Yes, a number of folks know and I'm shite at keeping schtum about work being done to my Z.

 

In an ever increasing quest to have the cleanest Z I could possibly create, I have become more and more fussy with how things look resulting in me going back to a more original look. So over the past few months I have been buying up more and more original new OEM parts; dispensing with my 2-din Z Thirty Two fascia and replacing it with a brand new OEM one were the first steps, a rare DIN cubby with door from Richard Smith, all new centre console plastics, re-foaming the seats, all sorts of other things and many brand new exterior pieces.

 

Spurred on from JP's awesome example and Andrew's take on OEM+ and idealistic car plus deep knowledge, my Z is going back to the paint shop next week for some major surgery. I've been let down time and time again by poor quality workmanship from the various bodyshops I've used (which has been both stressful and upsetting) and this time around, I've decided to go all-out, get more new stuff and have the car stripped of what's already on there and repainted properly.

 

Not content with trying to find somewhere locally to me and getting let down as previously described, I've elected to use Kraftworks near Chelmsford who are some 3 and a half hours from me and a trailer is being sent next Friday to pick it up!! Some folks may have heard of these guys as they are the very same paint shop that did Joel's car who many have seen and love (myself included).

 

I was lucky to get hold of a brand new OEM 89-93 spoiler (still boxed), so that's going on....and because I thought it would be great idea to de-wiper and de-aerial my car whilst being in a terrible mental state following a nasty relationship breakdown, I made some silly mistakes and welded up stuff that I really shouldn't have, I have decided to go back to how the car once looked (my Z originally came over from Japan with no spoiler, so it's never had this fitted in my ownership) and despite liking the 99-spec, I think the original looks a lot better, at least on light coloured cars like white and silver and more befitting of the car's age (it's a 1991) and the rest of the body. Gary (GSC60) very kindly gave me a non-welded tailgate with no rust on it (VERY hard to find these days). I have a brand new wiper arm, seal and all the gubbins to go back in it. The aerial hole is being re-instated and that's going back in.

 

I argued with myself on what spoiler to go with for a while; having made up my mind on the TwinZ Type 1 as I love the style and have never seen a decent quality copy of the original, I went with what I thought was my only and best option, that was until a brand new original one was found, still boxed! AndrewG and myself, I think, took the last two available from Nissan, they've been NLS for about a decade in the US and I had thought they weren't available here either (Thanks for your help Ash). The quality of original spoilers is fabulous, they're very tactile and fit like a glove, something cheap fibgrelgass replicas just don't do, there's also a way of protecting them against spoiler-rot found in older cars (thanks to AndrewG for that one).

 

I'm very excited. The rest of the car will look almost the same....except for one thing...the paint!! I'm totally done with pearl white paints. They can look nice, but almost all of them look cream/beige in off-light situations and that has started to bug me. The rear quarter of my car is a very slightly different shade on my passenger side for reasons unknown and the previous paint shop just couldn't rectify it; some keen beans may have noticed that when they've seen the car in person! Trying to rectify damage or repaint areas with pearls is an utter nightmare as you end up chasing the paint round the car in an effort to blend.......soooooo......the new colour is going to be a metallic white which is a paint I'd not really known about but had wondered whether one existed. It turns out quite a few do and I've had the colour chips through today of those that I'm interested in comparing. The beauty of these new metallic whites is that they lay like a traditional metallic so you don't have that pearl mid-coat that is the thorn in my side. Metallic whites don't look beige or off-beige/cream out of direct sunlight, yet they still sparkle in the sun like a pearl coat, some more than others. It's almost like a modern take on QN0 which is a pearl white used on 94+ Z32s, but with half the maintenance and a better look.

 

Although mine's in good condition, a new t-top bar is going in and rear screen top trim and other new things are going on. I have boxes and boxes of new Nissan parts.

 

The colour - Jaguar's glacier white metallic as Nissan don't do anything similar. I looked at a VAG metallic white also, but this didn't have much metallic in. So the Jaguar colour has been chosen as of today! It's a stunning colour and really quite subtle. Range Rover also use this same colour code (2201/NAK) under the 'Yulong White' moniker. I thought about a straight-white, but I owe it to the car's origins to keep a special finish on it.

 

Here are a few images of the colour in various lights.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 20178 yr by Funkysi

Small selection of new parts. More are coming over from the US next week and also Nissan UK in a few weeks!

 

This t-top hook is almost too nice to fit. The gloss in person is amazing, even the end plastics are high gloss.

 

 

Wiper, cover and seal

 

 

Top-trim from rear screen - the expensive one. This is even gloss!

 

 

Front panel lower rubber moulding. These miss-shape over time and after being removed and refitted. There is tape also on the contact edge to keep it perfectly straight as you tighten up the metal retainer.

 

 

New squirter...just because.

 

Edited March 3, 20178 yr by Funkysi

More bags of shite.

 

Edited March 3, 20178 yr by Funkysi

Great new thread Si. :thumbup1:

 

I am a big fan of stock originality also.

Looking forward to your progress.

Cheers Dave! Might be slow progress, hoping to have it back by the end of April. I have told the paint shop not to rush as I want it looking perfect. :)

Nice colour choice, I was considering a white like that with a subtle flake to it but changed my mind about the white. I'm now going a very special silver.

There are some nice modern silvers out now. Much brighter and more vivid that early silver paints.

There are some nice modern silvers out now. Much brighter and more vivid that early silver paints.

Yes (hope this doesn't clogged up your thread) but I'm thinking about Mercedes alubeam silver

Though maybe it's a bit extreme? Not sure yet.

Yeah, that's a bit much for me. Even on that Aston and I really don't like satin paints - it would look REALLY cheesy on a 300zx. I've just ordered a new C-Class AMG-Line actually in iridium Silver which is a really nice bright silver. I was going to go for white, but....probably time for a change, my last 5 cars have been white! :rofl:

Edited March 3, 20178 yr by Funkysi

You don't half talk (type) some nonsense, Si...!! :lol: Especially the bit about deleting the antenna and rear wiper following a relationship breakdown.... :blink:

 

I'm going to go ahead and assume that you actually did those things because the antenna dates the car massively and having no rear wiper smooths up the back end considerably. :thumbup1:

 

Having seen your current (for the time being) paintjob numerous times in the flesh, I have to deduce that you are the single fussiest man ever to walk this planet, as I couldn't find anything wrong with it personally!

My point being - my head was messed up so I did silly things to my car that I'd not normally do!

 

Yes - I am the fussiest person you're likely to meet!

My point being - my head was messed up so I did silly things to my car that I'd not normally do!

 

Yes - I am the fussiest person you're likely to meet!

 

Your idea of "silly" is a very strange one...

Probably!

Besides, what's wrong with a rear wiper and antenna delete :shifty:

Really looking forward to seeing this fantastic example, overhauled into a fantastic example [emoji13] Just think, if you didn't have the relationship breakdown, who knows which direction you'd be headed, I reckon you would have a full Veilside kit by now. She's going to be showroom fresh and I can't wait to see her glistening in the sun.

I too am looking forward to seeing the final result......

 

.....And I'm also on the look-out for this year's NEC exhibitors......:shifty:

 

Richard:clover:

i think we will have a good selection to review at Coventry this year.

 

will start asking for people to register their interest in the NEC show so we can vote the shortlist as a club

Really looking forward to seeing this fantastic example, overhauled into a fantastic example [emoji13] Just think, if you didn't have the relationship breakdown, who knows which direction you'd be headed, I reckon you would have a full Veilside kit by now. She's going to be showroom fresh and I can't wait to see her glistening in the sun.

 

Probably be about 20kg lighter due to 5 less layers of paint! Surprised the window trims still fit. :lol:

i think we will have a good selection to review at Coventry this year.

 

will start asking for people to register their interest in the NEC show so we can vote the shortlist as a club

 

Yup, agree entirely - November will be here quicker than we realise! I'll be sending off our booking form over the weekend as entries have to be in by mid-March....:dance:

Probably be about 20kg lighter due to 5 less layers of paint! Surprised the window trims still fit. :lol:

 

Well they do and they still fit better than your eBay rear lights by a country mile! :lol:

Edited March 3, 20178 yr by Funkysi

Well they do and they still fit better than your eBay rear lights by a country mile! :lol:

 

Snore. Try harder Mr Poo.

 

You taking it onto the continent this year?

Don't need to with those tail lights! :wack:

 

Yes I am. South of France, Monaco, San Remo and Turin in Italy then through Switzerland.

Watching this thread with anticipation:thumbup: . Really looking forward to seeing this progress mate:thumbup1:

Watching this thread with anticipation:thumbup: . Really looking forward to seeing this progress mate:thumbup1:

 

Me too!

Hopefully we can keep the distracting banter down to a minimum. :lol::whistling:

Si When you say you going back to the OEM spoiler do you mean the factory original sponge type one ?

Si When you say you going back to the OEM spoiler do you mean the factory original sponge type one ?

A brand new '89 foam one :yes: