Jimbo Mahoney

I used 115nm on both, as Ricey says. Wheels haven't fallen off yet...

Finally heard back from Elephant today and it's good news. I currently pay £475 fully comp. They want an additional £36 if I fit 30 mm rear / 20 mm front spacers, which I'm happy with. In fairness, despite being passed back and forth initially and having a lot of to and fro with a girl in India, the service was excellent and she was extremely helpful. Pics when the spacers are fitted!

Mine are on the way from Clark Motorsport: http://www.350z-uk.c...spacers__st__20 but forgot to check the forum first...(i.e. I paid full website price!). Lesson learned!

Not if they come with them. The cheap ones I saw in the likes of Halfords may require them, but the decent ones I'm getting don't. I don't think the term "hubcentric" necessarily means this, but this type seem to come with bolts - they effectively duplicate your existing wheel hub, but extend it. Cheap spacers simply do just that - add space between the hub and wheel. Compare these: http://www.elise-shop.com/20mm-wheel-spacers-elise-s2-all-models-p-321.html with these: http://www.rogueengineering.com/rogue/W-SPACER/WSPACER.html Hope that makes sense?

Nope - only on the faces of the hub / spacer / alloy wheels to prevent corrosion / wheels sticking to the hubs. Don't use it on the bolts / nuts because you may over-tighten them (from what I've read).

Thanks. I did a lot of research on this topic (it seems it's quite divisive!) and came to the same conclusion - wire brush on hubs / alloys plus copper grease but NOT on the nuts / bolts.

Hehe - I think you would have seen me a few hours later - I was parked in a Winchester car park on Fri PM. I was on a road-trip from Chelmsford, where I picked the car up, to Norwich, then on to Brighton, then Southampton, then Holyhead for the ferry to Dublin and finally home to Belfast! I put nearly 1k on the car in a week!

Thanks for the cool graph and explanation Chromatic. On my DE, I've set the indicator to 6000 because by the time I notice it come on, I'm around 6500. As for fuel economy, from previous experience (and surprise), I've found the general rule of lowest RPMs = best fuel efficiency. I had assumed something like peak torque would be best, but it's actually the lowest throttle position that gives best fuel economy. Granted this was in a different car, but I did experiment a lot with an OBD reader in various gears. There's a graph (admittedly of an RX8, which is a very different beast) over at PistonHeads: http://www.pistonhea...ic.asp?t=991641 showing the MPG at various speeds and gears. I think it's fair to say that this backs up my hunch of lowest RPM = best fuel economy. When driving for fun, I'm going continue shifting around 6500. When driving for fuel economy, I'll be sticking to 5th gear for 30 mph to 50 mph.

Awesome thanks! Farnell have a minimum order of £20, so I've asked my work if they can add it to an upcoming order. I couldn't find another £19 worth of stuff I needed sadly. Keep you posted...

I went through the one in Dublin after bringing my car back on the ferry (purchased in England, but I live in Belfast). Was easily the best tunnel I went through on my way back - very quiet with little traffic, so I could hear the engine nicely. I think the toll was £2 (I paid in pounds - had no euros) and there was a cop waiting at the exit - he smiled because I'd slowed right down before I saw him so I could accelerate out of the tunnel. Speed limit was only 80 km/h though.

I recently bought (9 days ago!) a 75k 2004 GT for £5800. By some miracle, the clutch went two days before I picked it up, so the owner had to get that done as we'd already agreed a price. It was a big relief for me, but the flywheel didn't get done so I suppose I might have to do that at some point. Otherwise, the car seems perfectly fine so far, other than: 1) Sub cuts in and out (common problem and I might have fixed it now). 2) Passenger front suspension makes knocking sound over speedbumps / uneven ground - previous owner pointed it out and suggested it's probably bushes (~£100?), but I have my suspicion that the arm will need doing (~£300?). 3) Rear tyres were bald, so two new boots set me back a fair bit (I didn't scrimp and it's nice to be able to put decent ones on there and know they'll be good in the wet and last me a while since I'm low annual mileage).

Welcome! (Fellow newbie with the best colour zed here too, although my mod list is non-existent in comparison to you!).

Well, stage one has been attempted (I'm with Elephant currently - sister to Admiral I believe): Called and got quickly through to someone in India. They transferred me to someone in the UK. They then transferred me back to someone in India, who was extremely helpful but had never heard of spacers. She eventually (through multiple rounds of holding / speak-to-manager) found that they are a classified as a suspension modification. Sadly, she couldn't give me a quote and will have to call me back in the next 24 - 48 hours...

EDIT - PROBLEM SOLVED USING FARNELL RELAY - SEE FURTHER DOWN THREAD. Recently purchased a 2004 zed with the usual sub cutting out problem. I've done the bodge fix of sticking a spacer to the top of the relay and also resoldered the pins just in case there was a dry joint. I've yet to test thoroughly, but does anyone know of an equivalent relay to replace it with? The thread here: http://m.my350z.com/...9697&styleid=70 Gives what seems like a good part code, but when I go buy it, mouser want £12 shipping for a £2.50 part because it's coming from the US! Had a quick look on maplin, but nothing similar I can see. Alternative would be to buy 12 of them and sell them on with an extra £1 to cover my costs. Any takers? :-)

Thanks both! ioneabee - how do I add my location to the map in your sig?

Hi guys, I've done some reading around and want to check I'm correct in my thinking and what I need to do to fit spacers (I'm a microscope engineer by trade, so pretty good with my hands, but have never worked on cars before): 1) I have a standard 2004 350Z with standard 18" wheels. 2) I've ordered a pair of 30mm spacers for the rear and 20mm for the front. They're the hubcentric ones from Clark Motorsport / Superforma. I understand these will be fine without lowering the car. If I do end up lowering the car, it won't be by much (15mm?). 3) I plan to fit them myself by jacking up the car using the jack in the boot. 4) Torque to 115nm. 5) Tell insurance company. 6) No need for wheel alignment - it was done recently and spacers shouldn't affect it. Anything wrong here? Thanks!

Thanks so much for this. I don't want to change the wheels on my standard 2004 Z yet (especially as I just put a pair of MPSS's on the rear!), so spacers will be just what I need for a cheap stance change. Thanks to your pics, I'm going to go 30mm rear / 20mm front with standard wheels. I might lower too, but not by much and that can wait a while.

Picked her up on Monday. So far, I've cleaned inside and out and topped up the washer spray. More significantly, I've already stubbied the aerial. Even more significantly, the rear tyres were almost bald, so she's got two new boots! Michelin Pilot Super Sports! They cost almost as much as I sold my old car for! Unlikely to be doing much more for a while, although I think I'll get her fully serviced when she gets back to Belfast.

Hi all, Proud new owner here and want to have my new baby looked after but at the same time, don't want to spend money unnecessarily! (Don't we all?!). It's a 2004 350Z with GT pack. 75k miles. I'm also a relative car newbie and would not do any work myself. My expected annual mileage is very low - 4000 - because I travel for work a lot, so the car will mostly be a weekend drive. I think I plan to keep the car for a while - so far I tend to keep a car for about three years, but I might keep this one longer since it's so special. Here's what I know for sure: FNSH up to 48k miles Some receipts since then: New clutch in the days before I bought it (phew!) but no flywheel Spark plugs done in 2012 / about 63k miles Things the previous owner says have been done, but no receipts: Front engine belts (they look pretty new) Some work done to the exhaust (stainless steel section?) So far, the only problem I've found is a knocking / thudding noise from the front passenger-side when going over bumps / holes in the road. I gather this is a common problem and could either be cheap (bushes) or expensive (arms). The previous owner says he bought some bushes but some were missing and that's all that's needed, but I guess I won't know for sure until I get it looked at. Here are my questions: Given my low mileage, should I just wait until I've had it a year and then get it serviced? This fits my budget better because I get my cars serviced every year despite the low mileage. Should I get it serviced by a Nissan dealer or go indy? (I'm guessing the latter, although I quite fancy having the 10 year inspection / stamp). Should I get the airbags tested? (I'm guessing yes - it's 10 years old and they could save my life). Should I go for a P3? Since the clutch has been done, should I bother gettting the lubricant changed and/or the flywheel done? Anything else you'd recommend? Many thanks!

Heya, I'm seriously looking at doing so. Will let you know how I get on if I decide to go ahead... (2004 350Z with GT pack)

Heya FF! Funny seeing you here - I've followed some of your weightlifting posts on OcUK too - I'm into strength training as well as 350Zs! I saw a silver one parked in Sainsbury's Kennedy Centre recently and a guy at work has a black one. Looking forward to seeing more of them around and waving to the owners! (Assuming they won't think I'm nuts, but I would guess they would be somewhat passionate about the car - it's not exactly a Sunday-drive-to-the-shops kind-of car...)

Welcome! I've just got mine - the three week wait after putting down the deposit was killing me! Now all I want to do is drive it 24/7!

Welcome! Good to see more of us in Northern Ireland! (guess who's just joined and has done a forum search for Northern Ireland...)

Hi guys, I've just joined and live in Belfast if I can help? Won't be back till Sat mind you, and then I'm out of the country the following week, so probably not much help!

Wow - active forum! thanks for the welcomes! Given her a good clean inside (ooh er!) and out today. Looking nicer, but need to give some TLC to the leather. Can't wait to take the better half for a ride! (In the car...) ;-)