Stutopia

Thanks for good feedback gang, I was a bit worried I'd not done enough stuff! Should add a thanks to SMD, for advice on crystal fogs and ICE. Extremely helpful.

Not sure to be fully honest. It was flaking into rusty pieces so I figured that if it was meant to be there, it wasn't meant to be falling to bits. I'm going for rigidity and an extra 10bhp!

It'll be well broke in 3 years, probably taking 5-10 minutes to boot up ? really? Ever touched a good spec laptop? Mac's are always very out of date with hardware, have limited programs, very restricted in use. The only good thing about them is the same thing as the iPhone. They are so heavily restricted that you can't do anything wrong, although you also can't do what you want, only what Apple will let you do. Hmmm same argument with Android, haha I can change almost ANYTHING!!!! Then 99.9% of people change nothing The 5-10 minute boot up comment was designed to get a rise, with SSDs now even a clogged up PC can boot in seconds.... Yeah SSD#s were funny when they came out.. I had an OCZ one pretty much as soon as SSD's existed. Went to PC World about a year later and looked at the mac's for a laugh. The sales guy spent an hour telling me how the next gen mac was coming out in a few months and it had a SSD and it was the first computer in the world to have one and they were developed just for mac's and you couldn't run them in any other PC. The look on his face when I told him that my PC was a year old, already had a SSD twice the size and my year old PC specs were far better than what the new mac had to offer and cost half the price a year in advance. I love my OCZ, recently installed one in a mate's new laptop, makes such a difference once you battle past "modern interface". PC World guys crack me up, I'd be surprised if they could tell you if a toaster can heat a bagel You're right about the specs though they do lag behind, strange that they feel so much snappier to use. Must be OSX. Yeah the OS's good, it's just the hardware that's old. And overpriced. But can you put a price on sheer beauty?

It'll be well broke in 3 years, probably taking 5-10 minutes to boot up ? really? Ever touched a good spec laptop? Mac's are always very out of date with hardware, have limited programs, very restricted in use. The only good thing about them is the same thing as the iPhone. They are so heavily restricted that you can't do anything wrong, although you also can't do what you want, only what Apple will let you do. Hmmm same argument with Android, haha I can change almost ANYTHING!!!! Then 99.9% of people change nothing The 5-10 minute boot up comment was designed to get a rise, with SSDs now even a clogged up PC can boot in seconds.... Yeah SSD#s were funny when they came out.. I had an OCZ one pretty much as soon as SSD's existed. Went to PC World about a year later and looked at the mac's for a laugh. The sales guy spent an hour telling me how the next gen mac was coming out in a few months and it had a SSD and it was the first computer in the world to have one and they were developed just for mac's and you couldn't run them in any other PC. The look on his face when I told him that my PC was a year old, already had a SSD twice the size and my year old PC specs were far better than what the new mac had to offer and cost half the price a year in advance. I love my OCZ, recently installed one in a mate's new laptop, makes such a difference once you battle past "modern interface". PC World guys crack me up, I'd be surprised if they could tell you if a toaster can heat a bagel You're right about the specs though they do lag behind, strange that they feel so much snappier to use. Must be OSX.

Phase Dos The rear wiper delete took my fancy one day, it’s now one of my favourite mods, it really ties the back end together. I’ve never really been a bodykit kinda guy, but my head was turned by... A Veilside V1 lip from Tarmac Sportz A gorgeous Circuit Sports CF diffuser from Redline Styling A set of side steps from Aerokit All fitted and coded by St Anne’s Bodywork centre, whilst she was in for a front bumper re-spray to sort a “smart” repair by a previous owner which was flaking. Back in the spirit of maintenance, I had the mirrors gloss blacked, to cover another “smart” repair and the bubbling handles sanded back and re-sprayed. Last but not really last, as I’ll be in for more mods no doubt. Added my first ever private plate and kissed goodbye to the plinth. Future Plans I have some lightweight pulleys waiting to go on and a clicky rear axle fix coming up soon. I really feel I’m starting to reach the point where she is coming up to scratch; except the interior plastics still irritate me (I’d love to have them clad in leather), the exhaust has a slight blow so I’ve started browsing, I guess a remap makes sense, the seats could do with a refurb or maybe just replacing, the engine bay needs some more attention, I need a polished plenum. Beyond that I’m getting out, I’m choosing life... ...maybe a little coilover action wouldn’t hurt. I’m not addicted at all Lastly (for now) this is not only my first proper car and the first time I’ve modded anything, it’s also the first time I’ve joined a proper forum. I’ve learnt a huge amount in the last 6 months, seen some awesome/hilarious stuff, and benefited hugely from the collective wisdom of others. Thanks to those traders who’ve raided my bank account and put up with my noobish questions when purchasing. I’ve been to a few different forum stores (named and shamed above) and all of the customer service I have received has always been top notch and the advice spot on, not had a hard sell yet But it’s not just the professional advice that’s been great, there’s been loads of other stuff too. This place makes owning a car like the Zed a much more comfortable proposition for someone like me, there’s literally nothing you guys don’t know (except maybe the cure for Zeditis), so thank you one and all!

I've read some really insightful and entertaining build threads on the forum and always wanted one of my own. In comparison to the work some of the extremely skilled members do on here, mine is a lot lightweight. My role has been more toward the conception, funding and supervision of the build than the actual hands on work. But I've done a few of these jobs and got my hands greasy in a car for the first time ever, so I am learning - albeit slowly. As we've just celebrated out first 6 months together, now seemed like a good time to start. This will be more of a journal than a build, for the reasons stated above. I distinctly remember saying in an early post something about, I'm not planning to do any mods... GROUND ZERO This is her on our first night together. I was a little nervous (it can be like that the first time), I'd come from a 1.2 Clio and never even sat in a two seater, RWD, coupe with a monster engine before. I bought her stock except for the Scorpion, or so I thought. I later found out I'd inherited a plenum spacer and a Cosworth panel filter (I didn't know what I was looking at when I bought her!). A 2004, UK, GT in GM with 33k on the clock. I started off as intended, replacing a few tired looking bits. Namely an Evo-R Burnt Titanium knob from Redline Styling, going in for the very worn OEM knob. Shortly followed by a red gaiter to liven up the cockpit. Then the classic tax disc holder mod, a must-have early mod I’ve since learnt. It didn’t take long for me to get bored with the Bose head unit and its lack of connectivity, so in went a Pioneer AVH-X2500BT. I quickly realised it wasn’t the head unit holding back the sound in the Zed, it was everything else. At this point I unlearned everything I thought I knew about Bose. Thanks to Green’s Car Radio, Blackpool for my new kit. Hertz HDP5 Amplifier Hertz HSK 165 Components for the front, a 10� Clarion sub and some Hertz HCX Coaxials in the “rear’. Her previous owner felt a Nismo badge was a reasonable performance mod, I didn’t. It went, along with the rest and some nice black burgers arrived to replace them. I also did a maintenance mod and had some corrosion spots on the roof and passenger door dealt with. Kept it real by doing a couple of textbook mods next. A cargo net (the most practical Zed mod I think) and a stubby, courtesy of Redline Styling. I kept going for the musical mods as this is where I felt most comfortable and ripped out the solid speaker grilles, carved them up and clothed them in glorious lilywhite. Another “up to standard� mod next (I was still kidding myself I wasn’t going to do much) as the old brake lights came off and the LEDs went on, thanks to DavidBaker8130. Whilst this was happening I had to deal with the asymmetrical fog/rev/indicator clusters and go crystal, light OCD demands symmetry. Picked up my first ever rattle can and set about dealing with the Zed’s penchant for tired looking plastics. Plastidipped the drivers door switch trim. After a near miss with a child who felt running comes before looking when alighting a bus, I decided to improve stopping power as the last MOT had an advisory for a corroded brake line. Zmanalex once again, with the HELs. Back on the maintenance trail the corroded W brace underneath went in a skip, new one from Zmanalex. In my quest to get the boot to open on one pop, the struts (SGS Engineering) were replaced, the lift springs (Zmanalex), the boot weight removed and new bumpons added to the lift springs. It still refuses to pop every now and again, probably just for old time’s sake. The Rays were a constant blip on my radar and thanks to Alloy Expert, Blackpool they were fully refurbished. Whilst she was in I was determined to get rid of the assortment of Bridgestone rubber (thanks Ekona for the tyres thread, I learnt and awful lot). I was stunned by the difference the Michelin’s made. Initially I soiled myself at the price, but it’s one of the best things I have done on the Zed. The tramlining went, the roar went, the steering stepped up, the feel improved, the TCS stopped winking, the back end stopped tying to overtake me. In short, if you are thinking of tyres, look no further. Having previously bought ditchfinders on the Clio, I was stunned by the difference tyres could make. Do it. A Zunsport Grille from Redline Styling was next on the list, as I started to drift away from doing upkeep mods and into styling mods. Not long after a box arrived from across the pond from B2 Auto Designs. Shiny Hood Dampers Tanabe Sustec Brace with a Titanium Pro-Bolt kit Motordyne Plenum Spacer Mishi Magnetic Sump Plug Thanks to Ironhide a shiny red cooling panel landed and went directly in. The pleasing finish of the plastidipped door switch trim was not as rugged as I had hoped, so I secured some of these from RT. The finish is top and they look the nuts, I’m not even a CF fan generally, but I love these. I was coming up for a P3, so I decided to go the whole hog and get a pack from Alex, some belts from Cougar Store and some Muteki Lugs from Tarmac Sportz. Changed the gearbox and diff oil too. The drop links and under tray were flagged at the service, so another parcel headed south from Zmanalex with the drops. Whilst they were being done, it seemed rude not to pick up a Samco hose kit from Cougar Store and a well timed sale from tony.r123 meant a matching Samco intake pipe would fit in nicely. Keeping things red in the bay, a Horsham Developments grounding kit went in, great little mod this, smoothed my throttle response at low gears immensely. I only did it for the colour scheme as well Undertray from Tarmac Sportz, this really is a great item. My plastic excuse for an undertray limped off in embarrassment when this was unboxed. Shame no one can see it most of the time.

I did not know that, ta. Got my Pubuntu machine in VMWare. Knowledge.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Camp_(software) Is a good place to start reading.

I was a mac user back in 90s as our school had 'em. Was forced into PC at Uni but have since returned. Love my iMac, ridiculously fast with an SSD. Love it's small footprint and being able to remote in from my iPhone and iPad so easily. With a Windows 7 VM I have a "PC" which runs better than any PC I've ever owned! Quite fancy a MB Pro or Air, but I can't think of a good reason to buy one except that it's FIT.

Keep an eye on the refurbished section of the Mac Store, some real bargains pop up and you get some sort of warranty I believe. If it goes wrong the Apple support is second to none. http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_air/13 Good luck.

Looks mint. When can you do mine in red?

I've had exactly this happen too. Every now and again you must just get the gull that's been out for 10 pints and ruby the night before.

carro legal (that's all my Porugeuse used up!) I like the look of the mishi oil cooler, nice Zed too!

From late night watching of COPS (cos I'm a bad boy, watch ya gonna do etc) you drive a car towards and then touch a cop, you're looking at a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Why not just take the ticket? He's obviously not skint and presumably parked in a red zone (whatever that means). Two bellends fighting over who's the biggest bellend, leave 'em to it. Evolution will resolve

good to see more North West representation. Pisser on the keying

Perhaps braided lines whilst you're looking at the brakes, should eliminate any give in the OEM lines. I bet Alex has them good to go...

Cool. I never thought about a horn mod before. Does it play La Cucaracha, yeah?

Love the Aston. What do you call the cool openings on the front wing on the DB9? Is it a special name or just wing/side vents. I think my Zed needs these...

Has everyone else got a name for their car?

No my kids went to a school where spanking wasn't compulsory You and RT seem to be offended in a strange way. So what happened 24/7 then? When I was about 10 and my parents were in the fun stages leading up to a divorce, the teachers at my school filled an extremely important gap in the stability of both my social and educational support. They didn't need to do it, they did it because they were decent people and looked out for me.

The teachers at my school had those kind of numbers for 24/7, we were boarding. Presumably you home school your kids to save them from the teachers?

Parents usually only have 2 or 3 kids to teach at a time, teachers have 20-30. They can't babysit the lot of them all the time, gotta throw some raw meet to the exceptionals and teach the rest. I wouldn't do a teacher's job for twice my wage. It'd be **** funny if they all packed up tomorrow and left parents to teach their own uniquely talented and brilliant children.

Nice bead, what product or products make up your latter stages BBK?

Got my first ever personal plate today, a little bit excited. Thought it would be a nice 15 minute job, but it turns out the "professional" who fitted the last one missed the school class on symmetry, so I had to faff about measuring not just marking and drilling. Anywho, got there in the end. Quite pleased, I think it takes years off the car to the untrained eye. Measure it thrice and it'll look, errr, ok.