Joely P

I thought Pete had some of these relays for you Stephen?

:innocent: Everyone should have a snap-on ratcheting screwdriver in their arsenal [emoji106]

I’ve been a member of GTROC for many years now and it’s not like this place, it’s not friendly! [emoji1] I’m on my 3rd way round now Gary! [emoji1] I’ve personally removed the discs and cleaned the hub (which is remarkably clean) twice and the shop that lathed my discs also did it when they were doing run out checks etc. I struggle to work out how the pads could cause such a violent issue but I did replace them anyway. When you consider that it started doing it with my well bedded and evenly worn pads and it’s still doing it with a new set, paired with the nature of the defect m, I’m satisfied that the defect has nothing to do with the pads or the caliper. In fact, yesterday when I was testing the tension rods, once the discs were really hot and slowing down to 10mph with very light brake pressure, I could feel (and hear) what felt like the drivers front disc grabbing every rotation and slightly pulling on the wheel at the same time. I’ve never really taken them seriously but on closer inspection they’re actually worth taking seriously. For a lightweight, forged monoblock caliper setup with 2 piece discs at those prices, I’m struggling to find any negatives. They seem to review very well.

I’ve never been a fan of these K-Sport or D2 type calipers for some reason, I always get the vibe that they have been designed more as a fashion statement then a full R&D backed setup. There’s probably some brand snobbery in there somewhere too! I have held a 370z akebono caliper and they are quite heavy, I hadn’t really considered that factor, food for thought. Yes you’re right it’s worth giving them some feedback and to highlight my disappointment with the outcome but as you say, I’ll cross that bridge when it’s concrete. Also, I’m sure they get reports of this type of defect on a regular basis where there is no defect in the disc. Uneven pad deposits on the discs where sufficient cool down periods haven’t been adhered to are the primary cause of this symptom so it would be difficult to filter out the genuine reports. I will do so though, explaining that an attempt to re-bed the pad material on the discs was carried out on several occasions to no avail and, more importantly, even after having them turned down to a perfect finish, the first braking action before the new pads have even bedded in proved that the defect remained. Thanks for the kind offer matey, but I really wouldn’t expect anyone to “break” into the hydraulics of the braking system on someone else’s car unnecessarily, just in case it caused issues of its own. Imagine shearing a brake line or a bleed nipple and being in a pickle yourself! Not only that, the car is unuseable in its current state really, it feels dangerous at motorway speeds or after a few roundabouts and also is doing the car no good from the juddering!

That’s correct. The heat markers on the lips also suggest that the discs haven’t overheated (printed strips that change colour when subjected to certain temperatures). Looking at my invoices I paid just over £400 for these discs 5 years ago, they have covered around 7-10k miles and have had an easy life relative to the pounding they are “capable” of.

For anyone wondering, once the brakes are hot this vibration is violent, the dials in front turn into a blur and slowing the car feels dangerous! It’s only been this bad since I had the discs skimmed!

The trouble is, even the cheapo discs on eBay from MTEC and EBC etc are all between £250-300! The DBA T3 discs are around £350 and then up to £500+ when you get to brands like stoptech. I’m currently weighing up my options but the cheapo discs for troubleshooting aren’t in that list as it just seems false economy and if I’m going to spend £500+ on them I think I’d rather sell my Brembos and buy an Akebono kit using OEM 355mm 370z discs - the kit costs around £1100 from CZP.

New tension rod bushes in today - Nil fix!

Unfortunately not, once the airflow becomes turbulent, the function of the rear spoiler will be lost.

I’ll take a nibble at this bait! Being a bit of a specialist subject of mine, I can tell you that it will not have any aerodynamic benefit, in fact it will certainly (theoretically) have a negative effect! All that lovely “Slick”, laminar airflow flowing over your roof is being broken off early, creating more turbulent air and drag off the back of the car which will effectively (indirectly) decrease downforce. Boring jargon: The smooth downward swoop of the tailgate is great for keeping the boundary layer energised and goes someway to slow down the airflow who’s velocity has increased on its journey up the precisely designed front rake angle. Slowing down the airflow is key to break the airflow away cleaner. The ideal situation is to match the airflow velocity off the back end to the same speed as it was before it started to flow over the car, this keeps drag to a minimum which affords the maximum affect of downforce. This is also the job of a diffuser, by creating a divergent duct, it slows down the velocity (diffusion) as much as possible to reduce drag but does however create a pressure increase in the area (essentially pushing the back end of the car up, not good for traction!). Aerofoils help to counter this but more importantly, the action of an under-trays aero specifically at the location of the rear wheels is where “real downforce” is directly created with the convergence of air (increase speed, decrease pressure) to “suck” the car down to the road at the rear wheels. After this point, we want to slow that fast air down again before breaking it away cleanly to minimise the drag vortex. Keeping the boundary layer engerised down the tailgate is something that the saloon cars struggle with as the angle change is often too much for the airflow to follow and it breaks away. Mitsubishi countered this problem on the later Evos by adding vortex generators but I’m not sure how much effect they had in the wind tunnel, needless to say that it became a fashion statement to plaster them all over the back (or anywhere) of the car! How much effect in the real world will likely be negligible but interesting to learn from your fine tuned experience of how the car feels at speed, Pete. Sorry for the long post, I got carried away, there will be several people asleep on there keyboards before they finish reading this!

Gutted Graham [emoji17] It’s a ticking clock for me. This is the first time in 11 years that my Z has been unserviceable due to something they I didn’t choose to make it unserviceable for! Tick tock tick tock!

That bolt does come out with some persuasion! Try these guys for a new bolt, it’s a popular part to replace because the coating wears away as the window goes up and down over the seal: http://www.allcarpartsfast.co.uk/nissan/nissan-8037030p00-bolt/ Also get a new bush as these tend to disintegrate on removal!: http://www.allcarpartsfast.co.uk/nissan/nissan-8039030p10-washer/ Also (your shopping list is getting bigger now!), whilst you have it apart, replace the white plastic roller that runs up and down the door frame as these wear over time and lead to the window rattling in the door!: http://www.allcarpartsfast.co.uk/nissan/nissan-8033246p00-slider-door/

Very nice Pete. Not only do they look great, they’re also one of the lightest and strongest wheels money can buy. Form and function all wrapped up in one awesome package!

The Z colour spectrum could’ve done with a nice red one in there! Cars look great lads, good job. Any pics of the other cars there?

Pardon?

Sorry I’m not there showing my support with you guys. Absolutely fantastic weather for it, hope you all have a great day. [emoji41]

Happy Birthday Buddy [emoji106]

Just slave in a normal bulb on test day if your tester is causing an issue? We need to put this to our resident MOT tester and regulation interpreter, Mr Chris from Basildon, Chriii-iiiis?

I’ve swapped wheels to no avail. The defect still has a feel of a disc defect about it so eventually I’ll end up changing them if I don’t find a cure.

I’ll give it a shot with the ABS fuse pulled and see if it changes anything. [emoji106]

Drive the car with the front wheels off the ground? I’m getting visions of these videos you see from India with trucks cruising down the motorway using a trolley jack as a replacement wheel! [emoji1] How do you mean, Jack?

Can a mod please correct the spelling of Virbration in the title please! [emoji1]

The only thing “steering” me away from the tension rods is that the vibration is pretty much non existent for the first braking episode. The fact that it’s heat related screams a disc defect to me. Then again, I’ve never known or heard of discs that are perfectly true when cold and then assume a new, warped lifestyle in the heat of action! Another point to note, there is no feedback through the pedal when this happens, it is all through the steering wheel.

Darnit, I can’t see the pics [emoji17]

C’mon guys, pull yourselves together. We’re all waiting for some Z meet pics here!