Old Zed

The fact that Gixxar has not responded in all this time tells it own story. Any genuine person would be in touch immediatedly to offer help in what ever form. this guy obviously has a guilty conscence. Send him a summons I say and let a magistrate decide.

Si, firstly send him a letter by registered post giving him time to respond, say 7 days. Then ggo to your local County Court offices and issue a summons. You can ring them up and they will send it out to you along with notes on filling it in. You will have to pay a fee to get it issued approx £35, but this is then added to the amount you are claiming, so he in fact pays. He then has 14 days to contest it, state why he won't pay, or pay up. If he contests it, he and you will end up before a magistrate to put both your sides of the story. If he ignores it, you can then firstly request a 'Judgement' be made against him, which really affects his ability to get credit, loans, mortgage etc., and you can then get bailiffs to seize goods to the value, TV,s cars, furniture whatever is availble. I know, because I have used this for debt collection on many occasions, one of which was against a TV personallity who paid up immediately he received the summons. Go for it but do it the right way.

The percentage is difficult to work out because all inbound shipments go through the Royal Mail depot at Coventry, who then contact the Custom people (they have an office there) to decide the tax. Unfortunately the Royal Mail then stick their fee on top for doing this, and if it is to be delivered bt the Royal Mail as well, it will be transfered to your local depot, who also charge their fee for handling it. You get stitched up like a kipper. If the US shipper uses Fedex and the same in the UK, you can pay nothing at all.

If the car at the breakers is undamaged bodywork wise, and an import as well, it would have been the subject of mechanical failure, and serious expensive failure to be in a scrap yard, so it could be the engine. If it has suffered accident damage, the chances are that the engine is probably OK. If you want experience of these engines, as Bird said, buy one with known problems as the cost of rebuilding is not cheap. To buy a good one at good money and then strip it seems pointless.

Si, The thread is now toooo long to read, but I know from Jaz that the engine you bought is ****ed. If it was sold as being in 'good condition' and it turned out not to be, and you can prove the seller described it as thus, and if you have his address, write to him and state that you will give him 7 days to get in touch with you to discuss it, after which you will issue a County Court Summons against him for reimbursement. That will most certainly get a response from him, and no magistrate would let him get away with it.

Optimax at the service station at the bottom of the M32 in Bristol is £1.07 per litre. I'm glad I noticed when I called to fill up. I managed to stop at just over £12.

What about the original suggestion of the 9th, most people would probably welcome it. After that it's Easter and family things.

Wheels that are anodised are usually not aluminium in colour, but either pinky or a very light greeny colour. if your wheels are aluminium in colour (silver) it sounds as though they are polished.

As your up north, you would be better going to Zedworld at Tamworth. They chipped my ECU and fitted boost jets. It really performs well and still gives me good fuel consumption. It will eat most Porsches without any problem.

Si's car is a TT not an NA.

I gotta say Si, you have been unlucky and I hope the traders concerned can sort this mess out, even better if they can do it between themselves and you get your car back on the road, sorted. As for the cost of ownership, any performance car will be costly to maintain, even ordinary family cars can be expensive when it comes to putting them into garages, I know, I do a fairly high annual mileage and get through tyres quite quick, which on my Laguna are Michelin HiLoads 17x225's and come in at £156 each. The 17x265 Avon ZZR's on the back of my Zed cost £117 each. I just think that Zeds are either 'Good' or 'Bad' examples, which is why it is normally better to buy one from someone in the club who has owned it for some time, and thus proven it.

Consult a solicitor, do not pay the money, and make them apologise and deliver the car back by transporter.

You would be wise to renew all the rubber pipes at the back of the engine which usually perish through heat and age, and do a top end bypass, which does away with loads of pipework, both rubber and metal, that is supposed to heat the intake plenum, as though it needs it. Also, fit a crankshaft rear oil seal as they are prone to leaking quite regularly.

I do not know what your intention is with the rebuild but when it comes to buying the gasket sets, by proper OEM gaskets, and not the shite you see offered cheaply on Ebay. When you see them on their own they look OK, but when put alongside OEM gaskets, you immediately see why they are cheap, and more prone to failure.

Yep, it can be done. Its best to use a 1/4" drive socket ratchet or a short ring spanner. Just take it steady, like everything on the Zed, be patient and persevere.

I would class this the same as taking someone to court if they caused damage to your property, only in this case it was your car. The insurance company do not need to be informed because as you say, your doing this not them. It might be proper to tell them afterwards tho' but they will then require enough proof that you were not to blame, and that you won the action.

Steve, get back on to Ebay and point out what they have done. They will investigate and refund your money. I did this with an air filter, I paid for Airmail and the US nobby sent it overland, after waiting 10 days I complained. I got a full refund from Paypal.

To check you rear crankshaft main seal you will have to remove the flywheel, which will then allow you to view it and see if it is leaking. It is always best practice to replace when you are doing the clutch, just in case. If it looks OK, clean and dry, then it could be the seal leaking in the front bearing in the gearbox, which is not so easy to change.

I think if you could find the right site, which would also be suitable for people who may have to bring wifey and kids, it would be good. You may also consider a site with a campsite nearby for those inclined, not as tho' you could get much gear in a Zed for it.

I have never heard of low octane fuel sending a Z into safety boost, I have an import Zed and have run it on low otane continually, without an loss of power. Is you car chipped perhaps.

You can put the passenger side cover on the drivers side. After all the control bits have been taken off, you end up with short bosses sticking up. Completely fit the cover, before gently cutting the necessary holes / slots and refit the controls. If you bought a leather replacement kit, this what you would have to do.

Shunter, did you still have the tarpaulin on her then......

Chill out chaps, no one is forceing anyone to pay anything. This suggestion came from forum members, not Bird. If he poo pood it, people would think he was ungrateful. He's caught in the crossfire and probably now feels very embarressed. If you wish to give, do so, if you don't, then don't, but just let it go. We all have opinions on various things that appears on this forum, wife trouble, neighbours from hell, and your job, but hey it's life, and we all know it aint smooth, agree, disagree, we are all different.

You know you are old when you stick to speed limits and think about buying a Morris Minor.

Graham, a word of warning...them Zed engines are no lightweights. Make sure you have agood crane / lifter with long feet to counterbalance the weight. My son change his in a weekend, without prior knowledge of what was involved.