Mondo

SWB spacesavers are sought after, are they...? *looks at the one sat in his garden doing nothing* :innocent:

That's an interesting mental image... :rofl: Meanwhile, back on topic: my electric aerial works perfectly but I've disabled it at the head unit because I never ever listen to the radio. But it's still fitted and shall remain so, just because :)

I'll be in a far better position to comment next week, Gaz. My Hicas was fixed (new arms and balljoints) by Lee Dent last week and I'm having a four wheel alignment done this coming Monday, so I'm hoping I'll be able to feel a nice difference from previously :thumbup1:

I'm nicking those interior pics, Adam - they'll look great on both Facebook and the website! :thumbup:

Let's hope so, buddy :thumbup1:

EFT :lol:

Your urethra must be enormous to fit those in...!! :ohmy:

Looks like it desperately wants to be an Audi of some sort...

I had mine out this morning, topless no less! And I'm about to take her out again too.... :biggrin:

I would've liked to come to this today, but sadly just too busy :( Have fun, guys!

My steering wheel would look nice with those then, if the piping's a wine sort of shade... ;)

Budget. Cuts!

They're here waiting for you, mate :)

I have to say, I've only ever been to JAE twice; once in 2010 (I think) with the Celica Club and last year with this club. The first year I went, I went for the whole weekend and, to be honest, I found myself a little bored quite early on. Yes, there were lots of activities - It's A Knockout against the MR2 lot was eventful - but once you've walked round and admired all the cars you like, you're a bit stuck in my opinion. Last year was a costly affair as Fran and I wound up taking two cars and, even though we only went for one night, I found that was enough. The main highlight for me was catching up with people from here and meeting members who I'd only ever spoken to online. The show itself didn't quite seem big enough for the size of the new venue and it all felt a bit disjointed. I'm far more enthusiastic about being part of a Zed-specific show at Coventry this year than I ever could be about JAE.....

I wish! Got a 1940s Humber Snipe front seat to finish, then straight on to a Supra Aerotop...!

So I'm home (last night) after an eventful and productive couple of days at Mr Dent's. :) I travelled down through the night on Sunday/Monday and got into Shrewsbury at about 6.30am. Having had zero sleep, I was pretty whacked but couldn't get comfy in the car so ended up in Tesco at 7.30 to wait for the cafe to open so I could get some breakfast. Managed to grab literally 5 minutes sleep in the car park there afterwards and headed over to the unit to await Lee and Sam turning up. Once Lee arrived, the Zed was straight in and his new interior was handed over. He seems very happy with it! :biggrin: My car was hoisted into the air and he set about removing the old Hicas arms and balljoints, ready for the shiny new ones to be fitted. While he did that, Sam swapped my starter motor for the new recon one I had with me. Once all of that had been done (no quick task, I might add!), the front bumper came off and Sam and I set about fitting the SMIC ducts I'd bought from Japtek. It turned out that they were actually designed for the 99 Spec front so didn't fit straight out of the box. A little creative chopping and reriveting from the two of us saw them fitted though. Lee put some rad flush in and installed my radiator fan shroud and that was pretty much that for Monday. Brand new spark plugs fitted too - the old ones looked to be in good health so we're taking that as an indication that my engine's in good health as well. He dropped me off at the Travelodge at around 9pm, I checked in then rang the missus, then thought I should probably get some tea. Got to Burger King to find it deserted, but thankfully not shut. Had a bite to eat, went back to the hotel for a well-earned shower and then passed out in bed! Now, I usually only manage about 5 hours' sleep a night, but I went off around 10.30pm and only woke up the next morning when the alarm went off at 8.45am! Seems like I'm getting older in all ways...! :( Hit Subway for a breakfast sandwich, then Lee picked me up for Day 2. Got to the unit and he set about aligning my rear wheels by eye - I have to say, they seem pretty much bang on to me. The car went back on the floor so I could take her for a spin to get the flush around the whole cooling system, ready to be drained. The new starter is super-fast and seems to have cured that 'orrible problem I intermittently had, so that's a win! Back to the unit, back in the air and the coolant was drained then refilled with water, run for another few minutes, then that was drained and new coolant put it. The ABS unit was bled, then all four calipers - none of the old brake fluid was left in the system at all. :) My exhaust leak was traced to the pipe that pumps air into the cats. As I have no cats, they were redundant anyway so they were capped off and voila, no more exhaust leak! Engine oil and filter were changed next, so I now have 10w40 semi synthetic in, rather than the 5w30 I had in previously. Zed back on the floor, wheelnuts were torqued up and the Conzult was connected to make sure that all was well. Aside from a slightly dodgy plug on the Fast Idle Control Valve, everything checked out :biggrin: Hands were shaken, goodbyes and thanks were said, money changed hands and that was me ready to head home. The main thing I can say about Lee and his operation at LA Autos is that he knows his apples when it comes to these cars. The passion he has for working on them and seeing them put into a good mechanical order is massive, and it seems that nothing is too much trouble for him. My wishlist of jobs kept growing whilst I was there and he never once grumbled; he and Sam just got on with things and ticked them off one after another! I can't fault him in any way. A genuinely nice guy with a huge knowledge base! As I've said before, I'm more than happy to travel for 4.5 hours to take my Zed to him and can only recommend that others do the same! :thumbup1: Between him and Jimmer, I'll get my Zed exactly where I want it :biggrin:

Thank you! :biggrin: The centre caps were made by a guy on eBay; really fast service and top notch work :)

Off to Lee Dent's at daft o'clock tomorrow morning, so I thought I'd better give the old girl a good clean: Looking forward to a lengthy drive in her, catching up with Lee and Sam (and giving Lee his interior back!) and getting some niggly issues sorted out. Should be good fun! :yes:

All clean and shiny, ready to head to Shrewsbury early tomorrow morning! :biggrin:

Mine will be getting done next week after Lee's replaced all my Hicas bits :thumbup1:

Just booked a Travelodge in Shrewsbury for Monday night, in case the work being done at LA Autos spills into a second day :)

To answer one of your questions, Richie: you have a shortshifter fitted. :)

AMS are seemingly well-known for letting other firms do all the R&D work, and then getting their "local exhaust manufacturers" (Far East, apparently) to replicate things and sell them for a lower price. Quality is apparently quite hit and miss with them. That said, I've just splashed out on a apir of AMS 3" expansion downpipes, which are a replica of Speciality Z's own design which are about double the price. On inspection, all the welds look decent and all the flage holes look to be in the right positions. :) My Zed's not going to be about extracting every last possible ounce of power, so I don't need "the best downpipes in the world" for it - I just wanted some that would make good use of both the standard turbos and the upgraded ones I'll have in the future. In an ideal world, I'd have bought Speciality Z downpipes, but my budget simply didn't allow for them. The ones I have bought look to be of decent quality though, so I'm happy with them at the moment. They'll be fitted (along with a full custom system) by the end of this month so I'll be able to report then on whether there were any fitment or alignment issues.

I can't imagine it being an optional extra. Looks more like something that someone had made up for their car, or made themselves.

That looks spanking good!! :thumbup: