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Suzanne the LS3 6.2 V8! Caution very long build thread....


Wasso

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Probably a bit late to publish a Build Thread, but just wanted to put on paper, I mean in Cyberspace the story of my vehicle which has been a great car to me, despite making me bankrupt!

 

So the story begins.....

 

Once upon a time I walked into a Nissan Dealership and asked the lady for a "Test Drive" (the car that is, not her) of this stock Azure Zed with 29k miles on the clock and 30 months old. After making the purchase the sales lady asked "would I be modding the car" - I replied with no doubt what so ever that I would never do such a thing!! :lol:

 

So here she is stock!!

 

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A friend of mine just a couple of months into ownership said why not get involved with a Forum? So I did.... and here I am. I can't recall one of my first questions, but soon enough I could see some rather interesting vehicles which would stand out from being OEM. Unknowingly I'm getting drawn into modifying the car.... not knowing where to start or what I wanted to achieve the first recommendation was a Cold Air Induction. Sounds good to me, so purchased this nice example below 2nd hand on the forum and probably still today one of the best mod's I've bought, just cos it looks the nuts and always reminds me of my first purchase each time I blip the throttle.

 

So here's the stock engine bay and then my first ever MOD!! :yahoo:

 

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Next in the pipeline was the recommendation of the plenum spacer. So off I went in search for a friendly forum trader and then stumbled across Sarah AKA Chilli Red. The most helpful and polite trader I believe we have ever encountered, although to be fair Chris (Tarmac) is doing a grand good job in filling Sarah's shoes.

 

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Now.... all of a sudden things go a bit crazy.... *BRAINWAVE* wouldn't it be a great idea to increase the power/performance of the car. So off I go in search of increasing the BHP of my Zed. I plumped for Nitrous, this was due to the fact of the cost per £/BHP. So investigations were made where I was introduced to Mark @ Abbey. So my original shopping list was 1 NOS bottle, simple switch system, cheap install. That was the plan anyway. I ended up with what I call a luxury install, 2 bottles, street Nitrous controller, stealth install. Oh but it doesn't stop there, oh no.... the following were added to the list..... Motordyne XYZ Pipe and Japspeed De-cats.

 

:headhurt:

 

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So, we now have more power. I thought it may be a good idea to get some nice new brake pads. Performance Friction pads were chosen all round, fitted and tested at the Nurburgring. Lets jus say they were great, but made a very dusty mess of my alloys. After the ring I purchased HEL brake lines and Motul brake fluid due to the fact OEM fluids and lines just don't cut the mustard on a track.

 

Next.....

 

Why not make the car lighter.... GREAT IDEA!!

 

Seibon Carbon Boot was sourced from Nurrish.... (Not that I have any fitted (pre-painted) pics as it was taken straight to the bodyshop for painting before fitting).

GT Spec Strut Bar

Custom Painted Brake, Battery Covers and Surrounds (Courtesy of Dcash)

Carbon Fibre Engine Cover (Courtesy of Carbon Coops)

Carbon Fibre Cooling Panel (Courtesy of Carbon Coops)

HKS Oil Cap

Polished Reservoir Tanks (Courtesy of Dcash)

Stubby Aerial

Replacement head unit (a nice JVC DVD unit courtesy of Muddy)

Removal of the majority of excess weight from the boot, Tools, Spare Wheel, Tonneau Cover, Boot Plastics

(Total weight loss including removal of oem cats 66kg)

 

Next was the lower plenum (Dcash) and a nice new shiny upper plenum.

 

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So I've covered the weight loss, power gains and yet there's hardly any exterior mods??

 

Out comes the wallet again....

 

The car was due a service, so went to Abbey had the usual bits undertaken but took the oppertunity to have my RAYS refurbed and powdercoated, along with a Cusco Oil Catch can fitted.

 

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But with these new bad boys had to come some nice new RAYS lightened nuts (Courtesy of Chilli Red)

 

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*Continued below due to picture limits in new forum*

Edited by Wasso
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Great little write up, she's a beauty, don't know what all the fuss is about though, she's hardly changed ;)

 

She's a stunner and as Darren says on the move she looks great from behind andin the mirrors, great job.

 

So what mod next? :lol:

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*moved from first post due to too many pics in new forum*

 

By now my disks had been eaten away by the Performance Friction pads, so it was time for some new pads and disks. DBA4000 Wiper Slot and some Ferrodo DS2500. Made a massive improvement to Brake Dust, it's now far more managable, and stopping power has now imrpoved. In addition to braking was a mod I was desperate to source.... courtesy of Tarmac (Bonnet Struts :yahoo: )

 

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Then came one of the most exciting times to date.....

 

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Back to Chilli Red for the Chargespeed Rear bumper, acquired the Nismo V2 front and Nismo side skirts from a member. I'd already sourced the carbon diffuser courtesy of Docwra, so it was just a case of collating the body parts and arrange for somebody to paint and fit. Thanks to RT performance who undertook the whole job, who I have to say are a great bunch of guys done a great job. Included with the bodykit fitting were the Eibach springs.

 

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So I guess that brings us to the end (well sort of) product....

 

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Big Thanks goes to all the traders I've purchased from, the 2nd hand goods I've purchased from the members of the forum, RT Performance for the body kit installation and painting and of course not forgetting Abbey for the umpteen hours spent on the car. Oh and a thanks to Mr RTbiscuit for my Forum Decals and Engine Bay decal. :#1:

 

I thank you all for the Zed you have contributed to......

 

THE END - and before anyone says - wheels are next!!!!!

 

(Well until the next mod anyway.... :lol: )

 

Thanks for reading...

Wasso :)

 

 

 

 

Cheers for the comments, I also favour the finish from the Nuts, being Rays as well just made the look just perfect. Ok so they're not aftermarket wheels but I've really got my heart set on some Weds and due to the price something I'll have to wait for. So in the meantime a short term solution.

 

I just noticed that I've not included any rear shots so I'll pick a couple out later tonight.

 

The offset number plate is for a reason. I didn't want to attach the plate by drilling or sticking the plate on the bumper, so I was left with inserting in the mesh area. If you zoom in on the last pic you'll see an air scoop right of the plate, this stopped me from placing the plate in the centre. So that's the reason for the offset. Annoying but a solution which I'm reasonably happy with.

 

Next mod, tough decision really. I have a selection of important gauges to go in the car, I just need to source a suitable pillar pod which doesn't look cheap and looks the part. After that I'd say some engine bolts, fit the polished tanks and then next year I'd like to, funds permitting to maybe install a stroker kit. I'd love to have just a "little bit" more power not insane amounts but in order to do so forging the internals is really one important step forward. I'd also like to go for a full suspension swap, which will give me the option for adjustment and a stable car in the corners. Potentially £10k could be spent, But do I really want to spend that sort of cash is another question. You only live once and I can't see myself modding another car so may as well go all guns blazing with this one. If I decide to forge it won't be until next year.

Edited by Wasso
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Very nice mate :thumbs:

 

I do like your Zed nice and clean looking - love the stealth NOS install (saw that at Port Solent)

 

2 things -

1. You won't stop there :lol:

2. If it ever feels cold in your car check to see if your Seibon Carbon Boot is still there :ninja::lol:

 

Keep up the great work.

 

Regards

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WillyP - There is that plastic strip under the front bumper, you just can't see it. It was a nice bit of plastic that would let me know I'm getting close to a speed bump, and now with the new bumper it doesn't have one of those, so when I hear the scrape, I'm actually making contact with the underside of the bumper :headhurt:

 

Keyser - Agreed I wanted to maintain a cleaner look, hence there's no spoiler at the back, de-badged front and back, and kinda oem looking without being oem if you know what I mean. Don't get me wrong I like the outlandish modifications that some people do, but I don't think I could drive such a car. I like to be noticed but not stared at!

 

:lol: Don't worry that boot isn't going anywhere!!

 

Husky - To be fair I used to modify cars when I first started driving, had a Escort MkII which had "some" modifications, then my two Opel Manta's had major ICE installs. So in terms of modding cars, I'd have to say this has been my most expensive and in depth modding I've ever done. You could call it my rookie attempt. Which is why I put a thanks on the bottom of the post to say thanks to those on the forum for inspiration, advice and generally getting a feel of the different types of modifications possible. The options are endless, but choosing the "right" mods is very difficult, especially with body kits, as there are two brands, both of which could look good or bad together, it turns out they look good. But still I received comments to say the skirts could have looked better with the Chargespeed Skirts, but to be fair, I like the Chargespeed skirts, but not enough ooooomph in them for me.

 

Slimjim - Not sure it replaces a Garage directly, this was just something I wanted to do, so that I can see exactly how much time and effort has gone into planning the outcome. It's taken 12 months to get this far, from investigating power modifications, installing, learning myself to fitting parts and getting the finished product.

 

I recall when I first received the NOS kit in the post, it looked like a minefield of information, I was even worried about removing the engine strut brace, but months down the line I've installed my own air induction, fitted upper and lower plenums, changed brake pads and disks, test fitted the body kit and fitted the stereo gubbings. A lot has been learnt in 12 months and understanding the Zed puts you more in tune with how it all fits together.

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Sorry, I hope that didnt come across as an insult like "you clearly haven't modded before you noob" I just meant the way you phrased it, like a voyage of discovery, seemed like you hadn't modded at all before which makes it all the more impressive :)

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Sorry, I hope that didnt come across as an insult like "you clearly haven't modded before you noob" I just meant the way you phrased it, like a voyage of discovery, seemed like you hadn't modded at all before which makes it all the more impressive :)

 

I was wondering :lol:

 

But I am a modding noob :lol: (Well not any more - and never again frankly, far too expensive).

 

Next time I'll just save up for a Koenigsegg and be done with it.

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Gorgeous looking zed mate..... I really like it. Only one negative tho is the colour match on the front bumper compared to the rest of the zed. The same happened to me.... The garage tried 3 times and it still wasnt close enough for my liking... Thats why i ended up with a wrap lol

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Gorgeous looking zed mate..... I really like it. Only one negative tho is the colour match on the front bumper compared to the rest of the zed. The same happened to me.... The garage tried 3 times and it still wasnt close enough for my liking... Thats why i ended up with a wrap lol

 

Cheers fella :teeth:

 

Agreed the paint match is a bit off, but stand in certain angles and it's off, 60% of the other times it matches perfectly, something to do with the plastics I believe, or shall I say fibreglass. The rear bumper matches my carbon boot, but doesn't match the metal rear quarters. Same applies to the front and skirts, although I'm having further work done to correct this issue, so hopefully a direct match, or at lease 90% which I'd be happy with. I also noticed at the Wales meet, the amount of cars with re-sprays which are all miss-matched. Luckily I'm not the only person out there, and like you say, 3 attempts is a lot.

 

:hehe: You may think so. A friend of mine still spent a(nother) fortune on her egg once she'd had it a few months. It never stops. :rofl:

 

No way, I'll never spend this kind of cash on moddifying a car ever again. This will be the only modded car, although if I ever purchased a 370, then I may be persuaded to mod, just a little though ;)

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WillyP - There is that plastic strip under the front bumper, you just can't see it. It was a nice bit of plastic that would let me know I'm getting close to a speed bump, and now with the new bumper it doesn't have one of those, so when I hear the scrape, I'm actually making contact with the underside of the bumper :headhurt:

.

 

 

Nah man, I mean the rear spoiler. Just the little spoiler thing that is on the back of all UK models. Hang on, I will help.

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Oh dear, there was a man on fire in the background, was he okay?

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