Emperor Ming

I went to a house once following a report of a domestic and found a lad chained to his bed. Proper ankle chain stuff????? His father admitted he had done it as his son was a drug addict and he was trying to help him de tox. Checked the lad out and found out his dad was right so left quietly with 'Good luck mate' to the dad. I guess I should have arrested and put the old man before the courts!! The trouble is now that EVERYTHING is 'performance related' or 'performance driven'. We have the ludicrous situation where a 19 year old civilian on 30 bob an hour dictates the actions of police officers with nearly 30 years service. If their computer says its a crime then its a crime. If that is the case then Mr A or Mrs B MUST be arrested and questioned about it even though we all KNOW its going nowhere. This explains why school kids are getting arrested for fighting in the school yard and people are gettting reported for 'shouting at their wife/husband'. This country needs Corporal Punishment AND National Service. The former sorts out the youngsters and the later their older sibling! Ming the Simple

I am not saying we should go as far as this ... But .. In some far eastern countries the family brings the criminal their food. If its not brought in then they don't eat!! and If the criminal is executed then the family gets the bill for the bullet?? Prison should be a place where offenders DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK!!!!! We would not have the overcrowding we have now if they did not want to go back!! I could rant and rave forever but it boils my blood pressure so high I feel I could burst!! Ming the Maddened

Below is the text from a news report regarding the early release of 'non violent and non sexual prisoners'. Prisoners released early are to receive a cash payout of up to £172 to compensate them for loss of bed and board, the Government has said. article continues below... Some 25,500 prisoners are expected to be released up to 18 days early to solve the prisons overcrowding crisis, and will receive cash payments totalling £4.5m. The payments - equivalent to £10 each day - are intended to cover living costs during the time the ex-convicts would have been in prison because legally, as prisoners, they cannot receive benefits. Lets put this into perspective. If you are unlucky enough to get caught - lets say stealing a car - and the police are 'lucky' enough to find some evidence and then they are vociferous enough to convince CPS that court is appropriate and CPS then pursue the matter to court and everyone turns up on the day and the Jury agree that you are guilty and you are unlucky enough - read have committed about fifty previous offences - to get sentenced to a period in jail - lets say 2 years for arguments sake - you would think you got what you deserve. Well here is the reality. 2 years actually means about 6 months behind bars with 6 months on tag. (Up to 4 years you serve half and half of that half can be on tag) The end of that 6 months could include rehabilitation home visits etc. Now the great and good have decided that we can get up to 18 more days off so the 6 months is only 5 1/2 months AND They are going to pay you for the privilege of letting you out early! Now pardon me if I am wrong and please feel free to argue the point BUT You have been sent to jail as YOU did wrong and as both a punishment for you and a respite for the public from your nefarious ways. Why am I mad? over 2 years ago I had my ear bitten at work (8 stiches) and I was assaulted so violently that my lower back and neck has never been right since. I am still fighting for compensation as the CICA say there is no 'visible scarring' (I have been turned down once and am in the appeals process now!!) yet the man that caused me these injuries could have been paid to leave jail early?? I can promise one thing. If I was in charge of punishment in this country I would cure our problems in 6 months or be assassinated in the process. Sorry guys Rant over I just had to get it off my chest! Ming the incensed

Mings in One NOT polished please. Ta Ming the HOME blinger

I had already purchased standard plugs when I serviced the car. I did not know what was in and so took out those in and replaced them with the new ones. It was only afterwards that I realised what had come out!! The point of this thread though was the ease of replacement. Ming the Spanner friendly

100% agree. I would not take my car to Nissan if it was the last garage on earth. Their reputation is VERY poor. I have a local garage that does all the 'major' stuff on my car. they are helpful, thorough and friendly to boot. They know their stuff and have a GREAT reputation. They are VAT registered and will stamp any book for work done. As it is, my car is an import that came with no service history so the issue is not important to me. When I buy a car I go on what I can see and hear and smell. This has always been a great guide to me. My one failing was with a Jaguar XK8 that had full Jaguar service history and had been serviced about 3000 miles before I bought it. The cam chain snapped about 200 miles later. Jaguars help??? **** all mate I can tell you. I service everything myself - basic stuff - and keep all the receipts for all items purchased. If you keep your car 3 or 4 years. What you pay on servicing will be more than the difference in price between my car and yours!! The words FSH do not by the way mean what they seem to mean. All they mean is the book has stamps in it. I have a friend who for a few bob will take your honda service book and put as many stamps in it as you want. change the dates and put the right sort of mileage in. A quick oil change and your car LOOKS to be top notch. GO ON WHAT YOU SEE and TAKE SOMEONE WHO KNOWS with you. Ming the cautious All things being equal i'd agree with you. But you have an import that could of been drifting around tokyo before you had it. Whether it was or not neither you or i know. Thats the risk you take with an import. The fact that an import has no warranty means that people like your self will service themselves or get a local dealer to do it. This again is adding to the next purchasers concerns as to the history of the car which is a factor why an import will depreciate faster and be harder to sell on resale. No one is saying Nissan are great or even average for that matter, but for me i would like to know for certain that the car has been serviced to the manufacturers specifications. I agree that an independant may do a better job but beyond you and your mechanic, no one else can verify the standard of work carried out. My thinking comes purely from owning two zeds that were within warranty and wanting to keep it that way. Sarnie I understand your point of view entirely. If I was in a position to buy a NEW car or one with a warranty attached then I would use a registered garage rather than do the work myself. That way the warranty remains valid. I have seen enough horror stories from 'dealer servicing' to put me off for a long time to come. Good independent garages stay in business because they are good. Dealers stay in business because they sell cars and with them servicing. I am not bad mouthing all dealerships as I have had new cars before and had good service from the dealership. I have also bought second hand and had warranty work done with no quibble but generally I would go to a recommended independent every time. At least if I do the general run of the mill stuff I KNOW it has been done properly. I also agree that it will effect the residual value of my car but I bought cheaper import anyway so overall there will not be a lot in it! Ming the Content

I cannot remember exactly what mine cost me as they do me mates rates for my parts but it would be about £50 plus a bit of postage on an exchange basis. The powder coaters are very good - they did Val's hyper black wheels and his strut brace and plenum as well as my strut brace and plenum and intake pipes etc - and they have a very good selection of colours too! Turn round is usually about a week. Ming the blinger PS Just been out bid so I will keep you posted!!

Wait and see mate. Wait and see. The effect in the dark is quite effective and certainly makes the engine stand out. You cannot see anything when turned off though!! Ming the Inventive

100% agree. I would not take my car to Nissan if it was the last garage on earth. Their reputation is VERY poor. I have a local garage that does all the 'major' stuff on my car. they are helpful, thorough and friendly to boot. They know their stuff and have a GREAT reputation. They are VAT registered and will stamp any book for work done. As it is, my car is an import that came with no service history so the issue is not important to me. When I buy a car I go on what I can see and hear and smell. This has always been a great guide to me. My one failing was with a Jaguar XK8 that had full Jaguar service history and had been serviced about 3000 miles before I bought it. The cam chain snapped about 200 miles later. Jaguars help??? **** all mate I can tell you. I service everything myself - basic stuff - and keep all the receipts for all items purchased. If you keep your car 3 or 4 years. What you pay on servicing will be more than the difference in price between my car and yours!! The words FSH do not by the way mean what they seem to mean. All they mean is the book has stamps in it. I have a friend who for a few bob will take your honda service book and put as many stamps in it as you want. change the dates and put the right sort of mileage in. A quick oil change and your car LOOKS to be top notch. GO ON WHAT YOU SEE and TAKE SOMEONE WHO KNOWS with you. Ming the cautious

WHY???? IMHO it does not look a patch on the Zed and lets be honest 95% of the time we are all sat in traffic somewhere anyway so looks have to come high on the list otherwise we would all drive EVO's. For that sort of money you could have a Turbo Zed with any selection of custom leather trim and still get plenty of spare cash and let someone else carry the depreciation!! Your car would then be:- a. More powerful b. Better looking c. Unique!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don;t get me wrong I like BMW's. I have had a 535iSE and loved it and I would take back all of the above for an M6 in the twinkling of an eye (I know I know that makes me a hypocrit) I jst think the shape is all wrong!! Ming the Zed happy I understand your thinking Ming and I've toyed with the idea of FI but I do up to 15k miles a year and from everything I've read a turbo'd Zed isn't a daily driver. Personally, I like the shape - not as pretty as the Zed but muscular and compact with wonderful 60s sports car proportions. The old M3 engine is a gem too. I guess I get bored easily (this is the first car I've kept for 2 years plus this century) and I think it might be time to move on. Then again I may hate it! Cayman? Nah, can't get on with the looks. I understand the moving on thing. I usually spend a small fortune getting the car exactly as I want it and then SELL IT!! Not there yet so more than happy with the Zed but there will come a time!! Ming the considered

Just a taster of what is to come Ming the Blinger

Fujitsubo mate. Apparently its a big after market firm in Japan. They do all sorts of stuff but mine came with the car It sounds lovely and mellow and deep without being too loud .... then you give it some and it comes to life! Ming the Loud

Hi Guys I will keep you posted on how the bidding goes. Ming the Hopeful

Or this maybe. I am going to bid on this and if successful I will be in a position to do an exchange service for anyone who is interested. I bling it up, send it to you. You swop it over (about half an hours job) and post me your old one back. Hey presto engine bling!! Ming the Considered

WHY???? IMHO it does not look a patch on the Zed and lets be honest 95% of the time we are all sat in traffic somewhere anyway so looks have to come high on the list otherwise we would all drive EVO's. For that sort of money you could have a Turbo Zed with any selection of custom leather trim and still get plenty of spare cash and let someone else carry the depreciation!! Your car would then be:- a. More powerful b. Better looking c. Unique!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don;t get me wrong I like BMW's. I have had a 535iSE and loved it and I would take back all of the above for an M6 in the twinkling of an eye (I know I know that makes me a hypocrit) I jst think the shape is all wrong!! Ming the Zed happy

50 doesn't bother me at all. I was more worried about 35 and I have done ten times more things since I was 40 than before and intend to keep doing them. Its only a number after all!! Ming the Youthful

Theres a little hint on the bling challenge thread!! Its a poor quality photo because it is difficult to take but I am pleased with the progress!! Ming the BRIGHT

I just liked the reflection on the side of the Zed. Ming the Photo Mad

My car is also my daily drive and although I have a grage there is no space for a car so she also sits out in all weathers. Wax is brill when there are a few coats on as it makes cleaning SOOOOO easy Before the damage to the front end I had had the car 7 0r 8 months and I onlypolished her ONCE!! Whaen I got her. I then waxed and Waxed and it only gets easier!! Ming the Obsessed

You must be talking about the jag there as the 20 something girlfriend rocks Too high maintainence mate. Alright in little doses but not for the long haul. Its a long and interesting story though Ming the Wise PS NOTHING beats Mrs Ming. She's cool.

Definately in for repairs. But back out now. I was busy fitting wiring the latest bit of bling when the damage was caused - not by me I migth add - when the bonnet blew up. PART of what I fitted can be seen in the pic below and the rest will SHOW later when I have finished the modification Just a little taster The rest requires a drill and a steady hand. I am still looking at a custom front cover as the Mk 11 model was not exactly what I wanted. I also had a custom boot liner made that to be perfectly honest was PANTS!! Although it did not cost me money I have to valet a 15 year old 4x4 that has never seen a wash for something I don't even like Ming the Tentative

Sheeiitttt 40 was so long ago I have forgotten it!!! Hope you had a good one. I am already thinking about 50!! next year!! Its only a number. By the way. I did the 20 something girlfriend and fast car (Jaguar at the time) for my 40th and it is over rated I can tell you LOL!! Ming the sage

Hey GC A 350z and a Celica. Just like me and Mrs Ming. At least when they are properly clean all the crap just washes off with not much more than a rinse. None of that scrubbing and rubbing. Get it wet. Leave it 5 minutes and gently wash it all off. Dry and Wax. They only get better from there. Ming the Happy

U2 Thanks mate I shall remember this next time its needed Ming the Impressed

Did mine myself as soon as I got the car. Wrote a thread for the technical section with pics if I remember right. Took a couple of hours as I had not worked on the Zed before but it was easy. I am not sure but I think the plugs were £10 or £12 each. Ming the Spannerman