Part 6 of our 370Z build thread sees us making the final push to get the car ready for Autosport. While we were disappointed to learn that we wouldn’t have the time to have the car running under its own steam in time for the event, we were determined to have it looking its best and make that all important first impression.

First things first was to get the boot and bonnet pins in place – the last thing we’d want is for either of the carbon fibre Seibon items to fly off at high speed. We used Quick Latches at either end – these are different to the more traditional Aerocatches in that they use a push-button release in order to operate them. They are also a lot smaller and more discreet.

Moving onto the more critical aspects of the build and our Kenny Bell supercharger had arrived back from the guys at TDP, complete with its new adapter plate and inlet manifolds.

The supercharger in question was originally specced for a Ford F150 truck, with a peak power output of around 950bhp. While that might be a tad more than what we’re hoping for right now, there’s no harm in future-proofing what is a critical part of the engine setup.

With the fully forged VH45 that is destined for the 370Z still located at the aforementioned TDP’s headquarters as it endures a massive overhaul, for display purposes we fitted one of our older VH45s in order to test-fit the new components and so visitors at Autosport could get a glimpse of how the finished product was going to look.

We also rigged up some test pipework to mock up how the boost piping will eventually sit. As you might have noticed, no throttle bodies were fitted at this stage (these will be custom made and fitted by the guys at TDP when the time comes) and the silicone joiners were ones that we had lying around the workshop, fitted purely so we could take some measurements and set our friends at Samco onto the case of making up a full hose kit for the car.

We also procured another piece of the puzzle that was required to complete our air jack setup. This valve and fitting were supplied to us by our friends at SPD and will allow us to feed compressed air to the air jack pump from outside the car, clipping it onto the valve and letting the pump do the rest of the work.

With the car now in one piece and looking presentable, it was time to roll it around the workshop and take some quality pictures before treating it to an array of sponsor stickers.

In this state we don’t think the 370Z looks too far removed from a modified street car at all. In fact, we’d absolutely love to fire it up looking like this and pop to the shops in it.

However, it is a purpose-built competition drift car at the end of the day, so sponsor stickers and in-your-face graphics will always remain.

That’s not to say that we won’t be registering it and using it on the road at some point though…

With the ‘shoot complete we set about applying the necessary sponsor vinyls for Autosport, all of which were supplied by our friends at Voodoo Vinyls.

While the car will be treated to a much more extensive wrap and livery before it sees competition use, with the limited time we had we were left with little choice but to leave the car looking relatively more sane for the show.

With the stickers applied there was nothing left to do other than load up the car the following morning and head of to the Birmingham NEC where it would be officially unveiled by Shane Lynch on the Maxxis Tyres stand the following day.

If you were at Autosport International we hope you enjoyed checking the car out – judging by the overwhelming response a lot of you were very impressed!

We can’t wait to fire her up for the first time and set about destroying some Maxxis rubber but, before we can do any of that, the car will need mapping by our friends at TDP. Stay tuned for the next instalment.