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Gary in NJ

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Blog Entries posted by Gary in NJ

  1. Gary in NJ

    Time To Drive

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    I didn't drive the my Z much in the last two months. The temperatures were very hot (90+) and my stone driveway fell into disrepair due to years of wear-n-tear and a large storm in late July that washed away most of the stone leaving a very dusty driveway. My driveway is 1/4-mile long, so this was a big deal to me.
    I spent the month of August deciding what to do with the driveway and I decided to resurface it with a combination of asphalt in the critical areas that washout (like hills and turns) and I used recycled millings on the flat straight sections.
    After having a stone/dust driveway for 15 years, I now have a nice clean driveway. Now that its September and the temperatures are pleasant, I plan to drive the Z a bit more often.
    My wife thinks I put so much money into the driveway just for the Z. She'd be right.
  2. Gary in NJ

    Winter Maintenance

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    Yes, it's mid-July but I'm already thinking about winter maintenance. Why? Because it sounds much better then "I don't want to do that now, so I'll put it off to later".
    The list continues to grow and then shrink. For example, I had on my list to build new speaker boxes with new speakers because I had a speaker that I knew wouldn't last too much longer. But my son changed my plans when he cranked up the volume on 30+ year-old speakers.
    Some of my items were just too annoying (and simple) to wait; like mirrors that would droop every time I closed a door.
    Things get added as they are discovered as long as they don't affect drivability. Upgrading my non-working clock to a Zclock unit is on the list as is a new inner shift boot and a few firewall grommets. Added to the list just today is an R/T diff mount. Doesn't need to be done, but I'd sure like a stable differential.
    But the true reason for the winter maintenance task list is this; it keeps in touch with the Z during those months when I just can't drive the car due to salt-n-sand on the road. And boy do they love to spread that stuff here in NJ.
    If I can get everything apart in January, get parts in February, and button it all up in March, I be ready for that first great day in April.
  3. Gary in NJ

    The Waive

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    As I was driving through town (a town of 2,000 - so it's a small town) this afternoon, heading towards some of my favorite twisty roads, I saw a blue 370Z coming the opposite direction. Being a motorcyclist, I figured I'd gave him "the waive".
    To my amazement, he understood why he got the waive and gave me a thumbs-up and a waive back. It was nearly 90 degrees out, so I was even amazed that his windows were open.
    That someone driving a modern spam-can understood the connection between his blue modern marvel, and my blue classic, truly made my day.
  4. Gary in NJ

    Where ever you go, that's a car show

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    My ten year-old and I took a ride this evening after dinner. Our first stop was for fuel. While filling the car I got a few "nice car" and "what year?" comments. Colin likes the attention, so he'll yell back "thanks" and "it's a '72 240".
    We drove the perfect country roads for a bit; me enjoying the beautiful sound of a straight-6 and he enjoying Pokemon on his Gameboy. I just love driving at partial throttle and then lightly giving the car throttle; returning to part throttle and then lifting my foot off the accelerator. The sounds are just so entertaining.
    Our next stop was the local Dairy Queen. While enjoying our ice cream (parked conspicuously right in front) I see kids young and old pointing at the car. I particularly like it when someone will come up and tell me their Z story from 30 or 40 years ago. Tonight I even got asked "what year is your RX-7" Before Colin could set 'em straight I told him "it's a 72" - they don't know the difference anyway. He turned to his son and said, "see, I told you". Anything I can do to help.
    If you want to remain anonymous in NJ, don't drive a 240Z. It's a rare sight and people want to let you know they like the car.
    I've owned nice motorcycles and a homebuilt aircraft (an RV-6) but none of those attracted the compliments that this 240 does.
    I can't wait until the next time I drive the car, hopefully later this week if the weather holds out. Another car show awaits.
  5. Gary in NJ

    GeersZ

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    I got my personalized plates today - GEERSZ. Like all vanity plates, there is a special meaning to this license plate.
    One could look at this plate and pronounce it "Jersry" - and I hope everyone gets it, and pronounces it correctly.
    But the true meaning goes back almost 30 years. John, my college roommate went by the nickname of Geers (pronounced jeers). The license plate on his Z was GEERS1. Since Geers honored me by letting me take ownership of this car, I thought it would be a fitting homage to name the car after him, while having the hidden meaning of my state of residence.
    GEERSZ truly is a special car. Not because of its beauty. Not because of its rarity in NJ. It's special because it represents more then friendship. GEERSZ represents brotherhood.
    Geers could have sold this car to anyone. It's a highly desirable car. He sold it to me because he knew how much it would mean to me and our friendship.
  6. Gary in NJ

    Awesomeness

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    I thought I'd look at the antenna to determine why it wasn't working. I went to remove the rivets holding the plastic panel that covers the antenna only to discover there was only 2 of 15 rivets on the drivers side panel and 5 of 10 on the pax side. So I went to Ace Hardware and got #10 trim fasteners, drywall anchors and o-rings. Squeaks are gone. BTW, I discovered I can manually raise and lower the antenna. Two problems resolved.
    While driving the car to a lacrosse game today I thought to myself "this car is friggin' awesome." And it is. It is everything I remember from my old Z, and everything I wish my old Z could be.
  7. Gary in NJ

    Music to my ears

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    I washed, waxed & detailed the car today. Not that it needed it, I just wanted to. You never really know a car until you've spend time touching every detail. I also installed a much needed arm rest from MSA. I also installed an Alpine CDE-103BT stereo. I wired the ashtray in the center console for iPod/iPhone connectivity (might as well get some use out of it) and put a Bluetooth mic in the visor. There were some center console fitment issues that I corrected too.
    After a few weeks of closing the doors with lubed strikers and pins, they now close with little effort.
  8. Gary in NJ

    So far so good

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    I cleaned the engine of several years of flung oil from the past oil leak and detailed the engine bay. I reinstalled the alternator and retimed the engine using my newly painted timing marks. While I was at it I changed engine oil and oil filter.
    I ran the engine for 15 minutes to see if the oil leak returned. So far so good.
  9. Gary in NJ

    The Easy Button

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    I was preparing to remove the harmonic balancer to replace the front oil seal. Although the engine was wet with oil, I took a look at the area around the HB and noticed it was dirty, but dry. I then rag-checked the area behind the HB and confirmed it was dry - not leaking. I cleaned the engine and ran it for 10 minutes. I noticed the engine was wet in the vicinity of the oil pump and alternator bracket. The pooling seemed to be most significant under/near where the alternator mount bolts to the engine block.
    I removed the alternator and the bracket and cleaned up the area with a rag. Just to be sure it wasn't the oil pump I put a torque wrench on the four bolts and checked them at 13 ft/lbs (the spec is 11 to 15). I got a click on all of them. The timing cover was a different story. I started checking the bolts that weren't suspected of leaking and found they could all use about a 1/4 turn. The one just above the wet zone took a full two turns. The one just below took almost a full turn. It would appear that the significant oil leak was the result of two loose bolts on the timing cover.
    That was a heck of a lot easier then replacing a front seal.
  10. Gary in NJ

    Results

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    Set points (dwell @37 degrees), set timing (@5 degrees BTC), final-adjustment and balance of carbs, set low idle, set fast balance at 3000 rpm, installed a stock air box & filter, repaired vacuum leak on the balance tube and put all vacuum hoses back to correct position on air box. The flow-guide valve vacuum hose was missing as was the breather hose. Fuel filter was replaced. The engine tune-up is complete.
    Engine runs perfectly throughout entire rpm range. Drives well. When the harmonic balancer is off for front oil seal replacement, I will paint the timing marks to make future ignition timing easier.
    I removed the spare tire to clean the spare tire well. Upon inspection I discovered that the spare tire is an unused original Bridgestone RD-150. A collectors wet dream.
  11. Gary in NJ

    This is getting fun

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    I began a full tune-up including adjustment of valve lash. Installed new spark plugs, points (lubed cam), condenser, cap, rotor and ignition wires. I also installed a drivers window crank clip.
    The intake valves were too tight, the exhaust valves were on spec or close. Three intake valves were at .003, one at .004 and one at .005. Three exhaust valves were on spec at .010 and the others were at .009. I suspect the rough running engine was a result of low rpm valve float on the three cylinders with .003" of intake valve lash. Due to the general lack of combustion in this engine, the spark plugs looked OK.
    Every little thing I do to this car brings it that much closer to being a perfect car. I can't explain the joy it brings me to work on this 40 year-old machine. It truly is a treat.
    First off, its great to use tools that I forgot I owned for several decades. But there is an honesty in the machinery. I give it something, and it gives me something back.
    I'm starting to really remember why I loved my first Z.
  12. Gary in NJ

    Not Ready to Jump In and Go

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    I disassembled, cleaned, inspected, rebuilt and performed the initial adjustment and balance of the SU Carbs. Greased/lubed door pins and all chassis pivot points. Checked dwell (28 degrees) - not even close. The floor mat is interfering with throttle movement.
    Upon disassembly of the carbs I discovered very dirty float bowls. The lower surface of both carbs had a coating of varnish and a lot of sand-like material. The floats were set too high; all the way at the top of the cover (should be 14mm from the top of the float to the bottom of the cover). That explains the rich mixture. The rear carb float was not in a level attitude. There was a lot of carbon on both the front and rear carb pistons & chambers. The piston on the rear carb had poor movement.
    I cut out a notch in driver floor mat to correct throttle movement. Doors now close nicely.
  13. Gary in NJ

    Now THIS is a Z

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    The car was delivered to my home on April 24th, 2010. 17 miles are shown on the odometer however the actual mileage is unknown (to me). Common sense says 300,017, but condition says less.
    The body of this car is damn-near perfect with no surface rust. There are some slight "waves" in pax door. Both doors are hard to close. The interior could use some attention. There is loose fitting trim and the plastic in the hatch area is not playing well together. Need to repair choke lever, driver window crank, pax window movement, throttle boot and the fan knob. Needs a friggin' arm rest.
    The car runs poorly. It appears to be running wizz-rich and is very rough running throughout entire rpm range. Needs a complete tune-up. The airbox is incorrect and contributing to the poor running engine (no air horns). Throttle only moves 1/4 travel. Leaks oil like the Exxon Valdez. Shifts through the gears fine. The car tracks straight and the alignment is correct. All systems work with the exception of the horn, stereo (cassette) and electric antenna.
  14. Gary in NJ

    A New Beginning

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    The year was 1981. I was a freshman in college and my roommate John purchased a semi-ratty 1973 240Z. It was a nice car but I never gave the car much thought. Soon after purchasing this car my roommate allowed our third roommate to borrow the Z. Said third roommate had an accident with the Z. It was probably the best thing that ever happened to that car. Over the course of a few months John’s father (who owned his own auto repair business) repaired and restored the car. What John got back changed my view of the 240Z forever.
    I was in love with John’s 240Z and I knew that I had to have one. At the time nice examples were selling for $2,000 to $3,000 – way beyond what I could afford. At the time I was driving a rusted ’69 Camaro (250/3-speed manual) that cost me $400.
    About a year went by and I wanted a 240Z more then ever. During the summer of ‘83 I got a call from my roommate John. He told me that there was a 240Z for sale in his town that he “knew” had to be sold because the owner lost his license and his mother wanted the car gone. I drove down to his house and we went (uninvited) to look at the car. The car was rough. It was missing quite a few body parts from the front end. I noted they were stuffed in the back. Someone attempted to paint this car like a Bob Sharp racing Z, it was red below the belt-line and blue above. But the colors were all wrong because it was really maroon and sky-blue. On the positive side the interior was near perfect and it had a custom cabinet in the back that held speakers, reading lights, eq/power boost and a CB radio. It sounds hokey, but it was a cool cabinet.
    Without knowing if the car even started I approached the front door of the house and knocked on the door. “How much for the Z?” The young owner stepped outside and whispered “it’s not for sale”. From upstairs his mother screamed “it is for sale, sell it!”
    I drove away with a Series I ’71 240Z and a car-load of parts – all for $1,100. That evening each of those parts found their way back onto the car. In just a few weeks I had it running perfectly and looking good. I loved that car (but not the paint job). The front end wasn’t quite right, but all of its problems were concealed behind a front-end bra.
    This car has a full Ansa exhaust that just sang a beautiful song. In no time I “bonded” with this car and like may 20 year olds, the car became a big part of my life. Even in 1983, a 240 was unique and a real head turner. Given this cars extroverted appearance, it garnished its fair share of attention.
    As luck would have it, in February of ’84 I too suffered a “lucky” accident as someone hit my car and the front end was replaced, giving my car perfect bodywork. I begged the body shop to give me a quote to repaint the entire car (I so badly wanted my Z painted Porsche Guards Red like the 944’s of the day) but they said it was a project they’d rather not get involved in. They perfectly matched the maroon and sky-blue paint and off I drove with my Z.
    While the car was in the shop I had them add a large front air dam. As soon I got the car back I added clear headlight covers, driving lights and a rear window louver.
    That car was everything to me. On my first date with the woman that would become my wife, even she commented “this is a nice car” – and she could care less about such things. My red-on-blue 240Z is a fond early memory of our relationship.
    In the spring ’85 I was pulling into the parking lot of the residence hall and someone stopped me. “Nice car! How much?” I threw out a ridiculous figure of $3,500 and this stranger said “I’ll take it”. A few days later I had $3,500 in my hand, watching someone drive off with my pride and joy. I knew it was a mistake at the time.
    For years, maybe a decade, I mourned the loss of my Z. And everyone knew it. Whenever the subject of cool cars came up, I always found a way to mention my 240. In the early 90’s I purchased a 260Z and drove it for a few days, but it was a rat and I convinced the gentleman that I purchased it from to buy it back from me. I gave up the dream of owning a Z. The Z’s were and are still dear to my heart, but the dream was over.
    But not so for John. He became fairly successful and began his own personal car collection. One of his prize possessions is a well restored ’72 240Z that he has owned since 2005. He is the second owner of car that has spent the first 33-years of its life in California – the land of rust-free Z’s.
    Unfortunately for John, his priorities changed and he needed to shed some of his cars. Luckily for me, he thought of me when he thought of a good home for his 240. He called me and asked if I would “take custody” of his Z. Of course I said yes.
    Z dream is alive again

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