ianphampton

I thought that was BRILLIANT !

I hope the oil on the floor isn't from your Zed!

I still have a few sets of these anodised engine bay washers with stanless steel bolts - once you have the oil cleaned off, you might want to bling it up a bit with some - red, blue or orange available (and 1 set in un-anodised plain silver) - £50 including delivery (caters for both with & without plenum spacer on the bolt lengths)

Thanks for the helpful info, really appreciate it

My daughter is considering a Xsara Picasso from these guys - does anybody know them - Good or Bad vibes? Thanks in advance Ian

Sorry - can't help much as my JDM came with the Japanese radio so it was NFG for the UK and I bought a Sony system - which works fine and bluetooths and everything, but that information is of little use to you Volume wise - I tend not to bother listening to the radio when the top's open if travelling. . ahem . . .about 70mph as you can't hear it It's still all OK though when the roof is on, can listen quite happily on the motorway at 70 even to Classic FM (which has quiet bits and is not all thrusting bass noise!)

If you really, really want to finish it - I seem to recall it needs about 4Kg of this stuff in each package - http://www.chemicalelements.com/elements/pu.html Sprinkle a few of those around and turn the whole place into a sea of fused glass. . . . While you're ai it there's a few other candidates too - like Pyongyang, or Tehran Solves how to get rid of the darn things as Russia can't afford a padlock for the storage bay doors, we might as well get some use out of them rather than just have them all nicked. (Bit of tongue in cheek here - but if you're going to have a discussion, lets include all the options . . . )

Stay in Manhattan - you CAN save money by staying in cheaper ares - but it'll cost you time. If you stay out in Hoboken or other places in Jersey - it'll take you an hour to get in to Manhattan and if you've only got 4 days you don't want to be spending ages each way on travelling Last time we stayed in the Wolcott - 4 West 31st Street - it's pretty central and not excessive prices. OK, so it'll cost you £100 per night - but, Hey! It's Central New York! What kind of deal do you need? It's right in the middle and everything is close. 4 Days - I think 4 days is enough. The city is seriously nuts - any more than this and you'll start going nuts too. Best thing is to do 4 days - but come back again and do another 4 days in a year and then another 4 days a year after that, too First time it's all the obvious stuff like the Statue of Liberty - but 2nd time you'll get a bit more time to just walk around, and get a better feel for the place. Ooh - and on the 3rd trip, get up out of New York and go upstate - and then you'll start to get a bit more of an impression of what America is like. New York is fun - but there's waaaay more to see of America than just the big apple. (Go West, young man! Or at least - see New England, and then - Arizona! Get your kicks on Route 66, and so on)

If your life is anything like mine at the moment - You're content in your cocoon and suddenly - **FLASH** and you realise - your attention wandered - just for a moment - you were doing 38 in a 30 limit There you are, in the Crapper again

Definitely HATE speed bumps - the Zed is lowered about 15 - 20mm and I have to take them all REALLY slowly For the folks who live in the Northwest - I can never visit Cheshire Oaks for a film as the bumps are so stupid and they're about 10mm higher than most and it sounds like I'm ripping the bottom off the car - so have to take the truck if we go there for a film

My girl is Momoko (had to be a japanese girl's name) The Hilux truck is Helga (yes, i know it's not Japanese, but the reg is HG60 . . . Ian - Is this 'cos Binky is the name of DEATH's horse?

These are not the leather / metal combo you mentioned as the silver ones are Aluminium - anodised to satin or high gloss - but I like them PM me if you like these as well . . . .

Oscar Pistorius has been arrested for shooting his girlfriend Police say he hasn't got a leg to stand on Sorry . . . . I'll get my coat

Ive done these and KC350Z has it pretty well dead right - HKS airfilter, plenum spacer, Berks,Japspeed Y pipe and K2 exhaust and Uprev and mines 258 at the hubs so probably just under the 300 at the flywheel Biggest difference is how she feels, much more alert and through the gears way better,and his comment of " . . . . makes the car feel how it should have been" is exactly how I've said it myself Note - I did these mods over a few years, so spent more than doing it all in one go, but there's probably £1.5 to £2k of work here - you may think buying a more up to date model which comes with over 300 as she stands may give you a better deal If you have your 276 and want to keep her - I hope you enjoy buying her all these presents and find it as satisfying as I did - it's like buying your girlfriend jewellery, and she always says "Thank you" by giving you the big smile on you face after each little thing !

HKS Defenser will remove the limit - but before you do that, consider having her UpRev remapped as that leaves you options for future improvements if you change the plenum / exhaust / Berks HFCs etc and you then map her again to maximise the benefits of these I had mine UpRev remapped at Abbey and I'm convinced it was the right choice for me - see the notes in my signature for details!

You said it wasn't cheap - can I ask what it cost you?

I had an issue with TCS pausing the power - when I was driving 'vigorously' on my winter tyres. Mark at Abbey traced it to my winter tyres being blocky and they moved when under spirited power application and the TCS was confused and paused the engine. (This was a cause for particular concern as it happened whilst overtaking and having the power cut on you when you've pulled out and then fed her some beans - and she pauses. . . . ) Obviously this doesn't apply to you - but the solution we came up with for a zero cost fix would probably work for you, too - If you know you're going to be driving 'with gusto' - turn the TCS off - and there's no problems. I now turn the TCS off if I'm in a hurry on my winter tyres and never had the hiccough since.

Article in this week's Economist - thought the forum would be interested, too The slowing of Britain Stringent restrictions are coming to a road near you Feb 2nd 2013 |From the print edition Over the past decade the proportion of cars breaking the speed limit has declined on most roads. The steepest drop has been recorded for 30mph (48kph) zones, which are mostly applied to residential streets (see chart). The reasons are unclear, but probably have something to do with ubiquitous speed cameras, more expensive fuel and a demographic shift among road-users: there are more cautious old drivers and fewer reckless young ones. Still, 30mph strikes many local authorities as altogether too speedy. In 2008 Portsmouth became the first city in Britain to reduce the speed limits on practically all residential roads to 20mph. Authorities from Bristol to Liverpool have announced plans for similarly drastic slowdowns. Though precise figures are lacking, the rollout of 20mph zones seems to be accelerating, thanks to good reviews of the Portsmouth scheme, campaigning and local authorities copying each other. And they are growing in ambition. By the end of March Islington council in north London will impose a 20mph speed limit on every road it controls. It claims to be the first council to do so. The government has updated the advice it gives traffic authorities. It now encourages them to consider 20mph restrictions not just in residential areas, but also on busier roads where the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists are—or could be—significant. In April local authorities will assume responsibility for promoting public health. Therefore programmes that create more exercise-friendly environments and reduce accidents are bound to become more attractive. Slower roads appear to be safer. A paper published in the British Medical Journal looking at accident data from 1986 to 2006 gave London’s 20mph zones credit for a reduction in casualties by 42%. Accidents that do happen at slower speeds are less harmful: the Transport Research Laboratory found that approximately 98% of pedestrians will survive a 20mph collision. Their chances drop to around 93% at 30mph and 69% at 40mph. Casualties declined despite the fact that slow speed limits are often ignored. Portsmouth’s scheme has no traffic-calming humps, chicanes or the like. Speed is controlled merely by signs, a cheap solution increasingly popular with cash-strapped councils. The average speed there has dropped by just 1.3mph, according to the Department for Transport. Brian MacDowall of the Alliance of British Drivers concedes that 20mph limits can be a good idea, but argues that area-wide schemes could encourage a lack of respect for speed limits in general. “It’s no state secret that there’s no enforcement,†says Kate Carpenter of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation. Police enthusiasm on the topic is indeed rather muted, and the Association of Chief Police Officers does not support large-scale 20mph limits. But a lack of enforcement will not necessarily prove terminal. An increasing familiarity with, and acceptance of, 20mph limits in residential areas is preparing drivers for their wider implementation. And in the past, road users have changed their attitudes. Perhaps urban speeding will become as scorned as drink-driving. “People are going to have to change their ways,†says Zahur Khan, Islington’s head of traffic. Drivers had better get used to the charms of second, as well as top, gear.

Mind you - it didn't PAY any money to get out the car park - that's gotta be a saving in the City these days. . . . And it would have to drive back out the carpark or you'd never find where it had parked so you'd never find it . . .

If it's an import they've changed both the front and rear bumpers as imports normally have square / rectangular number plates 45k seems pretty reasonable for a '53 car - and whatever it did in Japan at the front of it's life is in km anyway - and as they can't turn the clock back you get a benefit (My JDM had 8k on her when I bought her - but it was 8k kilometers, not miles, so the 8k on the clock equates to 5k in real miles) If it's an import it's not the bottom spec as it's got all the buttons on the steering wheel for cruise and stereo controls (Base spec JDM doesn't have this)

Wow, that brought back memories. . . . (shows how old I am, I know )

1.Harryjax. L. 370z. 1 2.GT4 Zed. XL. 350z. 1 3.Humpy XL 350z 1 4. martinmac XL 350z 1 5. Rothers2901 2XL 350z 1 only (Rothers) embroided 6. Hennerz L 350z 1 7. ianphampton - 350Z - XXXL x 1 please (3XL! Yes, I know I'm overweight!)

If it measured 10mm then it's the M10 x 1.25 - and I doubt B&Q will have anything, you'll need to go to an engineers suppliers (try Cromwell, they have depots all round the country, or RS components or Farnell) Otherwise - just buying a Nismo knob from one of the traders on here (Tarmac / Cougar / Zmanalex) they all come with M10 x 1.25mm threads If you wanted something a bit different I'd sell you one of these - my son made me one for my Christmas present for Christmas 2011 and ran these off at the same time (Well, I do run my own CNC machining business!) I even bought the material but he programmed the knobs and made them over about 15 hours on the Christmas break 2011) (The acetal one (the white one) was his prototype but it's a perfect knob - the other 2 are in 6082 aluminium, one is deep 25 micron anodised to satin finsh, the other is polished and then anodised to only 5 micron so it's still really shiny) If you're interested, PM me

Don't know if there are different versions around because mine is a 2005 JDM and its M10 x 1.25 Standard Metric Coarse M10 is 1.5mm pitch - Metric Fine M10 is M10 x 1.25mm pitch If you're going to check yours - make sure you're careful and hold the shaft when you unscrew the gear knob, & don't damage the linkage

My Zed is my Mid Life Crisis Car according to my Kids - so welcome along, plenty of like minded people on here. At 50 you're still only a youngster, really My query would be - how long will it be before Zeditis gets you. It's the exhaust note which will be the first thing - get along to a meeting and someone's exhaust will grab you and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up . . . and you'll be hooked By the way - Sunsets are the best colour, so well done on that. They're even better when the roof comes off!