Raja93

Picked the Z up from the bodyshop last Sunday - what fantastic weather it was, perfect for the fast drive back down the M4 😎. My friend was driving behind me and liked how everyone moved out the way for me in the right lane haha. People never move out the way when I’m in my daily E46! Anil never fails to impress; he completed the following works to an impeccable finish 👌🏽:- - 3 stage polished the car, took out the lacquer burn which Topaz failed to even notice. Ceramic coated entire car with some high end stuff with the help of a professional detailer friend who works on Ferraris/Lambos etc - Straightened out my drivers sill/arch bottom and passenger one that the tuner bent. Applied a corrosion proofing wax to sills too - Replaced my taillights with new ones. The ones had melted at the bottom to the car frame, due to the last august 40c heatwave when it was left outside for a bloody month!! - Refixed the drivers targa a pillar rubber that he incorrectly fitted - Repainted the roof around the T-Bar that melted due to the last August heat, as a favour free of charge - Touched up a scrape on the brake master cylinder so looks new again - Refixed a small area of the new spoiler that lifted a bit - Realigned my doors as he noticed they weren’t flush anymore Even after the Topaz PPF and supposed ceramic coating, the PPF area looked great but the rear I had thought never looked as good as it did when I first saw her after the respray back in May 2022. Now it looks just as beautiful as it did a year ago, so very very happy. Back to its former glory! Its all those extra bits he does FOC (like Jimmer) treating it like his own car 😍😃.

They did sell yes. Sorry I thought I closed the ad.

Went down to PowerZed on Wednesday, left at 5:30am with my friends driving my daily down in a convoy. Always a good drive down the M4 😁. Got my oil and filter changed, power steering J hose swapped for a genuine item, coolant leak fixed which was due to my original rad to engine coolant pipe pitting by the hose join, letting fluid seep out and my BDE transmission mount swapped for a new Nismo one. My old transmission mount was powdercoated and new hardware was sourced, so all fitted squeaky clean. I polished the beautiful Kakimoto exhausts with some Autosol, whilst they were off the car and they look brand new again! Dropped the Z off at the bodyshop afterwards to:- - refix the targa A pillar rubber which wasn’t put on right on the passenger side - fit replacement tail lights as my original ones cracked when the tuner left it out for a month in last years august heatwave - fix the drivers side sill which the tuner bent, minor straightening of the passenger one - sort some heat damage to the T bar area paint from last august and polish out some lacquer burn. They’ll finish it off by a 3 stage polish to the areas not PPF’d (from the doors and back) and new ceramic coating. Hoping to pick up next weekend and enjoy for the rest of summer 😍😀. Jim donated a used engine harness bracket for the left of the plenum as the loom is loose currently - worried it may damage the left strut tower paint from rubbing. Going to powdercoat and fit it soon. Got a plan to refinish all the throttle linkages - Jim suggested he could send me some spare bits he’s got so I can refinish at my local metal platers, then I can go down to him to simply swap it all over, rather than have any downtime.

Guess powder coating is a fit and forget option so probs best for long term 👍🏽

I always sorted my deliveries to buyers via Parcel2go so didn’t go through eBay’s system. Never had any issues that way. Ended up using DPD local or Evri via them. If you have contacted eBay direct to provide the evidence and the buyers evidence of baby accessories received! then eBay should sort it out really. Before putting the postage cost I would enter parcel size/weight into parcel2go and it would give me a fixed price for non insured and insured, for anywhere in the UK so enter that price to the eBay postage cost for the item.

Do you think very lightly keying up the surface of these pipes and clear coating them with some heat proof stuff would preserve the polished finish? Never really thought about it before but wondering if it’s possible or not.

I seem to remember on Funkysi's engine bay refresh thread that he dismantled the throttle bodies completely by taking apart the linkage rod (that connects both TB's) and the flaps themselves, so he could bore out the TB's. I guess you would have to go to that extent in stripping them apart, then tape up the openings of course and get the outsides powder coated to match the plenum. Chrome powder coating not a bad shout by Peage. Had a thought that chrome plating may be an option but came across this thread, which highlights possible heat dissipation issues with plating (makes sense tbh):

Jimmer painted it as part of the rebuild process, along with some other engine bay bits like the balance bar, so best to ask him for paint specs. I guess he just deep cleaned, light prep and paint only - it looks very OEM. The results Andrew shows with that product looks like the same finish as mine is TBH. I do like the polished look but no way I could stomach having to maintain the finish! I'd say spray it or powder coat it.

Thanks 🙂 and likewise Andrew, be great to see you and your beautiful Z - it's been too long!

This is the perfect time to get all your bolts re plated! I want to refinish the throttle body linkages (all the bits in this pic) but due to how complicated it is I’m a tad worried!

Going down to Jimmers in May for an oil change, swap transmission mount to a Nismo one, replace the power steering J hose as I noticed that’s cracking at the bottom of the power steering tank and to re seal the coolant hose from the engine to rad, which seems to be seeping at the join. Noticed my original transmission mount had some corrosion on the mating faces so dropped to the powdercoaters to get blasted and refinished and ordered all new hardware. That’ll be it for Z spending this year as I am absolutely skint now!! 😅. Now time to drive and enjoy 😎.

Finished putting the engine bay back together this morning and got out on the road. Went straight to Shell and filled up with V power and pumped tyres up. Bought one of those fancy Ctek battery chargers which reconditioned it and fully charged before I got her out. Started right up trouble free. Few pics of the engine bay below. Hard to appreciate the new powder coated bits and zinc coated bolts without seeing it in person. Driving it was absolutely glorious. Forgot the attention this thing gets - within a few hours had 3 different people talking to me about it! God Dam I missed driving the beast 😍.

Didn’t see this post until now so not the most scenic pictures but took these today on my Z’s first outing since early November! Finished off putting the engine bay back together this morning 😃. My fair lady sitting in the passenger seat of my fairlady 😬.

Sorry Tom, won’t be available on this date, otherwise I would have come since it’s not too far.

I get more excited about this type of stuff, than the big works like the engine build. Both the metal platers and powdercoaters turned it around quicker than quoted, and at great prices, so very happy. Oh so shiny 😍….

That’s a great idea! Thanks for the tip 🙂. On another note, what brand is your brake stopper? Need to get ahold of one.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I went OTT with getting both the BDE engine mounts and transmission mount. At idle the car vibrates too much, which although I don’t mind too much, I’d prefer it back the way it was. I used to have a Nismo transmission mount which had been on the car since before my ownership. Sold that to Lexx thinking I’ll never need it again - Doh! Sourced a shiny new replacement now from Amayama so all good. I haven’t brought the Z out since very early November. Once I get the tinware and bolts back, I will put it all back together and get her out and down to Jimmer for an oil change, general check over and swap out this transmission mount. Fingers crossed a nice summer to look forward to 😎.

Jimmer replaced the coil pack bolts and some other misc ones with a lovely set from Z Spec. Hopefully the refinished ones will look as good. I left the stainless steel hardware holding the arches on the frame, as I didn’t want to undo them and mess about with the bodywork alignment! In the future to finish it off, I’ll need to repaint the power steering reservoir, replace the fuse box cover, swap out the blue hoses I’ve got left and carry out the throttle mechanism/spring refurbishment. Had to be super careful when removing the various brackets due to the shiny new paint under. Had a bag full of microfibres to place under, to make sure the components when unbolted didn’t scrape the paint!

Took a couple of months for me to get around to make a start on this. The cold and being busy kept me delaying it - got this week off so perfect time. Spent yesterday stripping off the tin ware from the engine bay. Because it was a spur of the moment decision to start this week, I didn’t even consider the hardware. After getting home from the garage, I thought ideal timing to get all those bolts zinc coated - always wanted to do this since seeing Funkysi’s engine bay refurb and also a well known Skyline refurb shop who replaces every bolt with zinc coated items 😍. After dropping off the bits to be powder coated in gloss black, I went by the garage, removed some more bolts and dropped off the lot at the metal platers. Been waiting a long time to do this - every time I open the bonnet these crusty metalware bits gives me the OCD shivers 😬.

Looks much better after that clean 🙂. I find autoglym engine and machine cleaner to be great for this job.

Not bad for 30 years of service to be fair! Glad compression is consistent and ok.

What he said ^^^ Very well designed that.

Happy Birthday 🥳 😁

Ticket bought