I spent bundles of time and money completely rebuilding my Zed, every nut and bolt has been canged and it has had all the best parts that money can buy. I really wanted to get it to the stage where I could take it to JAE, and I think it is probably not going to happen :thumbdown:.

 

It is now at the stage where it is running, it has about a months MOT left on it and I put six months Tax on it. Thing is I have a few issues with it that really need sorting out before I can do anything with it.

 

Firstly it is running hot, im hoping its a blocked Rad or the viscose fan clutch. I bought a new fan clutch from the US and its the wrong one :angry:. I have just recieved a secondhand one but have no way of knowing if it works ok. Bought a new rad and a secondhand one and waiting on either one to be delivered so I can see if that helps. Its sods law even simple stuff like a new rad takes ages to get at the moment! its not anyones fault but no one has any of them on the shelf.

 

Then the thing is running really rich, it does about 3-4mpg and bangs when you go on and off the throttle. Mechanically the engine is 100% sweet as a nut and there is no smoke but I dont want to drive it like this in case I get bore wash or cook it. Kermet the frog and the rest of the muppets who did the set up told me by e-mail that is was definately not running rich????. Thing is it needs to go to someone who really knows their stuff with AEM and thats not really that easy. I have been recommended someone by surrey rolling road and despite a few calls I have not heard back from him yet.

 

Then there is no way in hell that I can get an MOT on this car at the moment because of the emissions. Also my speedo no longer reads properly, I need a fog light, my horn does not work because of the steering wheel, and my brakes need bedding in properly and I cant do tha because of the way the car is running getting hot or over fuelling. And I have no washers and a few other electrical gremlins to fix.

 

Most of it is little stuff compaired to all the work I have done to the car but I really cant see it being done in time for JAE and that has been my motivation for the last six months. Also I have now almost completely lost all motivation to do anything to it until the cooling and over fueling issues have been sorted. Its so frustrating as its so close yet so far away!.

 

What should I do? I was thinking of taking the battery out and then just leaving it in the garage until maybe next year and try again to get it sorted and on the road then?.

 

Ohhh when I was driving it there was a big bang and now when you brake at crawling speeds it feels like the car is rocking before it brakes I think something on the suspension might have broken but visually could not see it yet.

chin up mate

 

i am still hoping to get to jae

 

if it makes you feel any better i need to finnish off most of the panels. paint the whole car inc engine bay.

finish assembly of my engine

finish retrim inc seats and head lining

finish front suspension rebuild

sort out all exterior trim.

fit everything back on car and i mean everything

 

now im quite sure my zed wont make it to jae but i will and one of the things that i was looking forward to was seeing your car.

 

you can do it

If you spin the viscous clutch it should spin almost freely, with a little resistance that should stop it after about half a turn. If it is faulty it seizes and wont spin at all. I have a spare if you are stuck. You could always get some ducts to replace the fog lights, and a simple push button somewhere on the dash or centre console will suffice for the horn.

Don't give up just think of the feeling you will have when its all done, plus there's lots of summer left. I get a bit like this on mine some times but we must push on.

I get my car done by Dan Turner at AME. He does specialise with AEM but it took him an age to get it running right in particular fuelling issues. He will get the job done and will sort out all your issues no problem including suspension etc. He's at Silverstone. Call him on 01327857577. Here's the website and just tell him Bob Dixon recommended you. My name won't help you but might get me a discount when I take mine back later lol.

 

http://www.advancedme.co.uk/AME/home.html

 

Good luck mate. May I just say that I admire you for doing so much work yourself and it must feel pretty cool to have done it but, you wanna car that might reach 200 mph go to someone who does it for a living. At least then if the wheel falls off you got someone else to blame :)

Thanks guys it kind of puts stuff into perspective just at the stage where I am sick of the whole thing. I dont so much mind the bits I can do myself its everything else, thanks Bazz but I have another second hand viscose clutch to try when my new rad arrives. The Muppets charged me £1300 this month to get it running dont mind spending the money but get real pissed when stuff is not done right and have to pay someone else to do it again.

 

Blinkin car

Edited July 12, 201015 yr by madmax

have you made sure the cooling system is bled correctly

Yes I tried to, I have run it and put the heater on etc and jacked the front up. It could have an air lock in there though i guess? any way to check to make sure all the air is out?.

I have been recommended someone by surrey rolling road and despite a few calls I have not heard back from him yet.

 

Pretty sure he's on a working holiday in Aus, not sure when he's back.

 

Always the little things that take forever to fix, don't worry about it just keep plugging away :)

Bad news about the running issues Martin, dont give up it will be worth it in the end, if all fails I`m sure it would be great if you came to Jae in one of your fab Porkers!! Have you asked the likes of Jimmer to have a peek at your car? or even get someone to trailer it to zedworld?

 

One thing for sure, just think to yourself that you are extremely lucky to have all your cars and a great one in the making, there are a lot of people at the moment who are struggling with financial life and cant even afford to put fuel in their car.

 

Keep at it bud, good thing`s come to those who wait :devil:

Daz I know what you mean, things have been kind to me in recent years and dont want to be seen as some moaning rich bloke tosser type.

 

Im a council estate kid that has come good, so I am very aware of exactly what you mean. Starting my company I originally got £85K in debt on credit cards, loans and generally borrowed every penny I could. And we were one mortgage payment away from loosing the house lol.

 

Remember you make your own luck! I have taken risks that most people would never even think about. When they pay off happy days but when they dont its very stressful.

Edited July 12, 201015 yr by madmax

Daz I know what you mean, things have been kind to me in recent years and dont want to be seen as some moaning rich bloke tosser type.

 

Im a council estate kid that has come good, so I am very aware of exactly what you mean. Starting my company I originally got £85K in debt on credit cards, loans and generally borrowed every penny I could. And we were one mortgage payment away from loosing the house lol.

 

Remember you make your own luck! I have taken risks that most people would never even think about. When they pay off happy days but when they dont its very stressful.

 

Respect bud, And another thing for sure, I/we would never think that you were a Moaning rich bloke:sad:, quite the opposite in fact, I would say one mega generous bloke with a big heart and worked bloody hard for everything you own :bow:

If you want to try anything I have my zed just sat in the garage you could borrow anything if that helps.

I know you dont :mellow:

If you want to try anything I can pop over Friday..

Martin i have been following all your posts,and if you sit back and think how much work you have done in such a short space of time, well if i were you i would be really chuffed with myself. keep at it you will get there in the end, not only that i havent seen your car in the flesh yet, so you will have to get it to a meet, this year or next.

 

nigel

Hi Madmax

 

Am just down the road in chichester but work in Portchester.

 

Could bring my zed over if any help??

 

Should be able to feel a blocked rad??

 

Air lock not so easy, but should still be able to rule out.

 

Am available during the day to offer any help, moral support etc..

 

Two heads are better than one ( maybe not mine lol)

 

pm me if I can help

 

Regards

 

Colin:thumbup:

 

Dont give up on the last hurdle

was yours the white zed parked next to novatech??

Guys

 

Thanks for the offers of help, we all kind of help eachother out on here. I think its part of what makes this place so great. Im ok dropping a new rad in and trying my new second hand fan clutch. I think if I can get it running at a normal temp that its half way there as it has been quite frustrating. John and CoJu you are welcome around any time you want, it was not my Zed near Novatech its been sat here.