m0n1xX3r

Hi everyone, I've found a crack through my front bumper adjacent to one of the intercooler vents (I've got a '93 TT in black). TBH you wouldn't even know it was there unless you were looking because you basically have to lie on the ground to see it. However, it does mean that one side of the bumper is ever so slightly lower than the other and it does occasionally catch the odd speed bump. Annoying thing is I know exactly when it happened, and it's completely my fault because I approached the ramp into Staples car park just slightly too quickly and caught it on the way up - I wasn't really paying full attention to how steep the ramp actually is. Point is, I know it's there and I'd like to get it sorted. Question is can it be fixed or do I need a whole new bumper? If the latter roughly how much is this going to cost (including respray)? I guess the related question is would I be better off going for an aftermarket bumper (although that's clearly a slippery slope ;) ). Thanks guys, really appreciate the help and advice. Bart

I think you might mean the one in Ken2's post if you scroll down a bit on this thread: http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=55268& Hope this helps.

Nooooo... not an XR2i. Back home they used to be the ultimate boy racer-mobile, although I haven't seen one for ages now (can't say that's a bad thing though).

Yeah, very old-fashioned. What's really weird is the number of them that have a carpeted (yes, carpeted) dashboard. Imagine that in tan. I guess it's probably a good thing if you're in a hot climate because it means you don't burn your hands if you touch the dash getting in/out or whatever, but it looks truly terrible.

Hmm, trainspottery moment here. Pretty sure KITT was a Trans Am and not a Firebird. Anyone know for sure?

Yep, it's minging.

Yeah, *MASSIVE*. And all their cars seem to have unbelievably large cup-holders (unlike my zed - not a single one). I had this Ford Explorer that must have had at least 10 cup holders in it - 6 of them just for the front seats. Completely bonkers. I also had this Chrysler Sebring convertible with full leather and all the kit inside. Not particularly quick, but a really nice car, if perhaps a bit old-mannish, and it wasn't too bad if you dropped the autbox into 3 (or sometimes L) for overtaking (had PNRD3L). Only had a 2.7 litre V6 though, which I seriously doubt puts out anywhere near the 220bhp of the V6 in the NA zed.

True. It must be a real skill to come up with an engine that bad. Unless there's something fairly obvious I'm missing, like these things producing a mind-blowing quantity of torque... but I really can't see it being that great.

Unbelievable. Only in America, eh?

...which is why I'm on here posting rubbish. :) My sleep pattern is so screwed up at the moment. Doing my head in slightly so I'm going to catch the late showing of "A History Of Violence" methinks. Anyone seen it?

Be glad you don't live in the US then. Most of their roads are in quite poor condition (potholes, cracks etc), particularly in California, where the state legislature is particularly short of cash. It's true to say that many of our B-grade and lower classification country roads are in better condition than most of their freeways. Personally I was really surprised by this given how much Americans love their cars, but it really is the case: I covered about 3500 miles over there in around 3 weeks through California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Texas. As I say, California is by far the worst, but none of them are great.

Got a mate with a Mazda RX-8. It's a nice car, but what's with the fake-metal plastic trim all over the interior (it's a kind of grey silver color)? It's even down the sides of the centre console transmission tunnel. Why do they do this? It really spoils the car, which otherwise is very nice. Why not just use real metal? It'd look ten times better.

What do you lot reckon to this bodykit? Bomex kit Quoted price is USD $874.99, although I've no idea what the shipping would be, nor whether or not they'll ship to the UK. And then of course there's VAT and import duty. In general what do you guys think about fibreglass kits? Are they up to scratch or are there better alternatives?

10 Z32s of various types in California (mainly LA) 4 Z31s in LA 2 Z32s in Texas After other comments I really wasn't expecting to see that many, but the ones in Texas were a real surprise. I'm not so sure about the whole tan interior thing though... seems to be quite common on American cars. The hire car some of my colleagues had was a Ford Taurus with a tan interior and the centre console / stereo highlighted in... matt black... mmm, nice. Honestly it looked awful; who on earth do they get to design these things?!?

Erm, it's a bit like a Vectra with a big spoiler and different headlights. Not a fan.

Saw plenty of despoilered zeds in the States. Was thinking of doing it myself but am less keen on it than I was. I quite like the stock look (although I need to get a fibreglass replacement because mine is starting to flake quite badly), but I also like some of the mid-level jobbies (see Apache's earlier post). '99 spec like Greg's is good as well.

Hey apache, what type is that spoiler? Looks similar to some others I've seen but the angle matches that of the car body, which looks much better IMHO.

Nice car. Like Viniboy I wouldn't swap but you might get some interest on here. That said, a £2000 zed may not be the best investment in terms of it might have a few problems, although there is some lucky get on here who paid about that for a pretty mint example. Can't remember who though.

I'd say generally mid-90s American cars are best avoided: can't think of a single one from that period that wasn't butt-ugly. Even the Corvette went through a bit of a rough patch then, although it's now looking much better again.

No, I'm with you: I don't think that's in any way sad. Sounds like a bit of a result as a matter of fact.

Anytime. Sounds like you're building one heck of an ICE system. Wouldn't mind seeing pictures when you're done if you've got time to post any on the board. Cheers, Bart

The only thing I would say is that the system I bought is advertised as being DAB ready in the UK, in that you can plug a DAB tuner into it, whereas I've obviously got the US version, which claims to be XM ready. I've no idea what that means, although I assume it's a similar thing to DAB, but no idea whether or not it's compatible.

I bought my stereo from a place on eBay: http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=expressbuy101, http://stores.ebay.co.uk/EXPRESSBUY-101-SHOP. They weren't the quickest to ship in the world, although they did warn of that in the advert. I bought a Pioneer DEH-P 80 MP MP3 for £229 including two speakers and a time when the head unit alone cost £400 in Halfords (this is going back about 6 montsh), so it's probably worth a shot. Only thing is I don't know if they're selling any Pioneer stuff at the moment.

Right, I'm so getting this game for when I get back off holiday. Love to play online sometime if that's OK. Will get my arse whipped, but it'll be a laugh.

Yep, go directional. Do a google search for "yagi" and "cantenna" and roll your own from a Pringles can. I used to work for an ISP down in Dorset (this is going back 3 and a half years), and we trialled some home made antennae and got good signal over about 13 miles (or something like that) line of sight I seem to remember. Portland Bill to some hill just inland from the Chesil bank. So directional *is* probably a bit overkill, but will work a treat.