Jeff E

Has any one fitted a grey hood to their gun metal (Silverstone, WV2 paint code) roadster ? I have a sample and it looks good. Should reduce the carbuncle effect of the black hood . Any thoughts ?

If you are reading this before you start, that's good because you can research this forum, the MY350Z.com forum and You Tube and learn it may not be straight forward. If like me you screw up and end up with more air in your system than a Lilo, the following may help.

What did I do wrong. Sucked out the old fluid from the reservoir, took off the old slave cylinder (SC) and let the down pipe drain. Fitted new SC,filled up reservoir, pumped (many times) clutch pedal and no pressure.

From reading I learnt that you cannot back bleed the 350Z system as the master cylinder (MC) won't let you. Some say it is because the clutch adjustment has been changed but sure my car has not been altered and still could not back bleed.

So here is what I did. First push the piston on the SC fully back and hold with a G clamp. ( see You Tube "bleeding a clutch by blocking the slave cylinder") . Connect to the banjo on the down line. Now you need a new oil squirt gun and 2m of clear vinyl pipe (necessary as I was singe handed). Fill oil gun with brake fluid (BF) , connect pipe and pump BF through so no bubbles in pipe. Connect pipe to SC bleed nipple . Now go up top and locate MC which is behind and below clutch reservoir. You will see the pipe coming out of the MC which feeds the SC. The plastic surround above the MC is held in place by 5 plastic buttons. Pull these out and remove plastic cover to give better access to top of MC. Disconnect the SC feed pipe from the MC. Put small container under MC, eg paint spray cap. Go below and undo SC bleed nipple. Back up top and as you have 2m of pipe you can pump the oil gun and watch until you see BF coming out of the SC feed pipe. Go below and tighten SC nipple.

Now bleed MC . Fill reservoir with BF and pump clutch pedal until BF coming out of MC. Then if you leave clutch pedal in up position you will find BF gravity flows out of MC. With clutch on floor nothing flows.

Put it all together. Put SC feed pipe into the top of the MC so it is in the BF ,but do not screw it in. Leave clutch pedal up so there is a slow flow of BF out of the top of the MC (keep close eye on reservoir level) .Go below and undo SC bleed nipple. Back up top and with one hand, pump the oil gun until BF is coming out of SC feed pipe and no more bubbles are appearing in the top of he MC outlet. You will now have two flows coming together. Keep pumping and with the other hand push the feed pipe fully into the top of the MC and screw the SC feed pipe connector back into the MC. Go below and tighten SC bleed nipple. Finish screwing SC pipe feed into MC. Top up reservoir and go below. Take off G clamp. Spring in SC will push cylinder out drawing BF from reservoir. Fit SC. get in car and push clutch , pressure, start engine and put into reverse. Can't believe it !

What would I do if starting afresh. The main objective is to minimise air ingress. Don't suck out the dirty fluid from the reservoir. It's the good guy. You can flush it out later. I believe the down pipe to the SC is a flexible. If so I would clamp it as close to SC as possible and would not take off the reservoir cap. Remove the old SC. G clamp the new SC as described above and fit to the down pipe banjo. Pump clutch pedal 4-5 times and keep it in the on the floor position. Now release the pipe clamp. Repeat clutch pedal pump 4-5 times, keep in on floor position and undo the SC bleed and let out air /BF. Then bleed as per the workshop manual. This way you only have the air between your pipe clamp and the SC bleed nipple to get rid of. When no more bubbles release G clamp and spring will push cylinder out and draw BF from reservoir. Fit SC.

The last paragraph is my opinion. What I have written above that is what I did and can vouch for.

ps to see the back bleed procedure go to You Tube and search " BMW,VW,Porsche Clutch Bleeding" or MY350Z.com and search " whats the easiest way to bleed the clutch"

Lewis, sent you a pm

Trying again. I am just taking out my cloth seats. The drivers side is shot but the passenger side is in good condition. It is the black bolster// black/reddish dot inners., standard Nissan. It is from a roadster and I need to keep loom. It is electrc seat bse and bak, no heat.caant type slow

Morning,

when you say black cloth do you mean the standard Nissan with black bolsters and black /red spotted middles. I am just replacing my cloth seats. Site too slw t type.wl post later

Just catching up. Like you just switched to leather from cloth seats which were shabby. Will probably keep motors as spares and bin seats as set of good condition ones ( not sure they looked it) went for £0.99. on e bay. Maybe they were yours ?!

Hope not too late for comment. What about the air bags in the steering wheel and passenger compartment. As these are still fitted; for an MOT the tester will need the SRS light to come on and then go off. If there is no light surely this will mean a fail ? Maybe I have missed the point . Does Vlad's splendid fix just mean the light goes back to working normally ?

I had all the fluids changed on my 88k, 10 yr old Z just after I bought it. Did not specify inclusion of Molyslip and gearbox definately worse when cold. Will have it added at next service.

Gun metal 350Z roadster, live outskirts of Woodbridge.

For rear just bought 2x 245/45/18 100Y MPSS for £133 each from Tyreleader with £12 each for fitting from one of their local agreed fitters. Plan to replace fronts with MPSS which are 225/45/18 95Y for £130 +£12 as fronts called Rockstone and grip as name implies.

Thanks, it was SuperStu's comment in an earlier thread which prompted me to ask as I end up miles from the kerb. Hood up roadster not best visibility. The tyres came with the car, would you believe called Rockstone ! The side walls have no bulge outside the rim. Told when used to race that wide wheels with a tyre size that gives vertical / inward leaning side wall gives improved tyre stability during cornering. Planning to fit Goodyear F1 once I have rubbished existing with an airfield track day. Will have a look at the rim protectors.

Jeff E

My Z is 2005 and runs standard 18" rims and 225/45 and 245/45 tyres. I had the wheels fully refurbished but have managed to damage them twice. I shall be coming up for tyre renewal and actively considering fitting 245/45 front and 265/45 rear to give bit more tyre outside the rims. Can't find a post on this. Anyone done it , comments etc. Thanks. Jeff E

I fitted your option 4 to my roadster. Work fine for fast road use and less wheel dust. Only negative is occasional brake squesl when going slow/cold.

H68, yr purchase location did not show. Like G would appreciate guidance on self fit

In this case wish the latest posted came first, I was getting all excited until saw 2010 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrh

My Z came fitted with two "stones" but not the ones you think ! Rockstones, yes would you believe these are tyres . Couldn't wear them out, probably because sticking to the road was not part of the specification !!!

Do caps fit standard wheels ? Most seem to fit Rays only

Jeff E

Would have liked to be there but celebrating our sailing clubs 50th. Can you post for next year? Yesterday went to Earsham, Bungay classic car and fayre and a 300Z was the only Z on display except my 350Z which ,to my shame, only featured because I went through the exhibitors entrance by mistake and just parked !

Any interest in attending , officially, next year let me know.

mines a look alike but with 91k not 25k. Just luv it. You do not mention the cars age and not sure what you can do to prevent it but just above door handles, the hood canvas starts to split.

Cannot believe these sort of people. Cannot even be bothered to wash the car when trying to sell it. Tells you all really.

My race TR7V8 failed scrutineering because the exhaust was too loud. My road TR7V8, much noisier , passed its MOT no comment.

Brands Hatch stricter than for M25 weird !!!

In your intro you say the car has been laid up for many months. Was that inside or out ? What year is the car ? Suspect mine was more a daily driver and hood had not been used excessively and looked fine to my inexperienced eyes. Mines stood outside and being a hood down nut, over the last summer it has been up and down like a yo yo. Cracks/small splits now beginning to appear in one or two places. Its a 2005 and ,as probably not previously garaged, the old UV has taken its toll . Life of a hood , I have read, is 8-10 years in the UK. I should sit in it and put roof up and down several times and then look for signs of cracking/creases.

Need to get out in my Zed more and lighten up Jeff E alias Victor Meldrew !!!!!!!!!!!

Apologies for my in haste and unhelpful response. I was involved with research/ technical staff in getting approvals with OEMs for petroleum additives and keeping them abreast of developments. There was an on going programme with Mercedes. As a marketer/chemist I had a period trying to sell gasoline additives to companies often referred to as national /second tier oil companies such as Fina, Agip, Aral, Kuwait. Majors such as Shell are supplied by their own chemical companies. I was also involved in selling a range of petroleum products/ additives to lubricant blending companies such as Castrol (pre BP ownership ), Valvoline, Fuchs, Millers etc.

Later I moved into trading involving base oils, gas oil and gasoline. Now retired but I was involved at a time of significant change in the auto industry which required corresponding improvements in petroleum products.

And so what discussions have you had with these OEMs ? In what context ?