Build Update:

Finally received all my parts from Z1/Concept Z and dropped it off at the mechanic last weekend. Had a work trip to SF so the timing worked out perfectly. The mechanic (former Infiniti tech for 4 years) sent me quite a few pictures during the process. In short, so glad I decided to tackle this as not only were the gaskets failing- the water pump was also beginning to leak as well. I'll let the pictures do the talking



He managed to perform the repair without removing the bumper... definitely admire the skills there.

Opened up for surgery.

Chunks of gasket missing, only a matter of time before it fully failed. Six of the bolts were also loose.

Not in terrible shape, but replacing the sprocket and chain will give peace of mind


So in short, if you've got a Pre-2013 VQ with 100K+ miles definitely budget to get this taken care of. The peace of mind feels great. Now the next major mod will be to get the G remote tuned.

 

Build Update:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Last month, I was focused on taking care of much needed maintenance (gallery gaskets). With that accomplished,I finally tackled something I've been sitting on for 4 years... OEM JDM Winkers on 09+ Mirrors with CF caps! Huge thanks to @ILM-NC G37S for the guidance on this thread and publishing the OEM Instructions (mine didn't come with any). Guys like him make this forum still such a wealth of information.

I can easily say I'm one of the few sedans in the states with these winkers, and good lord this was such a PITA to accomplish (part of the reason I've put this off for so long). This isn't a DIY, but you can follow most of the steps I did for OEM or those eBay Mirror Winkers- there really isn't much online for this procedure so I figure I'd pay it forward. Also the wiring side of this project was such a PITA as I was insistent on trying to leverage the OEM Molex door connectors, and my kit only contained the winkers themselves (with no wiring harness or pins to leverage existing connectors). Probably could have shaved a few hours by simply drilling holes in the frame... but I wanted to ensure a clean install and no issues with weather.


With a few days off from work, I finally mustered enough motivation to tackle this. I originally purchased these winkers from Yahoo Japan in December 2020:

Many part #s out there, but here's the one I purchased. Includes the winkers themselves, but no wiring harness or hardware


Next up, for those who don't know the 07-08 G35 Sedans came with larger bulkier mirrors than the later 09+ G37s... so I had to source to source LH/RH Black Mirrors for this project. CF Caps were purchased from EZ Splitters on IG on a Black Friday sale. The first part was to drill holes into both the CF Caps and the 09+ Mirror Caps to fit the Winkers into. Again, shoutout to @ILM-NC G37S as I used one of their posts to print out templates that I used to drill into both covers:


Not the prettiest drill work, but it does the job!

I attached the CF Cover using the supplied 3M tape, then worked on routing the winker power/ground wires through the mirror mount. This involves taking out the mirror and snaking it through a "metal cylinder" in the mount. Kind of annoying, but also a precursor for what is to come:


You can see the red power wire snaked through the mirror mount here


Success! Hello there gorgeous

Once I repeated the same steps for the other side I went ahead and installed my new mirrors into the car (after taking apart both doors and triangle tweeters). Fairly straight forward enough as I've already pulled apart my interior a few times. I also needed to remove the Bose speakers (careful with the 8MM bolts as I broke a few on this- 17+years and blue thread locker doesn't like to come apart). Next up, I needed to tackle the wiring and this took a minute to plan out. Referencing the FSM I need I needed to tap into Wires 17 and 18 on the BCM (your wires might vary based on your year/options- please check the FSM before continuing). But I'm getting ahead of myself, I grounded the black wire to the door frame and the mated the power (red) wire to some 18 gauge wire I had left from my headlight project. This was snaked through the door and then I needed to puzzle out the Molex connectors in the door.

The Carizon on YouTube has an excellence 370z video on this subject that inspired how I tackled this on the G:



Had to push a small black clip to unlock the lever on this Molex connector. Once completed I just unplugged and pulled it away to make it easier to work with


Lever pulled off and rubber boot exposed using the Carizon's excellent YT guide

Snaking the power wire through the Molex was super annoying. For the connector itself, the passenger side was easy as the right side was completely unused:


You can see the blank rectangle on the right of the passenger connector. Unfortunately the driver's side wouldn't be this easy...

I had some thick gauge wire from my basement that I cut as a guide, and taped the power wire on it to snake it through. It took about <10 Minute, but I was finally able to snake the wire through the Molex and guided it into the car:


You'll have to undo this bolt and pull aside these connectors to get to the female side of the Molex. Once these are out of the way, it's pretty cake

Once their additional complication is I had another harness from my ambient interior lights plugged into the same connector. After some consideration, I figured I'd tap into the extra connector but use the FSM to ensure I was wiring into the right one. The accessory connector was a thicker gauge so unfortunately I couldn't use wire taps and opted instead to make "jump wires" to help make mating the LH/RH Power wires with the BCM easier:


Black jump wires installed and mated to red power wires from the LH/RH mirrors

With the passenger side complete, it was time to tackle the drivers side. Since I've already made the connections at the passenger side (where BCM is located) I snaked the power wire through the dash (using my thick wire from the basement taped to it) through the dash to the drivers side. I undid the molex connector on this end- and I will note it is such a PITA to free up the female connector on this end. As I have a 6MT, the clutch lines are in the way and there really isn't much room to work with. I had to finagle the connector out (probably took 20 minutes) while on my back staring at my clutch pedal. Definitely was feeling it the next day. Once I got the female end free, unfortunately there was another complication- the driver's side was much more full with pins and would require drilling to pass the power wire through:


Drivers side female Molex connector. You can see where I drilled through. Take care to avoid damaging any pins/wires through this process!

Once the nerve wracking drilling was complete, I simply snake the power wire through. Pay attention and snake the wire through the back of the housing and not the front! I messed up on this step, but thankfully had plenty of slack and was able to cut the wire, re-route it correctly and solder them together.

After that, it was just a matter of passing it through the drivers side molex into the door. Sounds simple, but was another 20-30mins of working it through the connector and into the door frame (again using my trusty thick wires from the basement taped to my power wire). Seriously, this is the hardest part of the job by far. Once I finally got it into the door frame, I snaked it yet again up the panel and soldered it in the red power wire from the mirror. I drilled a hole into one of the black "stickers" to feed the wire in to make it look cleaner:


Passenger side, but wiring process is basically the same for both doors. Note the red power wire going into the black sticker

With all that complete, it was time to put the interior back together and enjoy the new look :


All complete. Such a subtle and classy mod that ties in well with my chrome accents


Illuminated! The Mirror LEDs are pretty subtle, but tie in well with my Chrome Turn Signal and Switchback Halo in the headlights

And that's a wrap! Such an involved process for something that seems so simple. But it's very gratifying- especially since I had the larger 07-09 Mirror Housings. The winkers + CF caps help to modernize the G greatly- especially since it seems every car these days come with them. The OEM Winkers aren't the brightest, but I love the quality of the housing and it feels so much more premium than the eBay knockoffs. It's almost as if you can see how Infiniti was going to design the Q50 mirrors.

Feels really good to have this accomplished after so many years of sitting on these parts. Until the next time, so much more to do!

 

Looks amazing and it compliments the carbon look.

Sorry that was such a pain in the ***. I guess I shouldnt remind you that I had a lot of those mirror pins (new and used) as well as a few used for the Molex door connector
Not like you're doing this again but in the future check in with me. A lot of these connectors usually have at least 5+ extra open slots but it's impossible to find these pins alone without taking a trip to the JY, etc.

 

Appreciate it @BULL ! Funny enough I did think about asking you about pins, but I had a few days off of work for the holidays and wanted to just complete this project after so many years of waiting. Wiring wasn't all that bad, just the limited space to work around the Molex connectors was the most annoying part.

 

Build Update:

Another weekend, another (minor) mod. The original weatherstripping on the "belt line" chrome moldings was trashed when I purchased the car. Two years ago I replaced them with slightly better ones from a junkyard G, but these had signs of wear and the fitment was never perfect (these clips are really only made to go in once). I've always wanted to purchase new ones, but the pricing from dealers or z1 was eye waveringly expensive.

After reading a few threads on here, I decided to go through Amaya trading.com where I was able to purchase brand new moldings for ~$250 shipped. Again not cheap, but more than half off compared to US retailers.

The parts arrived this week and spent an hour this Saturday getting them installed. Fairly easy job with some plastic removal tools- although I did end up removing the Mirrors for the fronts as they cover up part of the molding.


Care package from Japan! I'm a sucker for BNIB OEM parts. So satisfying.

Got the car cleaned up and ready for the week. I'm really proud of how she's progressed this year. My goal was to keep an "executive" OEM+ feel to the build, and it's come such a far way from when I purchased her 2 years ago. Plenty of little things to knock out to keep refreshing worn components, and I'm still having a blast. Until the next time!


Hard to believe this is a 16 year old car- she cleans up quite well

 

Build Update:

Well the Holidays are finally here, and with a few weeks off work I've got time to make progress on the G! One of the "little" things I've been putting off was my passenger side map light was out, and I still needed to swap the rear interior vanity lights to LEDs. Originally I suspected some sort of grounding issue on the map light- but the culprit was simply the cheap Amazon LEDs I originally used. I swapped these out for Diode Dynamics "Pure White" LEDs and problem solved. Lesson learned, don't cheap out on LEDs!

Next I purchased a used Glove Box on eBay and swapped it in. My old box had a bunch of broken tabs and would sag when opened- and these little things were driving me nuts. Easy enough swap, just annoying design by Infiniti.

While there, I tackled a small (yet annoying) mod I saw on the Facebook groups- swapping the "Shark Fin" antenna for the sleeker ones found on the coupes. Getting to the 22MM bolt that holds the antenna in place requires dropping the rear of the headliner (which also means taking out the rear grab handles). I then snaked a breaker bar in and removed the bolt holding it into place- easier said than done as there's not a ton of room to work with. This job is far easier if you drop the whole headliner, but I didn't want to go through the hassle of removing all the trim. Once I had the old antennae out, the next challenge I discovered is the plugs are different, and the wiring was different length:


Coupe antennae on the left, Sedan to the right. I've already removed the housing to prepare for surgery

After weighing my options, I decided to perform to swap the internals/plugs between the antennas. It's a simple matter of removing some small screws but I wasn't able to snake the plugs through the hole. So I decided to cut the plug end off and solder it back together. In retrospect, I probably could have shaved the tabs on the coupe plug, but I'd still have to figure out how to lengthen it.


Internals swapped. Perfect fit.

Once complete, I reinstalled the new antenna into the car and everything plugged back into place. Unfortunately I broke some tabs on the Coupe antenna housing (visible in the above pic), and so I secured it using some 3M double sided tape. From there I got everything buttoned back into place:




Everything works 100% as normal, which is to be expected as the internals are the same. I really like the smaller sleeker profile of the coupe antenna. A lot of effort for a little mod- but it's these little things that make this build special to me. One thing to note, you'll probably have blemishes from where the sedan antennae used to be on your roof. I was able to polish most of this out, but I eventually plan on repainting the roof so it's not a big deal to me.

On a more significant note, I finally decided to get my Seibon CF fenders installed. I've been sitting on these for two years due to initial fitment complications. Needless to say the wife hasn't been happy about them taking space in the basement. But now that I've found a local mechanic that specializes in G/Z/Qs- I decided to let him tackle it. And Conner did a great job- knocked it out in a day (helps to work at a Nissan dealership with access to a lift). Fitment is 95% like OEM and we were able to retain the fender liners as well. Enough talking I'll let the pics do the talking:


Final result! I love the more subtle look of the Seibon vents compared to the more aggressive Successful Automotive "M Style" fenders.


Side profile view. Fender vents tie in nicely to the Seibon TS-Style hood.

Overall I'm very pleased with the install (and most importantly the wife is happy to have shelf space back)! Connor did a great job with the install, as it's tough to match up body lines when both the hood and fenders are CF. Next up- I desperately need to get these painted black. I know some like to run exposed panels on their Gs, but I've never been a fan of that look. Thankfully I have a black car so it helps to mute the carbon, but it will look far more sleek and "finished" with the majority of the CF painted KH3 and vents exposed in CF. I've reached out to the painted that did work on my old G, and hopefully will get on his schedule in the next few months.

Next two things to tackle are fixing my illuminated clock and (finally) sorting out my Airbag light. On the former, I purchased a BNIB Clock earlier this year, but for some reason it's not getting power. I'll check for grounding issues there and get this solved. The airbag one is far more perplexing as I'm getting code B1023-00 which most of the online forums indicate to be a seat sensor issue. This airbag light came on when I swapped the dash back in '22, and I never touched the passenger airbag connectors. More troubleshooting to come, and worst case I can get an emulator to get it fixed- but I'd rather truly solve the problem. More to come on this saga soon!

 

If you decide to give up on this you can always try the oldschool method:

Locate the wire for the airbag that goes to the cluster connector
De-pin this wire and cover it.
Recycle a pin that connects to this connector and cut it with about 4-5 inches of wire left.
Tie this wire onto any ground wire in that connector or give it its own ground.
SRS receives a ground signal from the unit to turn off this light.
This method let's you undo it for any future endeavors.

PS you can even mount a switch in between and this way you'll never have to worry if you get rid of the car and never fix the SRS issue.

 

Great build thread. For the SRS light/code, have you checked to make sure the SRS connectors are fully seated and attached under the seats? I have seen them come loose before/detached from objects getting stuck under the seats and yanking them loose etc. - if that’s the case just an SRS reset should be needed after reattaching the connector. Please excuse me if you’ve already tried that and I missed it in the thread. Was just reading through it all.

SRS reset: (for anyone else curious)
1) Turn IGNITION on (but don't start car)
2) After the AIR BAG warning lamp lights for 7 seconds, turn IGNITION off within 1 second.
3) Wait 4 seconds
4) Turn IGNITION on (but don't start car)
5) After the AIR BAG warning lamp lights for 7 seconds, turn IGNITION off within 1 second.
6) Wait 4 seconds
7) Turn IGNITION on (but don't start car)
8) After the AIR BAG warning lamp lights for 7 seconds, turn IGNITION off within 1 second.
9) Wait 4 seconds
10) Turn IGNITION on (but don't start car)
11) Wait 3 seconds
12) Turn IGNITION off
13) Wait 2 seconds
14) START Car (the light may be blinking slower than before)
15) Wait 3 seconds
16) Turn IGNITION off
17) Wait 3 seconds
18) START Car

 

Thanks for the kind words- and right back at you! Excited to see how your LS swap goes. I've checked them before (but was in a hurry), so it's worth another look. I think the culprit might actually be swapping the bag in the passenger side of the dash into my new suede wrapped one. That's the only airbag that I disconnected (aside from steering wheel) when I did the dash swap, so it's possible I may have missed something simple.

Unfortunately I got tied up with family obligations during the holidays so didn't have time to deal with this nuisance. So will have to live with the blinking light for a few more weeks.

 

absolutely love it. It’s the subtle things that matter. One of the things I miss about my maxima is the signal light
in the side mirror. And the heated steering wheel. So sad that Nissan put a cvt in the maxima

 

Heated steering wheel... best (seasonal) mod I ever did to my G. And, yes, Nissan ruined the Maxima, still miss my 2001 SE 6-speed.

 

If it was a 2001, then it was a 5MT. The 6MT was a 5.5 Gen thing.

Wait... how did you get a heated steering wheel in the G?

 

Probably was a 5-speed. The RSX had the 6-speed. I stand corrected. Still was a fun sedan to drive the short time I had it.

 

@Rochester , this post explains the heated wheel. While i only use it a few months of the year, my pre-arthritic hands appreciate that little feature. So much so that I have already started looking into swapping a heated wheel for the Tacoma I am looking at buying.

Anyway, not to sidetrack deep0542's thread, but, yes, the simplest things make the biggest impact at times...

 

@ILM-NC G37S No please sidetrack away, your posts are always informative (and make me want to spend more $$ haha). Had no idea the Q60 steering wheel swap could enable heated functionality. This is extremely tempting as I've currently dealing with low temps here in Ohio- and I love having that feature in my wife's CRV. Only challenge is that I have ACC- and I think I saw another post from you where there might be challenges in retaining that feature due to different values. Sigh, always the hard road with this build lol.