NemesizX

The centre console is a neon wire, the power supply being run from the wiring that illuminates the ash tray, the power to the neon works only when the headlights are switched on. The dash L.E.D s are easy to fit, they fit as direct replacement to the original bulbs with no adaption required. The dials read exactly as they do with the original lighting, just in red.. No reduction in illumination. You can have them yellow, green, blue, purple.. I'll get a photo up of the neon in daylight tomorrow.

Oh, nearly forgot.. I also continued illuminating my interior and added some lighting around the centre console. Oh then adjusted the headlights on a friends car, did the shopping and cooked dinner.. Phew! Time for a pint and a well deserved chill out!

Busy again today! Took a drive down to meet up with Andy Puttick at fleet services to collect the conzult and had a good chat. Lovely fella, very good to chat with a knowledgeable mind face to face.. When I got home I got back to work on my new sidelight and indicator panels. Managed to finish them off and now got to wait for a dry day to get the front bumper off to fit them! So roll on June! Lol.. Had my mate hold the venom light panel that I carbon wrapped against the car so I could finally get a good look at how it would blend in against the centre panel. I don't think it looks odd at all.. The carbon is very dark and matches the gloss black of the centre panel really well.. I think I've made my mind up to go with the carbon wrap now.. New side and indicator panels Carbon venoms

Sure, the guys name is Sam and the bodyshop is called passfield panel and paint. It's in Houghton Regis which is around the corner from my place in luton. Here's a screenshot of his website so you can see the phone number and address etc.. If you call him, mention my name amd he should sort you out, he'll know me as Paul with celica. Let me know how it goes..

Hey? £600??? All they have to do is undercoat it white and the jobs ready to go! If you're not that far from me in bedfordshire, I know a spray shop that would do it for around £200 and he does an impeccable job..

Looking for the interior trim to match the oem leather seats I've just bought. The seats are black and I'm looking for everything to match as I have the tweed interior. If anyone's got a leather trim anywhere, gimme a shout.. Cheers lads and ladies

Thanks guys, very helpful.. I don't want to put the engine under unnecessary strain so I think I'm going to push the boost up a little on the standard chip and see how we go. To be honest I find the standard car plenty powerful enough for daily driving but after seeing the ecu up for grabs, the grey cells started wondering what if? Lol.. My det sensor is already in resistor mod mode until next month and I'm hoping the wiring is OK when I get the new sensor. I'm planning to put the sensor on the plenum bolt near the bulkhead as I've seen this done and been told it's effective but not as sensitive as it's intended positioning. I'll give the ecu a miss then, thanks for your advice guys..

Thanks guys, very helpful.. I don't want to put the engine under unnecessary strain so I think I'm going to push the boost up a little on the standard chip and see how we go. To be honest I find the standard car plenty powerful enough for daily driving but after seeing the ecu up for grabs, the grey cells started wondering what if? Lol.. My det sensor is already in resistor mod mode until next month and I'm hoping the wiring is OK when I get the new sensor. I'm planning to put the sensor on the plenum bolt near the bulkhead as I've seen this done and been told it's effective but not as sensitive as it's intended positioning. I'll give the ecu a miss then, thanks for your advice guys..

Hi all, I'm looking at buying a mines ecu and was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on it? I'm running stock everything except exhaust which is a cat back system, engine appears to be in good health and getting no smoke from exhaust. Just wondering on the set up and how it's going to affect my engine by fitting the uprated ecu? I've no boost controller fitted to the car but i could fit one if needs be but is the boost changeable via the conzult program and would conzult work ok with the uprated ecu? Any info on this mines ecu would be appreciated.. Many thanks in advance..

Hi all, I'm looking at buying a mines ecu and was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on it? I'm running stock everything except exhaust which is a cat back system, engine appears to be in good health and getting no smoke from exhaust. Just wondering on the set up and how it's going to affect my engine by fitting the uprated ecu? I've no boost controller fitted to the car but i could fit one if needs be but is the boost changeable via the conzult program and would conzult work ok with the uprated ecu? Any info on this mines ecu would be appreciated.. Many thanks in advance..

Just to be clear about the age of vehicles I have owned, here is a small snapshot of vehicles I've owned. F regarding nissan bluebird 2.0 zx turbo, G reg Vaughan cavalier, C reg rover SD1 3.5 V8 uprated to 5.2 ltr with high lift valves, Kent kh224 Road rally cam, stroker kit and 720 wizard of NOS nitrous oxide kit running 550bhp. Ford escort mk2 A reg. Rover SD1 2.6 & 2.3 ltr versions. To name a few, the newest vehicle I've ever owned is a 2006 nissan xtrail 2.2dci. Most cars I've owned have been eighties and early nineties. My point is that with any engine its important to look after it and oil is as rightly pointed out the life blood of the engine. However the modern oils are ultra reliable and very hard wearing and the filters are just as good if you use a good quality one. If I feel the oil is well used at the point of change then I will change the filter, however if it isn't very dirty and the filter is relatively new I will use my own judgement on wether the filter requires replacement. Im not offering advice to anyone, just airing my opinion and experiences in answer to a question. It's up to the individual to make their own mind upon wether to follow manufacturers guidelines or not.

Just to be clear about the age of vehicles I have owned, here is a small snapshot of vehicles I've owned. F regarding nissan bluebird 2.0 zx turbo, G reg Vaughan cavalier, C reg rover SD1 3.5 V8 uprated to 5.2 ltr with high lift valves, Kent kh224 Road rally cam, stroker kit and 720 wizard of NOS nitrous oxide kit running 550bhp. Ford escort mk2 A reg. Rover SD1 2.6 & 2.3 ltr versions. To name a few, the newest vehicle I've ever owned is a 2006 nissan xtrail 2.2dci. Most cars I've owned have been eighties and early nineties. My point is that with any engine its important to look after it and oil is as rightly pointed out the life blood of the engine. However the modern oils are ultra reliable and very hard wearing and the filters are just as good if you use a good quality one. If I feel the oil is well used at the point of change then I will change the filter, however if it isn't very dirty and the filter is relatively new I will use my own judgement on wether the filter requires replacement. Im not offering advice to anyone, just airing my opinion and experiences in answer to a question. It's up to the individual to make their own mind upon wether to follow manufacturers guidelines or not.

The cars I've owned previously have all been old Jeff, most of them older than my Z. A lot of them a lot less powerful and most with a lot higher mileage. I understand exactly how the filtration system on an oil filter works, I also understand that when a filter becomes full that the oil will bypass it in most cases and shove the dirt straight back through the engine which will damage journals and bearings etc.. I'm simply saying that the oil change intervals being so regular at 3-4000 miles is so low that the particulates in the oil filter aren't going to be very high and so the risk of damage to the engine is minimal, particularly as you say with the longer life span of modern oils and filters. The filters I use are proven and they only cost about £3 more than an oem one so I go with those out of trust of the brand that I've used for years. It's a personal choice and opinion that I dont expect anyone to share. I've run a n/a 5.2ltr V8 engine that was highly modified and threw out 550bhp and that engine never suffered as a result of filter changes every second oil change. I'm going by my experiences from all my previous vehicle ownership, I do not have a lack of knowledge or understanding of the filtration system of an oil filter! I may not have a lot of experience with the Z engine Jeff but i have spent many years turning spanners and maintaining my own vehicles instead of paying someone else to do it as that was the only way I could afford to. To be honest there's no job I couldn't do on this engine if I had youth on my side still physically. The only reason I wouldn't touch most things now on this engine is due to the crispy nature of a 26 year old wiring loom.. I agree that changing the oil filter on every oil change is the bulletproof way to do things and ultimately you know the filter is clean, I just don't agree that it's 100% necessary if you regularly change oil at such short intervals, use good quality oil and have an engine that doesn't have leaky stem seals or worn rings etc that smoke like dot cotton. I don't expect anyone to do what I do and I'm not offering advice to anyone. Just stating a point that my engines have never suffered any ill or displayed any signs of deterioration over a two oil filter change.. The car I talk about when I said I'd never changed the oil or filter was an old donkey I used for work.. Three years before it failed an Mot due to the rust getting it beyond economic repair but the engine was still sweet! Lol..

After 4000 miles how dirty is your oil going to be? And if you look at most vehicles the service intervals are around 8-12000 miles. Modern filters will deal with a lot more than 4000 miles of use. The oil is passing through the filter and the filter catches the particles in the oil and traps them in the filter. If you change the oil in the engine then the small amount of dirty oil in the filter is being diluted so it's not like youre using old oil again. Every garage I've ever used for an oil change has asked me if it's just oil or oil and filter I need. I wouldn't recommend leaving a filter change for more than one oil change but there really is no need to change it every time in my opinion unless the engine is being raced. I know there will be those who disagree but in my experience with engines and servicing, I've never had an issue with a blocked oil filter in the 23 years I've been driving and I've covered an awful lot of miles as I've been a driver for a living for at least 20 years. For the sake of £10 to change the filter, it's not like it's expensive, but why would you change something that has plenty of life left in it? If your engine has faults like valve stem seals leaking and is burning oil etc, then of course the filter should be changed as the ash build up and other dirt deposits will be considerably higher, but if your engine doesn't smoke and is running well, there's nothing wrong in going through two oil changes per filter. My recent K&N filter states up to 12000 max miles between filter changes.

Why would you change an oil filter every time you change the oil? An oil filter and particularly a K&N oil filter should be able to handle two oil changes minimum. I don't understand the "despair" comment? You don't change an oil filter on every oil change, it's nit necessary. Today's modern filters are very capable of lasting two oil changes and I've owned cars in the past that have never had a filter change! One of which never so much as coughed in the 150,000 miles I drove it. Had I said I would leave oil changes and filter changes for 20,000 miles then I could understand the over reaction of despair... Modern oils and modern filters are much more reliable and hard wearing than the good old days. If you're ragging the arse out of your engine regularly then of course a tight maintenence schedule is very important, however I rarely put my foot down and keep a good check on the oil levels and colouration and have never had any issue with any engine due to oil or filters. I drive my Z daily and she's well maintained, she isn't over pampered or put to bed with a blanket and a hot water bottle.

I have a jap car and the rears are wider than the fronts also. Mine is a series one car. Any chance you can get some photos of the wheels up mate? Might be easier to advise if I could see them.

It means I do have the same oil leak as most Z's have as the rear crankshaft seal is well known for releasing a tiny drip even when they're virtually new seals. Let's just put it this way, I put in 3.4 litres of oil over 3 months and 2000 miles ago. Driven daily and oil level has never changed, so I feel I can say the drip I very occasionally get from the bell housing inspection hole doesn't qualify as a leak as such, more of a sweat than a leak. I'll be putting 10w 40 semi in next oil change though, get the best of both worlds...

Jeff, do you have a shady past we don't know about??? Lolololol

The staggered set up on the Z makes the rear wheel rims deeper than the front. The rears should have a deeper rim as far as I am aware. The front should have less lip on the rim. I have a full set of wheels that I had advertised on the forum for some time now. Try and get your money back from the eBay seller. They're usually pretty good if the items aren't as stated in the listing..

Hey I've got a turbo noz chip for an auto if you want it.. It's an antique according to noel but might be worth a try.. You can have it cheap as chips (pardon the pun)

I have 74,000 miles on the engine, no leaks at all except a very minor occasional drip from the rear crankshaft seal and when I say minor, I have only ever noticed it when the car has been on the four post lifts and there is a tiny amount of oil at the small square hole in the bell housing. I've never found oil under the car on the floor and never seen any decrease in the oil level on the district along with zero smoke from the exhaust through turbo seals etc.. I've been putting 5W 30 fully synthetic in it as this was recommended by another mechanic source. So I'm guessing that my engine is in good shape and is tighter than a ducks backside across every seal? I'm due an oil change shortly although I don't think I'll worry about the filter just yet as it had a K&N racing filter on the last oil change so I think it can handle another four thousand miles. But if I'm changing to 10/40 I guess the sensible thing would be to change it. This seems to be a minefield of different opinions this subject, I've already been recommended several different oils..

OK, so I've been advised to use 10W 40 fully synthetic in my 1990 TT.. Is this going to end up all over my driveway or not?

Still can't believe that this happened, I stood there and admired your hard work at the JAE last year and I believe I said to you then that the car was gorgeous and obviously had been a labour of love. Such a shame to see it looking that way now. Fingers crossed for your new mission mate and hope are turns out to be just as much the beauty that purple rain was. Good luck on your new project mate and hope to see it sometime.

Just got in the car to go to work and sure enough the fuel light is lit without the lights on! I wonder what's gone on there then? I'm sure it wasn't lit like that before I had the dash out.. Any clues groover?

OK, so I'm assuming then that the illumination bulb that I replaced on the gauge cluster is much brighter than the old one. If I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying that there is another bulb apart from the illumination bulb that lights behind the ⛽ symbol? If that's the case then the L.E.D fitted behind the illumination must be bright enough to make the fuel light illuminate as I only changed the illumination bulbs in the dash itself. The others were different sizes to the ones I had. I'm still a little puzzled by this but it's an illuminating conversation!