Gerry40

Had mine nearly 5 years now, nearly 32K on the clock and been a gem, tend to hold onto my cars as well, still got my TR4 & A35 Van which I've had for 31 & 22 years respectively. Cleaned and re-painted the underneath a couple of times and basic servicing over that time is all it's needed.

2004 GT which I've had for just over 4 years has 31K.

2004 GT Length of ownership: 3 years Price paid: £7950 Spent during ownership: Very little other than a couple of oil & filter changes, gearbox oil change, blox magnetic sump plug, air filter, painted underneath inc W brace, all done myself and a lifetime battery, so about £350. Vehicle Mileage: 30,600 ( I've covered 4,000 ) Rating 10/10: Worst/Favourite Features: Absolutely love it and definitely a keeper.

Nice one, I tend to buy and keep when it comes to certain cars.

I use Fuchs Race Pro S 5w / 40 from Opie Oils, although this year I had to get it elsewhere because they were out of stock. https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-68897-fuchs-titan-race-pro-s-5w-40-ester-fully-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx?gclid=CjwKCAjw8O7bBRB0EiwAfbrTh5NFYJv5VeNY4e6OGZiU0SWL3JOgxXzEQRcDThbQXWtDF6aUU9NdWRoCJ0cQAvD_BwE

I have used these guy's for several years on all mine and family vehicles, first job was a respray on my 1961 TR4 back in 1981. If you do call ask for Richard or Clive and tell them Gerry has put you in touch. C J Tallis Body and Paint Centre Unit Industrial Site, Nutts Lane Industrial Estate, Nutts Ln, Hinckley LE10 3EJ Phone: 01455 890500

I cleaned under my Zeds arches a couple of years ago and then applied Bilt Hamber's Hydrate 80 which neutralises any rust ready to apply a top coat of which I used two good coats of black smoothrite making sure I treated all around the lip of the rear arches. Here's the link for the Hydrate 80, they do numerous products in addition to this which may be of some interest, I also bought some zinc spray as well which I used on top of the Hydrate 80 when I did my W brace which only had surface rust before then applying the smoothrite. https://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/hydrate-80 My car leads a fairly easy life and I cover less than 3K miles a year, I would probably apply some form of wax treatment on top if I was doing heavy mileage for added protection. I literally like the idea of just being able to clean and re-apply any topcoat every 3 years or so, I use the same treatment on all my classics and have owned my 1961 TR4 for nearly 30 years which underneath the arches is as good as the day I applied the first few coats of smoothrite. I know some people find it can chip but I have never experienced any major issues with this and it's so easy to clean and re-apply when required.

My name shortened ( used by family & friends ) and went self employed in 2012 so near enough.

My battery gave up the ghost three weeks ago, turned out to be the original one fitted ( 2004 ). Anyway I went for the Yuasa Lifetime Guarantee 075 Black ( 60Ah & 600A ) which came in at £157 ( £141 now ) and thanks to my lads mate's discount cost me £125, the length and width was pretty much the same as the original but not quite as high so I just had to use a small length of belting under the top bracket for the front mainly to secure firmly. Also decided to fit a CTEK comfort charger with led's to show current charge state as the car can sometimes only be used once or twice a week, this enables me to connect my CTEK charger without using the crock clips.

I bought my 2004 Zed in October 2015 with 26k on the clock and love it to pieces, I still haven't reached 30K ... I'm self employed but work from home and do very few business miles so it has a very easy life to be fair. Can't see me ever buying another car as my daily driver and it's definitely for keeps, it joins a TR4 & A35 van which are used a lot less. If the weather's really bad in the winter I cancel any meetings or travel plans, there again I'm 54 now and my running round trying to please other people are over these days, work independently and rely on no-one else. I paid just under 8K and it's a beaut even though I say it myself.

The best rust treatment I have found is Hydrate 80 from Bilt Hamber... http://www.bilthamber.com/hydrate-80 I purchased a 2004 350Z two years ago come this October, admittedly it was immaculate low mileage ( 26K ) and to be fair there wasn't really any rust so to speak of other than surface on the W brace. I removed and wire brushed the brace and then applied 2 coats of the Hydrate 80 which converts the rust to a black protective barrier which I then painted with Smoothrite black, I also removed all the wheels and painted Hydrate 80 under the arches before again painting, I know some people don't like Smoothrite as a top coat but I do very few miles and never have any issues with it chipping, in fact I tend to clean and re-apply the top coat every 3 years or so on my classics ( TR4 & A35 Van ) and they are well protected. Admittedly if I was doing high mileage and all weathers I might be tempted to apply a more flexible top coat for added protection and again would look at Bilt Hamber for that as well.

Nice one Pete! Well done. I've only had my Zed for 15 months but love it, I've had my 1961 TR4 for over half of my life though ( 28yrs ), and I'm nearly 54.

Done,

Removed mine last year and cleaned as much of the surface rust off as possible, gave it 2 coats of Bilt Hambers Hydrate 80 which I must say is fantastic stuff and then 2 coats of smoothrite on top. Refitted using copper grease on all the bolts, also while doing an engine & gearbox oil change gave all the bolts holding any covers underneath the same treatment. Just a note on the Hydrate 80, I gave a rusty old antique wheel that I had from my old farmer mate a couple of coats of it at the same time, it stands out in all weathers and the surface rust that it had changed to black looks like I painted it yesterday, didn't put any top coat paint on that by the way.

Had mine just over a year and covered 2K, the computer says 25.3 mpg over that period doing mainly shortish journey's but try and keep the least to a 10 mile run.