GMballistic Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) It's been an interesting first year with my Zed and I've so many great people to thank for the way it is now so I want to get that out of the way. First and foremost a big thank you to Lexx, glrnet, doogy & all the other mods/admin that help run this forum making it a great place for us members to use. Secondly a big thank you to Chris at Tarmac Sportz for so, so many great Zed parts including the biggest components of my build and Jez & Craig at Horsham Developments for all their hard work on my Zed. Also have to say thanks to Alex (ZMANALEX), Mitz at The Cougar Store, Ewen at Clark Motorsport and Steve from Redline Styling. I'm probably forgetting some professional traders and a few member traders so sorry if I have. There are of course a great deal of fellow members that have influenced and more importantly helped me with questions & know how along the way especially with regards to going the FI route. Big thanks to; Sam Mcgoo, GT4 Zed, The Chubby Ninja, Vlad, Keyser, Scott_f91, ilogikal1 and Ian. (sorry again if I haven't remembered to thank anyone) Anyway on with the show ~ This is not so much a build thread but more of a how my Zed was & is now. As it started basically standard 2003 Nissan 350Z GT Coupe. Did a few minor things to it but the first major thing to sort was the exhaust system ~ mainly because the old one had rusted through & was literally hanging on for dear life. So in stepped my first dealings with Chris from Tarmac Sportz and I hopped on a group buy for Berks HFC's and an Invidia Gemini true dual full exhaust system with stainless steel rolled tips. NB: red circle is highlighting how the Invidia rear pipe should sit when fitted correctly over the ARB. More to follow..... Edited March 20, 2015 by GMballistic 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCook Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I look forward to this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) ^^ Thanks MCook. After the exhaust system was fitted with the HFC's I was very happy as the sound was amazing especially on WOT. Unfortunately the dreaded EML started to come on so I knew that eventually I'd have to get an UpRev done to sort it once & for all even though I had become a 10th Dan master at the "pedal dance" after just the first week of the EML coming on. I decided to focus all my attention (read that as bank funds) on the performance side of things from that moment on but unfortunately the aftermarket double din head unit fitted by the previous owner had other ideas. The radio only tuned to one or two stations (Classic & Radio 2 for some bizarre reason) & the CD/DVD player didn't work at all. The offending head unit.. Which was soon swapped at B&B Audio Concepts, Cardiff for a good "shop soiled" Pioneer AVH-1400DVD. Great price & service plus the steering wheel controls all worked so happy days. More to come ~ didn't think it would take so long to write all this. Edited October 23, 2014 by GMballistic 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Nice one GM needs led rear lights tho, and is that some sort of adult content on your head unit? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumping350 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 looking good Graham been waiting for this......more shiny bits now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Nice one GM needs led rear lights tho, and is that some sort of adult content on your head unit? Getting there ZEUS. Might have to ask Santa for the LED rear lights for Christmas I think. You know me mate, had to get some sort of woman in there. It's actually the Fedde LeGrand video for "Put your hands up for Detroit". May as well be porn though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne370Z Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Nice... just needs some stripes now ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Lol GM - good to see your car in it's newly found glory However... watching fruity videos in the quiet of your car with the temp turned up to 25C :lol: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 ^^ Damn ..too slow again.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Lol GM - good to see your car in it's newly found glory However... watching fruity videos in the quiet of your car with the temp turned up to 25C :lol: The best bits are yet to come but uploading and thinking of witty remarks is taking all my brain skills. I don't often watch fruity videos in my car but when I do I always make sure the temperatures set at 25C so I can get nice and hot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 He's a dirty boy ! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedd Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Looking good mate! How much did the pioneer unit set you back, as my cd player doesnt work either, using a cassete player adapter at the mo to listen to music Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Good write up mate, when's the charger going on ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatooandy67 Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 (edited) Nice work GM, looking forward to reading more of this Edited October 24, 2014 by tatooandy67 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mctwistuk Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Looking good 👠Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 Looking good mate! How much did the pioneer unit set you back, as my cd player doesnt work either, using a cassete player adapter at the mo to listen to music As I said it was a shop soiled head unit ~ basically like new except I didn't get a box which I would have thrown away anyway. It was £200 all in which I thought was a bargain. Much better than the similar head units he kept trying to sell me which where £400+ and did the same thing. Good write up mate, when's the charger going on ? Already on. Can't believe you've skipped to the end of the story already though mate. Will post the dyno print out & pictures soon. Nice work GM, looking forward to reading more of this Looking good í ½í± Thanks both. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoundDog Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Nice work GM now hurry up and put the rest of the project up lol. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Where's the good bit, nobody likes foreplay. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott TMN Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 (edited) Wow, nice write up so far mate! and a mention too aha Really looking forward to seeing the rest of this! Edited October 24, 2014 by Scott_f91 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veeg33 Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Interesting stuff GM and nice looking zed. Keeping my eyes on the thread as I'm interested with the SC. Keep it coming. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 Well next thanks to ilogikal1, SuperStu and downhuman I got the detailing bug bad. Thanks to mainly these guys I was advised that my sponge was the work of Lucifer himself, ...and that my tried & tested method of rubbing grit round in circles was in fact not good for the paint work on the Zed. Who'd have thought it? So with that in mind I bought some, ...no actually flippin' loads of cleaning products: two buckets, Megs lambswool mitts, GTechniq drying towels, Megs Gold class shampoo, waxes, snowfoam & more. In fact I started detailing the Zed so much that eventually I killed my Halfords £250 jet washer which had lasted for 7 years up until I got the Zed & started using it almost 8-10 times a month. Standard clean engine bay ~ ignore the rusty brace I do eventually deal with it. All clean inside too and added an emergency hammer tool ~ mainly for breaking the windows if I crashed in a lake but also handy for batting people over the head should they get road rage & need their attitudes adjusting. **violence is bad people I do not encourage it** That's how it stayed for a while. Few mods kept coming but mainly minor things like a 350Z tax disc holder, chrome tyre valve caps (can't believe the kids haven't nicked them yet) oh and some bulbs. Thanks to cs2000 (member trader on here) for some & eBay for the rest: LED number plate bulbs, LED boot light, LED interior lights, LED side lights, Silvertec front & rear indicators and Silvertec side indicators. Crap picture below but it's all I've got sorry. More to follow... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 8-10 times a month 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 Next up I decided to use some JDM red aluminium washers and stainless steel bolts to tidy up some of the engine bay by replacing the rusty Nissan OEM ones. Made a nice difference looks wise but I was still more focused on trying to drag more power out of the old DE block so started planning my mods to do before an UpRev at Horsham Developments. Despite the general consensus that an uprated panel filter is the best way to go for more power I did long for some induction noise and of course a bit more bling under the bonnet. After researching various air induction kits available for the DE Zed I eventually decided on the "Stillen High Flow air induction kit" from Tarmac Sportz. The reason being that it was a nice looking kit which I thought was probably the best compromise between performance and looks with it's Polyurethane heat shield, K&N cone filter & venturi ring. Great service from Chris at Tarmac Sportz and fitted it in good time despite my OCD for cleaning parts of the engine that I or anyone else would never ever see. As the keen eyed among you will notice I also purchased some very nice carbon fibre bonnet lifters from the lovely, rather orange obsessed, 14N (Ian). Not to mention fitted another Tarmac Sportz part in the form of a carbon fibre slam panel which luckily cost me nowt. Thanks Father Christmas, ...I mean thanks Dad. No my Dad is not Father Christmas but he is very generous at Christmas with a big belly so similar in some respects. I also fitted a "Nismo" 1.3bar radiator cap but let's not talk about that as it was from eBay, cost me only £15 and so my suspicious mind suspected it maybe, ...just maybe not be a genuine Nismo product. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarmac@TarmacSportz Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 (edited) Awesome dude!! You have been a great customer over the last year and a really good advert for Tarmac Sportz with your links to the website etc You have a pm Edited October 27, 2014 by Tarmac 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Great write up Gareth. Keep up the good work . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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