Kawasakiriders Zed

Discussion in 'Member's Garage' started by kawasakirider, Oct 24, 2012.

  1. kawasakirider

    kawasakirider New Member

    Hey everyone, my names Trent. I thought I'd put this thread up to document what I've done to the car so far and to document any future progress.

    So, I've always wanted a turbo Nissan. Mainly a skyline. Up until I had my zed I'd had an EA fairmont that I put a 2003 XR6 engine in with the help of my friends, an XF ute, a 5 speed VT and AU falcon and my last car...

    My last car was an XH ute with a lot of work. It was NA and pushing out 200rwhp with a 5 speed box and a locked diff. It wasn't a lot of power but it would fry tyres rolling it on through first and second and drifted like a smaller car that was set up for it. This was it:

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    I'd ALWAYS wanted a turbo nissan, like I mentioned before, but I didn't want one that was non turbo. I didn't see the point in a non turbo import if they didn't have the performance to match their looks. Enter the Zed...

    I'd been looking on Boost Cruising for a Turbo Nissan and came across this:

    http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319912

    The owner said he wanted a ute, so I sent him an offer for a trade. He was interested, so we checked out each others cars. He said yes on the day and then backed out, but luckily I had a buyer for my ute not long after.

    The zed I bought was in awesome condition apart from some paint missing on the rear hatch where it had been brazillianed and a few other tiny spots of paint. The interior is fantastic and these were the mods:

    Trust side mount intercoolers
    42mm radiator
    Adjustable fuel pressure reg
    040 fuel pump
    Haltech EllV2 ecu
    New engine mounts
    2 1/2" twin exhaust out of dumps into single 3" exhaust from cat back to a 5" cannon
    UAS braided clutch line
    Air con has been removed, along with a lot of other non used items that have been suggested for removal to decrease the weight of the car

    Full tein suspension, height adjustable coilovers, all bushes, tension rods
    HICAS elimination bar
    Rear subframe bushes
    Adjustable camber bolts
    Single piece tailshaft from driveline services
    4 brand new 235/35/19 tyres, space saver in the boot and also a spare 245/35/19 rubber only

    Alpine 7" touch screen dvd/cd player
    Alpine 6 1/2 tyre r front speakers
    Infinity 4x6 rear speakers
    Sony 500w 4 channel amp
    HKS turbo timer
    Garrett boost gauge and speco water temp gauge, spare slot for a 3rd gauge of choice
    Optima red top dry cell battery relocated to the boot in a battery box


    The car had everything the seller had mentioned, it had been his baby. I snapped it up and didn't look back. The transition wasn't smooth, as I was worried about getting the money for my ute on time and scared to death that the Zed would sell, but it didn't and I took it home. I was extremely happy to have my first ever turbo car, I was in awe at how well it handled compared to the family commuters that I'd been driving for the last few years.

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    Not long after I got it, it started sounding like a bag of nails. MagicMike noticed that the sump had a sizeable dent in it and it looked like it had died due to oil starvation. I was devestated, but it wasn't long until Mike informed me that his mate Cam was selling an engine and I snatched that up, too.

    The dent:
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    It was worse than that in real life.

    I bought a compression tester to compression test Cams engine and I was pleased that the results came back positive. The lowest reading I saw was 135, but all other cylinders were floating between 145 and 150.

    I bought the engine, Cam's FMIC to fix up the dirty gap in the front end of the car and a 100k service kit. The plan was to get Eric at A2Zed to do the engine swap, fit the 100k service kit and my old turbos as cams were blown and then I'd fit the FMIC and get it tuned.

    Cams engine coming out:

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    The engine was pulled out and Cam dropped it at A2Zed for me along with the 100k service kit and the FMIC. Not long after that Eric got to work and did the swap for me, which was awesome!

    Which brings us to the present and here is what I've done since having the car back, which is fit the front mount and lower it.

    Taking everything off:

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    Dummy fit to see what needed to be attacked:

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    Let the modding begin:
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    Done:

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    Cut the grey part out of the front bar for looks and airflow:
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    Get low:
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    Gave her a wash and here she is:

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    It will be going in for a tune soon and I'm hoping for 230 KW and anything else will be a fantastic bonus. The tune at the moment is really crappy, only 170rwkw, a very rich and laggy 170rwkw at that.

    Future plans:

    Nice rims, Jap style rims with Fitment, but not too extreme. I want the car to be able to be pushed hard on the track without suffering. I want to find the happy medium between looks and performance.

    Steering mods for more lock. I want to drift this car. It won't be drifted competitively and close to other cars where it will become ruined, just at track days and things like that.

    More power, injectors, turbos, etc. all in good time.

    A veil side EC1 wing, a nice front bar and rear bar and subtle skirts. I want it to look subtle but mean.

    Probably a respray.

    These are very distant mods as the tank is empty at the moment, but I've spent a fair bit on it at this point and I am planning on keeping it for a long time.

    Once the car is tuned I want to go on a lot of cruises, so the QLD zedders will have to pull their finger out and come with me. Who's keen for mount cotton within the next month?

    Oh, and NSW, I'm coming for you. A Sydney road trip in December is happening.
     
  2. loud'n'proud

    loud'n'proud Challenge Accepted

    too much zed....

    where's this kwak :p
     
  3. MagicMike

    MagicMike Moderator Staff Member

    Glad to meet a nice young guy committed to the cause, not selling at the drop of the hat as soon as shit doesn't work out ;)
     
  4. ProckyZ89

    ProckyZ89 Senior Member

    I don't know if ill be ready in December to meet you but hope I am, looks like you have some good ambitions :)
     
  5. kawasakirider

    kawasakirider New Member

    Thanks Mike, sorry I haven't been able to make it out to your place the last few times you've had a zed thing going on. I don't want to sell her, ever. Lol!

    Loud N Proud, I broke my computer a while back and haven't had the $$ to fix it, so every post I make is on a phone. I've got no pics of it, but I have ridden dirt bikes since I was a kid. I used to do a fair few track/club days, as well as trail riding and the odd bit of FMX. I haven't had a chance to ride since moving to Brisbane, so I want to get a motard in the future.
     
  6. Carlos95

    Carlos95 New Member

    Love it trenty.
     
  7. kawasakirider

    kawasakirider New Member

    So a good mate of mine is an aspiring photographer and at the moment he's doing free work to gain some notoriety. If you'd like a photoshoot, I'll be including his details at the bottom of this post, or you can PM me. He'll be out on the upcoming cruises and can usually be found at car meets such as downshift. I washed and polished the car and he snapped some awesome shots, I think it looks great since it's had a cut/polish :)

    I'll let the pics do the talking.

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    More pics and the photographers details can be found here:

    http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...534814571091&type=1#!/MJBPhotographyAndDesign
     
  8. Ben2311

    Ben2311 New Member

    It's too bad you didn't have a fishtank spare to offer with your ute.

    Boost Cruising trading 101 ;)

    In all seriousness though, good luck with the rebuild.

    Watch this space...
     
  9. gmbrezzo

    gmbrezzo Moderator

    Really good shots. Could be a contender for this years calender.
    Looking good.
     
  10. kawasakirider

    kawasakirider New Member

    Thanks guys. My mate would be stoked to have a pic in a calendar and I'd be stoked for my car to be in one, too.

    I really like the first pic and the third pic. Third pic especially, I think the car looks mean.
     
  11. kawasakirider

    kawasakirider New Member

    Ok, so a little bit has happened with the car since I last posted in this thread.

    It turned out that the cam timing was out 1 tooth and the new engine was making 130rwkw on the same boost as the old stuffed engine was making 170, so the timing belt was put on properly at the magics tech day and I got a nice 212.6 rwkw :)

    [​IMG]

    The car feels great to drive. Very keen for more power, though.

    It has been somewhat trouble free since then, but recently the alternator died, so I replaced that (the top bolt is an asshole).

    Then the passenger side turbo water line started pissing out water, so I did the bypass. I don't think I got any pics, but it was a lot easier after I bought some specialty pliers from supercheap!

    So with the alternator and the turbo line sorted it was time for a very nervous drive to Sydney all the way from Brisbane. The night before I left for Sydney I took it for a drive up to the sunshine coast just to be sure.

    On the trip to Sydney the car performed flawlessly (I just wish I had cruise control, have to sort that out).

    I managed to get 667 k's out of a tank (just over 10L/100km) and the car was still running, it wasn't bone dry. That was without cruise control and maintaining a speed of 110 kmh wherever possible.

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    Then just last night my brake lights were staying on permanently, so I investigated and found this:

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    I have wanted to do something about my weather strips for a while and I intended on painting them while I was in Sydney, but my old man had some CF vinyl laying around and I pinched some to see if I could tidy the car up with it, lol.

    Before:
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    Results:
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    I'm happy with it considering it only took me a few minutes for each strip!

    That's basically it for now. Hopefully I can do a lot more to it this year :)

    Plans are still similar.

    Power
    Respray
    Wheels
    General maintenance and tidy up
     
  12. BLACK BEAST

    BLACK BEAST SLICKTOP TT R-SPEC

    the C/F strips look good .

    .
     
  13. Mike

    Mike New Member

    Haha yes I came from the falcon/ torana/ commodore ranks into a z. Quite a difference. 281hp is a good amount to make on the rears. Weird how all z's seem to have the same problems at the same time. Brake light plastic destruction was a problem I had as well.

    Might see you at the next qld cruise.
     
  14. aurnob

    aurnob aurnob

    My mate had the brake light plastic break as well recently.

    Good idea on the CF strips.

    Scary how you bought the car and had to immediately change the motor. How did you dent the sump?
     
  15. kawasakirider

    kawasakirider New Member

    Thanks mate! Loving how much power you're getting out of stock housings. Who high flowed them?

    Yeah, the 285hp is OK, I definitely want more. To me the zed feels like it can handle a lot of power because it's very planted. Still loving the car though!

    I'll definitely be at the next qld cruise and the coming down shift meets :)

    Thanks mate, I fixed the cruise control today, it was the same as the brake light grommets, just on the clutch pedal. Strange how all 3 decided to go at once!

    I didn't dent the sump, it was like that when I bought it (unbeknownst to me). I assume the previous owner jacked it up from the sump or it was sat on the sump before it was put in the car. It was bought in 2011 and came with warranty, so I'd say it was mishandled.

    I've been driving around today and it's nice to have cruise back again! I'll be fitting Jamie's UAS front bar soon and I'm sure it will transform the look of the zed quite a bit :)

    I plan to get a stock wing, too. If I can't find one in red I might do it in matte black until I've got the cash to spray the car. Wonder how bad it would look?
     
  16. QLDZDR

    QLDZDR ID=David

    Why would you do a matt black wing?
    But If you do a matt black wing, someone might have to suggest that CF film look that you are so good at :)
     
  17. kawasakirider

    kawasakirider New Member

    Lol, idk if you're being a smartass or not about the CF stuff.

    I'd do the wing Matt black because I don't have the cash to get it colour Matched right now.
     
  18. QLDZDR

    QLDZDR ID=David

    Your CF looks good.

    Colour match? Is your car a standard Nissan Z colour?
    Paint the wing the same colour, that will be close enough.
     
  19. Jamie

    Jamie Jamie The Hobbit

    I haven't heard back from you? As far as I knew it was still for sale.
     
  20. kawasakirider

    kawasakirider New Member

    So I haven't sent you PM's saying I'll be getting up there as soon as I can and I haven't offered to give you a deposit?
     

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