Stutopia
-
Content Count
300 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
6
Posts posted by Stutopia
-
-
Anyone running the Ark GRiP? I always fancied one on my 350Z but a combo of lead times and a need to replace quickly prevented that.
I'm looking for quiet as stock 90% of the time but a little bit anti social when driving enthusiastically, I'm highly allergic to both drone and rasp,
-
The lack of proper battery info is a bit of a surprise to me, as a noob having read the issues, I decided for the sake of 80 quid just to buy a new one. I'd have spent half that getting to my nearest Subaru dealer, and who wants the ballache of being stuck in an airport multi-storey after two weeks away? Having placed the order, the company called me up asking if I was sure I was ordering the right battery, it fits perfectly and cranks fine (touch wood) so I guess I have.
https://advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk/product/bosch-s4025-car-battery/
I was also recommended one with the terminals wrongly configured via an online battery sales vehicle wizard. Then Halfords fancied flogging one at an outrageous £152, which from looking at the photos online also has the wrong terminal config
-
Apologies for the old thread revival but I spotted this wobbling on the motorway just the other day and wanted to sort it. I thought I'd post up a solution of sorts in case anyone else stumbles across it with the same issue.
Under the bonnet there are two rubber stops which the bonet should sit up against when closed. These little guys.
If you give one a twist you'll notice they can be removed with ease and that they have a "spiral" cut into them.
When I checked the bonnet you could see a noticeable difference in contact spots from the two sides.
You can twist the stopper back on and keep twisting it up and down until you hit the desired height and hopefully end this wobbly bonnet blight
Church reacted to this -
1 hour ago, Mark-in-Stoke said:With regards to the scratches on the glass it looks like the guide may have become detached, this has happened to a few of us and have had the guide fixed and glass replaced under warranty.
Nice one, they're quite common on my previous so getting them sorted on warranty would be excelllent.
Mark-in-Stoke reacted to this -
If you spotted my post in the noobs section you'll know I'm fresh to the Toybaru platform, accordingly I thought I'd go for it a bit here by way of an introduction. Naturally I spent the first few days getting familiar with her from behind the wheel, but I've now gotten familiar from behind the mitt. I've been getting into detailing over the last couple of years, trying a variety of goodies from trade products to boutique, but it's always been on the grey of my Zed, so working on the gorgeous mica paint is a bit of a treat. The dealer value was decent, clean but not protected, but with a few hundred miles this weekend she was pretty filthy and ready for me to get stuck in. That first wash can often be revealing. I hope you don't mind me posting up some pics, sharing a few products I like and maybe asking some questions too.
I've broken out my favourite goodies for the maiden wash, ready to do battle. In the bucket is a Microfibre Madness Incredimitt, excellent - get one.
I haven't found a better shampoo than AMMO Paint Cleanser (Bathe+ is a close second favourite) it gives excellent lubrication on the paint and maintains good level of soapiness throughout the wash. The downside is it is expensive as it comes only from Larry in the US, worth it though if you fancy a treat. To keep the same theme going I also broke out the AMMO Brute Wheel Soap and AMMO Plum Wheel Cleaner, these aren't as special as the shampoo but are still excellent products.
First up, I've used a fair few snow foams, some shaving foam thick (Magifoam) and others quite watery (Avalanche, BH), I'm not too fussed about dwell time and thickness, it's more about shifting as much debris as possible before touching the paint. The best cleaning one I've found is Bilt Hamber Autofoam, but I am a bit of a tart, so I am currently dabbling with Car Chem's offering and another one I like i Envy's Bubbly Jubbly (best smelling foam by miles)
Not quite made my mind up on this yet, I think BH probably edges it.
Plum liberally spritzed on the wheels, but normally I'd be using Sonax Extreme Wheel Cleaner or Car Chem Revolt for a decon.
As you can see, AMMO Plum is indeed another fallout remover which turns purple, like many other offerings. However, the plum element stops AMMO smelling like the end of the world. It's more of a plum scented murder scene, in a warm country.
Most of the purple on there is the result of me trying to bed in the previous owner's new pads and discs. They must have been the last thing they did as they're as clean as they came out the packaging, with copper slip still on one rim from a lingering fingering. I managed to find a bit more bite, but I might have to try some new pads if these don't sharpen up, I got back in the Zed today and nearly went through the windscreen at the first set of lights.
Anyway, back on topic. Generally the wheels are in excellent nick, three of four are spotless, with just some light kerbing on the front driver's side. However, they are a PITA to clean compared to my previous RAYS. Intricate and narrow, I can barely get woolies in there. But I persisted and they came up pretty nice.
After foam and rinse there wasn't anything stubborn I could see, so it was on to the more intricate spots.
I did get to find some nasty surprises along the way in the wash, I don't even know how some of these popped up, not the normal random deep scratches. Actual boot lid graffiti here.
Similar on the nearside front wing too. I had a bit of a go at them by hand with some Meg's Ultimate but I only softened them, they need mowing down my machine. There's a few stone chips that I need to touch up too.
After stripping the paint back and towelling off, got on with giving the glass some love. For me, Stoner's Invisible Glass is just brilliant. I picked this up two years ago in Walmart across the pond when our rental Camaro had a weird stain on the windscreen. Been using it (this exact can!) ever since, the flash time is perfect and it is a doddle to use. No streaks or smears. The aerosol does like to overspray onto panels in any kind of breeze, so mist your MF towel away from the car and apply towel to glass. The outline of the wiper's is still on the glass after I finished but this isn't too bad as I need to break out my Gtechniq glass polish prior to adding a hydrophobic coating, not RainX.
Leaves a very nice clean finish for not much input
I don't quite know how I missed this (probably a bit too excited at the test drive) until now but something gritty has got trapped in the weatherstrip on the window/door seal and it's made a serious impression on the window. Not easy to focus on with a phone, but you can see the three distinct vertical lines (between the red ones) where the damage has been done. Sadly, they feel far too deep to polish out.
Not used to having to clamber in the back to clean the rear glass, usually it's a hop in the boot, so if anyone know a good technique for clearing the bottom third of the inside of the rear window which doesn't involve being a contortionist with Trump size hands, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
As expected on a new sale, the interior is clean apart from some "fluids" under the cup holder, either old tea or a brown, human discharge. Hard to say and tasting proved indeterminate
So just gave the plastics a once over with Gtecniq Matte Dash. I can't tell if this does anything on already clean plastics, but it doesn't do any harm.
Having had a quick pass round the inside, it was back out to inspect and finish off. I was certain a clay bar would be needed given it appeared the paint hadn't been protected at all, but it feels fairly glassy, with no major rough areas, just a few tar spots I'll get next time. Finished the job off with a layer of AMMO Skin Defense [sic] which is my go to sealant. I'm just on ploymer, not graduated to the modern hard coatings yet as I have to detail outside and can't chance screwing up a hard coating with contaminants.
I'm not really a wax lover, I might break it out for special occasions but despite it's extreme grabiness Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer always leaves a strong and pleasing finish to my eyes. I skipped it this time as the Skin was so freshly applied, but I'll be using i on the next quiz wash as part of the drying stage (a bit of water reduces said grabiness).
Looking pretty decent if I do say so myself
Tomorrow's job is to get rid of the filth under the bonnet. Looks like it's not been touched from new. It looks like it should come up with just a bit of elbow grease, a brush and some APC. I'm hoping I can keep the carb cleaner safely in the shed.
Did a little mod too, popped on some Bosch Aeros to eliminate a bit of smearing and reduce drag (good for an extra second to 60 they say
You just don't see enough glamour shot of wiper blades these days...
Quick question before I go, am I missing a nipple on top of the dash?
Or are they all like that?
Thanks! I hope this hasn't been too tedious for you, I got a bit carried away
vanko25 and Keethos reacted to this -
7 minutes ago, Ztox said:Welcome along
I have a bit of a thing for zeds too. Nearly owned a 350 once and a close friend owned one for a while.
Everyone should own one once! For the price they're superb and sadly the time for big NA lumps seems to be coming to an end
-
1 hour ago, Keethos said:Congrats and welcome to the club! Head unit is a doddle to fit and same with a camera if you have one that connects to your heard unit (the boot trim should have an outline where you can cut out for a camera to be fitted, the most difficult be was threading the cable through the rubber flex pipe from the boot lid into the boot area. As for the condensation, not seen the front like fog up but the rears are common because they are over tightened and the gasket gets squashed and doesn't seal properly because of it, not sure if this applies to your front DRLs though.
That saves me asking why I woke up to condensation in the rears yesterday!
Thanks
Keethos reacted to this -
Had a very pleasant ride over snake's pass to Sheffield, excellent route (when you get lucky with traffic) to enjoy the twisties, loved it. Had to work the gear stick a bit more than I'm used to but I don't mind that when I'm in enthusiastic mode
-
10 hours ago, Paul said:For the condensation, warranty job.
For the pads, stoptech or hawk pads are decent, relatively cheap and not as squealy as the stock ones.
You can fit a reverse camera but not sure how easy it is with the BRZ head unit.
Welcome and I'm now off to read your 350z mods thread, got a soft spot and yours looks very clean.
Hope you enjoyed the read, I've tried my best to keep it a tasteful build, except the engine cover.
-
Thanks for the warm welcome :thumbs:
Good news on the headunit, I've been having a look already and found a couple of useful instal guides. Looks like the HU is much easier to get at than I'm used to
-
Hello!
I've been lurking on AutoTrader for months waiting for an in budget, relatively nearby, BRZ to take for a drive and finally one popped up last week. This morning I went and picked it up and have spent most of today enjoying what it feels like to shed 300kg overnight. I can confirm, it feels good to drop a belt loop or two, even if it's a bit unfamiliar at first. The 300kg I'm on about is the drop from my beloved 350Z, which the BRZ replaces (will replace when it sells), which I've looked after for the last 4 years (build thread here if you fancy having a look at that sort of thing. I hope it's ok to post a photo of it mods?
But enough of the past, onto the present. My new love is a 2013 SE LUX in, frankly perfect, WR Mica Blue. It has 38k on the clock, a couple of former owners and is totally OEM - so far as I can tell. The colour lured me to the BRZ, over the GT86, and I'm very pleased with the state of the paint, it looks superb in the sunlight and aside from a a couple of small door dings I'll need to sort, it seems spotless. I can already see this is going to be a car you need to look back at after you've parked up and wandered off.
I spent much time and money modding the Zed and I'm hoping that aside from a few minor adjustments (headunit, exhaust, brakes) I'll keep the BRZ pretty stock. It's a very nice place to be sat and it feels more nimble than I'm used to, so it's already well on it's way. That said, I do have some questions if you don't mind.
- The headunit in the BRZ is a bit of a disappointment and I miss the reverse camera from my Zed, is it easy enough to replace the HU and wire in a camera?
- The brakes don't have the same bite as the ones I am used to (DBA T2 discs, DS2500 pads, SS lines), can anyone recommend a good fast road, street legal, pad I might upgrade to?
- I've noticed condensation in the passenger side light:
- Is this at all common and/or a cheap & easy fix?
Thanks for reading and I look forward to trying to make a contribution to the place. I'm off for a browse and then I suppose I should read the owners manual too
Stu
Ztox and Keethos reacted to this
The Exhaust Thread
in How To Guides
Posted · Report reply
Thanks for the info, and especially the link with vids, much appreciated. I think that sounds rather good once the cold start drops and you get a nice rumble.