rebuild them to a spec that will fit my car. Brilliant news! But... I was locked up, couldn’t leave the house, so I had to go the rest of the 8 days itching to get them on the car! That was like torture! On the last day of my isolation Michael got the wheels back and they were ready to fit!

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^ Just an old picture

The morning I was free again I got straight in the Z33 and headed right to Circuit Produce! Got a little spirited on the way there I must admit as I hadn’t driven the car in 10 days. Car didn’t skip a beat as always! I arrived and he had the wheels laid out, tyres mounted and ready to go! I went for a set of Eurolines, always adored the wheels and thought they would fit this car perfectly! They were kinda hard to get hold of and cost quite a bit but when I saw them on the car I wasn’t complaining! I was in love.

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^ From the drive home!

Once again can’t recommend Mike enough! Went all out to help source these wheels! We chatted for a while and I headed home. Fast forward a couple weeks brings us to the present day. I’ve been driving the Z33 on the wheels for a little while now and I’ve found a whole load of issues! The tyres run quite bad, I can’t go on full lock as the tyre catches on the wheel arch, my alignment is wayyy out! Quite scary to drive over 60mph. I think the constant rubbing is catching wires as the dash does some funky stuff every now and again. But it looks good so I’m not gonna complain!

One last thing in this update, I have just signed a rental agreement on a unit near my house!

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It’s a single car size, and the best part is it has a fully operational 4 post ramp inside!! Going to make working on cars so much easier! I did say car(s).. but that’s for another time 😉
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MichaelC
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MichaelC


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeSat Feb 06, 2021 7:58 pm

Can't wait to see whats in store.

Like I told you when we were mounting the wheels, they work really well on this setup
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Cougar
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Cougar


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PostSubject: Re: Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101   Cougar - Driveway Built - Lifestyling 101 Icon_minitimeSun Feb 14, 2021 5:04 pm

Part 6 - Low Origin

I was sorting the unit out a couple weeks ago, cleaning cobwebs and organising places for tools and such. And whilst I was having a little break I was looking at Instagram stories and a lad called Saul was selling a bolt in cage for a 350z. I messaged him about it and it was still available, he said it was at his teams workshop. His team is only bloody Low Origin!! Little bit star struck tbh, I’ve followed them for years!

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I arrived at the garage and all the cars were outside, I said I was here for the cage and they let me look around! Like a kid in a candy shop! They gave me a few stickers and I did a burnout in the 350z, when in Rome I guess. I also bought something else from them but that’s for an idea I have in the future! I got the cage back and left it in the unit for a while. I did eventually fit it yesterday with minimal effort, went in surprisingly easy!

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I’m also thinking of a daily, but I’m not in a place where the Z33 is unuseable as a daily and it would be money wasted at this moment in time. I’m going to be ordering an exhaust this week I think, I’d like a little bit more noise from it. Other than that I haven’t really done much other than clean it. I’m still on the lookout for parts too so if you have anything let me know!
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