The car arrives

The car has arrived! Rolled off the transporter this morning. And after waiting for some joker to unblock my driveway, I got it home.

Car runs nicely with a bit of right boot but won’t idle and there’s an engine management light on. Not got the diagnostics hooked up yet so not sure what the cause is, but if anyone’s in the market for a four pot with ‘only’ 174,000 miles on it, then let me know!

First inspection only threw up a few things that need doing… Most of them are straightforward – door dings, broken aerial, rust on slam panel. Fair few scrapes, dings and cosmetic rust, but since I’ll be doing a body swap that doesn’t worry me (doors matter as those are kept with the body swap. Important stuff: no signs of structural rust yet (until I get those sills off) and it is very clean in the boot and under the bonnet. Hood seems in good nick with the rear window only slightly milky. Good for a few years yet, even in Manchester weather.

Things that do need doing:

  • Electric hood doesn’t work (more on this to come)
  • Driver’s side wing mirror needs replacing (currently held together with duct tape)
  • Both sills are badly rusted at the ends (these will be replaced as they are kept on the Z300)
  • Boot gas struts have failed (new ones ordered)
  • Passenger door central locking doesn’t work – boot and drivers door fine
  • Driver’s side electric seat tilt doesn’t work (moves back and forward fine)
  • Water ingress in boot (carpets damp and a puddle in the left hand well below the hood hydraulics)

Took some measurements under the bonnet and the battery pack I want to use *should* fit length and width-wise, with some alterations to the radiator shroud and fan – though I’ll likely swap these out for a smaller unit that can be mounted further forward and sell them on.

Still need to have a look through the service history. Then the plan is to get it up on ramps & stands and have a look underneath before we start stripping it. Oh, and I need to tap into the CANBus and capture all the messages I’ll later have to spoof before I start taking the engine out. Mustn’t forget to do that…

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