Sorry to hear that, Luna. My wife and I are expecting her sister's family this weekend, and I have to do a whole bunch of cleaning. Not looking forward. My wife's clutter is the main obstacle. :mad:

Morning all! Firing up the Z in a few and off to a doctor visit.

Yeah, looked like rain here at 7:00pm, rained a little shortly after. We just had a sprinkle, I wouldn't have pulled the Z out of the garage because if it.

That is ridiculous, but honestly I would have been a bit thankful. That's because the first time I took the Z in for oil change (it was complimentary even with Mobil 1), I walked behind the service guy pulling the Z into a garage bay when some 18 year old kid waiting in the bay, exclaims "Oh cool! I've never worked on one of these before." :facepalm: They got one more oil change from me cause I got another deal for $30 with Mobil 1 but nothing since.

Does anyone who does their own oil changes take it to the dealer for any of the routine maintenance check ups? I got a call from the dealership manager saying I should be coming up on 15K miles (I laughed since I was almost to 20K at the time) and could bring it in for them to look for things to charge me for :ugh2:

Think about it this way: when it's everyone else's Monday, it'll be your Sunday, right?

Morning Z Fam :hell:

Happy Friday!

Morning Gurney. Sounds like a good weekend :tup:

It's Friday Friday Friday....

The good news, tomorrow is Friday! :happydance:

I would have gladly made an appointment to make sure the right guy is working on my Z. Sucks that the weather isn't cooperating for you. Look at the bright side, you ghetto detail your Z again. :tup:

Good morning Ms.Pint :hello: Have a great day!

Good morning Jar and Mr.onzedge :hello:

:tiphat: What's shakin', Mr. Gale?

A couple of chins and four cheeks. :happydance:

:icon18:

Morning, sir :tiphat:

:roflpuke2::bowrofl::roflpuke2::bowrofl:

Driving the scooby-roo today...wheeeeee

booooooooosssttttt!

Good morning fellas. I'm still here, so that's good.

TGIF.

I hope to pick the S2K up tonight. I'm tired of driving this heap of junk around! It sounds soooo bad.

/\ This. You don't want just any schmo working on your Z. The only one I have that works on my Z is a GTR tech. It's in your best interest...believe me. I've seen some of the crap that those guys have pulled over the years. :shakes head:

good am everyone! :hello: TGIF!

mr.gale- took forever to logon this am for some reason. here is the pict of the e-tape sandwiched
in the arm/holder to prevent rattle on the satechi. i used red so it is easy to see. just tape the
holder clip area and side it into the arm. no more rattles. im going to make a tripod mount later
to work with the arm. :)

http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...92-satechi.jpg

here is how i have it mounted. if you have a passenger chances are her elbow will hit the recorder, so i suggest you have
an alternate mount location just in case you want to take someone along. for me i would just use the real sony mic in such
case, or mount the recorder on the rear bar. :)

http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...11-33-90-1.jpg

Actually, I'm on the road Monday. Half-day training in a salon that's only an hour from home, so not too bad.
I can't complain. I chose to have two jobs. The experiences, the people I meet and the travel opportunities are worth the time commitment. :tup:

hey luna- that's cool. i hate traveling... but my job requiries it so i use to do it every week. local car buddies could not understand why i couldnt make it to their weekly meets. lol unfortunately for me (maybe fortunate for you) i was usually in another state or country typically out 2-4 days at a time, international was usually 10days+

that was also another reason i had a dd... i hate parking my car at the airport long-term parking. :ugh2: sun, rain, bird crap, dings, scratches.. :eekdance:

these days with picking up the kids afterschool and stuff, ive been waivered not to have to travel unless i could or wanted to. i still do one day trips by air off and on, but mostly only visit local customers by car every week that i can be back home in time to do dad duties. :)

Actually, I took my Z in for its 15,000 mile check-up 2 weeks ago but they said that they didn't have a filter for my car so they would order it and notify me when it arrived. That's why I took it to service this morning.

Oh, by the way, I'm thankful. :tup:

it took them 2 weeks to get a frikken oil filter? :rofl2: you need to find a new dealer... :ugh2:

I, or one of my kids, perform virtually all of the maintenance. I follow the maintenance schedule and then some. I had the dealer change my oil last time due to my hand being messed up still -- however, I brought them 6 quarts (I have an oil cooler) of ENEOS and a K&N. They charge me 10 bucks for the labor. I also had them replace my serpentine belt with a Gates belt I provided -- again due to injury and I am at 30,000 miles.

I also take her in for inspections about every 3,500 miles. They are free and it keeps my car in their service records.

yah, unless it's warranty work that i can't fix or can't source the part, i never take my cars to the dealer for service.

for the honda fit i really dont care about the car or feel like spending my time on it, so i will be taking it in for 30K service.

Yeah, detailing my Z is a labor of love! :tup:

I forgot to mention that the wife came home while I was detailing the Z on Wednesday and she said, "Why don't you treat me like that?" I had my Porter Cable buffer in hand and was applying wax. She said, "You should get some devices to work on my body." I presumed that she was talking about massage stuff. I didn't respond with words ... only a preoccupied facial expression. Then, she was like, "You look like you want to get back to what you're doing." I said, "I gotta get this done before night fall." Plus, the mosquitos were starting to attack. :eek: Can I find massage tools at AutoGeek? :tup:

Happy Friday everyone. It's just another workday in paradise.

Good morning Mr.kenchan :hello:

Is it forum troubles that kept you from loggin in, or obligations at work? :icon17:

Thanks for posting the pictures. I'm looking forward to getting things set-up. The pictures help. :excited:

The mount looks like a quality piece. :tup:

TGIF, mr.onzedge! :tup:

taking it easy today too. :p

Good to know.

I am working from home today -- it's a double-edged sword.

I'm not sure why but I was out of town for the last 2 weekends so no biggie. However, you've got me wondering. :ugh2: However, they did make sure that only a Z/GTR tech did the filter work. :tup:

hahaha, yah, both. i had a long day at work yesterday. :icon17: but i was able to do some car stuff in the garage last night so that was :tup:

the satechi is probably one of the best ones out there...but that swivel that can't click to its horizontal detent is :ugh2:

btw, im not sure about the zoom you bought, but my tascam's mic polar pattern (mic's pickup pattern) is directly forward to 90degress perpendicular. so that means it will prioritize sound that is picked up forward of the front seats. since the cabin is small it picks up a lot of the nice exhaust note too :yum: while reducing road noise. :)

if i want more bass frequency of the exhaust i could position the recorder pointing more towards the ceiling, but will also add the rumbling road noise down 25-55hz area. i suggest not using any hi-pass filters or limiter on the recorder and just play with the positions first.

so this weekend i think im going to change my Z's oil... been slacking the last couple of weeks with the gopro experients. :icon17: i already have the oil and filter ready.

i want to get rid of the old oil from my G and partially used dino oils from previous cars out of the garage as well. been too lazy to drop them off at the autoparts store just for that. :icon17:

Someday, I should do something with the multitude of partial oil bottles in my garage. Someday.

hahahaha, i usually use the partials in my Fit, but the partial i found was very old and it being dino oil, didnt feel like putting it in even in the Fit... :ugh2:

i also have old steering and brake fluid too... which reminds me, ive not done the brake fluid change in my G yet this spring. :facepalm: not that the car feels spongy or anything.

Not a bad idea. We've got 100K mile warranty, so it would be nice to have a relationship with someone other than the guy who sold me the car.

So, take the car to the dealership and have them do the routine maintenance inspections and tell you what parts you need. Then say no thanks, drive home, and do the work yourself. :tup:


On another note, I'm think we're going to be looking at replacing the Accord when the clutch finally craps out. When it comes down to it, we enjoyed a solid 80K+ miles in about 4.5 years with minimal repair hassles (the only major repairs were all 100% covered under Honda Care warranty). I can't complain, and I really don't feel like putting half the value of the car back into it at this point to do clutch, paint, and replace the drooping fabric on the interior. My wife really likes the G sedans, but we've also been considering a SUV like the new Explorer or something. I would like something with some power and room, but if it becomes the wife DD, then I don't really care :icon17:

I am lucky in that my dealership's service department is staffed by old Datsun guys and they treat fellow enthusiasts with respect -- even when I brought the Juke in for its complimentary first oil change and inspection.

that might work for you but for me i dont like scheduling an appointment only to have it rain, then have someone that doesnt really care about my car damage the wheels or watever bits cause they dont know how to handle it.

i also dont trust their oil change mechanics as they are usually teens or novice part-timers doing the work (lubes are usually done separate from the real service techs), and having some porter touch my car after the service is done... too many chances of getting damage or scuffs i dont want. :ugh2:

the Fit, who cares, they can do all the work start to fininsh, AND wash the car for me for free. :icon17:

I envy you, sir. :tiphat:


uh oh... not Juke envy again! haha

:tup: wish all dealers were like that. i know for sure the local nissan dealership here is exactly NOT that. :icon17::icon14::eekdance:

sounds good! :tup: i too like the current gen G-sedan (im not much of a sedan or minivan or suv guy so i think they did a good job). i think if i had to get a sedan i'd probably get the TSX 4banger with 6MT though. and lower it, run wider 19's, an axleback or something. :) i'll probably drive the thing everywhere taking night shots and stuff.

I'm definitely not as concerned as a lot of guys about the rain issue, but everything else you mention is precisely why I haven't been back to the dealer :shakes head: