Just to be clear - JEDI - THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!

The Boss and I (Trouble and Dangerous) were quite happy with our TT 5 speed manual 2 seater MiNE'S Motorsport Zed for a while


- then we had kids. 2 + 2 doesn't fit into a 2 + 0. No problem. We'll have a family car, and I can have the Zed for weekend fun Worked OK for a while, then JEDI goes out and buys a 2+2TT blue Zed because he's about to become a Dad! Dammit! You went and put ideas in our head! The Boss was keen on a local 2+2 TT auto, but the problem was - it was an auto, and it wasn't blue. Sorry, I like Blue Zeds with blue interiors . Oops. There's a blue TT 2+2 for sale in Brisbane - only 2,000 km away

The boss said - "It's simple - fly up, and drive back!" How can you argue with that logic? Problem is, I needed a co-pilot for the return trip. I rang up Audiobuzz (Jarrad), another long time SA Zeddder. "Hi Jarrad, how would you like to do something stoopid?" 'Yeah sure, what is it?' Co-pilot problem solved :zlove:

We flew out of Adelaide on Thursday night, lobbed up into Brissy around midnight, and were met by the Brissy owner around 9 AM Friday. We were geeked to the max. Two ConZults, two laptops, an iPad, and iPhone, two Tom Toms, Zed spares, and plenty of iPod music. We met up with the owner, did a quick ConZult check, had a quick look over the car, and headed off for Australia's longest test drive. I have to say though, the honesty of the owner, and the good report by Zed4life gave me confidence that the car would be OK for the trip.

Out of Brissy, we camped the first night at Coonabarabran - where else than the same place that the Zed Club had a cruise a few years ago. Different owners, but still a nice place to stay. Oh, and the Chinese meal down the road next to the Shell servo was nothing short of brillliant!

Next day, and I have to admit to brain fade here - I think it was Dubbo, but I'm not sure - we passed this Man - I WANT that!

Just a few km down the road, for the obligitory Caffeine injection at the Golden Arches, what do we park next to but this!



You wouldn't believe it, but the Aus owner bought it in the US, flew over, delivered it to the shipping company, had it delivered to Brissy for an RHD conversion, and was driving it back to Adelaide on the same day as us - he also lives about 4 km from me! How's that for co-incidence! Not enough you say? - he also owns the exhaust shop that installed Jarrad's system on his Zed!

Anyhow, about 32,657 potholes later, we arrive in Cootamundra, near Wagga, where my cousin lives. A quick drop in to say G'day turns into a - "Well, since you're here, you may as well come for a spin in the W427!" If W427 doesn't mean much, how about 370kW and 640 Nm of torque wrapped in a very modified VE Commodore chassis! Holy crap - this thing absolutely flies! But it's also docile as heck if you just want to potter around. Meek to Monster with a mash on the loud pedal! Apparently on road tyres, it's within 2 seconds of a V8 Supercar lap time! :br:

We left Cootamundra late in the afternoon, and just cruised the car the next 900 km in to Adelaide, nursing a failing wheel bearing and a sick tyre ( and a couple of weary drivers) for the last part of the journey.

The car's not perfect - we didn't expect it to be from the price we paid, and from the honesty of the owner. That's not a problem though - it will just take a bit of TLC and a few bits from the forum and elsewhere, and it will be a decent car, ready to take the kids in the back.

Stay tuned for the updates, and a big thankyou to Jarrad - co-pilot extraordinaire!

 

Any thread with pics of that camaro and a friggen batmobile monster truck deserves props :thumbup:... congrats on the new addition to the family too :zlove:

 

Best trip ever!

win

 

Thats a big effort, i did a similar thing last month when I bought my first Z (and 1st car).

Flew to brisbane, picked up the car, headed straight to the gold coast to start my half sleeve. Then I spent a few hours with my family on the coast and a mate and I drove straight back to dubbo, only stopping 3 times.

Excellent first road trip

 

well well well

hahahaha, it seems the Blue zed disease is spreading Dave actually, you can blame Judith, because she is the one that got pregnant, which then started the whole "oh dear, we have a 2 seater zed" issue

Anyway, big congrats on the new purchase Dave. I dont know much about that zed, but I'm sure in time, with the Dave touch, it will be an immaculate zed to add to your collection... It'll be good seeing you in a zed again with the family, rather than having to leave the poor zed at home.....

I'm sorry if I missed it in your post but I'm assuming its a TT??? Manual or auto??? and I also assume it has your beloved blue interior?

Which leads me onto my 2nd last question...... I know what the fate of my trusty 2 seater will be... But what about yours??? Will you keep the 2 seater or sell it??

And will we see the new zed at Renmark this year???

Congrats again

P.s Does it come with cruise or shall we install cruise in your car as well lol ??

 

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the Blue Zed Owners Club(it's the RIGHT Blue also, that's tops).

Cheers
Lloyd & Lynn

 

Great to hear you made it home

Ok Dave. A very good result after all.

 

Well done Dave, that's a good way to keep Zedding!
I hope the blue interior is intact - blue interior panels aren't exactly thick on the ground. Will look forward to seeing reports of it's development; and like Jedi, I'm interested to know of your plans for BlueZ1.

I had a good close look at Mark's new blue baby on the weekend - see below:







The forum sticker went on quickly, and the Simmons wheels look the goods .

The pic below may be used as the centre piece for your dartboard if you really want to take it out on Mark .



And re Camaros - I spotted this in the car park at Phillip Island 3 weeks ago ... the rego stickers shows it was registered in 2009, but it's still left hook! So to beat the Victorian 30 year old requirement it either has to be a Holden owned mule, or perhaps someone with connections to strings has pulled them!! It was parked next to a Mustang Motorsports late model convertible 'Stang (they do conversions), so my bet is that's where the connection is.



Lastly, re the W427 ... I would take that comment about being within 2 seconds of a V8 Supercar while still on street tyres with more than a few grains of salt. Yes, I do know what a W427 is - and it has less power than a V8SC whilst carrying 4-500kg more at over 1850kg! Can't remember whether a V8SC is 1250 or 1350kg. 2 seconds difference? Maybe if I was driving Lowndsey's machine while he was monstering a W427!

Cheers, Mikey. See you in November .

 

Haha yep agreed! 2 seconds within a V8 Supercar is just a little optimistic!! Curious how good the chassis really is in the W427 as after all it is a tarted up Commodore, not exactly a great foundation.

 

Ah yeah, reminds me of the trip to Newcastle, although not 2000 KM, but still a good full days drive.

Co-Pilot K-Zed and I plus Caitlyn, my 6yo as supervisor
Fly down, drive back "Road trip....Road trip"
Lots of help and partying from the NSW crew.

Great to see Zed4life helping out too, we are a great bunch of people all round.

Enjoy your new car

 

OK, a reply to questions, then an update in a separate post.

Thanks ZXDevil. It's good to be a semi regular back on the forum again, and to have a Zed for family stuff as well as a Zed for fun!

Jedi - and others - first up, Trouble is NOT pregnant! Just in case you were wondering. This Zed is in need of a fair bit of TLC. It looks pretty sound though - trim is OK, body is OK, engine seems fine but I suspect there's an electrical problem. Whenever the battery/alternator is loaded up, the revs rise - wierd! Still needs a wheel bearing - see separate post. As for the specs - we wanted;
(1) 2+2 - check
(2) manual - check
(3) midnight blue with blue interior - check
(4) TT - check

That's a pretty rare combo, and that's what this car is A perfect sister for the MiNE'S 2 seater :thumbup:

As for the blue 2 seater TT manual - I'm keeping it. It's a VERY good Zed - too good to get rid of, so it stays in the collection. Not sure what we're taking to Renmark this year. I might still be working on the 2+2, and we need to bring up a fair bit of judging gear (and usually kids too), so it might be the Commy

No cruise as it's an original manual - hardly any Jap manual cars had cruise - so I guess I'll be fitting three this year!


Chili - been a Blue Zed member for quite a while We've had a midnight blue with blue interior TT manual 2 seater since 2000 :zlove:

Zed4life - yep, a good result, and a fun trip. Sorry I didn't get to catch up with you, but we were on a bit of a timeline, and things caught up with me too. I get up to Brissy every now and then for work, so hopefully we can catch up sometime.

RZM. Trim is OK, except that strut braces have been fitted front and rear, and they've cut the rear plastic panels to fit them. I can clean that up though. The driver's seat has the usual small tear in it, but I will trim the seat sides in blue leather - when I get the time! Beautiful pics of Mark's car - it's a stunner!

Re the W427 comments. Yes, I'll go out and buy a bag of salt Apparently there was a track day at EC for the W427, and Garth Tander set an absolute stunner lap in one. He owns one, Smurf does, and apparently MS owns two. I have to say - it is a VERY competent car. Indecently quick, huge torque, and simply unleashes above 5,000 rpm. The car was my cousin's, and his son owns a VE GTS 315 which Walkinshaw performance have tweaked, including a big supercharger. More torque and more HP than a V8 supercar, and it's neck and neck with the W427 up to 5,000 rpm, then the W427 simply kills it! Big Al - yes, it's a Commy - Yes, it handles

Thanks Pexzed - yep, agree road trips are fun, and this forum and the people on it are gold!

 

I envy you....

Good to see you are keeping the 2 seater its a great zed. I wish I could keep my NA but we just dont have the room here for the amount of cars that we have. And really, I need to focus on one zed, not two. But they do look great sitting next to each other in the garage..

I dont suppose you're looking for another zed to add to the Gammon fleet??? I know of this really nice and much loved NA that will be looking for a new home soon....

 

Thanks Mikey....

Driving to Morwell with the new TT was very nice, probably its first long drive. Very comfortable and smooth. But by jingo's does it need a new exhaust! The stock exhaust is so damned quiet its annoying. I need something with a nice droneless grumble like what my NA has.... what did it sound like from the outside while you were taking photos?? You probably couldnt even hear it.... I put my windows down while travelling through the burnley tunnel on the way home, and the sound of the wind completely drowned out my very domestic exhaust note. Exhaust is first thing on the list once I sell my NA.

 

Congrats on the new ride! That batmobile is hilarious.

 

Jedi, mine has a big Kakimoto single system, but I'd prefer a stock one - want to swap?

 

Sorry Dave...

I just dont like the look of a single exhaust system on the zed. My NA came like that from Japan, and I quickly changed it to a dual system.....

Do you still want my front bar?? Like I said, it most likely wont be off till next year but it is in perfect nic with no cracks or bends. Obviously it will need a respray to match your car. I dont want money for it.

Cheers

 

Yes I do still want it, and yes you will accept money for it! The front bar on my 2 seater is cracked at the bottom, so it will probably end up on the 4 seater instead of its current fibreglass grass cutter, and yours will make its way onto the 2 seater - with a respray.

 

Oh, dibs on your stock exhaust if that's OK too. Either money, or goods in kind.

 

Finally you saw the light

Good to see you finally came to your senses, and moved over to the superior ZED.
Longer wheel base.
better track platform :br:
Sexier

Might aswell start parting out that 2 seater now :rofl:

Good to hear you made it back,with no hassles

Congratulations

 

Hang on! You're the one that saw the light first, and eventually ditched the auto for the manual - fancy buying a Zed and not getting a manual in the first place!!

As for longer wheel base being a better track platform. You mean the longer car with the larger polar moment of inertia, meaning that it's actually a poorer steerer than the 2 seater?

Cheeky! :zlove:

Oh, and if any 2+2 auto owners take offence, please don't. Trevor and I go a long way back, and it's all in fun - All Zeds are good Zeds - even ones in need of some TLC (Truck Loads of Cash) :zlove: