Sean240Z

Part 2- Devil’s Tower, Montana On the US-89 Sunset Photos Me and the Z

Part 1 - Wow! What a trip! We finally made it to Cold Lake, Alberta after 9 days and 3,200 miles / 5,100 km. The Z ran great. We often ran at 80-90mph with no significant problems. The only issues I ran into were wrt the carb mixture. I last set the carb mixture in Florida in January; consequently, they were running rich at +5,000 ft, and 104 degF in Montana. I also had an idiot let his car door go and scratch the paint on my drivers door :mad:. I got his insurance info so now I've got to sort that out. My favorite parts of this trip were driving through the Badland National Park in South Dakota and the two-day drive from Rapid City, South Dakota to Great Falls, Montana. Over the two days between Rapid City and Great Falls we drove over some fantastic roads with spectacular scenery and got to take in two awesome sunsets. We started out by heading to Mount Rushmore. We stopped on the road to Mount Rushmore and took some pics and then proceeded to the Crazy Horse Monument. The visit to Crazy Horse was awesome. They’ve been working on it for 50 years, and it’ll probably take another 100 to finish. The Visitor’s Center there was really well done. As a bonus, it’s free admission for active duty military. We then proceeded south then east and took the Needles Highway Scenic Drive (SD-87) in Custer State Park. This road was fantastic, though a little narrow at times with quite a bit of traffic. Quite a few hairpin turns with some spectacular views once you get to the summit. Then it was US-16 (another fun open road) through Hill City (where my door got bashed :mad: ) and on to Lead. We then went south-east on US-85 to the Spearfish Canyon Highway (14A). This was another awesome road (highly recommended) as it follows the Spearfish River towards I-90. We then put the pedal down on I-90 to get to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming before sunset. Highways US-14 and WY-24 on the way too and from Devil’s Tower were a blast. As we were getting to Devil’s Tower late in the day there was no one on the road. I loved this road as it twisted and rolled through the Wyoming county side. We got to Devil’s Tower just before sunset and got some really nice pics. We then left Devil’s Tower and spent the night in Sheridan, Wyoming. The next day was STINKING HOT (no a/c)!!!! Records were set as we proceeded through Billings, Montana. I believe the high was 104 deg F. Fortunately, I didn’t find it too bad as the humidity was quite low. It did feel like a blast furnace though, when I stuck my arm out the window. We blasted on I-90 until we exited onto US-89 (GOGRIZ91 thank you, thank you, thank you for the recommendation!!!!) towards Great Falls, Montana. US-89 was an incredible road. With a 70 mph limit you don’t loose much time vice taking the interstate and the roads and scenery were spectacular. We took in another fantastic sunset to finish off an awesome two days of driving. The next two days were pretty boring but we are now in Cold Lake, Alberta, waiting for our furniture to arrive. I also reached a milestone on this journey. When I bought my 240Z in 1991 (my senior year in high school) it had 71,000 miles on the odometer. Today, my odometer rolled through 142,000 miles. I have now driven more miles on my Z than all previous owners combined. It’s now truly my Z Thanks to all of you for your recommendations. This was definitely an unforgettable journey which I was fortunate enough to take in my 240Z. Below are a few pics from Badland National Park. Mount Rushmore, South Dakota Crazy Horse Monument (for an idea of scale, the four heads of Mount Rushmore would fit inside Crazy Horses head) Needles Scenic Highway

Thanks very much Jim. I appreciate the offer. Today we drove from Sioux Falls, SD to Rapid City, SD. Along the way we visited Badlands National Park, which was awesome. I've got some great pics which I'll upload when I get a chance. Tomorrow should be an awesome driving day with a lot of scenic byways, on our way to Wyoming by way of Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and Devil's Tower.

gogriz91 - thanks for the advice. I modified our route to take US89. Yesterday we drove through NW Missouri and then Iowa. Wow, and I thought Arkansas was flat!! This was the most boring day of driving so far. I am looking forward to today and tomorrow. Today we'll be visiting Badlands National Park. Tomorrow Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and then Devil's Tower. We're taking the scenis route on this section of the trip so I'm hoping for some nice roads and a few good pics. Cheers,

Thanks George. I was really hoping that the Z Convention would have happened a little earlier in the year. I don't think I'll be making another 3,000 mile trip to Florida in the Z in the next little while . I really enjoyed the two ZFests I attended in Orlando and the Mitty Classic at Road Atlanta. I enjoyed getting to know you, Chris, Dave, Carl and others. Well day two and three are in the book. Day 2 was great. We spent the day in Memphis and spent 5+ hours at Graceland. Graceland was awesome! I was only five yrs old when Elvis died so only new of him through his music. Visiting Graceland, you really get an appreciation for the huge impact he had on western culture. Elvis rocks! After Graceland, we went to Mud Island River Park. They have a scale model of the Mississippi River which is pretty cool. Day 3 - 515 miles (11 hrs on the road). The drive went really well (mid-80degF but low humidity ). The corner of Arkansas we drove through was pretty flat and boring. But some of the Interstate through Missouri was rolling hills which was nice. When we were not checking out every single rest stop in Missouri :mad:, we kept up a constant 80 mph. The Z felt really good at speed, though I kept thinking that a six-speed or an overdrive would really drop the revs and improve my gas mileage (averaging 20 mpg). At approx 80 mph, the motor is turning at ~3,000rpm (5-speed from 280zx with 3.9 R200).

Day 1 – Shalimar, FL to Memphis TN - 482 miles (20.3 mpg) - 12.75hrs on the road - avg speed - 37.8mph (abysmal (see below), did average 75-80mph on open road) - meal breaks – 2 (2hrs total) - potty breaks – 8 (2hrs total) - minimum time between potty breaks (mtbpb) – 24 minutes :mad: - time in traffic jam – 55 minutes (5 cars rear ended each other, rather impressive) - ambient temperature – low-mid 90’s degF, - humidity 70%, - Equivalent temp (feels like) 102 degF - 4.5 yr old daughter lasted 1.5 hrs in Z (Barbie’s "Twelve Dancing Princesses" movie and bag of Doritos distracted her) - 7yr old son lasted 30 minutes, feigned dehydration and heat exhaustion to justify return to a/c equipped van Lessons Learned: - when driving mid-summer in non-a/c equipped car, apply sunscreen liberally to left arm and left side of neck and face BEFORE you hit the road - kids aren’t as tough as they used to be - a downpour when stuck in traffic jam in non-a/c equipped Z, in 90+degF heat, REALLY sucks (words like sauna and tropical rain forest come to mind) - it’s a good idea to carry a towel so you can dry off while stuck in traffic and after each stop - Hwy 78 from Birmingham, AB towards Memphis, TN is a really nice stretch of road. Rolling hills, green scenery, not much traffic and no cops (hit 90+mph for a stretch then had to slow to 65mph to let the wife and kids catch up. Tomorrow – no significant driving, we're going to visit Graceland and pay tribute to the King!

=Enigma= I lived in Monterey for two awesome years. My brother was living in Santa Cruz at the same time, so I spent some time up there too (I loved riding my MTB at Wilder Ranch). I saw every race at Laguna Seca and hiked/mountain biked my arse off. I really wish I could find a way back to the central coast. It's beautiful there. I especially love the drive south from Carmel down the PCH to San Simeon. I completed a Masters of Science in Aeronautical Engineering at the US Naval Postgraduate School. I made a lot of great friends in the US Navy and also keep in touch with a Brit and a South African I met there. I really miss Monterey

Some of the responses to my post on our upcoming return trip to Canada (http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=26355) has made me wonder how many of you have taken really long road trips in your Z? What year Z did you drive? When was the trip? How far did you go? Did anything significant / unforgettable happen on your trip? For me, my longest trip to date was from Monterey, CA to Cold Lake, AB (1,913 miles) in 2000. I drove me 240Z and my wife drove our Honda Accord. Right up until two weeks before we left Monterey, my 6-month old son would fall asleep whenever we started driving. Two weeks prior to departure he changed from loving the car...to hating the car. Whenever we strapped him in to his seat, he started wailing. In order to make any headway in peace, I had to swing him to sleep. We've got pictures of me, legs straddled holding my son's car seat (one of those basket deals which clips into the base in the car or the stroller) with one arm and swinging him up and back, up and back, trying to get him to sleep. Once he fell asleep, I'd carefully click his seat into the Z, carefully close the door and then drive like hell until he woke up. The kids travel much better nowadays and we're looking forward to our 9-day, 3,000 mile return trip to Canada. Cheers, Sean

Thanks for the input guys. We'll see if we can make some of the detours you recommended. I'll try and take some pics on route and post them as we go. We hit the road next Saturday, 30 June. gogriz91 - Maple Flag is awesome. We used to sit on top of the hangar to watch the launches. Pretty awesome when they launch 120 aircraft in the morning and then repeat it after lunch. - I was at Eglin AFB on exchange with the 46th Test Wing. ggarrard - yeah we were hoping for Ottawa or Trenton too. Oh well, Service needs come first. I was looking forward to reconnecting with the TIZCC guys too. I have been following Marc Guimonts 450Z build-up (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/563982) though and saw the recent vids. It looks awesome. I can't wait to see it with some paint! Cheers,

After three awesome years on the Florida Panhandle (driving my Z year round ), we're on our way back to Canada at the end of June. I've decided to convoy with my wife and drive my 240Z the 3,000 miles back to Cold Lake, Alberta. I'm looking forward to the drive and hopefully a break in the humidity when we get away from the Gulf. We'll be spending two nights in Memphis, cause my wife wants to see Graceland. The only other significant stop on route will be Mount Rushmore. Maybe I'll take some pics on route and post them here. Wish me luck!!!

DoesZ, I agree with Nissanman's advice (and also Carl's, of course). I had a problem with my battery draining last year. The problem was one of the relays for the dealer installed AC (which has been in a box in the garage for the last 16yrs) was drawing current and draining the battery. When I connected the battery, I could here the relay "click" and when I felt the relay's case, it was very warm to the touch. As I wasn't using the AC, I just disconnected the relay and no more battery draining problem. If you battery is in good shape (and you don't have anything significant drawing current), I'd think that you should be able to the battery in the car for a month, and it would still start. Good luck,

I've got the hood from my '73 in the garage. Where do you live?

I saw this post over at PensacolaRacing.com. I think I might head over to Mobile next Saturday and check it out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pat Peck Z meet on October 28th Hey guys I wanted to let you know that the Pat peck Z meet this year in Mobile AL is on OCT 28th. The show will start at 9am and go until 4 or so. There will be food & drinks. Also there will be trouphies and many other Give aways. We will have a cruise afterwards . Then grab a bite to eat. After wards we are all heading to the local 1/8th track for some Z racing action. The weather should be cool as well as all the Zcars. I sure hope to see you guys come back over. Pat Peck Nissan is off I 65 in Mobile Al. If you are coming from I-10 you will take the airport exit and follow it to the first right. Then take another right at the mall. Follow the beltline around till you see Pat Peck Nissan on the left. If you have any questions about anything please feel free to PM me or email me.. Thanks and See yall there!!.. EDIT--- We are also trying out a swap meet.. if you have any parts for sale or trade bring them along!.. Gabe __________________ 77S30 turbo/intercooled -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey guys, this is Jeff from Pat Peck. As far as the racing is concerned, here's where we stand. Technically this will be held on Mobile Dragway's bracket program night, and the way they did it last year was that they had a special lane for the Z cars. The problem was that it was not a "anybody who attended" lane, it was a "Z-car only lane", so when Chris Etheridge and I tried to run our rides, we weren't allowed because they weren't Z's. We did not appreciate that, to be polite. This year, it's set up to be a "Nissan only" race, but Ray and I are going to talk with Gary about allowing anybody who comes to be able to race. We're not sure if we're going to do armbands or what, but somehow we're going to try and get it figured out so that everybody who makes the trip can race if they'd like. The way we did it last year was two or three test and tune passes, then a bracket program that was Z-specific. We'll have to see about how we'll run this year, as obviously heads up isn't going to work. As far as the show, you already know about that. It's 9-4 at the dealership. The number here is 251-476-7800, and Ray would be the best one to ask for. If he's not available, ask for me, and I'll help you with whatever questions you have. Refreshments will be provided, and we will have several drawings for different items. Right now we have Meguiar's, Stillen, Royal Purple, K&N, and Nissan Sport Magazine as sponsors who have all provided lots of stuff for drawings, and there's some stuff we have enough of to just straight hand out as a freebie. We will also be collecting photographs to send to Nissan Sport Magazine for a possible article, so bring the high-res cameras with you. The dealership will also have giveaways, and as always you can pick up a new 350Z on sight, then hit Ray up for all your in-stock Stillen and K&N upgrades (hint-hint). We'll probably get together for dinner afterwards, possibly with a photoshoot at the Battleship or maybe downtown at the new RSA tower. After that it's track time.

Chris, It was great to see you again and I really appreciate the hard work you put into putting the show on. Awesome job! Dave, It was really cool that I got to meet you at the show. I hope you were able to sort out your headlight issue. I can't wait to see your car when its finished. Nice pics (check out my new avatar) :classic: Capt Mark, It was great to see you again. Your Z's looking good! I really hope I'll be able to make it to Daytona next year and catch up with you guys. I'm terrible with names but it was great to meet the other Z guys at the show. I had a great time. Cheers,