Nickbee

OK, a new battery with fatter terminals it is! edit - or maybe new clamps which are cheaper

I suppose the question as always is, what will they cost (and therefore how much preventative maintenance will I have to forego to afford them).

Hi all Today on my round trip to work today I noticed an odd issue. As I'm driving along the electrical power cuts out. The stereo goes off, the backlight for the digital display on the dash goes out and the speedo drops to zero. However, the ABS/TCS/Handbrake lights all come on and the engine seems to keep running OK. It's only momentary, so it's hard to test more. Now, I do have an issue where my battery's terminals aren't quite fat enough for the clamps to grip. This means that sometimes I need to wiggle a loose connector to get it to start. On one hand my limited knowledge of cars tells me that when running the power comes from the alternator, so this would be irrelevant, but on the other hand it feels like it would be related. Anyone have any insight? Thanks Nick

Hi all This is going to be vague, as I'm paraphrasing what a mechanic told me. Last week car my failed its MOT because the parking brake was "inoperative" on the offside. Took it back into the garage and they had a look and managed to get it working. However, there are two bolts, which needed to be undone and they have been unable to tighten one of them up again as the bolts are in a bad way and if they put any more pressure on one, it's very likely to break. I can't be any more detailed than that as I didn't really understand. It either needs to be removed and re-tapped, which they can get done, or to be replaced with a different caliper which I am at liberty to source. Money no object I'd just buy new ones, obviously, but it's not so I don't know what the best solution is. Is it safe to get it re-tapped? Is it worth buying used, should I get mine refurbished? Any opinions welcomed. Thanks!

Nothing dude, this is the spotted section 😎

Right now, anyone's here? (managed to crop the photo whilst blurring the plate 🤦🏻‍♂️)

Exchanged a wave whilst I was out in my yellow GT4 this morning. Are you on here?

Hello from Chelmsford 😄

This was not the car's first respray, and the previous colour was nice but a little paler. This is a richer colour which I think is closer to the original. Matching wasn't an issue as we did the whole thing, but I was assured that pearlescent yellow is about as hard to match as it gets.

Next up are some braided brake lines, which I don't have much of a choice about as mine have started leaking. I'm also hoping to fit a subtle lip and side extensions at some point and give the wheels a refurb to match the body.

Then a few months ago I got a mock MOT to find out what I needed to address before the big day and found lots - and lots - of rust. I was on the verge of scrapping it and found a local place who were up for having a go at restoring it. These things always escalate. First everything was stripped down: fuel tank, subframe, the works. All the underseal was removed and any rust cut out and replaced before the whole underside was epoxy sealed. A new-to-me tank was sourced along with replacements for anything rusted - W-brace, brackets, the usual. Rust on the arches was cut out and replaced before the whole car was resprayed in UY, taking the chance to fit some G35 spats and 370Z indicators (my first mods) whilst I was at it.

Hello I'm starting this thread 11 months after buying my Zed. It had a plethora of issues on delivery, a few of which I asked questions about on here. It looked good from a distance but up close it was a little scruffy, and I had to make a big investment on day 1 to replace knackered tyres and brakes, a wheel bearing and some other bits.

Hi all I'm shortly going to throw big handfuls of cash into my z-shaped moneypit and have the underside restored. Everything's coming off, fuel tank, subframe, the works. When it's reassembled it makes sense to take the opportunity to replace bushes along the way. The subframe bushes are obvious but there are so many options for various kits I don't know where to start. Would you just go for a full kit for the rear suspension? Also I've really no need for poly bushes but I'm strong to find OEM stuff... Advice gratefully received! Thanks.

Hi Does anyone have a pair of 370Z repeaters? Thanks Nick

Hi all Look, I have no side repeaters! The previous owner thought 370 repeaters were a straight swap so just had the wings resprayed as they were. I know a bodyshop just needs to bore a hole to get the 370 units fitted, but is doing it now going to mess up the fresh paint? If so it might be safer to drill a smaller hole for standard 350 ones. Asking a bodyshop is the obvious solution but without an indicator to actually show them I don't suppose they'll be able to say. Cheers Nick

Hi all! I thought I'd drop back in with an update, sorry it's been a while. I tried the WD40 thing to no avail so ended up taking it into a local performance car specialist to get it up on ramps. The squeak was just one of a number of noises but the one far easiest to capture on camera. When I booked it in I said "it sounds like something's disconnected" and I wasn't far wrong. One of the lower bolts in the suspension hadn't been tightened up properly and everything was moving about. Cut off and replaced, and all the weird noises; the squeaking, the banging, the grinding, have stopped. So, my biggest concern with the car was solved very cheaply and yesterday's drive home from the garage, through traffic and in the rain, was by far my happiest since I picked up the car. I'm feeling much more positive about it now.

Reading it again I think you're right.

It's on HSDs, but no idea how old they are. I have the standard setup too but I don't know if they're decent. Get rid of a squeak by oiling it? Sounds almost too easy 😂 Thanks, I'll give that a go before spending any money.

No, no. I've massively overpaid for it. But that's done, so now I have three choices; move it on for a loss; live with a car with more faults than I'd like; or get to work fixing them. Neither of the first two are acceptable so I'll just have to fix it.

Hi all Niggle no.1 on my Zed's long list of niggles to address is this squeaky noise: https://youtu.be/x4PXkoudheg I'm thinking of changing the droplinks first in the hope it's a cheap fix, but does anyone advise differently? Thanks

For anyone interested I just reported this to the DVSA who were very interested in what I had to say. Having had the car fixed, I can't present it as evidence but I do have a couple of photos which I am sending over too. 👍

I went for Eagle F1s. It was a toss up between those and PS4s

I picked up the car today having had the work done. The manager there has a history of Japanese cars (primarily S-bodies) so I asked him his thoughts on the Zed. Condition-wise it's not perfect but "one of the better ones we've seen", he's very comfortable that's it's mechanically sound and general opinion was that it drove very well (I'm not quite sure how many had a go 🤔). So aside from remaining gentle on the new brakes, I had the confidence to push slightly harder. There are still a few squeaks and groans over bumps that I hadn't expected but a lot of the noise has disappeared with the new wheel bearing. I'm pleased to report that she's absolutely lovely to drive - super responsive and turns in beautifully. It's never going to win a concours but I'm much happier tonight. In terms of the MOT Centre I'm going to call DVSA tomorrow to discuss. I'll let you know. This is turning into quite a long welcome thread isn't it?

Thanks @Azurez33 and @Mikey_S The underside is rusty but it's a Japanese sportscar and having come from MX5s, I'm hard to shock with rust but I don't know how bad it is by 350Z standards. The rear arches do have signs of rust - a few small bubbles and you can see an orange tint to the paintwork on the nearside. I've been under the car and got pictures when it was being inspected so I'll look at those videos and compare. I get very attached to cars and I'd bought this expecting to keep it long-term but I'm gong to have to think carefully about value versus expenditure. I'm in far too deep to back out anytime soon, so for now I think it's just a case of hoping I get a few years of fun with little additional outlay. Dammit, I didn't need a car - this was supposed to be fun.

If only, but it was a private sale so I'd be harassing an MOT centre 400 miles away about an check they performed for the previous owner. I really don't think I'll get far. I fully accept I took a bit of a risk, lessons learned and all that...