Rainbow ZTT

Two people both called Paul, both with Zs in Sunderland at the same time….cool…. I was going home after seeing my folks, I lived in Sunderland for 16 years before I moved closer to work in Durham. Nice motor m8. Best wishes Paul

Dark coloured 300zx bottom of Durham road in Sunderland Monday 31/07/06 11.25pm.

Did an oil change on my car at the weekend, got 4 litres of oil (already had the filter). Looked at the owners manual and it says 3.0 without the filter 3.4 with. Drained the oil, put the filter on then started to fill it up. Got to 3.4 litres looked at the dipstick and there was no oil on it, so I ran the engine looked at the dipstick (only the bottom of the dipstick had oil on it). I looked at the manual again and it said 3.4 litres but that doesn’t include the oil cooler. The engine ended up taking 4 litres and was spot on the dipstick. I never trust anyone were I live with my Z so I try to do as much as I can and stick to the Nissan manual. Paul

300zxstyling do some nice side skirts (see marcZ32 car) i would use the Zcenter for other stuff.

I remember three chav’s with caps in a nova, revving away at the lights I let him go first to see the look on there faces, then I floored it, hit 60 before he got out or first. Funny as out.

Which cars give you the most stick? I’m on to my second Z, I had a auto for 2 years and now I’ve got a manual which I’ve had just over a year. I don’t have much probs with small boy racers, but if that fookers got a TDi badge on the back they’ve got to have a go. I mean what are they thinking, do they think they have super stella hyper drive or do they think ‘turbo’ means the fastest thing on the planet. The car might seem fast to them because it’s probable the fastest car they’ve been in. I once had a transit van try to race me into one lane at the traffic lights (no sh*t) So who gives you stick on the road? Paul

When I did the timing belt and new tensioner I had to turn the engine to adjust the tensioner to the Nissan factory spec, that’s when I notice this. Don’t get me wrong the car runs as sweet as a nut. I think I’m panicking over nothing. What set me off was a engine on ebay. Thanx for putting my mind at ease. Cheers m8s

I saw something on the net that might be cause for concern. 'When turning the engine by the crank there were no stiff spots'. When I turn mine there is, is this compression built up in the cylinder? Should I do this with the spark plugs out? What does it mean if there is stiff spots? Is the cylinder head warped? Paul

I still work at the same place MarcZ32 did, although I’m top dog I know what he means. Trying to get out but it’s not easy to pull good money up in the north.

My mate had a 900 turbo and that was pretty quick.

The timing belt is untouched but the radiator has to come out along with the pipes and cam belt covers to get the pulley puller in there (you can get one from machine mart), getting the radiator out is a fook on with the fan and stuff. It’s an easy job on a Manual because you can lock up the crank by putting it in 5th gear to stop it turning but not on an auto. You need a long wrench to get that bolt off because it’s tight (machine mart) with 27mm Socket. You also need shorter belts. 4PK890 4PK923 4PK985 I and Marc (MarcZ32) used Gates belts. Because you don’t touch the timing belt means you can’t go far wrong. Good Luck Paul

Give it a go and let us know m8. The ProShine stuff's top class (best I've used) and most of there other makes might be good too.

O yes, light weight under drive pulley ( I should remember that I put it on myself)

That sounds like some car you've got there m8. They must have had Nos.

Some interesting stuff…. The outside of the cars looking pretty good, time to start on the inside. The interior on my car is black and grey cloth, the black vinyl looks grey and dirty. Had some Halfords dash cleaner to use so I got to work. Only looked good for about 30 seconds then it was same as before I started. My mam was watching idealworld channel and saw this stuff called ‘Flat Free Tyre’ you put it in your tyres and impossible to have a puncture (sounds interesting). If you ordered this product you got a 4 piece ProShine professional car care kit free (it’s the kit they give you when you buy a limo etc) . At £24.89 it’s worth a go so got one. In the kit there was this stuff called ProShine vinyl and leather conditioner. I tried it on the black vinyl trim in the car and on the black trim outside the car. This is totally amazing stuff, the trim inside the car turned really black and even. It also puts a coating on rubber to stop cracking (you know how bad the outside trim can get). The outside rubber on my car is in perfect condition so I put some on to keep it that way. The place this car care kit came form is http://www.netparts.co.uk I looked on there web site but they didn’t see this kit, but they must do it because that’s were it came from (there is ProShine products on there). Check out the site it’s got loads of useful products on there (a lot of stuff has 50% off). Another bizarre thing I found was, if you’ve got a black interior you could try this. Someone tried to take off the drivers window switch panel and didn’t know about the two bolts in the handle and broke it. It had been glued back together but you could see the join, so I sanded it over with 600 wet & dry which left it milky looking. Now this is the bizarre bit. I had some Loctite black superflex sealant (you can get this at Halfords) I put a bit on some kitchen roll and rubbed a small amount on. You must wipe it off straight away but it leaves an amazing black shine. I reason I tried this was the black vinyl had a very small spilt in it so I thought this might cover it up, when I saw it turn the vinyl black and shinny I thought Mmmm! Not a good idea on big stuff but great on switch panels and the like. Best Wishes Paul

Did you know that they stopped making the Rover coupe turbo because it was unstable at high speeds. The Z doesn’t have that problem. The Z is a heavy car too (big V6). There’s not many keep up with me unless in the rain, but that’s because I like my car and want to keep it in one piece. Don’t be disheartened they still great cars. Do you have many mods? Paul

Thanks for the info…. No major mods, standard ECU, custom made twin 6x4 powerflow exhaust, blitz dump valves, iridium plugs and apexi filter.

The Z marcZ32 got off me is the one I drove as a main car for two years in snow, rain you name it. The only thing I had to buy was new tyres, that’s why I got another one (a manual this time). It’s like any high performance car, Rx7’s have a bad rep but like any cars like this you need to know how to treat them. Don’t thrash it till it’s up to temp or you will kill the turbo’s and the engine. I’ve got a turbo timer and dump valves to help the life of important bits. Things go wrong but so do all high spec cars. Good luck Paul

My car has been off the road for a while, while I’ve been doing some work to it. The M.O.T has run out. Has anyone had any emission test problems? My car is 1991 TT Is it true that cars of this age (over 15 years) have less of a problem with this test? Paul

The grip on my car is really good…. I’ve got lowered and adjustable suspension which is a pretty hard ride but it’s like it’s on rails. Thanks for all the advice it’s been a big help. Best wishes to all Paul

At the end of the day do these cars look as good as yours? I think not.

I always try to be different that’s why I got the Z instead of a Scooby, skyline etc. The Z is a proper sports car. Mines all silver and black, the cars silver with a rainbow metal flake (never seen a silver metal flake car till now) with black lights 99spec front bumper, tailgate skin with third eye BMW mini brake light built in. That’s it simple but stunning. I like the car pretty stock (apart for the performance mods). Paul

Sounds like a good buy then....

These tyres are FK451s.

How do you rate Falken tyres? One of my mates uses Falken tyres and he reckons they pretty good. I looked on there web site (http://www.falkentyres.co.uk) and if these tyres are good, check out the prices. 235/40/17 9Y £63.65 each 265/40/17 96Y £81.68 each