a good day

[go z racer, go]

I just, well actually, me and my best friend just finished dropping in my rebuilt L6...polished and painted it up real nice too, and then......

We both do a once over. Everything looks good to go. I wipe my filthy hands, grab my keys and turn her over, nothing! Okay, no problem. I look again at my starter and battery...looks good. I have my friend try while I look on. I notice now that it wont even turn! I checked my connections. I check them again. To my horror it all checks out. I was hoping to find a loose connection, a frayed wire, anything.

My friend removes the spark plugs, ALL 6 cylinders are filled with coolant!....Now, after spending boocoo hours (and bucks) I slipped into a zombie like state...my best friend then offered to take me out for a beer, I said no, but he said I owed him since he sacrificed his Saturday to assist me with my Z, so I took a shower while he watched TV; so I thought.

He was on my phone laughing his head off to his girl friend. I was pissed. He then tells me he just heard the funniest story. I was in no mood. He insisted. I started to lock the house up. As he followed me he told me about this guy who had secretly filled coolant into cylinders of his unsuspecting friends Z while he was gone-in mad dash to return the cherry picker. It took me second or two, but when the lights came on I was on the floor in tears, that was the best dirty trick. The best ever The best trick in our twenty-two years of friendship.

Needles to say, when we removed the plugs this time, I turned over the engine and watched the coolant shoot some thirty feet across the yard, yup, all over my house. No biggy though, as I was grinning from ear to ear, once my Z came to life!

So, how was your day?

[240znz]

I did one worse with my Mini Copper once. I had just rebuilt the engine and got it running sweet. Drove it to work and parked it downhill. Tried to start it and just a wrah..wrah.wrah sound and the starter motor couldn't turn it anymore...scratch head...kick foot...scratch head. Pulled a spark plug and hit the starter solenoid...fuel shot out of the cylinder...did the same for the remaining 3 plugs.

Turned out that the fuel gravity from the tank was enough to open the Weber needle valve and slowly but surely my new engine filled with fuel...yep sump and all...all those new oil seals...and remember that the gearbox sits directly underneath the crank so every bearing was now lubed with petrol.

Sold that car 3 weeks later, lucky to someone who wanted a parts car...trashed.

Never buy a Mini. They are bricks