Royal

We drove in convey for a while. Asian lad and girlfriend I think. Red. Looked standard spec.

Would strongly recommend the compression test. I reconditioned my turbos thinking they were the problem. Had the same signs as you. Then bought a compression tester and realised it was pistons. Turned out two of them were trashed.

Hell, you're an early riser greg! kept up by the thunder and lightning as well? I re-used my headbolts (apart from the one I had to drill out! took 2 days and 3 drill bits :nana2: ) They arn't stretch bolts. Worth re-tourqeing (sp?) them once you've worn them in. Dave

Nice one mate. I'll let you know when I'm coming down next. Should be whenever there's some surf! won't be doing any surf trips in Z though. Not very practical!!

I'll second that, put the lorry containers back on the trains! I've been travelling the south coast roads from Plymouth to Poole/Bournemouth a lot, awful!!

V. nice. Definately the best colour!

A.P. motor use lumps from a company called Api engines ltd. Api engines get them over and recondition them. Put in new pistons, crank when needed, bearings etc. They've got a 6mth warranty. The garage use them a lot for many different cars, and they have a good rep......... Just been looking on their web site apiengines.com, looks good. 40,000 or less miles, good guarantee,etc. Anyone had any experience with them?

Gonna find out for sure which it is

Have there been bad experiences with them? I was suspicious of it before with the problems I had.

I wanted to do the same thing. Zedworld will actively look out for a donor breaker if you let them know. They're good people too.

ok so far : New engine! Maybe new loom (although AP motors say they can look at that as well when they do engine) Smithy's hard pipes (one of my originals is pretty trashed) New shiny gauges boost,oil,water Boost controller (is there a need for a seperate boost gauge with a decent controller?) Anyone would think I'd maxed out on a new loan from the bank (doh!!) :nono:

Sounds tempting esp with 12mths guarantee. I'm in Plymouth though and the car would have to be transported. I'm a bit gutted its gone again as I bought new pistons and complete engine gasket set over last christmas. Think I might be better getting one that has only been messed with by someone who has good facilities and does the recondition with experience, instead of me and my spanners! rather than putting even more money into the current block.

Just wondered if anyone has taken a Z into AP Motors in Plymouth. I've been speaking to them about getting my engine replaced. All impressions are good so far (great facilities, 4w rolling road, recommended by other car owners, straight talking etc). Dave :hyper:

I'll get onto chris then re. boost controller and gauges. Don't think I can afford uprated pistons etc, the new reconditioned engine (jap sourced and reconditioned, can't remember where from at the mo) is costing aprox £2500-2800 fitted inc vat with 6mths gaurantee and any other bits that need sorting. Thinking about the wiring loom for def as mine has plenty of broken connectors from where I've had the engine in and out. they still seem to work ok mind.

Cheers for the reply, are the details on this site or did you use twinturbo.net. Where in cornwall are you. I'm from Hayle and get down that way quite a lot. Dave

Meant to ask also!: Has anyone out there removed the egr bits and bobs, and also the bypass of the coolant in the intake manifold. I was wondering if thats worth doing at the same time. Cheers

Hi , I've had a bit of a rough ride with my Zed over the last year : -Bought in July 2004 -Gearbox re-conditioned in september 2004 -Blew two pistons in December 2004! mechanical boost valves and dodgey boost gauge not a good combination. Won't mention the turbo rebuild because thats what i thought the black smoke was from and didn't have a compression kit!! -Re-built over Christmas myself (never touched a car before this!) Didn't have enough money to take it anywhere. Put in new piston set and complete gasket set. Couldn't believe it when it started first time!! -Drove and enjoyed for 4 months, (only problem was smoke sometimes on idle ,already replaced pcv valves so not that. Any one any ideas?) -April 2005 - bottom end gone after an over enthusiastic drive. Seemed to be worn in ok, think it might be because I didn't replace the shells on the big ends when I did engine. Anyway, after the sob story, I'm now considering getting a new engine and other bits done professionally ( Love it too much to dump it on ebay for whatever I can get). I just wondered about any suggestions for other things that might be worth doing at the same time. I'm thinking about some after market gauges (oil, water ,etc) and maybe a boost controller. Is it a good idea to carry on pumping money into the old beast when its going to cost nearly the value of the car? (quoted £2800 max for a 6mths warranty fitted, reconditioned engine, + what ever else i want to upgrade). Its already chipped (superchip i think) and nice straight through exhaust. Any comments appreciated :nana2: :mac1:

I'd strongly consider trying to get some more money together and get a known car from someone here on the forum. There are a lot of poor condition Z's out there. I thought I had found an excellent one for 4k (Sounded/looked great, took someone who knew the cars,etc) but the gearbox went a few months later (£1000 recondition). Later I blew two pistons (combination of hard driving and dodgey boost level) again this was nearly a grand (doing the rebuild myself). I've now knackered the bottom end and am looking at getting a new engine put in properly by a pro (£2800). Hope this doesn't sound to negative, but if I'd come on the forum earlier I think I might have faired better over the last year. HOWEVER you WILL fall in love with the car. Just be aware that at 12 years old and 75000 miles there are lots of things in need of re-conditioning. You'll need a long wheelbase (2+2) ,short wheel base are 2 seats.SWB's are rarer.

I'll bought one from Halfords and it lasted about 2 months this winter gone! Straps ripped off the corners. Quality. Cheers Halfrauds. Dave ps just thought thought I'd brighten the day up!

Hi guys, just joined the site after deciding to get my Zed rebuilt. I'm from Hayle, although I'm currently in Plymouth working and living in Gloucester at weekends. Would be interested in meeting up sometime once the cars back on the road. Dave

karl, This is off on a tangent, but I bought the BBS alloys off you a while back. Got some phots if you're interested. Give us an email sometime as I'm living near you now. Trashed my engine a few weeks after meeting you, fully rebuilt it myself over christmas with new pistons, etc, then did the bottom end a couple of months ago! Think I'm going to get a new one put in professionally. You seem a bit despondent about you're Z. I thought it looked awesome when i saw it. Sounded great too. Dave