friday

Well, there's been a bit of progress since I last posted. My first attempt which involved filling a make shift mould with expanding foam sort of worked although it was very rough: In the end I decided I didn't like the shape and that it would be better to build a wire armature, stretch fabric over it, soak it in activated resin then fibreglass and filler over the top. It's still very rough and very much a work in progress but I'm happier with the shape, and importantly it fits in the car! A hole for the screen needs to be cut out in the swept centre console (it will be recessed into it to avoid glare...I'll use resin'd fabric again to make the sides of the hole flow into the screen and the same method on the passenger side screen). TBH I may end up scrapping it and making another though, I'll see how it goes.

It would probably break down after 10 minutes being an Alfa but...wow...what a ten minutes! :D Back end reminds me of the Sagaris...which isn't a bad thing IMO!

Wish we'd managed to get there in time for Saturday...as it was we ended up arriving early evening. Hit a huge queue on the way over and the missus suggested a detour...and got us hopelessly lost! Ended up rejoining the road we originally left, right before the queue! Lol! :rolleyes: ;) Next time we'll be there for the whole weekend as we'll be on the Bodywork Plus stand next year!

Just found this on another forum...oh dear! http://www.nearlygood.com/video/nitrousexplosion.html

Sounds good! What model would you recommend fella? Cheers, Leigh.

My HP scanner/printer combo has now officially died so I'm on the look out for a new one. Can anyone recommend a decent, good quality unit? Cheers, Leigh.

Cheers guys! (Lol @ Cliff! :D ;)) Was supposed to get up early to go to JAE but last night sort of put the kybosh on that one! About to head off in 5!

Nice car mate, I like it a lot! :D Ahhh...aftermarket kits, my specialist subject...:D That appears to be a modified Pentroof front bumper: Highly desirable because of it's many interesting design features: a wide open mouth to accomodate a FMIC, and a design that actually works to produce downforce rather than just look good, as you can see from the "nose cone" in the first picture and underbody diffuser in the second picture. It seems someones added a vent above the main air dam though. Now what's my next starter for 5 points? Lol! :D ;)

Mate, you're a bloody lifesaver! That looks exactly the type of thing I'm looking for!! (fingers crossed they will suit a Z32). I'm going to email them direct today and then have a word with my mate in Japan. He runs a tuning garage over in Saitama and handily is good friends with some of the bods at Top Secret. A stroke of luck methinks! Cheers, Leigh.

Cheers matey! :D Too close to 30 for my liking! Lol! ;) Going to be heading out for a few bevvies in Brum then on to a nice Chinese before getting back to the :duffer: :duffer: and I'll be continuing in that vein for JAE (any excuse! :D) Hmmmm...definately looking forward to getting my "other" present from Lucie...(mental note: must remember to charge the camera...) :rofl: ;) :D Leigh.

Thanks, will do mate, as this has to be sorted. Don't want to spoil Steve's masterpiece and mangle the bodywork on the first bump I come across! :eek: ;)

Nope, been doing my research ;) Got a mate in Japan that's been helping me look into which TEIN system would suit me best. Funnily enough they actually market a Hybrid system already but it won't fit a Zed :(

Sorry, didn't explain myself very well...yeah, I know that Chris ;) If I have no joy investigating this hybrid route I at least want to have the best set-up I can get and set it to a height that is as good a compromise as I can get. The EDFC is an added bonus ;)

When I originally imported my Zed it had already been dropped to within an inch of its life with Bilstein shocks, struts and springs. It vastly improved the handling but has made it a bit of a nightmare with the amount of "traffic calming" speed bumps on the roads today :mad: , always catching the front bumper (and multi storey car parks are a thing of the past). This has been something I could live with (just!) until now. With the custom bodywork being done there's a very real chance if I hit a speed bump badly I could rip something off :( The simplest, most user friendly option would be to fit hydraulics or air-bag suspension, so I could raise or lower the car with the flick of a switch. However, although it's going to be a show car, it's being built to be driven and driven hard and that type of set up on its own would totally screw up the handling which is why I wouldn't consider it...well, not quite! During a conversation today it was mentioned to me that it might be possible to run an airbag/hydraulic system alongside adjustable coilovers, the idea being you rely on the coilovers for 95% of the time, but when you need to raise or lower the car for the other 5%, you could activate the hydraulics/air, then switch back to the coilovers when finished. I'm getting in touch with Rayvern and Max Hydraulics to sound them out but I thought I'd ask if anyone on here has any ideas or suggestions as to whether it might be possible to mate these two somehow? If this isn't feasible I'm all set to buy a complete TEIN system: Type Flex plus EDFC controller, which should help matters! Cheers, Leigh.

Christ mate, I'm sorry to hear this. Really hope it all works out ok :(

Well done Paul. Great to have a good alternative after Houghtons decided to play silly buggers ;)

Alright chap, glad to see you made it on here! For those that don't know Mr Flatout is one of the team at Bodywork Plus...and he really knows his engines! ;) Hope you've forgiven me after helping manhandle my custom dash into place today mate! ;) :D Leigh.

I am p1ssing myself laughing after reading that! It's the deadpan style of delivery that gets me! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Think I might lower the tone of any convoy in my Nissan Sunny Estate! ;) :D

Just outside Birmingham. And spent a lifetime making sure I didn't pick up the accent! Lol! ;) Leigh.

That's great, cheers mate. It's no problem about vacating at night as I'm staying at the Travel Inn. Might even leave the car there if it's in walking distance.

Sadly I'm not going in the Zed to JAE this year and I have to take le sh1tter...my Nissan Sunny Estate! Mmmm...what a beast... :( Does anyone one know if there's a general parking area for those cars not on any club stands? Cheers, Leigh.

Or if you haven't got any gauges in the A pillar put them there. Use a router to cut the right size circle out MDF etc, mount it on the stripped pillar, stretch T shirt fabric over it to achieve a "moulded in" shape, paint on activated resin, let it set, add 2-3 layers of fibreglass then filler over and sand back till smooth. Recover in the material of your choice and voila...a factory fit tweeter in an ideal position for your sound stage. HTH, Leigh.

Amen to that! :D

Well, as I've got severe Crohns disease (had it since I was 12 and notched up 10 major ops and one death, for just over 30 seconds, so far) bizarrely I have to try and eat as much "junk food" (i.e. high calorie) stuff as possible to try and gain weight...and you could still lose me behind a bean pole! ;) Currently writing this, as usual, doped up to the eyeballs on controlled drugs...Hey, so I guess it isn't all bad! :D Leigh.