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Thanks, I have to agree I wouldn't be seen dead driving it as it couldn't be further from my taste but I can see why she wanted it done like it hence why she loves it and all her girly friends think it's great.

Well it was never going to be any other colour because my wife loves things girly and you don't get much girly than a glittery pink beetle on daisy wheels, its not to my taste but who's to argue with the boss aka the wife its her car she drives it and if she wants it and I can give it to her she'll get it. Also she's got no excuses then when I say "I'm just getting _ _ _ _ _ _ for my car"

Hmmmm I feel I probably would

I've already had requests, but sod that way to much faffing

A little harsh do you not think.

Funny enough she had the lashes fitted before I sprayed it and I didn't refit them because they used to scratch the bonnet where they flexed at speed and rubbed lines into the bonnet so after all that graft I defiantly wasn't fitting them again.

Couldn't agree more its a nasty thing to drive but she loves it, I've shot my self in the foot a bit because now she loves it she'll never get rid.

NEVER..... EVER drive it not even before I painted it

In no way Z related but thought I'd show off my work on my wife's car A few weeks ago I decided to re spray my wife's car for her as she's had it a long time and loves it and as she puts up with me spending all my time on my motors and thought I'd spruce her's up a bit, She wanted it to look a bit special and stand out. I've never re-sprayed a whole car before only bits and pieces for my self in the booth at work so thought what the hell I'll give it a go. I started with a base metallic Pink then came the fun part I bought some Chameleon holographic Pink metal flake from Ibbotson flake, I had a quick chat with Neil the chap who owns Ibbotson and he was very informative and shared a few tricks to help me with the paint job. I bought 300g of flake which according to Neil was way more than I need (and he was right). With the metal flake you mix it in with the lacquer and according to the instructions you mix 20g with 1ltr of mixed lacquer I went against the instructions a bit and mixed 20g flake with 600ml of lacquer, Neil had said an experienced sprayer could double the flake to lacquer mix I wouldn't call my self an experienced spray at all but I like to push my luck, 600ml mix is enough to go round the car once with a full coat and I did this 8 times with flake mixed lacquer to get the desired coverage I then applied 6 coats of plain lacquer to bury the metal flake this was the first stage, I then left it to bake in the oven and returned the following morning to wet flat it down but as I started i was starting to hit the flake which you don't want to do as it takes the colour out of them so I gave it another 6 coats of lacquer and again baked it and left it again till the following day I then was able to wet flat the whole car to flatten the paint before giving it it's final coats of lacquer 4 more that's 24 coats of lacquer in total 8 with flake and 16 coats to bury the metal flake and leave a glass like finish and you can now not feel the flake at all, in total i used 15ltrs of lacquer that's 10 times the amount used on a normal spray job. After I finished the paint job I had to leave it a week or so for the solvents to evaporate fully from the paint due to there being so much paint and I then gave it a light 2000 grit wet flatting and machine polish and I was told In a few weeks or so I would need to machine polish it again which is what I did today so It's finally finished. Not bad really considering it's my first attempt and it's got a glass smooth finish, I was told by a sprayer work colleague the retail on a job like I've done is £4000 that's 2.5x the value of her car, it actually only cost me the materials £80 pink £155 lacquer and £20 flake £255 all in not bad going I'd say. Also bought her a new set of wheels to finish off the girly look Here is the finished article, It was hard getting the phone camera to pick up the flake as well as it can be seen in the flesh but they still look good, I also made a video which shows it off better. Here's a close up where you can see how the flake is suspended in the super thick coat of lacquer: a few stood back shots: Here's the video: There's no denying it stands out and is a bit special, it's crazy the amount attention it gets with people always taking pictures even driving down the motorway people pass with there phones up at the windows snapping away.

Wife would have had my nuts on a slab, but would love to........

Before 7 weeks later (after): Before: 7 weeks later (after):

Wasn't needed I could have done it on the lathe which we have at work but the issue was down to the brush being stuck in the slide and not touching the motor at all,

As the title, A little embarrassing really after saying how reliable my Z is that said it appears the rad fans seem to be a problem for lots of Z's I was waiting outside Tesco for my wife this morning with the AC on and thought it didn't feel as cold as normal but thought it was down to the outside temp then when she got back we drove off and got on the move and it got colder, so once home I popped the bonnet switched the ac on and only one fan was running and I knew they where both running a few weeks ago when I looked over it when buying it so with me being me I wouldn't be able to rest till I found and preferably fixed the issue I shot off to work , So got to work and drove it on the ramp and hooked up the diagnostics and sure enough I could power one fan up but not the other so checked the simple stuff before ripping the fan shroud out the car and whipped off the motor once on the bench I tried powering it up and could feel it was trying, it span free so wasn't seized so decided I wouldn't lose anything from opening it up and taking a look but before doing so I checked up how much they are to replace and what I found spurred me on even more to get to the bottom of the failure. So after removing the motor from the shroud and with it on the bench I first bent the lock tabs out with a screwdriver: Then lift off the front don't worry when you hear lots of springs and things fly about, once apart the first thing I looked at was the part of the motor the brushes sit against and cleaned this area up, I was surprised to find it wasn't very worn: dirty: cleaned up with a bit of emery paper: Now for the brushes this is where I found the fault, as you can see in the picture 3 of the 4 brushes have come shooting out when I lifted it apart and one is stuck in the housing: first I cleaned up the brushes that were out with a bit of emery to clean the contacts, carefully as there soft till the looked like this: I then secured the 3 working ones in place with there springs behind them and held them in place with a small bit of wire (a paper clip will work) I used welding wire and if you look carefully you'll see it: I then removed and cleaned the build up of carbon/crap from around the one that was stuck and made sure it slid freely in and out with the spring behind it which it did: then with that one secured in place with wire too I dropped the motor down in place and removed the wire so the brushes sat against the motor: before finally dropping the top back over it and using a hammer and punch carefully folding the lock tabs back over: I then refitted it back into the shroud and dropped it down into place so I could hook the wire back up and test it by powering it with the diagnostics and here is where another problem arose....... the one I fixed worked perfect but now the other side didn't run as quick It wasn't noticeable before because they were both obviously getting slow, so out it came again and I found the same problem in this one where one of the brushes was stuck, it was obviously touching enough to make it work but only just hence the slow speed. So with that one rebuilt too and plugged back in sure enough they worked perfect at the same full speed. Happy days an genuine fan motor off eBay is nearly £400 this cost me nothing cant get better than that. So I'd suggest firing up your ac popping your bonnet and make sure both your fans are running and at the same speed if there not could be worth having ago, To do the job it took me 1.5hrs including removal and refit of the shroud (just remove the air box and top rad hose and 2 10mm bolts and the shroud wriggles out) and the only tools need are a ratchet, 10mm socket, 8mm socket big flat blade screw driver, hammer and small punch, you will also want some antifreeze unless you catch it as around 1/2 a ltr comes out when removing the top hose.

Thanks but he will wait he's had a few cars off me 7 i think 3 of which he still has and is always flush so when the time comes I have no doubt I'll get 7k from him I thought you weren't selling it? Im not this was simply a post to prove cheap high miles cars are in some cases good deals and you wont lose money on in fact stand to make money But it not for sale to my friends disgust

I'll be enjoying my Z for a while yet

Thanks but he will wait he's had a few cars off me 7 i think 3 of which he still has and is always flush so when the time comes I have no doubt I'll get 7k from him

Dont start that again

I see what your saying but I never seem to struggle to sell any of my cars all of which are modified to a degree and I've sold a lot. But that's cool I can see I made a great buy and will have no doubt I'll make a mint when it comes to selling it on

I top up every Friday only ever use super and I only ever get about £20 in there, I have an OCD thing I need to fill up every week if it need it or not I have to have a full tank not a clue on my mileage though if I had to guess i'd say 70-80?

Interesting comments I'll comeback at a few Whackywill sorry defiantly not for sale.........yet In comment to the modification there 2 side to that because there are as many buyers looking at a car like mine over a stock one because there would prefer it so plussing or minusing on stock or mod is neither here nor there, it would obviously be on sale to the modified prefers and as a result would look at paying more for modifications that they them selves wouldn't have to do, that sthe flip side Anyway the majority had the same figure in mind 6-6.5k mainly on it's GT4 and colour rarity as well as its condition and history that was until i was approached and offered at 1st £6400 then he revised it to £6600 and he yesterday offered £6800 of which he had the cash on him to try and entice me..........Didn't work..... you watch next week it'll be 7k (it'll still be a no) Not bad from my £5100 purchase 7 weeks ago Just goes to show there are some great deals to be had at the misconception of mileage and plenty of money to be made selling to those who know mileage is just a number and its all about the history and condition....

I totally agree on the diesels comment, modern diesels are terrible mainly the fueling side of things injectors and pumps, we must see 2-3 cars a week at least that are non starting diesels and there always down to the injectors or pumps. That said VW/Audi are probably among the best for there diesel reliability Oh and I'm not selling my motor and if I was to be selling it it's already sold for a cool £1700 more than it cost me 7 weeks ago to a chap who came to me cash in hand yesterday but I'm not ready to let go yet, I'm sure he'll be back with a revised offer as he's had cars off me before and knows I don't buy crap So resale is't or has never been a problem for me you just need to be experience to sort through the crap when buying

I didn't ask as I I know from experience of owning many cars from low to high to astronomical, My response regarding taxi's was aimed at cars in general because there's very few motorists that will clock up 46k a year for 3 years they would be driving an average of 176 miles a day 5 days a week to clock 140k in 3 years and most cars doing that sort of miles are taxis (again talking in general) So what your saying is us high miles owners the ones who have the experience of owning and running a high miles car are the only ones talking from experience. So that comment says it all listen to us who have them ignore those how don't and never have and sadly never will (due to misconceptions)

I respect that comment fully, I suppose when I look at a high miles car from my experience I can make a great buy and I can see an inexperienced person can very easily come unstuck from not knowing what to look for Im just here to say there are great buys out there and not to completely write off long legged cars With a premium motor like a Z compared to your focus's and clio's I'd advise to always take someone who's knows what there looking at or get it AA checked what ever the mileage because I looked at some low miles heaps before finding my high miles minter. I'll end it there I feel there's pros and cons to both sides and opinions are not easily changed

Hi all after a recent post I was part of discussing high mile motors where I was trying to open peoples eyes to advantages to be had from buying some high mile motors (great value still with great reliability) but it's almost like some people wont be changed from there 1970's attitude. I would be interested to know what people would expect to pay or would be willing to pay for my recently purchased UL 2005 GT4 it's not for sale I just want to see how good a deal or not so good a deal I got I dont want to know if you would or wouldn't buy it just how much you would pay. From the looks across the for sale web there's not many about due to limited numbers made and because of that they seem to be expensive in the Ultra Yellow GT4 spec ranging from what I found today from £7950 (with 145k) to £10500 (with 73k) Heres my spec/condition -2005 GT4 -Ultra Yellow -141045 miles -Full service history backed up with every invoice 18 services, 16 main dealer 1 Horsham Developments and 1 at my garage using genuine parts (serviced every 8k the whole of it's life). -Last Horsham service included gearbox and diff oil change all discs and pads and a full set of Continental sport contact tyres front polly bushed and full 4 wheel alignment -2 previous owners -6 months tax -5 months MOT -2 remote keys plus the service key -Interior is in great condition -exterior is in great condition (im very fussy when it comes to paintwork) NO DENTS OR SCRATCHES Mods -The Xenon bulbs have been swapped out for 8k replacements -LED side lights -LED number plate lights -Mirror backs have been 4d carbon covered -Carbon wrapped B pillars -Nismo style rear spats -Nismo style front bumper spoiler -Exhaust has been de-resonated -Replaced the stock aerial with a stubby one -Rear spring mount mod to lower the rear by 17mm -Windows tinted Limo round the rear and light on the front -New gloss black Z badges fitted in place of the standard badges and 350Z badges fitted -Rear lights tinted -Carbon warpped my roof section -Carbon wrapped the rear strut cover in the boot -Painted door handles high gloss black -Refurbed wheels with a high gloss black finish -Rear wheels spaced with hub centric spacers 25mm -Front wheels spaced with hub centric spacers 20mm -New titanium wheel nuts -New double din JVC TV headunit -4D carbon covered center console -Rear spoiler custom colour coded A couple of pics So input wanted on what you would part with for it, Im not interested it it's not to your taste or if you wouldn't buy with the legs on it just simply a value as it would be interesting to know if I'm right in thinking there are great deals to be had when looking at higher miles motors as long as there well looked after. I have a chap busting a nut trying to part with his cash to buy it from me his offer has gone up twice he knows what I paid for it and his offer is good I'll reveal what I paid for it and what I've been offered once a few have replied with there thoughts on a value I stress it's not for sale

Ok I can see why you would think like that and I would say if the car was 3 years old with 140k I'd avoid that because at that age it can only have been used as a taxi and taxi's are notoriously run hard that aside i'd still claim at that mileage and that age its not had a hard life because that only works out at 52 miles a day (average 5 day use) thats certainly not 52 miles driving round stop start town driving. Engine failures are incredibly rare in the 350z I'd put money on the only real reason for a failure to owner error and not mechanical at any mileage, a modern engine will not throw a big end shell for no reason I'd say the high majority of engine failures is down to oil starvation and lack of oil changes, I've heard some some talk about engine failure down to fuel octane but I'm not sure about that simply because the manufacture designed it to run on low octane, Gearbox failures are also almost unheard of so no worry there as to are diff's that then just leaves small engine ancillaries (alternator starter motor etc) again these can pack up at 20k or 250k and wear and tear parts brakes suspension again these are replaced at all mileage in a well maintained car. I bet if I and another forum member doing similar mileage (8k a year) where to run are cars over the year logging any money spent on maintenance and brake downs there would be nothing in it, If anyone would be up for that might be worth running a post for reference would make an eye opening read I reckon, a few high miles against a few mid mileage I'd say some ultra low mile motors too but they only every drive it out there garage clean them and drive them back in WHAT A WASTE....