cs2000 Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Looks great buddy. B) Thanks mate Looks good! Again, I'm generally not a graphics fan but those definitely suit your car ... those sidesteps and wheels though Yeah I think they work very well together. I've not had one negative comment on the wheels so far so must be a good choice. The 10.5j wide rims in that offset caused me SOOOO much pain to get them to fit right, and a lot of expense, but worth it in the end. I would recommend the 9.5j wheels to anyone else though! They should just bolt straight on, may need some small spacers though, maybe 5-10mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 (edited) Just a small mod today, but one that involved about 2 hours of prep work. I got bored of the nasty looking upper plenum, but I didn't fancy having it polished because that's what everyone does, and also it will just corrode again unless you polish it every 25 minutes... Anyway I started by removing my cusco brace from the car, then removed all the plenum bolts. Then removed the plenum and also removed the throttle body from the plenum itself. Next, I attached the sandblaster attachment to the air compressor and set about removing the dirt and any oil etc from the plenum. Remember, use a proper filtration mask if you're using regular old sand (you don't want to wind up with silicosis!)and eye protection (I used a full face flip down visor) After it was clean, I then wiped it over with some bodyshop panel degreaser to ensure there was no sand left, and any bits I has missed were degreased Next, use some thick masking tape and cover up all of the bolt/screw holes, any of the little pipes that the rubber hoses clamp on to, and also the hole left from removing the throttle body. then broke out this. You don't actually need the high temp stuff, but i couldn't find any that wasn't, still, wont hurt. I followed some instructions I found online which contrary to usual painting instruct you to immediately apply 3 thick coats of paint diagonally, vertically and horizontally. Then you use a heat gun set to around 250c and use this on the paint. This does two things, it partly cures the paint, but the heat is required to achieve the wrinkle effect. The more you use the heat, the tighter the wrinkles are Leave it for about an hour, then you can gingerly re-install and let the paint finish curing on the car. After being heated by the heat gun, it should be touch dry in about an hour or so. Anyway, completed and re-installed. I prefer the look as it blends in more with the OEM engine cover Never got the front lip fitted, polyurethane parts are a nightmare, no idea how to fit this thing!! Edited September 3, 2020 by cs2000 Photobucket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted May 29, 2016 Share Posted May 29, 2016 Wrinkles look good Gonna put them on the throttle body you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted May 29, 2016 Share Posted May 29, 2016 Stealth engine bay coming along nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 Wrinkles look good Gonna put them on the throttle body you? Well ite been a while, no new mods, but thought id check back in. Id like to do this on the TB too, but I didn't want to disturb it, always scared of moving the butterfly valve by accident! Only thing to show for now is this. I was working late with a friend a week ago and we were coming home at 3am ish, as I had the baffles out of the exhaust at the time I had some fun in the Dartford tunnel, another work colleague was filming (obviously not the van driver! I know this is a public forum so let me state this, the van was doing about 25-35 mph, I perhaps touched 53-4 once but as we all know the tunnel is average 50 so I stayed under this, the run was done under or at the speed limit, OK?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xscotteex Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Whizz pop bang! haha Lovely thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 (edited) Hi all, checking in again after a pretty dormant time with the Z. Since the last update I have both moved house with my new fiance and been planning our wedding, so time and funds have been short. However, with Japfest coming this year, I wanted to do some things to really fix the tiredness the car is showing. The poor old girl is 15 years old now (!) and some aspects of the car were showing that, plus I need to tidy up some mods hastily done for last year’s Japfest. Lesson to self, don't rush a job, you'll only end up doing it twice! First order on the agenda, fix up the front lip! This was originally bought close to 4 or maybe even 5 years ago from Tarmac, I was never really interested in the hassle of making it fit, so it stuck around in my storage locker and then in the loft until last year when the week before Japfest 2018 I decided to paint it black and add it onto the car. Pro tip, don't rush paint prep! Less than 12 months later, the paint had badly cracked and was literally flaking away from the lip due to a lack of sanding and surface prep, likely I had some oils still on the plastic part. The old riv nuts were drilled out and new Pro Bolt anodised bolts put back in, secured to the car with the proper items for this job, rubber well nuts. It was repainted in black Plastidip with a clear over the top. We all know plastidip will never give a smooth surface like paint, but it looks a hell of a lot better then destroyed flaking nasty paint! so i'm happy with it! Next item was to replace my Nismo side stripes. The old eBay specials were badly faded and showing their age. A new eBay special kit was ordered and replaced like for like. Minus me messing up one cut and having to pay for a second set of stripes. Doh! And lastly, the most expensive of all of these mods. Like all of these cars (it seems) they seem to rust on the rear arches where the bumper joins the car, plus some self-inflicted wounds from a low wall and just general rusting metal in the old wheel arch lip. These photos were taken in 2017 for reference, the rot had crept much further than that by this time (2019) Passenger side rear of rear arch Drivers side rear of rear arch I had spoken to various body shops over the rear with the answers ranging from "We can only sand it, fill it and paint it" - this option wont last 6 months as the rust isn't cured, its just painted over "You need an entire new rear quarter panel and inner wheel arch skin" - Discussion stopped there, I don't even want to KNOW what the cost of that work would have been "Sure, we can cut it out, weld in and shape a new piece and paint it, that's £1k per side" - The cars only worth perhaps 4k at best, I'm not spending half the value of the car on this! So I just kept putting it off, I was sure there MUST be another way.... Then some money and time came up, so I got in touch with everyone's friend, @Keyser I had found that Chris over at Tarmac Sportz did some 15mm wide over fenders. These seemed a good plan as I didn't like the super dooooooper wide 50mm versions, that's not my look, but these were more tasteful. So with a few PM's, a few TXT messages and a few weeks of time, I made the pilgrimage to the most sacred of places. The Zed Shed II (Long live the Zed Shed I). Chris had, as usual been an amazing guy and armed only with my paint code, fully prepped, primer'd, painted and lacquered the new panels, and we were just hoping the fitment would be at least acceptable. Despite being the Zed Shed, Chris didn't have any Z's to test the panels on! One funny note I’d like to add in relation to our forum names and out actual first names. Cs2000 - Chris Tarmac Sports - Chris Keyser - Chris This made communication a little difficult at times! Anyway! before i arrived, i was sent these teaser shots of the current state of play. Primer'd and some body filler Painted, but no clear yet Clear coated The day came, and I pulled onto the hallowed ramps for two days of incredibly dirty work! After 47 cups of coffee for braveness, Keyser draws first blood.... The Z fought valiantly, but she could not withstand Keyser's almighty angle grinder! Before too long, she had relented and we could move in to survey the damage. OMG, rust! rust everywhere! There were large patches of rush even on the inner skin, towards the rear section where the bumper clips are, it was basically made entirely of rust. As much of the rust was removed as possible with the angle grinder, you can see the bare metal towards the front of the arches, which was treated in the next steps. The red paint is weld through primer. Anywhere where rust or paint was removed was sprayed with a super thick coat of primer to keep the now bare metal from rusting again. We then went to watch Tarmac Sportz's video staring Bob, formerly of Zed Shed fame to see what to do next. Chris and Bob being the old mates that they are, Chris decided to could do it better! Since we don't need to keep the same smooth arch line, Chris realised he could do less "fingering" as he kept referring to it, and that would give an easier time when it came to filling the gaps. Less gaps, less issues. These fingers were cut into the inner skin, then persuaded to bend with some pipe grips and then further persuaded with varying sizes of hammers! Until eventually they were flat enough that we were happy with them, this is part way... And done. You can see in some places there was just no metal to work with, so Keyser had some more coffee whist he thought of the next attack plan. Bob/Tarmac used rivets to hold the metal fingers to the outside of the body. Again, aesthetics aren't important here as this is all covered up. The name of the game here is just rigidity and then waterproofing. Keyser thought all that riveting sounded like too much manual labour, so he did what he does and whipped out a power tool, this time it was the welder. I wish I’d have gotten some more images of this, but I didn't want my eyeballs to melt out of my head or be seeing stars for a week from the arc flash. As you can see in the earlier photo, in some spots there’s just no metal to work with, but Keyser managed some very gentle edge welds and we got every single finger welded back to the car with no warping of the outer skin! These welds were then angle ground down a touch and given two thick coats of weld through primer. More because it was the only primer that came to hand rather than needing its weld-through-ability. Side note, that rust hole where the bumper attaches went clean through to the inner arch htt I skipped a photo here, but Keyser then applied two coats of pre-mixed fibreglass paste to basically fill up all of the holes and cover up all of the welds. After this, I retreated for fear of contracting some horrific disease from fibreglass dust. But Keyser donned the dust proof mask and sanded it all back with the flap wheel on a second angle grinder (one of 6 angle grinders under his ownership I'm told!) Notice the 350z suspension on the side of the shot, that the suspension destined for his ford Pop build, for now at least!! After much sanding, we had this, a nice, smooth and most importantly, waterproof again wheel arch Yes, this is the other side of the car, but it matters not! We then sprayed over another two thick coats of primer to protect the fibreglass And a shot of the new arches as they stood after day 1. We obviously did the same to both rear arches After a very long and filthy day of work, we stopped for the day to allow everything to fully harden, knowing that fitting fibreglass body pieces is never really simple we didn't feel like starting this on day 1. Time for bed. And you join us back on day 2! At this stage, we decided two pairs of hands weren't enough, so we asked Mrs Keyser to come and assist us ! After the new panel was placed against the car and we urmm's and ahh'd for a while, we decided we'd best start drilling some holes and see what happens. So, no turning back now. (like I could easily turn back from my primer red arches! haha) Many MANY more test fits of the panel, screwing in and then removing bolts one or two at a time, we finally had a good (and thanks to Mrs Keyser, an even) distribution of well nuts installed in the side panel. Don't mind the little nick on the filler cap, the flap wheel on the angle grinder bit it! Thats being fixed later. And Boom! just like that, the panel was bolted down! In all reality, this was probably 60-90 mins of work. The filler cap hole could really do with a slight amount of over-sizing to make fitment easier. But I hear these panels are loved by the guys doing drifting where the finish isn't all that important. The love the fact they can get wider arches, and bolt them on and off again when they inevitably get smashed up! But we ended up with a really good fitment. After a slight detour into the boot to remove the stubby (didn't want to cut a hole in fully painted panels, so it was a necessity) Mrs Keyser measured the well nut holes matched the other side, Keyser drilled them all out and I popped them into the body. Side number 2 bolted in place pretty quickly due to the fact you don't have to work around the filler cap on this side. So that was job (almost) done, time for another side shot, clearly showing the 15mm extension at work. Note what i said earlier here around the filler cap. It could do with some further trimming to make it sit 100% flat, but we were loathed to do this as the pieces were fully painted before there were test fitted on a car. I enthusiastically bolted on the new 15mm JR spacers, popped the wheel onto the studs and... they didn't fit! Turns out, with my wheel offset, the OEM wheel studs were fouling the back face of the wheel. Rather that cut down the OEM studs, we decided to enlarge the secondary holes on the JR wheels (they're multi-fitment wheels) to allow the OEM studs to fit into the unused holes. This was done in a matter of minutes, but was a perfectly successful fit no casualties! And with that, she was rolled out of the Shed, very quickly jet washed as the car had literally turned white with fibreglass dust! After a little coffee break and a chat, I began the long drive home. But couldn't resist an ass shot in a service station on the way back! I also have had to order yet another set of Nismo side stripes since my 4-5-week-old stripes are now covered by the new wings! As for what's next? Under suggestion from Keyser, I ordered some truck bed liner to spray inside of the wheel arches to both make them black again, but also to restore the semi protective rubbery coating that's in the wheel arches from factory. To do this I needed to unbolt the new panels which was nice and easy and spray it in But Pro-Tip. Don’t do this on a windy day! I ended up with a rubbery black over spray literally all over the doors, boot and bumper, even though I had masked up, the wind whipped up the particles and dumped them everywhere, which I found 3 days after id sprayed!!! So, how do you remove paint that’s cured on top of existing paint without removing the existing paint…. meguiars shampoo and a good scrub? Fail. “Sticky Stuff Remover”? Fail. Allow wheel cleaner spray? Fail. So, I had to consult the internet, as my next thought was carb cleaner. It would have 100% gotten it off in seconds, but I know that’s basically paint thinner, soooo perhaps a little too aggressive! What ended up working was a microfibre and a can of petrol originally destined for the lawn mower. Soak a spot on the cloth, rub it in and with some elbow grease the black spray started to lift. The solvents in the fuel lasted for about 5-10 seconds, even though the cloth was still wet with fuel, so I kept adding more and eventually removed the mess. To clean-up any fuel or oily residue still on the paint, the areas were sprayed with a wax and grease remover, then cleaned off, then sprayed with wheel cleaner and cleaned off and finally some meguiars shampoo and washed as normal. Yes, my wax coat is now shot, but since the day before Japfest the car is being DA compounded, polished and waxed, I would already be destroying my wax coat anyway, so I’m not bothered. Just want to say a massive thanks to @Keyser as he worked his ass off. Taking both a weekend out of his personal time, and working on the hottest two days we have had so far this year. I’m sure he would rather have been on the beach or something. Mrs Keyser kept us supplied with drinks and measurement/levelling advice too and @Tarmac@TarmacSportz for getting the parts out quickly and the moulds being relatively good. I know my car is "nothing special" compared to some of the stunners on this forum. But I love her! and having an amazing community like this around these cars, chock full of brilliant product supplier and genuinely nice people makes this club the best one I’ve ever been in by miles. I hope some people at Japfest notice this subtle but very work intensive mod. It was actually done 2 weeks before the show, but has been kept under wraps because.....well I don't know, I wanted it to be ! haha. Feel free to come and say hi if you see me around the car Anyway, until next time ! Oh and @Keyser. Maximum effort Edited February 26, 2022 by cs2000 Images 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelda Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Wow.. that's awesome work from everyone. Also very brave of you to go ahead with the 'surgery' to save the car. It makes perfect sense though if your going to keep the car long term. Looks like a job very well done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 I'm sure it's 7 angle grinders really Remember If anything goes wrong it will be Chris's fault Great write up mate - glad your happy and hope they last you for a good few years of Zedding 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 (edited) 33 minutes ago, Keyser said: Remember If anything goes wrong it will be Chris's fault But which one! Thanks again for your effort mate, very very much appreciated! @zelda It was nervy having someone cut into your car, i was just an apprentice basically! But i knew i was in safe hands and if we didn't do it, the issue wasn't just going to go away! Edited May 1, 2019 by cs2000 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 2 hours ago, cs2000 said: 2 hours ago, Keyser said: Remember If anything goes wrong it will be Chris's fault But which one! The one that is not in the room when the blame is being discussed You should get something in the post from today or tomorrow at the latest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 1 minute ago, Keyser said: The one that is not in the room when the blame is being discussed You should get something in the post from today or tomorrow at the latest Supercharger and Nitrous kit! just what i want as my wedding present 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul K Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Great write up....and definite food for thought if anyone has rusty rear arches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelda Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 For the cost of blending the new arches (if you went that route) could you have just had the cut out and weld in option done do you reckon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gg2040uk Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 I popped in briefly to the zed shed 'mid cutting', great job peeps! End result looks blooming awesome!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Mega update!! great reading and tidy end results - enjoyed that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted May 2, 2019 Author Share Posted May 2, 2019 18 hours ago, zelda said: For the cost of blending the new arches (if you went that route) could you have just had the cut out and weld in option done do you reckon? Blending the new parts in with the original bodywork would probably have meant leaving the car at a bodyshop with the new panels for a week, tons of test fits etc etc, totally different job to how we did it. I didn't have the time, nor that kind of cash laying around In terms of cost, id say they go in this order, cheapest to most expensive (and time consuming) Fill the rusty spots with bodyfiller and paint. The option we did. Arch cut from donor car and time in bodyshop to weld in and paint the whole rear quarter panel. Blend in fibreglass panels (as fitted above) once mounted. Brand new panels from Nissam, remove old panels, spot weld new ones in. I went this way as its the cheapest option that will actually last longer than 6 months I don't want to be spending half the value of the car (or more) fixing an issue like this, it becomes unviable to keep it if that was done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortPaul Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 21 hours ago, Keyser said: The one that is not in the room when the blame is being discussed You should get something in the post from today or tomorrow at the latest Yeah always blame the absent party 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 This month's calendar car too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted May 3, 2019 Author Share Posted May 3, 2019 (edited) 15 hours ago, davey_83 said: This month's calendar car too Yes, where she belongs, on the drag strip I like the fact im the car of the month for Japfest month No photos of yesterdays work as its not interesting, but i fitted the new fuel cap lid/cover/flap thing @Keyser sent me after his angle grinder bit my last one, looks much better now! Lets just hope the weather holds out for cleaning on Saturday!! Edited May 3, 2019 by cs2000 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted May 3, 2019 Author Share Posted May 3, 2019 (edited) Not really another vehicle update i guess, but last summer, the Z and i went on a hell of a road trip. I booked tickets to the Spa F1 race, and i couldn't think of a better vehicle to take, so the Z and i went on a 700 mile round trip to Spa and back. If you're reeeeeeeally bored. Heres a time-lapse of the drive which started at 2AM Our arrival time with lunch stops and toilet/refuelling breaks was mid-day! Didnt really take many photos, mostly videos, so heres some random shots of the journey. The Z all cleaned and shot part-way along the journey Ferry ride out was cold, but kinda cool, not been on a ferry before. Shame DFD Seaways ripped me off and made me pay £80 for a lower deck slot. Theirs absolutely no way in hell i would have cleared the ramp to get to the upper deck! Tucked up inside the ferry Some unheard of British drivers car was on display. Not really sure who he was, but peoples seemed interested Out spot for the race day. We got to track at 6AM that morning for a 12pm race start, purely to get a good spot, it paid off! Think this shot was from Saturday, but here's a Ferrari Not sure if i was allowed to be here, but after the race, i took the drone up and got a wide shot of the beautiful track. of course, you cant see the elevations here, i was exhausted after walking around this place for 3 days! Lastly, back at Dunkirk port, waiting for the ferry home. Car didnt miss a beat at all, she really showed her GT side, the entire drive, when with my BC BR coilovers, and stupidly loud Invidia exhaust was comfortable. Got plenty of approving thumbs up from the locals in France and Belgium, i didnt really see any other modified vehicles, and not a single other Z car at all! Edited February 26, 2022 by cs2000 Images 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Muxlow Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Cracking pictures buddy. I will check the video out later on when back home. Thanks for sharing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted August 2, 2021 Author Share Posted August 2, 2021 Epic thread revival batman! Just a heads-up that although the Z and I parted ways last year around June time, it went to a forum member who has been looking after it since. Sadly he didn't have the best start to Z ownership, the least of his issues in the last 12 month being a failed alternator on the night he picked the car up, resulting in two of us pushing the car uphill on a dual carriageway in the dark to get to a layby... Anyway, the car is now running and driving again. Il let @Ottleydrift fill you in on the remainder of the story and to continue the cars "progress" thread if he sees fit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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