vijay

I wish I could say this was an end to this story but sadly I found another MAJOR problem. I asked and paid for a full inspection of my car which cost £54 including VAT. This was his report which he emailed me when I requested it: vijay, The assessment undertaken was in line with our standard visual check that is used to help identifies key failure points, all of those included are listed below, and with the exception of the radiator support that we spoke about about there was no major worries. Corrosion Floor pan Inner sills where visible ( body kit fitted ) Suspension Shock absorbers Springs Anti roll bars Drop links Front upper arms Wheels / tyres Steering Hicas arms Hicas outer joints Steering arms Steering track rods Steering u/j Steering rack bushes Electrical General lighting / warning lights Engine Service level requirements Well I decided to make sure the T top drain pipes were clear and exiting properly and when I checked the rear ones - I have no sills, the drivers side is full of holes and the passanger side is non existent!!! I found this out with the car on the floor with it's wheels on so how they didn't notice this with the use of a ramp is beyond me. Even with the bodykit fitted, a simple shine of a torch on the sills showed the problems and a screwdriver went straight through parts of the remaining metal. How on earth could such a major and well known fault be missed????? You can see the area that had to be cut away as it was all rusted!!!!

This is a long read, so get a drink and get comfy! lol Just wanted peoples opinions on what's to be expected by a "specialist" 300ZX garage these days. The story................. After 5 years of having so called bodyshops (not the guys at Custom Exotics who have been the only people I've met who have pride in their work), I decided to make one last attempt at getting my Z back on the road or it would be broken/scrapped. Before getting it back into the guys at Custom Exotics to have some panels sorted and let the interior trimmer do his bit, I decided to make sure it was mechanically and structurally sound. There's not that many garages that I thought I could trust so I thought I would make the 200 odd mile round journey from London to a "specialist". So on the 8th March with my Z on the back of a trailer I headed up to this "specialist". I told them there was no rush and they were happy with that as obviously no one had any idea if anything was wrong as it hasn't been driven for 5 years. I wanted the major service done, so belts, oil/fuel filters, water pump, thermostat etc. I supplied most of the parts which were all OEM. I also wanted a full inspection carried out so I'd know that my car was mechanically/structurally sound before spending any other money on it. So about 2 weeks later, I called them to get an update only to be told that they had just finished and everything was fine on my car. He actually commented that he couldn't believe that my car hadn't been driven for 5 years as apart from the timing belt needing doing and the bottom radiator support bracket which had rust, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Needless to say I was over the moon!! I told him my friend who helped me get my Z on the trailer was still away in Spain and should be back the following week so I couldn't pick it up till then, he said no problem as long as the bill was settled up which it was when they called me back with the final amount. Unfortunately, I couldn't pick up my Z for about 3 weeks from that phone call as my mate was delayed getting back from Spain, then I ended up in Moorfields Eye Hospital and then I couldn't get a trailer from any local hire place. I kept the garage informed at each step and it was never an issue (or at least they never told me it was). So on the 18th April, I hooked up the hired trailer again and headed back up to collect my Z. All was fine, no cross words, no issues and we stood around chatting about Z's and cars for a while. My car seamed to run perfectly smooth and we got it up on the trailer and left. I honestly thought I had completed the first step to getting my car back on the road................................ I noticed the first problem as soon as we were removing the car off the trailer at the bodyshop. There was a small dent in the passenger sideskirt which I am 100% certain was not there as I washed the car just before taking it to this "specialist". I called them the very next day and they emailed me back asking for pictures which I sent. Personally I believe the damage was done by a lift arm but obviously I cannot prove this. They had no idea about the damage and as my car was in the bodyshop anyway, the guys at Custom Exotics said they would do a smart repair on it and not to worry. I wasn't happy it was damaged but it was nothing major, more annoying than anything else. Now we start on the real issues. I went up to the bodyshop on the 24th April to start doing a few bits. I opened up the bonnet to discover the right hand radiator bracket flapping about, just being held on by a self tapping screw. I was stunned as I can't believe this garage had snapped a bolt and just "bodged" a repair on something so simple to get to and fix. I took some pictures and emailed them to the garage with a subject heading of " Very disappointed" and simply asking for them to explain this. This was the response headed "metal age changes explained" with the following which looks like it's just been copy and pasted from the web: Hi Vijay, By the look of the picture that is the right hand radiator hold bracket as fitted to the twin turbo model, it looks like the original fixing has snapped when by been over tightened or more likely when been undone as they do occasionally seize in place, the reason I think they do this is the under side of the panel has a large amount of air pass over it when driving and often this can be very damp air and causes rust to form on the bolt thread that protrudes through the welded nut. So what is rust ? When the open-air oxidation of iron takes place, rust is the oxide that forms. While the chemical composition of rust (Fe2O3.nH2O) means nothing to the average homeowner, it is the resulting hydrated iron oxide that gets all of the attention [1]. Rusting is the general term used to describe the corrosion of iron and its alloys, such as steel. The process of rust involves the way various materials react with oxygen, which results in the chemical compound of rust. When iron combines with oxygen, iron oxide forms. Since iron oxide is larger in size than iron, the oxidation process causes it to “puff up” and sometimes flake. When a great amount of rust accumulates, the buildup may create a powerful force that can actually separate adjacent parts. So back to the picture the upshot of the damp air passing over the exposed part of the tread causes a reaction within the metal of the bolt and this reduces the structural strength to a point it can become difficult to undo and can fail ( snap), as the area below the original fixing is double skinned and is not flat the an alternative fixing looks to have been made using a self tapping screw. Hope that has explained that for you. Regards Now to me that was just a sarcastic and rude answer. I understand that bolts will rust and shear but surely any "specialist" worth anything would have drilled it out and tapped it and not just put a self tapping screw through the bodywork? I called the owner of the garage to ask about his reply and said to him how can I trust any of his work if he would happily do this to someone's car - what would he do if there was a bolt with bad access that had sheared???? Well at that point he swore at me and proceeded to hang up. I was absolutely shocked as I had not at any point been rude to him in any way! I called straight back and his wife answered and said he cannot speak to me as he's busy and he said I should put anything I want to say in an email - great customer services!!!!! My Email: To say I'm stunned that you just swore, hung up on me and then when I called straight back you were busy and told me to send you an email is an understatement!! I've contacted you as soon as I found a problem with something I'm sure no one would be happy with. I accept bolts can snap but to just bodge a repair like that is just not right! I've always thought you were professional and never had a bad thing to say about you so to just drill though a bracket and bodywork and put a self tapping screw though, that is loose and allows the bracket to flap, is just not right. Would you be happy if someone did that to your car?? Can you please respond to me as I feel that it's not right that you just hung up on me and treated me in this manner. Can I also have a replacement bracket sent to me and I will fix it properly. His response: Despite this business been my passion I have sweated blood and tears for for 12 years + to create a simple issue with a fixing that I was still wondering about when we spoke resulted in you personally attacking my work whole ethic, to even suggest for one moment that any other part of the work was questionable because of the broken bracket bolt was simply outrageous and if you consider for one moment how insulting you were been then you will understand the answer you got. It is always regrettable when any issue arises and even more so when it escalates, I do regret ending the phone call in the manner I did but it was a moment of unclarity. (A replacement bracket and bolt will be sent to your preferred address ( please advise) ) Was I being insulting to question anyones work if they repaired bolts with easy access in this way? As I said to him, what would he do with a bolt with bad access which lets face it, with a 300ZX engine bay you rarely have good access to anything. To me it's a matter of professionalism and doing the right thing!

Sixt hire a van for £29 s day ;)

Got a Mitsi Challenger running on bio, love it almost as much as the Z :)

You're lucky!

The guys at Custom Exotics will be trying to remove the new glass out of mine soon (I'm the same as you with new glass, new trims etc) to sort some rust out, will let you know if they manage to do it ;)

oh yeah, didn't see it there ;)

Would you mind posting pictures of it under the nose panel if you have time?

did you relocate it too?

Mate, it's one of the best places I've ever been for a weekend. We went with a Scouse mate cos we wanted to go to a place called the Grafton after I saw a documentary on TV where 3 generations of girls went out on the pull together - no word of a lie, a group of about 15 girls came over to 2 of us chatting and even buying us drinks, low and behold, there was a gran, her daughter and grand daughter all out! lol I wouldn't hesitate in going there again ;)

Really sorry for your families loss. I know the hardship of losing a dog, they're more than just part of your family, they're your best friend with unconditional love every single day no matter what mood you're in. All we can do as an owner is give them the best life possible and it sounds like you did that. Vijay

Email me what you're after vij@dsl.pipex.com a very good mate of mine may be able to help you :)

This may help :) http://www.twinturbo.net/nissan/300zx/tech/avcr/avcr.html

and on the awkward screw, put a slot in it so you can undo it from the top ;)

I did what Steve suggested and the diverter valves are moving. I removed the screw on the pump and it is spinning (I put the tip of the screwdriver in it and can feel it move - is there any other way of testing it?) Is it worth removing and taking apart to check??? I drained down the system on Thursday and put some Fernox cleaner in it and been running it since then. Checked today and it's still doing the same thing. The only rad that works properly is the bathroom rad which is the nearest to the boiler/diverters/pump/automatic by-pass valve. One other rad in the front of the house seams to be working OK too which is a slightly larger one. The two other bedrooms rads are warm and downstairs, 2 smaller ones have slight warmth and the 2 larger ones are stone cold.

Hi Steve, It has 2 x 2 way diverter valves instead of 1 x 3 way. All the pipes coming and and out of both of them are hot but I will try what you said :)

Is there an easy way of telling if it's a 1 or 2 pipe system? Also noticed there is a an automatic by-pass valve fitted, is there a way of testing that to eliminate it?

The rads are heating up from the top down and the bottom channel of the rad is not warming through so it looks like sludge build up......... I've ended up getting some Fernox cleaner so gonna throw that in this afternoon and let it try and break things down over a week or two.

personally I think the Mercedes ones is more subtle which I prefer.

blackish water comes out of the rad air vents Yes the pipes off the pump are hot and I can hear the impeller spinning.

Process of elimination I guess......................... Be alright if I was being paid! lol

Didn't check that. I assume the water level is fine though as most rads will get hot after a long while (certainly the upstairs ones). And the downstairs one is where water came out of the air vent

That's exactly whay I thought but light coloured carpets and it's always a messy job as I'm sure you know ;)

Yep, tried both valves open. I tried shutting down the rads and leaving one on, still the same thing - pipe and valve got hot but rad just got a touch warm and took forever to get to that

No mate, conventional system. Hot water is still fine. Just the rads are crap