Raja93

Me and Therealnips are going for sure [emoji1417]. Tickets bought when show was announced on the club. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking forward to Go Japan and the bbq!! Your cars a lovely example - enjoy it in its stock reliable form for as long as possible [emoji846]. Modifying, as fun as the results are, is like opening a can of worms on cars of this age [emoji51]. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the support and feedback. I always thought it would need rebuilding at some stage but yep didn’t expect it to be so soon - one of the many reasons I bought it was because of its meticulous service history - e.g oil changes done every 6 months since import in 2007, with a gigantic service history box. Ah well, it’s all good and will be sorted hopefully before next summer! Seems to be running ok and yep only driving it gently bentley until November hibernation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I asked Greg to forward the above findings to Jim @ PowerZed, as I knew with the mountain of bad news, I’d probably forget some of the bits he told me! I can drive it around for the last of the summer he advised, which is the saving grace, otherwise I’d be seriously peed off if she was sat on the driveway for the last of the half decent weather. I’ve asked Jim for a quote for a full rebuild and a target of 600bhp, with reliability and response a key, so I’m flexible on power targets for the sake of those two objectives. I’m hoping to get the rebuild done at the same time as the full respray in January, as the bodyshop is Jim’s recommended one in the Bristol area. This will make things much easier logistically and be two birds with one stone timings wise (respray is circa 3 months). On the plus side, the Link G4 has seriously improved the driveability of the Zed, with simple things like revs after gear changes being so, so much smoother and just the overall behaviour of the car being much better, despite the terminal problems!! She no longer runs super rich on start up which is good. Strangely, since mid-last year, I’ve gone through a year old refurbished starter motor and onto another. Earlier this year, the starter motor I fitted, began requiring two attempts to start her. Now she starts on one turn. Another plus is she is now running on a MAP sensor, so the dual MAF’s and the Selin Translator are redundant – they’ll be put onto ebay soonish when I get around to it. It's not the end of the world, as I had planned to do the rebuild in the next few years as mentioned above, but it definitely wasn't expected to be needed right now. The next step is to plan the rebuild with Jim depending on his diary, sell some organs to free up some funds and set up a Gofundme page!

The following week, Greg and the guys carried out their thorough pre-dyno checks including boost leak tests, compression tests etc. They found the turbo actuator pipework was loose and hanging off one bank, of which was the reason to the occasional over boosting (hitting a wall feeling around 4-5k revs). This has been happening for the last half a year really randomly, and on some journeys not happening at all. I haven’t been driving the car in any anger due to other issues/worn clutch and flywheel and new clutch being bedded in etc. We had thought this was due to the ecu/nistune issues. Unfortunately, this has led to the opposite bank turbo being overworked, and as a result is now leaking some oil. They carried out the compression tests and found more bad news – 3 tests were completed and are summarised in the below photo. None of the cylinders are optimal so say the least (circa 175psi ideal??), but cylinder 2 and 6 are in technical terms, fu**ed! When the engine is cold, Greg found the hydraulic lifter is collapsed and when the engine warms up after a few minutes and the oil begins flowing well to the head, they release. This explains the cold start idling issues that I’ve always had in the year and 6 months I’ve had her.

I took her upto Protuner in Coventry on Friday 20th August to fit the Link G4X ECU, partly to solve the minor running issues the car has and also as preparation for the forged engine rebuild and big power, which I had planned for the next 2-3 years. The running issues were minor and very random/infrequent, of which I ruled as being caused by a dodgy Nistune chip or the butchering of the chip by Turbonoz - forum posts the previous owner (Ollie) made, findings with Protuner when Ollie had the 740cc's fitted/mapped and general research brought me to this conclusion. I set off early at 5:30am with a stop off to fill up with Shell's finest V-Power. Unlike @TheRealNips's beauty that manages over 300 miles (jealous!!), mine only manages 220-230 miles on a run, driving at or around the speed limit. Second photo is just after I arrived at Protuner, with an array of 90's Jap cars.

From Jim’s wording on the post, he mentions it’s developed the fault before collection. I’ve seen dealers prep their cars then leave it unused until it sells - especially when they have a huge amount of stock. I can only assume once they agreed the sale, they’ve gone to do a pre collection valet and test drive, make sure everything is in order and come across this running issue. The advert might have been accurate when they parked it up for sale. It’s just like when I sold my full main dealer history mint Lexus hybrid. When I put it for sale it was fine, but because it had an undersized 12v battery from the factory, the battery died whilst it was sat for a month (common issue with those). Anything can happen when cars sit for a while. Who knows - just a guessing game... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When I bought my daily driver last year, the dealership didn’t take it off eBay for another 3 days after I collected it. I’ve also seen before with people not removing the advert until the buyer has actually turned up and collected it, in case they’re a no show etc. Jim mentioned the buyers not collected it yet, so might be that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m sure the maintenance interval for the 60k/120k service is 60k miles or 48 months! 48 months might be a bit OTT for a stock NA car, but still should have been done plenty of times by now for cars of this age. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This ones been listed quite a few times over the last couple months. Someone on here was looking at two red zed’s and bought the other one. I remember mention that this ones bids were likely being inflated by fake bidders etc. No idea if the car is a good one or not. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would contact Greg Gush at Protuner for advice. I recently had a Link G4X ecu fitted with them and they knew instantly what heat range spark plugs I should have and fitted them for me to suit. If you give him your engine spec as per your post, he should be able to confirm. Failing that, ask Jimmer at PowerZed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve not used any of the above mentioned products but I really do rate the Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil, which works wonders on old leather. Used a few times, it makes rock hard leather nice and soft again, and continues to condition. It is pricey though. I have aftermarket leather, so no idea how it will react to OEM leather (if that’s what you have). Best to sample a small area first before doing the whole seat as they advise, but saying that I’ve used on 5-6 different cars as well as furniture and always had the same fantastic result. Link: http://www.motorgeek.co.uk/cgi-bin/ecom.cgiCommand=ShowProduct&db_pid=129 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s been linked to the parts supply shortages for new cars so less new car production - I assume once the supply chain sorts itself out, the common second hand car prices/demand will ease off. As to cars like ours, they’ll probably continue to rise, especially as the modern sports car gets more and more dull. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry won’t be able to make this now. Have a great time guys and look forward to seeing some pictures! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These guys sell some seriously nice cars. They’ve got a YouTube channel showing how they restore some of these cars to brand new condition - a great watch IMO. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@E8VEN What he says ^^^^ Yeah I changed them all last November - she feels brand new. It was a great handling car already, due to good previous owners and a new of coilovers just before I bought her, but the bushes just finished it all off. As the bushes essentially removed the last of the slack, the ride was a touch too firm, so I had to soften the coilovers by one notch on all four corners which resolved the issue. Highly recommend doing this job.

A lot of the big Youtube car channels are sponsored by Avalon King, and you can get decent discount codes through them e.g. Tavarish, Legitsreetcars. Visit the channel and on each video in the description should be a discount code link. Driftworks recommended this one to me for my wheels: https://www.carboncollective.com/product/platinum-wheels-ceramic-coating/ I applied it in March this year - absolutely fantastic product which leaves the wheels constantly clean. Makes cleaning them an absolute breeze. Can be applied to brake callipers which I have also done. Highly, highly recommended.

Sounds great - good time to have the car back on the road temporarily, enjoy the last of the dry weather. Looking forward to the seats retrim - I need to get my full interior done at some point.

I remember you mentioning there was plenty more to do, but what a major milestone achieved, especially with no advisories. I noticed the last couple had the rad support and other rust mentions! What’s the next big thing on the to do list? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s great news, very happy for you. All that work paid off in the end [emoji846]. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah I see, sorry must have misread. Mine passed it’s last MOT so I’ll measure the height of my lettering if that’s helps, and let you know. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have the slim size front plate which the website confirmed was Uk Legal: 330x89mm (13x3.5in) I bought it from a company called Plates For Cars Ltd: https://www.platesforcars.co.uk/designer.php?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImNnm6OO68gIVAe7tCh2RdAleEAAYASAAEgJgw_D_BwE What makes it legal is the letter spacings, font size and that the plate needs to show the supplier postcode and supplier name I believe. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Perfection [emoji846] Well worth the back pain! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All still going ahead as far as I’m aware. The list of members going are listed up this thread but have copy and pasted them for you below; 1. Lexx (if the car is back in one piece!) 2. Tony2019 3. Kleon 4. Aff68 5. Naz27 6. Micheal Benjamin 7. 300zxsam 8. Georgina 9. Scottstubbings1 10. Coopd 11. JKP300 12. Pastorjay Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve seen this one on eBay and it looks really clean to be honest. I haven’t seen it in person or know the owner unfortunately. Bodywork looks really good as it’s had a respray and interiors been retrimmed cleanly which is great. The worth is really in the cars maintenance, rust free body, accident damage free and resolution of the common faults and completion of maintenance such as; - has it had the 60k/120k maintenance kit done relatively recently? - regular oil changes any other fluid changes? - has the ptu been changed for a phase 2 one? - are the injectors the original phase 1 or the phase 2 upgraded? - does the gearbox have crunching in the higher gears? (You’ll have to look up which ones are common - I think it’s the higher gears?) - how long ago was the clutch/flywheel done? - can you get any current photos of the chassis to see if there’s any rust in the sills, brake lines or generally anywhere else? - ask what garage it was maintained at? If PowerZed then it’s likely to be decent, however if it was maintained at places like outlaw customs or LA autos then run a mile and don’t look back. Its all well and good getting a Zed for a decent price but if you have to carry out all the above maintenance, then they can become very expensive indeed! If the cars maintenance history and underside/chassis is as clean as it looks from the photos, then I’d say it is worth the money or near to the asking price.