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Well, I've been a satisfied G owner for a little over 7 months now and I'm super happy with where the car is at so far. I posted a newbie thread over the summer including a few small things I had done so I'll touch on those again in case people don't want to thread hop. The first thing I did with the car was paint my rims semi-gloss black. I had explored getting them powder coated and plastidipped but I figured for under $50 bucks and using up an entire day, painting would be my best option. It took roughly 12 hours to sand twice (hand and machine), put on 2 coats of primer, then 4 coats of semi-gloss engine paint (supposed to be more durable). Including washing the rims, buying the paint, eating lunch, and letting them dry, I'd say 12 hours wasn't too bad. I was super careful and meticulous and they look professionally done IMO.
My next steps after this were nothing too major. I swapped all the interior lights for LEDs as well as my fog lights and city lights. Got them all on amazon for less than $50. I also got the infiniti logo projector lights. Super cool and less than a 5 minute install. Along with those, I also picked up some infiniti logo seatbelt pads, and a silicone key fob case (I have posted links to all of these in the cheap mods forum if anyone is curious, or they can be found with a simple amazon search as well). Again, all on amazon and all very cheap. I waited until I installed my stillen gen 3 intake to install the city lights and fogs so I didn't have to take the bumper off twice. When the bumper was off so I could install my intakes, I took the grille off and plastidipped it black. Also did my rear emblems the same. In retrospect, I probably should have been a little more thorough in coating the grille as well as waiting longer in between coats. It's starting to get some rock chips allowing the chrome to show so I will either peel it all off and paint it, or peel it off and dip the infiniti grille emblem black and leave the grille chrome.
Lights on, grille dipped, intakes pokin out.
I installed the intake myself and it took roughly 9-10 hours including my lunch and dinner break. The front bumper removal guide on this forum was fantastic! I was able to get it off and back on with no damage and no problems. The intake install itself wasn't that hard, I was just being thorough and meticulous as to not screw anything up. The only part that really sucked was enlarging the core support. I didn't have the ideal tool for this so it took a decent chunk of my time but i managed to get it done. One the intake was in and secure I installed my homemade grounding kit. Found everything on amazon for less than $25 and it took probably 30 minutes to make and less time than that to install. Not to start a debate about the effectiveness of these but it seemed to help with the first AT shift and audio clarity (guy at my local car audio shop said I have some of the clearest sounding stock speakers he's ever heard and there's no way he would even try selling my anything else to replace them). That being said combined with my personal experience and the super low price tag, worth it. The intakes are great too, I have a slight rattle I need to try and fix that only occasionally happens when the car is idling but I've just been lazy and haven't messed with it. Maybe I should be doing that instead of typing this... Oh well.
Most recently, I installed some LEDGlow interior footwell lighting. I had a kit I bought several years ago and took it out of my old car before I sold it. Found it in a bag in my garage last week and got it wired up. Relatively simple install following the directions I downloaded online. Had to try a few different fuse spots but finally got it going. The kits are pretty cheap. I think I paid $30 or $40 whenever I originally bought it. You can switch it to a wide range of colors and control it all from a small remote. I also had a sub installed a few weeks ago. I got the zenclosure box for one sub and hooked up a JL Audio 10 w3. Super clean and they put a bass control switch in the change holder so I can close the lid and keep the stock appearance of the interior. It isn't as loud as my 2 12s I used to have in my Maxima but it gets the job done. Nice thump and really a nice overall balance with the stock system. It won't melt your face by any means but I'd say it's more of a "concert experience". Perhaps I'll eventually upgrade to a w6 or w7 and get a more powerful amp but I'm satisfied with this for now.
Bass control
Next up is exhaust. I'm leaning towards the HKS although I kind of like the Borla as well. The HKS seems to be similar to stock unless you really just let it rip which is what I think I want but at the same time the Borla sounds so much more aggressive. I've got a buddy about to put the Borla on his G so that might sway me one way or the other so we'll see. Ultimately I'd love to supercharge the beast and really unleash the potential of that engine but as a new college grad with loans, that's kind of tabled for now. After the exhaust and a tune, I'll probably chill on the mods for a bit. Of course I say that now but I'm sure it won't be the case lol.
I know in my main post I had stated I was leaning towards an HKS or Borla but I ended up going with the Invidia Gemini. Overall very pleased with it. Feel free to drop me a comment there. I Included a full write up and dyno tune sheet.
As for other mods, I also added a cusco strut bar that I found on amazon for about $125 if I remember correctly (just checked and it currently is NOT available on amazon just FYI). Cornering feels a little tighter and my traction control light freaks out all the time but not a bad mod IMO. In the main post I also touched on possibly redoing my grille plastidip which I did around the same time I installed the strut bar. Was much more thorough this time around making sure to leave plenty of time between each coat and doing about 6-8 coats. I need to redo my emblems on the trunk at some point as well as I just noticed after I last washed my car that the N on Infiniti is starting to peel at the top.
Future mods: I'm gonna type something now about how I think I'm done modding and am just going to enjoy the car but I feel like that would ultimately be a lie... Already thrown around the idea of doing HFCs in the future. I would absolutely LOVE to supercharge it but it's just so stinkin expensive. I must say that'd be my ultimate goal for this car. Keep it as sleeperish as possible on the outside only to be a mini GTR under the hood. Maybe once my MBA is finished and I have a baller job I can afford it? Or just trade it in for a GTR..? Ha wishful thinking at this point. If anything cool happens, it will definitely be written about! Thanks for reading!
Also, if anyone on here is based at or around KCMO, I'd love to see your builds!
Last edited by G37xBrock; Aug 20, 2017 at 10:51 PM.
if your planning on upgrading your sound system to put a w6 or 7 in your car to build a custom enclosure I have one in my Acura cl and that trunk is like 4 times as big as the g trunk and I still had to kick it in there to get it to fit....
