martyjer

Cheers, was happy with the way it turned out. Bit more ot do but getting there all the same.

Absolutely ya, it'll do me for the time being anyway. It was just annoying to walk up to it and see those horrible marks, nice to get them some way less noticeable.

I decided today that the faded areas are so bad that I'd try cutting compound on them, if it doesnt work then I would end up spraying them anyway so might as well have a lash off the compound first. Tried it on the targas as a sample, Before: After: Went to the mirrors then; Before: After: Next was the weird piece that was faded on the back bumper; Before: After: And while I was at it I decided to try it on the scuff mark by the rear wheel; Before: After: All in all I'm happy with the results, I know they're not 100% perfect but when you stand back its a lot less noticeable, I'm delighted the horrible scuff is gone off the back, and I think the back bumper looks a lot better too.

Hellraiser thats exactly the type of thing I was wondering could you do! That would do the job nicely! I'll try the T-Cut and the colour restorer on the other bits, hopefully it'll do something to bring it up a bit. Cheers all. :)

Cheers Stu, would you reckon so that a cutting compound would go towards getting some of the colour back? I've worked with resin before so might try that on the front bumper to fix it up.

Ya its the front bumper thats really annoying me at the moment, if that was sorted then the rest would just be simple enough. Think I might chance spraying the mirrors and targas. The dent in the rear I'm going to try and pull out using the 'dry ice' method, if that doesnt work then I might bring it to a body shop all right. If I was able to get a good paint match it might be easier to do it myself, the paint is pretty good in the metal panels, as in unfaded, so it should be close to the original stock code.

Hi all, spent the day washing and waxing the Z today and there are a few areas which are seriously letting me down. I got rid of pratically all the swirl marks and minor scratches and scrapes, but there are 4 areas in particular that I have issues with, mainly due to fading. I have called them the 'plastic' parts of the body though there is prob a better term for them somewhere. They are; 1 - The lower part of the front bumper, its also cracked but at least if I could get it sprayed or do something to it it would make it look miles better! Is it better to replace or spray? Can the bottom piece come off seperate or is it all part of the front bumper? In other words to replace would I need to get a whole front bumper or can I just get the splitter section? 2 - The mirrors are faded, not a major issue but one I would like addressed. Any way of refurbing these or restoring the colour without a respray? 3 - The targas of course, again can the colour be brought back easily? You wouldnt think a small area like that would make a noticeable difference to the visual impact of the car but when the targas are off it looks so much better cause the faded area is removed. 4 - The back bumper, bit more of an issue with this one, few deep scratches, and a scuff mark where it seems like a black plastic bumper off another car has rubbed it, thought it might T-Cut out but it didnt, its definately a surface mark only though so there must be some product to remove it. Other than those items she came out pretty good and shiny, was surprised actually the difference 3 coats of wax made to her, mightnt show up great in the pics but in the flesh it looks a lot better than it did. If I could get those items addressed though she would look pretty much as she did in the good old days I reckon. Oh and heres a pic that just came to me as I was going out a car park as the sun set, just one of those moments. :)

Nice Z's on show, saw pics of them on the FTO site, (first FTO show I've missed cause I'm in NZ, :( ) Good few lads took pics of the Z's there, said the day was sickening with the weather and the drag was a washout.

Nice one mate, thanks!

Suppose you couldnt tell me which of the fuses in the pic below is for the lights? My diagram is written in Japanese, which isnt my strong point. Thanks. :)

Nice one, thanks lads, I'll try that. Might get me a step closer to getting her back to A1 condition. :)

Got around to starting to sort out a few bits and pieces for bringing the Z up to scratch again, and instead of having one headlight blown, its actually both of them. Obviously my first thought was bulbs when it was one, as the nearside went first, but I checked the bulbs and the filament seems intact. My next thought was it must be the relay, so I swopped the dims relay for the other one in the fuse box which is the same, (cant remember what it was for), but that didnt make a difference. Now I'll try getting bulbs anyway but I think its too much of a coincidence that 2 bulbs would blow in such a short timescale together. I'm just wondering is there anything else it could be? I cant think of anything other than bulbs or relays, and the switch is working cause the lights by the fogs come on all right. Thanks.

Ah perfect ya, the Idriums last for the same, 60K, just thought that maybe the standard are the ones that need to be changed every 15 or 30 or something.

Thanks Chris, I'd be only getting a Nissan filter all right, dont really trust some of those universal ones, thats like putting cheap oil into the engine, it'll work but the gains wont be as good. If the 10W40 works I think I'll go with that, I find the 5W30 just a bit too viscous, I know the engine can get used to it after a few changes but it was never around when Z's came out first I dont think, so I dont think it should be used in them now, reason I dont put it my other car either. As regards the idriums, I have them in the fto and never had any issue with them, main reason they are in that though is that the rear engine manifold has to come off to replace the back 3 plugs, the front 3 are easily accessible but the back 3 are a right pain, not a thing you want to be doing that often!

Just wondering what would people regard as the items required changing in a standard full service, as in the 100,000km mark, cause I want to do one to mine for peace of mind. I was thinking all belts, pulleys, tensioners, waterpump, flushing brake system, engine oil and filter, auto transmission oil and filter, and fitting idrium long life spark plugs. Is there anything I am missing regarding a 300zx? Also what engine and auto transmission oil is recommended? I presume like most Jap cars of the era that the engine oil will be 10W40 semi-synthetic, and that the transmission oil needs to be D111 rated? Thanks.