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

Here's a job that's been niggling me for months and months now, that I finally decided to get sorted: the handbrake handle.

 

Plastic, tatty, scuffed... just an eyesore, really. :( So this morning, I changed it to this:

 

 

 

 

 

Solid and perforated Andrew Muirhead Sateen Black leather - gorgeous stuff :) I added the French seam on the top edge solely for decoration, then hand-stitched the rest.

 

It looks and feels infinitely better than it did and, thankfully, is no longer letting the rest of the cabin down :thumbup1:

 

Bring these down to telford when you come down yeah? ;)

Alright.........i see what you've done there :xxx:, the LWB ones i have on the rear are not eating me up, in fact nobody will realize they're the wrong ones so let's keep it quiet from now on please......sssssshhhhhh !!

 

I feel offended by that emoji, sir! :ban: :lol:

 

Bring these down to telford when you come down yeah? ;)

 

You want me to bring my handbrake handle...? :confused1:

You want me to bring my handbrake handle...? :confused1:

 

and gear knob... for me to keep. yes good idea.

Well, my spare front calipers arrived this weekend :)

 

Just waiting for the rear pair to turn up and then I can get them all stripped and prepped for painting, then fit all the new seal and pistons after that :thumbup1:

Hi Si,

 

I am thinking about it Recaro Speeds, and wondering how you find them in terms of comfort compared to the original ones, and do you know if they sit higher or lower?

 

Did you have to have anythign fabricated to fir them to the runners?

 

Best regards, William.

Hi Si,

 

I am thinking about it Recaro Speeds, and wondering how you find them in terms of comfort compared to the original ones, and do you know if they sit higher or lower?

 

Did you have to have anythign fabricated to fir them to the runners?

 

Best regards, William.

 

The Speeds are a much more "figure-hugging" seat than the OEM ones, William - if I wasn't still a fairly thin bloke, I'd probably find the seat bases a bit uncomfortable as the lower bolsters would dig into my legs. Not that I know what size or shape you are, of course! :lol:

 

I love them. A much better looking seat and much more comfortable too. I'm lucky enough to have the genuine Recaro Z32 subframes for mine so I've no idea how easy or difficult it would be to adapt the stock runners, sorry.

 

They sit at roughly the same height as the standard seats when on their lowest rearmost setting. Because of the shape of the base foam, the front of the Speeds sits higher than the back does, which helps to keep you in position.

 

Hope that helps a little? :)

So, calipers: having finally sourced a spare set of alloy ones, I figured I'd better clean them up prior to being painted:

 

 

 

 

Still a way to go, but this is last night's work using a bench grinder and a wire wheel. Quite a change from how they usually look once they've been removed from a Zed!

 

Once they're painted up, there's brand new seals and pistons for all of them which, coupled with my 345mm discs at the front, should provide ample stopping power. :thumbup1:

 

Cleaning them up is hard work though...!!

What colour are we going for Simon?

What colour are we going for Simon?

 

Not 100% decided as yet, but I've a feeling it's going to be something that Mr Parsons will not approve of...! :lol:

Oh God, you're gonna paint those ugly things bright yellow or bright red! :rofl:

Oh God, you're gonna paint those ugly things bright yellow or bright red! :rofl:

 

Nope :)

 

And they may be ugly but they're Nissan's finest and they'll be effectively brand new when I'm done with 'em! :thumbup:

So, calipers: having finally sourced a spare set of alloy ones, I figured I'd better clean them up prior to being painted:

 

 

 

 

Still a way to go, but this is last night's work using a bench grinder and a wire wheel. Quite a change from how they usually look once they've been removed from a Zed!

 

Once they're painted up, there's brand new seals and pistons for all of them which, coupled with my 345mm discs at the front, should provide ample stopping power. :thumbup1:

 

Cleaning them up is hard work though...!!

 

Top Job on those Calipers Si:thumbup1:

Calipers just dropped off for painting (at long last) :)

 

There's a possibility that my Zed might be heading to Bristol this weekend as well... eeek!

Calipers just dropped off for painting (at long last) :)

 

There's a possibility that my Zed might be heading to Bristol this weekend as well... eeek!

 

Everything ok with it??

Everything ok with it??

 

Yep :) I'm taking Kev (Harby300) down to Jimmer's to collect his Zed... I'm also getting a solid prop off him that he bought in error so, seeing as my car and the prop will be at Powerzed at the same time, Jimmer's going to fit it for me and also swap my dodgy starter motor :D

Yep :) I'm taking Kev (Harby300) down to Jimmer's to collect his Zed... I'm also getting a solid prop off him that he bought in error so, seeing as my car and the prop will be at Powerzed at the same time, Jimmer's going to fit it for me and also swap my dodgy starter motor :D

 

Nice:thumbup: How much are those solid props?? I'm going to be swapping out my TT rear subframe and diff for a NA setup, I think I have to get a custom prop made up for that?

Nice:thumbup: How much are those solid props?? I'm going to be swapping out my TT rear subframe and diff for a NA setup, I think I have to get a custom prop made up for that?

 

I'm paying £130 as it's secondhand, Rich.

 

If you have a manual 'box and an NA diff, you should just need a 2+2 NA manual prop as (I believe) there's no difference in the output from the 'box between the NAs and the TTs. :thumbup1:

I'm paying £130 as it's secondhand, Rich.

 

If you have a manual 'box and an NA diff, you should just need a 2+2 NA manual prop as (I believe) there's no difference in the output from the 'box between the NAs and the TTs. :thumbup1:

 

Cheers for that Si, so can I get a one piece NA propshaft?? I'm assuming I can:thumbup1:

Cheers for that Si, so can I get a one piece NA propshaft?? I'm assuming I can:thumbup1:

 

Yep - both Powerzed and Automodz sell them in (presumably) any configuration you might need :)

On Saturday, me and Kev (Harby300) toddled off down to Powerzed so he could collect his Zed. Whilst I was there, I decided to take the opportunity to pick up a Z1 solid prop for my car and, seeing as it was there and so was my Zed, have it fitted at the same time. :)

 

I also had my dodgy starter motor swapped out for a replacement I got from Lee Dent and Jimmer had a look at my alternator as the belt was squealing under high electrical load - it turns out the adjuster bolt was missing! So that's now been rectified and the squealing has gone.

 

The one-piece prop made a noticable difference on the drive home, so definitely money well spent. :thumbup:

 

Whilst we were there, the (in)famous Mr John Dixon turned up in his V8 Shortie! Now that is some motor... it nearly sucked my eardrums out when he removed the intake cover and opened the throttle!!

 

Twas a long day but good fun, but being there just made me wish even more that I had a larger amount of spare cash to lavish on my Zed.... :(

Sounds like a great boys day out Simon and yes the one piece prop is a great upgrade. Was there no pics at Jimmers?

Jimmer's son took a video of Kev and I leaving, but I haven't seen it yet - think it's on Instagram or something!

Twas a long day but good fun, but being there just made me wish even more that I had a larger amount of spare cash to lavish on my Zed....

Join the club Si!! I'd love to be able to bring my car over for a no expense spared Jimmer rebuild and health check:thumbup1:

Glad you had a great day guys. I reckon if I brought the car to the UK I'd have to spend a few weeks meeting up and chatting all things Z to everyone:biggrin:

I've been plotting and planning for the last couple of days, trying to work out what I'm going to do to this car and when, so here's a list in (sort of) chronological order:

 

This year:

 

• Completely refurbished brake calipers and stainless steel lines
  
• New Hicas arms and balljoints
  
• SMIC ducts fitted
  
• Greddy boost controller
  

 

All of the above at Lee Dent's, hopefully next month :)

 

• Refurbish the alloys
  
• Retrim the interior (again)
  
• Complete new exhaust system (from the turbos back)
  
• Completely strip and seal the underside
  
• Completely refurbished rear subframe
  
• Reconditioned starter motor
  

 

Longer term:

 

• New turbos
  
• Replace all the glass with blue tint
  
• Remap
  

 

I'm sure there'll be other things to add as I think of them / come across them, but that's a pretty hefty list to be getting on with! So that's me having no spare money whatsoever then! :lol:

That'll keep you busy and broke for a while:thumbup: