zippypooz

the plugs are £46 from zman/clarke, £300 an hour labour rate isnt too bad. Did they mention if they have any mechanics jobs open?

Ha!! Ummm i didnt wait to ask lol!!

My local Nissan dealer changed my spark plugs on my Zed when I first bought it and naively used them as I thought it was best. Ended up paying £220 odd to change my spark plugs which I thought was bad enough.

£340 odd though is taking the pi** if that's what he quoted you.

Yeah thats what they quoted!! What a rip off eh!! They fed me the excuse that its because theyre platinum tipped...yeah i know that, and i also know how much platinum tipped plugs cost!! Dealers are such rip off merchants...glad im going with someone trustworthy and with a good rep on jap cars, Nissans loss eh!!!!!

Well, needing a P2 service on my current girlfriend, ie my Zed (nothing sexual mind you!!) i decided to give my local Nissan dealer a call...you know, give them a chance and all that!!

 

After a few minutes the nice man phoned me back with their price. 'Hmmm' i thought, ok not too unexpected.

Then then informed me that i'll need a plug change too...I was rather taken aback by his comment as id been unaware that he'd seen my bath. But after realising my mistake i asked him as to how much extra this would cost.

 

'Double the service cost mate and that will be the rough cost' he said....What!!!!!!!!?? (I said!!)

 

So feeling like i was being taken for a ride, i went to see a jap loving car mechanic friend of mine who owns a business in Haywards Heath. Funnily enough i was the 4th person to come in and enquire about a plug change on a Zed!!

 

So after some friendly advice from a guy that knows all there is to know about jap cars i decided to book my car in with him.

Around £450 which includes the P2 service, an uprated exhaust change, a new upgraded air filter and a gearbox oil change.

And he also supplied me with a website where i can buy my 19" Dunlop Maxx tyres for around £175 instead of £250.

 

So all in all, im a happy bunny!!

 

Better than £370 plus another £340 from Nissan.

Hoping to clean mine tomorrow, apparently there maybe a window of opportunity in the morning

Im cleaning as we speak!! For what its worth!!

Jeez im gonna be cleaning and polishing my Zed for Sunday...hope its not raining tomorrow....of course if theres any Zed owner that really enjoys cleaning mud sodden Zeds, can they get in touch, i'll EVEN give em a fiver for their troubles!!...Errr... Payco???? Hmmm???

 

Cleaned mine today in the rain ready for the rolling road meet in Winchester and for the Sunday meet. Not sure why I'm bothering as it's going to be caked how the roads and weather is at the moment.

yeah i know!! i may get mine parachuted in!! hope my satnav has the correct coordinates!!!!

Jeez im gonna be cleaning and polishing my Zed for Sunday...hope its not raining tomorrow....of course if theres any Zed owner that really enjoys cleaning mud sodden Zeds, can they get in touch, i'll EVEN give em a fiver for their troubles!!...Errr... Payco???? Hmmm???

Im preparing a loan ready for the meet as i just know im gonna see something i'll want to do to mine!!...Especially if Payco has anything to do with it!! (Donations welcome)

 

Specially when SpursMadDave turns up in the Laaaguar... You may soon want to convert to one as well!

Hmmmmmmmmm!!!

Im preparing a loan ready for the meet as i just know im gonna see something i'll want to do to mine!!...Especially if Payco has anything to do with it!! (Donations welcome)

One thing i did, which was a bit sneaky but relevant in a way, i checked out the guy i was buying it from...his postcode, what he did for a living etc etc...ok it may sound little i was stereotyping but, Zeds are expensive to run, theyre sportscars and i wanted to make sure the original owner was able to look after it, money no issue. That was a big factor in my buying the car off this particular guy. Plus he didnt actually want to sell, plus he kept taking photos of it, and plus he ended up with tears in his eyes as i handed him my cash...at that point i knew i was onto a winner!! Remember also, 2006 onwards will double your road tax...and some are a little stiff in 2nd gear.

 

Id agree with what 35oz's has said. Other than that, theyre pretty bullet proof.

 

Darren

 

Myself and Zippypooz are coming but wont be eating.

 

Thanks mate

 

Payco

My mum is making me a packed lunch.

To be honest, with the price of them, you might aswell buy some pens.

 

I got pack of 10 tyre wall pens for like £5 and done the job perfectly. Only issue is you have to do it every month or two as they turn brown with mud. Ignore halfords pens, their useless and couldnt even finish 1 tyre with the pen. just leaks.

can you post a pic? Where did you get the pens??

i like it, tyres always look waaay more race with writing on the sidewalls, easiest way to look pro! However they do look a bit pricy, sure i could achieve the same effect with a stencil and a rattle can.

Hahaha can you spray yours first and let me know lol!!

i might possibly be able to make this... no point adding my name just yet though

Hey Steve, can i ask what finish you have on your rims!!? They look the dogs danglies!!

 

yep shadow chrome

 

Veryyyyyyy nice!! My Rays are hopefully gonna look just like that as thats the colour ive chosen . Went to the wheel specialist over the weekend. Good chaps down there.

Love the idea.

A lot of money for what it is though...Im wondering if i can make something similar.

Expensive Sh!te..Just get yourself a set of white wall tyres..!!

If they were a tenner id probably think about it but yeah they are pretty pricey youre right

...just gotta think of something 'edgy' to write!!

 

B F Goodridge ?

better get some off road tyres then...

er......it says:

 

This item does not fit 350 Z.

i noticed that although i cant see why not, its just a self adhesive sticker on a tyre, just depends on the tyre wall size i guess.

Shadow chrome is my guess..

 

payco

yeah im thinking the same!! you still up for sat!!??

better than tyre paint

yeah definately!! i might ask them what material it is as i could do it myself!!...just gotta think of something 'edgy' to write!!

Just saw this on ebay, quite a novel idea i think but not sure if i would do it on mine...although i like the idea of being able to choose what you have written!!

 

What do you recon!!?

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3f2eeb335e

 

 

i might possibly be able to make this... no point adding my name just yet though

Hey Steve, can i ask what finish you have on your rims!!? They look the dogs danglies!!

If you wanna see custom resprays on zeds search for P15UL T's car. He painted it 3 times

 

Keyser that's pretty cool painting underneath. And you've even gone for other colours!

 

Agree about a wrap- go for matt as gloss isn't as shiny as paint. And if your going for a standard colour just buy a black car. Go for custom if your spending money

Can you send a link?

If a wrap is done properly you shouldn't need to maintain it. Products wise you can clean a wrap in the same way you'd clean a normal paint finish although I agree, if you're cleaning it there are areas where you should take care. Don't try and wrap it yourself, it's not as simple as it sounds, find a decent wrapping company that have the tools and experience.

 

Wrapping isnt too hard, youll just waste £200 learning to wrap before you get somewhere. Cleaning wise, i found my vinyl started to look faded, even though i cleaned it regularly. Used some product and brought the shine back again. And that was Hexis aswell. Ebay stuff, yeah give that a miss.

Haha well im glad you found it easy!!! Its what i do for a living and i gotta say i havnt seen many good wraps...most wrap wrong, dont know its limits or how to heat it, where to heat and what temp to post heat etc etc although i would say a zed wouldnt be too difficult...good on you for giving it a go!! But i wouldnt advise it. And youre right, a wrapping course isnt gonna make you a good wrapper, all it does is give you some pointers. As for wrapping against spraying, id go the wrap route, not only does it look good but it protects too...i wrapped a Transit van years ago and the guy removed the wrap and sold it a few years later and gained £1000 on the resale value. Not bad eh!!

If a wrap is done properly you shouldn't need to maintain it. Products wise you can clean a wrap in the same way you'd clean a normal paint finish although I agree, if you're cleaning it there are areas where you should take care. Don't try and wrap it yourself, it's not as simple as it sounds, find a decent wrapping company that have the tools and experience.

Nice Jay!! I eat my words!!