Stutopia

Superb, the paint looks incredible. I hope I can get my grey to look like that eventually.

24 hrs with Kim Bauer would be even better.

Beautiful motor, so many curvy lines, love it. Great work.

I wish I'd taken a photo of the lumps of plastic that were left on the table afterwards, loads of the stuff, and it's dense and thick. As Watshot points out the grill is offset from the speaker, so this isn't a silver bullett. When I had the card out and saw this, I did toy with some sort of bracket for the speaker to align it better, but decided against it. I gave her 20 minutes of a variety of styles of tunes yesterday, from some breaks (High Contrast) and grime (Dizzee) to Oldies (You Only Live Twice soundtrack) and some Yazz Flute (Bullitt title track). I am Steve McQueen. All were better, that means clearer for me not simply louder, and there was more sound. Vocals do benefit. I moved my fade back 1 notch after this, but will continue to adjust as I listen. I was very pleased, it definitely makes a difference IMHO, but having said that listening is a very subjective thing I've learnt. I've seen people swear they don't here the difference between an all in one home stereo Sanyo special, and a £5k separates system. Also some will always argue that you hear what you want, so you want it to be better after a mod/upgrade and convince yourself it is. I don't subscribe to that personally, I've seen people spend a grand on a home audio upgrade and freely admit they've gone backwards. If you're half interested in this, give it half a try. Without fully committing, all you need to do is take the grills out for a few days and leave the hole. Takes about 30 minutes for an amateur like me. You could probably get them out without removing the card, but I'm certain this will leave some marks on the grill and/or surround. It'll look tatty obviously, but gives you a chance to listen before hacking things up. If you don't notice any difference, just pop the full grill back in. When you feel the weight and see the volume of plastic in the grill, purely from a physics point of view, it simply must impede the movement of air. I'm off to Goodison today so will have a chance to listen for an extended period and report back. I'd love to hear what other people think if they go fully blown or just leave the grills out for a few days. One last thing to bear in mind, we're on about sound in a car. It is a fundamentally flawed place to listen to music. Beyond the engine noise, tyre roar, wind roar and exhaust note there are thousands of plastic and metal components which all want to resonate at different frequencies. To top it off the shape and size of the cabin is far from optimal with no natural baffles from the windscreen to the boot latch! Perfection is not achievable, but we can strive for it.

I noticed a couple of scuff marks really close to the grills, but to be honest it was a toss up between white and red (in keeping with my gaiter) but I wasn't sure I could match the reds, so went contrast. Thanks for the +ve comments, it's my first proper mod. Gaiter & knob were all I've been brave enough to do myself.

Awesome Beckinsale shout. I'm changinging mine!

So glad you said that, it's exactly the look I've been working towards!

Hunter S. Thompson - always wanted to meet him, then he shot himself, felt like I had really missed out on something special even though it was unlikely to happen. Johnny Depp now. If we're being a bit saucy, then I wouldn't mind a coffee with Christina Hendricks.

My uprated SGS struts were only on a matter of hours before this happened. Working beautifully up until then. Closed boot, horrible noise of powerful discharge, opened boot and so relieved to see only damage was a small scratch to the taillight housing. Spoke to SGS, kindly replaced the pair (not just the broken plastic bit on the end). Not had a chance to re-fit yet Before you ask, I didn't fit them incorrectly. Mechanic fitted them when it was in for other bits. Looked solid when I picked her up.

Bit of a downer, I can only get one day off work, making it a maximum 3 and a bit day trip. The bit being getting from here to Glasgow on the Thursday night and starting the fun bit Friday AM, super early. Had to cut out Edinburgh (no biggie I lived there for years) and basically Blackpool to Glasgow is going to be a motorway sprint in both directions now, instead of a cruise back through the borders. http://goo.gl/maps/BsQMz

Great photos, praying for some sunshiiiiine like this, even if it's cold I just hope it's clear. VIK, I'm all over the hoon thread, thanks! PS - what's a hoon?

Just over a month ago I had the stock stereo, amp and speakers replaced with Hertz HDP5 5-channel amplifier, Hertz HSK 165 Components (front), HCX 165 Coaxials (rear), a new Clarion 10" Sub - all wrapped up in lovely Dynamat. The sound was great, but I wasn’t entirely happy with the front speaker detail, it wasn’t a clear as I’d hoped for, so I asked for some advice on here. SpursMadDave alerted me to the fact that the front speaker grills are practically a solid lump of plastic and there was modifying scope there to let them breath. Having found a guide to remove the door card I finally got round to having a crack at the front speaker grills this week. Got my first look at the speakers and crossovers, once the cards were out, not bad if I do say so myself. Popped the grill out the card and found the source of the problem, exactly as SMD suggested, it’s a big old lump of solid plastic. A light application of Ryobi... ... to the affected area, problem solved. However, even the roughest of rough tough fellas can’t be happy with a finish like a dodgy Merc badge and some less than perfect lines. So I sourced some lily-white speaker grill cloth (in honour of SMD, and with me being a Spurs fan too, it made sense). The tricky bit here is fitting it to the grill, particularly with the pringle shape of it. Not being a seamstress myself I asked my old man’s special lady friend what she thought. In the end she decided some elastic thread cropping the cloth into small bunches round the back would cut down on needless material, be easy enough to remove in future if I wanted, and would give give a decent tight cloth finish on the front. She was dead right. After a bit of a faff and some minor alarm putting the door cards back, when the passenger window refused to budge, I got a finish I’m really pleased with. I’m sure the white won’t be to everyone’s taste but I’m hopeful they’ll be eye-catching enough to deter passengers from putting their foot through the weakened grill. It’s still rigid with 85% of it removed, which shows how serious the plastic they use is, and also the deadening effect it will have on sound above the bottom end. Now I’m not just a bass-line junkie, I can also keep it funky. Big shout to SMD for the tip on this, also the chap who did this (http://my350z.com/fo...ker-grills.html) which I’ve shamelessly copied. Well pleased with the new look, but more importantly I’ve finally found the new sound and hopefully I can get my door soon.

FYI anyone who reads this in future planning a road trip north of Inverness/Fort William. I emailed Gleaner filling stations looking for Super in the highlands. They kindly replied with the following: "In response to your email below I can confirm the following Gleaner Branded Filling Stations sell Super Unleaded: Fort William to Mallaig Onich Service, Onich, PH33 6RZ & Ben Nevis Services Fort William PH33 6TF Armadale to Kyle of Lochalsh Kyle Filling Station, Kyle of Lochalsh, IV40 8AG Applecross to Ullapool Lochbroom Filling Station, Ullapool, IV26 2SX Ullapool Durness to Thurso Bridgend Filling Station, Thurso, KW14 8PP Thurso to Inverness Skiach Services & Restaurant Evanton IV16 9XH Hope the above information is of help and you have a pleasant trip in the Highlands" Clearly it may not always be in stock, I accept no responsibility for anyone running out of fuel, or not taking octane booster with them!

Thanks for the comments RT, I appreciate the detail and dditional perspective on SC, as well as and some confirmation of ideas I'd been turning over. Thanks evil, I'd not really thought through the bonnet on SC, only spacer. Again, appreciated.

Thanks for the comments. My bad, undercranking is a film making term, something else I'm learning about. Two brain wires shorted there. I could've been clearer about what I was after re: HFC info. I wasn't asking what they are, simply how they fall in current legislation and if not going down that path is hugely detrimental to my plan. As for research I have read so many pages, so many threads, I started at zero not long ago. You should see the list of bookmarks I have filed under Zed, it's ridiculous. The problem I have is information overload, so I tried to distil it into a short list to do a quick sanity check before splashing the hard earned.

I've been looking at styling mods, got a list to pick through and there seems to be lots of info around. I'm learning daily. With styling mods, it seems mainly a matter of personal taste and fitment. However, performance mods seem to require a bit more strategy and long termism. I'm trying to figure out a performance upgrade path, which will lead to a remap and possibly after that a supercharger. I love supercharger whine and I always dreamed of owning a car that makes that sound, first things first though. I've inherited from the previous owner a 2004 Zed with a Scorpion exhaust, a Cosworth panel filter, and what has been identified on here as a poorly fitted plenum spacer. Other than that, she's fully stock. I have read here that it's best to get the breathing right first, then go remap from there. The upgrade path I've identified seems to be: Breathing In Motodyne basic plenum spacer 5/16ths - http://tinyurl.com/bqmhma3 On the basis that it fits straight in under stock brace and bonnet. I'm a little confused as to what the iso thermal aspect of some spacers is, so any explanation is appreciated. I've also picked up from some threads that the benefit over the basic is negligible, please correct me if I make poor assumptions. Velocity Stack Don't know much here, beyond the fluid dynamics theory. Do they even fit in the 04 air box? If so, anyone on here sell them? Intake I believe the Cosworth panel is reasonable and other intake variants (pop charger, ram) on the stock airbox are more aligned with making a better sound, not necessarily better performance. I'm not after much louder, but interested in good airflow with proper levels of filtration. Breathing Out Y-Pipe - http://tinyurl.com/d9pod4n The cobra seems to be a popular choice round these parts and reasonably priced. A decent choice? Again, not after super loud and motorway drone is a no no. HFCs - http://tinyurl.com/cgphbxu An area I've read a lot but learned not so much, other than the Berk HFCs seem popular. Where do these fall in terms of legality and current MOT regulations? I'm not keen on anything that the Feds will be even remotely interested in, even if the likelihood of them checking is only 1%. I don't have a friendly MOT mechanic, or any desire for my insurance company to get the hump if the worst happens. Does this mean I'm stuck with OEM and will that ruin my plan? Misc Belt and lightweight pulleys - http://tinyurl.com/cb7j66z Another are with plenty of theory, not much practical. I get reducing pulley weight drops load, I've also read a few bits about undercranking, which I think I'm happy enough to live without. Any comments on this are appreciated. No idea about belt - please help! Uprated Radiator Caps Seems too easy & cheap to me to make any big gains, but happy to be disproved. Also are there any risks of increasing pressures in there? If so, what's the sort of max pressure rated cap you'd want before risking leaks? Grounding Kits I've read a few back on forths on the benefits or not of these, performance wise there's plenty of opinions, but nearly everyone agrees it's beneficial if you run quality ICE and will at least smooth idle. Have I missed any opportunities here? Massively mis-understood any of this? Identified these in the wrong order? Please bear in mind that 3 months ago I thought performance mods were fluffy dice and leopard skin seat covers. I'm not aiming to order all this tonight, I would just like a bit of a plan to budget for and do things in the most appropriate order. I started off here (http://tinyurl.com/co8e3lt) as my basis of making a plan but I’m very much open to suggestion. Thanks (sorry I've gone on a bit).

Write directly to Morgan Freeman, cut out the subordinates.

+1 on pics Assist springs sorted mine, the some clown messed around with the rear bumper and now unfixed!

Yep I think both those comments merit one, but you might have a chance to redeem yourself Ok point taken.... I would only go for the GT86 if I wasn't getting a Jag Nice one, I hear some jags are quicker than both Transit vans and mobility scooters. I the right hands obviously.

Good read, reminded me of my confused adolescence ;-) I think the proven link between psychos and killing animals is more aligned with behaviours such as torturing and mutilating animals as a source of pleasure/entertainment, rather than killing to eat or remove pests. Where killing for sport fits in on that scale I'm not sure. Stick people on an island for a month with plenty of clean water and abundant animal life, watch them all go Lord of The Flies on Day 2!

They look really good, nice looking motor all round

I'm quite new to this franchise of Wheeler Dealer shows but enjoy the focus on cars rather than 'hilarious' and contrived Clarkson style japery. Brewer's a bit of a tit, but watching China working on the cars in the proper show is well interesting for a learner like me. Won't be bothering with Trading Up again any time soon. Keep the focus on the cars not the alleged characters!

What was mobile coverage like up there away from towns? Full 4G network yeah or am I buying a satphone too.

Most people (huge genralisation alert), particularly urban dewellers (second generalisation alert) will happily kill a rat (or pay to have some one do it for them) in or around the house, but then get all touchy feely when it's a cute squirrel or bushy tailed Mr Fox or monochromatic Billy Badger. I'm sorry but surely you either you agree with killing stuff, be it to eat it or because they're a pest, or you don't? This, "well it's ok to stand on a scorpion if its going to sting you, but not eat a horse because it looks like Ruud Van Nistlerooy" is a little hypocritical IMHO. The obvious exception being endangered species, which no one is talking about genociding here.

Please don't mention the price of petrol, at this rate, it'll be cheaper to have two weeks in Cuba, contraceptives included. I'm on my own (unless anyone else fancies it at practically zero notice?) with Zed, camera and toothbrush an OB (passport?) starting in Blackpool, but I've added too many stops to the list that google maps can't deal with it. Pretty sure I can find Glasgow from here though, generally south west yeah? http://tinyurl.com/c7d9v5a Updated route, looks like Cairngorms might be a mountain range too far. I've been there before and it'll mean missing out me capturing Nessie on the way home and getting to do my Quint speech from Jaws in a local pub. Also the new route accommodates General Wade's Military Road - with a name like that, it must be good. Thanks all for the tips, not sure how much more can go in, it'll be over 1000 miles by the time I add in getting to Glasgow and back from Annan - I only planned for 4 days, might go for 5. Just got to cross ref the fuel stops with the route now.