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

I think that's a good omen personally. Your current wing looks better than the Kaminari wing.

 

I really like the Kaminari one as it's in a similar style to the OEM one, but a little bit different. But I can't justify (or afford) to spend upwards of £600 just to get one to my door!

 

Not boring at all mate and just wait for that spoiler to crop up for sale some where.

 

And you know that, if one ever does, I'll not have the money to buy it at that point... :lol:

I think that's a good omen personally. Your current wing looks better than the Kaminari wing.

 

But back in 2010, he had this to say:

 

Yes, they look fantastic. Seen a bunch of them in the states. Good quality.

 

...

But back in 2010, he had this to say:

 

 

 

...

 

....and? I still like them, but I prefer what you have. Although if yours was to fit better....so yeah, maybe a genuine Kaminari could be better.

 

Preference original OEM wing over almost every other wing for the Z32.

 

I like the way your car looks as it is.

Finally, some updates worth speaking of!

 

This week sees me heading off to Darkest Bristol for some maintenance work: RPS flywheel, Exedy clutch, the leaking rear crank seal replaced, upper engine work (plenum, balance bar, hard pipes and front water pipes changed) and a brand new Wiring Specialities loom fitted.

 

Hopefully all of this will cure my intermittent starting problem, my PITA oil leak and the occasional drop to 5 cylinders, as well as giving me peace of mind that the clutch isn't gonna lunch itself at any given moment. :)

 

This has been on the cards for ages now but me and Jimmer (and my wallet) have managed to align ourselves at long last.

 

I've also just ordered a Stillen Type 3 lip from Mike Feeney which should hopefully turn up in the next couple of weeks, so that should make a pleasing change to the look of the car.

 

And then, to cap it all off, our ever-faithful Celica is being retired as of today. We've had this car for a few years now and, even with a badly slipping clutch and a patched exhaust, I'd still happily drive it anywhere. But the MOT is out in July and I can't see it passing another one so I've bought myself a genuine "old man's car": a Volvo V70 D5 SE estate! Complete with pipe and slippers, as well as two dogs in the enormous boot, it looks like I'm finally accepting the arrival of middle age...

 

So yeah, that's my update. Plenty of money and plenty of miles, but that should hopefully be it for a while again...! :thumbup1:

All sounds good Si even the Volvo estate.:thumbup1: I had a few Volvo 240 estates in my time and would buy another.

Nice one buddy:thumbup:

Enjoy the drive:thumbup1:

All the above work has now been done. :)

 

Plenum, balance bar, hard pipes and front water pipes have all been swapped for powdercoated items. Unfortunately, injector 4 decided to call it quits afterwards so Jimmer had to take a carbide cutter to the new plenum! But I'd rather that than running on 5 cylinders.

 

A brand new Wiring Specialities loom has also been fitted. Even though it clearly said "RHD" on the label, it turns out that it's exactly the same length as a LHD one and the ECU plug is orientated the wrong way. It's also for an automatic, not a manual.

 

I know that we were charged extra to have RHD-specific looms as part of the group buy, so I feel a bit narked (at WS, not at Richie!) that we've ended up with something different. It seems that they have a "one size fits all" approach to their looms and just put different labels on them. Whilst it's undeniably nice to have a brand new loom in there, this has taken a little bit of the shine off it...

 

My clutch and flywheel have also been replaced. Gone are the ruined XTD items - the ring-gear on the flywheel was shot to pieces. I now have an RPS Synergy segmented flywheel teamed to an XTD clutch. It's hard to really notice a difference but, when everything's bedded in, I'll try a couple of fast, full throttle changes and I expect to see the difference then.

 

Jimmer also replaced my rear crank seal and all the associated gaskets which seems to have cured that pesky oil leak at long last. No more pools of crude for me at major car meets! :lol:

 

All in all, it's been an expensive and tiring few days for me; I drove through the night to Bristol on Thursday morning. Then parts and labour and accommodation. But I know that the work's been done to an impeccably high standard and that's pretty much priceless! It's a very long trip for me, but it's always absolutely worth it. :)

 

I also got to meet Jaffa yesterday as I called into Bath to pick up some interior panels he'd very kindly offered me. Very nice chap with a very bonkers car! Honestly, for those who haven't seen his car in real life (as I hadn't until yesterday), it's an insane piece of kit. I've also seen his future plans for it and they're equally crazy! :lol:

 

So that's my update. My Stillen lip should be here in a week or so and, once that's fitted, I'm going to sit down and give serious thought to her future. My concern is that, whilst I haven't built this car "on the cheap" by any means, I don't really have the available income to necessarily do any work that needs doing when it first needs it. I love the car, I do... but I guess I have to wonder if she needs a more affluent home.... :sad:

My Stillen lip should be here in a week...

 

If it helps you Simon, before I sold my Stillen Type III lip I gave a lot of thought of how best to fix it properly

to the bumper. I've seen some poor jobs which in my view spoil the fit and finish of an otherwise well made

piece of kit. For what it's worth, I'm happy to pass that information on to you.

If it helps you Simon, before I sold my Stillen Type III lip I gave a lot of thought of how best to fix it properly

to the bumper. I've seen some poor jobs which in my view spoil the fit and finish of an otherwise well made

piece of kit. For what it's worth, I'm happy to pass that information on to you.

 

If you wouldn't mind Andrew, that'd be much appreciated. Thank you. :)

All the above work has now been done. :)

 

Plenum, balance bar, hard pipes and front water pipes have all been swapped for powdercoated items. Unfortunately, injector 4 decided to call it quits afterwards so Jimmer had to take a carbide cutter to the new plenum! But I'd rather that than running on 5 cylinders.

 

A brand new Wiring Specialities loom has also been fitted. Even though it clearly said "RHD" on the label, it turns out that it's exactly the same length as a LHD one and the ECU plug is orientated the wrong way. It's also for an automatic, not a manual.

 

I know that we were charged extra to have RHD-specific looms as part of the group buy, so I feel a bit narked (at WS, not at Richie!) that we've ended up with something different. It seems that they have a "one size fits all" approach to their looms and just put different labels on them. Whilst it's undeniably nice to have a brand new loom in there, this has taken a little bit of the shine off it...

 

My clutch and flywheel have also been replaced. Gone are the ruined XTD items - the ring-gear on the flywheel was shot to pieces. I now have an RPS Synergy segmented flywheel teamed to an XTD clutch. It's hard to really notice a difference but, when everything's bedded in, I'll try a couple of fast, full throttle changes and I expect to see the difference then.

 

Jimmer also replaced my rear crank seal and all the associated gaskets which seems to have cured that pesky oil leak at long last. No more pools of crude for me at major car meets! :lol:

 

All in all, it's been an expensive and tiring few days for me; I drove through the night to Bristol on Thursday morning. Then parts and labour and accommodation. But I know that the work's been done to an impeccably high standard and that's pretty much priceless! It's a very long trip for me, but it's always absolutely worth it. :)

 

I also got to meet Jaffa yesterday as I called into Bath to pick up some interior panels he'd very kindly offered me. Very nice chap with a very bonkers car! Honestly, for those who haven't seen his car in real life (as I hadn't until yesterday), it's an insane piece of kit. I've also seen his future plans for it and they're equally crazy! :lol:

 

So that's my update. My Stillen lip should be here in a week or so and, once that's fitted, I'm going to sit down and give serious thought to her future. My concern is that, whilst I haven't built this car "on the cheap" by any means, I don't really have the available income to necessarily do any work that needs doing when it first needs it. I love the car, I do... but I guess I have to wonder if she needs a more affluent home.... :sad:

 

Ah man, sorry to hear the Loom is not what I ordered, I'm presuming they're all like that??

I'll bang them an email later today.

On another note...

Why would you sell her now that you've finally got her fully finished? It's just maintenance now for the next while surely ?

Any pics of the engine bay?? You happy with the finished look??

Ah man, sorry to hear the Loom is not what I ordered, I'm presuming they're all like that??

I'll bang them an email later today.

On another note...

Why would you sell her now that you've finally got her fully finished? It's just maintenance now for the next while surely ?

Any pics of the engine bay?? You happy with the finished look??

 

Every one that Jimmer's seen has been the same. Joel is rocking a "RHD" loom from them which is a good couple of feet longer than it needs to be. He reckons that their looms are all the same, just with a different label on.

 

It still does the job and doesn't look ridiculous or anything, but it's certainly not a correct replica of a Nissan RHD loom.

 

As for why I might sell her... look how long it's taken me to be able to get these jobs done! I don't like the fact that things have to wait for months before I have the spare cash to get them sorted. I just can't help thinking that a more affluent owner would be able to do her justice better than I currently can.

 

The engine bay looks good. Very different to how it did look, but good nevertheless. Thanks for all your help with pretty much everything that's just been fitted - hugely appreciated, Rich :thumbup1:

No worries pal:thumbup: regarding the Z, you've turned a 3 wheeled Z that you had to limp home 2 1/2 years ago, into a car that's up there with the very best the Club has to offer:punk:. The hard work and expensive part is now done and you can look forward to enjoying it:thumbup:

It's taken me over two years to get my blue Z sorted also, think that's pretty much everyone's timeframe to bring these cars up to "reliable" level.

Enjoy it mate, you've done the hard part, so just enjoy it:thumbup1:

Where's the pics of the engine bay??:innocent:

Where's the pics of the engine bay??:innocent:

 

Here they are:

 

 

 

 

As everyone can see, I didn't end up heading back to the factory look in the end. It looks good though, unless you don't like red...

 

One RPS flywheel:

 

 

And here's some damage the bonnet picked up from a flying stone outside Powerzed!! :sad:

 

 

 

Either the stone was going at some speed or my paintjob's crap.....

Here they are:

 

 

 

 

As everyone can see, I didn't end up heading back to the factory look in the end. It looks good though, unless you don't like red...

 

One RPS flywheel:

 

 

And here's some damage the bonnet picked up from a flying stone outside Powerzed!! :sad:

 

 

 

Either the stone was going at some speed or my paintjob's crap.....

 

Engine bay looks clean:thumbup:

Ah man!! Always something, isn't there:thumbdown:

Not sure the paint should go like that though:scared:

I contacted WS about their "RHD" loom and they were very defensive about it saying that Jimmer doesn't know what he's talking about! I think you may be right, they just stick some RHD tax on the same part knowing it can fit fairly easily.

So what does need to be done to make a WS "RHD" loom fit?

The length of loom from the engine bay into the cabin is extended for a LHD vehicle in order to reach what is our driver's side. This excess builds up in the footwell when used on a RHD car so needs to be tidily stowed.

 

Also, the ECU connector is the wrong orientation where the harness exits so the loom so leaves the ECU 180degrees opposite to normal.

I contacted WS about their "RHD" loom and they were very defensive about it saying that Jimmer doesn't know what he's talking about! I think you may be right, they just stick some RHD tax on the same part knowing it can fit fairly easily.

 

Jimmer's renowned for being clueless, of course...! Erm...

 

Not only was my loom not specifically for a RHD car, it also wasn't for a manual! Extra plugs here and there - some of which are apparently for the US models but definitely 3 plugs for next to the large fusebox. A manual, of course, only requires two there...

 

The loom does what it's meant to at the end of the day, which is the main thing. But it's almost certainly not manufactured in the US, judging from all the Mandarin labels on it, and it absolutely isn't a RHD manual loom.

The length of loom from the engine bay into the cabin is extended for a LHD vehicle in order to reach what is our driver's side. This excess builds up in the footwell when used on a RHD car so needs to be tidily stowed.

 

Also, the ECU connector is the wrong orientation where the harness exits so the loom so leaves the ECU 180degrees opposite to normal.

 

As Jimmer explained to me on Thursday, there's also a large amount of heat shielding between the ECU plug and the main "branch" to protect it where it runs behind the engine on a LHD car. That's not required on a RHD one, so there's another easy way to tell if it's the right loom or not.

Jimmer's renowned for being clueless, of course...! Erm...

 

Not only was my loom not specifically for a RHD car, it also wasn't for a manual! Extra plugs here and there - some of which are apparently for the US models but definitely 3 plugs for next to the large fusebox. A manual, of course, only requires two there...

 

The loom does what it's meant to at the end of the day, which is the main thing. But it's almost certainly not manufactured in the US, judging from all the Mandarin labels on it, and it absolutely isn't a RHD manual loom.

Haha! I quizzed WS on this point too. The response was that they purposely make all looms with every variant on to cover all models and years. So the connectors cover auto and manual, plugs for the later style CAS and many others. Obviously the harness for the injectors is a sub-harness so is pretty much the only thing that's worth specifying when ordering!

 

As Jimmer explained to me on Thursday, there's also a large amount of heat shielding between the ECU plug and the main "branch" to protect it where it runs behind the engine on a LHD car. That's not required on a RHD one, so there's another easy way to tell if it's the right loom or not.

 

Nevermind, it's fitted now, still works as advertised and is much better than a 28 years old failing OEM harness! The quality is ok, time will tell if it lasts!

When Jimmer fitted mine, it cured a plethora of niggling intermittent running issues when hot.

Edited May 29, 20178 yr by Joely P

The length of loom from the engine bay into the cabin is extended for a LHD vehicle in order to reach what is our driver's side. This excess builds up in the footwell when used on a RHD car so needs to be tidily stowed.

 

Got a photo?

I'll get one when I pull the ECU for my eprom change in a few days [emoji106]

The length of loom from the engine bay into the cabin is extended for a LHD vehicle in order to reach what is our driver's side. This excess builds up in the footwell when used on a RHD car so needs to be tidily stowed.

 

Also, the ECU connector is the wrong orientation where the harness exits so the loom so leaves the ECU 180degrees opposite to normal.

 

I found this on mine as well, the excess can be tucked away but does make things a little messy.

 

Are you getting a remap?

Spanner-time this evening to remove the Z Spec coilpack brackets and replace them with a set of OEM ones:

 

 

 

 

 

Painted in a nice Candy Red, of course! :lol: Just a small addition, but it helps tie everything together under there.