evest

Hi mate, it's a satin Z badge but I've since put the Nissan burgers back on a while ago. I think I've still got the satin Z badges somewhere - they go a wee bit green in places after a while but nothing a tidy up or quick re-spray wouldn't sort out.

yeah I put the nostril in a while ago. Was a bit scary taking to the bumper with a stanley knife, but it turned out well. The theory is that it will funnel more cold air into the intake, I installed a tube inside to help with this, particularly as my short ram doesn't have a heat shield - but I doubt there is much proper data to back-up any claims of power gains. ref the eyelids - I'm going to stick with them for a bit but I do agree they will look better if matched to the body colour along with the lip that I have to go on there as well.

Went for the eyelids, good fit and practically welded on with 3M acrylic tape. Not sure whether to keep them tbh, so will leave them for a while and see how I feel. I like the shape they give, but these are fibreglass covered with CF vinyl wrap and to be honest I think the effect looks cheap (which it was) - if I do keep them I will either get proper CF ones or else paint the FG ones to match body: Next job will be the front lip - again colour scheme will be either body matched in full or I may keep the centre section black... actually quite tempted to get the eyelids, nostril and lip all done in matching body-colour paint.

Here is the effect from when I did mine - did it with spray can, easy job for such a small section:

Just a quick review for anybody intending to bleed their brakes or replace fluid using one of these kits: They're £5 from Halfords and allow you to bleed the brakes by yourself. I used this kit successfully to do mine , working alone. Normally using the 'two-man' method, your mate has to keep his/her foot on the brake pedal while you work the bleed nipple. If they release the pedal whilst the nipple is open, the system will suck old fluid and air back into the lines. This bit of kit has a little one-way ball valve on the end of the tubing, so you can hook it up, open the bleed nipple and then jump in the car yourself to work the brake pedal. The ball valve prevent anything being sucked back in - so you can then release the pedal and go to tighten the bleed nipple back up when ready. I used this system for all 8 bleed nipples, topping up the reservoir after each one to ensure it didn't run dry. Job done, very easy and brakes are now much better. The kit worked as described so pretty happy for a fiver. Pros Cheap Works well Means you can work alone Cons Tubing is quite short and a bit coiled so you'll need to raise up your disposal bottle As you're working the pedal, you can't monitor the fluid/air coming out, except for the driver side (you just have to get out inspect the tubing after pumping the pedal) When finished, you will have fluid vacuum-trapped in the tube. There is probably a way to get it out without pulling the valve off the end of the tube and wrecking it like I did - but for a fiver, happy to just buy another one next time.

I ripped that piece off my zed last week too!

Job done!! Before... After... It's in there somewhere... And from the front... stealth mod!! Well it was fun doing it and also put new gaskets in - went for the Cosworth Thermal Phenolic(?) Intake gasket so should be good for another 50bhp....!!!

Bolts founds! Stuck on top of a bracket near the wheel arch where the fuel lines are (i think). Now I can crack on...! 😥

Just saw a set of 18" Rays on eBay - usually popular so may be worth a look for somebody. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350z-rays-alloys-/321685262133?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4ae5ef8f35

Cheers keyser - pm sent!

Cheers mate - I'll try again to find them again tomorrow. Was getting cold and frustrated, plus the light was fading. Hopefully with some careful probing I might get lucky! If not I'll try removing the IM to get more access. If it's to much of a pain I'll get some new ones instead - might work out the quicker option!

Definitely not anywhere internal I had the covers in place before bringing the bolts over, and the IM was covered up (just took the cover off for the photos) - I was trying to put them into the lower edge of the driver side cam cover when I dropped them, twice on the same hole! Heard them clunking down through the engine bay, but didn't land on the driveway. So frustrating!

Saw this post way back and have wanted to do it ever since: http://www.350z-uk.c...red-cam-covers/ Well I'm half way through the job. Work has stopped as I've dropped two of the cam cover bolts and can't find the little b@stards. Had the car up on stands, taken of the under-tray and had the magnetic probe for almost an hour - where do they go? where?? WHERE?!?!?! Does anybody has a couple of cam cover bolts going spare...? Anyway - here is what red cam covers look like in the engine bay. They look a bit orange in the photo but are a darker matt red to the eye. Took the opportunity to re-polish the upper intake manifold whilst it's off the car. Why not?

Cheers mate, will go through the tests again tomorrow. Unfortunately I don't have the kit to do a full leak-down test. Does anyone know what the compression should be when brand new?

Procedure was pretty much as you said Tricky Ricky - although I didn't wedge the throttle open. Will run through it few more times tomorrow to ensure I've done it consistently across each cylinder, and will run a hot test when I've re-assembled everything. Used just a cap full of oil for the wet test but will compare to the other cylinders tomorrow. Car feels good when driving so no worries - was just interested to see how it's doing.

Forgot to mention - testing was on a cold engine.

Hi folks, Just about to change my rocker covers so took the opportunity to do a compression test. Car is a 2004 GT with approx 130K on the clock, road driving only, not been tracked or otherwise abused. I did the test twice just to er.. do it twice... Run 1 Run 2 Cylinder 1 171 180 Cylinder 2 182 184 Cylinder 3 190 188 Cylinder 4 190 190 Cylinder 5 172 174 Cylinder 6 178 191 All seem roughly within 10% of each other. Interestingly, cylinder 5 is down a bit... Cylinder 5 is why I'm changing the rocker covers, as I had oil in the spark plug aperture, which I was told would be a leaky seal on that rocker cover. Could there be another issue - the compression doesn't seem to be significantly worse than the others. (I did a wet test on cylinder 5 and compression went up to 220 - piston rings? Will wet test the others tomorrow) Cheers

I was in the same position when i wanted to remove my plenum to polish it. Never used a torque wrench either. Just set aside plenty of time and you'll be fine mate

Hi mate, Don't worry about taking the plenum off - it will be a a bit nerve-racking the first time but you'll be fine. To be on the safe side, have a replacement gasket ready for when you put it back on. You will need to ensure the bolts go back in, in a specific order and to the correct torque. There should be a post in the guides section about installing a plenum spacer - everything you need to know will be in there.

Rough idea...?

can't see it working mate. Unless they made it match the trapezoid shape of the mesh insert... and you have it as a single exit system. But then you'd have to sort out the rest of the bumper...

Nod and wave exchanged (with the owner, not the fat lass)

Spotted at Baldock services A1. Was actually keeping an eye on it for you as a somewhat 'spherical' woman was shoe-horning herself back into her car right next to yours!

Money being offered to a teenager to post videos of himself listening to Paul Hardcastle...? I hate to think where this topic will be if it gets to 15 pages like the kwik fit saga....! For what its worth MCook - take it as a compliment that you attract so much, err.... banter...

I thought that too - I drilled a few holes in it just in case!