RyanT

Thanks for the comments everyone! Good shout GMballistic, got some silvered indicator bulbs on order for the front and rear as I hate the way they look through a clear lens! @HAMLNJ, ah that's good to know! Absolutely as I love the drive up through Cheddar as well. The LED's... I actually sell then through eBay for MX5 interior lights - But it just turns out you can use them almost anywhere! Although if you want them, give me a PM and I'll do them essentially at cost for a fellow forum member! (Mods, if this isn't OK please feel free to delete!) Righto, as it's the Christmas holidays it's time to crack on - And in the spirit of this threas also becoming a 'virtual service history'... 'P3' Full Service + More @ 94,860 Miles (23/12/14) Engine oil and filter, air filter, gearbox oil & molyslip additive, full coolant flush/change, brake fluid flush/change, new numberplates to replace the current faded ones and nice clean minimal looking aerotwin wipers. Getting the supplies in: And an expensive trip to the local Nissan dealer for the coolant and gearbox oil! As always, it takes the most time just getting the thing up in the air! In the end I decided against the Bosch oil filter and went for a Nissan one as it comes with the proper crush washer which I promtly put on the new magnetic sump plug washer... All drained and in place: Which is where I discovered first hand how useless the dipstick is! Obviously the airfilter is so easy to change... I can't believe dealerships can charge so much - But from the looks of it the air filter was well due a change: Which almost made up for the gearbox oil (and Molyslip) change, which was a really horrid job. Somewhat annoyingly the oil that came out of the gearbox was lovely and golden, so probably didn't actually need to be changed... Although that said, the change afterwards has improved and it's ridden the slight notchyness between 1st and 2nd. Whether that's due to the Molyslip or the fresh oil I don't know. It a joy to shift now! Then ending off the day with the brake fluid change, which took much longer than I was used to as I've never had a car with twin bleed-nipples per caliper before! It was also a good chance to inspect the Brembo's pads/disks, all of which look good - Again somewhat annoyingly as I was itching for an excuse to fit drilled/slotted discs! Old vs. new numberplates... After that was all done, of course it was an excuse for a celebratory drive just to check everything was OK! But not before filling up and making the most of my clubcard discount on lovely Momentum - That's what we like to see! However, before burning through all of that I was back in the garage as there was work to be getting on with. Like almost all others, this one suffers from scratches on the interior plastics. After copious reading it turns out that Halfords offer an enamel rubberised paint which is almost a perfect match to the original finish.. Stupidly I didn't a before photo, but it wasn't so dissimilar to this (thanks Google): After a good rub-down with a scotch-pad, which seemed perfect to ensure the plastics are keyed without rubbing off the plastics dimples - Then, lots of very thin coats of this lovely stuff: After which you should end up with this... I'm absolutely delighted with how it looks, plus the finish is very hardy and non-chip. (Please excuse the sandy car!) Oh and also an alcantara gaiter courtasy of eBay's Topgaiters which I'd recommend to anyone! ...Finally, the gearknob was a bit grotty - But I never liked aftermarket metal knobs as they always seem to be either too hot/cold to touch. So, in an effort to restore the original one out came the sandpaper and leather restorer. Going from this... To this.. Not quite finished but much better! Then to celebrate after a couple of days of hard work - A good blast to Fistral beach! (Which you may notice is in exactly the same spot as the MX5 in the first picture in this thread. It's a bit of a 'right of passage' for my cars!) I really do love this car and in fact I find you 'bond' even more with a car after working on it. ... More to come in the near future - I'm intent on getting this lovely car as good as it can be!

Gorgeous! I normally think silver cars look a bit dull but the Z really pulls it off, looks clean!

I think that was me - If so, that's a new personal best for featuring on a 'spotted' post, I've only have the car a day or so!

Thanks everyone! Like I said I'm really looking forward to getting involved and contributing to the forum. Although please don't judge that contribution with this next update, which possibly may be the dullest start to a build thread ever! ...However, it addresses one of my pet hates - That 90's yellow glow from all of the interior lighting! Luckily it can all be sorted by these awesome SMD panels which are absurdly bright and a doddle to fit as they use the existing connection: A comparison - That's more like it! Plus it's so bright it actually casts a shadow on things in the cabin! Same thing in the boot: It fits, just! Then onto the hazed lights - From: To... Much better! However that indicator bulb is irritating me, a silvered one is on order! Apologies about the dull-update, it'll get better I promise! EDIT: Ah those pictures are far too big - Any way to reduce their size?

Good morning all, Right, I thought I'd get this kicked off with a brief introduction (apologies in advance for the wall of text) - A bit about me, I'm 24 and currently working as a graduate engineer within a global engineering company, I've always been into enthusiast-type cars as I'm the type of person that always needs an outlet project or something to tinker with/care for, else I get terribly bored. Now, I've been lusting for a 350z for over 10 years since I was 13... Why? Well, like many young boys of that time I was obsessed with Need for Speed Underground on my Xbox, I can't even begin to imagine how many hours I spent playing that game. In that game, I had two cars which I adored above all others - The first was an MX5 Mk2 which one of the cars available to you when you first start the game. Then, eventually as you progressed the 350Z became available.. This was the beast that you could eventually beat the game with, I loved it. Fast forward 6 years and I'm in a position to buy my first car and I think, how cool would if 'grown up' me is able to follow the same path that 13 year old me longed over. Although hopefully this time with less neons, tacky dragon vinyl graphics and spoilers! So, out I went out and bought an MX5 MK2. I've owned it for 5 years and it's been nothing but faultless. During that time I turned it from a 'hairdressers car' into a real track & b-road toy. It really was far more capable on track than it had any right to be, there really is nothing more addictive than hassling expensive exotic cars in £2000 worth of 15 year old Mazda. And here's a picture from when I briefly entertained the whole 'stancey' thing a few years back. Although that didn't last for long. However, as amazing as it was - It's been 5 odd years now, and in that time I've gone from being a university student to an actual adult with a job and everything. Plus nowadays (unfortunately) I spend 99.9% of my driving life up and down the M5 rather than a track or down a twisty B-road, which the MX5 is obviously not ideal for. So a 350Z is my idea of a 'sensible' compromise. Here's it's build diary if anyone's' interested. I thought finding a 350 would be easy, it's not exactly a super rare car right? Well it didn't work out that way - You'd go on Autotrader and see 120 odd cars UK wide, brilliant! But then > 20 are automatics, 20 are imports > 20 are convertibles > 10 are CAT D's/C's > 10 are in the northern most Isles of Scotland.. so on and so forth.. Furthermore, I was after quite a specific type of car. As I actively enjoy working on cars I wanted an example which I could actively improve throughout my ownership. Then I can be sure that any such work I undertake on the car is done properly and to a good standard. After months and months of searching and lots of test drives I found the one in London. A very well loved 2005 GT pack, P/X from a main Nissan dealer, One owner from new, with full Nissan service history. Perfect! It has 94k which is about average for the age, plus it really did drive better than pretty much every other example I tested. So after first driving up and seeing it last weekend (and after the longest week at work ever....) I hopped on a train on Friday and went to pick it up! ... and already I absolutely love it. Here's some pictures when I got it home: (...not me!) The only non-standard items I can see are the 'Z' centre caps, and the 'Z' front/rear badges, oh and these Nismo oil/rad caps - But all the original items they replaced came with the car also which is nice and a good indication of the calibre of the previous owner. I'm well aware you've all seen a stock Z before, but I always like to include pictures to provide a reference from which I can always look back over the development of this thread! Current plans are to get it perfect in it's current state before changing anything... It is due a major service and I want to address all of the 350's known 'weaknesses'. Then... who knows! Although every minute I read this forum my wish-list gets longer and longer! Anyway, nice to meet you all. I'm looking forward to getting involved and contributing to the forum over the coming years, it seems like another really good community!

Aren't there generic ones on eBay which'd also do the job?

How did you find the 96k mile one? I'm looking at one very similar (90k miles, FSH) in Cornwall this weekend so wanted to know how other similar ones compare?

Neilp - Yeah, I'm not too worried about running costs in terms of consumables - With it being such a lovely car I'd assume I'll be more than able to justify it all to myself. I have taken my MX on track a few times and loved being able to keep on the heels of much more expensive machinery. However I don't think the Z would ever see a track, purely because things are much more expensive if it all goes wrong! As long as it evokes a grin on a B-road I'm happy. I'd agree with the S2000. Although I don't think I could justify the increased costs on something so comparable to the Mx. I'd say it'd cost at least x2 as much as the MX in most aspects and it's unlikely to be 2x the fun. WhackyWill - Ahh I just saw the thread, how strange! flexib - Ha, yes that's another that is a contender. But the Z is a bit more respectable and sensible which I think appeals as it'd be my only car (and daily). I'd want something that I would be embarrassed to (theoretically) pick the boss up in!

Ops, I hope I've not broken any rules. I did have a read of them before posting, promise! Thanks for the reply & welcome! Good, thats what I wanted to hear! I know it won't be as go-kart like and thrilling as the Mx (certainly within legal speeds) but I'm hoping the rest of the package makes up for this. Plus realistically, less than 10% of the time I'm driving the car will be driving for the sheer thrill of it so it's not so bad.

Hi all, My name is Ryan and I'm a 22 year old recently graduated aerospace engineering student. I currently own a Mk2 Mx5, which started out looking like this: and now looks like this: Here's my 11 page build diary if you're interested - I've always tried to pictorially document everything, oil changes and all. http://www.mx5nutz.c...ic=71593&page=1 Anyway, I love MX ownership and it has never failed to put a smile on my face in my many years of ownership. They are just so amazing on the twisties. I was originally planning on S'Cing the Mx, but realistically it's going to cost 2k+ for 200 odd bhp. Then for the same money (and selling/breaking the MX) I could afford a decent Z. Also, MX's are now becoming so cheap that it's attracting a shitty crowd and it's rather ruining it all attracting the 'drift kidz' painting them matt black, welding the diff and slamming them on eBay coilovers. Of course I'm sure you've noticed the same with the 350, when did they suddenly get so cheap?! So much car for the money. Moreover, I've now moved from Cornwall (where the roads are amazing and twisty) to Bristol, so I'm no longer really enjoying the Mx for what it's for. Maybe I'm getting old, but sometimes I would like something a little more refined. Therefore, what's the next logical step-up from a Mx? - RX8? Don't want to live in constant fear with the fragile rotary. - TT? GF had one, drove like a normal hatchback, not sporty & so heavy. May as well of had a modern Golf GTi. - S2000? It's a serious contender. Like a grown up Mx5. But I think I've done the whole convertible thing now and I don't think the S2000 is different enough to the Mx to warrant the massively increased running costs. - Z4? See above. Anyway, what were you considering as well as a Z? Why did you pass them up in favour of the Z? I'd be interested on hearing others rationelle. Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading the wealth of information available on here and hope to be joining you soon! EDIT: Ha, accidently hit post. Ignore and wait for the mega edit!