Dipper

So as this was beyond my bolt on bolt off remit. I sent her off for some welding in Comber outside of Belfast.

The lads at Perfected Paintworks Ni took on the Job. And were great. Sent me literally 97 photos of the job from start to finish. Cutting out the rusty stuff and welding in fresh clean metal. The guy doing the work was quoted as saying. "It was caught just in time" which gave me some comfort. As the area is all hidden under the side skirt and I'm not rich. We chose not to repaint the area red. But to seal it up with primer and a sealer coat too. Here's a few photos of just one side. Both sides were badly rusted.

Next update was a bit of bad news that needed sorted. I pulled off the side skirt to check for rust at the rear wheel arch where they are prone to corrosion. And at first I thought. Yeah that's not too bad. But once I got the wire wheel to it it quickly became clear it wasnt just surface rust. 😫.  Also there was like a 2 inch think pile of mud in the crap catcher that is the lip at the back of the sill in the rear arch.

On 09/02/2023 at 10:23, da.murf said:

welcome! ice to see another Northern Irish Zed on the forum. 

 

I'm in the middle of deciding what to do with my headlights currently too.

 

Ive a rev up so slightly different headlights, but equally faded and they also have a little plastic piece in the unit itself that yellows too lol 

Yeah it's a tough one. I prefer the rev up facelift headlights though. I think they look a little more modern.  Perfected Paintwork Ni did mine near Carryduff, a friend who is a car painter recommended him. And I was happy with the results. He did a good job, I have to say. Also another quirk on my 350z i have recently noticed is that although it's a 2004. A previous owner has fitted it with the Led facelift rear lights. I will take that as a win!

I actually had convinced myself of this also. Saying that the paint (especially red) tends to oxidize differently on plastic parts vs metal. And also Due to the heat dispersion when drying also. But then I removed the badge on the front bumper and could see that the old adhesive that held on the badge, had paint on top of it. So I'm convinced it's been repainted by someone. Unfortunately 

Now the eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that the rear bumper and front bumper have a slight mismatch on the paint colour. It does look like the front and rear bumpers have been repainted at some stage in its life. It's not recorded as being written off or in a crash however (I checked) but not sure the reason.  Will just be one of those mysteries I suppose. Unless someone on here recognises the car from a past life. Who knows. Anyway a simple little mod was updating the chrome badges to black (to match the wheels of course) and adding some led rear number plate bulbs.

Anyway hopefully a friendly admin will fix this thread to the correct location. 

So one of the things I think makes a car look like new again, is the headlights so I sent the car off to get the headlights polished. And I think the results speak for themselves..

And I've just realised I've put this in the wrong thread group. Should be 350z 

A little history, The car itself is a non gt spec. But has clearly had someone love it by its previous owners. By the looks of the old receipts and docs. It looks like it originally came new from the isle of Wight from a lady owner.  its had a few little touches added here and there. The w brace underneath has been replaced by the most recent owner. And I can see the remnants of an amp remains behind the passenger seat. There must have been a big sub woofer wired in at some stage, which has now gone.  This I believe was the source of a battery drain that kept causing starting issues and the odd immobiliser problem. I removed an extra looking wire from near the battery terminal, and that's improved things greatly. Its got the forged Ray's which have been powder coated black by someone along its life . I'm not one for black wheels usually. But they work well on the red actually. It's also got a GRAMS rear spoiler that's been added too. Which I quite like also.

So bought my Red 350z last july. Always been a dream car of mine since I was a 17yr old kid washing cars at a dealership. So now the car and myself have depreciated enough to afford one. I'm going to start a build thread on bits and pieces I will be doing to it.

Based out of Northern Ireland. Originally from the republic. But tax laws have nearly made 350z extinct in the republic. (1800euro a year they want down home .crazy🙈)

Anyway here goes...

Just a little hello and intro by myself.

Finally get myself a Red Zed. Always wanted one. In 2004 when I was a 17 yr old kid and working in a dealership washing cars on Saturdays. I drove one and still remember the feel and noise of it. So now 18 years later I finally have one. 

I plan on making some upgrades to it. I'm based in northern Ireland so hello especially to all the other Ni owners.