Gareth B

Is that a turbo in the foreground on piccy 1???

Difficult to say how old but was wearing shirt & tie so maybe... Nice tidy car tho.

TBH I was looking for a R33 Skyline GTS-M but couldn't justify the insurance (or the wife wouldn't!), as the car was to be bought as purely a 'toy'. Pretty happy with it though, despite its insistance to test my patience and pocket!. The 300zx does look a lot nicer than the Skyline I have to admit... What I like is that it draws so many comments from people. For example, I went and bought some brake pads for it the other night and in 2 places got very cool and respectful comments from staff about my choice of car both times...

First one I've seen around here in ages !!! Spotted this morning at the traffic lights on the A5117 near Chester, heading toward the M56 junction. Tidy looking dark blue 2+2 import. Not sure if its a member - no stickers in window, lol! I was in the vectra estate next to you going left towards Shell...

Hi Dave, Just wondering if you have a got a decent steering wheel at the moment? You've seen the state of mine, lol! Gareth

Cheers for the advice Steve, I think I will try and 'adjust' the back plates or remove them, its gonna be the easiest option. As for the calipers I want to paint them red to finish them off. I don't know what I'm going to do about pads yet, the existing ones have a fair bit of life in them. I'll put it back together for now but probably shop around for a good deal on some upgraded ones.

Right, did a bit of measuring earlier on. The old discs had a 14.5cm hole on the front but a 16cm hole at the back (which means they clear the back plate). The new ones have 14.5cm front and back, which is why they are rubbing against the back plate. I'm going to give 3G a call tomorrow for advice, unfortunatley though, I bought these disks of another forum member so I doubt there will be any recompense with 3G. The other options are either to see if I can get someone to put them on a lathe and bore out the back of the disk to make it fit (I have a machine shop at work), or to modify the back plate to ensure it clears the disks as Darren suggests. Thanks a lot for your suggestions guys. Gareth

Nothing has been 'no problem' for me on this car :cry: I don't know whether they are a dodgy set, they are allegedly the correct ones for my car (UK TT), the weird thing is the hole on the back of the disk. On the old ones the hole at the back has a larger radius than at the front, whereas the new ones have the same size of hole all the way through. I may give 3G a ring in the morning to find out. Thanks anyway Chris

Has anyone had experience fitting these disks? I've just tried fitting mine and they are rubbing on the back plate (see piccy). After some head scratching it looks as though the disks have a smaller diameter opening on the back compared to the originals (see other piccy). Do I need to butcher the back plate with my pursuading device? :smash: or shall I have to use some small spacers on the wheel studs to push the disk out a bit? The other though I'd had was that the disks haven't been machined correctly and that they should have been bored out at the back (but someone forgot). Any suggestions?

Place called Bygone Autos - they do a lot of classic car restoration but also do normal bodyshop work from what I understand. They may be more 'sympathetic' than a normal garage...

Cheers for that mate, gonna have a chat with a couple of companies in Chester and Ellesmere Port area first, heard good things about a car restoration place on the A41 - thats practically whats required! :cry: Gareth

Thanks Barry, Was looking for something local really but I'll bear C & S in mind as an option as the car could do with being serviced (cam belt etc.) Gareth

Hi Nick Bad luck mate and you have my sympathy. I must admit to having similar feelings about mine at the moment, even though I haven't yet spent anything like as much as you. It does seem as though the list of jobs to do grow faster than you can do them !! However there is definitely a point where you have to say 'enough is enough' Good luck on your next purchase and remember its only a lump of metal in the end... Gareth

Cheers John, I'll drop Mike a line Gareth

Has anyone used any body shops in the North West area that they'd recommend? Particularly for underbody work and respraying. My UK spec car looks rather sorry for itself underneath (rust) and I'm not convinced it will pass the next MOT without work. I also need someone who can respray the sill and rear wheel arch areas after I've finished sorting them out. The nearer to Chester the better...

Does anyone know if you can buy the boss that the O2 sensors screw into? Had to resort to mild violence to get out the old sensor and from what I can see I may have damaged it. :smash: Also, what size is the boss? as I will need to invest in the right size socket to remove it. Thanks

Will be good to see another Zed in Chester! Mine was wheeled out of the garage tonight for an hour then put back in disgrace after failing to change the O2 sensor. This weekend starts the long task of doing all the jobs and fitting all the bits that I have been putting off for the last couple of months. Just want to drive it now :hyper:

You're damn right! 20+ years on and I still have calf muscles like Lance Armstrong :rofl:

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll try the Plus Gas tonight (got some somewhere that I'd forgotten about) Failing that its the Vijay/Ryan persuasion method!! After that I think semtex is the only answer :wack:

I might give this a try, the cars been sitting at the back of the garage for the last 6 weeks, so the run will do it some good anyway. Are you able to get down the back of the engine with your hands? The only way I can see to do that is to remove abour 5 pipes and then the clutch reservoir is still in the way...

Did try WD40, maybe I should try again and use the whole can LOL! Cheers for the help

I have got the special crows foot socket and am using 2 extension bars to get down the back of the engine, but because there is so much flex over the length of the extensions I can't 'break' the thread... Does that make sense?

Anyone have any handy hints about getting these bloody things out?! :rofl: Trying to change the driver side one and it aint playing ball. Seems to be seized solid. Can you get to it any other way than reaching down the back of the engine with a long extension bar? Answers on a postcard please :bow:

I'm having a similar problem as I'm doing some repairs on my sills at the moment. The nearest stuff I can find that is supposed to give the bubbly effect is some Hammerite underseal stuff called Schultz. A lot of the other car forums mention it, especially the MX5 forum as most of the early MX5's seem to have a similar finish along the bottom of the panels. The only problem is that you are supposed to put it on with a compressor although I'm going to see if I can replicate the same effect some other way later this week. HTH Gareth

Why don't you give Bob at Safe and Sounds a call? his number is 0800 5422875. I'm sure he could point you in the right direction... HTH Gareth