BRU DVL's Vaydor Roadster Build

[BRU DVL]

Hello everyone! First time poster on this forum even though I've been a member for a year. I finally pulled the trigger on my Vaydor roadster a few weeks ago. Kit should be ready to ship mid to late July. I just picked up my '03 coupe yesterday and itching to to get started. I call her Ani, short for Anakin. Cuz she'll be a Vaydor someday. FYI, I'm a huge Star Wars nerd. I've been reading up on all the other builds and learning as much as I can this last year. A big thank you to Matt for his great customer service and also to Curt (MyShopIsFull) for letting my wife and I look at his up close and sit in it. Without these two individuals, I probably would not have a significant other who is as excited about this project as I am.
My goal for this project is 3 months. (I can sense you eye rolls from here) The destruction phase, brake upgrade, turbo upgrade, and shocks will be on me. I have some welders and auto body guys helping me on the body fitment. Lambo hinges I'm leaving to the shop, cuz.... lambo hinges. I have been tossing up the idea of just plastidipping the car since I'm really good at it, and the only other one in Oregon is dipped. We can make it the states signature thing on Vaydors lol. So, before you shoot down my estimate for completion, understand I have a lot of time on my hands and have a team of people behind me. Worst case scenario, I'll let the shop finish it on time.
There are some deviations from the standard builds I'm going to do and would love any input you guys have for me. 1. Engine-wise, I'm doing a Turbonetics single turbo kit ($3,900 shipped) from Treadstone. I've installed one on my 350Z roadster before and the only complaint I have about it has been corrected (a wastegate return line the cracks from looking at it funny.) They advertise it as a true bolt on turbo system with a 8-12 hour install time (which I can vouch for). 360-385 RWHP (485 HP at flywheel) with stock internals and stock exhaust with a simple re-flash and no tune needed. Once again, I can vouch for those marketing points. A big selling point of this kit is they say why spend all that money on a turbo if you cant see it. So they located the turbo right behind the driver's headlight. Really pretty to look at, but requires some crazy piping to make it work. 2. I'm going with 14" 4 piston Akebono big brake upgrade that's stock on a 370z and G37 sport models. Nissan switched from Brembo in 2008. Slotted and drilled rotors, stainless lines, and 4oth anniversary red calipers off the 370z. ($1,700) And before you think the 14" is not gonna fill up the rims, that leads me to my next deviation. 3. After looking at the Vaydor for the last year, and driving a GTR as an everyday driver, I can not justify driving any car on 22's and the amount of rubber that comes along with it. I'm planning on running 20's. Not only for a drive-ability, but tire costs and just the sense of knowing I'm not rolling on less rubber than a pack of condoms. Also, this will be my wife's car technically and she likes to get up close and personal with curbs for some reason. One thing I haven't found in the build threads is the offest of the wheels. I would love to order some sooner than later, instead of waiting till the kits on to order them and sitting on a finished Vaydor with no rims. Any wisdom on the wheel offset would be appreciated.
I look forward to all your input and wisdom you all have to offer. I'll try and keep up on the pics and the build. Hopefully this can be my wife's and my anniversary present to each other on October 1st.

[BRU DVL]

Also, do I have to locate a Sebring windshield frame along with a windshield?

[cutlass442]

Welcome !! Sounds like you have a lot of prior experience from turbo charging your Nissan , and have body guys to help you . One thing I noticed you talked about is the turbo mounting right behind the headlight - remember the vaydor will completely alter the front of the car , so you may need to reposition that turbo compared to if it was in a Nissan or Infiniti

[BRU DVL]

Thanks for the reply Cutlass. I was wondering who of the familiar names in the Vaydor threads would comment first. I'm 99.9% sure I won't have a problem with the turbo placement. It's sits behind and to the left of the headlight. Well behind the new core support. Thanks yo the Vaydors grille, I might even pick up a 350Z turbo because that intercooler doesn't have two fans in front to compensate for the G35's lack of bumper opening.

[Dangerrous]

I'm based in the UK and we tend to go for a different look in the rims department, the deep dish is more of an American theme, if you look at typical european cars the tyre side profile is around 35, and the offset is more down to the hub sitting further into the rim rather than a deep dish. I'm building a Ferrari replica and would love to buy my rims now, just to see some bling, BUT what I need to do is take the unpainted car down to the wheel supplier and a) see what fits [offsets, rim size, caliper fouling, inner arch fouling, wheel arch fouling] b)Then get an idea of what actually looks good on the car. Maybe wheels should be the last thing you actually purchase, afterall they're not going anywhere and when your ready there might be a new design that looks even better on the car.

[BRU DVL]

Well said Dangerrous. 35's are exactly what I was thinking. If you tell me there are no stanced cars in Europe, I'll pack my bags and move there tomorrow. as for new wheels coming out, I'm a simple guy. I am happy with Vorsteiner VFF-103'S like I'm running on my other car.

[BRU DVL]

Day 1:
I spent father's day installing the Akebono big brake kit of a 40th anniversary 370z. Yes, I'm aware they say Brembo on them. I bought them used off ebay and specifically wanted this set that some fool took the Nissan stickers off of and slapped these on. Install was pretty straight forward. Had to order stainless brake lines, 14" slotted and drilled rotors, and a caliper adapter ($690 shipped) to go with these used calipers off ebay ($899 shipped) I was shocked the calipers came with pads that had 95% still.
So here's some pics to show you size comparison.



I got really lucky I had certain things laying around the garage. 5 lug 25mm wheel spacers, and stock wheels off a GTR. The front wheels will not fit without the spacers. The top of the front control arm has less than a fingers gap to the tire. I am gonna stick with this set up. I don't know how I'd drive comfortably with any less rubber on the sidewall. Will eventually replace these GTR wheels with the proper width and staggered wheels, but seriously glad I had them laying around cuz the 19's that were on there would not go back on. The adapter kit also had bolts that were 1/4" too long. Had to grind them down or they would've impacted the rotor. Other than that, really smooth install. 4 hours well spent on Father's day. If anyone else is looking to save $3k on the brake kit, it's just the Akebono brakes off a 370z or G37. They come in silver with infiniti for the G37, gunmetal with nissan for 370z, or red with nissan for the 40th anniversary edition. Here's a link if you want all parts new:

https://www.z1motorsports.com/z1-products/z1-motorsports/z1-motorsports-14-akebono-big-brake-kit-350zg35-front-and-rear-p-4626.html


I saved about $600 (including shipping) from their package price by buying my calipers used on ebay. As for the install, there's plenty of videos on YouTube. Just search g35 akebono big brake kit. Coil overs get in tomorrow and turbo gets here's Thursday. Hope this helps and gives every future Vaydor owner another option if money is tight. I'm spending the $3k i save to take my family to Hawaii. Their smiles are more important than 15" vs 14" rotors.

[BRU DVL]

So it's been a while since I posted. Kit got here mid August 2017.

Shipping was thru a vendor I found on UShip. Pretty nervous about it since I've never done this before. Ended up being $2,800 from Florida to Oregon. Not bad in my opinion compared to the wuotes of $3,300-$18k I got. Kit got here in one piece. I was on day 5 of a 3 week vacation when I got word I got to the shop you can can imagine how antsy I was to get home. Interior, glass, leather kit, head and taillights were missing from the pallet. Matt got them to me eventually. Wasn't a huge problem since the shop I took it to was busy as heck and didnt get a chance to get their homework done and start on the build till November. Onto the build....

[BRU DVL]

I had taken out most the interior, bumpers, fenders, and hood. This is the condition I sent it to the shop in.

[BRU DVL]

Demolition.

[BRU DVL]

Next up was the roll cage. I'd like to point out a few "upgrades" to the kits compared to the builds I've seen previously on this site. First off, the lambo door hinges were a grand more than I expected. At first I didn't know why. Then I saw the hinges and was really thankful they were. I thought a steel plate would have to be welded in, tapped and universal hinges mounted to them. The hinges I got were direct bolt on the the factory locations, caressed the door like a skimpy dress and had more adjustment points than Chen's in Chinatown. Next upgrade was the trunk hinges built into the roll cage. I have seen previous build mess with the hood hinges and this was a delightful surprise. Fast forward to the install, turns out the bolts from the trunk didn't line up to the hinge arms, but after a little research, realized a plate needed to be welded and holes drilled in that instead of the steel tubes of the hinge. Still easier than what I assumed had to be done to install the trunk. Last surprise was the roof and door panels coming in one piece. I had only seen on Matt's site and previous builds that I had to fuse them together myself. All these surprises made for a much easier install IMO and I welcome their discovery. Back to the roll cage.

The installer only complained about a few parts where the cage didn't fit. 3 plates near the front of the cage had to be put into place to fill the gap cuz it didn't sit directly on the car. There was two points on the strut towers that was in direct contact. The installer welded them to the tower to keep future noises to a minimum. The 01-05 Chrysler Sebring A-pillar came in around that time and that's when we discovered another upgrade. the lower section that supports the windshield was part of a peice that wrapped into the A pillar. I have only seen the U-channel metal I had to weld into place. Don't know if it was a hardtop thing or what. Welcome surprise still.

Then nothing really happened between Turkey Day and Christmas. I wanted to make sure I didn't go out of budget for this build so I had asked the shop to bill me every two weeks. The build to this point was two weeks, 60 man hours and cost a little over 4 grand. Did include the price of the A-pillar, the forklift they have to rent to get the pallet of the truck, and two Tie Pilot costumes I had him paint and throw into the bill. I need cheaper hobbies. Cars, cosplay, and Lego will ensure my kids don't go to college.

[BRU DVL]

Holidays came and gone. Build started again.
Rear clip was installed right after Christmas. My installer was shocked how well it fit and positioned itself. He did weld in a few extra brackets and mounted the rear clip on 9 points with rubber bushings for vibration absorption. Then we discovered the before mentioned trunk bolts not aligning with the hinge. Simple fix, and great fitment.

[BRU DVL]

This was the progress since the Jan. 2nd.

[BRU DVL]

I'm still shocked my stock GTR rims sink so far into the back wheel wells. The fronts have a 1/2" spacer already to accommodate the big brake kit and they still sit where they are. I haven't gotten any response to any wheel questions I've posted in other threads. Still heart set on 20's. I've seen wheels sizes posted, 9.5" up front, 12ish in back. Just have no clue what the offset and spacers needed. I'm trying to keep my wheel budget in the $3500 range with rubber. I live in Oregon so probably gonna run all seasons on this car. No point in running sport tires as I'd rather be safe in the rain in this car. If anyone knows of the wheel offset and spacer size, I'd be eternally in your debt if you could tell me.

After the body goes on, I'm gonna take the car home and let my leather guy get the leather installed and install some other goodies as well. I currently have most the interior accent pieces, rocker panels, and front lip in my garage, gonna do a carbon fiber layover on them with a matte "dry carbon" finish. I wanted to do the trim pieces on the exterior of the car, but my wife thinks its too much carbon and likes the Graphite color we chose for the accents to go with the gunmetal for the paint color. And it's a pain in the butt to do a layover for those detailed parts and I don't have the time to mold them and make new solid carbon pieces. Still trying to decide on a stereo for the car, not happy with how most of them look. No clue how the rear of the convertible top attaches. Just figured out where the gas lid goes. And that's where I'm at.

[BRU DVL]

I'm surprised to find out there's only 6 finished roadsters out there. Correct me if I'm wrong. Did discover last week the only other vaydor owner in the state sold his out of state. So, no cruises with other vaydors anytime soon.