S14DST

So today did my spark plugs and new front brake discs!

After doing that, 15min drive later charging went down completely, it was showing under 12V, turned around to head back to garage, and on the way back it started to charge for a minute or so, and then again died down to 12V... When I pulled to my garage it startet to charge fine aith 14.28V measured with multimeter from battery terminals!

The strange thing is that voltage falls in 3-5 seconds, not right away! Cleaned my alternator with brake cleaner and drove home, but after about 30min of driving it died again, and now I just don't know where to start!

Wiggled battery terminals and voltage was fine with no issues, even with all lights and heater on!

Where might be the issue?

Oh and my PAS pump is leaking on the alternator, but it's doing it for 6+months already and I try to pressure wash engine bay every month!

Hopefully someone had this kind of issue, because this is my only car and I need it to get fixed soon :/

At the moment I have NGK PLFR5A plugs and they are dead, I even have a slight missfire...

What plugs would any of you recommend on a budget? I just don't want to pay 75 pounds for plugs that I will be replacing twice a year...

 

P.S sorry for stealing a topic

 

They are platinum so you could either stick with them, shouldn't be more than £25-35 a set, or you can just go for copper core equivalent at about £10-16 a set.

Did a quick look on ebay and they cost ~60pounds for 6pcs...

Where I should look for a better price?

P.S oh and I don't live in UK

Ok, it's been a while since I posted...

At the moment I need to refurbish my steering rack and PAS pump due to front brake disc being warped :/

Anyone can recommend front brake discs for 03 Z with brembos? Will consider slightly used if cheap enough

And what spark plugs would be recommended? At the moment I have NGK PLFR5A plugs, but they cost too much for me, as I like to change my plugs 2-3 times a year is there anything cheaper out there?

At the moment I have NGK PLFR5A plugs and they are dead, I even have a slight missfire...

What plugs would any of you recommend on a budget? I just don't want to pay 75 pounds for plugs that I will be replacing twice a year...

P.S sorry for stealing a topic

So a little teaser from this evening

But on to something that I really noticed and not happy with, the diff!

It does lock just enough do some skids obviously, but all the time I really could feel that it's fighting itself to lock properly!

And due to moneys being low, 2way is not an option, but for what sort of money I'm looking for some open diff? Just diff without pumpkin and final gears!

Maybe anyone on here has a spare to donate?

Finally today I received and installed my superpro poly rear sway bar bushes and new drop links!

It made a noticeable difference, because before I was able to move arb by hand, so there wasn't actually a point of it

Sorry for crappy phone pic...

https://lh6.googleus...9M=w415-h553-no

Unfortunately for some reason I can't upload pictures from my google+ account!

loving this thread so far! you and i are basically trying to acheive the same target! jealous of your hydro though

And I'm jealous of your wheels, I need a sponsor

But I would recommend to search for a lot smaller hydro unit, because this really took a lot of modifying and making it fit properly!

And handle has been turned 180degrees and on different angle to suite my needs, but haven't got a chance to take a photo

Next on the list is new 235/40 tyres up front (thinking something like NS2-r or 595rsr) And fit new drop links on front sway bar....

Hope it will be enough to star a season!

So a little review from yesterday!

Did a royal PITA work on it. The whiteline diff bushings...

It took me about 14 hours to do it on my own in a garage without any jack or whatever, just basic tools and a hacksaw (it's a must).

But I must say, I'm very pleased with the result, now it feels a lot smoother and no extra noises which is good, as this is my daily

Can anyone identify that my diff is stock vLSD? And pumpkin is stock also, because some I've seen don't have fins on them...

For example Parts Shop Max!

No extra restrictions, because volume won't change

Front sump shouldn't be a big issue, because it sits higher than the subframe, and if I remember correctly ARB was a bit lower or at the same level as sump!

But there is always a chance to hit a rock

If you don't want to scrape everywhere, I would suggest to get a custom exhaust system made using oval piping so you can tuck it higher than frame rails under the car!

But it won't make it open quicker in lower gears right? It just will open the throttle body more with less pedal movement if I switch to SP7!

awsome! i have the same plans for mine! how hard was the hydro to plum in? any other mods to get it to work with the abs etc? cheers

It was easy, I disconnected the ABS and now everything goes straight from BMC to handbrake-calipers...

I left the ABS unit in place, because I've read that if you disconnect it, you won't have a speedo???

And remember that you need two type of piping, one was regular ~4mm and for main pipe that goes straight off BMC you need ~6mm piping, and of course ends for the pipes to bolt in! Oh, and factory thread is 1.0

Leather seats + drifting = seasickness

 

Seriously, Id be looking at getting a bucket in there so you can concentrate on driving the car rather than keeping yourself from flying out of a window.

 

Ive not messed with the lock on mine, do you think grinding back the lockstops will give you much more lock? Any danger of it going past centre?

Honestly I have never had a bucket in my life, but of course I would like some bride low max recliners copies, but with moneys being very tight I simply can't afford everything

And I'm quite happy with these seats, they nice for me...

Nice work on the hydro for sure . Nice to see you're spending the money in the right places instead of just going for PPPOOOOOWWWWEEEERRRR like most when they're building a drift car.

 

Keep the good stuff coming

Power wise I kinda decided that I will stay N/A and won't be using forged internals, just because it's not necessary for my level of driving and again I can't afford to

But the ''dream'' is to put some quality long tube headers, with custom 3'' stainless steel single exit exhaust, of course lightweight flywheel with ''sports'' clutch, some proper intake filter, and probably custom stainless steel intake pipe and probably will need some alloy radiator to keep temperatures nice and cool.... coilovers etc...

Of course I would like to upgrade to a 2way, but they cost as much as I earn in two months, so that won't happen any time soon, so if I won't be happy with OEM LSD then I will just TIG weld it

So yeah, will try to the impossible and go ''cheap and cheerful'' way

S14DST is located in Luxembourg.

 

 

thats w ehe has a LHD car.

I live in Latvia

So Mark, can you get some of the benefits of the Up-Rev just by getting a throttle controller? Obviously you wont get the otimisation to previous mods like you would with an Up-Rev, but if your saying the throttle response is lazy in the first 3 gears, does the throttle controller not get around that?

When I first came to the site, throttle controllers were all the rage, though now they seem to be few and far between.

I would like to know that, because for the first season my car will bee basically stock and don't wan't to spend extra cash for map, if I could make it responsive with a controller...

Thanks for replies

I've got loads of ideas and plans for this projects, but moneys being super tight, unfortunately it won't be a fast build... more likely this is going to take a while...

Oh, and forgot to add that I also had to buy brand new OEM washer bottle and dipstick...

Hey everyone, I decided to introduce and show my humble street drifter build...

As much as building this car to ''drift spec'' I won't be going mental with weight reduction or F/I.. Want to keep it quite simple and reliable but nicely driftable...

So on to the car spec, if there is any

03 Sunset orange with brembos and Rays

First thing I did was change thermostat, because the old just wasn't there for unknown reason :/

And the same time I did my air filter, and thank god I did, as the old one was terrible!

Then changed my inner lower control arm bush

After that I needed new brake pads asap.. was looking towards brembo stuff, but ended up with EBC Ultimax2

As you can see, old one just didn't existed as such :o

While fitting rear pads decided to take a look at handbrake shoes, and of course bought a new set of those too...

And after all of this in couple weeks of owning the car I startet think the issues will never end, and they didn't, but passed MOT

After the MOT was passed I started to investigate the very annoying ticking squealing noise coming from the engine...

It turned out to be a dead A/C belt tensioner bearing... Started to look around for replacement and after getting a price of 100euros, I decided it's time for some DIY.. google didn't help, but I managed to buy brand new bearing and with a help of a press at work it was fixed!

Bearing dimensions are 37x12x12 if someone want's to do theirs

Then this little bastard was removed

And because I need to drift this I bought OBP hanbrake + Wilwood 0.625 cylinder

As it turned out, it was a ROYAL PITA to fit where I wanted it to be, but decided it needs to look clean interior wise!

So prior to make it fit, I had to move climate control ecu behind head unit, it's a tight fit, bit it fits there!

I don't have any pictures of it modified, but the OBP handbrake was heavily modified to fit properly!

Next big thing was the clutch slipping bad, and with bad I mean in any gear :/

Ordered brand new clutch disc because that was the problem, and man what a transformation, now I can put my foot down

And the last but now least, I fitted 6mm rack spacers, works great for a couple of weeks now... But still need to cut lock stop to get the most out of it!

Of course along the way I changed engine oil+filter with Motul X-Clean and for gearbox 75W-90 Motul gear oil.

Ok now to the pictures of the actual car I have

Interior since these pictures were taken has been properly cleaned and now looks much better, but a bit worn...

And handbrake lever was cut and rewelded to make it a lot comfortable and usable!

Oh, and rear right wheel bearing was swapped due to it being noisy!

As you might have noticed it has been a lot of work and still I have to do something about the bodywork, but technical stuff is first for me...

And don't be too hard on me on the condition of this Zed, as it's going to get some abuse at the track drifting...

Not to mention I bought it for around 3500 quid

Oh, and I would appreciate any advice how to prepare my zed for summer drifting

Cheers!

Instead of translating 'Restricted' into ''less Power'', translate it to 'higher Latency' , or 'Lag Time'

 

The power to the road does not change.

So it's just not as responsive as it can be pedal wise?

Sorry for such simple questions, but I never had to deal with zeds, only now for a few months of owning it

Thanks for reply octet

But to my understanding for example d1 spec throttle controller won't solve the throttle opening limits in lower gears right?

So to remap stock ECU I need to get some UpRev license?

I can't just connect via OBD2 and do some minor changes?

My biggest concern at the moment is that, throttle in 1st:2nd and 3rd gear are limited by the stock map!

But those gears are the ones I will use on track to drift...

There is no DIY right?

Oh and I have an european LHD model

So for quite a while I'm looking for some poly diff poly bushes...

At the moment I'm thinking between energy suspension or maybe whiteline!

ES bushes seem to be a lot cheaper, I can get them from US for about 70 pounds...

But whiteline seem to be around 100 pound mark...

So the actual question is, how well do energy suspension bushes work? I've seen a few pictures that they have destroyed themselves in couple of months... But don't want to spend extra money on something that will perform the same!

Any recommendations? Plan is to do them this month....

Thanks for replies, I will try these things with my mate, and will let you if it helped

Yes I have

Maybe it is possible to remove some plastic trim to access the bolts or at least see what's up with the mechanism?

Or maybe there is some other way to open it? It's actually very annoying as this is my daily driver :/

Hello everyone, I'm new to Z cars!

I own 03 Z33 for about 4 months now and the last issue that my Z has is that I can't open my rear hatch!

And yes I tried to pull that little thing under Z sign in boot, but it's absolutely stuck and won't help!

The button above number plate works, as it makes a clicking sound, but the hatch won't open!

Is there any way I could try and open it without sawing off the latch? (I might be spelling a bit wrong but I hope you all understand what I mean)

Tried too google about this, but it seems that everyone can open with the thingy in the boot manually, but in my case unfortunetaly it's stuc too :/

So I recently bought my first Z and I really like it, but it has a really annoying noise coming from the engine (not loud)

I did a bit of research and as far as I managed to find out that my A/C tensioner is making that noise!

Is it possible to swap just the bearing inside of it, or do I have to change the whole tensioner assembly?

I'm sorry if this question is very obvious or common, but google and FAQ section didn't give me an answer :/