zelda Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 9 hours ago, ballistic said: Thankyou. I didnt have any problem removing it no. I dont think that left side steering column bolt is coming out again without a fight though Lol I've had the security bits kicking about for ages now to remove my wheel but just keep putting it off for fear of rounding the bolts off. I read they're pretty firmly stuck.. glad to see yours came off ok. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 Havnt updated for ages out of laziness and forgetfulness so i will start to catch the thread up. Cam cover gasket was leaking so while i had it apart started on some engine bay dress up. VHT paint. Looks more presentable. This was done is May 2022 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 (edited) Spoiler time. Finally decided on a spoiler i like after ages deliberating. Its a Strosek style one without the metal brackets which are not my cuppa. (June 22) Very happy with it Also poly bushed my worn inner control arm bushes with Superpro. Edited July 11 by ballistic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 Lovely touches with the orange and new rear spoiler goes well too. What's next, oil catch can? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 12 Author Share Posted July 12 6 hours ago, davey_83 said: Lovely touches with the orange and new rear spoiler goes well too. What's next, oil catch can? Ty mate. Its coming along. I havnt noticed any oil in the intake or plenum so i probably wont get a catch can yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 17 Author Share Posted July 17 (edited) Forgot i didnt add this. Bit of an odd one but i have a true dual APS 3" exhaust. It was extremely loud as it basically only had the rear silencers. I used to daily the Zed and was too much. So years ago i had the diameter reduced and extra silencers added Fast forward to Feb 2022 and it hasnt been my daily for a while so decided to open it back up. Full 3" again with a high quality profusion silencer on each bank so its not as raspy as it was originally. Heres how it looked when we removed it. Just before the mid boxes it drops to 2.5" and has two silencers. Heres a look at the new 3" profusions. Really nice quality. I wanted one good mid silencer so it wasnt overly loud. Needed to weld a pie cut section to get around the rear ARB as its not designed for two pipes back there ofc My fabricator Ben at work New high grade 3" stainless welded in to replace the 2.5 section Here they are all back to their former glory. 3" all the way. Shot of it on the car Old one again for comparison Very pleased with this one. Love the sound . Now that its mainly used as a weekend car and fun drives its perfect. Very deep and a great rumble. Will try to upload a couple vids from google drive (anyone know how?) 😁 Edited July 17 by ballistic 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bounty Bar Kid Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Upload to YouTube and then share here? You can make it non searchable if you'd like. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Love a bit of custom exhaust fab work, 3' for your setup is needed il bet. Not running a w brace? JDM spec diff I see too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrison140 Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Nice bit of work 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 (edited) On 18/07/2024 at 06:14, davey_83 said: Love a bit of custom exhaust fab work, 3' for your setup is needed il bet. Not running a w brace? JDM spec diff I see too. Yea i dont wanna do a seat dyno but it felt more responsive, first thing i noticed. and stronger top end. W brace went back on after the pic. Was giving it a paint. I will upload to youtube as suggested Edited July 20 by ballistic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 (edited) More engine bay dress up. I decided to ditch the plastic engine cover. But the timing chain cover was very oxidized. So i used a product called alubrite to get rid of it. Worked it in and washed away. Repeated a couple times on trouble spots. Came up nice and clean. Then came a very very laborious process of sanding the aluminium from 180 grit. All the way up to 1500 Then i polished it with some compound which also took ages. Came out pretty decent. Did the little covers too Then i also sprayed the reservoir caps to match the other orange bits Tbh i want a better solution to these. Something billet or such. Jazzed up.my battery covers and sprayed my strut brace black All in all its somewhat presentable now (Early part of 2023) Edited July 21 by ballistic 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 (edited) Also bought some dress up bolts. Before on left, after right. Heres a before and after of all the work And some final shots as it sits after all that Open to any suggestions. Especially for ideas of what to do with the reservoirs. Edited July 21 by ballistic 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) Black roof Always fancied this one and someone i know is handy with wrapping and offered to do my roof wrapped in black to see if i like it before committing to spraying it. Was pretty difficult doing it outdoors in poor conditions but he made a good job of it imo Little before and after Really like it. Will have it sprayed one day as the finish of vinyl wrap has just too much orange peel for my taste and lacks the depth of paint. Feb/mar 2023 Edited July 23 by ballistic 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 25 Author Share Posted July 25 (edited) Wheel colour change and refurb. Had gloss black wheels for years and was tired of it. After visiting a few places and looking at various options i decided on this bronze. So it was goodbye to the black Hello to the bronze Very pleased with the way these turned out. Love the new colour and the service from First Aid Wheels in Finchley was excellent. Edited July 25 by ballistic 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 These looks mega now pal, very nice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 26 Author Share Posted July 26 (edited) Front splitter for Nismo V1 bumper. Fancied having a splitter but never found one designed for my bumper. Once i finally happened across one i snapped it up and fitted it. I propped it up on some cardboard to see how far i wanted it sticking out etc Once i decided on that i cut off the excess Then it was a tricky part of drilling holes through the splitter and bumper for lots of nuts and bolts to clamp it in place. Took a while but its been on a year and still holding fine. I wasnt sure at first but its grown on me and now i cant see it without. Edited July 26 by ballistic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortPaul Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 Your rims look good 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Interior upgrades. I decided to purchase some genuine alcantara and skin some of the panels in the Zed. Was tricky work as the material has no stretch and its tricky to work with the glue without contaminating the surface Stripped out the panels Lots of measuring and planning as the material is pretty expensive A finished panel passenger lower) This is the fabric glue i used All fitted back in Was done last June and its held up just fine so far. Going to do some more bits soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted August 6 Author Share Posted August 6 New seats! Everyone knows how well the oe Zed seats wear, despite how careful i was with them. So its time for a replacement. I was looking for something with more support to so im not sliding out of my seat all the time. After lots of searching i decided to get these: Braum Elite X Sitting on Planted seat brackets. In my 'all the way back' driving position the driver seat rubbed on the door a little and made a constant noise while driving so i modified the bracket a little to give me more room Now its just fine. Despite buying the 'low' seat brackets it has raised my driving position a little. Im 6ft 2 and now im a finger gap from top of head to roof. Im very happy with these overall. They look the part imo. And are comfortable, ive been on long drives a few times and no problems at all. And they hold me in better than OE. Longevity remains to be seen. Couple of glamour shots: Alongside the other interior mods ive been doing, screen, steering wheel, alcantara etc, its a nicer place to be. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Muxlow Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 Ooh now they look a bit sexy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted August 9 Author Share Posted August 9 (edited) Yearly paint correction this May Before i started paint still looked fine and plenty of gloss when clean, but still 😁 Thorough clean and decontamination with fallout remover and clay. Both from Bilt Hamber. Wasnt really any contamination, very little reaction from the FO remover and very little picked up by the clay so i must be doing something right Paint was free from swirls etc so just used some Rupes finishing polish and a medium pad on the Das Pro DA. Followed by some Bilt Hamber double speed wax for prtection. Before After All done Took pics from the same angle to try to capture the difference. All done for the year i rekon apart from maintenance washes and protection. Edited August 9 by ballistic 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly350z Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 Much as I love my Nismo seeing yours makes me miss the fun of a good old fashioned older project. Car looks stunning and the power to back it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GranTurismoEra Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 looks good, Cow hide isn't cheap lol. My mate told me while trying to mod his F Type interior with White Alcantara. One mistake and could be spending and waiting ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballistic Posted August 11 Author Share Posted August 11 On 10/08/2024 at 10:06, Olly350z said: Much as I love my Nismo seeing yours makes me miss the fun of a good old fashioned older project. Car looks stunning and the power to back it up Thanks for the kind words! I feel you. Thats one of the reasons i bought the Zed i did, had what i wanted but i wouldnt feel bad modding it. On 10/08/2024 at 12:19, GranTurismoEra said: looks good, Cow hide isn't cheap lol. My mate told me while trying to mod his F Type interior with White Alcantara. One mistake and could be spending and waiting ages. TY!. Yea tell me about it! im going to have to buy some more soon when im ready to skin my next bits. £150 for a couple meters 🥲 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GranTurismoEra Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 Sheesh, Are you still running around 440? Do you go to any of the midlands meets or British Motor Museum meet? be good to see the car in future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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