DTA (UK)

Yes! 't Is true - DTA now sells the stainless steel hardpipe hits (radiator and boost pipes) and also the twin induction pipe work. They are not up on my website (http://www.dta-motorsport.co.uk) because (a) I'm in the process of setting up an online credit card payment system and (b) the website is being redesigned to accomodate the payment system. Once it is all up and running I'll put a post up on the DTA forum section and you'll be able to see all the products and pay for them using your credit card! I will have stock of the hardpipe kits in about two weeks time but the twin induction pipe work will take a little longer so please be patient. Prices remain as per Smithy's old prices: Rad kit (top & bottom, silicone sleaves in red, blue or yellow & stainless steel bands): £135 + £8 postage Boost pipe kit (4 pipes, silicone sleaves in red, blue or yellow & stainless steel bands): £225 + £8 postage Prices for the twin induction pipe work is yet to be confirmed by my new supplier. All pipe work will be mandrell bent where possible (so no unsightly welds) and polished to a mirror finish. As for the A'PEXi filters on ebay - stay the hell away from those! As it has been said by many in the previous posts: they won't fit, in the end it'll cost you a lot to receive it and get the right adapter plate made up, etc. It really isn't worth the hassle. I sell my A'PEXi's at £85 + £5 postage which is about as cheap as you can get them here in the UK. The kit is guaranteed to fit our 300ZX's and is supplied with the proper gasket/adapter, fitting bolts and full fitting instructions. If you're ordering a twin induction system with A'PEXi's I'll even do you a deal: £140 + £8 postage for two A'PEXi filters! (plus the cost of the pipework of course ...) I can honestly see the temptation of ordering the filters off e-bay but as with many things in life: if it looks too good to be true it always is! ATB, Dan

Si, If neither Chunk nor (Z)Master buys your SE box then I'd be most interested. Cheers! Dan

It probably didn't mate - the delimiting moved it to 112mph and as the noise from the engine, tires and exhaust are that loud at such a speed you can't hear it ... Dan PS - if you open the top cover of the speedo binnacle you will see two connectors right at the top. Disconnect one of them (can't remember which one) and you'll get rid of the ding dong noise. However, this also diables all other warning noises (like when you leave the lights on and open the door, etc.)

Have a look at the attached pdf file - it's the fitting instructions for the polished speedo rings - it explains which screws to undo to open up the instrument binnacle. Danny

Just got off the phone with an acquaintance of mine who imports "Euro" Exotics into Dubai. He's aparently just taken an order for a Brabus Merc CLS V12, twin-turbo which produces 730bhp and 800-odd torques! But better yet was his quote about the brakes: 375mm at the front grabbed by massive 12-pot calipers! :shock: The rears are aparently a more worldly 355mm and 6-pot stoppers! He's used to Lambos, Zondas and even the odd Koenigsegg but even this is something special for him! I think a set up like that is in order for our Zeds don't you think! Might actually stop the car ... but I expect that one front disc and caliper might cost more than our cars are actually worth! Unbelieveably yours, Dan

I know, it's because they come in separate boxes and are an odd length. Most courier companies won't accept boxes over a certain lenght just as they wouldn't accept a hugely heavy crate ... Bit of a shame. There is an option of ordering several sets of these and then sticking them in a sea freight container to the UK. I know several companies who (semi)regularly ship containers from the US. It would cut down on the freight cost considerably but you'd be looking at a waiting period of up to three months! Think I'd pay the additional dosh to get them here quickly! Cheers! Dan

. Yes Scott - he is but I've taken over the sale of the stainless steel hard pipe kits (both boost pipes and radiator pipes). He still does everything else. Dan

Dipone - I got the prices posted up in the DTA-Motorsport section of the Traders forum. Hope you're sitting down coz they ain't cheap from Stillen! Dan

Hi Neil, No I don't fit them as I'm strictly an online retailer and do not have the premises/facilities to perform maintenance and repairs. However, any competent exhaust fitting garage can fit these and I can have the system sent to them directly if necessary. Fitting can cost around £40 and takes about 45 mins to an hour depending on how easy/difficult it is to remove the old (read rusted) system. Cheers! Danny

No worries Neil - Smithy has contacted me ... Dan

Can I ask where you ordered the above from - seeing as how I'm now the sole supplier of the stainless steel hardpipe and radiator kits. If it was Smithy then I'm sure I'll be hearing from him soon ;) Cheers, Dan

Hi Neil, Mongoose exhausts are very good and retain the stock look of the car. We [DTA-Motorsport] are currently running a special offer on these: £495 delivered! You can do away with the cats as long as the car is pre-1992. After that every car needs to have cats on - it's the law. If you want to get the most out of the car I would suggest you also go for an induction kit and performance chip. For the induction kit I highly recommend an A'PEXi kit - these are the best you can get at the moment. These are priced at £85 plus £5 delivery. As for the performance chip, there are many routes you can take. We do a superb DTA Performance chip for £65 Plus £5 postage. These come with a chip socket and boost jets. Give me a bell on 07044 016586 if you wish to discuss any of the options further. All the best, Dan

Ah yes, forgot to mention about the problem you had with the conversion ... Was too far involved with the whole Christina imagery ... LOL! Yes, aparently it doesn't always work - not sure why though ... Dan

I think they are different bore sizes: N/A: 2" bore TT: 2.5" bore So, no - can't fit a N/A exhaust to a TT. HTH Dan

I got them off Splatt who was breaking his car at the time and I can't remember how much it was all together. Wasn't too dear though. You may want to try AndyZ at RiceRocket (see traders forum) for the parts. Dan

Just saw this thread appear and here is my 2p worth: Yes, it is possible to convert a Series 1 ventilation system to a Series 2 system. I did this modification about 6 months or so ago with great success. You need 2 parts: (1) a Series 2 control unit (the unit on the dash that also has the temp display and wiper buttons) (2) a Series 2 A/C ECU Swapping the dash mounted control unit is very straight forward. Remove the screws, unplug the connectors and then work in reverse to reassemble. Swapping the A/C ECU is a bit trickier and requires the removal of a lot of under dash panelling and pipe work. The ECU is located in the driver side footwell wedged between the transmission tunnel and the upper part of the lower dash (if that makes any sense) Getting to it requires the removal of several panels, the plastic air ducting and some wiring cables (which can be moved to the side). I wouldn't suggest this procedure for anyone with big hands as you're lying upside down with either the clutch pedal or A/T brake pedal wedged in your head and your hands in a space tighter than Christina Aguillera's you-know-what! :x: Oh and you'll need a flashlight to see what you're doing down there ... The A/C ECU is held in place by several screws which are a b*tch to get to but once successfully removed the disconnection of the wiring loom is fairly easy and straight forward. Once swapped over to the S2 ECU you'll have to get it back in there and secure it ... Oh Christina !!!! :wack: The result of this modification is that you'll now be able to (a) control where the airflow comes out from and (b) a hernia operation ... It took me about 2 hours to do this but I'm sure it can be done quicker by someone who knows what he's looking for. You will lose the ambient temperature display but that's a minor inconvenience. I'm really glad I did this mod as my wife has now stopped complaining that the airflow is not comming from where she wants it to ... And any mod to stop a wife nagging or complaining is great value for money in my opinion! If you have any questions please let me know. ATB Dan

Hi Kev, You were definitely on to something there ... Just had a look at this particular setting in the Device Manager and found it to be enabled for digital playback. Decided to disable it, rebooted the PC and voila! no more ticking noise! However, the sound is a heck of a lot less rich and I've lost any surround sound/3D equaliser settings ... I have to assume that the digital playback setting has been enabled since the installation several months back as I've always been able to enjoy rich 3D sound with full equaliser settings and presets. What could cause this to now go pearshaped? Any further thoughts? ATB Danny

Yes, very good stuff and nearly infinitely expandable. However, expensive doesn't necessarily mean quality ... (sorry, couldn't resist .. ;)) The only person I know who has these fitted to his Zed is Peter Nend a fellow Dutch Zedder! Dan

Yes, you can get a frequency band expander ... not expensive. Don't know which of the traders does these on this forum (I know I don't ;)) but try Luke at the ZCentre or pick up a copy of Japanese Performance Magazine and look through the ads in the back - bound to be someone who is advertising them. Hope the above is helpful, Dan

Ok - have looked through the control panel and found the "sound and audio devices". Had a look through every propperty, etc but can't see a "digital vs audio" setting to alter. Can you point me in the right direction if I'm looking in the wrong place please? BTW I'm running Win XP SP2. My next step is to reinstall the driver for the DVD-RW and see what happens. Then change the IDE cable, then buy a new unit. I can't really understand what has happened ... all is fine, play a DVD from Blockbusters and I end up with this ... :confused: Incedentally, whilst looking through the control panel I came across a DVD Regions setting (currently set to Region 2). What I found disconcerting is that according to the text I've got 4 region changes left to make before the system is locked into the last chosen region. Aparently not even reinstalling Windows will change it! Just out of curiosity, is there a way around this? Cheers! Dan

This is getting more and more peculiar ... Just "cleaned" the lens using a CD Lens Cleaning Kit ............ didn't make a difference (as expected). However, I've just ripped the latest Starsailor CD Single (In the Crossfire) to MP3 format and played it off the HDD and .... the quality is perfect! Play back the audio CD and I get the ticking noise again! :headvswal This is baffling to say the least ... guess I'll go out and buy a new DVD-RW then :rolleyes: Dan

Sorry to hear about your troubles Flairman - especially since you only just bought the car. Not a nice way to start off a "new car relationship". Oil: You put the wrong oil filter on the car ... if you compare the standard Nissan filter and the Halfords filter you'll see that the latter is far smaller in size and therefore not up to the job. Whilst your car is at Nissan get them to put on a propper oil filter. (By the way - a lot of parts listed in Halfords books as being for our 300's (ie Z32) are incorrect). When doing an oil change you need to make sure you also put oil in the filter before putting it onto the car. If you don't, the dipstick will say the oil level is fine but after you run the car it will go down as the filter fills up with oil. You've already found this out ... 4 Litres should be ok though. Don't over fill it because it may cause the dipstick to shoot out and spill oil all over the engine. Radiator: Yes, you need a hose from just under the rad cap to the expansion tank - as Yaseen explained. You also need to make sure that there is at least 600ml of coolant in the expansion tank. Not sure what the "gurgling" noise could be but there are two possibilities: (1) There is insufficient coolant/water in the radiator and therefore you can hear the air rushing through the pipes going to the heater matrix. My car does that sometimes and it is a good indication I need to perform a water top-up (2) There is water in the AIV's - although these are located on the passenger side of the car behind the back of the front wheelarch cover. Easily fixed by drilling small holes in the bottom of the pipes Cutting out: Again, several possibilities: (1) Overheating - when the car overheats it alters the timing and the car will appear very rough and lumpy. You should also notice a fair bit of detonation happening in the car (sounds like marbles in a cookie jar). As was stated before, serious overheating may cause the bottom end to fail and also cause headgasket problems. Both would be costly repairs. (2) PTU - Power Transistor Unit - this is the equivalent of a distributor in other cars and sends signals to the six sparkplugs to "fire" in sequence. These are known to fail due to excessive heat and manifest in intermittent cut-outs. If this is proven to be at fault then you're best bet is to buy a Series 2 PTU from Courtesy Nissan in the USA. I can help with that if need be. And finally, although you did the right thing by taking the car to a garage I would strongly suggest you don't leave it with a Nissan main dealer. You'll have to sell a kidney to afford their bills and their limited knowledge of these cars will likely result in a half fixed car. Take your car to one of the ZX specialists. Do a search for ZedWorld, ZTech, Zen Garage, etc on this forum and I'm sure you'll find one fairly local to you (I must admit that I don't know where Darlington is - but then again I am a foreigner ... ;)) These specialists will be able to sort the car's problems out and not over charge you. Lastly, get the cambelts and ancillary belts changed as soon as possible. This should be done at 60k and 120k miles but as there is usually little or no maintenance history with these cars it really pays to get this done asap. It will avoid potential major engine damage if it all goes wrong. Right, quite a lot to take in and think about but I hope the above will go some way towards helping you sort your car's problem. Good luck! Dan

Ok - update: I have run McAfee Spyware Remover (running latest signature file) and it came up with absolutely nothing, ie I have a clean system Played several mp3's off my HDD and they were fine so this should rule out a problem with the sound card and/or drivers. Next step will be to try a lens cleaner kit as suggested by Kev - thanks for that mate! I don't expect it to be a dirty lens as the kit is only a few month old and was fine until two days ago but it's worth a go. Failing any of the above I'll probably buy a new unit and see if that sorts the problem. Thanks again for all your feedback! Dan

I'm afraid not Steve - no socket on the front ... Thanks for thinking of it though ;) Dan

Thanks for the advise Paul! The clicking noise comes through the speakers and no, I have no other CDROM in the tower at this moment. Someone else suggested that the DVD I put in it (which was Finding Nemo for a 4 year old btw) could have copied some software onto the PC preventing any "protected" CD's from playing normally. I'll be running a full spyware scan later this morning. However, it does this with every CD (new and 10 years old when they didn't have protection on them) so it could well be the sound drivers. I've got a MB integrated sound card on my Asus A8V deluxe board so might try reinstalling the drivers and see what happens. Thanks again! Danny