JurassicZ

Local garage is removing my w-brace today and I am going to clean it up, hammerite and waxoil it. He suggested to keep her looking great underneath to waxoil the whole car. He is prepared to do this unlike most garages as it's a bit of a s****y job. Anyone on here had this done by a garage, what do you reckon is a fair price?

Hi Zhomo, I used a pad on the bolster dabbing where neccessary only and a toothpick on the seams, cracks and airholes on the main seat. I then diluted the dye and blended to avoid any colour mismatch. If I am critical, I can still just see a slight variation in colour on the seat back bolster and next time may colour the whole top side bolster lightly as the seam would hide any colour difference. Maybe 4RE Leather could advise on this. I am being really picky on this though as you really have to look closely to see the variation, my wife thinks I am being OCD! The biggest challenge now is to get her to sit on the base of the seat and twist in rather than sliding down the bolster...what chance!!!

Ah, per pic. Then I can resize using photoshop down to under 95k and they should upload?

Yep, read and followed 4RE Leathers thread and advice. He is a TOP forum member.

Is there a maximum amount of photos you can upload in a day? I am trying to upload some photos and it is showing I can only upload 95.78k?

Do they work as well? Were did you get yours?

For some reason, I cannot upload the after as my limit has been exceeded. Will try to upload later.

Firstly thanks to 4RE Leather for all his help and advice. When I purchased my Z, 2 weeks ago, I was in a real quandary. Bodily she was super, had a almost full Nissan service history, every invoice since being imported to the UK in 2005 including all the Japanese shipping documents. She drove beautifully and had the tiptronic box we wanted. All with a good warranty for a very competitive price. However the seats were dreadful, I could not understand how these were at odds with the rest of the car, until I read on this forum how easily they damage. Anyway took the plunge and am really pleased with the car and now I have refurbished the seats, she looks a different vehicle. Attached are pictures of the before

Hi all, Now for some photos Oh and one of my grown up Z !

How easy is it to remove these braces for cleaning up? How critical are they for rigidity also. If I took the Z to my local garage at the end of the road and got them to remove it on their ramps for ease and to save me having to crawl around underneath, could I drive it back, it's a Roadster if that makes any difference. Thanks guys, it's the only bit that looks crap underneath, but feels pretty solid.

Hi spent many a great weekend in Wales competing on the BTRDA Championhip. Best rallying in the UK!

Sounds good to me!

Yes I do not see many down here, although around Moleavon Industrial Estate I have seen a Dark Blue Roadster on a 55 plate several times. Where do you get your car worked on?

Hi, I am down in Mid Devon, near Okehampton. Is there a local specialist in the South West region?

Hi there, Been a forum member for a few weeks now, since I started to look for my first Z. Now I am the proud owner, though I had better introduce myself. Probably one of the most senior on this forum, but I am a real petrol head! My car ownership started with some quick Fords, moving to a Mini Cooper S and into a TR6. A company car then came along allowing me to indulge in my hobby of rallying, first in a Mk1 Escort then a Mk2. Things became serious as I moved into a Group A Sumbeam TI with a bit of sponsorship from Peugeot Talbot allowing me to compete in the British Open Rally Championship including the RAC. Finally before getting married I had 2 Group A Peugeot 205s. After marriage, rallying took a back seat and my wife and I sprinted and hillclimbed a Lotus 7. The Z is a sunny weather car for us, I have an Infiniti FX (so already well into Nissan!) and the wife a Beemer hack as well as a Classic 1968 MB 280SL Pagoda. The wife really wanted an auto SLK, which would bore the pants off me, so we were really looking for a tiptronic Z Roadster. We were lucky to find one not too far away. Bodily and mechanically it looked great. Full service history with Nissan and every invoice and MOT, since being imported into the UK in 2005. It also has all the original Japan documents and import certificates. I was really concerned as the interior did not reflect the rest of the car, but reading this forum I realised how quickly these interiors wear and decided to take the plunge. Well after a week of cleaning, starting with the hood, it looks stunning and taking out the seats and following 4RE Leathers guides and trading info with him to check on a few things the seats have come up like new. This along with a good clean of the trim and carpets, she looks like brand new. I will get some pictures up now she is finished. Next is an engine compartment valet. Getting her up on ramps the underside looks really clean apart from the "M" Brace. What do people do about cleaning this up or do you replace with an aftermarket job? We have done about 600 miles in her in a week and am loving every minute of it and the Tiptronic gearbox really suits the torque of the engine. Great forum and thanks again to 4RE Leather for his help.

Great, thanks.

Hi, can anybody point me in the direction of the seat removal thread? I have done the search with all word configurations, but nothing seems to come up. Thanks

Sorry another newbee question. Is there a cambelt change or anything similar advised around the 70,000 mile mark? Ignore this question as I have just done a search and note it's a timing chain. I guess this is the same basic engine as in my Infiniti FX?

Well the car impressed! It had not been prepped for sale, which is a good thing. A bit dusty inside and mild colour wear on drivers bolster. Presume Gliptons scuff would cover this? Has a dent on the front of the bonnet where a bar or something has dropped on it and a curbed NSF wheel all which will be done ( the bonnet respray will also cover the few stone chips on the bonnet which have been touched in). The sat nav cover does not want to shut, but I did not want to force this. Car has very nice aftermarket Pioneer touchscreen music system. Car has full service history and old MoTs and even the original invoices from Japan. Advisory work required on last MoT was carried out also. Pads, shims, and some steering arm/bushes as well as 4 new tyres. All in she looks a very tidy and well looked after example. She drove very well, no pulling, no clicking from the back axle and the gearbox was very smooth with no lag or drivetrain shunting. Main question is- I could not get a good look at it underneath. How big an issue is the potential lack of rust proofing, is it true that these came without any rust protection? Thanks for all your help and advice guys!

Thanks for the help guys, I am viewing tomorrow and will let you know how I get on. I have read through the buying guide which is very useful. How much difference is there in the import rear bumper? The car I am going to see is a 53 plate in silver with 70,000 miles. Supposedly full service history and a failry local car for 5 years with the previous owner. It's on at £5995 at Cross Keys Garage, Taunton. They have it advertised as an 05 which is wrong and they are supposed to be updating there website. How does that price look. As there are almost no auto roadsters around, it is difficult to guage pricing.

Okay thanks for the info. I presume this should affect the price significantly down? There cannot be many autos in the UK then, does anyone on here recognise this car as a previous or current members ex car? WM53 LNU in Silver. Also reading through the JDM section it would seem that this in fact may not even be a 53 reg but earlier manufactured? Thanks for all your advice as I do not want to make a big mistake on buying an import and it may push me back to another option if I cannot convince my wife on the manual.

Hi new to this forum and I will introduce myself properly later. I am seriously looking to get a 350Z Roadster for some summer fun. This will be a 3rd car and I will be looking at an early car in reality to appease the wife. As she would rather have something boring like an SLK auto, I may have to make a sacrifice and go for an auto option. I am going to look at one in a couple of days which is on a 53 plate not too far away, but I think I read somewhere that Nissan did not sell early 350Zs in auto, is that correct? If so when were the first UK autos sold, and I guess then this must be a grey market car and any price would have to reflect this. thanks for your advice.