While being just five pounds of metal, it single-handedly decides the volume of air in and out of the motor. Brian Crower Cams has taken the import scene by force creating up to five stages of cams for unyielding motors. We got our hands on their stage two cam for our Project 350z and dug right in! Note that installing camshafts is a long and tedious job and sadly the way the 350z loads the camshaft the engine must be pulled adding tons of time to the installation. So to keep the article under novel status we have cut down the process. Purchasing a factory service manual such as the Chilton’s Nissan 350z Manual is recommended as it will let you reference anything needed on the motor.

First order of business is to disconnect the battery. Remove the strut bar, intake assembly, cooling fan. Drain all fluids and remove all hoses going to the front of the motor.

Once the motor is removed you will need to remove the upper intake manifold. The lower manifold and fuel assembly can stay put unless you plan an upgrade while it’s apart.

Remove the a/c compressor, power steering pump, and alternator. You have just enough room to move them to the side and not disconnect completely.  Now remove all remaining brackets on the timing cover. Then next remove the Timing cover which you can see completed above. Now remove the timing chain and primary timing sprocket assemblies (for those who always wondered how VVT worked, this is how variable valve timing is controlled).

Now we can take off the valve covers and look at those useless factory cams. Remove the camshaft position sensor and intake valve timing control solenoid. (Be very careful not to let any metal shavings or magnets near the camshaft position sensor.)

Loosen the camshaft bracket bolts in several passes to alleviate the pressure and prevent any possible damage or bodily harm. With that complete you can remove the factory camshafts.

This is the new Brian Crower cam that we are going to install. It is a Stage 2 High Performance/Race camshaft. The cam has a short duration but is a very street-able camshaft for daily driving and performance. The camshaft has a slight pitch or lope at idle which you will notice after installation. You can run an OEM spring which we opted to do with the BC cams.

Now you have to repeat this on the other bank of cams to complete the Brian Crower camshaft installation. You just do the installation in the reverse of disassembly with the exception of aligning the new camshafts. Consult your factory service manual for the correct alignment procedure.

Our Project 350z was 99% done when it arrived at Formula Drift Long Beach and Mickey Andre from Race Design got the car 100% ready. Mickey was sadly busy when we needed our car wrapped but he saved us by installing some last minute stickers and our custom Formula Drift number plates before our REQ Magazine shoot.

Once you have removed the OEM factory steering wheel you will need a NRG steering wheel hub that is made for your specific vehicle application.

Once the wheel is mounted onto your hub it will look like this from above. The quick release system they provide is super simple to use and will help you get out of your car so much easier with the racing seat.

Here is the wheel sitting properly replacing the OEM factory steering wheel. The steering wheel is real suede and has a great gripped section for perfect handling and control compared to the bigger 350z wheel that comes factory. We also shredded some weight by removing all the electronics in the steering wheel and airbag.

Issue 14 came out today and inside features a huge piece on the Project 350z. Over 10 full spreads show the KW Suspension install at the Rancho Cucamonga UTI campus. To complete the story it features our 20 inch HRE 540R wheels which we wrapped in Falken FK452 tires. Only three issues left and Project 350z will be completed. So make sure you check out Project 350z while it is still featured in the magazine!Let us know what you think of the new stance and our big burnout!

Read Issue 14 of Wrecked Magazine:

http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/issues/issue14/issue14.html

A hood swap is a very simple task that you can do in your home. The hood in the 350z is secured by four bolts which you can take off with some basic tools.

Here is what the bolt will look like that yo take off to dismount the hood. We suggest once the hood is removed you take these bolts and screw them back onto the hood so you don’t lose them like we did. The Seibon hood comes with it’s own hardware so you can leave the OEM pieces with the OEM hood.

The hood goes on with four bolts and fits with ease. We ended up removing our mesh grill since it was getting a little too close to our Vortech supercharger belt and we liked the open look to the hood.

Here is the final setup on our flat carbon fiber hood. The Origin body kit and wheels are about to come and really complete the exterior look to this great Nissan 350z. Thanks to the guys at Seibon Carbon for this great product.

The first step to install our racing seat is to remove the factory 350z seat from it’s current position. You can see the four bolt holes from where the old seat rails are located. If you cannot figure out how to get to this take (removing your front seat) you probably shouldn’t continue this installation on your own. Our Bride Low Max VIOS III came to us from YoParts.com which is the first true wholesale club for the automotive industry. Just imagine Costco online with more car parts than you could ever order from one website.

With a couple bolts you will have the adjustable Bride seat rail attached to your Low Max VIOS III seat. The new “Low Max” design is optimized for the lowest possible setting a seat and seat rail combination can currently offer and also have the steering wheel centered to the driver.

Here is a shot of the Bride seat and rail sitting just outside the car before installation. The low setting I touched on above in the 350z is key unless your a male under five feet nothing. Especially if you plan on needing a helmet the roof line will find your head very very fast.

Here is the Bride seat sitting inside the Nissan 350z now. The colors flow spot on with the interior and the fitment is better than I imagined. The side bolsters hold you snug and point your arms directly to the steering wheel.

Here is the OEM bolt that we placed back on the Bride seat rail to secure it to our 350z chassis.

We also retained the factory caps from Nissan to give the seat installation a very clean look.

Each seat rail includes a small allen wrench style lever that you pull up at the same time to adjust the seat position. All and all the seat feels great (especially if I went on a diet) and it still has some adjustable rails so I really have to say this is one of the better modifications we have made to date with the Nissan 350z. Thanks again to YoParts.com for the Bride seats!

A quick way to shed some weight to our Nissan 350z and have a reliable starting power was to pick up a XS Power battery. With it’s dry cell technology you can technically mount it anywhere in the car but we opted for the factory battery area for the XS Power installation.

We mounted the XS bracket onto our stock bracket we removed by drilling two holes.

Here is the final installation of the top piece of the battery bracket.

Here we are drilling the stock battery mount after we marked the drill points for the XS power battery.

Here is what the battery looks like with the battery trey mounted back into the vehicle. The placement and mount of the battery is so clean you can hardly tell that it isn’t a stock piece. It is overall a great investment and the easiest installation we have done on the car to date.

I was really excited to get the KW Variant 3 coilovers on the 350z. We decided with the guys at KW  Suspension that it would be cool to take the car down the street to the Rancho Cucamonga UTI campus. The guys at the school were a great help and got right to work on the car.

The Variant 3 suspension offers independent rebound and compression adjustability. I had heard from tons of European guys running the coilovers that they ride like stock and I was dieing to find out if it was true. A true testament to the product is their product is approved by the German Technical Control Board (TÜV) which is a prestige given to very few aftermarket companies in Germany.

The students at UTI got to work on the rear suspension. This is the easier side to tackle so we took apart the rear pieces holding in the suspension and removed the factory pieces.

Within no time we were setting in the rear suspension and bolting the car back together.

Once the rear of the car was put back together I snapped a photo of the KW Suspension V3′s sitting in the rear of the 350z. We dropped and aligned the Z to tuck the factory 18′s preparing us for a super aggressive look once our 20′s get installed.

You can see the old rear suspension sitting on this table. The wheels are going back on the rear suspension of the car to complete the installation.

Ripping out the front suspension we also have to remove the front strut tower bar to get the new front suspension inside.

The students quickly got to work with dismantling the front suspension.

Some of the guys finished up tearing apart the front suspension while some other students removed the hats.

You need to retain the factory suspension hats and the UTI campus has a machine that the students were able to use to take the front factory hats off and place them on the KW suspension.

After we had the factory hat one of the professors showed how to install the factory hat onto the KW suspension.

The whole front suspension has to be put back together including the front strut tower bar we disconnected earlier for access to the front coils.

Finally everything was put back together and putting the front wheels back on was all we had left to complete the suspension install. Once the car was ready to go we put it on the alighnment rack, made some last minute adjustments to the compression/rebound/height on the car and drove off back to the Wrecked Magazine office.

We’ve had the suspension on for a few weeks now and it does in fact ride like a stock setup so mad props to KW Suspension for building such a great piece of suspension that has great ride quality and performance at the same time.

With the help of LS Auto we tackled the Nissan 350z Vortech Supercharger install. Now I know your manly instincts will get the best of you when you get a hold of this kit but don’t throw away the 20 page manual just right away. It has quite useful information for your installation.

Tools/Supply Requirements:
2.5″ Hole Saw
1/8″, 11/64″, 3/16″ Drill Bits
Drill Motor
Stepless Clamp Crimping Pliers
Seal Cutter
Gasket Scraper
Silicone RTV
Factory 350z Manual
3/8″ and 1/2″ Socket & Driver Set
Open End Wrenches
Center Punch
Springlock 5/16″ Fuel Fitting Disconnect Tool
5 Quarts of Oil for Fresh Change
New Oil Filter/Wrench
Flat Head #2 screwdriver
Phillips Head #2 screwdriver
Heavy Grease
Silicone Sealer
Hex Key Wrench Set
Wire Strippers/Crimpers
Utility Knife

We have the supercharger mounting plate sitting in place in front of the throttle body ducting which we just started placing to ensure it wouldn’t get in the way of our supercharger plate.

Here is the same plate for another view. We are securing the air filter in the super tight location behind the drivers side headlight. The two items you see on the supercharger mounting plate here are the grooved idler and smooth idler. Once together they will run a belt connecting the supercharger jackshaft pulley to your motor accessory pulleys.

The Vortech kit comes with a complete fuel management kit to keep your VQ35 in healthy shape.The photo above shows you the mounting locations for the fuel management unit (FMU) and the fuel pump. Once they are securely mounted you will attach a ton of hoses and be on your way.

Here is how the charge cooler is mounted in front of the Nissan 350z. This is also part of the complete Vortech supercharger kit and has an easy installation process in the manual we told you not to throw away! The charge cooler has an aggressive look behind the OEM front bumper and we have an aftermarket one sitting in the garage which will make it look like a much better setup once installed.

This photo is of the Vortech Supercharger bypass valve which is LOUD and we love it. I’ve had my spin around great Vortech kits before and I think they put some extra noise behind the 350z kit for the tuners and anyone who buys it would love it. It’s not overbearing but it’s just loud enough to really enjoy under some aggressive driving.

The Unichip piggyback is seen in the top photograph and fits right next to the factory ECU. You can see both sitting together in the second photo with a wiring harness. These two items we added also come with the Vortech kit for an ease of installation. The factory panel fits snug over the two systems so nobody even knows it’s sitting there and you retain a factory interior.

It was a good chance to flush and put all new fluids in the car and then we cranked her up! The car whistled right off the bat and ran fine. With no tune we took her to the dyno after a few days of enjoyment at UTI so our untuned horsepower numbers will be posted Monday!

Today we brought our Project Nissan 350z to the Universal Technical Institute campus in Rancho Cucamonga, California for our KW Suspension installation. I wanted to thank everyone at the campus including Dennis Rudolph that helped us connect with the students for the installation. The suspension has great independent rebound and compression adjustability that makes the 350z perform top notch!

A full installation will come later but I wanted to thank the students that helped us out today on the install. They include Tyrone Campbell, Richard Beard, Saul Ramirez, Lee Woods, JJ Chen, Justin Pinnix, Oscar Perez, Sean Ford, Jose Guerrero, Tim Olesijuk, Cicel C., Hussain H., and Miria Ryekas.

Appreciate all the help students!