RuiFig

Gone, back to England again.
She will be missed.
 

21 minutes ago, JAllen28 said:

Hiya mate, sorry to hear you are having to sell  was just looking through your build thread and love the car, what rear spoiler is that?

That was the previous owner installing it, but according to what I can find, it's a Strosek . 
Flows really well with the rest of the car. You're not the first one asking about it.

Already put a deposit in for another car with more seats, and an ad for the Z is up at PistonHeads.
It seems I can't create a sell post here unless I have 100 posts.
Bittersweat to be honest. The other car is a good compromise, but Yumi will be missed. 

Overdue update.
 

Back in last August/September (2019), I' noticed the gearbox was a bit messed up. 4th gear was hard to get in.
After some research, it seems it is a common problem with the 2003-2004 models.
Took it back to the garage for the MOT, and a used gearbox from a 2009 model was installed, along with new clutch (rated 500hp I think).
The usual servicing was done too. Oil change, spark plugs, etc.

Also, It seems I'll have to let her go. Wife wants me to get a car with more seats, now that we have two boys.
 

Another update.
Took her back to the garage to fix the front seal (wasn't properly installed and was peeling off).
While at it, I asked them to replace the door moulding/weatherstrips or whatever they are called.
Put new ones.

Also, balanced the wheels, since I noticed I was getting lots of steering wheel vibration at high speed.

Taking her to The Scottish Performance Show on the 9th, the front seal came off completely. :/
After looking at other 350z in the show, I now see that the seal they've been trying to use doesn't really work with the 350z.
This is what happened to mine TWICE while driving to the show...

What it seems is that on the 350z, the gap between the windshield and root is rather wide, and so it needs some kind of stripe in the middle.
The seal then is actually composed of two pieces.
As you can see in the picture. they are trying to use some kind of 1 piece seal that clearly doesn't work for the 350z.
It has nothing to hold it in place (other than the bit of glue on the roof, so once it gets some wind underneath it on the motorway, it will just peel off.

While at the show, I took a picture from another 350z that had a bit missing (so I could see how it looks like inside)...

 So, it seems its composed of two seals. One in the roof, another in windshield. 
The one in the windshield has no glue whatsoever, and is hold in place by clicking into that plastic stripe running along the gap ?
Thanks to Paul Thompson from Zcotland for suggesting that was the case, even before I saw it for myself.

Anyway, informed the garage and they'll try to get someone else to fix this.

Other than that, she looked rather nice at the show...
No filters whatsoever. Straight from the phone...
 

Welcome

6 minutes ago, scobie140 said:

With the age of these cars this could become a popular fix, great for showing how its done 

Checked today, and the top ones were spot on. Looks like new. The bottom ones will need some touching up as I suspected. Couldn't see @*!# while doing it. xD

Took the car back to the garage today, and when I told the guy I repaired the pillars with something resembling playdooh, he joked. Haha

Then he was surprised by how good it looks. xD

55 minutes ago, NeeZ said:

The thing with sugru is you can actually play about with it for a wee while before it goes off it takes a few uses till you get the hang, lots of good work in your build thread . Found anything else to use sugru on yet? 

Not yet, but found other interesting materials. Polymorph ( ordered a bag ), and some homemade Sugru. Apparently people call it Oogoo, or Oogroo. Interesting stuff.

Polymorph seems really interesting, since it can be reused.

On 06/05/2019 at 16:57, NeeZ said:

you will be surprised how many bits you can repair / make when you have sugru, its quite addictive stuff 

Check my build thread, NeeZ.  

Repaired the A-Pillars with Sugru.
The weatherstrip will have to wait a bit, until I figure out how I can hold it down until cured, so I can avoid removing the entire thing.
I believe the door covers need to come out in order to take out the weatherstrips.
Need a big chunk of free time for that. My toddler doesn't give me any space. If Daddy is home, it's play time.

Some more DIY...
ZMANALEX was out of weatherstrips and A-Pillars, so I opted for repairing it instead.

NeeZ suggested Sugru ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugru ), and I'm rather pleased with the result.
This was at the end of the day once my kid was in bed, and there wasn't enough light to see the bits I missed. The next few days I'll touch it up.

So, the state as I've shown before...

Some preparation... 

Result of all of them. Needs some touching up...

Didn't had enough light for the A-Pillars, so the finish is not as good. That will be fixed.

Lets see how it looks like tomorrow once cured.

If any of you could could post an up-close picture A-Pillars in good shape, it would be much appreciated, so I can know how to shape it when touching up. 
It was so deteriorated, that I don't know the exact shape.

12 hours ago, Ian said:

I’ll see if I can get them off mine  in one piece today for you. Do you need both sides?

Hi Ian,

I've ordered some DIY materials (sugru included) to see if I can fix it first.

If that doesn't work, how much you want for yours if they're intact? (both sides) 

Ohhh.
Never heard of it, but just did some googling.

Might fix it.
Thanks for the tip.

Not sure what the exact name for this part is.

I need both the driver and passenger's side.

ZMANALEX doesn't have them at the moment.

Yesterday after a wash...

Talked to ZMANALEX, and we should have the parts figured out.  
Thanks for the help, ShortPaul.

Meanwhile, I took a look at the driver's side weatherstrip, and it seems it's about to snap too, so I suppose I'll get both done at the same time.

Thanks for the heads up then, Z Fanatic.

MAC Motorsports tried to fix the weatherstrip, but I suppose the pressure is too much, and it snapped up again.
The A-Pillars.... well, they are damn expensive if I need to get the entire thing.

Just for reference, this is state of mine.

I messaged him before you posted (because someone in the other thread also suggested that).
But didn't ask about the A-Pillar (the windscreen rubber), only the door weatherstrip.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll ask him about both then.

Is he the handyman around here? hehe

Another update...

Got around to do some DIY over the last weekend.

The wiper arms needed some TLC.

The state they were in...

 

After some sanding and priming...

Painted, assembled (with the rubbers treated), and installed...

In retrospective, I should have gone with matte/satin black, and not glossy.
Glossy looks fine, but probably get dirtier more easily. :/

Ohh well. Done.

Two things I have left to do that I can think off...

• The A-Pillar seals are all messed up. Seems like a common problem due to old age. This: https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance-and-repair/555481-weatherstripping-rotting-need-help-for-replacement-part.html . Still not sure what I'm going to do. Everywhere I see people saying I need to replace the entire A-Pillar ?
• The Door weatherstrip or whatever that is called. Like in this thread:  This also seems a common problem.

I tend to be a very sensible driver.

Mostly respect the limits in urban areas. Might go over by 5-10 mph.
Like you, I tend to have some fun at traffic lights.
Motorways, I might speed a bit on and off it's quiet, or just to overtake.

Country roads... Only got my Z back in September 2018, and as a family man, we always take our Golf when out and about, so believe it or not, haven't had the chance to take it out to country roads. 
And now with another baby coming in July, I'm not sure when I'll have the chance.
I plan to use my 4yo boy as an excuse to go for short road trips this Spring/Summer. When given the chance, he always prefers to go out in the Z instead of the Golf. haha
As he normally puts it whenever he rides with me and my wife needs to take the Golf for some reason... "Mommy, eat my dust!" 

End result.... 

Love at first sight (At MAC Motorsport), although it has some dust sitting outside.  ....

And back at home...

Still needs a proper wash, but I was i was advised to wait a week or so.

Both the skirt extensions and the front lip were ordered from Tarmac Sportz:
https://www.tarmacsportz.co.uk/350z-tarmac-sportz-frp-mines-v1-style-front-lip.html
https://www.tarmacsportz.co.uk/brands/tarmac-sportz/350z-03-08-cs-bottomline-style-side-skirt-rear-bumper-add-ons.html

It still needs some TLC on some other little things, such as replacing wippers, since they are in bad shape (Oversight of both me and MAC Motorsport).

Maybe at some point I will again look into adding more power, provided wifey doesn't find out. hehe

A few months ago I discussed with MAC Motorsport the possibility to increase power to say 500bhp (it's at 380bhp at the moment).

I also contacted Horsham Developments (some work was done there by the previous owner(s)) .

Both MAC Motorsport and Horsham Development gave me similar figures. Up to £10k to have a reliable upgrade in power.

To be honest, that would be just for internet points, or comparing d*ck sizes.
It's plenty of fun as it is with 380bhp, so I decided to go for a full round of TLC instead.

A few weeks ago I started discussing a full respray with MAC Motorsport, fix the existing rust, replace some seals, fix crack in the front bumper, etc.

Most of things I wanted to fix/improve were listed by Rasco, by the way.  I bought her fully aware of everything.

After some back and forth, we agreed on some cosmetic changes too.

Car in its original form...

After some photoshop (Paint.Net actually), to have an idea how it would look like...

I was prepared to spent up to ~£5k . Bill was less than that, because not all seals were replaced (MAC Motorsport used their best judgement I suppose), and also I kept the same wheels.

Some pictures MAC Motorsport took for me while they worked on it.

Wheel arches... (she's an old lady)

The wing removed...

Headlights in need of restoration...

Headlights restored...

Z badges look amazing in black/silver...

I loved the end result, although pictures don't do it justice. See the next post.

In December 2018, battery started to die.

Once because my wife tried to open the boot for something, couldn't (because it's heavy), then didn't close it properly. hehe

After that, it started dying regularly because it's not a daily driver.

Replaced the battery with a "S5 008 Bosch Car Battery 12V 77Ah Type 096 S5008" after doing some research about what would fit.

Warning... It's a very snug fit.

I meant to start this thread when I got my Z back in September 2018, but never got around to do it.

Please forgive me any spelling mistakes. I'm Portuguese.

So, bought this beauty from Rasco back in September ( https://www.350z-uk.com/topic/121549-azure-blue-2004-single-turbo-z-£27k-spent-£10450-ono )
Previously it belonged to WaltzInBlack.

Here at home we always name our cars, so this one was baptized as Yumi (Shortened from Yumiko).

Rasco was very helpful listing all the things that needed fixing or potential problems before I bought it.

First thing I did was put it through an MOT and thorough checkout at MAC Motorsport (Dundee). This was in late September.

Was an hefty bill, but I did ask them to take a look at everything they could think of.

Other than wear and tear, everything was in order.

They found a water leak Rasco mentioned could be there (but couldn't find).

Overview of the work done:

• MOT
• 3D wheel alignment
• Service
• Front and rear discs and pads.
• Seat adjuster installation. The way I got it from Rasco (fixed), I couldn't reach the pedals. He gave me a bag full of old clothes so I could put behind me to reach the pedals on my way up to Edinburgh. hehe
• Some bushings replaced
• Belts adjustment
• Undertray installation. The OEM was was badly damaged. An aluminium Torquen undetray was installed ( https://www.torqen.uk/nissan/350z/body-styling/exterior/1663- 350z-torqen-undertrays-trq-ut350.html )

Damaged OEM undertray

New one installed:

I was very happy with the work. Highly recommend MAC Motorsport.

Officially part of the 350z club
Was a long trip to Edinburgh.
Noisy, bumpy... and with a smile on my face.

Everything sorted.
Took me 3 days to sort out the insurance. Bloody Hell!
Big kudos to Rasco for the patience and help.

Although I've been driving for 21 years with no accidents/claims, I was in a peculiar situation.
- EU License
- Been a named driver in the UK for 7 years (My wife took the policy for our family car in her name out of convenience). So, 0 No Claim Bonus for me. :(
- Modified car.

In short... insurance at £2.5k ;(
And yes, I did try hard to get a decent quote. My first quote was almost 5k.

Looking forward to drive her up to Edinburgh. :D