Mondo

The auto and manual fitments into the gearbox are different, Richie. Simplest thing for you to do is tell Jimmer what you need and he can get a one-piece prop made up for you. :thumbup1: Or speak to JimboSmythe on here as he may have a spare - he bought my OEM prop from me and I don't think he needed it in the end.

It'll be no great loss to the event, Gaz. I'll send my interior on a pallet anyway :wink: :lol:

I very much doubt I'll be attending this year. I'll probably bow out of most Zed-related things for the foreseeable future. Have a great time, gang!

I have the 3" AMS downpipes fitted and, aside from a very small massage required during fitting (thanks, Jimmer), I have nothing but positive things to report about them. They appear to be well made, which is a big plus point. I know all about their slightly shady business practices and the vitriol that accompanies any mention of them on Facebook but, for someone without large amounts of cash to spend, they're a good deal. Would I have liked the Speciality Z originals? Very much so. Did I have that sort of money available...? Hell no!!

Always good to hear of new (to me, anyway) local members :thumbup1:

Spanner-time this evening to remove the Z Spec coilpack brackets and replace them with a set of OEM ones: Painted in a nice Candy Red, of course! :lol: Just a small addition, but it helps tie everything together under there.

Sold on eBay a year or so ago for £7.5k. The buyer had it up for sale less than a fortnight later for £15k.

As all the rest of my shiny bits have gone from under the bonnet, these are the last bits to be changed. Full set of Z Spec stainless steel coilpack brackets with the "Z" cut out. Complete with coilpack mounting bolts and red anodised washers (2 per coilpack) but no bolts to mount to the plenum. Excellent condition, even though one of them is currently hidden in the last picture :lol: I'll give them a good clean when they're removed from my Zed in the next day or so. I can't even find these for sale anymore from Z Spec, but the plain ones (without the logo) are $110 before shipping and duties. Looking for £90 delivered to your door. :)

I've had 3 sets of big front brakes so far and the only difference I've noticed is that the actual braking effort is better than the OEM setup. My current set (Evo 8 Brembos, Evo 10 350mm discs) has a nice feel to it and is equally at home with gentle braking or full-on anchors away. No ABS issues to report so far either. :thumbup1:

I've had a bit of a clearout this afternoon and have some odds and sods that might be useful to people :) Stainless steel catch can with multiple fittings. I bought this ages ago and, obviously, never found a use for it. Brand new and unfitted. £20 delivered. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rear crank seal retainer gasket. Genuine Nissan part. brand new and in original packaging. £5 delivered. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S1 aircon pod and matching ECU. Only removed as I changed to the S2 setup. In excellent condition with only very minor fading on the white scripting. Damage to rear screw hole as pictured. £20 delivered. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Driftworks stainless steel steering rack bush. New and unfitted. £17.50 plus postage on their website. £15 delivered. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chromed PAS pot fixings. I bought these ages ago and never fitted them. As new. £18 delivered. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two boxes of Mikalor clamps. Suitable for securing hard pipes and whatnot. £10 delivered. :thumbup1:

As Jimmer explained to me on Thursday, there's also a large amount of heat shielding between the ECU plug and the main "branch" to protect it where it runs behind the engine on a LHD car. That's not required on a RHD one, so there's another easy way to tell if it's the right loom or not.

Jimmer's renowned for being clueless, of course...! Erm... Not only was my loom not specifically for a RHD car, it also wasn't for a manual! Extra plugs here and there - some of which are apparently for the US models but definitely 3 plugs for next to the large fusebox. A manual, of course, only requires two there... The loom does what it's meant to at the end of the day, which is the main thing. But it's almost certainly not manufactured in the US, judging from all the Mandarin labels on it, and it absolutely isn't a RHD manual loom.

Here they are: As everyone can see, I didn't end up heading back to the factory look in the end. It looks good though, unless you don't like red... One RPS flywheel: And here's some damage the bonnet picked up from a flying stone outside Powerzed!! :sad: Either the stone was going at some speed or my paintjob's crap.....

Every one that Jimmer's seen has been the same. Joel is rocking a "RHD" loom from them which is a good couple of feet longer than it needs to be. He reckons that their looms are all the same, just with a different label on. It still does the job and doesn't look ridiculous or anything, but it's certainly not a correct replica of a Nissan RHD loom. As for why I might sell her... look how long it's taken me to be able to get these jobs done! I don't like the fact that things have to wait for months before I have the spare cash to get them sorted. I just can't help thinking that a more affluent owner would be able to do her justice better than I currently can. The engine bay looks good. Very different to how it did look, but good nevertheless. Thanks for all your help with pretty much everything that's just been fitted - hugely appreciated, Rich :thumbup1:

If you wouldn't mind Andrew, that'd be much appreciated. Thank you. :)

All the above work has now been done. :) Plenum, balance bar, hard pipes and front water pipes have all been swapped for powdercoated items. Unfortunately, injector 4 decided to call it quits afterwards so Jimmer had to take a carbide cutter to the new plenum! But I'd rather that than running on 5 cylinders. A brand new Wiring Specialities loom has also been fitted. Even though it clearly said "RHD" on the label, it turns out that it's exactly the same length as a LHD one and the ECU plug is orientated the wrong way. It's also for an automatic, not a manual. I know that we were charged extra to have RHD-specific looms as part of the group buy, so I feel a bit narked (at WS, not at Richie!) that we've ended up with something different. It seems that they have a "one size fits all" approach to their looms and just put different labels on them. Whilst it's undeniably nice to have a brand new loom in there, this has taken a little bit of the shine off it... My clutch and flywheel have also been replaced. Gone are the ruined XTD items - the ring-gear on the flywheel was shot to pieces. I now have an RPS Synergy segmented flywheel teamed to an XTD clutch. It's hard to really notice a difference but, when everything's bedded in, I'll try a couple of fast, full throttle changes and I expect to see the difference then. Jimmer also replaced my rear crank seal and all the associated gaskets which seems to have cured that pesky oil leak at long last. No more pools of crude for me at major car meets! :lol: All in all, it's been an expensive and tiring few days for me; I drove through the night to Bristol on Thursday morning. Then parts and labour and accommodation. But I know that the work's been done to an impeccably high standard and that's pretty much priceless! It's a very long trip for me, but it's always absolutely worth it. :) I also got to meet Jaffa yesterday as I called into Bath to pick up some interior panels he'd very kindly offered me. Very nice chap with a very bonkers car! Honestly, for those who haven't seen his car in real life (as I hadn't until yesterday), it's an insane piece of kit. I've also seen his future plans for it and they're equally crazy! :lol: So that's my update. My Stillen lip should be here in a week or so and, once that's fitted, I'm going to sit down and give serious thought to her future. My concern is that, whilst I haven't built this car "on the cheap" by any means, I don't really have the available income to necessarily do any work that needs doing when it first needs it. I love the car, I do... but I guess I have to wonder if she needs a more affluent home.... :sad:

Looks like Funkysi to me... :lol:

Finally, some updates worth speaking of! This week sees me heading off to Darkest Bristol for some maintenance work: RPS flywheel, Exedy clutch, the leaking rear crank seal replaced, upper engine work (plenum, balance bar, hard pipes and front water pipes changed) and a brand new Wiring Specialities loom fitted. Hopefully all of this will cure my intermittent starting problem, my PITA oil leak and the occasional drop to 5 cylinders, as well as giving me peace of mind that the clutch isn't gonna lunch itself at any given moment. :) This has been on the cards for ages now but me and Jimmer (and my wallet) have managed to align ourselves at long last. I've also just ordered a Stillen Type 3 lip from Mike Feeney which should hopefully turn up in the next couple of weeks, so that should make a pleasing change to the look of the car. And then, to cap it all off, our ever-faithful Celica is being retired as of today. We've had this car for a few years now and, even with a badly slipping clutch and a patched exhaust, I'd still happily drive it anywhere. But the MOT is out in July and I can't see it passing another one so I've bought myself a genuine "old man's car": a Volvo V70 D5 SE estate! Complete with pipe and slippers, as well as two dogs in the enormous boot, it looks like I'm finally accepting the arrival of middle age... So yeah, that's my update. Plenty of money and plenty of miles, but that should hopefully be it for a while again...! :thumbup1:

Imagine having all that money but none of the necessary talent.... :lol:

Clickety click! :thumbup1:

As I'm now getting a Stillen Type III lip for the front of mine, it's time for my current one to find a loving new home. I have absolutely no idea who it's made by as it was on the car when it was imported into the UK, but it suits it well (in my opinion). It could use some repairs here and there - as you can see in the photos, there are a couple of bits that require some filling on the face and there are a couple of parts on the underside (either side of the inset in the centre) that need some fibreglass matting applying. It's quite a subtle thing so hopefully someone will give it a new lease of life. It should be coming off within the next 3 weeks. £45 collected or £55 posted.

He was apparently found with a band around his throat. Suicide strongly suspected, especially after the lyrics he added into his final song last night and his subsequent tweets. :(

It's always worth asking... has anyone got a Stillen Type 3 front lip that they want rid of....??

How much would a part of me love those red shagpile mats...!!!!

Why couldn't you make a page for the business itself, Steve? I know you have to have a personal page before you can make one for a business or anything like that, but you should be able to make one now. I have two on there; one for the business and one for my music.