350 Russ Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) I thought id start my own build thread up as everyone else seems to be doing, and I'm forever tinkering with the zed in some manner. Ive owned my zed for over 4 years now and have done about 35k enjoyable miles in it There will be a lot of photos here, but a lot of stuff has been missed out as its been a while. Here she is when i bought her, 10k and a train ticket to leamington spa and i came home with this. It didnt stay standard for long, a replica Nismo N1 kit was ordered from the z store, if they were still trading i would give anyone who asked about the quality of said kit to give it a wide birth, its s**t. nothing fits well and made of really cheap fibreglass that cracks really easy. see what i mean about falling to pieces at the slightest look of trouble, this was from a gravel car park! Whilst driving home one day on a dark country lane, i drove through what i thought was a puddle, turns out it was a massive pothole I have missed absolutly loads out as i can't remember what was done where and when and have no photographs. so up to present day, over xmas i changed the passenger side cam cover as i had oil in the plug tube, whilst it was out i cleaned up the plenum and throttle body. heres a bit of a 50/50. More to come shortly Edited March 6, 2015 by 350 Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteman35 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Looking good Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) Gratuitous frozen beading shot A few weeks ago i purchased the Nismo spoiler that glrnet had for sale to replace my ill fitting pile of sh**e. I would probably stop reading this now graham if i were you. So it had blown from the inside out causing the top to lose bit of its shape as seen here, if you look at the detail line on the side you can see its warped. Honestly if your still reading this glrnet, stop now so thats all gone now. time to get the rest flat and back in shape. you can see on the left side as you look at the spoiler, there is a circle where its not been sanded, thats a low spot which will need filling. the rest is pretty good now, just needs reinforcing with some more fibreglass to give it some strength back. Im going to try and make some time this weekend to finish off making it good so i can have a go at spraying it. Edited July 26, 2014 by 350 Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Nice work mate - looking like that will be a good repair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Good job Russ, seriously mate, I'm really pleased you have the skills and the patience to sort this out and as I said when I put it up for sale if it has helped someone else out that's all good. TBH I was so frustrated and disappointed with this spoiler and the attitude of the supplier that it had to go and in doing so I have a spoiler now that I'm really pleased with too, all in all it looks like we're both going to be pleased 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 So today i wanted to really make some progress on the spoiler as i couldn't be bothered to touch it during the week. To fill the hole that i had cut out in the top of the spoiler I needed to fibreglass it but to stop it sagging and dropping away i had to give it something to build on. Out comes a carbon fibre strut brace cover test piece. And cut out a section big enough to fill up most of the gap. This I then glued inside the spoiler to create a brace to fibreglass onto. if you notice I sanded away about half of the depth of the fibreglass of the spoiler around the hole to give the new stuff a good key and bond. Does this now make it a carbon composite spoiler?? I decided to use fibreglass woven roving mat for its added strength, Heres it all glassed up and tidied up. If your a fan of wheeler dealers you may remember that on a corvette they used a filler that had strands of carbon fibre, I decided to use the same as I've remove a lot of fibreglass trying to get it back to being flat so this will strengthen it up, you can see the strands in it in this picture. and a first fill, ready for a sand and mist coat tomorrow. Thats all for today, more tomorrow hopefully 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 nice work Russ, some good mods there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 I fitted my new alcantara steering wheel this morning, It wasn't too hard to change, much easier than i was expecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Looks good russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I like that steering wheel, where did you get it? DId you say your original controls or were they already fitted on the new wheel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 I like that steering wheel, where did you get it? DId you say your original controls or were they already fitted on the new wheel? I got it done by the same person who's done everyone else's http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/79573-re-trimmed-wheel/ I saved my original controls and swapped them over, I just sent off a bare wheel and when it came back swapped the controls and airbag from my original Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 (edited) small update as its been about a month since the last one , i wired up another cigarette lighter to sit behind the cubby so i could power a sat nav with the conventional plug and not having to cut it off, total plug and play so if i want a different one i can just take this one out and fit a new model. the lid closes so you can't see it, i should take a more recent photo now i have sprayed the blanking panel black. The spoiler is still ongoing, its taking so much longer that i anticipated. i had to cut a slot out of the back to reinforce the inside of the top to stop it flexing in places as a lot of material was removed to make it flat again. so heres how the back looks now, all back together and flat again. just the top to finish now excuse the mess. Edited April 6, 2014 by 350 Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmorg4 Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Good work mate That steering wheel looks ace. Really like alcantara on the wheel, as it feels nice and doesn't get too hot or cold in various weather. Downside is the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions tend to flatten after a while (assuming you don't drive cruiser style with one hand on the top of the wheel!). Had an alcantara trimmed wheel on my BMW, and tempted to get the Z wheel done too after seeing yours, although I do like the OEM look too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 Good work mate That steering wheel looks ace. Really like alcantara on the wheel, as it feels nice and doesn't get too hot or cold in various weather. Downside is the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions tend to flatten after a while (assuming you don't drive cruiser style with one hand on the top of the wheel!). Had an alcantara trimmed wheel on my BMW, and tempted to get the Z wheel done too after seeing yours, although I do like the OEM look too! Thanks mate. I'm really chuffed with it. I wasn't too sure how I would feel about it but I'm happy I did it now. I don't do too many miles in my zed so fingers crossed it holds up well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopedmark Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Looking good nice work going on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Some great work going into this Russ, looking forward to further updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 This is taking an eternity Never did i think it would take this long. were getting there though, the top is starting to get close to being 'Flat'. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumping350 Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 keep going russ mate looking good, i remember doing mine i was sanding and filling for days you will get there and the day its ready for painting is all worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 Bit of a late update as I did these a few weeks back. I've finally finished the upgrade of my brakes i have EBC Ultimax discs all round with yellowstuff pads on the front and redstuff on the rear. I changed the hoses to HEL braided ones and she got a complete fluid change to RBF 600. I fitted an extra pipe 'P' clip onto the front strut to keep it in place and out of the way of the wheel, after I finished I turned to wheel lock to lock and checked that they didn't get pulled tight and there was still a bit of slack. I thought it would be a lot harder that it turned out to be but it was simple enough in the end. Im looking forward to giving them a try to see how much better than standard they are. Next up after this will be cleaning all the crap out of the wheel arches and underbody, and a full underseal. Front Rear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 So today I made the decision to ruin my geometry! I had an early dart from work and decided to get the zed unwrapped and get my hands dirty, oh the fun. Ive had the full set of GT Spec underbody braces waiting to go on for way too long so it was time to make a start on getting them fitted. I only managed to get the rear lower tie arm on as i ran out of time and getting the nuts off was a bas****. Heres how it looks fitted. whilst down there i also changed the oil in my diff as it hadn't been done since id owned the car. t'was very dirty. Only 257 days until I can drive her again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) edit double post Edited September 30, 2014 by 350 Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 This weekend i got busy fitting the front KW coilovers I purchased from greg at trade link. Whilst I was at it i thought it would be a good idea to underseal the wheel arch behind where the strut goes as mine is an import and has no protection there other than paint first off i rounded the nut on the bottom of the strut trying to get it undone. great start . managed to get it off by hammering on a ring spanner and turning the bolt, phew. both the rear bolt and the drop link nut came undone without too much fuss and then the strut was out. after I finished cleaning up the arch it was underseal time. Excuse the runs. In the words of haynes manuals, reassemble in the reverse order to leave it looking like. I haven't yet refitted the nut on the bottom of the strut on the drivers side as it now as round as a penny so its just the bolt in there for the mean time. the car is still at stock ride height so that will need to come down a touch before i call it finished with but still happy with how they went. Only 195 days until i can drive her again :yahoo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 so up this morning all bright eyes and bushy tailed I decided to do a bit on the zed. Ive had a gt spec underbody bracing kit laying about for ages that i hadn't got around to fitting, so i decided to fit the front lower brace. to get access i needed to take off the under tray. just my luck one of the retaining bolts sheared off. so theres a problem that needed sorting. back to that one later. On with getting the brace on, which was straight forward apart from the bolts being b*****d tight. heres how it looked when fitted. Im not happy with the fact it covers over the sump bolt. as the under tray was off it was a good reason to fit the zspeed one i bought from tarmac in the group buy. It would of fit lovely if it hadn't have been for the brace which clashed with the tray. also to get around the sheered off bolt i drilled a hole in the plastic radiator surround and dropped a bolt though and drill a corresponding hole in the tray to line up so it still had a fixing. To get around the tray hitting the brace i put all 4 spacers on the 2 rear bolts and just tightened everything up and it all just pulled in. Id be interested to hear how anyone else got around this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Great job Russ. Really look like good quality those ZSpeed under trays. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Had a bit of spare time today so I fitted my defi temperature gauge to the drivers door handle vent, it came out better than I thought it would imo. It also would have helped if mishimoto had sent me the correct sandwich plate! Again!! As soon as that comes in its oil cooler time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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