Yesterday saw me head down to Kent to pick up my new Shortie! :D I got on the motorway to come back home about 4pm.

 

At 9pm, I was safely tucked away... on the hard shoulder of the A1(M) near York with a grand total of 1 wheelnut holding my rear passenger wheel on!!! The other 4 studs decided to shear off while I was in the outside lane - there was an almighty bang, the back-end of the car went completely loose so I had no choice but to dive for the shoulder! :(

 

The recovery truck arrived at 11pm and I slowly edged my new tripod onto the flatbed, before we headed off back to mine.

 

Spoke to Mr F this morning and he's ordered me 10 new rear studs, so my new car is currently undrivable. Seems it had cheap slot-on spacers on the back, no spigot rings and the end result was 4 wheelstuds missing.

 

Gotta love Zeds, eh...?!

Edited December 4, 201411 yr by Mondo

With some fettling thats going to be a very nice shorty Si. What exhaust is on it ?

 

Cheers, Gary. The exhaust is one of Powerflow's finest and it seems to be in decent nick so it can stay where it is for the time being.

 

There's little niggles of course, but she's an old car so I wasn't expecting something factory-fresh. Shouldn't take long to have her how I want her :)

By the way Si I took my rubber rear spoiler of and fitted a fibreglass one from a LWB so they are interchangeable if you are going down that route.

Looking good Si, love the 3 spokes :cool2:

Cheers, Stevie... but the three spokes aren't staying! I do actually quite like them though, truth be told... :)

Replacement boot spoiler ordered (a Car Mad 89 Spec replica) as, quite surprisingly, I actually like the OEM spoiler on this car :)

 

Rear spats sourced - proper SWB ones as well!

 

I'm currently umm'ing and ahh'ing over some new wheels... I debated a set of Rotas but they seem to be popular, so I'm considering a set similar to FunkySi's cross-spokes.

 

And, at long last, I've ordered the Alcantara for my own interior!! :D :D

Si - check out Japan Racing wheels on Tarmac Sportz website. Some nice designs.

I would love XXRs on mine, but can't justify cost at the moment.

I can't find any Japan Racing wheels on their site, Al....

I never used to be a fan of TSW wheels. They used to produce some awful looking wheels, but they've now started to produce nice looking quality items. If you're on a budget, then their new ones look fantastic IMO.

 

http://www.europe.tsw.com/alloy_wheels.php

 

I think either the Amaroo wheel or the Bristol wheel would really suit the SWB! Get some 'Z' centre caps made (I know people that make the gel domed labels) and they'll look the part!

 

Available in silver with a diamond cut face, these would feckin' awesome, especially at night! Available in good fitments too (not sure what offset though)

 

Bristol

 

 

Amaroo

 

 

The above two are a little different from the norm, but some other styles that look good are the Valencia, Rouen, Parabolica, and Jarez. I believe that all the lips are stainless steel on the polished dished items, so take minimum effort to maintain.

I can't find any Japan Racing wheels on their site, Al....

 

 

Have a look at his sub forum on the 350z-uk site mate.

Today's update: the snapped rear studs are now changed for some brand new ones courtesy of Mr F. :)

 

Just waiting on my new rear discs and pads to arrive before I put everything back together again!

Well, I've now managed to put around 250 miles on Diesel and I can report that all seems to be well :)

 

The majority of the peculiar noises when I bought her seem to have been eliminated by changing all the discs and pads and reverting to a stock gearshift, so that's a plus in my eyes!

 

I had a mechanic (who I trust implicitly) to have a good look over her yesterday and here's what he found:

 

N/S/F steering rack boot split.

Slight play in N/S Hicas balljoint.

Oil on a rear shock absorber.

A couple of small patches of surface rust on the underside.

 

That's all :) He said that she was completely solid underneath and there was no play in any of the joints ther than the one mentioned.

 

So he has now been tasked with changing the rack boot and fitting my new Meister Rs, polybushed tension rods and uprated front ARB next Thursday. So making nice progress now :) Then she'll (hopefully) be heading to Surrey on the Saturday for a family affair and (again hopefully!) I'm expecting all the wheels to stay put!! :lol:

Update: today's sees my car up in the air right now as I'm getting my new parts put on :)

 

Polybushed torsion rods have been fitted, front shocks are off, the ARB is being fitted and the nearside rack boot is being changed.

 

Question: the two bolts that hold the torsion rod to the lower arm - when they were taken off, the boltheads were beneath the arm (so the studs face downover)... is that the right way round...? Or should the studs push up through the lower arm...?

 

:)

Well, Diesel's finally in a reasonable condition where I feel like I don't mind showing her off a little :) So here she is, ready to head down to Surrey first thing tomorrow morning:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's hope all the wheels stay attached this time...!!! :lol:

Nice. That little lip at the front could be cool.

Nice. That little lip at the front could be cool.

 

I've never seen one like it before!

Looking good :)

Sweet! How you finding the shortie in comparison to the lwb??

Sweet! How you finding the shortie in comparison to the lwb??

 

Looooooooads more fun to drive!! :D Me and Tom went for a small joyride yesterday afternoon and it was great fun - even had the targas off :)

The shorty is looking much better Si :thumbup: Lose the rear drop down fog light and front orange indicators, paint the black trim and front lip and you will nearly be there.

I say nearly because you will never be finished adding and changing parts:biggrin:

Well, she went to Surrey and back yesterday and never missed a beat. :) All the wheels stayed attached and there were just no dramas!

 

A couple of highlights for me:

 

Being stuck in an M25 traffic jam on the morning and seeing two young lads glued to the windows of their parents' car to get a proper look at the Zed!

 

An Audi Q7 roaring up behind me on the M1 coming home, only to see my taillights getting smaller and smaller. :)

 

And a Police 4x4 pulling up alongside on the A1 Northbound and the passenger giving me two thumbs up!

 

£130 of V-Power covered the entire trip, which I don't class as too bad. She's a thoroughly pleasant car to drive, feels very planted now and can spin up in 4th (on a damp road)!

 

Happy Mondo here, with his new Shortie. :) :)

Nice one Si, welcome to real Zed32 motoring !!

 

Oh dear here we go :tongue_smilie:.

There's nothing like a well sorted Z on a long power trip :thumbup:

And the next piece of the puzzle has just been delivered:

 

 

 

A Car.Mad replica 89 Spec spoiler! :) I was going to shave the boot but I actually rather like the OEM spoiler on the Shortie so I thought I'd get one that wasn't completely knackered! :lol:

 

First impressions are that it's very well made and well finished and practically theft (me stealing from him) for the price including delivery.

 

I just need to get it sprayed and fitted now! I got a replacement blackout strip from Z1 the other week so it'll look exactly as Nissan intended it to. :thumbup1:

And the next piece of the puzzle has just been delivered:

 

 

 

A Car.Mad replica 89 Spec spoiler! :) I was going to shave the boot but I actually rather like the OEM spoiler on the Shortie so I thought I'd get one that wasn't completely knackered! :lol:

 

First impressions are that it's very well made and well finished and practically theft (me stealing from him) for the price including delivery.

 

I just need to get it sprayed and fitted now! I got a replacement blackout strip from Z1 the other week so it'll look exactly as Nissan intended it to. :thumbup1:

 

Those black decals are a pain in the arse to fit! Do yourself a favour and get the paint shop to paint it on so you don't have to worry about it.

The bodyshop's fitting the decal, JP. And removing the old spoiler. And bonding the new one on!

 

Booked in for December 4th (they have the spoiler already, as of this morning) and I'll then collect the car the following day. :)