Mondo

It lost four out of five nuts, yes.... :lol:

I'm pretty sure you said this car had 74k on the clock, so what's a 60k service got to do with anything...? Do what you want....

These are the questions I asked myself when I bought my Shortie in October 2014: Does it come with a bucketful of receipts? Does it come with a service history? Do I know for sure that it's been meticulously cared for by all it's previous owners? Can I afford a new engine if this one blows up? Based on the answers, I got it booked in with Lee Dent for a full service and healthcheck. Peace of mind... well worth the money :)

I fear you're looking at this all wrong. Your pulleys may not be broken right now, but you have precisely no way whatsoever to know how much life they have left in them. As this is an interference engine, it will most likely end up wrecked should one or more of them let go while it's running and believe me, if you can't afford £120 now you won't be able to afford a replacement engine should that happen! What's this July deadline all about?

You have a "spare" car that you can cannibalise a shock or two from if necessary! It feels like we're back to "ignore all advice because reasons" again here, which could be a very costly mistake for you. But hey, it's your car so spend your money on what you deem to be important :thumbup1:

Pulleys > suspension on a car that won't be turning a wheel any time soon. Far less expensive to replace shocks than to replace an engine. I've always been of the mind that these service kits (60k, 120k) work really well if the car's had the same owner for a lot of years - so they'd know just how much action the pulleys and tensioners have seen. Because of the nature of these engines, I'd personally be far more inclined to have peace of mind under the bonnet than replacing something that isn't going to be needed for a fair while.

There seems to be a lot of bitching and sniping going on here in recent weeks / months... :( Let's put it to bed once for all, shall we? We all like different things and we all want our Zeds to have a look that appeals to us as individuals. Sadly, this will likely mean that what appeals to one will be hideous or unacceptable to another. Case in point: Paul's bonnet scoops. Personally, I don't think they're very nice on a Z32. They may well work and look fabulous on another type of car, but I don't think they bring anything positive to his Zed's lines. However, it's his car and so he is free to do whatever the hell he likes to it. Even if he chooses to leave those scoops fitted. His choice. He shouldn't really be pulled up for that choice, any more than FunkySi should be chastised for chanting the joys and wonders of "OEM+" when he has every intention of fitting a very aftermarket spoiler to his car. Personal choice. :) I do feel, however, that we have a "conflict of generations" going on here. Paul is at least middle-aged and is therefore used to a time when people didn't type every last little thing that comes into their head and post it on the Net for all to see and react to. Whereas Alic is from a generation where you say what you want, regardless of how it may be taken or received. I feel like Alic needs to rein himself in a little bit on here, personally. I also feel that Paul needs to stop being quite so sensitive about his car...! I've had numerous comments since I changed my wheels. From the likes of Joel saying that they look fantastic, to Rose Williams saying that they look ridiculous and impractical. What really matters to me is that I look at my Zed and think to myself "that looks gorgeous!" My car, my choice. As has been said ad nauseum, car shows and indeed this very forum would be mind-numbingly dull if everyone had a car that looked similar to everyone else's. Some mods may not be to my taste, and I may even say so from time to time, but belittling a fellow Zed-owner within what is already a very small community is just pointless... there's too much hatred and division in "the Zed scene" as it is! Please just try and get along, you two. :)

Oh, how I wish I could charge £1.2k for a dash retrim! :( There's a lot of hours goes into something like this, but I don't get to charge a decent rate for that sadly...

Proper automotive leather can handle limited exposure to high heat, but steam will quite simply ruin it. It soaks through the surface to the hide underneath and then, when it all dries again, it gets harder and significantly reduces both the feel of the leather and its' lifespan. Terrible idea......

What wrinkles...? The glue is a contact adhesive so it has to be "dry" before the two surfaces are pressed together. Once that's done, it's hard work to separate them again! Also, I'd NEVER advocate using steam on leather - as leather is basically treated animal skin, the last thing you should subject it to is boiling water... think of what it'd do to your own skin... ;) As for how much a leather-trimmed dash costs, made and fitted: around the £500 mark.

I say this not because it's my line of business but simply because there are minute variations in panels, even from the same model, spec and year of car; it's usually easier to have something made bespoke than to buy something "off the shelf" and then have it fitted. The most recent dashboard I've trimmed was out of a Toyota Celica and it was labour-intensive, to say the least! I made a pattern: Then I spent a few hours removing the original vinyl covering: Then I made the new cover and fitted it: The whole process took about 4 days to complete, and they were long days! As I've said before, when trim is fitted in the factory, it usually involves a fair amount of heat and a bloody big press - that ensures there are no wrinkles or creases in the vinyl. For someone like me to make a cover and fit it, there's no access to anything like that so I have to use an accurate pattern, a decent eye and a lot of glue... They look nice but they're a lot of hard work.... :surrender:

Gives you a bit of an idea what yours will look like.... ;)

I'm sure Z Spec is where CeeJay gets all his bling kits from. The coilpack brackets I bought in a group buy from him ages ago definitely came from there, anyway :thumbup1:

They wouldn't even give me a quote. For either of my Zeds! :(

I'm with Classic Line as well, have been for a couple of years now. Can't fault them. :) They have two options regarding agreed values: 1. Send them lots of photos and a detailed spec list and their in-house guy will decide a value. 2. Become a paid-up member of Z Club and get Steve Burns (I think) to do a valuation of your Zed and they'll accept that instead. When I was discussing it with CL, the in-house guy apparently only does valuations; that's his sole job within the company. :thumbup1:

The ONLY way to successfully trim a dashboard in leather is to remove the original vinyl first.

It's a kind offer :lol: but I wouldn't fit someone else's work anyway, I'm afraid.

Hmmm. Have fun!! There's a very good reason that trimmers (myself included) charge considerably more than that to make and fit a leather dashboard...

4. Simon / Mondo Sod it... why not, eh? :)

I'll send my payment before the end of today, Richie :thumbup1:

I know when Jimmer swapped mine the other month, he had to detach the clutch slave cylinder to get the starter off.

The hell??! This is too late to be an April Fool... what's going on, Danny...? After all that time, effort and money into creating such a unique Zed... you've sold it.....?

The rears will protrude from the arches by about 10mm, so you'd need to stretch the tyres and possibly even roll the arches. The fronts are a very weak offset, even though they're a 9" rim. You'd be needing spacers for sure. Not to mention that the fronts and rears are a different diameter to each other!! I'd keep looking, personally....

Google is your friend :)

Sad news! :( RIP.