Recent Posts

Oil Change on the Infiniti G35 Coupe

Getting a stock G35 Coupe ready for the track and/or drifting, requires a lot of preparation. Given the time constraints, I plan to do the most important things first. The most important thing is to make sure that the engine has fresh engine oil. Doing an oil change on the G35 is quite easy, and I outline the steps here.

Infiniti G35 Coupe Resources

It has been two weeks since I have had the G35 Coupe but I have not even begun fixing its issues and performing basic maintenance. However, I have driven it about a 100 miles locally and it is a blast to drive. Last weekend, I went to a local autocross with my Miata, so could not spend time on the G35. However, I have taken Friday off this week to try fixing some issues.

But first, I needed to do research on the maintenance needed and am documenting it for myself here.

Bought an Infiniti G35 Coupe

For a few weeks, I had been browsing the /r/drifting subreddit. I am very interested in drifting, and even though the Miata is a great car for drifting, I wanted to keep it stock for Autocross. The Miata is not powerful enough for being a good drift car, so I started looking for Nissan 350Zs and their luxury version, the Infiniti G35 Coupe.

I ended up buying the G35 Coupe with a 6-speed manual transmission for $4000. The 350Zs are very expensive as there is a drift tax on them. Even salvage titles go for $2500 or more on Copart.

Rebuilding the Shifter

The Miata’s shifter was getting worse as time progressed, so I decided to perform a shifter rebuild. I purchased the 5-speed transmission shifter rebuild kit from Flyin’ Miata, which you can also get from 5X Racing. In addition to the shifter, I also wanted to replace the center console boot which is the exterior boot, part number NC-10-64-331A which I ended up purchasing from Tasca Parts.

The process for the shifter rebuild is outlined in this post. This post has several pictures, so may take some time to load.

Patching the Vinyl Window on the Porsche Boxster S

The previous owner had used packaging tape on the 4 inch size tear in the vinyl window on the soft top (Figure 1). When I had washed the car in August 2019, I had taped it further with silver 3M duct tape which stayed on for quite a while. I decided to fix the vinyl window using Lamin-x transparent vinyl tape from Amazon for $14.

I also purchased a full replacement vinyl window and stitching kit for $99 from EMiata. Even though their website looks 20 years old, they do sell Boxster replacement windows and a full stitching kit. But this post is for the temporary fix, as the stitching requires about 4-5 hours of serious work. And it is still winter and too cold to be doing that outside.