Rear wiper removed, passport radar detector + S2000 antenna installed

[jay21112]

OK, got some pics developed of some work I did on my car in the last few weeks.

First up is the Removal of my rear windshield wiper and rear winshield washer nozzle.

First off, who the hell uses the rear winshield wiper? We don't drive fricken minivans, we drive sports cars. Who cares what's behind you, you should only be worried about who's in front of you and how to pass them.

So, to make the back of the car look clean, I took a weekend and removed the wiper.

I didn't want to pay someone to shave the trunk, so I did the DIY.
I used this post here to do it:
http://www.350z-tech.com/forums/inde...ge&pg=tutor009

For those who want more information, read below to see what I did.
For those who just want to see pics...scroll down.

Basically:
I went to home depot and picked up 2 faucet hole covers.
I already had some silicone left over from installing my mirror covers.
I had a few spare locknuts lying around, so I grabbed 2 of them.
I had some black spraypaint and some clear spraypaint (both high heat) left over from painting my hood grills.

So I removed the cover to the rear windshield wiper, and then unscrewed the wiper. I had to bend it to clear my wing. It popped right off, and I opened the trunk. Once opened, I popped off the plastic underpanel, unhooked the electrical wire to the wiper motor, unscrewed the 3 screws holding the motor in, and popped the motor off.

Then I took some electrical tape and taped up the end of the electical wire still attached to the car. Then I took 2 zip-ties and zip-tied the wire to the hatch using the screw holes left behind by the motor.

Onto the winshield washer nozzle. I hated the look of it, and I used this thing even less than the wiper. So I took off the connecting tube under the hatch, took the weather seal off the outside of the nozzle, and pulled on that mo'fo' with a wrench. Finally after much fuss, it came out...never to be used again. I really don't know how this thing is supposed to come out, but if you twist and turn with a wrench, it'll come out eventually.

Then I test fitted the faucet plugs. The plug fit perfectly in the wiper hole, however the plug in the washer hole needed much modifications. The "putty cover" on the one used for the washer nozzle needed to be ground down to a much smalle circle, the screw on the bottom of the plug had to be cut down, and the "bar" had to be cut as smaller as well. All this had to be shortened because there is not much room on the underneath of the hatch where the nozzle supply is. If you lift up your hatch and look in there, you'll see, but with some cutting and test fitting, it fit perfectly.

After 2-days of sanding and painting, I was ready to put these things in.

I stuck the plugs in the holes, filled the putty cover with tons of silicone and shimmied that up the screw, put a little silicone on the top of the bar and screwed that up tight, and finally put a little silicone on the top of the lock-nut and twisted that up to hold everything tight. The wiper one was cake...the washer one sucked a$$ because you can't really see what you are doing so you have to feel with your hands, everything is really tight in there, and the parts you have to use are very small because it is very tight in there. Since you have to apply pressure on the top of the plug (outside the hatch) in order to tighten it from the bottom (inside the hatch), I used a cloth wedged between the roof and hatch to apply pressure to get the washer plug in (for the wiper plug you can just reach around the hatch).

My thoughts: Much Much Much cleaner look. Not as good as shaved, but much cheaper and I am very happy that I was able to do it myself. I would suggest this to anyone who does not use their rear wiper or washer and wants to clean up the rear end of their Z. But don't take my word on it...check out the pics!

[BlackTrack]

Looks nice

[jay21112]

Next up is the Escort Passport 8500 X50 radar detector hardwired on Chotis Engineering Z radar mount.

Ok, first off I got the radar detector here for $315.
http://www.radarbusters.com/products/escort/8500.asp

This included shipping and the direct wire cord (6th one down on this page)
http://www.radarbusters.com/products...rt/default.asp

The mount I got from here for $47 shipped:
http://www.countryjoycrafts.com/Conn...arDetector.htm

The thread on it is here from way back when:
New Z Radar Mount

I already posed on installing the mount, but it was a little tricky. The best thing to do, is move the mirror left or right depending on which side you are screwing in (opposit of) to give you more room, then switch. Also, leave it about 1/4 inch away from the mirror, I'll tell you why in a bit.

So once the mount was on I went over to Sully's house because he graciously offered to hardwire it for me. A big thank you to Sully, even though we fugged up my shift knob doing it (it's ok, I have a new one being installed with a short-shifter as I speak). Note to everyone...unscrewing the shift knob is a biznatch. We couldn't even do it, so we ran the hardwire from the cigarette lighter behind you, through the panel just above the glove box, up underneath the molding above the passenger door, across the inside of the roof, and down to the detector. It was easy because Sully knew what he was doing...me on the other hand...I just watched and said thank you. It turns out every panel inside of the Z just snaps in and out, you just have to know what to take out first.

Anyways, after hardwiring it, I adjusted the part of the mirror the mount clamps to, to make the radar detector level. Actually, I adjusted it so the side facing the rear of the vehicle was a little higher than the side facing the front. Why? Because when driving, it shook a lot. So to stop the shake, I pulled the rear view mirror down so that it actually pushes on the radar detector to bring it back to horizontal...that way it kind of clamps down on the top of the detector, so the detector doesn't bounce anymore. Just a trick for ya.

Now, why leave that little 1/4 inch between the detector and mirror....because this is where I zip-tied the hard wire cord to the rear view mirror to hold it in place and hide it. You can put a zip tie between the rear view mirror and the Z mount (tied to the mirror mount), so it won't be seen if you look from the inside or outside of the vehicle. Just another tip for ya.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention to do the above thing (put the mirror flush agains the radar detector) you have to cut off the mirror adjustment thingy. I initially didn't like how the adjustment for the mirror (The little thing you flip for night mode) got in the way of the radar detector. It was so that to have the radar detector level, the mirror had to be extremely high in the air. So i took out a ginsu knife (I don't really know what it was, but it was in the kitchen and hella sharp) and cut that little piece off the mirror! Then I took a file and filed it down real nice. So, I can't flip the mirror up for night mode...but I have 15% tint in the rear, so it's no worry (I never did that anyways, either.) The bonus was that I can use the mirror as a clamp now. If you look close in the pics, you'll notice that it's not there. BTW: clamping the mirror down like that does not interfere with the radar detector's rear sensors. The detector is curved and the sensor is on the outer portion, so the mirror will not block it. Believe me, it's picked up cops coming up behind me.

Impressions:

The mount itself, is quality. It looks nice, will last forever and well, looks nice. I've heard it looks better than the other mount on the market (I don't even know who makes that one.) So if you have an escort or V1, I recommend this mount.

The radar detector is F'n awesome. I had been running a whistler for about 5 years (or more). This thing has so much more distance...it even sees over hills! Swear to god! Plus, in the expert mode, it tracks (and gives strengths) on up to 3 different frequencies. This is very handy if there is a false X band going off with a valid K band. You'll be able to see both of these displayed and their strengths so you know which one is close and which is far (if both are something you care about at the moment). It also has that VG2 stealth feature (which I have never needed) and it says it can be up-graded when new radar technology comes out...very cool. It also has a little program mode where you can determine start up sequence, what bands to look for (if you want to disable useless X and K bands), volume, light level, and more...

So, if you want a detector, and you have the dough, get this one...just don't get the blue version because it is what...$40 more for a blue screen...funk that! They do the same F'n thing. Of course you could always get a component radar detector and have a totally stealth install, but then you wouldn't get that cool Z radar mount. 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of another.

Onto the pics.
First 2 are when I had to run the cigarette lighter cord, the 3rd one is after I got it hard-wired. And the 4th one is an old one showing off my Z-visors, but you can see the mount clearly in this one (although it has the whistler radar detector on it).

[jay21112]

Finally, kind of anticlimacticly (sp?) is the Honda S2000 antenna I installed.

I hated the huge CB-like antenna the Z comes with. BUT I wanted to have radio reception.

The shorty aftermarket antenna's, I have been told, kill the reception in the Z...so this was not an option. On the other hand, I have been told the S2000 (or Element) antenna fits perfect and either enhances reception, is the same as stock, or hurts it a little bit. Yup, I've heard all 3.

So I bought one from courtesynissan (I ordered some other stuff from them, and said, what they hey, might as well get the antenna too!) for $23:
http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...de=39151-S2000

Anyways....this is easy guys, even I couldn't screw this one up.

Grab the old antenna...lefty loosie.....throw it out.
Grab the new antenna....small amount of loctite or other adhesive around the rubber base (not on the screw part....at least I didn't because I thought it might decrease reception...just my thoughts, not a fact.) and screw in.

Turn on the radio, go for a cruise, and enjoy!

My impressions:
Looks 100X better than stock. It's stiffer as well, so no bending, which is better looking as well.

As for reception: Mine did decrease...only slightly. I still get all my stations I used to get, but I do get static more often now, and when I get far from a radio station, I get a lot more static than before. It is worse than stock, but not so much worse to bother me. So the aestetic appeal overcomes this negative aspect.

[TSpeed]

Originally Posted by jay21112

Once opened, I popped off the plastic underpanel, unhooked the electrical wire to the wiper motor, unscrewed the 3 screws holding the motor in, and popped the motor off.

I've been thinking of doing this after I read the DIY on the tech site. How hard was it to remove the plastic underpanel in the hatch? I looked around and wasn't sure where to start unsnapping. Is there a specific place to start?

I must agree with the clean lines without the wiper. Seriously, why do we have a wiper that wipes like a 6" radius right in the middle of the window? I've used it a couple times and makes the rear window look horrible! Dirt all around and a tiny little area of clean. I've stopped using it since.

BTW, great writeup and your Z is clean!

[jay21112]

Originally Posted by TSpeed

I've been thinking of doing this after I read the DIY on the tech site. How hard was it to remove the plastic underpanel in the hatch? I looked around and wasn't sure where to start unsnapping. Is there a specific place to start?

I must agree with the clean lines without the wiper. Seriously, why do we have a wiper that wipes like a 6" radius right in the middle of the window? I've used it a couple times and makes the rear window look horrible! Dirt all around and a tiny little area of clean. I've stopped using it since.

BTW, great writeup and your Z is clean!

It's actually amazingly easy to unsnap the plastic piece. So are all the front panels in the car.

I was hesitant at first, but I said F' it...I got some superglue and duct tape if I mess up. I just sled my fingernail, and then finger underneath a corner of the plastic (I think I started towards the rear bumper of the car) and as I did so I heard a pop. This was one of the fasteners popping off. I just continued to slide my fingers around between the plastic piece and hatch and I kept hearing pops. Eventually the whole piece just came off. Very easy. Actually, two fasteners did break on me. However, I think they were already broken (got the car used and I know some work was done to the car before me.) So, while I was doing the install, I superglued them back to the plastic panel. Since then, I've taken off the panel again and they are still attached to it.

So...it's very easy...just dive it! I'd recommend going slow just in case, but the popping sound it good, I swear!