Drove the Z for the first time since April :vuvuzela:

Blurred proof attached :driving:

So, how did it feel to be behind the wheel again? :driving:

Amazing. Mostly the same as before, except lighter :D

I am whole again :driving:

So I'm in the process of removing my door handles to send to paint and I realized.. What do I do while they're at the body shop for a few days? I obviously won't be driving the car but it does stay outside with a car cover. Will I be able to open and shut the doors if I have to move the car at least lol? Or should I just purchase another set of door handles?

If its a problem: Buy another set and have those painted. Then swap.

out for the night

http://i63.tinypic.com/339jdsi.jpg

Got e-tuned this weekend with EcuTek software. My car feels more natural if that makes sense.

Still trying to figure out how my pops and bangs mapping works.

Had a tire go low in pressure yesterday while at car wash. Aired it up and today looked ok. Went by dealer to have oil changed w a $20 coupon offer. Had them check the tire and they found a small crack about 1/2 long on the inside of the rim. Suggested a new rim but, one of the techs knows of a shop that can weld it before buying a new rim. Called them and dropped off the rim, its $125 and will get it back in 1-2 days. While they had the car up, they found my front left control arm is broken and needs replacing, the one on the right is fine. They recommended replacing both for $1k and then doing an alignment.
They also recommended to have the differential fluid replaced since the car has 103k miles.

Told him to write it up for me to review and have Kevin at Austin Z Clinic inspect it and give me a quote for the work.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Ian B

Rim repair is typical price. If you are replacing control arms, I recommend upgrading as it will give you more alignment flexibility and it’ll handle better. Labor should be three hours or less plus alignment, so $350-400 plus cost of parts.

Which control is broken. Upper or lower? And if it's broken, how are you driving the car?

Car is driving fine. I believe its the lower one. Here is a picture of it.

Ian B

Ok, lower ball joint is going bad. With the Z. You have to buy the whole lower arm to get the ball joint. You just can't get the ball joint.

Thanks for the info, any idea on price for oem lower arm and labor hours??

Tia,

Ian B

To replace the lower control arm. Remove one bolt and pop the ball joint stud out of the steering knuckle. Remove 2 bolts in the front bushing. Remove 2 bolts in the rear bushing. Arm falls out. Figure about an hour for the swap if the guy doing is half good. No idea on price for labor and parts.

Thanks for info, that will give me a start.

Ian B

Dang it. Stupid truck threw a rock at my car. Noop, the windshield didn't survive. I have a chip and it has already started to spread. Not happy. They may be able to fix it with the fancy machine but it is in my field of vision. Wonder if I should just let it spread and get a new one. The front window tint will have to be redone. Aggravated...

Will your insurance cover it?

They should. I have everything but the kitchen sink. LOL

Had a crack found in my rear left rim when doing oil change at the dealer. Had it welded and got the rim today. Solid weld, they refinished the rim. Got it mounted and drove it to work. Looks great.

Ian B

Finally got around to bedding in my new pads and rotors. Holy smokes! Literally!

These brakes nearly pull your face off of your skull. I took my girlfriend with me, and when we got done, she had to take some Tums when we got home!

Upgrading to the Sport calipers, slotted rotors and StopTech pads was definitely worth it.

Also, to finish off last night's bed-in process, after doing the highway traveling and such for the cool down in between both bed-in procedures, we ended back at this same road, which is a closed road out in the middle of nowhere that leads back to a facility where there's ZERO traffic, ZERO side roads, plenty of street lights (a.k.a - very well lit), and with a perfectly straight, flat, and smooth 1.5 mile section. It's the perfect location for doing testing and stuff like that without endangering anyone. We encountered no one out there except for two dudes on bikes all three times when we went out there.

Anyway, those two dudes on crotch rockets went flying past us at one point in the other direction (2 lanes each way). When we came back through after the last cool down session, they were sitting on the side of the road, standing by their bikes chatting. One of them casually waved when we drove by. I made a U-turn all the way down at the other end of that straight where they were at. In 2nd gear doing about 30 mph, we came around the bend to the straight. With no one around except for those two dudes down towards the other end, I opened the ole' girl up to stretch her legs a bit... Redline into 3rd, redline into 4th, redline into 5th (with a loud, solid exhaust "POP!" between up-shifts), then into 6th just for that extra up-shift "pop" out of the exhaust right on front of them. Blew by them at almost 150 mph before braking. They were both giving us thumbs up when we went by. My girlfriend actually kept her eyes open the entire time! LOL

I laid on the brakes before the turn ahead, not nailing them like before obviously, but hard enough. Very smooth, very controlled braking. I also noticed that after doing the bedding-in, the pedal feels a bit firmer and the brakes are a bit bitier now. And no more brake squeal when coming to a slow stop like they had started doing. :tup:

All in all, a fun-filled 50 mile round trip last night! I just wish I was one of those guys on the side of the road. I would love to have heard my car outside like that at full tilt. I know it sounded pretty damn good inside!

Sat im traffic for an hour to get to work. Bad drivers at their finest

Oh also drove home in snow and slush last weekend. That was fun

Drove the Z to work today for the first time in months :driving:

Don't pay any mind to the filthy wheels. There's a couple of cats at my work that wonder around in the back parking lot and last night they decided to hose down both mine and my boss's Mercedes wheels. I guess we got :owned: by pussy. LOL

Anywho, here's a look at the freshly bedded brakes. You can still see the hash marks on the rear rotors (to be expected), but not on the front rotors anymore.

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...54846658-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...54846659-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...54846661-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...54846728-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...54846662-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...54846663-5.jpg

My brother and I washed our cars today (it's beautiful out), my Z and his new Alfa. Detailed inside and out, ready for the huge Central FL Z Club meet tonight at Ace Cafe in Orlando. :tup:

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...56961812-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...56961993-5.jpg

And a few pics from the meet tonight...

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...57470373-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...57470378-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...57470385-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...57470463-5.jpg

https://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s/...57470453-5.jpg

Washed the Nismo today and before I got done it started raining. LOL It was so dirty I just said the heck with it and finished.

Got my front and rear bumpers repainted today. The previous owner never washed off a single bug from front bumper and did a piss poor job of bondo work in rear left fender corner

Ian B

Finally took her home after more than a year in storage... she's in good company now.

Sorry for the $h*tty pic. It was late.

Took mine thru a touchless on the weekend. Then went back to bed

I looked at mine in the garage as I was leaving for work this AM. I need to find a day to put it away for the winter which includes: wash, wax, fill tank, add Sea-Foam, rearrange garage, attach Battery Tender and finally place the cover on "oh so gently". God, this time of the year sucks...

Was finally able to wash about 2.5 weeks of road grime off the car (water issues here) and installed the track wheels to make sure the 71Rs are still good to go for later this year.

And since I had to bring something to work for a co-worker, I actually drove today. (I also wanted to be cool with my 71Rs like this GTR)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Xd...w1698-h1274-no

Mine won't fit. Tires too wide. :tup:

I got to find time to do mind too. :shakes head:

:iagree: I've done all of the above ( sea foam & battery tender too ) plus put on blocks, removed tires & wheels and wiped down the under body & suspension !
I've got about 20hrs in to it :ugh2:

56 BelAir in the background? :tup::tup:

I really need to wash mine on my day off. Maybe Sunday i will. Good thing about central GA though is no snow, so I can drive all year round.

That may change for the next couple of years.

Yeah right. We got the first snow in 30 years last year. We are good for another 30. LOL

While not today, dragonbreath and I returned from our second Tougefest Sunday. It's nice having an excuse to get up to Fontana Village every six months or so. Once a year for ZDayZ just isn't enough. We did A LOT of driving and there are so many good, fun roads up there. Plus, the area is even more beautiful in the fall because of the leaves turning color.