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

Amazing the difference the right light makes to show the red interior, obviously the amber style halogens will make red, look brown lol

You sold it?!

 

Well... these two very pleasant gentlemen came over and started chatting about the car, wanting to know how much I'd spent on her and what she's worth. They seemed very keen to buy her, although they had already made me aware that they weren't from the UK...

 

I'd already given them a business card with my number on as they seemed interested in having some interior work done, and then the conversation turned to actually buying the Zed off me!

 

They then made a beeline for Joel and, by all accounts, tried very hard to get him to name a price for his car!

 

Perhaps it's wrong of me, but I just immediately thought "Scam!" when the offer to buy was made.... ;)

*heavy, wearied sighing sound*

:p

"Can I buy your car?"

"No, it's not for sale"

"How much would you sell for?"

"I wouldn't, it's not for sale"

"Can I give you my number so that if ever you want to sell, you can call me?"

"No".

We come to that time of year again where I need to start drawing up some plans for this car for 2017. Having spent a considerable (to me) amount of money on her this year, I think I need to tone things down a little.

 

So this is as far as I've got:

 

• New wiring loom to be fitted
  
• New RPS flywheel, compatible clutch and 350Z clutch fork kit to be fitted
  
• Powdercoated plenum, balance bar, water pipes, intake hardpipes and throttle spring covers to be fitted
  
• New targa trims to be fitted
  
• Rear Brembos to be sourced and fitted
  
• Crankshaft rear oil seal to be investigated (probable source of oil leak)
  
• New intercooler ducts to be sourced or fabricated
  
• Thorough cleaning of the engine bay!
  

 

Those are pretty much the definites. Here are the "hopefully" items...

 

• Rear subframe and diff - complete refurb
  
• Kaminari rear spoiler sourced and fitted
  
• Dashboard repaired (slight lifting around vent) and possibly retrimmed
  
• Another respray!
  

 

I think the last item's a bit of a pipe dream, to be honest. The Kaminari wing is doable, although it's going to be a fairly expensive item once shipping, tax and painting are thrown into the mix.

 

I'm sure more things will come to me once I give things some proper thought, but I reckon that's a decent list to be getting on with for the time being.

Rear Brembos to be sourced and fitted

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-Skyline-R33-Gtr-Brembo-Rear-Brakes-Gtst-S13-S14-S15-/322304032231?hash=item4b0ad13de7:g:nEQAAOSwXeJYDTp5

 

You're welcome.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-Skyline-R33-Gtr-Brembo-Rear-Brakes-Gtst-S13-S14-S15-/322304032231?hash=item4b0ad13de7:g:nEQAAOSwXeJYDTp5

 

You're welcome.

 

That's a lot of money for some calipers and a pair of super-scabby discs. Although they have been in my watch list for a while now.

It's not so bad. Cheapest BBK out there that bolts straight-on.

 

I managed to get everything for £350! haha! :D Generally see complete kits going from between £750 and £1k now!

You don't need the discs for the rear. The diameter difference is 1 or 2mm from memory and the offset is the same, you can just continue to use your current 300zx discs.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-Skyline-R33-Gtr-Brembo-Rear-Brakes-Gtst-S13-S14-S15-/322304032231?hash=item4b0ad13de7:g:nEQAAOSwXeJYDTp5

 

You're welcome.

Is there a reason that only a portion of the rotor is worn? Did it have the wrong pad in or do the brembos for some reason not cover the whole rotor?

Having spent the morning sorting out a huge oil leak (thank you very much, snapped clamp on the oil cooler hose!), I spent a little bit of time looking at the car and deciding what I want to change in 2017.

 

So, my fibreglass 89 Spec spoiler will be going the journey and be replaced by a Kaminari flushmount one. The more I look at them, the more I like the subtle change they make to the rear of the car. :yes:

 

In perhaps a more surprising turn of events, my little unknown chin spoiler will also be removed! As much as I love it, possibly due to the fact that nobody else anywhere appears to have one, it's time for a change so...

 

... I'll be saying "Hello!" to a Stillen Type III lip instead. Again, I like the difference they make to the look. :)

 

I'm all too aware that I'm staring down the barrel of a bill in excess of £1k (once shipping, taxes, painting and fitting are factored in) so these changes won't be happening immediately by any stretch of the imagination. Hopefully they'll be sorted around mid-2017... or thereabouts...

 

That's the plan anyway! :lol:

In perhaps a more surprising turn of events, my little unknown chin spoiler will also be removed! As much as I love it, possibly due to the fact that nobody else anywhere appears to have one

 

As much as it pains me to buy your 'cast offs' - haha, can i have first dibs on that Great Mondo pls :biggrin:.

As much as it pains me to buy your 'cast offs' - haha, can i have first dibs on that Great Mondo pls :biggrin:.

 

I'm surprised you haven't wanted to buy the "spare" SWB rear spats I have....!!

I'm surprised you haven't wanted to buy the "spare" SWB rear spats I have....!!

 

Now is the time to buy them i suppose when my car is in bits, trouble is yours are damaged iirc and mine are all actually ready to go....albeit as you'll take pleasure in reminding me the wrong size !!!

 

If it's bothering you having them there, throw them in the package deal with the lip :kiss:.

Wow, love the retrim mate. Make mine look a little boring now ( but I'm very happy with them)

We come to that time of year again where I need to start drawing up some plans for this car for 2017. Having spent a considerable (to me) amount of money on her this year, I think I need to tone things down a little.

 

So this is as far as I've got:

 

 
 

• New wiring loom to be fitted
  
• New RPS flywheel, compatible clutch and 350Z clutch fork kit to be fitted
  
• Powdercoated plenum, balance bar, water pipes, intake hardpipes and throttle spring covers to be fitted
  
• New targa trims to be fitted
  
• Rear Brembos to be sourced and fitted
  
• Crankshaft rear oil seal to be investigated (probable source of oil leak)
  
• New intercooler ducts to be sourced or fabricated
  
• Thorough cleaning of the engine bay!
  

 

Those are pretty much the definites. Here are the "hopefully" items...

 

• Rear subframe and diff - complete refurb
  
• Kaminari rear spoiler sourced and fitted
  
• Dashboard repaired (slight lifting around vent) and possibly retrimmed
  
• Another respray!
  

 

I think the last item's a bit of a pipe dream, to be honest. The Kaminari wing is doable, although it's going to be a fairly expensive item once shipping, tax and painting are thrown into the mix.

 

I'm sure more things will come to me once I give things some proper thought, but I reckon that's a decent list to be getting on with for the time being.

 

Dash retrim you say..... Hmmmm that would be very tempting

It seems I have some decisions to make this year, most notably whether to sell or keep her!

 

Moving into the new unit has (obviously) increased my overheads quite considerably and, whilst I'm definitely getting more work done now, it's still eating into any available funds I may have had to put towards the car. I've got a few parts that are still cluttering up Jimmer's workshop that I'm no nearer to being able to afford to have fitted, and I don't expect to have a great deal of free time to actually drive the car this year either.

 

So all the plans are currently on hold, aside from having Jimmer change the aforementioned parts and my pending front brake upgrade, whilst I see what work holds over the next few months and how much money I can pull into the coffers. That more than anything will decide what my next move is.

 

I don't want to sell her by any means, but I think she deserves better than just sitting at the top of the drive getting no attention or love! I realise that this is hardly the weather for driving her anyway but, as I said, I can't see much use for her in the future at the moment - I can't (currently) afford to go to and from work in her as that's a costly deal in itself.

 

I just don't know!! :(

Can you put the car into storage? A lockup or similar. See how things work out for you this year.

 

BTW I have a Kaminari rear spoiler which I am not going to use. It will require work to fit but is here in the UK.

I sold mine a long time ago and regretted it every day, luckily I got it back but was many years later. It's always personal choice but to get rid of your pride and joy over money will be a regret.

I didn't read between the lines when chatting this morning and I never realised you were thinking of selling!

If you need to put her storage for a while then it's possible you could put her in my garage FOC (Well, maybe a few bottles of beer). If you think that's an option I can speak to the wife. I might even have a 300zx car cover somewhere in the loft.

Andrew has a PM!

 

It would kill me to sell the car, it really would. Nothing's set in stone at the moment... I won't deny that I could make excellent use of the money that's tied up in her, but I know I'd struggle to find another car (or another Zed) that I know is as clean and solid as this one is.

 

Plus she's a rather nice mobile advertisement for the business. :)

 

Watch this space, I guess....

Andrew has a PM!

 

It would kill me to sell the car, it really would. Nothing's set in stone at the moment... I won't deny that I could make excellent use of the money that's tied up in her, but I know I'd struggle to find another car (or another Zed) that I know is as clean and solid as this one is.

 

Plus she's a rather nice mobile advertisement for the business. :)

 

Watch this space, I guess....

 

As you've just said Si.... It's an advertising prop and as such could it not be considered a company car?? ie. Could you claim expenses for it?? I most certainly wouldn't sell it mate, you'll never get another as clean as yours unless you spend A LOT of money. Don't do something that you'll regret in the future matey. It's only money, as they say.:thumbup1:

Andrew has a PM!

 

Simon, I had a brain fart! I have a Kuruma wing, my apologies for that.