autorune Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) Ok guys so some might have seen me floating around a bit after buying the blue Z from another member. So, I still haven't really driven it yet as the clutch went after 20 minutes of ownership So I got the parts pretty quick and was waiting for a friends to clear out some space in their unit so we can crack on. Thank the heavens they did, as you'll see why it'd have been a nightmare in an actual garage lol. This is basically starting off as a big rant but it'll be more of a build thread as it (hopefully) progresses. To start with, the rust. Oh, the rust! We had to grind and drill every exhaust bolt that had to come out. Not a surprise given its age and the fact its spent most of its life up north I guess? Anyway, after getting the box dropped and old bits out (my days, the friction plate was down to the rivets and had dug a ditch in the pressure plate and flywheel lol) the pilot bushing was stuck in the hole. It was already getting late so instead of using the bread trick my friend with the steady hand carefully chiselled it out. Painful to watch but probably saved a day... Had the damn car almost a month and haven't driven it yet! Kit didn't come with a new one either but luckily same friend had a couple spares from his S15 (thanks Nissan for using generic parts across cars). Anyway, now to get it back together. As a note, dowels on the flywheel were a bit more snug than OEM so we had to torque it several times to ensure it was seated correctly. Niceeeee. Next up, getting the box back in. Wiggle wiggle and more wiggle. Nout. Turns out using the wack-ass "universal" alignment tool didn't even get close to aligned! Luckily pilot bushing still OK. Ended up getting the box and propshaft on the following day but oh no it doesn't end there. Nope. No siree. The exhaust needs to go back on now. I really have some awesome mates here. Turns out the Y pipe is from Toyosport and the backbox is Japspeed. For whatever reason, there was a massive gap filled by two spacers with no gaskets lol. So aforementioned friend actually got the welder out and extended the Y pipe by exactly enough to make a snug fit. Now time to wire brush all the flanges and get the exhaust in. Well, thankfully we thought ahead here and got gaskets ready. And gun gum for good measure. Well, we actually ran out of bolts so ended up whipping up some by welding nuts to some freshly threaded stems. Covered both sides of the flange in gun gum and sent it. First start, no blowing which is awesome and its time to move it out of the unit to idle for a bit and cure the gun gum. Well, that went fine, clutch felt lovely and moved it out to idle. Then, went to test drive. Clutch in, go to hit R and... won't go into gear. Pedal feels light and lags behind my foot a bit. Get a look under, actuation isn't quite right. Mole gripped the clutch line by the slave and the pedal went rock solid, slave confirmed I guess. Got a kit (new slave and braided line) ordered from Horsham now but God damn I just wanna drive it lmao. That'll be on in a few days I hope so maybe I'll get some time in the sun before it chucks it down this weekend 🤞 Also, to balance out all the BS above, the interior is lovely, aftermarket sound system is pretty good too. Handles like its on rails compared to any other car I've owned (well, from the short time I got driving it anyway). No weird or dodgy noises/vibrations. Still feel like I scored a bargain despite the issues tbh. To answer a couple possible questions: I live almost at the south coast, got the Z transported down from Scotland "sold as seen" so its on me really and PO had no reason to expect the clutch would go that soon, however, he offered to put a couple hundred towards the clutch which is f***ing awesome given he had no obligation to do so! Other than the clutch issue everything was more or less as expected so no big deal really. Happy with the purchase regardless. I eventually plan to replace the exhaust with test pipes and a nice new SS system, but am a bit concerned about the (also rusty) bolts on the top side of the cats and the idea of having to get new headers makes me shudder. I get that I should be prepared for maintenance costs but god damn not so much so soon haha. Next course of action really is to get a de-rust under the car and redo as much undercoating as possible and replace some of the more accessible bits before they get real bad. If you're wondering, I went with a Fidanza SMF and Exedy clutch To do: Fit new slave/braided line and bleed Replace exhaust system, probably when it starts blowing again (Sell the cats to fund it as well probably) Replace PAS lines as they're starting to become porous Rear tyres getting towards EOL but will probably replace the lot with PS4s. De-rust and re-undercoat before it becomes structural Figure out why fuel gauge is poo (I understand this is a business-as-usual issue) Sort out the minor arch bubbles before they develop De-cloud the headlights Edited July 22, 2021 by autorune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Congratulations on getting your Zed. Glad it's found a caring owner and getting put back to good health. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autorune Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 (edited) Finally back together, new slave in. What a pain to bleed it was (Yes, we followed FSM process lmao)! Obviously taking it easy for the first few hundred to break the clutch in but holy cow does it run The only downside is the union nut from the hardline to attach the flexi was so rusted that even a line wrench and WD40 ended up rounding it off. That being said, we used the original flexi. I know, bad idea but it'll do until I can sort out an alternative, probably thinking of replacing the whole system with braided SS flexi similar to what you'd see on some MX-5s. If anyone's done this before please PM me and let me know how it is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS1aJ_wel8o Of course, it has the SMF rattle but no biggie. Fair trade-off for how rev happy it is! Edited July 22, 2021 by autorune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortPaul Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 Hi and welcome from Bristol, sounds like your having a nightmare with the zed, sounds like your getting the better of the issues 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autorune Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 10 minutes ago, ShortPaul said: Hi and welcome from Bristol, sounds like your having a nightmare with the zed, sounds like your getting the better of the issues 😁 Cheers lad, thankfully got some amazing mates, couldn't do it alone! Doesn't compare to my old Golf mk4 I bought in limp mode which had something break seemingly every week lmao. Took full set of vac lines, brakes, radiator/coolant, coolant temp sensor, three sumps (my fault for going low lmao), turbo oil feed, crank sprocket (bolts sheared???), clutch/smf, all round suspension and several window regulators. Only had it less than a year before the engine blew due to shoddy workmanship (still no idea if was me or Halfords but they left oil all over the engine bay from a timing belt change soooo) 😅 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Glad to hear you've got it back together, hopefully you can start actually enjoying it now Shame you've had to do such a big job so early into your ownership but at least you've got peace of mind that it's done now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Muxlow Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Hi buddy, glad you are getting her back to health. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Miester Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Looks like your building a new Zed there at least you will have a well sorted Zed in the end there great cars I have had my 350z since Aug 2014 and still love it plus my a drop top so nice this time of year to have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autorune Posted August 10, 2021 Author Share Posted August 10, 2021 Wasn't on the todo list but had the chance to try my hand at detailing today. Not terrible but not great either, still, paintwork is far from perfect so not worth going overboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 What YOU see as far from perfect, 99.9% of the population will be admiring saying that the car looks brand new. When I got my first car I loved waxing it. I didn't know anything about detailing and just thought Wax/polish was all the same and made it bead in the rain. I don't know whether to thank or curse the friend that showed me what swirls were and then introduce me to detailingworld coz now what has been seen cannot be unseen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autorune Posted August 11, 2021 Author Share Posted August 11, 2021 1 hour ago, HEADPHONES said: What YOU see as far from perfect, 99.9% of the population will be admiring saying that the car looks brand new. When I got my first car I loved waxing it. I didn't know anything about detailing and just thought Wax/polish was all the same and made it bead in the rain. I don't know whether to thank or curse the friend that showed me what swirls were and then introduce me to detailingworld coz now what has been seen cannot be unseen That is very true - definitely show quality compared to my dad's old Ibiza thats lost 90% of its clearcoat lol. I thought the same with previous cars and had this idea after my friend showed me the difference on his A4. Scratches aside there were sunscreen marks all over the place and understood a good cut+polish would get those out. Headlights were also pretty bad so this also sorted those out for the most part - time will tell how long it lasts but hopefully the ceramic spray stuff will keep em together. Not sure if its a trick of the lighting but in all fairness it looks like I've taken a lot of the shallow scratches out, paint definitely less hazy Its true though I can't unsee it on any car anymore haha Before After Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 I don't try to remove all defects in the clearcaot anymore. Just in case I strike through, I fill them albeit temporarily with fillers like Soft99 Scratch Clear Wax or Autofinnesse Tripple. https://flic.kr/p/22tDKZ5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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