DTA (UK)

Hi Lisa - not sure you were dialing the correct number as I've been receiving calls as usual but I've now spoken to Dave and everything is sorted. Clutch will leave here tomorrow for delivery on Thursday. All the best, Dan

Hi, Yes, the mechanic who did the flush and oil change said the diff was "tired" (in his words) but would still be ok for some time. And I'm aware that they are prone for failure (especially the rear diff.) I'm fairly certain the rear brakes are fine as the discs, pads and handbrake shoes were changed only a month before I got the car. Guess I'll have the rear bearings checked and go from there. Thanks for your feedback! Dan

Hi, Not strictly speaking a Z related query but rather in relation to my Jeep Grand Cherokee. On driving straight or turning right there is a "grinding" noise coming from the rear. This noise stops when turning left and then reappears when you straighten out. This noise is not audible at slow (ie under 5mph) speeds but rather whilst you're driving around town or on the motorway. I've just had the front and rear diffs flushed and re-oiled which seems to have made them slightly louder but did cure the annoying "skipping" when on full lock. However, the grinding noise has not changed in noise level or pitch since the above service. Was wondering if this could be diff related or should I perhaps look more in the direction of a broken wheel bearing? Any and all thoughts related to the above on a postcard to ... ;) Many thanks! Dan

Go to the source ... phone Luke at the ZCentre and ask him - eliminate any guess work.

Marcus is correct, you can retain the HICAS functionality if you install a boss kit with the appropriate plates. I currently have one such boss kit in stock (roughly £92) which also has the connections and buttons to retain cruise control. Very easy to install and will fit most aftermarket wheel (including MOMO) but NOT NISMO wheels. Eliminating your HICAS is a personal choice. I think a lot of people disable their HICAS because of the perceived performance benefits. I say "perceived" because this is not always the case. If your HICAS arms, outer hub bushes and HICAS hydraulics are all in perfect working order then there is absolutely no reason to disable the system. It aids driving and quite frankly, how often do people push their cars beyond the limit (the limit of the car that is, not their own driving limits which is usually well short of the car's limit)? HTH Dan

What they are effectively doing is "passing the buck". The quality and durability of chromed parts (whether it be chromed metal or plastic) depends entirely on SURFACE PREPARATION prior to the chroming process. Granted, chroming plastic/fibreglass/carbon fibre is more complex and involved then chroming metal. However, if the plastic surface isn't 100% clean - by which I mean no greasy spots, no dust, no surface imperfections - then the few microns of chrome that is applied will eventually bubble and peel off. It is a similar story with chroming stainless steel - it can't be done directly onto S/S. The surface must first be nickel coated and then the chrome layer applied to that. Again, if the surface wasn't properly cleaned and polished prior to applying the nickel coating then the chrome coating will have no chance of lasting more than a few years at best. There is a company near to me who do special chroming projects for Aston Martin - most recently they "shadow chromed" parts for the now discontinued Vanquish S and soon to arrive DBS. Basically, they told me that they would not chrome any plastic without a disclaimer that effectively states they won't guarantee the chroming for defects. Pity. HTH Dan

Go to the website and e-mail through there ... (or try info@z1motorsports.com) HTH Dan

No - they only tend to affect idle as the pass-through gets clogged whilst the butterflies are closed.

You can clean the MAF but BE VERY CAREFUL! Try not to touch the filament inside the MAF because if this is damaged you'll need to fork out for a new MAF. If the mesh is not too badly torn I suggest you leave it in place. If it is beyond repair then take it off completely -- it is fairly safe to run an unprotected maf so long as you have good filtration (ie Apexi filter or the like). I have another suggestion for your symptoms - possibly the fuel temp sensor. Check the connector for corrosion or replace. HTH Dan

Hi K. I would like to give a balanced view of Z1 which is quite opposite to what has been described above. I have dealt with Z1 for many years and have, to this date, not had ANY problems with sourcing parts, shipping parts or returning faulty parts. Z1 is one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) Z32 parts supplier in the US and because of that they tend to get extremely busy. Unfortunately this may, in some extrenuating circumstances, result in less than examplary customer service (as experienced by Jimmer and Old_Zed). This is very unfortunate but by no means the rule. Let me know if I can help in any way. I deal with Z1 on a regular basis and have an excellent working relationship with them. Regards, Dan

In theory a good idea but in practice I think you'll find the discount is not going to be sufficiently big to warrant waiting 8+ months. I've been in this business now for about 5 years and deal extensively with our overseas suppliers, etc. Due to many factors - for example competition from China (mostly through ebay), more suppliers in the market and high taxes to name but a few - the profit margins on the majority of parts has come right down to next to nothing. It therefore becomes impossible to offer big discounts (ie more than 10%). For example, on some parts I can only add around 5~7% markup without pricing myself out of the market. That is taking import duty/vat/shipping costs into consideration. Out of that 5~7% I need to cover my overheads, insurance, warranty, etc, etc. So you can see that it would be impossible for me to offer someone (or a group) a decent discount. Not wishing to sound completely pessimistic - I don't see why you can't ask them for a group discount; If you don't ask, you don't get ;) But be prepared to accept that it may not be possible. That is not the supplier being greedy, it just means there is not enough margin on the products to offer the discount. Furthermore, the logistics of running such a long and big (££) order would be next to impossible to handle. Consider the cost of the items, the shared shipping cost, how do you divide up the import duty/vat payable, distribution within the UK, payment collection, payment transfer, etc, etc. I for one would not want to be handling such a complex order. There are just too many factors where it can go wrong. Damn, I was trying so hard not to end on a pessimistic note ... ;) Cheers! Dan

You should be able to fit 501 bulb holders in there. Those are the same as in the side repeaters so check the breakers on here for some. This is also a common part among a lot of other cars (not just Nissan) so if you have a local scrappy you may find some there. Alternatively, stick some aluminium foil on the back of the aperture - you won't notice there's a gap then ;) Regards, Dan Edit - just reread you post - I take it you're refering to the actual indicator in the front bumper and not the little hole that sits directly behind the indicators. If that is indeed what you're talking about then look for 581 or 382 bulb holders (again - check with breakers on here first). Sorry for the confusion but the 501's are for the aperture behind the main indicator bulbs ... EDIT No. 2: The picture you've just put up is for a 501 capless bulb (also known as a W5W bulb). Forget whatever I said above ...

I would me more than happy to organise a Group Buy. This may be slightly complicated as I would require a number of good quality cores to send to Powertrix before anything can be done! But that's not an insurmountable challenge ;) Regards, Dan

Thanks for that glowing recommendation Isaak! :) :duffer: coming your way next time we meet! ;) Right, to disband the myth straight away - there is absolutely no power gain to be made from replacing the stock intake pipes with either silicone or hard pipes. As for prices, yes the mirror polished stainless steel hard pipes are a lot more expensive but you will never need to replace them and they will never collapse in on themselves under heavy load. The silicone ones we do are 4-ply PLUS a liner of 1mm so you're getting a structurally superior product compared to 99% of the other ones available on the market. Prices: Hard Pipe Kit (with silicone couplers in either red/blue/black/yellow): £240 Silicone Kit (in red or blue / yellow or black by special order): £125 Shipping costs on either of these will be around £11 via courier or £19 via Special Delivery. As these are fabricated to order please expect 10~14 days delivery time. All kits come complete with stainless steel fixing bands. Please let me know if you require any further information. Best regards, Dan

They do look good indeed! :) They can be had in either full CF livery or matt black (more of an OEM look). At the moment I've only got the CF version in stock. It's "propper" CF as well - none of the 1mm stuff. It's reinforced and bonded onto the stock vents for additional rigidity. I can get these from Powertrix as part of my normal orders with them although it may take a couple of weeks to have RHD vents covered (he only stocks LHD for obvious reasons). ATB Dan

If the dash is pealing around the front vents then I've got the perfect solution! It's a carbon fibre overlay that's bonded onto the stock vent parts. It is slightly larger than the vents and will thus keep the dash down. It is a stock Powertrix part and I just happen to have one in stock. It is sold on an exchange basis whereby I send you the new kit and you return your old vents. The only catch is that there is a core charge of £50. This will be returned to you once I have received your old vents and have inspected them. If all the clips and fixing points are in good working order and there are no cracks then the core charge is refunded. If there are cracks or missing clips then you loose the core charge (unfortunately). I have attached a pic below. Price = £95.00 for the vents + £50.00 core charge + £11.00 postage via insured courier delivery (the parts are rather fragile). Regards, Dan

Leigh, Did you replace all 5 hoses that came with the kit I sent you? If not then there may still be some oily residue in the system which will need to burn off over time - give it a few days ... There is no easy way to check the rear turbo seals as you'd need to take the turbos off for that which means removing the engine. At that stage you may as well replace the turbos. If you're going for the JWT530BB's then you'll also need 5-bolt down pipes. Further to the mods you've already listed I would advise you invest in a reliable electronic boost controller as boost jets aren't the most reliable things especially at high boost. Let me know if I can help source the turbos and downpipes. ATB Dan

LOL :) That is very often done by people who can not find a 581 bulb at Halfrauds, etc ... Seems to work ok but is obviously not as it was intended. If you need any 581 silvertec bulbs let me know as they are in stock at the moment. Cheerio! Dan

Hi Jamie, The PTU is the Power Transistor Unit and is located just to the right of the driver side throttle body (on the front of the cambelt cover). The PTU regulates the firing and frequency of firing of the coil packs. The Series 1 PTU is known to have problems (especially after being on the car for over 13 years ...) and is now commonly replaced with a Series 2 PTU. This is much more reliable. You won't be able to find a new Series 1 PTU but I do have one Series 2 PTU left in stock - price = £140 + £5.85 postage. Based on the symptoms I've seen above I would suggest you try and change the coil packs first and then think of replacing the PTU for good measure and to eliminate any future problems. HTH Dan

Hi Nick, Sorry to hear about your clutch problems. In anticipation of your bank manager's response - here is what I can offer you: RPS Max Street Clutch (TT): £425.00 (in stock) RPS Lightened Flywheel: £425.00 (approx. 7 days) Delivery (UPS): £20.00 I hope the above info gives you enough to think about. All the best, Dan

Nissan used two versions of bulbs: 382 - featuring "opposite" pins 581 - featuring "120-degree offset" pins Have a look at http://www.smithys-place.co.uk/bulbs.php Only way to be certain is to remove the bulb from the indicator housing and have a look. HTH Dan

Correct, not only are the pipes bend in different places, the bore is also different. TT and NA systems are NOT compatible.

I'll have a RPS Max Street clutch in stock in a few days which provides 700lbs of clamping force whilst still feeling like a stock clutch. It can easily cope with 579 lbft of torque and has been used on Z32's running massive power (700+ bhp). £425 + £15 shipping. Regards, Dan

james, I'm with Darrell (Coopers-SWB) on this one - it sounds like there is a break in the wiring somewhere. How is it connected? I take it your HID kit came with a separate ballast and relay for each side? Reading through your post it would indicate that swapping the relay wiring over to the other side didn't make any difference, therefore you can eliminate the relay wiring. The new ballast and bulb also didn't make a difference so they can be eliminated as well. That leaves the stock headlight wiring loom (and in particular the live wire) as the potential culprit as connecting up the live directly from the battery cured the problem. I think that with a bit of creative wiring you can run a separate live feed from the battery (fused of course) directly to the bulb (or relay if that's where it normally goes) and then wire the relay to the bulb and ballast. I'm not sure if the above makes any sense but that's the process I've got in my head without having seen the actual setup on your car. On a side note, you may have been better off getting a HID kit which had the relay and igniters build into the ballast - that way you have less potential for things to go wrong and if they do it is a simple matter of replacing one component rather than potentially three. HTH Dan

Only 20 produced at a customer cost of "at least" £880.000 (and in some cases plus taxes). The lucky owners were flown to Sant' Agata in January to take delivery of the keys and as of a few weeks ago the first customer cars have started being shipped around the world. The one in the pics above was delivered to Lamborghini Las Vegas where it was displayed during the introduction of the new Lamborghini LP560-4 (aka Gallardo replacement). I believe it has since been delivered to its new owner. There is only one coming to the UK with Lamborghini Birmingham taking delivery of it in the next few weeks. The Lamborghini Club have been offered a special "preview" evening ... I just hope I get an invite! There are such divided opinions on this car ranging from: "it's just a LP640 with an ugly body kit stuck to it" to "it is the ultimate in Italian design, form and function" Whatever catagory you fall into there is no escaping that Lamborghini have done it again - they've created a supercar that evokes debate around the world. I'm keeping my opinion to myself until I've seen it in the flesh.