BulletMagnet

I got all my exterior CF from Envy South, who have since stopped trading BUT, if you want Chargespeed stuff, give Tarmac a PM, as for the Varis stuff, it's gonna be importing it from Japan via places like RHDJapan http://www.rhdjapan.com/varis-extremor-arising-i-carbon-front-lip-spoiler-z33-62268

Oh most certainly noticable, much more confidence taking corners now. As for what's next, I dunno, long term plans would be to replace all the OEM audio gear

Reason is that ever since the forum rebuild, most of my old mod threads got lost, so i decided to make this thread to consolidate them all

More new bits DBA T3 front discs Eibach front and rear ARBs Whiteline front and rear adjustable drop links SuperPro Compression Arm Bushes Here are all the parts fitted The dodgy compression arm bush SuperPro replacement fitted (replaced the bushes in both arms of course) Front ARB on Rear ARB on too Front and rear drop links fitted DBA Fronts in place On my drive home from the garage I noticed how the handling had improved on the twisty bits, even more noticably on familiar roads, where I could feel the car holding corners at higher speeds with less roll. All in all, I'm very pleased, even if my wallet isn't

Finally got around to ditching the JapSpeed K2 and replacing it with a "proper" exhaust So after keeping my eye on online tracking for the last two days, this finally arrived on my doorstep. Opened box to check contents... Opted for the single layer burnt titanium tips So after it arrived I was pretty knackered, since the last 48 hours had involved little sleep (12-hour nightshift, followed by a trip to Wheel Genie to pick up wheels, followed by another nightshift, followed by waiting another five and a half hours after shift end for DHL van to show up ), but I thought, sod it, since it's here, lets go get it fitted At the fiters we set about taking the JapSpeed off, which involved heating up some nuts and bolts and then this happened Anyway, after it was off we set about fitting the Invidia, which was very straight forward since all parts are labelled (just remember that the labels are for a LHD car ) And BOOM, it's on I have to say, it's a beautiful exhaust, the welds are pure quality, the whole system just looks and feels "right" Went out for a quick drive and noticed an odd smell and also saw some whitish smoke coming out the rear, but then I remembered I saw some white compound of sorts inside the piping, so took the Zed onto the dual carriageways to give it a little blow through All in all, I could not be happier with my Invidia, especially after having had two JapSpeeds before. Big thanks go out to TarmacSportz for selling this to me and organising the very fast delivery (From Los Angeles to Ipswich in less than 48 hours ) I do like my new lens (Canon 50mm f/1.8 II) Video clip

Had my wheels refurbed at Wheel Genie and am very pleased with the results. Hopefully my wheel cleaning regime will be a lot easier from now on. Proof you can fit two 19" alloys in the front seat Here is the finish, dishes are shadow chrome and centres are sparkle silver, which is slightly brighter than the original factory finish. While the dishes aren't as shiny polished as before, they still retain enough shine while being a bit tougher against the elements (read "I don't have to polish them every week") So if anybody is looking for a refurb job, I can only recommend Wheel Genie Pics I took with DLSR Before refurb And after They are back on (Taken with a 50mm f/1.8 II lens)

June 2012 Finally got around to doing a bumper swap on my Zed. From OEM UK... ...to OEM JDM Yes, the numberplate is a tad naughty and I'll have to hopw that I can get away with it with the local plod

Added a cheap, yet suprisingly good reversing camera. Got it off eBay for £18 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CCD-CAR-REVERSE-CAMERA-NISSAN-LIVINA-GENISS-TIIDA-GT-R-/330535922547 It replaces one of the numberplate light housings, with the cam moulded into it Fed the cables for video feed and power through the grommet in the centre of the boot bulkhead Took the live off the reversing light Grounded at the main grounding point A voila, all done

August 2011 Decided to order some Aerocatch Bonnet Pins and break out the Dremel. Does anybody realise how daunting it is to put a Dremel to your CF bonnet? Started yesterday... Finished today...

May 2011 Drove from Ipswich to Coventry today and dropped my set of Volks off at PureKlas Wheel Refurbishers Zed is rolling on Rays till they are finished in a week or so And they are back In the Zed ready for the trip home And back on the Zed where they belong

Visited my friend today to look at the carbon vinyl that Hexis make to see how it compares to the 3M DI-NOC Vinyl. The rolls that my friend had to hand were rather large, so I did some thinking and kinda thought "Let's have a go at doing the roof for a bit of fun" Here's the pics my friend took while we were doing the job Between the two of us it took us about an hour and a half and it was windy too. Oh, and I deleted the rear wiper too

April 2011 Little bit of Engine Dress-Up Before: OEM Nissan blandness After: Non-OEM goodness Oh and added some Eyebrows too, lol

Done it today and it was easy(-ish) Didn't even take the whole bumper off either... Before... Rear lights off and bumper loosened on the right side only... And light cluster off... Ahhhh....you will look different soon... Oven time... And back on the car... There shall be (Fog)light... Up close...(left the metal reflector in) Looks much better than standard.

Engine cover and slam panel that came off another carclub members showcar. You may also notice that a JWT Popcharger has found it's way into the enginebay, this was done sometime before visiting Abbey Motorsport.

Paid a visit to known tuners Abbey Motorsport Went there to have some UpRev tuning done, which is basically an ECU reflash, but the difference being that the uploaded map is tailored to your car specifically and also accounts for any mods added (induction kit, aftermarket exhaust, de-cats, etc. etc.) Getting prepped for dyno work Once all hooked up, the serious work starts... This looks far too technical to me...(and blurry, lol) Then some runs With the ECU flashed, we moved on to the other job I was booked in for. On the ramp she goes Hang on....something is missing here... Oh, there it is! This is whats going to replace the OEM springs While taking the photo of the spring, another Zed is driven into the workshop Gotta love that INGS+1 carbon wing.....one day maybe.....one day Anyways, while I'm drooling away at that, Simon, the suspension guru at Abbey gives me this to take a picture of It was rather busy in the workshop, so I actually missed taking a pic of the front shock re-install, so this will have to do, lol When I say busy, then I mean they were working on 350Z Dragster called Project Zed. Anyways, back to my car. Old rear spring New rear spring Afterwards all that was left was to align the tracking Finally, here is the car before the mild drop How she sits now The car is fantastic to drive in the lower gears, and the response has improved too. For someone that has never had a car reflashed and didn't know what possible difference it could make, I was very very impressed.

Decided to get rid of my noisy exhaust and get a more "civil" one, I replaced the Japspeed K1 with a Japspeed K2. But sadly, my K2 didn't sit right after fitting it to my Zed. So off I went to my local garage to have it adjusted Here you see that the flanges between the mid pipe and backbox are out, causing one pipe to poke out further than the other So it was decided to cut a V out near the flange on the backbox Then apply heat and then bend it into position After we were happy that it was straight enough, out comes the MIG welder Not the best of welds, but I was told that the steel wasn't really that thick and that even budget Bosal exhausts have thicker material But I'm happy with the finished result, this is the best we could do, and I think it's pretty much spot on now

Japfest 2010

The craving for more carbon hit me again and I purchased some nice items from Chargespeed. Pics below, enjoy

***UPDATE*** 3M DiNoc CA-421 Vinyl Well, had a go thinking "Oh well, how hard can it be... triple gauges were a PITA!!! That's all, don't wanna do anymore now...

***UPDATE 12th MARCH 2010*** Yeah, I know, I only just done the ghetto mod, but when I saw this Pioneer AVIC-F900BT for sale at a bargain price, I couldn't say no. Ex-display model, but in good nick, still had old FW on it and a few maps. Have since upgraded to 3.0FW and added maps to cover Western & Central Europe (also included building and POI files) and finally added a custom theme too. Enjoy All installed and running perfectly, got the facia this morning and got busy straight away. First install: Boot Screen: Original Interface: With new facia. There was a gap at the bottom, but I cunningly used the facia surround that came with the Pioneer in the box and cut the top part off and put it in place to cover the gap somewhat. Not perfect, but good enough for me New Firmware 3.0 and modded theme installed

***UPDATE 24th Feb 2010*** Added Ghetto mod for iPod, lol I quite like my Bose headunit, mainly because I haven't really had any issues with it. I did have a FM Transmitter, but it was pants, especially with a stubby aerial. I purchased a Belkin casette adapter and even though many warned away from the cassette adapter, I found that the sound was fine for my liking. The only thing that actually bothered me, was the fact that I had a cable coming out of my tapedeck and it made it look quite naff. I decided today that it was time to do something about it and get off my lazy arse and try and tuck it away. Here's what I used: Belkin cassette adapter and the standard Bose HU I inserted the adapter before removing the HU, which would make it easier to route the cable later. I spotted a suitable hole on the bottom of the HU which I deemed suitable for my endeavour, because I could see the tape deck door/flap through it. Then I loosened all the clips that held the fasia panel and lifted it Luckily for me, the 3.5mm plug just fit through the hole I chose Then put it back together HU back in the car, I was thinking where to actually put the cable and iPod. rear cubby was the answer, but the existing cable was too short So I purchased an extension cable (3m with gold plated connectors for £9.99) Connected it one end and tidied the cable somewhat Removed all the bolts that hold the tunnel down and routed the cable to the rear cubby Cut the hole in the baseplate a little bigger so that all the wires could fit thru Quick check that it all works ok And there you have it, iPod connectivity on the cheap and no wires visible in the cabin, yay!

***UPDATE***3rd OCTOBER 2009*** Up on ramps again, this time in Leicester... As of recent, I noticed some grinding noises coming from the driverside rear. I suspected that the inner pad had worn down severely. Since I was also still running OEM pads on my front Dixcel discs, I opted to have all the pads and the rear discs replaced. These were the items of choice: DBA 4000 Series slotted rear discs and Endless SSS pads all round Replaced the front pads first. I watched the mechanic do one side and then did the other side myself. I was amazed how easy it was to do. Here's one I done earlier Then onto the rears. The driver side was done first and upon removal of the disc and pads, my suspicions were proven right. The inner pad had worn down to the metal and the disc was scored badly from the grinding New disc and pads fitted Everything was put back together and the handbrake was adjusted. I'm very happy with my brakes now, no more grinding and stopping power has increased.

still editing the posts, lol

***UPDATE***31st August 2009*** Got up early today to go to DMS in Erith to have my P3 service done. I thought I'd be thinking ahead and avoid all that commuter traffic on the M25, seeing that it's Monday and all. Then about 15 mins into the drive I remembered that it was a bank holiday, DOH! Arrived at DMS just before 9am.......was booked in for about 10:30, lol. Once everybody arrived, they didn't mess about and started my P3 straight away. On the ramp Ready for servicing... Ramp went up and engine oil was drained, oil filter was replaced, followed by the draining and replacing of the gearbox oil and lastly the differential oil was drained and replaced. In the meantime, the mechanics had removed my sparkplugs. Dixon gave them an inspection and showed them to me. They were replaced with new NGK Platinum ones Then the new brake discs were to be fitted. Looked at the pad wear and it looked like wear was even on the inner and outer pad, and seeing that there was quite a bit of pad material left, I decided to keep them in and get some new Dixcel Z pads next month or so. Mmmmmmmm.....new discs.....shiney Brakes were bled and everything was ok (Brake fluid was not replaced, because earlier this month I had DMS install HEL lines where all the old brake fluid had been drained and replaced with DOT 4 fluid) Then to finish a 4 wheel alignment chack was performed using the Hunter Hawkeye Laser Alignment System. It was kinda out, but nothing drastic or dangerous. Drove home (via Dartford tunnel and a spot of noise pollution within... entered at 20mph and then mashed throttle to 50mph, slowed down to 20mph again, and repeat till tunnel end ) Once I got back, found a nice bit of deserted road and heat cycled the new discs. Stopping power has increased and is sharper, and that is with the OEM pad, can't wait till I put the Dixcel Z pads on later. All in all a great day for me, weather was nice too.

***UPDATE***8th August 2009*** Went down to DMS Motorsport in Erith with my mate who had a service done to his 350Z, and I had HEL braided lines fitted all round. On the lift New HEL lines in place HEL didn't supply enough brackets But never fear Extra brackets in place I am well pleased with the extra sharpness my brakes now have and wonder why I didn't fit them sooner. Did notice that the insides of my front discs a wearing and need replacement soon, so watch this space. ***UPDATE*** 28th August 2009*** Got some INXX bonnet dampers and looks like they came from ESR originally. Fitted them without any hassle, but wasn't happy how the brackets fitted. So I went to a local ironworkers and had them make up some new brackets. Made from stainless steel, they are slightly thicker than the ESR brackets and had them made longer so both bonnet bolts can be used to prevent the bracket from twisting under pressure. Also had the balljoint bolt hole raised to clear the bonnet hinge better. I was worried that raising the balljointbolt hole would change the geometrics too much, but I worried for nothing, fits perfect All within 2 days from taking measurements and getting the call to pick them up for the nice price of £10, I'm happy with the result.