Old Zed

There was an article in the paper yesterday regarding the new bands for the taxation on cars, l did not read all of it but it sounds as though Z owners could be in for a nice 'shock'. Basically apart from pure electric vehicles, all other vehicles will pay road tax even those currently rated at '0' now. An example given showed a 5.3 litre Mustang currently paying £480 a year road tax being reduced to £140 a year.!!! Surely this must mean that Zeds will be similarly reduced and down to £140 per year. Fingers crossed, something good may be coming our way.

The original owner lived in Bristol and his wife Sasha had a long wheelbase TT reg. No. L300LWB which was also black which l subsequently bought from her when they split up.

Im surprised how many are on UK plates, most countries give you six months to register them in the country you are living and then they will sieze them. Spain used to be easy about this but not any more, you get one warning and then if not converted/imported legally it is taken from you. Does Portugal not bother about road tax ?

Ah, the deadly breakfast stick, did you manage to finish it, its a hell of a feast and needs washing down with one of Jimmers Yorkshire teas. Superb.

its in the shops now and will certainly enhance the ownership value, standby for hopefully a rise in prices.

I suppose not Simon, but he did do a cracking conversion job and on a Sunday too. What a son, what a star.

Im glad you included 'was' Si as he got pi55ed off with Z1 poor service and now goes elsewhere, he showed me a parts order a couple of weeks ago for £6800 what he had just sent off to a competitor who values his custom.

No you were not Si, l was. I bought my first Zed off Mark Luney and collected it from his home in Belfast in 2002. Jimmer came with me to give it the once over and declared two things. He would never fly again (December Easyjet flight was rough), and the car was good. We caught the ferry from Larne to Stranraer and caused mayhem as the turning circle on the Zed didnt match the turns needed to get on the exit ramp and l had to shuffle backwards ands a couple of times to finally get off the boat. We shared the driving home to Bristol with Jim putting the car through it paces with some record breaking periods of speed. When he pulled up outside my house after a very speedy drive from Carlisle to Bristol he declared "its a good one". The following week he did a auto to manual conversion which made the car even better and that also tells you how long he has been involved with Zeds. Definitely knows his Zeds and takes very high pride in his work.

Not possible without an original Nissan head jig to ensure correct alignment of boring tool. Once cam bearings are damaged, the heads are totally useless and will need to be replaced.

Blimey Jeff, thats a blast from the past, the old grey matter is still obviously working well. Wasnt it taken over by someone called Chris xxxxxxxx, l cant recall his surname, but did not last long as its reputation was truly sullied by Baggins, who l believe was originally a chef before venturing into Zeds.

Spot on !!!

Theres is a couple of things you can check/try before going to the expense of changing the clutch. Firstly l would bleed the hydraulic system and then with someone in the car pressing the pedal up and down, from under the car check the movement of the clutch lever arm (its comes out of the bell housing on the drivers side) to ensure it is returning properly. If not it may well be lack of lubrication on either the spigot shaft that the thrust bearing slides on or the ball pivot of the clutch arm. The latter could probably lubricated as is but the spigot shaft will need the box removed. Its a tricky problem and really the clutch condition can only be determined by a physical inspection once removed. Sometimes when left standing for long periods the linings de-laminate, not immediately but after being used for a short period, sadly this may be the case which once again can only be identified by removal.

A quick check for the injectors is to use a long fine screwdriver placed on the injector cap (engine running) and put your ear to the handle end, you should hear the injector ticking if it is working correctly, no tick signifies non working. You can then check to see if power is getting to it via the connector.

I am not an expert with Conzult but from previous experience the bigger the rev drop when carryout a power test means the cylinder is working well, thats why when its cut the revs drop so much, so a very little effect, a small drop in revs means it is not working so well. This can be caused by poor compression sol would do a compression test to eliminate that aspect from the problem.

Not all cars have electrically folding mirrors, l think the difference is import 300s have them but not UK versions. What is the problem you are experiencing.

Take someone with you who knows these cars, or better still buy from a club member. It should be a good recommendation but in the past there have been some less than honest people on here with some below par cars who have sold them to unsuspecting members. Spend time reading as much as possible about these cars, this forum if full of all the main problems so keep searching here and asking questions, hopefully you will end up buying a car that is already known or is actually a good 'un.

You say you were thinking of 16" discs but then noted you had 17" discs ? Do you mean wheels ? And what do you mean by ET ?

My local mot station informed me that their software had been updated to include older vehicles, how old l never enquired as l no longer have a 300zx but the comments were made in relation to my last Zed which was 93L plate model which was decatted and they had mot'd many times previously without problems. I believe the comment was to signify it would not pass now.

Two things to remember if you decat; 1. It could fail the MoT as test stations software has now been updated to include old vehicles and if listed with cats then if removed will fail the test. 2. If you decat and have old turbos they will fail, this is due to the reduction in exhaust back pressure ecentually affecting the turbo seals. Stick with Cats in whatever form.

Anti clockwise to advance the timing and obviously clockwise to retard. I recommend using a timing light whilst doing this as getting it badly wrong can have major problems, I.e., detonation and overheating.

Sadly these cars are quite complicated when it comes to problems like this. The first approach is to ensure all your electrical connections are in good shape, this will include the cable from the ptu to the cas, the connector on the maf, connectors to 02 sensors, idle valve and the tps. I would also include the injector connectors and plug connections. Its a bit of a list l know but anyone of these will cause the engine to run rough. You may also need to check your fuel pressure which is a bit moredifficult without the proper equipment. Ideally you need Conzult or similar to be plugged in which should give a general health check to most of this and the actual set up of the engine. What sort of condition is your engine bay electrical loom ? these deteriate over the years due to the heat generated by these engines making the connectors brittle and the copper connections inside weak. Sadly patience and being methodical is the name of the game.

Cat D is not a write off. When a vehicle is damaged and the cost of repair approaches half the vehicle value, an insurance company will chose to not repair and buy the car at an agreed price. It then gets sold to a salvage dealer and given a Cat D category. This then ends the insurance companies responsibility as sometimes when a vehicle is stripped for repair, unforseen damage can become apparent which makes it uneconomical to continue. I had this happen with a VW Passat estate after being T boned, initially it went into the main dealer for repair and was later told that other damage had been found and that they would make me an offer for the vehicle. A more severe category is Cat C which to be honest you should avoid.

The splines on both gearboxes are the same, its just that the auto box prop has a cowell fitted which is easily removed. So get any front end and any rear and a one piece is the way forward. Jimmer has the dimensions for all models.

You could buy a towing dolley as used by the RAC/AA where the front wheels are mounted and strapped on. They are also braked, weighs about 50 kgs and of course easy to store on their end. With a flatbed truck you have addition tax, insurance and of course the deadly MoT.