dave_7

Next up is a big one for me Bucket seat and harness setup finally complete. 2x Mirco GT bucket seats - made to order in black velour with white branding removed from the backrest/headrest area for a clean luck with white fibreglass shell to match the harness bar. FIA approved 2x Sabelt 4 point harnesses 2x Z1 seat side mounts - had to machine these at work and paint as they clashed with just about everything. How Z1 got this so wrong I have no idea - Just because some can use a CAD package does not make them an Engineer and this is a prime example. They have however given me around an extra 60mm of headroom which is important for me, Im 6ft 5 and my helmet rubbed the roof lining despite a compromised driving position. Obliviously no adjustment once fitted with his hard mounted setup but that's no issue for me. Retained the stock 3 point belts to keep some form of practicality. Went to GSM to try every seat in the showroom to pick the seat that was right for me personally. GSM were really helpful up until the point I had my money then were pretty hopeless to put it mildly (not shocked as they have a reputation for this among track day groups). Seats arrived 5 weeks late which is one thing but my issue was the terrible communication/customer service. I'm really happy with how its all turned out. Combined with the shifter and re-trimmed steering wheel, the interior is perfect for its fastroad/weekendcar/trackcar combined duties and really has transformed the driving experience. Full racecar feels, but still a perfectly usable GT car although I wouldn't like to daily it. Got a steering wheel spacer coming from Italy after @buster put me onto it last week after fitting one to his. This is something I've looked for since I've had the car and should dial in the driving position for a streak of p*ss like me perfectly. So big thanks to him for that. Next up back to Anglesey in a few weeks to test out the new set up. Can't wait!

So, I've let this thread lapse again but a lot has happened so I'll quickly run through it all... First up was new front pads, rear pads and discs. I've had to go for a full fat race pad on the front now as anything less hardcore it literally falling to bits under the temperature load. Then trackday at Anglesey in June. Awesome day and the weather was perfect. Got a serious number of laps in. The new front roll bar has made such a huge difference to the front end of the car meaning I can caryy so much more speed through the tighter apexes. Unfortunately had the EML come on just before lunch with a multiple cylinder misfire (happened during a cool down lap). Cleared the code and kelp an eye on things for the rest of the day with no issues. Got home and whipped the coils and plugs out to inspect (I say whipped out you end up disassembling half the engine bay including removing the throttle bodies). No issues at all everything looked perfect. Changed the oil and clutch fluid at the same time. Found the cause of the misfire... Gaskets between the manifold and cats died a firey death, both sides. Torqen sorted me out me out with next day delivery on some graphite gaskets for both sides of the cats with the next trackday rapidly approaching. This was not the end of the problem though... before refitting I decided to check the condition of the cores. Passenger side of absolutely shagged - driver side was also loose. Disappointed as I bought Berks thinking the quality would be great but they've only lasted 2 and a half years. (terrible picture but you can see it's absolutely Barrymore'd) Mild panic set in only a few days before a trackday at Cadwell. Rang Torqen who sorted me out a deal on their HFCs and shipped them out again for next day. So big thanks again to them for pulling me out the sh*t All bolted back together and tested... car sounded much healthier - I must not have noticed the sound going down hill as i guess it will have slowly happened over time. Made it to Cadwell, car ran faultlessly all day.

Great update! Wish my wheels looked that fresh. Do it right, do it once is definitely the right mentality imo, even if it does empty your wallet

I'm another one who runs plain discs and then the best pads i can afford and mine take a real pounding!

Looks so good mate you must be mega pleased with the outcome! Hows the height compared to stock?

you'e making me want to go there now

Also finished off the fronts... save to say they'd had a hard life

Pictures from Oulton last week (always seem to go down well on here so give the people what they want) Top day and car was faultless all day. Really good to get back out there after what feels like forever. Big fat hardrace front roll bar made a massive different to the front end, so much so it took me most of the morning to re-learn the car!

Drop links are fairly easy to set up, ultimately you want to set them up with the suspension under load from the weight of the car (car on ramps and not stands) and set them so there is not load going through the roll bar via the drop link with the bar in a neutral position (parallel ish to ground). Literally just adjust the length of the drop links so they will pass through the bar you are using and make sure the joints are can articulate freely. Easy peasy

nice work, these look better than new!

Congrats pal Seats are going to look awesome as well once the chaos subsides

Quick update for those interested... 3D printed a little something to tidy up the new shifter and painted it and the trim. made a nice difference to the inside of the car really happy with how it turned out. this is how is started before paint. Printed from ABS also printed and painted a little cubby from an stl file i found online to replace the button blanks. On the seat, front I am booked into GSM on the 26th to try and and hopefully order a pair of fixed back buckets. Also fresh from Z1 which arrived today... their new seat mounts. these were only release last week but as soon as i saw them i knew they would be perfetc what what i am going to need so double checked with them that they'd fit a RHD car and pulled the trigger. Quality is really good and super light weight. I'm sure they are going to get me as low as possible and have plenty of adjustment in them. I am at Oulton park next Tuesday for my first trackday since August so I'm chomping at the bit to get back out there. Had the car up in the air and give everything a good checking over (decided to do it outdoors as the weather was nice) before taking her out for a good old Italian tune up Also picked up fresh brake hardware from Torqen to swap out after Oulton (I always whip the pads out after everyack day to give everthing the once over).

Ok, thanks. Shame as I'd like to monitor the oil pressure as well for obvious reasons. Looks good regardless

This looks great. Can you show oil pressure using this?

my ark grip V2 fits my Nismo no problem (albeit a mk1 but makes no difference). Had it on and off a fair few times myself to carry out other work and its always gone straight back on with minimal fuss.

oh you've got no idea, its an absolute game changer after almost 15 years of of battling the elements

cheers mate, its all coming together now in time for the summer. Doesn't scrub up too bad for a track sl*g

Inspired by @Lewis Schwier and to celebrate me having the car four years i decided to give the paintwork a little refresh. This was by no means a full details rather just working on the paintwork. Wheels will be coming off at some point for a good going over. I've been a keen weekend warrior on the detailing front for as long as I care to remember to the paintwork has always been well looked after so was in good shape before i started. First time being able to machine polish in the new garage out of the elements which was great. For those interested this is what I did: snow foam maguires wash plus (first time trying this and really liked it) glue & tar remover fallout remover clayed using carbon collective exfoli block Single stage correction with a da using sonax perfect finish & lake country orange pad (some areas needed multiple passes but nowhere was bad enough for me to need to breakout the meguires 105 out) IPA wipe down 2 coats of Autoglanz P1 lite ceramic - first time using this so the jury is out but the finish is great Pre-polish post polish post ceramic Really pleased with how it turned out, I've added the pictures but they don't do it justice to be honest but you get the idea. I also wet sanded and polished the freshly painted door handles a few weeks back to they look much better now too.

Will be worth the wait. At least they have been open and honest which is more than can be said for most. Like you say absolutely everything is like this at the moment

These are still available and ready to go

this has been on my radar for a whilst too. Interested to see which way you go with it

I've done a hundred miles or so now with the new shifter over the last week. First impressions are i really like it but it will take some getting used to. Its got a really precise mechanical feel to it, throw is super short as expected and requires more force. I don't think i would want to daily it mind, but for people who really like to drive their cars its really worth considering. Only down side is when my gearbox is stone cold 1st to 2nd has never felt great and with this setup only exaggerates that as now everything is more more solid, but after a couple of miles isn't an issue.

could be a stretched cable

Cheers, they look great and still easily adjustable if not using rails

i'm going full on fixed back side mounted.... not particularly practical but hey ho. Not done too much research on the mounts yet but i'll bear that in mind about the planted ones. I'll also see what GSM recommend when i'm there