Gio

I prefer manuals too but since I parked a ZX-10 on my left knee, it and NCR traffic jams and a Zed clutch don't mix! So for me, auto is a practical way to go. As you say, as long as it's a Zed. Good luck with your search.

I've had TT manual and 2 x NA Autos. I miss the insane rocket-ship of the turbos (TT Autos do that as well) but you can't drive like that all day every day. Not if you want to avoid crashing / making other people crash / driving like a tit / getting points faster than a Club Card. The NAs have 222bhp (standard) which works out about 150bhp/ton. According to this list http://www.strikeengine.com/performance-car-specs-0-60-0-100-power-weight-top-speed.html that's about the same as a Golf GTi, Merc SL350 and only a lame brain would accuse those cars of barely moving and having Corsas and Saxos sail past. Assuming the auto box has been properly maintained and not abused, it's fine. The JDM ones have hold and power modes as well. You can switch the power mode on manually and if you are *ahem* "making good progress" it will go into power mode automatically detecting your use of the loud pedal. Great fun round Hanger Lane but not always needed. All my Zeds have been standard and the mileage in daily driving use was 17 - 22 for the TT manual and 20 - 28 (average is in my sig) for the NA Auto - about 20-25% better like for like. NAs are slightly less complex than TTs, not having (obviously) turbos and intercoolers and all that extra plumbing. Don't have HICAS either. So they have less to go wrong, are slightly easier to work on in the engine bay and don't get quite so hot under bonnet particularly in traffic. That benefits (touch wood) overall reliability, running costs and wiring loom. As I said, I do miss my TT and when I don't have to commute, might well get another one. But for daily driving into town having to cope with both M40 and North Circular Road, NA Auto is very hard to beat. And if anyone drives TT or NA or Manual or Auto to such an extent you can tell the difference on normal roads with traffic, please don't do it anywhere near me. (oops, don't know why the little icon isn't showing up so I looked it up - mpg for my S6 NA Auto is 23.8 over the past 28,500 miles)

Anyone who doesn't take climate change seriously is an idiot and will eventually clear themselves out of the gene pool - hopefully without taking the rest of us with them which is what will happen if CO2 gets out of control. What's the surface temp of Venus? (And before any climate change denier pops in with "but Venus never had man burning fossil fuels" that's not the point - the point is Venus is a clear case of runaway greenhouse effect. Whether the cause is man-made or natural, you don't want to be there when it happens.) An interesting quote and looky at the graph posted earlier. Marvellous what you can get away with by being selective with your data and hoping your audience are too dumb to spot it. Here's the long-term graph which is what you need to look at when looking at climate effects: And that's from the New Scientist which is a reputable journal rather than lame-brained pseudo-science. And here's a reference http://glipho.com/kvntodd11/debunking-the-pseudoscience-of-global-warming-deniers Speaking as a once-trained-scientist, don't let "opinion" take the place of proper, peer-reviewed scientific method because that way you end up buying a lot of snake oil. And if you don't understand the difference between the scientific method and nutcases, you should put your brain in gear.

Blimey, that's a bit of a blow. But all the best to you and Lynda and Jamie. Have a well deserved toast in the Portuguese sun. I fist met Jeff in The Boat car park in Solihull in Mar 2002 and here's a pic to prove it http://www.300zxtt.co.uk/ixla/solihull02/page1.htm (the pic of Jeff himself in his shorts has, luckily, disappeared :laugh: ) He explained why my tailgate props couldn't hold the tailgate up and more (soggy spoiler) and told me where to get the fibreglass replacement. 11 years on, Zedworld have looked after all three of my Zeds and they'll be sadly missed. All the best and many thanks, Gio

Quite right too - don't want to refer you to the ban committee :laugh:

Ah, there you go mate - never make your Zed jealous!

Thought that sounded familiar, Rich. Here's a story with some pics of the MJP replacement. http://www.300zxtt.co.uk/z1newoilcooler.htm .The "expert" who diagnosed he issue and his mechanic took bloody weeks to sort out, wouldn't answer phones etc - now there was a bloke who really deserved a ban. But that's another story. Nothing to do with MJP who I still use to this day and rely on as a proper expert. Hope this helps.

We just got back from a few days down there. If you're heading near Helston, don't miss possibly oldest pub brewery in England - The Blue Anchor - has a great B&B next door (very handy) http://www.spingoales.com And just on the coast outside St Austell, there's a small harbour-side place called Charlestown. We stayed at http://www.rashleigharms.co.uk/ which has great rooms but the pub is a little chain-y (beer's fine). If we go again, might try this next door http://www.t-gallants.co.uk/guesthouse.htm Penzance has some nice B&Bs by the harbour and if you like pretending you're Poirot http://www.theyachtinnpenzance.co.uk/ I don't used Expedia or that sort of chain search - because you end up in the same branded clone hotels (had enough of that in my corporate life). In the old days, used to get my accommodation from The Good Beer Guide and these days, stick your destination in Google Maps then search nearby for pub (or inn) accommodation. You will find Gio's Law usually applies. Places that bother to look after their beer will look after their guests and places that can't be bothered to serve a decent pint can't be relied on for decent food / rooms /welcome. Cheers - and watch out for the grockles :)

Good decision. Permanent bans are, well, a bit permanent. Even if it's been a major toy/pram interface situation, usually it's only words and, let's face it, nobody died. Usually. A re-admittance procedure is welcome. I may disagree with someone's opinion but I will defend to the death their right to say it. Unless they don't like stock Zeds.

Thanks guys, didn't see this before 'cos on hols and internet a little iffy. Guess where? No Zeds here that I've seen and would be a real shock to trip over one. Hasta la vista and get another beer poured... Cheers, Gio

That's second hand news, surely? Being pointed out like that will be a bit of an albatross round his neck. Or is it just rumours?

Some imports as well. Wiring diags here http://www.300zxtt.co.uk/techaudio.html

Yes It's certainly the case that many people who like stock or unmodded can get put off by the very vocal modding fraternity and many of us just either wander away or keep schtum. Some of the reactions here are a case in point.

Thanks Rich, Gary. I might be tempted to point out that's one of the benefits of the stock approach but wouldn't want to get flamed!

It's ironic that this thread was started by some one in Bridgend and I for one remember only too well what Thatcher did to support the Welsh Steel & Coal industries. Her "dash for gas" worked so well to secure energy policy and keep prices down. Selling off council houses certainly improved life on the estates by increasing owner occupiers but at the same time forbade councils from using the receipts to replace social housing which is why we don't have enough social housing. As someone who saw old "one nation" toryism replaced by the greed is good culture (and had a mortgage rocketing while bank rates shot to 15%), I wept with joy when she was dumped out of office. So I have raised a glass to her memory and the success of the Falklands - and also in memory of every miner, steel worker, doctor, nurse, engineer, car maker, community worker and their lives and communities.

OK, this has expanded tremendously from the original question about "How do we push the z32 out of this stagnent position of poor parts, high prices and poor availability." but it is your thread after all. Here's my £0.02p worth and while I'm not very active these days, I used to organise a few events and turn up at those I could and helped pressure Nissan to drop their infamous parts-look-up-charge of £25 (that tells you exactly how keen Nissan were on imports - i.e. not at all). 1. Make it free and open for non members to sell z32s with the forum. > been debated at lengths for years. There's a specific forum here http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?27-Club-and-website-suggestions so why not try that. 2.Speak to companies like stillen, ams, twinz etc etc and see if we can form some sort of co-operation that would allow us to buy directly from them at retail price, this would reduce shipping, taxation, third party profit etc etc. It would also extend their market as they currently have no uk distributors. > Go on then. When there was a small argy on the ZClub a while back, I did just that and got a ZClub discount on those parts (and they weren't even parts for the Z32, I was just seeing if I could help the club.) Some of these brands already have UK distributors (eg MJP is Stillen distributor) so check your facts before contacting them or you'll look a nidiot. 3.Embrace the evolvement of club members par taking in racing, > Hmmm, might be a bit contentious, there's a lot more ways of promoting the club as well as racing, should we hand out free membership to those guys as well? If not, why not. 4.Movement away from being known simply as http://www.300zx.co.uk, > We are the 300ZX Owners' Club and always have been. Helps to check the info published by the Club you join http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?139916-300ZX-CO-UK-Club-Overview 5.Coverage in top Uk Japanese magazines such as banzai and Japanese performance, > OK, again go on then. Many club members have done just that. http://www.300zxtt.co.uk/z1mediaindex.htm oh, and have I ever mentioned my Zed was officially faster than J Clarkson? 6.Investment by the club into pattern parts, > A new tool to press out just one body panel can cost well over £100,000 or more. Bit out of our league. Plus we don't have a Parts or Technical officer. If you think we should, suggest it in the Club suggestions thread. The ZClub have one, it's Mike of MJP and he started running the club parts operation until it became his separate-but-allied-business. 7.Sticky thread, listing a comprehensive and guff free list of parts available from other models than can be used. > there's a lot of info here in various threads so if you wanted to suggest / organise another FAQ thread here http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?43-FAQ-Storage-Area I'm sure the club would be happy In addition, Mike, Jeff and many others are happy to advise their known alternates for hard-to-get items. 8.The implementation of a z32 census, obviously not mandatory, but it would be good to at least have a list of how many there are and where they are, Many do not want to be part of an internet forum, but many would attach themselves to a register saying they own one. > suggested a number of times before (I'd even volunteer again http://www.300zxtt.co.uk/archdvla2000.htm ) but seen by most as a potential villain's charter. You can understand why. Fair enough. 9.Strength in numbers, working closer with other clubs, I'm not going to go into forum politics and the other zclubs, what im getting at here is closer links with skylineownersclub, sxoc etc and the other Nissan brands, > Be better to get better co-op with Z32 and ZClubs: what do we have to offer to Skyline and SXOC who will naturally be concentrating on their own stuff. 10.Simply be more positive and proactive, > very true. Remember that not everyone wants to aftermarket their cars. There is an awful lot of received wisdom here and a very set POV that modding cars is the only reason for having a Zed. Using a spell checker and not posting guesses and actually sticking to the point in threads might help. A little bit of effort in looking through these forums, using them properly and reading the Club info would pay back in spades. Your enthusiasm is to be applauded - and one of the reason I wanted to answer in depth, you deserve it.

You lucky :devil2: Anyhoo, today I got an MOT and a service. Well, the Z did. And TBH I didn't do it, I just drove it to Eurospec (thanks Ben, thanks Graham) and they did it. Does that count? (Mine's the one on the right, btw)

The key to all this is volume. And, compared to other JDM and Car Clubs (two non-Z I have direct experience of are MMOC and MGOC), the number of Z32s is very small. That's why some top suppliers (DTA, Smithy and others) just couldn't make the numbers stack up for such a niche market. Plus you need to be very sure that the tech expertise and parts knowledge is there. MGOC and MMOC ended up running parts as their own business. Not sure there's anyone here (other than already established traders) who would want to do that. Undercutting existing traders is a sure way to encourage them to lose interest. We could appoint an existing trader (no names but there are only two that I personally would trust to have the business expertise to do it) but that might cause more issues with other traders than it solves. What we need is a trusted club member with the parts expertise who can start with what members want and then build it up over time so that it is worth running as a business on it's own. Oh, hang on, isn't what happened with the ZClub and MJP? I can't see there being enough volume in Z32s on their own to justify a new full-time business. It's pie-in-the-sky to think that Nissan would talk about giving such a small club access to patents and part patterns. The routes are: 1) support the traders we already have; 2) get as much volume as possible by co-operating with all other clubs. Yes, even if it means swallowing pride on both sides (a hobby I have always found conducive to a good evening particularly round Chiswick). Personally that's why I pay subs to both 300ZX and ZClub.

Thanks gents, that's my weekend sorted out :)

I want to remove this double-sided sticky stuff which someone used to stick these flaps on. I've tried scalpel and then lighter-fluid and then flew to Neptune on the back of a white swan. So I opened the window and took some deep breaths. You can see I took a bit off at the top edge but it took a bleedin' age. The double-sided stuff is clearly bodywork grade as it just does not want to shift. At least not with lighter-fluid. Can anyone suggest a solvent which might take the sticky gunk off but not melt the rubber? TIA

Also bear in mind that the handbrake cables will stretch over time and when the handbrake runs out of adjustment, new cables are the only answer. I had a set from MJP for my previous Z but never got round to fitting them. I Ebayed them a couple of years back so check with MJP if you need a set. 36530-32P10 and 36531-32P10

Red, white AND yellow!

Luckily me and my better 0.5 and the Zed found a really good pub. Where we could do this in between freezing our collective butts off in the great Darzet outdoors Won't go back in the summer, it'll be full of they bloody tourists moi dear.

Check the lever thing you pull to slide the seat forward is pushed down to lock the mechanism when your passenger is sitting on it. Not the one in the side of the seat which you use when you get in but the one down at the front under the seat base. Mine sometimes returns and locks properly and sometimes doesn't. Must be a spring or return thing somewhere going u/s.

Bit bloody damp out there isn't it? Still, you lot across the water :clover: should be used to it. Oh look, that's one French line out stuffed, let's hope not the last :D