Welcome to the Daak Side of this rebuild! Ha. Anyhow, Ive been procrastinating on this rebuild thread for quite some time. Things are slow at work. The prequel is that in December of 2018 I had my first kid. Suddenly the G35 6MT Coupe that I've had since brand new in 2003 after graduating college needed to go. After much back and forth I finally sold the car this past June, it had 130k miles on it. Aside from regular oil changes at the dealership, I replaced the clutch at 90k miles in 2016, I had a window regulator go out twice which was fixed under warranty and a radio/AC/Heat issue which left climate on all the time; I had no issues with the car.

I needed a replacement, something 4 door, something with trunk space, something reliable and fun to drive. First on my list was the all new Civic Type R. Rented one on Turo and fell in love with the car. It is everything I wanted in a car. Except for the fact that it is a 4 seater, deal breaker. The G35 I made payments on for 3 years. At the time fresh out of college in 03, it was a silly move and not something I want to do again as I need a bigger house soon. Next was a 2015 Jaguar XFR-S, rented that on Turo, and while it was a great car, something was missing, it didn't have that fall in love factor. And the particular example I was looking at was 29k. Better than the type R but still would require me to have payments. Next was the Q50, great car, super comfortable, fast when you put the pedal down, good looks, but the handling/steering just felt muted and fake, I didn't love it.

While in Chicago in July I rented a G37 on Turo because 30 bucks a day! Fell in love with the car. Handling was spot on, acceleration was spot on. Everything I brought fit nicely in the trunk, it was very comfortable, my wife liked it and like the type R it put a smile on my face. In early August I purchased a 153k mile example G37S sedan for 2k. Sure it was high mileage, but after a bit of research I found nearly all of the miles were highway miles. Cash car for the win! But it needed a bit of work! At first I was thinking this looks cosmetic, new hood, new grill, I might be able to save the bumper....oh boy was I wrong! Upon popping the hood I found the good stuff. Radiator, condenser, fan, bumper support and coolant tank were the things I could see.

The car needed a jump, I jumped it, aired up a low tire, filled it with oil and coolant and let it run for 15 minutes. No coolant leaks, or overheating, so I drove it home! The first thing I noticed is the power steering was out. Nothing a little elbow grease couldn't handle. Once I got on the highway, two windows rolled down and didn't come back up. There was a small bit of brake shudder. Possible suspension or frame damage. Other than that I had a huge grin on my face. This car was mine and I was very happy with my purchase, and I got to stay in the Nissan/Infiniti family (before the G35 was a 240sx that was an autocross car until 2012). Below are the initial pics.






I started working on the Daak Side a few weeks ago. Kid, 2 jobs, weekends coaching, and wanted to relax kept me away from the garage for a few months. But now all that is left is paint. This has been a project! The most I've ever worked on a car is swapping batteries in the Costco parking lot. Its been fun and between these forums, google and youtube, I've been able to figure everything out so far. But there definitely was a lot more damage behind my bumper than I had anticipated. There were two brackets that hold the bumper in place, a tab on one of the lights. And the biggest hassle which ended up being a cheap hassle was the crossmember to the subframe, and the answer to the shudder, the frame was off by 6mm. Nothing a mallet couldn't handle. Anyhow, I thought it was going to be easy to document the process, but once my hands got dirty I didn't want to touch the phone. Below are a few shots.









Cutting off the bumper support was a bitch and a half. I didn't have the proper tool. Basically I spent an hour with a dremel tool. A couple of brackets are quite pricey at the dealer. Around 70 bucks each for those pieces there. Above is a quick interior shot. Some of the buttons have rubbed off, I don't know if I'll be replacing the whole panel any time soon. If it irritates me enough I'll pick one up, those Tesla screens look good too. Up to this point, things were fairly straight forward. The Radiator removal required some serious youtube/google/forum help. In the end coolant leaked all over the place, the garage floor was an absolute mess. But once it came out, I didn't touch the car for a week, seeing that crossmember bent was one of those %$&#@^! moments. It wasn't until I actually looked it up and saw it screws on, and cost me 100 bucks. What a relief it was!



I will say between google/youtube/forums, this has been a decently easy project. Having never taken on anything but a few battery swaps and painting my kids room (I'll never paint another room again) this rebuild has been extremely satisfying. The only thing you really need are the tools, the time and the will/drive to do it. The biggest investment in this project was a 400 dollar bumper from the dealer, and a 350 dollar investment in an impact wrench with the the appropriate impact sockets. I'll try to get some more shots after work.

To breakdown the money spent on the repair. The total was 1267
Hood: 200 from craigslist
Sport bumper: 400 from dealer
Radiator: 80 from Junkyard
Radiator support: 80 from junkyard
Power steering cooler: 30 from ebay
Radiator Fan: 28 from junkyard
coolant tank: 39 from ebay
Grill: 50 from ebay
Crossmember: 100 from craigslist
Hood hinges: 30 from junkyard
Steering wheel airbag: 100 from junkyard
Bumper brackets: 130 from dealer

I still need to paint. I thought about painting it myself. Plenty of videos on youtube. But for 150 bucks for the bumper/hood/blending for the paint code KH3. I feel like that's a damn good price considering I would/could spent quite a bit on quality paint stuff.

First I want to give a huge thanks to the forum. Between youtube and google, you guys filled in the gaps where needed. I bought my first mod from here. A red GTR start button. I also picked up a flat bottom steering wheel for the second mod. I am not sure what future mods will hold. I am sure suspension. Maybe wheels, there are some nice ones on the forum classifieds that would go good with the Daak Side. And a possible widebody, although body work seems to scare me a little bit, there are a lot of youtube videos on the process. The Daak Side is to be continued in the next episode!

 

Finally done. Paint finished over the weekend. Took the daak side out for a maiden drive. Still need to give her a wash and complete detail. But here is a quick and dirty night shot. My son turned one today. I'll get some more shots in here soon. Flat bottom steering wheel and red GTR button were done a few weeks ago. I should put those shots in here. I might do a few more cosmetic hp mods before getting to the suspension.

 

Congrats, must be a great feeling having it back on the road! How do you feel the paint turned out?

 

I think the paint turned out fantastic. Once the clear coat went on it was back to factory spec. 150 well spent. KH3 is quite easy to work with it seems. Definitely a great feeling to be driving on the road again, to have done all the work, it feels extremely rewarding and it feels like the first car I got for myself, my old 240sx. But for sure anyone who has been in a front end accident, I would definitely consider rebuilding.

 

Just a quick note to say that once I had the time I took her to the local dealership for a 60 dollar oil change. I am a big fan of doing oil changes at the dealer. They always do those multipoint car inspections which you can swiftly accept or decline. Mine came back with 3/32nds of rear tires, new air and cabin filters, dirty throttle bodies, an alignment, serpentine belts, and brake fluid change. I had them do the throttle body cleaning since a quick browse on this forum shows a PITA to clean, and then there is a relearning procedure that seems tough to get right. I'll be headed to an alignment shop, but everything else seems easy enough to DIY. Plus with the fluid change, I plan to do rotors, pads, ss lines and some super blue fluid if thats still a thing.

 

Amazing rebuid congrats man!

 

Ha thanks, its been a great process! Since this is my build thread I might as well post up the pics of the mods I do. The steering wheel swap. Those flat bottom steering wheels looked good IMO. Youtube showed a fairly easy process and I could easily swap it back if I didnt like it. The extra padding was very much welcomed, and really gives the car the luxury sports sedan feel it deserves. I still need to give the interior a good detail. Last weekend I washed the car, and hosed down the engine bay a bit. I still need to give it the true detail it deserves. Lots of ideas on these forums/youtube for detailing tips.

 

Just updating this thread its been a while and I've been meaning to post a few pics. One thing Ive always been a fan of was the Red GTR start button. When you look at other high end luxury sports cars the start button looks and feels slick. While the G37 may not be high end, it should definitely have the luxury sports car feel, and the white button just looks and feels cheap. Between YouTube and these forums, this was quite an easy mod to do. My only gripe is I wish the Start/Stop was a bit brighter. I do need to detail the dash, car spends a lot of time sitting in the garage. Been spending my self shelter quarantine playing iRacing.

 

The next mod to come down the pipeline was a front license place. I've always liked the Japanese plates, especially here in the states, adds a bit of unique to the G37. The install was decent, I picked up a front plate adapter that attaches to the front tow hook. The tow hook bar is in very secure. The point where the plate bracket screws into the bar is not very tight, as the plate can rotate 5-8 degrees. But overall I like the look. Decently happy with the result.

 

Congrats for the rebuild. And encouraging.

 

Where did you pick up that sweet Jap plate? Really nice rebuild! Love the story!

 

Thanks! Its been fun, and every time I hit that pedal or take a corner, Ive got a smile every time.

I really like the plate. https://www.customjapaneseplates.com/ You can customize everything. They dont have every prefecture, but mount fuji was important to me for a number of reasons. And may be important to Infiniti as some call the logo Fuji. The prefecture I chose was Shizuoka which includes a piece of Fuji. The price is definitely reasonable

 

Man, if I had a black interior, I would absolutely want a steering wheel like that. It's really nice. The kind of thing you appreciate every single time you get in the car.

You know, I almost corrected your thread title before realizing it was intentional. LOL

 

One of these days I'll replace the headliner and pillars with something black as well. Its not cheap, but I think it would look better than the current stock two tone. But definitely appreciate my car every time I step into it. The Daak Side is definitely intentional with island boy accent in me! Coupled with a Star Wars reference.

 

I had been a long time lurker on these forums and had researched quite a bit once I learned the G37 was for me. I already have in my mind what I would like to see in the engine bay. I've researched what I want the 4 corners to have except for the wheels. Ive got plans for a few items underneath the car, but need to do more research there. Ive got a couple of interior ideas I'd like to see come to fruition. The exterior would be among the last of the things I do to the daak side. My plans were to take care of the suspension first and then go from there. But when what I felt was an amazing amazing deal. I picked up the ultra rare 1 of 10 in existence Top Secret Intakes, "Top Secret Super Induction System." Handcrafted titanium pipes, carbon fiber shields hiding HKS filters. These intakes are arguably the best for the platform. Install was fairly easy. When they say bolt on. The intakes literally bolt out and bolt right in. I had done a ton of research into PCV, the intake resonators, why throttle bodies get dirty. Rerouting hoses, catch cans, hosing choices, it was mind numbing. At the end of the day I decided to just go with what the stock system provides, and look into upgrading later.

The first thing to do was remove the engine cover, next was to remove the hose clamps off the stock intake around the throttle body. Each intake is held by one bolt each with a mounting bracket. Once those are removed the intakes slide right out. Below is a quick shot of the open space once the intake is removed. Side note: It is probably a better idea to remove the engine cover and intakes if you want to get a good detail of the engine bay.



Size comparison. I should have done a weight comparison as well with a scale. But the weight difference was very noticable. Titanium + carbon fiber vs plastic definitely a difference. I cant seem to resize this second pic



Once I got the intakes installed for a test fit, I needed to readjust things. Below is the issue I ran into, the bung on the intake doesnt make for a stock replacement.



I ended up finding a 5/8ths hose and just cut that to size to fit around the bung and the breather boxes. Pictured below


And finally below. The final product!



Once I did a few street pulls, the way she sounds now is intoxicating. For cruising the only difference is you can hear more aspiration, almost as if she had an inspiratory stridor more "nasal." But once you it WOT boy is she loud. Mean, throaty and giving off the wrong impression that she has more to offer as a ZL-1 quickly pulled up next to me. No thanks, I'm not trying to play around with a ZL-1 I just tipped my hat while he sped off. Perhaps in a month or two I'll write a review. The Daak Side could use a tune to truly take advantage of such an amazing product. I'll need to find the right shop to do this, this is my daily but I work from home, so a daily means, .5 miles to the grocery store, 2 miles to Costco, .7 miles to the golden chick. I'll get it done after I figure out what exhaust system to go for. Right now leaning fast intentions. Intake, exhaust and then I'll go for the tune. In the meantime, Ive got a couple of small items here and there. But the next big thing is the suspension. Until then happy building and thanks for looking.