Fisherking

I'm a possible for then. Will wear two pairs of gloves to protect my delicate hands

If only I hadn't just spent the same on 4 new tyres, I'm not far away too. repeats to self: "safety 1st, safety 1st......"

Yes more than happy to lend a hand if you trust me near anything mechanical Matt

Thanks guys. I will give some of these ago. Will prob do some before and after photos Laters Matt

Hi When i removed my wheels to fit my spacers last wknd i noticed the shocking state of the inside of my Rays. This was 1st time i have removed them as not had my zed long. I don't tend to use wheel cleaner, prefering regular shampoo and Pourboys wax but as these were neglected by previous owner am i going to have to bite the bullet and use an acidic cleaner on this occasion?or what do you guys recommend? I've heard P21S is good but is it likely to shift this baked on crud. Cheers Matt

Thanks for your comments guys, glad you enjoyed reading. Some have said it's probably best to leave alone and take to a dealer. Each to their own but for my part, despite the "issues" I have had I have enjoyed every moment so far (apart from maybe the hand break and the bus lane fine). I used to own a Mini Cooper S JCW and loved it but I would always take it to a garage for any work. The thing with taking your car to a garage every time is you are never going to learn as all the work is done out of sight. Of course trying things myself I have saved a few pounds but more importantly I feel that i've grown closer to the car if that makes sense and of course am making friends along the way The plan going forward over the next year is - Change of all 4 tyres in the next week for MPSS so I can survive long enough to complete the below (I'll probably keep the crappy Autogrips and either sell on here for any drifting fans or keep myself and use for a trackday or something) - Am presently gathering "bits" for a grounding kit I am going to try and make and fit myself - Gearbox and diff fluid change in the next month (I know my limits in skill and jacking here so will be asking for help with this) Then when paid off the tyres and iminent holiday the "fun" stuff starts: - Cobra exhaust and Y-pipe (Hopefully Keyser can help me fit so better start taking out share's in Crispy Kreme) - Plenum spacer & Mrev2 lower plenum (will be getting the forum guides out for these and having a go myself ) - Possibly HFC's but haven't decided on this yet (won't be attempting this myself - but then again..... ) - Uprev tune At somepoint I would like a CF front lip, just depends on how long I can resist Onwards and upwards Matt

I managed to get a good quote of approx £750 for 4x MPSS inc fitting, balancing etc from Christchurch Tyre company which I was happy with. Hope to have them fitted by this time next week Thanks all for your suggestions Matt

Yes I not that much of an idiot that I would think about getting under a car unless on Jacks Matt

I have done very little in the way of car mechanics before but with buying the Zed I thought it was a good time to learn, hoping it would save me a few pounds and better understand the car. But I am an idiot and this is my guide: Changing the oil So I have just bought a loverly new Zed but unsure of the oil that has been put in by the garage who serviced it, alarm bells have rung when they advise the Zed is fine to run on 95RON unleaded. So Saturdays here and Fuchs oil 5-30W purchased along with new oil filter from Opie Oils, car on jacks it's time to drain the oil. Part one done. Now it's time to change the filter but hey what's this it just doesn't turn to come off by hand . Looks like I need some sort of clamp. Or why not hammer a screw driver into the old filter and get it off this way? Nope no joy here - so much pushing and pulling later and the filter is holier than the Pope and the bloody thing still wont come off and I'm covered in oil. So forced to concede defeat it's a trip to Halfords. But hold on a sec. How am I going to get there idiot, the car has no oil in and the wife's at work? Ah, but there's the bus right! This would be a good idea if I hadn't have jacked the car up so bloody close to the open garage that I can't leave the house cos I can't close the garage door. Going to have to wait till the wife gets back from work but guess what she's gone round to her friends straight from work and has her phone off. She arrived home at 7pm by which time said Halfords is shut. Bugger. Time taken for oil change - 1 weekend Idiot lesson 1 - Make sure you have the correct tools for the job before you start Idiot lesson 2 - Don't park too close to your garage Air-Filter change and stubby aerial Even I can do this. Stubby aerial from Redline Steve - screw off with the old and on with the new and done. Replacing OEM filter with Pop Charger from Tarmac. No problems. Until I dropped the screws into the engine bay which managed to settle out of reach on the engine undertray. So car on jacks again whilst I had the ball-aching pleasure of removing the undertray - twice. Idiot lesson 3 - Don't loose your screws Idiot lesson 4 - If removing the engine tray do not re-attach until you are sure there is zero possibility of having to remove it again. Drive belt change Buoyed by the success of the stubby aerial and air filter I thought I would give this a go the following weekend as I noticed the belts seemed to be cracking. I purchsed the belts from Zmanalex and followed a guide on the forum which I am sure was very spot on but unfortunately I only got to part 2 (un-doing the pulley nuts). Unfortunately whilst one of the pulley nuts loosened with a fair bit of pressure the 2nd one was pretty solid. Putting all my He-Man strength behind the ratchett it slipped and my right hand collided with the engine block. In true "man" fashion I carried on with my efforts to undo to no avail. A trip to Halfords was called for again for a different tool (they must have something that will help). I took the wifes car and drove to Halfords but the wrench I bought did not help. By now my hand was getting pretty black and felt "weird" so it was off to casualty to have it checked out. Turned out I had broken the Metacarpal of my right hand which was a bit of a bummer. Mr and Mrs Keyser came to my rescue with the drive belt http://www.350z-uk.c...renewing-belts/ A few days later I came home from work to find a penalty notice waiting for me for that wasted trip to Halfords. In my urgency I had taken my often used short-cut around the back of Asda, but unbeknownst to me this was now a camera enforced "bus only" road and I owed the Council £60 for my naughtyness. The " Bus...bla..bla..Tw*t " I heard must have been shouts from the driver of the parked bus I overtook. Idiot lesson 5 - Multipoint sockets can round off nuts. 6 points are preferable, especially with stiff nuts Idiot lesson 6 - Don't use bus lanes Idiot lesson 7 - Halfords is not the answer, Halfords is not the answer Spark plugs Now you'd think the drive belt experience would have put me off but if nothing else I am determined. I purchased said plugs from Zmanalex at the same time as the belts but had to wait for my hand to improve before attempting. This was extremely fiddly but all things considered I think it went well. The only issue I had was the socket getting stuck in the cylinder at which point I started having a few flash backs. However a quick trip to Motorbitz (see learnt my lesson no Halfords) and I purchased a different socket. The fact the different socket gave me exactly the same problem I wont dwell on but I did manage to sort eventually. All was good in the world until the next day on the way home from work when the engine management light came on . My previous DIY mechanic experience being what it is I did panic a little when I looked under the bonnet and was sure I could hear hissing where I couldnt before. I thought maybe I had damaged a vacuum/breather pipe when doing the plugs and went to Halfords (I regressed) to see if I could get a similar replacement. Like the idiot I am I thought the pipe was the same size as it did seem to fit but on later inspection it was narrower than the OEM one and was useless really for that reason and the fact I could still hear a hissing noise. As I had now cut the pipe I couldnt take back to Halfords for a refund. At this point I seemed to be hearing all sorts of weird sounds and was going a bit mental. Some sage advise from Zmanalex helped and another trip to the Z-shed sorted me out. I was just being a paranoid idiot. Idiot lesson 8 - Make the hole in the internal rubber of the spark plug socket a little bigger with a screwdrive to ensure the plug comes away ok from the socket when you want. Idiot lesson 9 - Put a bit of tape on the joins of the socket and ratchet/extension so they are a tighter fit. Idiot lesson 10 - Don't panic Idiot lesson 11 - when replacing anything check it fits 1st Wheel spacers After the Vine meet I felt inspired. I hated the look of my wheels after this meet and seeing so many cars with Spacers I just had to get some. Now in theory this is not a hard install. Back ones done easy, all tightend up nicely. Front ones were a little tricky as the wheels kept turning as I was tightening the spacer nuts but sorted none the less. At the back of my mind I did think surely there's something more I should be doing. Went to work next day great no problemo. Bank hol wknd so me and the wife were going out for the day in the Zed. After a short while I started to hear a rubbing noise. This got louder. I pulled over and checked the wheel nuts, whether the arches were rubbing but everything looked okay. Carried on but really getting concerned as it seemed to be getting worse so we turned back. On the way back the steering wheel was vibrating slightly and there was a "clicking" noise coming from the front. TBH I was sh*tting myself. Once home, jacked car up and removed front wheels to find spacers were "just" holding on, they weren't even finger tight . I obviously had not tightened them enough and they had worked loose. Idiot lesson 12 - When fitting spacers to the fronts DO get somebody to hold the brake pedal when you are tightening the nuts. Idiot lesson 13 - Check all spacers after your 1st drive Idiot lesson 14 - Instinct is your friend, if your instinct says you should check something then do Hope you have found this entertaining and please forgive me if I continue to ask stupid questions or ask for help. I am eager to learn and will make mistakes along the way but above all I am an idiot and this is my guide. Cheers Matt

Cheers guys I will give both a ring tomorrow Matt

Driving home from work today, turning left off a roundabout in 3rd, dab of acceleration and SNAP - backend comes completely round with no warning, verging on a spin. However by some miracle I manage to hold it on the edge of 90 degrees, momentum taking me closer and closer to the edge of the road (luckily it's duel carriage and there's no one in the next lane) I am sliding down the road off-side 1st. I accept that I am basically just a passenger and that "this is going to hurt" when by some stroke of luck the car suddenly comes back to me. Though so suddenly it has spun me the opposite way so I am now sliding down the road near-side 1st, although at a lesser angle. I manage again to hold this and eventually get the car under control, albeit after some heavy fishtailing. Suffice to say I was pretty shook up when I got home. I was hoping to wear the crappy Autogrip tyres (They were on the car when I bought it) down a bit more before I bit the bullet with new tyres but after this experience and others similar (but not so dramatic) and after reading so much bad stuff about them I think I am on borrowed time before I have a serious accident. I have no trust at all of them in the wet now. So I am going to raid the credit card (well Mrs Fisherking's card) for new MPSS tyres asap. Any recommendations of tyre fitters in Bournemouth? Cheers Matt

pm'd

10p

Oooo another Zed site selling shiny things. Cheers

Missed by an hour, damn!