BambooJoe

Reading your first post (before seeing the pictures) I thought the car was going to be mangled. Whilst I appreciate the back is/was twisted, on the face of it things don’t look to bad. I suppose that’s the advantage of driving a truck – in particular a ‘big ol’ American Dodge. More importantly, it’s good to hear that no one was hurt! End result looks good. :thumbup1: I much prefer the new colour to the original silver. (Make sure you remember tell the DVLA) How is the claim going? I worked for an insurance company and know that these claims (hit into another car/vehicle) can be a pain in the arse!

Thanks buddy, that’s what I fear – that it will fall off. I spent my childhood stripping threads (yes, I was one of those kids that took everything apart:innocent:) and nowadays I like to know that things are tight, but not too tight… Especially on the important components like the steering wheel!

They're looking good. It's a great mod in my opinion.:thumbup1: I'm tempted to make a set of these myself. Although they'd be an improvement over my current coaxial speakers, i don't know if i'd hear the difference over my exhaust...

Evening all, My brother has offered me an aftermarket steering wheel and I was just looking at how to install it in my zed. I’ve found some guides that breakdown the process of removing the existing wheel and installing a boss kit, however I was hoping someone could tell me how tight the 19mm nut needs to be. I’ve searched various sites and threads, but haven’t found the torque specs. Any other advice or information on things to watch out for is always welcome. Thanks

I’ve had a productive weekend and finished all the work I needed to do to the engine :biggrin:. In addition to the valve cover seals I replaced the other week, I’ve now done the following: - New upper plenum and IACV gaskets - Z1 silicone PCV hoses - Z1 silicone IACV hoses - SFS Performance silicone brake vacuum hoses - New PCV valves - Cleaned inside plenum and inlet manifold with manifold/carburettor cleaner. - Cleaned all injector and coil pack connections with contact cleaner - Replaced spark plugs with NKG Iridium plugs. - New balance tube O-rings - Resealed the pipe that comes out of the exhaust valve cover and connects to PCV valve It was frustrating to have the car off the road (again) while I was waiting for parts from Z1, but I’m really happy with the end result. Now I’m trying to decide where to go for a drive…:whistling: Next on the to-do list is convert the speedo and look at replacing the bulbs so it matches my ‘crisp white’ LED pods…

What happened to yours? If I remember correctly, you modified it didn’t you?

I ended up getting a few things from Z Centre, including a set of NKG iridium plugs. I ordered silicone hoses from Z1 Motorsport. Luke didn’t have the silicone PCV or air idle hoses in stock when I called so they’re coming from the states. I’m waiting for all my bits to arrive before I put the car back together. According to FedEx my parts are currently in Memphis, TN.:sad: I decided to spray inside the plenum and lower manifold with some intake/carb cleaner, which did a good job of removing most of the oil (and one or two spots of red paint :crying:) I read a little while ago that Mike was not around and I haven’t seen anything since to indicate that he is now available. Don’t know what was up with Mike so I didn’t want to risk annoying him with questions about car parts…

I second that. Found it was easier to find out what he has in stock and if/when he will be getting things back in.

Just tried... "The web service to this account has been limited temporarily!"

Thanks guys. Some of the cylinders had a thin coating, whereas others seemed to be coated in quite a bit of oil. There was a fair bit of oil in the plenum, so I’m going to give that a clean before putting that back on the car. Anyone have any suggestion/experience cleaning inside one? I’ve looked on Z centre and seen that they do a PCV silicone hose kit with PCV valves. Going to contact them tomorrow and see if this will fit my NA engine. I want to do the hoses anyway as they’re rock hard and seen much better days. Have a new plenum gasket to install and I’m also going to replace the IACV gasket and probably the balance tube O-rings. Looking at silicone hoses for the IACV and brake vacuum hoses (in addition to the PCV hoses) as the rubber doesn’t look in great shape Also going to look at ohm testing the injectors as per Stephen’s suggestion…

Evening all, After having my zed back on the road for about two days, it’s now back off the road. Although this time it’s for planned maintenance. When I purchased the car I was made aware of a small oil leak from one of the valve cover gaskets. I started the process of removing the plenum yesterday, but was held up by crappy weather and an injector connector. Today I managed to get the plenum completely off and replace all four valve cover gaskets and half-moon (or half-circle) seals.:biggrin: Anyway, the reason for this thread is because I noticed one or two things I was unsure of when I had the plenum off. Firstly, the plenum seemed to have quite a bit of oil in it, with some cylinders having more than others. I’ve tried to take some pictures below, although I think the lighting doesn’t show it very well.:blink: Does anyone know where this would be coming from, and is this something I should be concerned about? Next, I noticed that the spark plugs had seen better days. Is there any particular make/model that people recommend? I’ve only brought OEM for previous cars so don’t really know what ones to go for… Thanks

Thanks Jeff, I'll give that a try tomorrow :thumbup1:

Thanks for the replies. I was trying a thin screwdriver at the corners but it didn't seem to work. Certainly not like the rest of them... Going to have another go at it tomorrow.

All the other connectors had a metal U shaped clip around them. This one has is different to the others and I can't actually see how you compress the clip. I've had to down tools for today as it has started to rain. Hopefully I'll be able to finish up tomorrow!

I'm half way through removing my plenum and I'm being held up by this injector connector. Anyone know where I grip/press/pull in order to get this off. It appears to be a different style to the rest of my connectors.

Are you referring to the 300ZX across the rear window? Have that one in mine but looks terrible where it is full of air bubbles. :sad:

Just over a month after I had the accident and my zed is finally back on the road. As it’s my daily driver and I’ve been pretty much without a car, it’s been a very long month… I was hoping I could bolt on a new wing, bonnet etc. myself, however it quickly became clear that the work required was beyond me. I left the car in Jimmer’s capable hands and yesterday evening I received a text informing me that all the work had been completed and I could collect the car today.:biggrin: I had hoped to get my hands on a silver bonnet, bumper and wing after coming across a breaker in Wolverhampton. 90 miles later I soon discovered that the car wasn’t in the condition I was led to believe… Subsequently, I ended up with black and blue panels and now need to decide how I’m going to spray/wrap the car to get it all the same colour. Looking at the panel gaps and alignment, I think Jimmer has done a fantastic job and I’m really pleased with the finished result. As someone who’s quite new to the zed world, I now have a much better understanding of why everyone speaks so highly of Jimmer and his work.:thumbup1: At some point in the future I’ll look to sort out the tired looking alloys, but for now I’m just glad my zed has been saved from the scrapheap!

I found that video both upsetting and offensive.

Thanks guys, never would have guessed!

I was just checking out this link which was posted by coopd a few days ago. http://m.ebay.com/itm/Showroom-Condi...631?cmd=VIDESC As I was going through the pictures, I noticed that the bottom of the car (below the black stripe) has an ‘orange peel’ effect to the paint. I have the same on my car and put it down to a poorly executed respray. However, given that the car in the eBay advert is factory fresh, I’m starting to wonder if this effect is intentional? Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks

Don't know to be honest. It has a stainless steel exhaust system but i don't know what the deal is with the cats...

Light wasn't on, i put a torch behind it to find out what the warning light should be. Just wondering what i should do about it, if anything...

As mentioned in a post yesterday, I took apart my dash and dials yesterday with the intention of doing a few odd jobs. I had a look at the instrument cluster and noticed that a bulb was missing. So I put my torch behind it and found this… Now, I’m guessing it’s the catalytic converter. Which leads to a few questions… Did an ’89 Zed come with a cat? Should I be worried that a warning light has been removed? Oh and also, am I right? Is it the cat?

Evening all, Thought I’d take some time to do some odd jobs on my Zed while it is parked up. One of the things that was bothering me was the hazards light switch, which didn’t light up. When taking it apart, a small L shaped bar jumped out of the switch, as shown in the photo below. Does anyone know how this thing goes back together? Specifically, where this small bar/spring goes. I’d prefer to reassemble it over admitting defeat and buying a new one. Thanks

Okay, you win. That looks awful!