Oz Striker

You don't by any chance still have this for sale do you?

Looking for stock front shocks/struts. I've got an annoying knocking from my front suspension that i'm trying to hunt down. already replaced the banana arms, Abbey motorsport thought it could the drops links which they swapped out and no change. I'm left thinking its a shock or strut mount. So ideally someone who has swapped out their stock suspension. Can collect from within london. If you didnt want to sell a loan would be great and i could leave a deposit.

I think many people use the term 'waxoyl' as a general term. As to why its not a good choice, well its just not adherent enough, meaning that it starts to crack and peel away faster than other products (which can also supposedly 'heal' to up to a point if it starts to crack). Once this happens, water and road crap gets under the waxoyl and stays put there for far longer than if there was no waxoyl, and rust will actually start faster. better products? I've heard bilt hamber makes many good products, and there's Dinitrol which the Landrover community swear by, and reading into the specs of the stuff it does seem impressive. POR -15 is a one part epoxy paint to be used on any rusty sections before you spray on Dinitrol/waxoyl. It is exceptionally good stuff. I had a rusty front wing on my black E46 and decided as a stop gap to sand back and paint black POR 15 over it until i could find a genuine 2nd hand wing in the same colour...... 2 yrs later! the rust was starting to pop back through ( I'd actually found a wing long before, but was too lazy to fit it!) In order for metal to rust, it needs Oxygen and water. If you cut off the supply of one or both significantly, you will slow the rust process, although it will eventually come back. Should you have it done? Well after about 8 years the factory underseal will certainly be starting to crack especially at any sections of the under body where there are bends in the metal. I had my E46 done a few yrs ago at Rustbusters in spalding for £400, and once a yr for £50 they will check it over and touch up any bits that need done, (though i have to say they do the very quickly, i wonder how good a look over they do). It was fairly rusty on the under side after 6 yrs of living in scotland, but my 350z has always been in London and the underside looks pretty good. Can you do it yourself? I tried on my BMW, thinking it would be doable, but its a lot of work, cleaning, removing wheel arch trims, treating any bits of rust, then painting those sections with POR 15 and then spraying Dinitrol 4941. I gave up and took it to rustbusters, and had a 2 part epoxy pain treatment to the rear arches as well. It was probably tougher, as I'm a bit of a perfectionist when doing things myself, and my BMW had lots of little rusty bits. I'll look at the underside of the 350Z this summer, if it looks pretty decent I may just touch up sections of the factory underseal. Even though i had my BMW sprayed, I still have this nagging doubt that water may get under the Dinitrol, and as i've mentioned if that happens, rust just accelerates. What you can do quite easily on many cars is spray the box sections. remove the side skirts, kick plates and that gives you access to the box sections. there may also be rubber grommets in the wheel arch sections. I used a Dinitrol 3125 which is thinner than the standard 4941 so it can seep and spread into all nooks and crannies as you are essentially spraying blind into the box sections, just be careful to have trays to play underneath the car as it will seep down and drip on to your drive!

Can the orange bumper reflectors be got at via this method?

Ever since owning my Z one of the washer jets was always blocked on the passenger side, this wasn't too much of an issue. Then a few weeks ago a 2nd of the 3 jets on the passenger side got blocked up, and so that was a bit of a PITA... and using a fine needle didn't work at unblocking. So i took apart the nozzles and thought I'd post some pics, as I previously hadn't tried to fix the nozzle as they looked a little fragile to get off. On the under side of the wiper arm, you'll see a T-piece section of rubber, disconnect this from both the forward and rear facing nozzles: Here are some pictures of the nozzles themselves, they comply have 2 plastic tabs keeping them tightly in place, so they should just slide off. Be careful as i bent one tab, although it still went back on securely: I tried simply running air through it with the set up below, some tubing and a 20 ml syringe, but no luck. then fired some water through it whilst covering the 1 working jet with my thumb which cleared one nozzle. To get the last jet unblocked, I did the same but with a tumbler of hot water with a drop of fairy liquid, pumping the fluid through it, back and forth, with thumb again over the now 2 working nozzles, this finally dislodged a few visible flecks of dirt. Hope this helps someone if they are having trouble with 1 or 2 nozzles not working.

Hi had a quick scan through the pages but didnt see it mentioned, but do you still have the dashboard trim for the triple gauge?

LS engines are surprisingly light as they have a push rod design instead of overhead cams, and its certainly more compact than a VQ35. I wouldn't be surprised if its similar in wiehgt to the VQ35, its certainly lighter than the inline 3.0 six cylinder in my E46. heres a pic comparing a pushrod V8 to an OHC Nissan V6:

Interesting. I loved the one I ordered (which is above) -- Threads great,.. I don't use power tools on the drain plug,.. don't over tighten/torque. And with the synthetics I go 10,000 between changes. If you really think I should change it out for a non magnetic drain plug,.. would you mind linking me a drain plug that is preferable? I'm due to change it out as I've put 9800 miles since last change .. Thanks Theres a seller on ebay that sells plugs and washers: http://www.ebay.co.u...=STRK:MEBIDX:IT I guess I exaggerated when i said they are "known for shearing", I think it is unlikely for even an aftermarket drain plug to shear, but you do hear of it happening on the odd occasion on various forums. Another reason why at least on my BMW i avoid aftermarket plugs is that OEM plugs have a hollow centre, supposedly makes them easier to remove should it shear, but i dont think thats the case with the 350z plug. Also the BMW has an aluminium pan, so if the magnetic piece at the end of the plug was to come loose and dislodge, it could interfere with the oil pick up, but that's not a worry on the 350Z with its steel oil pan. So with a steel pan, it means you can just stick the magnet close to the plug on the underside of the pan itself. I wondered how affective it would actually be, so i checked with an oven tray, seems like it would do the job. Btw Chromatic, i like the Rhino ramps, where did you get them the US? I have a steel ramps i got from Germany, wide enough for 260 tyres and shallow enough incline for the Z, which makes life a bit easier, but they sure are heavy!

I wouldn't use one of those aftermarket magnetic drain plugs, they are known for shearing. You can achieve the same effect by sticking a neodymium magnet close to the drain plug, just remove before draining oil.

No worries, no its a UK model

In the process of upgrading bits of the Z's brakes and clutch, to better withstand track work, and as well as upgrading the clutch fluid I thought I would upgrade the clutch line. Except I'm a little confused as to whether there is an off the shelf braided clutch line for HR engined 350Z's?? Two ebay sellers say their off the shelf lines will fit (1 was selling HEL kit), but Zmanalex says otherwise, saying that he HR models have an internal slave, so dont suffer from the same issue of boiling fluid. I'd trust Zman's opinion over the ebay sellers, but Zman did say he could easily manufacture them for the HR if there was enough interest. I've not got under the 350z so dont know what line would be replaced, where its going from and going to. So what do people think, would HR models benefit from a braided clutch line? Has anyone installed one and why?

I got the same ones from Eurocarparts, and I'm sure they are fine for road use, but they were finished after a say at Bedford Autodrome! As for dust, after that day at Bedford they weren't too bad at all considering went through the full thickness!! Just remember to swap the shims over or else they will squeal like crazy and this could happen to the pads as happened to me at after the track day!: Heres a pic showing the shims, and dont expect a mechanic to swap them over!:

Good work! Now get out there and test drive some cars! Keep us updated on what you think of various models you drive, always interesting to hear what other real world drivers think of cars.

I wish I had that level of skill! I was driving the car at Porsche centre at Silverstone, so I felt safe to explore the limits. Totally agree the chassis is special, if i went on the power a tiny bit too early tha car let me know, or if I stayed on the brakes a little too long and hard into a corner, i felt a tiny snatch of the ABS cutting in just to let me know I was pushing a little too hard. Whereas in other cars like an AMG the ABS was more heavy handed, cutting into too heavily and quickly. Prior to this I gave Porsche credit where it was due, but I never "desired" to own one. Then I had the opportunity to drive a few 944 Turbos and 968 S2's, which i thought were amazing, sooooo much feedback and the low slung driving position was brilliant in comparison to my BMW 330. I preferred them much more than the numerous E36 M3's i had driven, yes its faster but i think it's held back by the fact it has saloon car underpinnings. Then when I drove that 997, I was surprised that I could feel, even though the the 944/968 and the 997 were separated by some 20+ years, they were each designed by a group of engineers with the same ethos, passion and objectives for a sports car. Could I say the same for BMW M cars separated by 20 years??? Sorry for all this enthusing, but I now desire a Porsche, the only Q in my mind now is, should it be a Cayman or a 911 in 2 years time? I think another trip to the Porsche centre will be in order!

I've only driven a 997 S, but I think what Ekona is trying to say having driven 2wd and 4wd versions is that the 2wd steering is much more communicative. I was amazed at how much steering info the car was able to relay to me, despite having to incorporate modern luxuries & safety standards (which add weight & numb the steering), as well as providing a comfortable drive that could filter out unwanted vibrations. And i wouldn't say the 2wd was a handful, in fact with the traction control off it was impossible to do donuts on the skid circle!! With all that weight at the back, it has massive rear traction. In order to initiate a drift I had to be pretty provocative, with sharp lift off the throttle being required.

I think its a little unfair to say Eurocarparts are chea I think thats a little unfair on Eurocarparts, they will have a range of items from super cheap to higher spec item eg Meyle HD suspension components for my BMW, and I'd only use Contitech belts on the BMW. Of course they aren't going to have many track orientated items, and you can always throw in more £££ and get a 'better' item. I just assumed (wrongly) that a Pagid item would be close to OEM spec, but also my own fault for not realising the relevance of the shims & that they could come off and be put back on the new pads. However I did pay a garage to do it, but I'd have told them if I knew. But i guess its a learning curve working on an unfamiliar car. Thanks, yeh that's what i'll be doing once the DS2500's arrive & i install them myself this time. I'm just glad i asked for my old pads back!! Been reading about the titanium shims, but i have my doubts..... its all very good decreasing how much heat gets transferred to the caliper, but wouldn't that mean the heat is gonna build up in the brake pad?? How will the pad & hence disc cope with becoming hotter?? Or will the increase in pad temp still comfortably be within the operating range of the most brake pad's? (some pads can operate fine up to 400-600 deg C!!)

I see what youre saying, but tyre pressures is something most people check during a track day anyway so i was just sharing my findings, and regards to the brake temps, I just find it interesting to see how hot the brakes will get at different tracks and as my experience increases. 8 I was referring to the camera, the lap timer etc rather than tyre pressures.. The brakes are a weird one, unfortunately I can't offer any advice coz I'm not that familiar with the z brembo set up Cool, no you're right, i was being too ambitious to begin with, I'm only going to put the cameras in if I'm doing a full day, and even then just for the last stint or 2 in the afternoon session. It took me most of the morning just to learn the bedford, so no point in trying to set up cameras for just a half day, which is what I'm planning on doing next as I'm still not quite sure either whats going on with the brakes.

I see what youre saying, but tyre pressures is something most people check during a track day anyway so i was just sharing my findings, and regards to the brake temps, I just find it interesting to see how hot the brakes will get at different tracks and as my experience increases. BUT yes the "brake issue"...... thats taken an interesting turn as i took them out to stick the old original brembos back in just to get me around, calipers went back in nicely, but the pads that came out, foooooook!: Can read what happened and more pics here: http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/73788-help-needed-brembo-inner-pads-wearing-faster-than-outer-pads/page__gopid__1100188#entry1100188

Thanks for advice Tophooker, but one of front discs is beyond repair, so new discs will be going on. So I thought I would stick my old pads back in just to allow me to get the car to the garage, etc Removed the left front pad and this is what i found, top pic is the pagid pad that was used at the track, bottom pad is the Brembo pads that came out prior to the track day. Note how the brembo's have a backing plate (prob aluminium) which minimise heat tranfer to the piston and hence fluid. The result with the pagids is the piston shape has become heavily imprinted on the back of the pad, to such an extent that i was able to force my finger through. BUT worse was the front right!! I'll let the pictures tell the story, this is how the pads came off, fook!!: Cleaned the inner bores as best i could with disc still in place, but when i replace both discs and pads in the coming days, I'll give the piston bores a gentle clean with some fine sand paper and iron wool. Good news: all pistons went in easily, and its nice to realise that the pads can be changed without having to removing the calliper unlike in the 330ci.

Also I'll bear that in mind next time A few more points/observations i forgot to mention: All 4 tyres went from 35 psi, up to 40, so i dropped the pressure, but strangely the following day all 5 were more or less 33-35psi????? some sort of thermal/chemical changes had taken place in the rubber? And I worked out I did 150 miles on track at Bedford, which works out to something like 36 laps. Also I had downloaded an App called racechrono which alot of ppl rave about, a gps based lap timer, but it would load up but wasnt recording my times. will mess about with it more next time.

http://www.catdrivertraining.co.uk/ Thanks I'll check them out in more detail, I had found there website after doing bedford, they have quite an extensive collection of courses, but as with a lot of these websites its difficult to know which are any good, without recommendations. Sounds like youve done some sessions? For the morning and 1st half of the afternoon yes, first time on track with the Z and first time at bedford so i didnt want to bin it! Saw a E46 M3 and SLK AMG both go wide on exit of a hairpin and spinning onto grass and an ariel atom spin in a high speed right hander. I guess any damage would be cosmetic, cracked bumper or side skirt, but still PIA having to get fixed

No not black, the pic above shows a rusty lip on inner aspect of one disc, and the other was worse with rusty lip and scoring in the middle of the pad. Why what were you thinking?

cs2000, thanks for sharing your experience, i find that somewhat reassuring. Yep they were stock, basic pagid pads from eurocarparts! I know, i know what was i thinking?! But I thought they would at least last the day! I'm starting to think that the bedding in procedure wasn't the best. But there aint many places i know of in south london that i can bed the brakes in properly, i ended up heading out about 10pm one night and headed towards A23/M23. Did the best i could, but what I really needed was 2 roundabouts separated by about a 0.5-1 mile straight stretch if road, and just go between them doing the bedding in. I cant think of any other issue that would affect both front brakes in the same way. As for the K-pin, yeh it is bent for some reason, not sure how that could have happened, bit of a puzzler.