jap.slapper

TEIN EDFC (ELECTRONIC DAMPING FORCE CONTROLLER) TO ADJUST DAMPING FRONT & REAR WHILST SAT IN THE DRIVERS SEAT BLITZ (DUAL TURBO TIMER) DTT DC PACE SIDE MOUNT INTERCOOLERS ARE SOON TO BE REPLACED WITH A GREDDY FMIC AEM EMS NISMO REAR STRUT BRACE

Yes mate it's an SCCA approved autopower 6 point cage with side bars. I opted for the larger diameter 1.75 DOM tubing over the slighly smaller diameter 1.50 DOM Just got to get it all fitted and welded in. The oil system will be upgraded as soon as the fuel system is sorted; I'm hoping this will be within the next 3-4 weeks. I've opted for a boot mounted dry sump system from Armstrong Race Engineering, I just need to tie down some minor compatability issues with them beforehand. The car should (touch wood) be ready for the tail end of this summer. I opted for the DASH 2 and DL1 as it's a more practical option for track, yet still remaining road legal due to the odometer feature. This setup will work nicely with a prototype system that I'm currently developing (but I'm keeping that one to myself for now:wink:) The project is getting there

Bagged myself a nice pair of SPARCO seats out of a rally car today Just getting my head around wiring up a RACE TECHNOLOGY VIDEO 4 on board camera system. Once up and running it'll provide FMV and audio from the 4 onboard cameras as well as a customised information overlay option. Used in conjunction with the RACE TECHNOLGY DL1 (datalogger) via an AEM ECU interface to the AEM EMS. It provides real time information from the on board sensors in addition to an information recording facility, for after action review purposes. This will ensure that I know exactly what is happening/what has happened with the car and myself during and after every track session.

For all the 'Z' pure'ists, don't worry, the nasty rear lights will be my next focus, once the rear is complete....:thumbup1:

6 point Roll cage and all side bars have now been painted and are ready to be prep'd for fitting and welding Template has been knocked up ready for single piece aluminium mesh rear bumper (it might look a bit odd right now but you'll see where I'm going with this shortly) NASTY, NASTY, NASTY Z CENTRE LIGHTS WILL BE GONE SHORTLY!!!! The mesh is the same military spec material used for the carbon fibre/mesh half dash; even though it's light as fook' it's still extremely strong and flexible!

Spare parts list/prices thread now sorted in the for sale section. http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=138529&highlight=spare

No probs mate, the intercoolers are made by TOYO Japan and measure across the fins/blades (8" x 10" x 2.5" deep) They are a direct replacement for the stock intercoolers on a Z32 and are already fitted with pipes ready to go straight on. I removed these from my Z32 a week or so back and repleced them with the slightly smaller PACE intercoolers that I bought from Luke (Z centre) back in '08. I didn't need to remove the front bumper to replace these and it only took about 40 mins to replace both sides. *Today I was actually seriously considering switching back to the TOYO intercoolers as they are slightly larger as I say, it's only the fact that the PACE intercoolers are brand new, just out of the box and cost me £765 that I think I'll stick with them for now; unless somebody wants a set of PACE for half Z centre price, in the next day or so** The KSPORT TC arms (Tension rods/arms) are fully adjustable and a direct bolt on replacement for the Z32 stock tension rods/arms. They are powder coated in the KSPORT orange colour; the only reason I have replaced the KSPORT tension rods with DRIFTWORKS tension rods is because I have replaced all of my lower steering and upper/lower camber components for DRIFTWORKS parts and decided that I wanted to keep it all to the same manufacturer. These KSPORT tension rods were fitted to the car 12 months ago; but as the car has never been driven (only trailor'd) since the work was carried out by ZTECH, they have never actually been used/driven, so are pretty much, as new. They retail at the moment for about £130-£135 from the US + shipping/tax. I bought them direct from KSPORT UK (ie. APEX PERFORMANCE). The Traction arms are imported parts from Japan. These were offered to me by a guy that I bought a lot of APEXi kit from; who was based in Japan at the time. They are fully adjustable and are designed to replace the flimsy stock arms and rubber bushes, with solid metal joint. They are a direct replacement for the stock item on a Z32/S14. Again these were fitted by ZTECH but I replaced them last week for DRIFTWORKS parts.

That's good to know mate, what rwhp are you putting down at the mo? I'm gonna have to get my head around exactly what I've got under my bonnet. Sounds bizarre that I've got to dig out an old copy of TOTAL NISSAN (that features my engine a few years back when Chris Scaife/ZTECH was running it in his car) just to know the finer details of exactly what I've paid for and have had fitted in my car. It's only recently that I've had the time to start sorting my 'Z' out properly. I bought the engine off him back in '08 before he moved, but I'll leave that 'cos I know the whole ZTECH thing is a bit of a touchy subject on here.

PM sent reference front bumper mate. I'll post a list of spare parts for sale (with pics) in the 'wanted/for sale section' as directed

Now a subscribed member....Wahoo!:cool3:

Rgr, my appologies, will get registered this evening then answer Q's with pics cheers fellas

I think I might not have put the point across too clearly with regards to the whole RX7 thing, unfortunately I got nothing back, he/they kept every penny of it. I ended up with no car and no money, I lost £14,200 (in addition to the cost of the car I ended up spending well in excess of £5k on two years worth of solicitors and barristers fees) In a nut shell, I got well screwed. The Lexan is being supplied by a mate of mine who runs a body shop in Bromyard (Bromyard Accident Repair), who is getting it made up for me by a company they use based in Bristol; the company kits out their Autograss cars. I'll get the company info posted up tomorrow. Ref: parts for sale, sorry mate didn't mean to be rude by not replying. Off the top of my head I've got for sale: (pics available) -set of (4) 18" Volk Racing CV-PRO 3 piece split rims (8J & 9J) with Yokohama 245's and Bridgestone 265's which fit the stock Z32 wheel arches perfectly with 20mm spacers (which would be included in the sale) they have recently been stripped and refurbed in black/chrome lip -Pair of genuine Carbon Fibre/black faux leather bucket seats (fits 5/6 point) harness (includes side rails) never fitted (cost two grand new from the States) based on Porsche Carrera GT seat design -genuine NISMO carbon fibre/chrome shift knob (new) -STILLEN intercooller ducts (new in box) -triple A pillar gauge pod -ECU with 740cc EPROM (might be JWT, I'll check) -Twin MONGOOSE exhaust oval back boxes (as new) -Genuine Carbon Fibre 60" GT wing -FRP vented bonnet panel (to be moulded into bonnet) -Several other FRP Z32 rear wings -single APEXi induction kit -set of white dials already fitted -stock rear boot with moulded lip (red) -Pair of 'extremely large' TOYO side mount intercoolers to fit a Z32 TT -Set of KSPORT adjustable tension rods -Set of BSA NO S14/Z32 adjustable Traction arms (imported from Japan) -couple of gauges -faux leather interior for a Z32 2+2 -loads of stock OEM parts -a few other bits but can't think off the top of my head -2 x Z31 (NA) project cars -Z31 Turbo engine (50k on the clock) -Toyota GRANVIA (camper conversion) if you're a surfy type:biggrin: I can get a comprehensive list if that helps at all

The twin GARRETT GT675RS (RB) turbo's should be a nice compromise, not too much lag. I'll be fitting the DRIFTWORKS lower arms this week and will post pics of progress, hopefully the Lexan will be good to go in by Saturday

Here are a few pics of the engine rebuild, this was Chris Scaife's (owner of ZTECH) own engine, bought it off him back in '08. [/img]

Sorry mate, must have missed the pm on wheels, what can I do for ya' chief?

I'll send an e-mail to Z1 and ask the question, but I'm pretty sure that the 740's will go straight in (maybe somebody on the forum already knows the answer, anybody??) They will be up for sale shortly as soon as I have the new replacements. as for the RX7, it's a very long drawn out affair. I started a thread a few weeks back on the DRIFTWORKS forum explaining exactly what had happened and posted several pages of supporting evidence. The thing is the guy in question had no comeback as everything stated was fact, he tried to fob it all off....obviously that didn't wash and people saw straight through his bluff. In a nutshell the car was advertised as an immaculate & newly rebuilt "1995 600bhp WIDEBODY MAZDA RX7". I then realised that it was being advertised for sale by 2 different companies/people at the same time. Rick/GHOSTDANCER (use the search facility on the DRIFTWORKS forum and that will explain about this guy and how he's ripped off loads of people and buggered off to the States with their money) anyway, he was advertising the car on PISTONHEADS under the DRIVING SPORTS name, whilst at the same time, the same car was being advertised by Julian Barnes of SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS (UK based importer Lydney, Gloucester) on ebay. After a few e-mails back and forth to SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS and SKAY LTD (exporter in Japan who the car was apparently built for by Rick/GHOSTDANCER, Kawabatta (owner of DRIVING SPORTS) and Stephen Hemsley (owner of SKAY LTD). The email responses stated that the official importer was Julian Barnes at SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS. I arranged to go down to SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS (more for my own piece of mind than anything) to ensure that it was an offical business. I went down with a bankers draft for the full cost of the car (£12,500) and it was agreed that I would pay £1000 shipping/taxes when it arrived in the UK. I handed over the money to Julian Barnes and was told that the car would arrive in 6 weeks. Julian then e-mailed offering me a set of carbon fibre door cards to be fitted in Japan, for about £500 all in (I agreed and paid this in cash). I asked if they could also fit a set of leather bucket seats, eventually agreeing on a set of leather BRIDE seats which I paid Julian £1200 for. After a lot of bullshit excuses from Julian/Japan I was told that the car was eventually shipped (this was about 4 months after I'd paid up front!) I then had no idea where my car was until eventually I received a call to say that the car had arrived in the UK (this was 7 months later!!!). I asked if it was immaculate as described and was definately running 600bhp. I recieved a waffled reply about different petrol and how rotaries were very temporomental, and that the car was registered on a 'K' plate (I thought I'd mis heard him, as that would make the car 3 years older!) but he stated that the car was immaculate. I was getting really worried by this point. I went to pick the car up and pay the final shipping costs (which incidentally had now gone up by 40%, Julian wanted £1400 shipping, stating that it would be up to £3000 on top of that if he'd declared the full value of the car. By this stage I just wanted my car. I arrived at SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS.....it was a 1992 on a 'K' plate!!!!! My wife and I looked around the car and realised that the paint was in dog order, the photos that I posted on the DW forum were checked by a paint shop specialist and he started to point out loads of problems with it, basically saying that the paint job was shocking. The front bumper was damaged and not fitted properly, the 'BREMBO' brakes on the rear were just rusty stock brakes, the rear screen was cracked, the doors wouldn't close properly, the original red body colour was beaming through the 'new' paint job (definately not re-built from the ground up) and the engine bay was different. Not forgetting the fact that the car was 3 years older!!! I refused to take the car and demanded my money back as this was just a blatant piss take. He refused and told me that I would have to speak to his solicitor. I got my solicitor on the case straight away and she agreed that it was clear cut, he didn't have a leg to stand on. Letters were sent to his solicitor, of which the reply was feeble to say the least and basically playing for time. Julian claimedf that there was nothing wrong with the car. -We sent several photographs to his solicitor clearly proving otherwise They said that they needed time to ask ebay for a copy of the original listing -we said no you don't, here have a copy of ours! Without a leg to stand on Julian Barnes eventually agreed to refund the £12,500 paid for the car but not the £1700 for the seats and door cards -we said no, we want a full refund He said that he needed 28 days to get the money together as he would have to re-sell the car *Funny old thing the new advert advertised the car as a 1992 model running just 450bhp and had just been repainted since arriving in the UK, as the paint job done in Japan wasn't good enough!!! (I posted copies of this advert on the DRIFTWORKS forum as well as the original PISTONHEADS and EBAY adverts, so that people could see for themselves. Eventually Julian sold the car, and when I asked him when I could expect my money back he stated that he had only got £5000 for the car and from that he had had to pay shipping costs and for the new paint job!!! and then told me that it was tough, I should have taken the car when I had the chance. He then made a remark that SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS wouldn't be around for much longer. This was early '09 My solicitor then recieved a letter from Julian Barnes partner (common law wife for 5 years/lived at the same address/had children etc) stating that it was 'her' debt. She filed for insolvency and effectively had £106,000 of debt written off. I was told that I would get about £1000-£1500 paid back over a 5 year period. SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS ceased trading mid '09 having forfeited the insolvency agreement and had gone bankrupt....however throughout this, they could still afford to build and import a pro spec drift car to compete in the JDM ALLSTARS drift season. This is the best bit!!!! SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS closed down their premises and ceased trading, however Julian Barnes then reopened SEVERNSIDE JAPANESE IMPORTS just a mile down the road in Lydney! It gets better!!!! obviously nobody knew that SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS had gone bust, least of all their two professional drift drivers that were driving for them in 2010! Luke Fink, Australian drift champion and James Deane driving for SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS. Luke competed this year up in Manchester and James Deane was to drive for them, for the rest of the season. Julian had already stated that they were importing a 'second' SEVERNSIDE drift car (now!) in order for both drivers to compete in 2010. Not to mention the 70 grand money transfers by Julian Barnes to the states a few weeks ago!!!! When you consider that Julian Barnes was stated on the insolvency document as an employee of his 'mrs' and just 'washed the cars', makes you wonder hey! Trust me there is a lot more that I have, but I'll keep that in my back pocket for now. Made me laugh though, 'cos after 17 pages of this thread on the DRIFTWORKS forum all he could come back with was 'I don't have to explain myself and all of this has been passed to my solicitior!" Funny that 'cos not even mine was working on a bank holiday, let alone at that time of night!! In order to save DRIFTWORKS from having this scandall tar the DW name, I e-mailed Phil Morrisson and agreed that this whole affair wasn't anything that directly involved the DRIFTWORKS community and therefore the thread was 'pulled'. It had however got it all out there for people to see. Just to put that 'legal' side of it into context, I'd checked everything through with my solicitor to clearly avoid any 'slander' allegations and paid for a barrister to go over the case and they all stated that it was very clear cut......slander was not an issue at all with regards to what was completely factual. It's been what 2-3 weeks now and, hmmn....still haven't heard from his 'solicitor' (the one incidentally that I'm guessing he binned when he got his 'mrs' to take the fall!) 2 and a half years of evidence: legal documents, emails, photos, video the lot. 3 files worth just waiting. The thing is, if he'd just given me my money back, nobody would be any the wiser. He's been very quiet recently though! wonder why???? My RX' rant over....really sorry, back to the 'Z' more pics to follow

Hi my name's Pez, I've been a forum member for a while, though have been really busy with work so not been able to post much unfortunately. I bought my 'Z' off Matt (Exeter) back in '07; for those that knew it back then it was a tidy example of a '91 TT manual, relatively stock apart from a HKS Super Dragger exhaust, Apexi induction kit, KYB shocks and a 99 spec rear spoiler. (I actually stumbled on an old thread of his; would have been about the time he sold it to me, he then went off and bought himself a big old American fuel gussler van) It was decent enough but eventually I tired of the lardy arseness of a stock 'Z' and decided that it was nowhere near enough for me. After a PAX compensation payout, I looked to import something a bit different. After toying with the idea of importing a Skyline GTR R33 & R34, and deciding that I couldn't justify (in my wifes eyes at least) spending £34k on a car, I kept looking, eventually I stumbled on a nice looking example of a fully re-built immaculate 1995 600bhp Wide body Mazda RX7, which after speaking to the UK based importer directly, I decided that it was the car for me. I paid up and imported the car from Japan (and God do I wish now that I hadn't). 1995, fully rebuilt and immaculate it certainly wasn't! After paying out in excess of £20,000+ and getting shafted by a 'now exposed con man on the DRIFTWORKS forum' I resided to the fact that I would never see my money again or the RX7 that I had paid for, so rather than mope on the issue I focused my efforts else where. Where to go from here? Well it just so happend that I'd kept my 'Z' with the intention of selling it on once the RX7 arrived; obviously that never happened so after a bit of pondering I ploughed all of my efforts (and money) into making my 'Z' the car that I wanted it to be all those years before. This is how my 'Z' used to look on completion of Phase 2: http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/220.jpg **Note: I won't touch on Phase 1 'cos it was pretty nasty! not fibreglass shite but just wrong** however, despite spending a substantial sum of money, I figured that the lardy arseness was still a major issue. I made the decision that in order for the car to be realistically 'driftable' on the track the car needed to lose a considerable amount of excess weight and so began the 'diet!' The car was stripped to a bare shell, where I proceeded to relieve it of anything and everything that served no purpose. (I'll take this opportunity to highlight that fact, 'drift!', from the outset the focus of 'Phase 3' was to prepare the car for the track, if you're a 300zx pureist, you may want to steer clear of this thread) Most people say that the Z32 isn't a particularly good car for competative drifting......I say that's bo**ocks! Cooling issues aside, the Z32 is a tidy cr to get side ways. The drift scene is severely lacking in 'Z's to fly our flag. This will change I'm sure. There are a few 'Z' drift builds on going, so I thought I'd share mine and get some feed back. Every single aspect of the car was stripped: -all carpets, trim, sound deadening was removed -the dash, heater etc were ripped out and replaced with a custom carbon fibre/military grade aluminium mesh half dash -All glass was removed (bar front windscreen) and is to be replaced with Lexan -cabon fibre blanks are being made to replace the rear quarter windows -the bonnet, boot, targa panels, front panel, overfenders, skirts, fog lights, front fenders are in the process of being switched for carbon fibre parts -full 6 point roll cage, with side bars has just arrived from the US -70" carbon fibre GT wing is ready to replace the old 'small' 60" wing -carbon fibre rear diffuser has been fitted -custom straight through decat exhaust on Labree down pipes have been fitted and a custom side exit twin exhaust is currently being manufactured -all doors have been stripped of any excess weight -all steering/supension has been replaced with upgraded after market parts from TEIN/STILLEN/WHITELINE/DRIFTWORKS -18" Volk Racing CV PRO (3 piece) split rims, have been replaced with much lighter and wider 18" Volk Racing CV PRO (1 piece) -Fuel system is currently being replaced with a 22 gallon US imported FUAL SAFE fuel cell with built in cut off & fire extinguisher system -complete fuel system rebuild, twin 044 Bosch pumps utilising AEM EMS/fuel components, upgrading the NISMO 740's for larger injectors -AEM electronic ignition fuel sytem -RACE TECHNOLOGY DASH 2/DL1 (data logger) system/VIDEO 4 (on board EMS compatable video) -full brake upgrade 12 pot (380mm) & 6 pot (356mm) -Takata 6 point harnesses -cooling is provided by AEM water/methanol injection, upgraded PACE side mounted intercoolers, Koyo rad, HEL oil cooler, carbon vented nose panel, carbon vented bonnet, carbon venturi ducts -the current carbon fibre seats unfortunately aren't FIA approved so will shortly have to be replaced Full engine spec will be posted tomorrow: Carrillo rods, Arias pistons, NISMO 740cc injectors (upgraing shortly to larger 1000cc injectors), twin GT675RS roller bearing turbos etc. I'll get the full spec up and welcome any advise. 99% of the car's component have had to be imported from the US or Japan (or brought back by me from my many trips to the US) UK customs have been very good to be fair and have turned a blind eye on all occassions! bless 'em. Carbon fibre/Mil.spec aluminium half dash, NISMO GT shift knob, C's JAPAN short shifter kit, the Personal 'OZ RACING' limited edition steering wheel (1 of only 500)was a Christmas present fro my wife. http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/007-1.jpg http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/018.jpg http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/016.jpg Loads of DRIFTWORKS goodies, TEIN TYPE FLEX coilovers (with EDFC), STILLEN anti roll bars, CZP & WHITELINE droplinks http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/017.jpg http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/012.jpg http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/013.jpg Full weld in roll cage imported from the US (primered just to stop the surface rust in the mean time) http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/003.jpg http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/004.jpg Twin JWT pop chargers and Z1 Doolz kit, HEL 19 row oil cooler, twin Bailey BOV's (some tatty looking SAMCO hose in there at the mo that'll need replacing shortly) http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/009.jpg Some of the AEM parts that made it through the 'volcanic ash cloud' (hopefully more to follow over the next few days), TEIN and BLITZ parts = loads of wires = Japanese insruction manual = loads of smacking head off garage door in frustration!!!! can't wait..... Z32 balancing on 2 x space saver wheels....not really.... obviously just extra safety measure if 4 tonne axle stands don't surfice. Carbon fibre overfender just tacked on to cut and prepare mould for custom carbon kit. Quite lucky with the Volks offset, as they are a perfect fit for stock arches, the brakes (not fitted in the pic) push them out a bit but I need to play with the geometry and possibly add spacers on the rear. http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/006.jpg Carbon fibe rear diffuser (I should have all of the front and rear lower arms replaced with the DRIFTWORKS parts within the week) http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/037.jpg I'm preparing a full build portfolio (sifting through about 800 pics) to add to the thread, I'll post some decent pics of the build over the next few days. Loving the forum fellas by the way........

Hello mate, where abouts in Hereford are you. Are you looking for a decent z32 or a summer build project? Only reason I ask is 'cos I've got a spare old Z32 rolling shell, or if you're after something a bit different I've got three Z31's (1 N/A stripped for drift, 1 NA tha runs well but needs a bit of TLC on the rear arches and a Z31 write off but Turbo varient with only 50k on the clock), you can pop around for a brew and take a look at my own track prepped Z32 for ideas if you fancy. Not trying to hi-jack your thread and sell parts mind just not many 'Z' owners in 'H'

scum is about right. I figured that the legal route was the best bet (not my first instinct if I'm completely honest) but definately the most sensible, level headed option; all too easy to get hot headed and do something stupid. I'll leave it to my legal team to get a result, was just wondering if anybody here had, had a similar experience. RE: Sand, yeah not my favourite place in the world but it pays the bills.

Firstly my appologies for not having introduced myself properly before jumping on the forum and asking for advice. I'll post a complete introduction thread with pics shortly, showing where I am with my own personal ride (Z32 TT) as well as the other projects that I'm running with (Help For Heroes charity Z32-Z31 hybrid and three Z31's - NA's & Turbo) more details to follow: I'm a bit stuck now as to where to go with a legal battle that I've been trying to sort out over the last year or so. Back in Dec '06 (Christmas day in fact), I was seriously injured in Iraq and was casevac'd back to the UK. To cut a long story short, 13 months after being injured I was awarded a sum of money from the personal injury insurance company. I was left with enough money to buy a new car; I had been searching for a while for something special (more as a pick me up than anything else if I'm honest). I found the car that I had been looking for in the form of a highly modified and very expensive example of a '600BHP 1995 Mazda RX7' that had been built in Japan and was ready to be shipped, . I spotted the initial advert on PISTONHEADS advertised by a well known company in Japan. However I found the same car (identical adverts - but for one or two additional pieces of information) for sale on ebay, by a local UK importer. I was told by the owner of the UK company that he was the only guy who was authorised to import the car from Japan. I met the guy in person at his company's premises and handed over payment in the form of a cheque in person. I was told that this is how importing was done (ie. the customer pays up front for the car and settles shipping and on the road costs on delivery-delivery time including de-registration & registration would be 6 weeks). Shipping and on the road costs would be an additional one thousand pounds. I was contacted a day or so later and offered carbon parts at additional cost and requested a set of leather seats be fitted; these again I paid for in person. However after a few months and a lot of Bull S*&t excuses later, I began to get a bit concerned. I was told on a number of occasions that the parts had been fitted and that the car had been shipped, only to be told the same thing a few weeks later! Eventually '7 months' later I recieved a phone call to say that the car had arrived. Naturally I jumped in the car with the wife and children to take the family to see daddy's new car. I was horrified to find that the car that had been delivered was 3 years older than the one that I had paid for, the engine was different (luckily I kept all pictures, copies of both adverts, all e-mails and correspondence to and from the company), the front bumper was damaged and not fitted properly, the paint work (which was supposed to have been freshly done in Japan) was bubbling and chipped, the rear windscreen was cracked and the doors wouldn't close properly. The car was supposed to be running 600BHP (even quoted in one e-mail as 700BHP) but was; according to DRAGON PERFORMANCE (who tuned the car in the UK) running at about 400-450BHP! There was a lot of fraudulent activity surrounding the other company in Japan, with a lot of inferior copies of original cars being sold to UK customers. The guy in Japan was actually called a 'conman' (quote from an e-mail) by the UK importer, only to make a comment a few months later in an e-mail that the very same company were prepping the car for shipping. Needless to say, I refused the car and asked for my money back. The guy refused and told me that there was nothing wrong with the car (I took numerous pictures of the damage and bodywork of the delivered car that prove otherwise, not to mention the small issue of the '3 year' age difference!) I was told that I would have to speak to his solicitor. I sought legal advice and was basically told that it was a clear case, the guy didn't have a leg to stand on. My solicitor asked for a total refund on my behalf; this was refused. It's been 10 months now and the guy has tried all delaying tactics possible and my legal bills have escalated (now touching 4k). The car cost just shy of 15k in total (this is how much I paid up front), so my family are currently almost 19 thousand pounds out of pocket, with more legal cost to come just to get the guy into court. The guy has since re-sold the car and when I asked him again for my money he said that he couldn't be bothered to discuss it, he claims that he only got 5 thousand pounds for the car when he re-sold it and randomly 'because the paint was so bad on the R7, it needed to be re-sprayed' therefore there was no money left!!! (so much for nothing wrong with the car) The thing is, he actually states this on several other adverts when trying to re-sell the car!! The guy is a crook but he's well known on the DRIFTWORKS forum as a 'genuine guy'. I'm sorry but I beg to differ. Maybe I'm missing something here but I don't believe that I am. I have proof of all of this and am now thinking of starting a thread on DRIFTWORKS forum and posting everything that I have, but I'm not sure if that would effect my legal standing in court. I've been assured that it can't be slander as I have physical proof and it's all 100% truthfull on my part. I have all e-mails, pics and basically everything that has gone on and just want to expose him for the thief that he is and to stop him from doing this to anybody else. Again I'm really sorry for laying this all out there but I'm at the end of my tether now. I'm a genuine, hard working guy, who just so happens to loves cars. My 'Zed' is my passion, despite my initial wish to sample the dark side of rotary power (my wife would definately agree on that one) but unfortunately I maybe a bit naive. If somebody could offer some advice I'd really appreciate it. My personal thread will follow soon and hopefully we can bounce some ideas around to see how best to tackle the Help For Heroes disability track car project; that is coming along quite nicely I might add. Thankyou all and it's a pleasure to be part of such a genuine forum Tony

Just wanted to clear up this 'Help For Heroes' charity drift car issue. this is a project that I am running, with the support of the 'Help For Heroes' staff. (A brief background) I was seriously injured in Iraq in 2006, effectively almost ending my career in the military, however with the support of many good people, that I can't thank enough, I was able to continue with my career in the Army; albeit in a restricted capacity. As a way of helping other injured servicemen enjoy life again and as a means of living a more active life I came up with this idea. A drift car that can be driven by individuals who have lost the use of their lower limbs. I approached 'Help For Heroes' and they agreed to give the project they're support. Chris at ZTECH offered a rolling shell in order to get the project underway. A project of this size; effectively a full re-build, around overseas deployments is a slow and laborious task indeed, though it is making slow but steady progress. Following this I feel that it would make sense to start a new thread showing the 'Help For Heroes' project as it progresses. I have have had nothing but good service from Chris and his guys so can't and won't comment on other peoples experiences, good or otherwise. ZTECH have carried out some good work on my own car (again another thread to follow) and considering the current financial climate it's not surprising that some smaller companies may be feeling the hit more than most. Happy to be part of the 'Z' community, so thankyou all.