CroS13

Good to see the project is still alive Youhan! I need to do another update on mine, its been over a year since I've posted on here. Rudi.

MY DASHBOARD REPAIR USING THE POLYVANCE TECHNIQUE GAV POSTED ABOVE: So I decided to repair my dashboard myself, and I used the Polyvance system that Gav has posted a few post above. 1. I bought the plastic welding kit from Amazon, which comes with the welder and welding rod (it it really a glorified soldering iron with a wide speared tip) I Believe they might sell a 240v kit on their website, I accidently bought the 110v American kit. I needed to buy a step down voltage transformer locally which cost me an additional $100 or so. Make sure to check what kit you buy. 2. I was able to buy the filler prep adhesion from ebay, but it was a pain to get, no one wanted to ship it internationally. 3. I could not get the padded dash filler, it is classified as a dangerous good and NO ONE will ship it. I searched everywhere, including all their resellers from UK to NZ. I contacted Polyvance directly and they told me which product to buy which will be compatible. 4. I believe I have gone above and beyond the scope of what the product was designed to do. My dash was completely trashed, I essentially had to skim welding rod over the entire surface of the dashboard, as mine had been repaired poorly once before, and when I pulled out all the body filler it was a disaster (as you can see in the thumbnail bellow) I didn't only have minor cracks to repair, I had canyons to fill, and multiple sections where there was no vinyl left at all. Anyway, enjoy! All products used are shown and listed in my video. Rudi.

Mid year update 2024 Looks like I have been a little slack with posting videos or any updates for that matter, as its been 2 years since my last update. I have slowly been chipping away at the car. It looks pretty dead in here? where did everyone go, I don't see many build updates? Anyway.... Here are the last 2 video updates I missed posting: 1 year ago: Gearbox install Nothing specific to mention, I install the T56 into the car with a custom gearbox mount. Current: Dashboard repair - the correct way I didn't want to wait to have the dash doctor repair my dashboard, I wanted to give it a go myself. I found a tutorial and repair system from a company called Polyvance, They are in America. So I bought their plastic welding kit, followed a few tutorials on their website and had a go. I was surprised to discover someone had already repaired the dash, with car body filler. And it started cracking about 6 months after I bought the car, This time hopefully I have done a permanent repair the correct way: Currently wiring in new speedhut gauges, That video will be coming soon. Rudi.

10 year Video Update I don't think its actually been 10 years? maybe? Anyway, I made a montage, the last 10 years in 10 minutes.... enjoy! Rudi.

Video Update 26: Fitting the LS motor! In Todays episode I paint and fit the engine to the car, and I Finally received my tail light bezels from the chrome plater, after waiting 7 months! So I also re assemble the rear light assembly. Rudi.

Update January 2022 So I have been chipping away at the Zed.... The first step was to clean and paint the engine.... I now Identify as a 350 chev. Please only refer to me by my chosen engine code. Plan is to "dress it down" and make it all look old school. . . looks like it was made to be in there from factory! =) . . Also tackled some wiring with my apprentice. Doing a remote coil pack relocation to the firewall to tidy up the engine. . And here is the finished result. Not entirely happy with the harness, ill probably try and neaten it up a little by re wrapping it, or get LS3 coil packs, where the harness plug is on the bottom of the coil, so I can run the harness underneath and hide it a lot easier. I will see how it looks once I have the plug wires on it. And now the tricky part is trying to fit the T56 from underneath, without it rolling off the floor jack and splitting my head open like watermellon! Rudi...

Cars looking great, maybe needs to be a little lower! Don't go too crazy with this thing, you have another z to build first! Rudi.

Hey mate great work and upgrades on the car, I like how your modernising everything. Where did you get the fuse box to replace the fusible link set up? Rudi.

There is a guy in Sydney, near me, in Girraween called Rays Auto Seat. http://www.rayseat.com.au/ He mainly fits car seats and child seats, but he can also Re- reel your old belts. He gets ADR approved new reel, and fits your buckles and covers to them. I think I paid $80 each? Rudi.

great work as usual! The photo of the car with the quarter panels off reminds me of Georges car! looks like the innards are good though! Rudi

great work so far! Seems like the shell is in overall good condition. Where did you get the hinge rebuild kits from? Rudi.

I did have it on the road and drove it for about 8 months before I started tearing it down. Probably with a fresh motor it would be nicer to drive compared to the worn out pile that was in it, wanting to stall at every lights. But then again, yes, I've read that article with that Z BADWOG. I like it! A friend took me for a drive in his V8 2+2 and I was sold! Maybe the next one will be L-Series powered. Rudi.

I first fell in love with the idea of a V8 zed about 16 years ago when I first saw George's zed "ONARUN" We used to hang around the same group of friends, I'd always see it at the runs or cruises etc. I initially wanted to go 350 chev. All my workmates (other old school mechanics) told me not to, gave me a big list why not. I always wanted a "muscle car" or more of a "street machine", I've always wanted that V8 rumble. So why didn't I buy a LX Torana or a Ford Capri or something like that? I also liked the Zeds so I got one. Truth be told in the beginning I was planning on keeping it L series. I bought a L28, I still have it. I bought a trick 6 Mikumi bike carb set up from someone on here (cant remember who), and I have a set of SWR 6-1 race headers too. But what, I'm going to spend 10k to have a motor built and its going to make 250hp to the wheels and be slower than my daily driver? I want a fun weekend car that has some poke. Something I can take to the Drags and Roll racing. I did like the zed when it was on the road, I could absolutely wring its neck through all the gears and I wasn't breaking the speed limit, It was fun to thrash around. But it was slower than everything else I own, including my forester, common... I don't have 45k to buy a 350hp L.C.R engine. My motor is fully rebuilt with a hot cam and ported heads, and including the cost of the motor, only owes me $3600 and will make 400-450hp. I do understand the rest of the conversion will most likely end up seeing me spend well over 10g once its all done and dusted. I don't have the strange fetish for purity and owning multiple zeds like a lot of you do on here. Personally I don't see the point of owning 5 of the same car. If I ever got a second project car, it would be importing a 69 Nova from the states. Its only a 2+2? But to put it in one sentence: I Loved Wangan midnight and I love drag racing, and burnouts, and boobs, and V8's? I.... I think I might be a bogan.... Rudi.

So they finally replied to my Email....... 2 months later..... Anyway.... Hey.... who dis?

Yeah..... I've had this dilemma myself. I enjoyed the L26 in my car when I had it on the road, because you could absolutely ring its neck and not be breaking the speed limit. The main problem I had with the S15 is with the Turbo, I didn't get on song until 4.5k RPM, so its a case of trying to overtake someone... nothing nothing nothing BOOST breaking the law..... Was a bit of a pain sometimes, by the time boost kicks in your over the speed limit, so the only time I would wind out every gear would be on the M4 on ramps late at night. The LS should be a bit better, but still. Rudi.

Ha! After all the perma bans, there would only be about 8 members on the forum! And I don't think I'd be one of them... Yikes!

exactly man. I'm really happy with how my interior panels came out, especially with how good the plastic welding repairs are that I did. I'm going to follow this video: I bought the Welding iron they use in this video, it was about $100, and I spent another $40 or so on a step down voltage transformer. I like the size and shape of the welding iron tip they use in this video. Mine is only about 10mm wide and is a little hard to use, this one has a large surface. Didn't get the padded dash filler, I might try and get some plastic bumper filler and use that in its place. Then get some texture paint to go over the top. I like the idea of the SEM paint, but no one stocks it. Heck, I used SEM colour coat to change the colour of my interior, and the only place that stocked it was in Perth. Who knows, there is only the Dash Doctor when it comes to dash repairs, maybe I'll go into business repairing dashboards, seems like a great gig when he has a 6 month backlog of work! Rudi.

I've decided I'm gonna tackle the job myself... yikes..... Rudi...

What turbo are you running? Cant remember if you said the motor was forged or not? 280 is about all ya wanna go on a unopened SR. I made 243kw in the S15, but i'm only running pump gas. Tuner said if I ran E85 I could do about 270kw or so, but then again im running a old school Garret 2871R in mine, the GTX and new Gen turbo's are alot better. Rudi.

Keen to see the dyno figures and how much difference it has made. Also... just here for the engine noise! Rudi.

Great update mate! Cant wait to see her driving again. Are you doing the wiring harness again from scratch? Or is that a aftermarket universal kit? Rudi.

I know! I feel personally attacked!

Yes I did see the recommendations on here. I emailed them and never got a response. After a few days I saw the original chrome shop here in Sydney had replied to me but the email had gone into my junk folder, so I had missed it. So we spoke, and I posted the parts to them. They are charging me $300 to have them re plated. Not sure how that stacks up against A Class Metal. perhaps @Ledgeknows if there is any price variance? I tend to want to Email people a lot so I have a paper trail to go back to. I really should just pick up the phone and call people. The problem is when I do that, everyone "forgets" about the conversations whatever they might be and there is a lot of "oh sorry it must have slipped though the cracks, we will book it in now, but you still cant jump the que...." Anyway, its been 8 weeks and I called the chrome shop in Sydney, and wadda ya know? Someone at the shop had Covid so the entire floor was off for 3 weeks. So now everything is pushed back again, now we are looking at mid October.. At least I have lots of other work i can do... Rudi.

VIDEO UPDATE #25: SEPTEMBER 2021 Latest video is now up. This covers from about June/July to September. Not a lot got done to the Z in that time. Had everything else I own break, my daily driver broke multiple times, then my wife's car broke multiple times when I was driving that to work while I fixed mine. It was 2 months of deciding which car was "least broken" and could limp me to work as I awaited parts to fix the others. It wasn't a fun quarter.... But I did manage to squirrel away some cash to spend on the Z..... What set me back, and what was a major time sink, was trying to use a spray on chrome paint system on my rear tail light surrounds. I had rung 6 chrome shops in Sydney, all who would not chrome plate plastic. The one who advertised that they did, never got back to me and were hard to contact. I decided to give up on re chroming the plastic and try ALSA easy chrome. I had seen extremely good videos of it working on YouTube, and it looked amazing. At $100 for a 25ml kit.... it was.....very very expensive. It had a demanding application process. Asking to wait 1 week between application of the various coats, to allow the solvents to completely evaporate and for that layer to completely cure before applying the next one. So it would be dam near 1 month before I saw the finished results. The young painter kid at work absolutely f**ked up on the final state, ruining the job completely. Long story, we had sprayed the primer, then the base, and on the 3rd week were going to apply the chrome. There is 25ml of chrome paint to use. Paint shop recommended using a mini touch up gun. Kid used a full size gun and opened the fan as if he was painting the side of the Titanic. $100 of paint went into the booth filters within the squeeze of 3 trigger pulls and about 8 seconds. He had good coverage on 3 of the 4 sides of the light bezel, the 4th side was still in black base coat. This can be seen in the video. As you can see, it actually looks pretty good, and looks chrome. Then screw up no 2 happened. He had the smallest amount of chrome left in the gun, so he added thinners, at probably a 4:1 ratio, and sprayed another coat on the trim piece. When it dried, it had lost all its shine and looked like hammer tone or a dull silver. I went back to the paint shop, spent another $100 and got another kit. We were told, don't spray direct over this hammer tone finish. The chrome requires the reflection against the black basecoat to really pop, and going over this dull silver finish wont make it look like chrome. We had to strip it entirely down again, and start from scratch, another 3 week process. The second time I feel he still had some residual thinners in the gun when he sprayed the chrome and it affected the finish, leaving it not as shinny. When he applied the clear coat, It dulled it down even more to what can be seen as the finished product. Very disappointed in the results. $200 down the drain. I finally got through to the 1 plater who could do the job, So now the taillights are getting re chromed, with a 8 week turn around time., Got a few other bits and pieces done, but I didn't really explain what happened with the Alsa easy Chrome in the video. Anyway, on with the show: . Rudi.

Hey mate who are you going to use to get your dash reskinned? It seems everyone uses Dash Doctor, I cant believe there is no one in Sydney who does it. Rudi.