kauai1800

Aloha everyone,

Just picked up the VERY rough 2004 Z-vert Touring that was mentioned here: https://my350z.com/forum/2003-2009-n...ce-hawaii.html

I spent a good 10 hours on the exterior so far...wash, wash, clay, compound, wax. Inside still needs lots of work but slowly getting there. Car drives and handles very well. It's basically stock and was genuinely owned by a 70 yo lady so it's never been thrashed or modded.

As for me, I'm a long time car guy..used to have a track day Miata, motorcycles, and I own a 1964 Volvo that was featured on the Petrolicious channel...here's a link to that. Gives you a sense of what I'm into..

https://petrolicious.com/films/this-...r-s-design-cue

So far, loving my new Z! It's got these Hercules iMove Gen2 tires on it, and believe it or not, they're pretty darn good tires! Grippy buggahs!

Anyway, I'm happy to have this forum to lean on. I look forward to 'meeting' you guys and learning all about the car. I already know I have to:
fix the electrics in the top
fix the subwoofer
replace the soft top
get seat covers
refinish the 18" wheels
plus a million other small things...

All the best from Kauai
(ps. I'm already in touch with the other guy from Kauai who bought his Z the same day - anyone else on here from K-roc?)

AX8

Aloha !

and Welcome New Z Brotha !

carbuffguy

Seat covers - noooooo Gotta get some new or used seats...GOTTA

MicVelo

Wow, what a difference a day makes!

Welcome, brah. I live in Lahaina a few months out of the year (be there next week); yet, believe it or not, had never been to Kauai until two years ago. I love island life but man, Kauai is even slower than Maui! Hard for city boy to get used to sometimes. (I'm the impatient guy driving 70 from OGG to West side.... and then after a couple weeks, 40 on the same road back to da airport.) Hahahaha.

But wow..... a vintage Volvo guy!! I've owned half a dozen or so later bricks - and all of them living up to the "Brick" monicker.... 700Ts, a 240T and most recently an S60R so have a great appreciation for their forebearers. One day the right PV544 or 122 will come along and will get a heated B20. Laff....

Enjoy your time here and congrats!

kauai1800

lol says a guy who lives in Canada. In general I'd agree with you...

...but...the shipping alone on something like seats will cost as much as a seat itself ($100-150 each). The odds of finding a used set is very low on Kauai...we estimate there's about 6-10 Z cars total on island. And I doubt you plan to plop a wet/sandy/salty butt in your seat too often, but I'll do this a lot. The bones of the seats I have are great - all the motors and bolster ***** work perfectly. If I can slap some $130 covers on there that fit properly then I'll be a happy camper. Keep in mind this was a $4500 car and my plans are to make it look as good as possible on the cheap.

All you guys who can just order stuff from Harbor Freight or swing by the local junkyard should count your blessings. None of this is an option here. We do have Amazon Prime and that's about it..

kauai1800

lol! yes indeed. Maui's kinda cosmopolitan for me!
We should both be on Big Island where at least there's some ROADS..
Come say hi if you're ever back on Kauai.

Folks here will probably lose their minds with my mods and "upgrades" because the needs of someone who lives on Kauai are very different than someone living pretty much anywhere else. For example: you guys get to use 6th gear!

I bought my Z to drive to work lol and have A/C. I'll drive it hard when I can but not that often. My son is turning 15 and he's started driving my 4Runner - so I needed a cheap fun daily driver.

So yeah, I'll probably get seat covers, new shift **** (instead of that tape ball), refinish my wheels (again getting wheels and tires is EXTRA expensive here), drive on my Hercules iMove gen 2 tires, and not really make my Z car too cool. I already put in the K&N filter into the stock airbox. Does it go faster now? I don't really think so...but I have K&N in all my cars and it's very satisfying to clean and re-oil those buggahs.

But what I'm seeing is it doesn't really need much of anything to be a great little sports car. It's got a LSD, traction control and a switch to turn it off, decent suspension, nice unstressed NA engine, front tower brace, HID lights, electric everything...it's just nice. And I'm a happy new owner.

Thanks for the kind welcome everyone!

carbuffguy

Noted!

Option 2 - take 'em from your new Kauai friend haha

jv350z

iTrader: (6)

I hate you guys. Favorite place in the world is Maui (west side). and Kauai is right behind. Definitely more laid back.

Congrats!

MicVelo

No, I totally get where yer coming from. There really aren't many places that one can use the full potential of even a stock Z on Kauai. Some open stretches but no kama'aina speeds there (reserved for tourists, laff) so a lot of the stuff I might do for the hills of NorCal or the Tail of the Dragon or track use is worthless on Kauai.


Yep, ours too. We spend a bit less time there now because we're traveling to other places but it's nice to have a fall back place for whenever we want or can get there.