After nearly three months without her I finally picked up my Zed from the bodyshop today! :dance:

She's not completely finished as this was just the first part of the body mods (the rest is being done elsewhere). As you can see from the thumbnail pics she's still covered in primer (which meant me praying all the way home that it wouldn't rain...which thankfully it didn't until the moment I got her locked away in a nice warm garage!:D) but has so far had the following done:

 

De-locked.

De-handled.

De-swaged.

"Stone protection" smoothed in all round.

Solenoid "popper" button fitted in both wing mirrors to open the doors.

'99 spec front bumper fitted and modified to widen the front air dam, bringing the top level with the lights.

Sideskirts fitted, smoothed and blended into the bodywork.

Lambo rear lights fitted.

 

Next will be to get rid of the rear wiper, fabricate a bracket (roughly at a 45 degree angle) to sit on the bottom lip of the bumper to hold the numberplate, possibly change the rear spoiler for a more modern OEM version, fit the non-300zx specific kit (more praying involved...there's a slim chance it may not happen), possibly modify the spare bonnet I have to accomodate the custom intake manifold on the VH45DE engine conversion (not sure how much will be needed to be done as yet), and finally get a respray, back to standard silver I imagine as money's a bit tight!:rolleyes:

Hope you guys like the way it's going :)

 

Cheers,

 

Leigh.

Last two ;)

looking good mate.

Nice very slick.

Looks very nice mate.

What skirts are they ?

 

If you are going for the sleek look how about changing the t-bar to black.

This seems to work well on Silver & White cars. It blends in with the window tints very well.

 

Not the best PSP job as I'm at work and only had ms paint. :(

possibly change the rear spoiler for a more modern OEM version, ................... as money's a bit tight!:rolleyes:

 

 

Cheers,

 

Leigh.

 

Hi Leigh, looking good mate...

If you do ever get rid of the spoiler, can you let me know please, I'm interested changing mine, as it has got a bit of cracking, and I like the extra brake light......I'm in no rush really, so if you do or dont, it's fine...(always assuming I can afford it)

 

Cheers mate

Pud

Looking good Leigh, and about time too :D

Keep us updated mate. The front bumper looks great :cool:

looks fantastic. Love the de-swagged look.

Cheers guys :)

 

Stu: I bought the skirts off Jaffa mate. Think they originally came from the Z centre? Your idea of painting the T bars black could look pretty damn good actually!

 

I had a very specific idea as to what "look" the car should have after all the bodywork: smooth and stylish; no mad "jap-style" bumpers and skirts, no lairy flip paint, no chrome wheels, no huge spoiler. I want to end up with something that looks almost "factory fitted" not obviously aftermarket...with just a hint of motorsport...;) :D

 

Stevepud: Don't think it will be just yet mate but I'll keep you in mind if I do change it!

 

Leigh

Cheers guys :)

 

 

Stevepud: Don't think it will be just yet mate but I'll keep you in mind if I do change it!

 

Leigh

 

Cheers mate, like I said no hurry.... and no obligation or any of that crap either

 

Take it easy

 

Pud

what is De-swaged?

very very very nice

 

loose the spoiler and it will be perfect ;)

what is De-swaged?

 

The swage line on the Z32 runs around the entire car i.e. the indent just above the lowest part of the door/wing/bumper etc. I've had this filled in to create a smoother more undisturbed area. A swage is a tool that used to be used in bending and shaping cold metal (Thank you Mr Google site man! ;))

what is De-swaged?

prity sure it's losing the line that is on the bumper following though to the door's rear wings and then rear bumper. looks good when done.

what is De-swaged?

I believe that is the removal of any of the horizontal lines at the bottom of the car...... take a look at the side shot of his car... and then the one in my sig... see he has no lines at the side of the bumpers,\and has had the skirts blended to the body... very smooth....

 

Pud

Friday Im Just Gona Do A Pm For You About Busa Bodies.

Friday Im Just Gona Do A Pm For You About Busa Bodies.

Cheers bud, just sent you one back ;)

Thanks so much for the telephone number mate, will be phoning today!

 

Cheers,

 

Leigh.

Sweet Jesus, that is one nice looking Zed!!!!

 

Nice effort. I do agree with loosing the spoiler though, would compliment the look perfect. But it's not my motor so each to their own.

 

Blimey, that is really really nice!!!! :nana2:

This is going to be a beast. I think with the skirts etc it will look better with a spoiler. It looks mean and low from the back. Don't mean to ask rude questions, but I'm always interested to know how much bodywork like this costs. My bumper getting repainted and reset cost about £300 which was expensive but I thought the place was excellent and did their best job. I think I remember you posted pictures of the work in progress and I was well impressed by the body shop sending you out pictures daily, or posting them to the web- at least you could see what's happening even if you didn't have the car.

 

I'm reading the engine transplant thread with interest too- it seems such a risk. I don't suppose it's much of a 'plug and play' thing swapping to a completely different engine.

nice mate

 

steve

looks real nice mate good job

Looking good mate. What are those spots on the rear bumper? Are they parking sensors? What system and how good is it?

 

Ivan ;)

This is going to be a beast. I think with the skirts etc it will look better with a spoiler. It looks mean and low from the back. Don't mean to ask rude questions, but I'm always interested to know how much bodywork like this costs. My bumper getting repainted and reset cost about £300 which was expensive but I thought the place was excellent and did their best job. I think I remember you posted pictures of the work in progress and I was well impressed by the body shop sending you out pictures daily, or posting them to the web- at least you could see what's happening even if you didn't have the car.

 

I'm reading the engine transplant thread with interest too- it seems such a risk. I don't suppose it's much of a 'plug and play' thing swapping to a completely different engine.

 

Yep, she's fairly low thanks to the Bilstein set-up and the rest of the kit (if I can get it on!) should emphasise this further. The most expensive part of the job was the modification of the front bumper, a lot of work involved in that. Getting it widened, de-swaged (with a different flexible fibreglass mix to what was used elsewhere to allow it to move with the polyurethane and not crack in the event of a speedbump collision) and finished to primer cost £600. The respray and refit of my back bumper was part of the insurance work so I didn't have to pay for it so can't help you there with a price comparison unfortunately Rich.

QVR are a little on the pricey side but the quality of the work by the guys in the shop is outstanding. My only slight complaint would be about the guys running it. IMO I constantly got the feeling they cared more about the money they were getting than the jobs they had in (including mine). That said, it's worth going for the quality of the work (Ray and Martin who work there in particular).

Apparently they normally post work in progress pics on their site but while my car was there apparently the site was playing up. The ones I posted here I asked for, but it was still good of them to take and send them in the first place!

 

Toyed with the idea of removing the spoiler and smoothing the rear but I think it balances the look of the car somehow.

 

As far as the engine swap goes, no it isn't plug and play but the parts needed for the conversion are out there (from guys that have already made the swap). It was while talking to John about buying a set of GT 25/30's this year that he put things into perspective for me. To get a Zed running relatively quickly ie 400 bhp+ the "tried and tested" method is to go for a bare minimum of boost controller, remapped chip, sidemount coolers and uprated turbos, preferably with uprated pistons, flywheel, pulley etc. We worked it out and the amount this little lot would cost roughly equates to the cost of buying and shipping a VH45DE, independant throttle bodies, all the parts for the swap, and Emerald management plus dyno time to set it up. And your getting a very solid, dependable engine that can be tuned to get some VERY respectable figures. Should be interesting ;)

 

Cheers,

 

Leigh.

Looking good mate. What are those spots on the rear bumper? Are they parking sensors? What system and how good is it?

 

Ivan ;)

 

Yup, those are parking sensors. A Laserline system which is probably a bit outdated now as it's an audible alert only, but it really is excellent and much needed due to the severity of he rear window tints...difficult to see through in the daytime, impossible to see through at night! :D)

Leigh, your Z is looking SWEEEEEEEEET!!! Can't wait to see the finished product matey.

 

Was gonna say why I don't like parking sensors, but I don't wanna offend anyone (I've got a lot of respect for Leigh, don't wanna pi$$ him off!!).

Leigh, your Z is looking SWEEEEEEEEET!!! Can't wait to see the finished product matey.

 

Was gonna say why I don't like parking sensors, but I don't wanna offend anyone (I've got a lot of respect for Leigh, don't wanna pi$$ him off!!).

 

Cheers for that bud! :D Feel free to rip the p1ss about the parking sensors though, think I've heard nearly all the "can't park, won't park" jokes out there from my mates! Lol! ;) :rofl: