jonb

I'm away from my car for a while but want to get a headstart on my stealth HU install before I get back and get my hands back on the car. Can anyone confirm the dimensions and specs of the default Bose HU orange LCD panel ? (The one set into the plastic fascia above the cassette and beneath the CD slot, 03 model if possible) I seem to think it was a 20x2 char but not too sure. Any info on the driver chip or brand name would be really useful but I think I am more likely to replace it especially as there are some nice OLED units around so the dimensions are what I am really after - even just the window size in the HU plastic measured from the front would be a great start!

I used to think this was the best man-room I'd ever seen - - until I saw this - - these are "my pictures of manrooms" not "pictures of my manrooms" though. I'm nowhere near that insane.

Great looking car - awesome choice of parts! Very tasteful too.

Trying to think of just the right amount of sweariness to have inscribed ...

Are you buying the whole kit from GTM or just the pulley/upgrade ? I like the mix of reliability/power from the normal HKS but am very curious about upgrades - Abbey did the original install on my car and retuned it last year so they'd have been a particularly useful source of info - however all information is very welcome!

Did you install the HKS SC in the end ? Just curious to see if someone else is going to check out the uprated GTM pulleys for it ?!

There's a "review" of this from April 2008 - the link in the article to thinkgeek doesn't work any more - http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/25 ... p3_player/ I'm just a bit curious how you'd organise 2Gb of music without a display, you have to eject the tape to get to the buttons that skip /etc. I guess you'd just be best to buy one memory card per album so you're not trying to skip 100's of tracks blind - 128Mb SD is about a fiver, 64Mb 2quid or so - no point ripping at high quality if you're going to play through an adapter. I'm kind of intrigued since it's such a retro looking gadget. Has anyone found anywhere to buy them (not a wholesaler) ?

That's great info thanks! I suspected it might be the case - since the BT plays through the amp I should have known it needed a bit more than a phone-mute line to integrate it. Too much to hope the little deaf lady would be reusable! "Pardon"

If I swap out my BOSE HU for aftermarket can I still use the factory BT with its wired in mic / wheel controls etc. ?

Awesome result though, much better than his red version - has anyone else been looking at the 370z dials and thinking what an improvement they are on standard 350z orange ! I've soldered bits into and removed smds from a toy servo once, that was enough definitely don't fancy doing 20+ of them! It's not that it's hard just massively fiddly.

What a great warning to those who have been afflicted with "love is blind". I mean a red bugeye dc1 - what was he thinking?!

I had the dash in my 200sx flocked - was a huge improvement over the acres of shiny plastic that used to obscure my view on the occasional sunny british day. It made me want to flock EVERYTHING it was so cool. Cost about £100 to have it done properly (very large piece) even though you can get home kits I was glad it got done properly instead of probably patchily if my previous gluing experiences are anything to go by. I would have wanted the 350z dash flocked too but the standard rubbery finish plastic doesn't reflect anywhere as much light so it seemed a bit unnecessary - also I was fine driving the 200sx around without a dash and the instrument binnacle cable-tied in place while the flocking was done but it's a bit too ghetto for my posh 350z

The bottom one is likely marmite stying but if the top one is the same grey as the dash (and the blue highlights can be made orange like the rest of the z lighting) it might look 'nearly stock' which I'd like. I'm not too keen on how the single DIN ones look in the dash and I don't want a big screen on display all the time.

Anyone got a pic of either of these installed ? Or general comments apart from a mild wariness of any unit with the same badge as the oem ? Or know of a car audio shop herts/london where I can look at one in real life ? I like the fairly standard look of the DUZ388RMP especially as it seems to allow me to change that blue light, and I think the WXZ468RMP might suit the interior too. http://www.caraudiogiant.co.uk/shop/ind ... oductId=17 http://www.caraudiogiant.co.uk/shop/ind ... ductId=281

1. Beavis +1........................2 x carvery 2. martinmac +1 .................2 x carvery 3. ClarCE............................2 x carvery 4. Stanski +1 .....................1 x carvery 1 x veggie 5. Little Miss........................ 6. Squarehead+1................2 x carvery 7. Maccaman .....................1 x carvery 8. H5..................................2 x carvery 9. flirt...............................1 x carvery ( with a zed ) 10. Chesterfield + 1............2 x carvery 11. M13KYF +1...................1 x carvery 1 x veggie 12. Adriank + 1...................2 x carvery 13. Drewbie........................2 x carvery 14. nurrish.........................2 x carvery 15. Chris`I +1................... 2 x carvery 16. nixu +1....................... 17. xStric9x +1 (TBC)........No carvery 18. RobD7 +1....................2 x carvery 19. Jotun +1 .....................2 x carvery 20. Rentech+1...................2 x carvery 21. ricardo........................2 x carvery 22. Neil + 1.......................2 x carvery 23. DaveJ +1.................... 2 x carvery 24. KO PWR +1................. 25. Darren-B....................2 x carvery 26. IanS16 +1................... 27. T8JPE +1.....................2 x carvery 28. Tilly +1......................2 x carvery 29. EmZ +1...................... 30. Cavey +1....................2 x carvery 31. bryanneary..................2 x carvery 32. Marzman......................1 x carvery Sorry, can't make this now. Work need me. Have a good one. Jon

I have a lighter flywheel in mine plus an exedy twin plate clutch. It's about my least favourite mod during stop start traffic, then it's neither here or there for normal flow driving but when I've got the space to floor it or drive hard, the rest of the time it's absolutely perfect, worth all the hassle and really adds to the more sprightly feel of the car. The cement mixer noise isn't bad, people look at your car like it's broken because it looks like a car that should purr smoothly at idle instead of rattle metallically. I also have an extra belt and the sound of air escaping from the SC when idling which all in all is a very happy collection of odd noises, just a little out of character for a grown-up looking car. "Purposeful" is definitely a good description of the sound. I'm generally mechanically sympathetic but my rev matching took a dive with the faster response, so my biggest fret is braking on the engine that nissan fitted with a fairly hefty flywheel possibly for a good reason. I'll see - anyway going too light with the flywheel is a common modification mistake, as ever get some good professional advice if possible. I'll be at the Wales meet if you want to hear how good it sounds - I'm certain I'll not be the only one with this mod there either!

Thx for the link mike I'll have a think about whether to keep the OEM or not while I'm away. Dynamat seems like a good idea anyway too!

I don't mind the level of bass at the moment or the general quality of the sound, it's not stellar but it's okay, I just want to feel those sub-30Hz basslines, the bose seems to drop everything below a certain level which happens quite a lot when there's too much digital processing, sooner or later one component will filter everything below 30-ish-Hz as 'turntable rumble' ... exactly the bit i want. The gold-standard for judging whether the subliminal frequencies have been killed is to listen to Warp records' LFO (not the shoddy US guitar band), if my kneecaps rattle then it's right! The powered sub I tried was a JBL thing the same as in this thread http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/68060-jbl-tw ... -tube.html I originally bought it because I wanted a removable sub so I either could fit more tyres in the back of the 200sx or have some better sounds. Impulse purchase during a taste bypass iirc. It's about 12"w x 24"l I reckon if I sawed off all the metal tubes (apart from 1 to fix it with) it might just squeeze behind the seats - but I'll sell it instead or find a way to use it in the flat. Basically it's massive and looks stupid. I was never a fan of its looks but it worked ok - I could hear it through the sealed boot of the e39 ... though it would make water droplets dance on the bootlid when it was on. This other JBL looks like it could fit better ... http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/produc ... /1253.html edit - freq fixed

1. Beavis +1......................2 x carvery 2. martinmac +1 ...............2 x carvery 3. AndySpak 4. Shire +1 5. Stanski +1 ...................1 x carvery 1 x veggie 6. Little Miss 7. Squarehead 8. Maccaman ....................1 x carvery 9. H5 10. flirt 11. Chesterfield + 1............2 x carvery 12. M13KYF +1...................1 x carvery 1 x veggie 13. IanS16 +1 14. Drewbie 15. nurrish 16. Chris`I +1 17. nixu +1 18. xStric9x +1 (TBC) 19. jonb ...................1 x carvery 20. RobD7 +1 21. Stew +1 (TBC) 22. Lomoto ..................1 x carvery 23. Jotun +1 ................2 x carvery 24. Rentech+1..............2 x carvery

http://www.sniffpetrol.com/2008/09/12/a ... m-the-fia/

And the answer is ... my sub is far too large. I could have either blocked my rear view or driven with the boot open ... there really is only a tiny and awkward shaped bit of space for any speakers back there. But I think I heard the CD skip too so it looks like I'm searching out a whole new system.

After a little bit of research I'd personally strike "cheaply" off that list I increased the power on my s13 "cheaply" it cost £20 for a bleed valve. Multiply that by 10 for the average price difference between a z33 and s13 and there's very little DIY power to be added to the VQ for £200 ! That leaves expensively right and expensively wrong. And the less you pay to do it wrong the higher the chance that things will soon go very expensively wrong ! It's better to be satisfied with less power but a higher level of confidence than a nervous higher hp - the time it takes for (I suspect *all*) power to feel slow is fleetingly short. The fear of putting your foot down and dreading every rattle or pop is forever - or for as long as you own the car ... or until you do decide to decorate the road with oil and metal fragments! I'm not trying to say "Buy the most expensive kit" but more money for a conversion your tuner is familiar with is better than a cheaper one they don't like. This link is old but can help clarify ... http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/159863 I think the motto goes - "skilfully, cheaply, quickly; pick any two"

Good idea, get used to the Z first before working your way up to the Panda, you'll just stack it if you jump straight in and let rip with those hundred horses in the wet

Burial, Skream, Benga, Caspa, that's about as contemporary as I get at the moment. God I used to live on vinyl in the early 90s though, still have boxes of records at my folks' place. But right now these are doing the trick. Burial - Archangel http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9hI4bSCy9iE Skream - Midnight Request Line http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ImstnDC5aX8

FIA = Ferrari International Assistance For all the time and effort that gets put in to rule changes trying to make the sport exciting and interesting there seems to be an equal and opposite effort to make the sport dull and biased ... from the same people. Ferrari use illegal part in Australia, nothing. McLaren spill the beans, 100,000,000 fine, forfeit constructors. Kimi runs into back of Sutil, nothing. Hamilton runs into back of Kimi, points places and probably a blow job to stay driving. Massa released into traffic, 10,00 slap on wrist, no drivethrough. Hamilton forced onto run-off, gives up position, win revoked for the sin of being talented enough to retake the place. It's just a sad, sad joke. Why ruin a stupendously talented drive and win with a toad-like grovelling to the Italian donkey firm? In some ways it's inevitable with all the money flying around (anyone had a look at Ecclestone's ownership structure of F1??!!) but still a terrible dirty way to run a sport.