Rubber

I think this post is great but I think it should be organised as a separate section of the forum. In my old club, Mazda 323F (many years ago) each member had a profile of their car with a list of mods and a few pictures. All the profiles stuck to the same format and the pictures were limited to 5 - 6. Is this something we could add to the site? http://www.club323f.com/content/ba/cars/ Chris

Gotta say I think these cars are mint. I do believe that cars look better the lower they are. I know you didn't want to start a practicality/handling discussion but whats the point in these cars? They are not usable? The 350Z is a drivers car. Looking at these cars just gives me unrealistic expectations of how good I caould make my car look when in reality I would never do that to the car because it wouldn;t be drivable. Sorry for putting a downer on these beatiful cars!

OK cheers lads. Will just bung them in the washing machine then

I normally throw the microfibres in the washing machine on 30 deg C with no detergent. Is this ok for the microfibres? Is it just me or does this leave a bit of a whiff in the washing machine? I never really wash the applicator pads - I have them marked for each different product so I don't mix them up. Is it ok to put these in with the microfibres? Cheers, Chris

That car is mint. The only thing I would suggest is getting clear rear sidelights. The fog light seems to stick out even more with the yellow.

PM sent!

The paint on my Blade Silver is in pretty good nick. The problem with this colour is that it only really shines when then the sun is out - which is not very often in Aberdeen! However, I have noticed that in artificial lights eg in a car park that there are quite a number of swirl marks. I can't see these is daylight so have never had a problem with this. Question is, are these swirl marks reducing the cars shine even though they are not visible in normal conditions? Would a paint correction improve the look of the car? Cheers, Chris

Is the Nismo version going to be available in the UK?

Did he intent on just bashing into the cop car and speeding off or is he just a really bad driver?!!!

Just got a new set of Toyo Proxes from Motorwerks off Great Western Road. Just been trading for the last year. Nice guys and good service. Also do window tints. http://www.thebestof.co.uk/local/aberde ... /38619/map Recommended. Chris

Any chance of some more pictures of the dash? It looks mint!

The sound quality from the camera isn't great but you get an idea of the difference with bungs in/out. The previous video posted up with the 4 different exhausts gives the true sound of the RS*R exhaust without the bungs - very deep!

Some more pics

My standard exhaust began to sound a bit more sporty a few weeks ago. A quick inspection confirmed that the flange just before the back box was about to disintegrate! Straight on the net to see what sort of deal I could get on an exhaust. Zmanalex to the rescue with a 2nd hand RS*R exhaust and HKS Y pipe previously on his car. The system had only covered a few thousand miles so was in very good condition. A week later the exhaust was delievered to Aberdeen by Alex himself Alex had also got hold of all the gaskets and bolts required. (He did causually mention that his car had a suspension failure the night before - he didn't mention it was at 125 mph though!!!!!) Ran the exhaust with the bungs in first. Quite a nice sound - more reserved than I expected but still much nicer than the OEM. After hearing Andy's car in the exhaust comparison I had to take the bungs out to see what it was like - incredible sound but it is too much for me! Its ok to cruise on the motorway but if you open the throttle fully then it is very, very loud! Ran it like that for 2 days but today I decided to put them back in. It is only a two minute job to take them in or out so I can always switch it around if I want. Video is with the bungs in and then with them out. To be honest the mic on the camera didn't capture how loud and deep the exhaust is without the bungs but you get the idea - you can hear how much deeper it is without the bungs.

Ok I went at it for about 1.5 hours! All of those who suggested more elbow grease was required were correct. Cheap option for me so a good result! I used the wire wool with the T-Cut which was quite abrasive and took a fine layer of metal off. I then polished it with a soft polishing cloth and T-Cut. Finally I used Meguiars body polish with a soft cloth to try and get a shinier finish. Its much better than it was but I can't get a mirror finish like the box or the other exhaust tip. I think it may need some kind of mechanical polishing to give it a mirror finish. I'm happy enough with it now but if anyone has suggestions how to get it 100% then I would be glad of any advice. Cheers, Chris

Hi all, Just got my hands on a 2nd hand RSR exhaust system to replace my rusty OEM However, the tips of the exhaust are slightly different colours. I have had a go with T-Cut which brought the exhaust boxes back to a nice shiny finish but this has done nothing for the exhaust tip. I believe the passenger side exhaust tip has had the silver finish burnt off due to high running temperatures. I think it is a coating that has been burnt off rather than a case of polishing the exhaust back to a shiny finish. I've called a few metal fabricators and painters etc around Aberdeen and it seems like no one can help me. Doesn't seem to be anyone who does any form of plating up this way either. A search on the net reveals that there is a brand of spray paint - VHT (Very High Temperature) paint that may be able to help. Failing that I do have one more company to call - Custon Chrome Racing - after the bank holiday to see if they have any advice. I am open to any other suggestions but I want to keep the cost reasonable!

Can someone please enlighten me as to the function of a tonneau cover? Does it go any way towards reducing road noise? Cheers, Chris

Thanks to all for the responces. Have a couple of offers at the moment so just trying to decide which is best...

My exhaust is just starting to blow. The whole system is pretty rusty so I'm going to replace the Y pipe and everything else back. The most I'm looking to spend is about £600 - 700. Yes I know the 5Ziegen and Nismo systems are the best in the world etc but I just can't afford to spend that much right now! So anyone got an aftermarket system that they want to sell? I've trawled through all the exhaust threads and I think the best new option would be a Japspeed K2 (K1 sounds like too much of an animal!). As a matter of interest is this the same as the ESR K2? Cheers, Chris

Nah I would have recognised Stews scraping along the ground - they don't get much lower!

Enjoying the sunshine today have a walking with the missus when I spotted a nice Nismo kitted Zed cruising along the beach. We were looking at him (admiring the car), he was looking at us, and then he slowly started to wander into the lane next to him. The DC5 Integra gave him a beep to let him know what was happening before catastrophy struck! Sweet car though!

To be honest I think it was Wonder Wheels that I used on the Celica. Those alloys were as soft as butter!

Hey Stew, do the Rays have some bubbling on them? Is the Biberry safe to use on wheels in this condition? Reason I ask is that there is some slight bubbling on my alloys. Previous experience of using alloy wheel cleaner on a set of standard Toyota Celica wheels which had bubbling was that the cleaner got in under the corrosion and big chunks of laquer came off!!! The bubbling on my Rays is only small and none of it has cracked just slightly raised - so any issues using the Bilberry???

I can empathise, I live in a flat on the 2nd floor (close to the city centre). My solution is to connect a hose onto the kitchen sink and then drop it out the window onto the street. I get some funny looks on a Sunday morning

Nothing exciting to report on the mod front I'm afraid - just new uprated droplinks. Will hopefully cure the knocking noise going down bumpy roads! Stew - Should be able to make a brief appearance tonight - catch ya later!