Captain Obvious

Matt, It's awesome the way your car turned out. I enjoyed the videos as well! One thing on the video... When you had the camera mounted behind the left rear wheel, is it my imagination, or are you getting a little wheel wobble? Might just be the raised lettering on the tire tricking the eye, but I'm thinking you might have some runout on that rear hub. I'm probably just imagining things, but you might want to stick an indicator on the corner and see what you get?

And to test the possibility of a primer button helping your hot-start, you could just pull the starter solenoid wire and run the pump for some time with the key in the START position. Then after you're convinced that the fuel lines have been purged, you can reconnect that wire and then try to start the engine. Of course, it's kind of a negative test... If it doesn't start, you know priming didn't help. But if it DOES start, you won't know for sure if it would have started even if you DIDN'T purge. But it's an easy way to mess around with it anyway.

Jim, Thanks for digging into the Millington thing. Did you happen to ask the ZCON Facebook folks if there was a shuttle available to the people's choice show? (I'm guessing since you have your car there it wasn't at the top of your mind...) I agree about the venue and the timing. Twelve unfamiliar miles away and the timing is tight. I hope the hotel's water system can handle just about every room taking a shower at 5:00 on Saturday eve. If you do want to take your car to the people's choice portion of the show (and I sure would if I were you), I'd be happy to give you a hand loading your car before the banquet. Bug out of the show a little early and maybe another pair of hands will be enough to allow you to go and still get loaded in time for the banquet? And I take the blame for the derailment. I kinda turned the thread into "all things ZCON 2015".

Yeah, I was considering staying off-site as well to save $$, but went with the Hilton. I think there are a couple other hotels in the immediate area... Would you like me to poke around online and see what I can come up with?

Yeah, that's me... Superstar. In all honesty it's actually a cost issue. I ran the numbers with me driving and with me flying, and it comes in about the same. The cost of gas for my Z plus the hotel stays on each end to break up the travel days (because I can't pound the pavement and do it all in one day like I used to) make it pretty much the same cost as plane tickets. And with the plane, I don't lose two days just travelling. Alone. On Route 81. Forever. Just me and trucks. And I agree that an airport makes a suitable location for a car show. I'm just surprised that there is absolutely no mention of the location on the ZCON website. "We're having a people's choice car show on Saturday, but we're not telling you where." That's why I'm wondering if I just missed that detail somewhere. Car show at an airport... Sounds like lots and lots of pavement and very little shade. Bring your sunscreen, water to drink, a hat, and maybe even an umbrella. If you're parking a car there, maybe you want to bring your little portable pop-up canopy?

Thanks for the shuttle confirmation. I figured they had one. If they didn't, I was thinking of putting out a request to the members here for a pickup. I travel light. Would have no trouble putting my bag in the back of a Z. So the ZCON website (schedule page >> http://zccazconvention.com/conventions/2015/?page_id=12 ) clearly indicates that the judged show is on Friday on Beale St. But I've looked the site over again and I can't find any reference to the Saturday show location or any talk about transportation to that portion. Am I the only one who never heard of the Millington Regional Jetport? And I would be surprised if I were the only one flying in for the event!

Thanks scarguy055, Not sure if I found the correct place... I found the Millington Regional Jetport in Millington, TN. >> http://www.millingtonregionaljetport.com/ It's like twelve miles north out of Memphis? Kinda surprised it's so far away... Do you know if there is transportation included as part of the event from the hotel to the show? For those of us not bringing our Z?

So I was looking at the schedule of events and I'm wondering... Where is the "People’s Choice Car Show" on Saturday? Is that also at Beale St (like the Friday show the night before) or is it at the hotel parking lot? Or somewhere else completely? Also, here's what showed up on the first sweep of my microbrew radar: Boscos - http://www.boscosbeer.com/ 2120 Madison Ave. Ghost River Brewing Co. - http://ghostriverbrewing.com/ 827 S Main St High Cotton Brewing Company - http://highcottonbrewing.com/ 598 Monroe Ave Memphis Made Brewing - http://www.memphismadebrewing.com/ 768 S. Cooper St. Wiseacre Brewing Co. - http://wiseacrebrew.com/2783 Broad Ave.

Thanks for the info guys. Chuck, I couldn't get to any pics of your car though. FB has tightened up their security in the past few years and I couldn't find anything. Do you have the pics uploaded to a photo acct somewhere?

So about carpets and such... I'm thinking about changing my carpet color to something that was never stock, and I'm thinking that I might want a non-year accurate loop pile in my car (even though my car should have cut pile). Bottom line is that I'm not sure I'll be able to find what I'm looking for from any of the pre-cut commercial suppliers. In other words, I might be looking for custom cut carpet Anyone here done such a thing? Should I be looking for a rug store, or an upholstery shop? I bet I could cut the carpet to the correct basic shape myself, but then I need the edges sewn... Again, anyone have any experience with such an undertaking? PS - Siteunseen, Nice avatar pic. I've noticed that it's been rolling around topically in the past week or two.

Hoping to see your car Bryan. I've always said MEM-fis. I'll try to adjust to MEM PHUS by the time I get there.

Haha! Nice! I wonder of your neighbors saw that movie. We have a pool... And a pond. The pond would be good for you.

"Don't play games with me Ty! Put that steering wheel over here where it belongs and get this outta here!"

HAHA! Well I also thought it was Frank Zappa, so who knows! Charles and Steve, I'll send you guys a message so we can swap contact info.

Madkaw, One of the things that I plan to check out while there is "The Shrine to the Gods of Keepin' 'Em on the Rail" http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/04/shrine-to-the-rail/ You're a train guy, right? I'd be happy to have some company for the excursion. I'm not sure how much real train content there is as part of the sculpture/art, but I'd like to see it.

Thanks Jim for indulging us (me?). I think it's a good idea to discuss things to do and places to meet up while we're there and I've been wanting to get into some of this stuff for a while and just haven't. If you think we should start a new thread for that kind of stuff, just say the word and I'll get on that. In the meantime... Since I'm a Yankee, I'm thinking it might be important to at least familiarize myself with some of the local customs and idiosyncrasies. Just so I don't stand out quite as stark. And as part of that endeavor, I turned up the following: You're so Memphis If: >> http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2011/12/youre-so-memphis-if/ A lof of them are portable to other places, but some of them are very specific and I'm assuming very local. Here's some of my favorites. I have already looked into the story behind some of them, but I haven't researched them all (yet): – When you're 1500 miles away and you still use "Dave Brown" as shorthand for "the weatherman".– You know that the Ford dynasty is not a new model of American car.– You've lived here your whole life and have never seen Graceland in person.– You can finish this sentence: "Get the dope out your veins…"– You hear the number "201" in any context and cringe.– Getting an email from Prince Mongo makes your month.– If you say "might could" or "might should".– If you've ever called JAM-JAM1. Bonus points if you referred to the time zone in Memphis as "Capt. D's Time."

I think that used to be Huggy Bear's car. I never should have called your bluff! I think I can smell the weed from here!

Yeah, Beale Street is on my agenda as well. You're not going to walk around shirtless the whole time we're there, are you? And about dope in you vein... I already knew the answer. It was a test was for you! So is all this chatter considered a derail of the original thread intent? I'm hoping not...

I'll take a look at the Stax later tonight. Thanks for the link. Here's some stuff I found while poking around on-line: 100 things to do in Memphis: http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/05/100-places-to-go-in-memphis/ And 100 things to eat in Memphis: http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/05/100-things-to-eat-in-memphis/ And apparently you should know how to finish the sentence: "Get dope out your vein…"

Sorry to be the outlier with technology. Sounds like I won't be able to do the walkie-talkie thing. However, I got your PM, put your info in my flip-phone classic and sent you PM back!

Oooooh. That's a good point. I guess if you tell me it really happened, I won't call you to see if it's a bluff! I don't remember seeing anything quite that, umm, "striking" when I was at your shop though. I'm sure I would have remembered such a sight.

Nah. Just a resistor in parallel with the coil winding to help reduce the flyback voltage spike when you turn it off. Kinda like the flyback/freewheeling diode, but burns a little bit of current even when the coil is energized. Bad side, burns more power. Good side, cheaper, more reliable, and it doesn't care about coil polarity.

Thanks guys. Sounds like my 77 is supposed to have cut pile, but it also sounds like it's no big deal if I decide I like the loop better. Chuck, "My 1971 Fairlady Z has blue shag with purple velour on everything else." Pics or it didn't happen!

I'm supposed to get in on Thursday at about 4PM. I haven't arranged any transportation from the airport to the hotel, but I'm hoping the hotel offers a shuttle. Cliff (or anyone else interested), Do you want me to wait for you before I start any sort of brewery crawl? I'll need something interesting to do on Thursday eve, but I could probably find something that doesn't include a brewery if I thought about it real hard. Some other ideas? I've never been to Graceland. Is it something I really need to see while in the area or can I leave it off my bucket list? I'm thinking I could do without, but if it's really really something that everyone should visit if they get that close... then I'll reconsider. How about a driving tour to see the"Birthplace Of The American Blues?" Legend has it that the American blues was born when Robert Johnson met the devil at "the crossroads" and sold his soul in exchange for phenomenal guitar prowess. There's apparently controversy and contention over the exact location of the crossroads at which this event supposedly took place, but all of them are within a 100 mile drive of Memphis. Would be cool to have some pics of each of the possible locations. Would be even cooler if there was a Z in the background.

When did they change from the loop pile to the cut pile? I've got cut pile in my 77 but I don't think it's original. I think a PO put it in and it's just OK. I'd like something better. I like the look and durability of the loop pile though as opposed to the cut. Anyone think it would be a huge mistake to use loop pile in my car (that I'm assuming is supposed to have cut)?