DTA (UK)

Hi Jack, What you've got is yet another version of US-spec cars. Early US-spec 300's had the indicators in the front corner with the side lights right behind the indicators. Later models had "cornering" lights in the front corner, side lights just behind them and the indicators in at the front of the bumper where the JDM foglights are. It's all very confusing and due to local regislations, etc. Dan

In some cases, where the front bar fouls on the underside of the bonnet it is advisable to remove a small patch of the heat shield (I did this on my own car). Other than that it fits fine. I'm not at home to check on stock but will do so later and let you know what I've still got. ATB Dan

Not so Rich - I know of at least four other 99-spec Zeds, three NA's and one TT. Two of them are in Birmingham and the TT hails from Worcester. Not sure where the other NA resides. Dan

They are functional however I can no longer get them through my original supplier as they have discontinued fabricating them. I have just a few left in stock at the moment. They look similar to the one in the pic posted by daves_new_zx but the ones I have are made from solid aircraft grade aluminium as opposed to hollow/extruded aluminium of the ebay ones. Also, the strut supports on my braces are more solid than the ebay ones. Our strut braces were made by the factory that makes Cusco braces and are therefor of superior quality than the cheap knock-offs.

Thanks for the reference David - much appreciated! The ConZult is a PC based diagnostic kit which can be used to (a) run full engine/transmission/AC/HICAS diagnostics (including fault codes and selflearn parameters, (b) provide real-time feedback of all sensors, © provide workshop tools (ie resetting ECU, setting base idle and TPS, disconnecting fuel pump, etc), (d) provides data logging, playback and analysis and (e) EPROM analysis/backup. It's the most advanced, yet user-friendly diagnostic package currently available. It is used by enthusiasts, Nissan performance specialists and Nissan franchise dealers alike. Please let me know if you require any further information. Dan

Thanks Vijay! Yes, the ConZult is a PC based diagnostic kit which can be used to (a) run full engine/transmission/AC/HICAS diagnostics (including fault codes and selflearn parameters, (b) provide real-time feedback of all sensors, © provide workshop tools (ie resetting ECU, setting base idle and TPS, disconnecting fuel pump, etc), (d) provides data logging, playback and analysis and (e) EPROM analysis/backup. It's the most advanced, yet user-friendly diagnostic package currently available. It is used by enthusiasts, Nissan performance specialists and Nissan franchise dealers alike. Give me a call if you require any further information. Dan

The brace in the pic above will fit but (a) will most definitely foul on the underside of the bonnet and (b) is more for show than function. With respect to organising a group buy on good quality strut braces - I'd be happy to organise that. I can get hold of Carbing (front/rear) as well as the TokyoAuto item (although this will take longer and is more expensive than the Carbing strut brace). When installing the Carbing front strut brace you will more than likely need to replace the throttle cable cover with a carbon fibre one which has two slots cut into it to accommodate the brace. Let me know if there is sufficient interest in organising a GB. I can't confirm the price of the TokyoAuto strut brace without first contacting them but the last one I imported and sold went for around £300 if memory serves me). For a Carbing strut brace you're looking at around £250 delivered (that's £250 for the front and £250 for the rear). If numbers are sufficient this price will drop to somewhere in the region of £210~£225 depending on numbers. Stillen rear strut braces are £165 delivered and this will come down if there are sufficient numbers. Dan

Dave, The extra opening in the crystal clear front corner indicators is for running lights. Basically, get yourself some side repeater bulb holders, wire them into main light wiring loom and they'll function as side lights/running lights. The reason the hole is there is because on US/Canadian cars this is where their running lights are located (not in the front fogs like in JDM and UK cars - although in UK cars they aren't fogs but indicator and running lights). As for the rear reflectors on the side of the bumper, yes - they can be modified to accept a bulb holder (again - use a holder from a side repeater) and can be wired up to come on when the lights are switched on. £40 for a pair of crystal rear reflectors is actually not bad at all. I've got genuine Nissan ones (imported direct from Japan where they're made to order) and it cost me £115 for the pair. HTH Dan

Hi Glenn, In a word - YES. But only if you do both front and rear at the same time. If you only do one or the other then you're introducing what I call an imbalance to the handling of the car. As for the cheap vs expensive types - again the answer is yes there is a difference between the two. All the cheap ones I've seen (and most are available on ebay) are not worth putting onto the car as it won't do anything to improve the handling. The basic principle behind strut braces is to keep the two strut towers equadistant from each other under heavy cornering and thus preventing them from moving independently of eachother. It's a bit difficult to explain what happens in words - it's easier to show on the car. Anyway, the cheap strut braces will flex themselves under cornering thus not doing anything to prevent the strut towers from moving. The more expensive ones (like Stillen and Carbin) are solid types and will not flex under load. I've been particularly pleased with my new Carbing front brace and can definitely feel the difference compared to what I used to have on (which wasn't cheap either). So, if you (or anyone else for that matter) are interested in improving the handling of the car I strongly suggest installing a Carbing front strut brace and a Carbing/Stillen/Cusco rear strut brace. HTH. All the best, Dan

I'm "Lindmon Helmer" which apparently means "I'm controling and sleek with the ability to fit in anywhere" :D LOL - sounds about right! My perfect match is "Venna Kramar" who's "natural and honest with a steely exterior" ... Oh yes please! ;)

Hi Chris, FYI: both dip and main are fed from the same wiring loom. A possible reason why the "new" dip beam bulb wasn't working could be that it didn't earth properly (I take it you earthed the additional lead to the chassis)? Other reason may have been that you plugged the fixed spade connector into the wrong slot on the grey connector ... If you want to replace both dip beam bulbs with genuine H3C bulbs then I've got them in stock - just give us a shout and I'll get them out to you. Regards, Dan

It was out of a TT auto. The way you check whether the turbos are uprated is either through supplied paperwork or look for the plaque mounted on the turbo itself. Many companies (like turbo technics) will put their own metal plaque on the turbo to show the job number/serial number, etc. However, this isn't always the case which makes it more difficult to judge. I've had a quick look (between spats of rain) to see if I can find the plaques but can't see them. So the turbos may have been remanufactured with 360 degree bearings for example. I'm trying to get in touch with the original owner of the car to see if he can shed any light (and paperwork) on the situation. Dan

Steve, If you need a second engine - I've got one spare. I've had it for a while now in the hope of getting the time to rebuild it but both time and finances are conspiring against my plans. I've been told (although not confirmed yet) that the turbos are uprated. I paid £700 for it and that's what I'm after. I know the engine was good when it was taken out of the car (a 93 UK TT with 75k on the clock) but don't have compression results to prove it. As I'm only on the other side of Redditch it would be fairly simple to get the unit over to Bromsgrove. Dan

No problem - got two left on the shelf at the moment. Look forward to hearing from you soon. Regards, Dan

I'm not aware of A'PEXi doing these anymore. They can be made to order but it's likely to cost around £30-£40 for one made out of powder coated mild steel.

Basically, there is a separate channel inside the big radiator which is hooked up to the autobox. As was stated earlier, this is not an optimum solution due to the fact that there is a lot of heat transfer inside the main radiator from the engine coolant. Jap-spec cars benefit from having a separate cooler installed because it makes cooling more efficient. In UK-spec (or Euro-spec for that matter) cars, the autobox is cooled via a larger, separate cooler. This cooler was added because of the more "strenuous" driving conditions on the continent when compared to the driving conditions in Japan. In an ideal situation you'd have the autobox cooling circuit run through the main radiator first and then through a secondary cooler. Why? You want the autobox oil to warm up as quickly as possible to minimise internal damage. Running it through the main radiator will warm it up quickly. A thermostat will then block that circuit once operating temperature has been achieved and activate the secondary circuit through the separate cooler. This complicates matters more than is required under normal driving conditions but it's worth a thought or two. I hope this has cleared a few things up rather than make things more confusing ;) ATB, Dan

Baz - make sure you get an adapter plate with it to fit the Z32 maf as the filter will have a different bolt pattern than a Z32 maf. Rgds, Dan

Daz - (1) I was only offering my honest feedback. I have had more customers order A'PEXi kits off me after having been ripped of by branded copies and so called universal kits they bought off ebay than I care to remember. Together with Smithy I am one of the longest standing members and traders on this forum and most people will agree that I am a straight forward and honest trader who will always offer unbiased advise even if it means doing myself out of a sale, (2) I am not drumming up any business for myself - if you read my post carefully I do state that there are some reputable sellers on ebay but it is difficult to separate the good from the bad. 85% of my business is from non-forum owners, I therefore do not need to "drum up" business, (3) so what if I seem to be "pushing" a product which I am authorised to sell on this forum - I think you'll find that I'm one of the least aggressive sellers on this forum, and (4) I think everyone knows that you're taking a risk with every purchase you make on ebay. I take about 10 phone calls every week from people who've been sold a dodgy item or what I like to call "genuine fakes". I know that there are reputable sellers on ebay - I'm one of them. I also know that it's important for people to know all sides of the story and be offered alternatives. At the end of the day it is the customer's choice which product he or she goes for and whether or not they purchase it through an established trader or through ebay (with the risks being what they are). However, I draw the line at unrelated third parties telling me I'm drumming up business unfairly and slagging off other traders. I know of two reputable traders on ebay who sell A'PEXi gear, all others - as far as I'm concerned - need to be approached with a fair degree of sceptisism. You may get lucky and bag yourself a bargain genuine article, or you may not. And that is from experience, not hearsay.

What insurance companies are mostly interested in is anything that increases the bhp of the car (ie, chips, boost controllers, upgraded turbos, etc) and anything that makes the car more "appealing" on the exterior (ie, body kits, alloys, etc). I always found that when dealing with insurance companies that honesty is the best policy. Declare everything and they will probably tell you they're only interested in the chip and exhaust (although I've managed to successfully argue that my custom S/S catback exhaust was a direct replacement of the stock system). I have had a couple of customers who voided their policy by not declaring things like chips and alloys. One crashed his car, claimed a new front end and four alloys and wasn't paid a penny because he failed to declare his JWT chip, Boost Controller and Volk TE37 rims ... HTH Dan

Hi Matt, Don't bother with the ebay ones for two reasons: (1) many are so-called "universal fit" until you try and put it on your 300ZX MAF and find out it's not so "universal" after all, and (2) there are a lot of "fake" ones being sold as the real thing. Having said that, there are some original, proper A'PEXi's on there but would you want to take the risk? I'm the official A'PEXi induction kit reseller on this forum and currently have two kits in stock (more on the way). The kit consists of the filter, a gasket, four fixing bolts and full fitting instructions (incl. instructions on how to remove the stock air box). Current retail price is £85 plus a fiver for Special Delivery (next working day). Let me know if you'd like to order a kit - these are ready to ship now! Regards, Dan

Yes, I've done this and (a) the gurgling has stopped and (b) there have been no ill effect on the car. There are those who remove the AIV's entirely without bad effects on the running of the car. HTH Dan

I'm terribly sorry for the misunderstanding. I read the heading of the original post by TomB and understood him to be talking about the bushes, not the gaiters ... :headvswal My apologies for the confusion. However, just to finish my point about why it is more difficult to fit one steering rack bush than the other: It's to do with the amount of access you've got to the bushes. The passenger side bush is easier because (a) there is a lot of room around it and (b) it is a normal circular shape. The driver side bush is more difficult because (a) there is almost no room to get your hands in there to pull it out, (b) the fixing bracket is fiddly to return to it's normal position after you have put the new gaiter on and © the bush is an odd shape, making it more difficult to put on. Again, my apologies for the mixup. Regards, Dan

I just got a pair from Smithy. They're uprated and make a big difference. The passenger side one is very easy to change - driver side one is a pain in the you-know-what. HTH Dan PS whilst you're checking the steering, have a good look at the steering coupling. Mine had a little bit of play in it which would have been a MOT failure. Had mine replaced and am happy to report the car sailed through the MOT last Friday!

The reason the under trays are there is two fold: (a) protect the engine and airfilter from water and debris damage, and (b) aerodynamics - despite how it looks it does help channel the airflow underneath the car Granted, reason (b) is only a minimal factor but it is there for a reason. If you have removed the front under tray make sure you have the splash guard in place underneath the airfilter - especially if you're running a cone filter like an A'PEXi. HTH Dan

** HOLD PRESS ** I've just made a deal with AndyP who will from this point forward perform all of DTA's ECU socketing services. There will be a limited guarantee on the workmanship and all dealings will be through DTA with exception of the customer sending his/her ECU directly to AndyP. Andy will then (upon my confirmation of receipt of payment) socket the ECU, fit the chip and return the finished product via Special Delivery to the customer. Cost for the socketing service will be £32 on top of the £65 for the chip. I hope this will have brought the price of the socketing service in line with customers' expectations. Dan