muddy

Thanks for the kind comments guys, much apprerciated. Not sure if I will win top prize this weekend as there are smoe seriously nice cars in the competition, but I hope I can get a category trophy. Hopefully catch up with some of you at the shows, I'm looking foward to showing you my new creation.

Some of you might have wondered what I;ve been upto since I sold the Subaru. Apologies if I haven't been on here as often as I'd liked. I've had my hands full as you cna see. Just dropped off the car at Donington Park for the Autoglym Best in Britain Competition. So for those that may be intersted here’s the long awaited launch of my new show car – project350z. As some of you may know I’ve been secretly building a show car for this years show season. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but I’m sure a couple of you may like it. The Subaru was sold in September ’08 and so the hunt began for a 350Z. Red is my trade mark colour so for obvious reasons I needed a red ‘Z’. These are like rocking horse poo, but I eventually got my hands on a UK 2004 model in October. Within a few days I began stripping it out, starting with the boot area, and commencing stripping the plastics and building a false floor for the new ICE. Over the coming months of hardship, worry, stress and good ole’ graft, the car was finally finished this week. As you can see from the spec list almost everything has been changed. As it’s a show car I’ve created a theme – project350z. You can see the day by day blog here as well as pictures. http://www.project350z.co.uk ....website is now live.... So here’s the spec ----------If you like carbon then you might like this…….. Engine: K&N Typhoon Air Induction Polished with Carbon cover Asi-performance aluminium radiator Motordyne 5/16th plenum Spacer Invidia G200 True Dual Exhaust- Titanium tipped. Polished Aluminium Power steering tank Polished Aluminium Coolant overflow tank Polished Washer Cap Samco Red Coolant and Ancillary hoses HKS Radiator Cap HKS Oil Filler Cap Carbon Battery and Fluid Covers Carbon Slam Panel Cover Carbon Engine Cover Stillen Engine damper Red Grounding kit. Suspension: KW Variant 2 Coilovers Lowered 40mm Front and Rear Jic Magic Carbon Front Strut Brace Eibach adj Front Anti roll bar Eibach adj Rear Anti roll bar Ischiba Front Camber arms Ischiba Rear Camber arms Whiteline Front drop links Whiteline rear drop links Revolution race geometry set-up Brakes: K-sport Black 8 pot front Caliper with 356mm rotors on bells K-sport Sport Pads Stainless Steel Brake lines K-sport Black 6 pot Rear Caliper with 330mm rotors on bells K-sport sport pads Stainless Steel Brake lines Wheels: Racing Hart RS521 19"x9" front +28 Racing Hart RS521 19"x10" rear +28 235/35/19 front Tyres 265/30/19 rear Tyres Kei Black wheel Nuts Exterior: Chargespeed Gekisoku Type-1 Front bumper Chargespeed Gekisoku rear bumper Chargespeed Gekisoku side skirts Chargespeed Gekisoku Carbon Rear Diffuser Chargespeed Gekisoku carbon Lower front canard Chargespeed Gekisoku carbon upper front canard Motorgrade carbon roof overlay Motorgrade carbon a pillar replacements Varis Carbon Bonnet Varis Carbon B pillars Seibon Carbon Hatch Craftsquare style carbon TC/N-1 Racing Mirrors Custom made carbon fibre fuel cap Custom black handles Smoothed rear quarter (Aerial removed) Depo rear crystal indicators/reverse/fog lights Custom Graphics Interior: Custom flocked black interior Bride Ergo II red Bucket seats with Bride logograph (c/w bride seat rails) OMP Suede Steering wheel Snap off quick release hub Sparco Black 4 point harnesses Sparco Foot Pedals Nismo black aluminium shift knob Black Colour Coded Trim RSW Carbon Centre Console RSW Carbon Gear surround RSW Carbon Door switches RSW Carbon Door Inserts RSW Carbon vent Covers Carbon Instrument Cluster Carbon Sill plates Custom red leather gear gaiter Custom black strut cover with red z badge CAR-PC & ICE: JVC AVX-810 7" Touchscreen Dvd Receiver Hertz EP200 8" Subwoofer x2 Hertz HKS165 High Energy Component Speakers c/w HS25 tweeters Hertz HCX165 High Energy Coaxial Speakers Hertx HP5 High Power AB Class 980watt 5-channel Amplifier Source Custom door builds - flocked Custom Subwoofer enclosures - flocked Custom boot build 15" TFT screen 7" TFT screen x2 7" TFT touchScreen in centre console (CarPC ready) Audison Competition cables. And some pictures taken this evening: Hope you like. Hopefully catch up with some of you this year as I'll be attending most of the Jap shows again. Cheers Craig

Dan, one day I may purchase an Evo, but not the next project

After 10 years continuous Scooby ownership, I have just put the "WRX" up for sale. (Details in the for sale section) Had a bit of a lump in my throat when I popped it on the various forums for sale sections. Had an incredible time in the Subaru Community and made a lot of fantastic friends. Even though I'm not re-newing with a Subaru, the new one will be of Japanese mark. Hopefully (Pending the sale of the WRX) the new car will be finished and unvieled for the start of the '09 show season. I'll still be part of the community, just not as much, but I'll keep in touch, stay on these forums and you'll see me on the club stand at shows (I still love my car shows) The "WRX" will still be attending the shows this year whilst I own it, and may enter the odd show and shine (sorry guys). Craig

very good, never seen that before

very funny

Lost is awesome...if not really annoying because I want answers Can't wait for Heroes either...

I was contacted BY Andy Cawte (SIDC member) to detail his Subaru Impreza Type RA 555. As he had just recently bought it, it needed a little tlc to bring it back to life again. After consultation it was decided a "Show" detail would be carried out , with an an emphisis on the paint correction as after 12 years it had been neglected a little by previous owneers. The car was pretty clean anyway and the alloys had only recently been refurbed by Andy so the before pics don't show much dirt. Here's some before pics: The car was first treated to a pre wash with with Einszett Anti insect and pre cleaner and left to soak for 3 mins and then rinsed off. The wheels were then sprayed with Megs APC,and the inside rim agitated with an EZ-detail brush and then washed with a microfibre mitt. The wheels were then rinsed. The whole car was then treated to a Pre foam wash to remove the loose dirt and grit that had accumlated. This was left to soak for 3 mins and then rinsed off. The body and wheels (Again) were then washed using a lambswool mitt and the 2 bucket method. The whole vehicle was then rinsed and dried with a Poorboys Waffle weave towel. Any large bits of tar were then removed with tar remover and the paint surface was then subjected to some Sonus Ultra fine clay treatment. The paint surface felt quite rough to the touch, the clay soon got it feeling like glass again. Last touch Quick detailer was used as Lube. Next onto checking the paint.. firstly I checked the paint thickness across the whole car. Everything was in order with the average thickness being around 100-110 microns. There were afew low spots down to the 7o's so I was careful around these areas. Taped up and ready for polising: The swirls: Paint Correction: Before: After: Although it's japanese paint (Generally medium -soft) this was light titanium and was very difficult to correct hence a a combination of Menzerna PO85rd.3.02 with a Megs cut pad followed up with 3M Ulrafine Se on a blue 3M polishing pad were used. Once finish, a coat Swissvax cleaner fluid was applied. Followed up with a coat of Swissvax Best of Show Wax. Resulting in a stunning finish. Autoglym Fast glass was used on the windows. Autoglym Instant Tyre dress on the tyres Meguiars Hyper dressing on the arch liners. Wheels were protected with Chemical Guys Wheel Sealant. I was very happy with the end results and believe I achieved 90% correction leaving only RDS. The end results: Total time for Detail: 12 hours Thanks for looking Craig

Good luck with it rosi, I hope you get the trade that you want. I'll echo what was said above, don't let the recruiters sway you into another trade. If you have the correct number of points, it's better to wait a few more weeks until a new space becomes available. I was pre-warned about this too, and it helped a lot as the recruitment guys did push me a little, I ended up taking my tests twice to get the points I needed - Radar tech in the REME The training I have received from doing this has given me a good start in life... Craig

Fantastic read...thanks

Thanks Iain, i turned the phone off at lunch time whilst the presentations were being held. Yes car is still up for sale next year...

continued..... The results were announcd on Sunday at 12pm. Club class was announced first then my category M&P.. I was actually astonished and speechless when my name was called out as runner-up..... We didn't even have the camera ready as we though the 2 ford guys had it in the bag for 1st and 2nd. To say that I'm happy is a understatement.. Well worth the hard work this year.. So I'm offically Autoglym National Concours 2007 Modified & Performance Runner-up. This competition being the hardest in Europe and probably the world. So really chuffed. Any way hope you enjoyed the read. Craig

continued.... The judging was to be held over the 2 days. On Friday afternoon we had to select our judging order out of a hat.. In my category there were only 3 cars, mine, a Ford Xr3i and a Sierra Cosworth. I selected number 3. So I was last to be judged in my category. The judging.... My time to be judged was at around 12pm on Saturday.. I was quite nervous as this kind of thing is new to me. There were 3 judges each with their own area to inspect. The judging is timed and only 5 minutes is allowed. Whilst the judging was in progress I was interviewed over the PA system. The judging:

continued..... The rest of the cars in the competition (They are in differnt categories and classes)

continued......