CPhillips93 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Hi everyone! My name is Conor, I'm 21 and currently living in Cornwall working as a legal secretary after graduating from uni this summer. I like to think of myself as fairly capable DIY 'mechanic' and so hopefully most of the plans I have for the car will be put in place by myself The reason I have put build thread in inverted commas is that I would refer to this thread as more of a culmination of pictures of the cars progress opposed to an actual car build! Anyways, here is a link to my original intro - http://www.350z-uk.c...l/#entry1375604 Update *PIC HEAVY* When I bought the car it had a few niggly things wrong with it; little stuff like scratched interior door handles and the drivers door vent was broken. So I immediately got on ebay and 350-uk in order to find an 'intact' door vent. Unfortunately there was only 1 available on ebay which meant that it would set me back £25 for my troubles... however I had more luck on here finding one for £15, ideal! And so got to fitting it! The 'culprit' To remove it I needed to remove the interior door handle (you can tell from the photo the extent of the damage to the door handle ) Under the handle it revealed two 10mm bolts Next to be removed was the plastic 'blank' under the door handle To reveal another 10mm bolt And then from there it was just a matter of prising off the door card! And once this was removed it was just a matter of removing wires for switches and the wires for the lock/exterior door handle leaving this mess! All that was left to do from here was to simply unscrew the vent from the back The new and the old and all in the reverse order to leave it like so Much better Plans In the short term I don't want to go absolutely mad with the ol' girl, I just want to enjoy her for the moment! But in the long term I have a few ideas Aero wipers (which have now been done, not really an exciting picture!) - Done Stubby aerial - Done 'Aux hack' - Done LEDs all round - Done Spray the interior handles - bit of a toss up with satin black and a metallic black any opinions? Parking sensors Clear front reflectors Get a weighted gear knob, replace the gear gaiter and get a handbrake gaiter 350z branded boot mat Get some braided lines, drain the fluid and up date the brakes all the way round Bonnet dampers Refurb the wheels - Done And potentially replace the exhaust when it falls off I intend to update this thread as and when the above plans happen, hopefully they will come thick and fast I will just leave you with a pretty decent beadage shot Comments and suggestions welcome Conor. Edited June 29, 2015 by CPhillips93 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veeg33 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Looking good Conor looks like Zeditus has been slowly infecting you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Some nice pictures and good luck with your plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martybhoy Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 great pictures, hope all your mods/fixes are as well documented Excellent stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pritchard Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Copy, Paste, upload to the 'How To Section' as im sure theres probably a gap in the knowledgebase for the vents, plus its useful for the doorhandle etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPhillips93 Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Looking good Conor looks like Zeditus has been slowly infecting you Haha I tried my hardest to resist, honestly Some nice pictures and good luck with your plans. Thanks great pictures, hope all your mods/fixes are as well documented Excellent stuff! Thanks, I will make sure I keep everything up to date Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyoldjanner Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Always good to see another Zed owner in the South West Based just the right side of the Tamar myself . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPhillips93 Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Always good to see another Zed owner in the South West Based just the right side of the Tamar myself . I haven't seen many about, whereabouts are you based ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350zedd Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Nice to see another "Night Blue" being pampered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatooandy67 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Top job, look forward to further updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopedmark Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyoldjanner Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Always good to see another Zed owner in the South West Based just the right side of the Tamar myself . I haven't seen many about, whereabouts are you based ? Plymouth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPhillips93 Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) Update - Aux 'Hack So today I set about finally getting an aux input into the zed. I followed the 'how to' guide on here ( http://www.350z-uk.c...pod-hack-guide/) but decided to put my own spin on it and bought a 3.5mm socket instead. The hardest decision was where to mount it in the car... at first I thought it would best to put it on the blank next to the heated seat buttons, but then I realised that as the aux would be pointing upwards it could be potentially broken. So next option was to mount it in the small glovebox by the seats, but again the 'false floor' that holds the bluetooth box would prove too difficult to mount to. In the end I decided it would be best to place it in the cup holders in the centre cubby . So following the guide I cracked on with removing the gear knob, which was too hard for my girly hands :- and hey presto the knob was off and so was the bottom of the centre console:- All four screws removed (although one was missing ):- Next on the GT models was to remove the plastic in between the satnav screen and the satnav controls revealing the screws holding down the controls:- Below these are two more screws (which I forgot to take a photo of ) and after a 'gentle' tug the whole console comes out to show 4 screws either side of the head unit which can be removed (also forgot to take a photo of this step, useless aren't I!). And out comes the unit, it looks bare! And just for good measure so did the centre 'island':- The next few steps were fairly ordinary and didn't really warrant any photos as it was fairly simple to get the tape deck out revealing the terminals on the circuit board. Onto the easy part... the soldering :- Obviously the photos skipped a few steps here as by the second photo I had already drilled out the whole in the centre 'island' ready for the 3.5mm jack socket. I also made sure I used a decent amount of insulation tape and heat shrink in order to keep the wires separate. I did however make the rookie error of not feeding the wires in behind the bar below the head unit so they just thread through between the bar and the head unit. If I have the unit out again I will use some crimps so I can thread it through and to make it easier to remove the head unit without removing the whole centre section. And the finished article:- I wasn't so sure at first on the positioning but it seems to be the best place to have put it but I will soon find out through using it. However before putting it all back together I went to test it and disappointingly the radio showed an 'Radio Code' message which at first I naively thought was no problem at all... I could not have been more wrong. It turns out that after searching through all of the documentation that I received I had no code for the radio whatsoever. So unfortunately both my radio is locked and I have no idea whether the hack is functioning or not. Also through leaving my door open (and consequently the interior light on) I have fried the battery and have also ruined the gear knob by trying to remove it So all in all a quite frustrating day But one slight positive, I managed to change over the heated seats switch so that they were on the 'right sides' Much better Comments and suggestions welcome Conor Edited February 9, 2015 by CPhillips93 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Nice work, I can this this thread expanding well. Good luck with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumpy000 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Interesting amount of info tbf. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve916 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Looking good I wasn't aware the radios are coded. A fully charged battery might help though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Looking good I wasn't aware the radios are coded. A fully charged battery might help though. I agree, make sure your battery is fully recharged. The radios aren't coded but they are paired to that vehicle's ECU I believe. Sent from my Zed using Nangkang tyres front, RE040's rear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPhillips93 Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Nice work, I can this this thread expanding well. Good luck with it Thanks mate, I don't want to go too overboard with it, more a oem+ look 👠Interesting amount of info tbf. Good luck! Thanks Looking good I wasn't aware the radios are coded. A fully charged battery might help though. Looking good I wasn't aware the radios are coded. A fully charged battery might help though. I agree, make sure your battery is fully recharged. The radios aren't coded but they are paired to that vehicle's ECU I believe. Sent from my Zed using Nangkang tyres front, RE040's rear I have taken the car for a good spin now and the battery is sitting at about 13 volts on ignition now but the radio is still reading 'code in' so looks like a call to Nissan is in order tomorrow 👎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwanprice12 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Great thread, similar 'mods' to what I will be doing once cash flow allows! Keep the thread updated! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlack Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Looking good , cool ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPhillips93 Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 (edited) Great thread, similar 'mods' to what I will be doing once cash flow allows! Keep the thread updated! :-D Thanks mate I will try, although like you, my mods are very much dependent on cash flow as I am attempting to save for a deposit for a house at the same time (bad idea I know!) Looking good , cool ideas Thanks I also called Nissan today (West End Motors in Bodmin for those curious) and it turns out that as long as you have the serial number and the model number of the stereo they can give you the code for free (yes you read that correctly ) so happy days! Also I will just leave this here... Edited February 9, 2015 by CPhillips93 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPhillips93 Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) Update (Albeit a small one!) Over the course of the last week I have scoured eBay long and hard to find LEDs to replace all the orange-tinged bulbs. I also was after a very very bright LED to replace the bulb the feeble excuse of a reversing light... Pictures speak louder than words Interior light:- Boot light:- Number plate lights :- Reversing light:- All in all, not the most exciting mod you will read on the forum, but in my opinion the LEDs make the car feel that little bit more 'quality'. The interior light now casts shadows on the cabin . Regardless the reversing LED is a big improvement, in the dark it lights up whatever is behind you, no doubt blinding anything with eyes in sight! For the sake of £10 for a LED it is well worth it. I have also got to get round to fitting LED sidelights as well as 'silver' indicator bulbs on the front and back but will get round to that soon. Conor. Edited May 2, 2016 by CPhillips93 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 led's are always a nice touch, gives a more modern feel, the most impressive are the number plate lights as the oem ones are yellow candles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPhillips93 Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 UPDATE As a keen 'detailer', one of the jobs that was at the top of the list was to give the car a machine polish to get rid of all the swirls and marring that the Zed had picked up prior to my ownership! I had previously attempted machine polishing before with a rotary on my old Clio 182 which I borrowed off of my mate, but decided to buy my own opting for the DAS6 Pro; a much safer option as opposed to the rotary alternative, especially with Nissan paint being so soft! Unfortunately, I picked the WORST day to clean the Zed, it did not stop raining all day! This forced me to skip my usual snow foaming step but it gave me the opportunity to try out a new product:- Essentially, CarPro's Trix is a combination of it's Iron X with a tar remover. Despite being stamped with 'new improved scent' it is the most fouling smelling product I have ever used... a horrid combo of perm and rotten eggs (hence my gloves)! Regardless, it is a very effective product, it removed the majority of what tar there was on the car, and from the distinctive run off that IronX produces it was clear that it also removed iron fallout. So as per the instructions I rinsed the car, sprayed (whilst shaking the bottle!) it all over the car and leaving to dwell for 5-7 minutes. I then agitated hard to reach spots. Due to the Zed's dark colour it was very difficult to tell whether or not the Trix was reacting but it was clear from the run off on the ground/wheels that it was working it's magic And rinsed before washing:- I didn't take many other photos from here as I was getting absolutely soaked and just wanted to get the Zed in the garage! Got the car into the garage and used another new purchase; Bilt Hamber clay which was very dirty after a pass on the bonnet Once I had finished claying I attempted to try and capture some of the worst bits of the paintwork I need a lot of practice in trying to capture the swirls and marring but I think to some extent the pictures do show how bad the paint was . And the weapon of choice:- I used Chemical Guys HexLogic Green pad combined with Meguiars #83 to start then finished off with Black HexLogic pad and Mezerna SF4000. Here is some afters:- And to top it off, used Dodo Juice Blue Velvet:- Overall I am glad I tried it out and although I don't think I have achieved 100% correction I still seem to have taken off the 'dullness' of the paint which hopefully I can keep on top of now and perhaps, if I feel brave, go at it with a bit more aggressive pad/polish combo I have also now put my wheels up for sale on eBay so that I can buy some shadow chromed Rays so watch this space Comments and suggestions welcome! Conor 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjf1985 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Looks great matey! Well done, looks loads better now. I need to get myself a machine polisher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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