fastorquer

Have a great day, Mike!

I could do the 30th - Possibly got something on on the 31st!

Aaiiiiii! :)

Happy Birthday, Dave!

Axxix Ultimate from Conceptz, mate - Very good performance for a mere $100, plus shipping and taxes, for a full set! Nope - I don't work for them!! Have fitted these to mine, and they do squeel now and again, and there are other better performing pads (albeit for more wonga!), but for stopping power per buck, I think these are hard to beat ;) http://www.conceptzperformance.com/Cart/description.php?II=212&Car_Type=300&UID=2010090706303980.177.107.85

Happy birthday mate! The engine from your yellow zed is running well..........;)

Thanks Dave! Talk about in the nick of time - I was just about to order some from Ebay!! I may pop along next Tuesday - Will let you know. Coke's are on me!! ;)

Yeah - I've been doing a bit of research into leak detection and found smoke machines at the top of the 'recommended' pile. Like you say, when you start looking for them, it's surprising how versatile they are for detecting any kind of problem where there may be some kind of leak. The cheapest 'proper' machine I found was about £500 - Others I saw were £2500! I don't know of any garages local to me which actually have a smoke machine, so thought there must be a diy alternative!! :)

Interesting - Perhaps those or the previously suggested plumbers smoke would be the way to experiment first. Thanks for all the help and suggestions, guys! :)

What do you folks think about plugging the maf end of the intake with a boost leak detector - per the usual boost leak detector method - then filling the plenum with smoke from a smoke machine via a vacuum hose, before sealing off the hose and then putting air pressure through the boost leak detector? Just mulling over ideas, as it strikes me that the smoke method is the best way for discovering leaks....................

Interesting point! How much pressure is enough? Most seem to suggest going over 5psi is too much of a risk? A smoke machine (if they run continuously - Presumably they must do that?) must produce 'some' pressure, but will it be enough? I don't know! If running continously into a system, then, also presumably, that pressure will gradually build, whilst smoke is being put into it, until it is enough to break through any weak links - i.e. vac leaks? A lot of presumably's there, which is why I thought I'd throw this one onto the forum!

Ahhh......Hadn't thought of that - I'll investigate into that possibilty too! Nice one :)

Thanks for the input, mate - I'm thinking that for the 30quid or so for a machine, this could be a superb way of locating all those niggly vacuum leaks, and be far quicker and more user friendly than any other!

Hi, Has anyone adapted a party smoke/fog machine to be used for detecting vacuum leaks on a zed? It can be physically done, but I don't know if the 'smoke' used might lead to some undesirable residues (being water-based!). Smoke is supposed to be the dogs danglies of leak detection, and the normal (pressurising the intake) method is not showing up any leaks for me -I'm sure I can hear at least one when the car is idling! And both my boost gauge, and poor warm-up/idling point that way too.............

Does anyone else find the dipstick virtually unreadable? Mine is so bad (overfilled one side, then low another. Stick it in again and it get a different reading etc.!) that I'm actually going to change the oil and fill with exactly 3 litres (the filter was changed just over 200miles ago) just so I can get a definitive answer on where the level should be reading when it's got a healthy amount of oil in! I'm sure I had no problems at all with the dipstick on my old engine!

No worries, mate! All the best, Simon

Is it the inner ball joints (with the threaded track rod, attached to the hicas pump)) or the outer ball joints (on the lower wishbone) which you need to replace? I bought my inner ones off Ebay and they were fine; I'm pretty sure Mike from MJP can do genuine outer ball joints cheaper than on Ebay, however! If you replace the inners, you will need to get the tracking done; the outers can be done without getting re-tracked. HTH

In the words of Arnie - "This is what they must mean by...............poet justice!" :)

And a belated Happy Birthday from me, Dave!

Naaaaa.......I've never had any issues with any of the Powertrix stuff I've fitted either - And my suspension was rock hard with 13kg/mm front and 8.7mm/kg rear springs fitted at one point - so, as you can imagine, my suspension components took a battering!! The only issue I did have was when I thought one of the collars may have cracked, but it turned out to be it just needed tightening up - I still haven't fitted the uprated ones I was sent :)

Ah - Ditto!! :)

I can't comment on the Driftworks or Zed Centre ones - Although I would suspect that the Zed Centre ones will be decent quality, as everything I've ever bought from the Zed Centre have been quality items (and Luke really does know these cars and the importance of top notch parts!) - But Powertrix are probably one of the leading brands when it comes to components like these. I know some of their earlier arms were subject to fracturing of their collars, but they continually improve on them and I know that they had solved this problem a while ago - Strangely, this fills me with more confidence in their parts, as they intend to be around and supplying good stuff for many a year to come, so you can rely on their commitment to giving you the best! Besides that, Charles seems a really decent fella and upgraded the collars on my arms for free (from the good 'ole U.S of A.!!)

Looks like Car.Mad! If you can pm me your address, mate, I'll get it posted to you. Ps - Thanks Daz, but I'm going to have to give it a generous 3/10 - It was only my desire to see a bit of 300 action that kept me going!! :)

Looking good mate - I reckon a 99spec front bumper would round your car off nicely! Noticed your plate - There's a red zed in Bath with the next number up - 648!

Yep - It's the piece of paper with your address on, Gaz, which still has the stamp attached to it - That's 3 trips on it so far, with a 4th to come at least! How generous of the Post Office to allow us a perpetual stamp! :D