Raja93

The shell was sanded today with various grit and polished. The panels were left off and being finished whilst off the car, to avoid polish getting stuck in the gaps and shuts. He used three different compounds, followed by one hand polish once all the panels are refitted. Shame the light was a bit off today and cloudy outdoors, so couldn't quite capture the finish. I did some screen shots of the videos he sent, which show the paint much better than the pictures do. She looks pretty good nude! ?

Interesting, when I checked the output quality when watching the video, it said maximum available was 720p but it automatically selected 360p! Guess it downgraded it when it was uploaded, god knows why or how. Not sure if that’s because I had naff reception when I played that yesterday or for any other reasons. Hope you manage to sort it and look forward to the next video ?. Funny I did notice the gear changes! I thought either you had stuck the cameras/mics onto Arthur’s car or you had done some clever editing haha.

Thanks so much all, couldn’t have got all of this engine and bodywork done so quickly without all the info available on this forum, and advice I’ve had from various members ?❤️. Have read and reread quite a few build threads on here to steer me in the right direction, particularly for the engine work. Feel quite lucky in regards to timing, as currently we all know who the best in the business are for engine work, bodywork and tuning. There was a time not too long ago when there were crooked mechanics and tuners ruining our cars, without many people being aware how bad they really were.

The exhaust noise made me miss mine so much [emoji22]. Great video btw, particularly enjoyed the bit where the X5 overtook twice! I have absolute zero experience filming but when I watch YouTube, the really clear videos were filmed in 1080p or 4K. Not sure what your gopro films in? It might be that YouTube doesn’t like the file format or there may be a few tricks to uploading. I would contact them direct and ask for advice, hopefully they can then tell you exactly what’s wrong. That would avoid the time wasting of trial n error. Just remembered JoelyP filmed quite a few YT videos and I remember them being great quality. Worth asking him also. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And some more progress [emoji7] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great progress this week. A forum member should be popping in there today so will end up seeing her before me! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ll be diplomatic here and say all the Zed colours are beautiful [emoji16] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep same here! The bodyshop also prefer the lighter blue. They showed me some more samples today and said the lighter one looks sooo much better in both sunlight and in dark areas. I hadn't initially noticed the darker one is more true to the original TK3 until you mentioned it - having looked at it a couple more times, you're definitely right. It was a close call between smooth or stone chip, as cars like AndrewG's swayed me to go smooth originally. I like the beefiness/character it adds to the body TBH and also the obvious protection to the body - both these points as well as the bodyshops persuasion is what swayed me back!

Some initial paint samples. One obviously much richer than the other! ? They'll be spraying samples tomorrow in various shades of light including daylight. They have this torch with something like 10 different output's of light level in K's e.g. 3000k or 6000k light, so you can get a pretty good idea of how the paint will look in all lights! Will get some more pics up after I've got those samples. Oh a random point to note is we decided to keep the stone chip! They'll be reinstating it on the side and rear bumper, which thankfully they're bloody good at doing. Initially was going to smooth the body but have been swayed the other way.

She is now in primer! Quite a thorough process they take, just to get to primer stage. 1. Bare metal 2. Epoxy prime 3. Pin pull dents 4. Any welding and repairs 5. Blocking off the entire body to make straight 6. High build primer x3 heavy coats followed by more blocking to get closer to perfection. They put the panels back on for the sake of a photo!

No worries at all! I think he got the kit from or via Z1, as he has been their customer for so long and yes Z1 will ship it to him.

Ok so the bodyshop said Jimmer sorted out the shipping. I then spoke to Jimmer and he said he believes Twin Z have trust issues... They don't want to send their kits out to any unknown people as they're worried about copycats, remanufacturing their parts etc. He got them to deliver the parts to him as he has been a customer of their's for 16 years! I would advise you to contact him to help you arrange sourcing these kits. Unsure if he'd be up for sorting a group buy or not - you'll have to ask him, as he is extremely busy all year round. I had no issues in shipping my rear spoiler, but I bought that along with a load of body trim pieces, which came in one big ass Z1 box. I guess the complete bodykits, because they're so bespoke, are the worry for them, rather than individual pieces. At least there is a way to get the bits - just involves jumping through a couple of hoops. Hope that helps and keep us updated with your progress.

There’s a guy who’s got his Z in after mine at the bodyshop, who’s bought a full Twin Z wide body kit. Heres a photo of it all laid out on their floor - that’s my Z by the way. He’s also getting a forged engine build with PowerZed. I’ll ask one of them to find out how he managed to get it shipped over and let you know. Sounds like a right pain in the backside though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just had more repair pics sent through [emoji16]... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They're hoping to be complete by the end of May, possibly few weeks earlier, but end of May at the latest. Time to now work out how long the engine install will take, so I can get her booked in at Protuner, since they need you to book 3 months in advance as they're so busy. They were equally busy when I took her up there last summer.

And getting repaired ?....

Some more photos of the drivers rear arch and also of the drivers side rear bumper bracket area, where we expected to find rust anyway, due to bubbling on the back of the inner arch.

They found some rust lurking inside the drivers inner arch. How it started in there, I have absolutely no idea! At one stage, they will fill all the inner wings and cavities with cavity wax, to help prevent hidden rust like this from cropping up. It had been on my to do list, since I bought her, but never got around to it. Glad they offered to do it without me even asking. View from inside the arch - camera threaded in via the boot:

Sorry again Tom, I know I'm useless! Can't attend this either due to lots of family events going on this weekend. Will get more free from mid May onwards though.

Hi Tom, sorry late reply, just been mad busy. Unfortunately I'm not available. If I was, I would've come along in my daily! Just had tonnes of work done to it, so would be good to get some miles on it but oh well. Next time. Have a great drive though.

I’d bite the bullet and go manual. But I’d only go manual with a brand new 98 spec gearbox. Much like buying a used auto box, although a lot less risk, a used manual box could also be plagued with synchro issues or the like. I don’t know current going rates without googling but I know my Zeds previous owner spent £2.5k on the 98 gearbox including shipping, customs etc. Plus the clutch/flywheel another £1k, then pedals ancillaries and finally labour. I guess then it comes down to available funds as such short notice!! as the rebuilt auto will probs be much cheaper and likely serve you well. As time is key, I’d message CZP now and ask lead in times for the gearbox’s, as that might help in decision making. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk