Today I...

[72projectbird]

Speaking of CL....

I drove 7 hours (450 miles) round trip to look at an 84 300zx 50th Anniversary yesterday. The seller told me it was a solid project, with decent paint and it was mechanically sound with it really only needing interior work and minor details. When I got there the paint around the windshield was bubbled with rust coming through, the exhaust was hanging on the ground, the inner rockers were cooked, and the rear hatch area behind the tail lights was so rotted I could put my entire fist through it. The underside of the car looked like it was in the Atlantic. The mounting points for the rear end were smoked.

The worst (or best) part was the guy was 10 minutes late meeting me, so I left without ever coming into contact with him. At least I got to see NY for the first time!

[DeCaff2007]

... At least I got to see NY for the first time!

Pfftttt!!!  You are not missing anything.

Today I...  am wasting 9 hours of my day at work.  Then, I have to go over my mothers house to take care of a few things.  Looking forward to that </sarcasm>

Then, I hope to have time to throw in some laundry and maybe even get the pulley pressed on my new power steering pump. 

BLARGGGHHH  It's garbage night!  Totally forgot about that!

[droptopron]

The worst (or best) part was the guy was 10 minutes late meeting me, so I left without ever coming into contact with him. At least I got to see NY for the first time!

Where in NY?  get detailed pics of any Northeast car before taking the ride. 

[72projectbird]

Where in NY?  get detailed pics of any Northeast car before taking the ride.

I know about getting pics before going, I actually had him send some to my phone. He still lied through his teeth.

It was in Fishkill NY. Pretty place, reminds me of Maine.

[Spoon]

... figure on 4 times the cost and 5 times the allotted amount of time...

Sounds like one of my home improvement projects!

[Casey]

It's the same as the listing on here.  So far I've had someone send a picture of a Mercury Mountaineer, and that was it.  I guess they were wanting to trade, who knows.

I've thought about getting a '84-86 300ZX, but they're almost just as bad to work on as the '90-96 300ZX and really the Z32 is better in every way.  I'd like a '77-78 280Z or '82-83 280ZX and would put them over the Z31.  Of course the issue with the 280ZX onward is they decided T-tops were a good idea and hardtops are pretty much nonexistent.

[Spoon]

The seller told me it was a solid project, with decent paint and it was mechanically sound with it really only needing interior work and minor details.

Sorry that your time was wasted. Seems like some sellers have a rather optimistic view of their cars.

[72projectbird]

I've thought about getting a '84-86 300ZX, but they're almost just as bad to work on as the '90-96 300ZX and really the Z32 is better in every way.

I'll take a 50th or a Shiro Z31 over any Z32!

[Casey]

The Lamborghini Diablo used Z32 headlights, so there.

[droptopron]

Where in NY?  get detailed pics of any Northeast car before taking the ride.

I know about getting pics before going, I actually had him send some to my phone. He still lied through his teeth.

It was in Fishkill NY. Pretty place, reminds me of Maine.

I went to school in New Paltz, which is in that general vicinity.  It's a lot different than downstate. 

[DeCaff2007]

Where in NY?  get detailed pics of any Northeast car before taking the ride.

Funny you should mention this.  I bought the engine for my 76 in NY.  I didn't know NY had boon docks until I found the place where the seller was located.  Good thing I had 4wd at the time.

My point, however, is that keeping in mind the location and aside from the surface on the heads, that engine turned out to be in really good shape.

[Casey]

Ironic that before putting the Firebird up for sale I constantly had people pestering me, but now that it is there's been no one serious as of yet.  Of course locally I didn't say anything about trading since that only opens up a can of worms.  "Will trade for manual sports and muscle cars."  *gets offered automatic Accord sedan*

[Lucky Phil]

Ironic that before putting the Firebird up for sale I constantly had people pestering me, but now that it is there's been no one serious as of yet.  Of course locally I didn't say anything about trading since that only opens up a can of worms.  "Will trade for manual sports and muscle cars."  *gets offered automatic Accord sedan*

Hehehehe , come on box you want the Accord nothing to be ashamed of.....

[Casey]

Just no.   A second generation CR-X Si I could go with though, for some reason I've always really liked them:

[72projectbird]

I always thought the CRX was a cool little car. I really like the 1st gens in full Mugen trim!

[droptopron]

  *gets offered automatic Accord sedan*

Much easier to sell.  Take it & flip it. 

[Casey]

I was just using that as an example, I was offered a Mercury Mountaineer though I believe.  I know what I have though, I'd only want to trade for a car that I'd keep to replace the Firebird as a daily.  Getting tied up in trying to sell a car I know nothing about and despise is not a road worth taking.

[DeCaff2007]

Today I... spent the better part of 10 hours, $150, and 4 trips to Lowes to FINALLY fix my wax ring issue.  Started as "I think I'll change the wax ring in my toilet today" because I could smell sewer coming out of the toilet.

That led to replacing everything from the drain in the floor to the iron pipe in the basement to the sewer drain under the frikkin concrete!!!  AHRRRGGGHHHHH!!!! What a day!@#$%

Basically I had this:







Ripped it all out...



... oh and don't forget that the flange on the bottom pipe from the concrete snapped off flush with the floor.  I had no choice but to dig.



But then I built this:







100% leak free and now it's up to code 

Oh, but wait there's more!!

So, I got all that done, then put the toilet back together, turn the water on in the basement.....  My basement had been 500% dry up to this point.....  SPLOOSSHHH!!!!  I forgot to glue ONE lousy PVC pipe together and wouldn't you know I got it right in the face!!!  OOHHHHH  I was mad!  Not to mention wet. 

Heheh well I glued that one single fitting back together, turned the water on, cleaned up and took a nice HOT shower!

[Jack]

Good job,  but I'm not sure you're code compliant... I don't see a vent.
So you still think you're not married? 10 years with the same woman, bought a house together, you do more house work than work on the car... should I go on

[DeCaff2007]

Good job,  but I'm not sure you're code compliant... I don't see a vent.
So you still think you're not married? 10 years with the same woman, bought a house together, you do more house work than work on the car... should I go on

I'm NOT married.  I don't want to hear anything about the subject again.  (and just how is it you remember all those details?)

As for the vent, I do have one.  It's on the sink only.  I put this drain back together exactly how it was before.  I may think about adding said vent in the future.

[Casey]

Meh, it's only a piece of paper anyway.

[DeCaff2007]

Meh, it's only a piece of paper anyway.

LOL!!  She said that exact same thing after her divorce. 

[DeCaff2007]

Hah!  Update on my stupid plumbing job.  I woke up this morning and proceeded to take a leak, but not before I saw a puddle on the bathroom floor.   Grrrrrrr.......

It turns out I simply didn't tighten the tank-to-bowl bolts enough and there was water seeping past the "made in china" rubber gaskets.

I hope I'm done with plumbing for a while because I really don't like doing it.

[TA6.6Liter]

It turns out I simply didn't tighten the tank-to-bowl bolts enough....

Seems to be a rash of water-related issues flooding us, DeCaff2007.  On return from vacation got around to replacing two toilet valves that were leaking.  Two days later I got the 2x water bill.  Costly procrastination, so can't blame anyone but myself.  Then the battery on my back up sump died today.  The battery required water and it went dry twice in 2 months and testing showed it will not hold a charge.  The new battery is a marine, deep-cycle and does not require water, so the alarm keeps sounding on the unit to tell me to fill the water in the now sealed battery.  Not sure how the sensor works, so not sure if just cutting the sensor wire will fix it or not.  Maybe put the sensor in a sealed bottle of water to fool it.

[roadking77]

Here's thinking if you Decaff, a few months ago I started seeing a small water spot at the side of our toilet. I kept putting it off thinking the seal had developed a leak and not wanting to take time to pull the toilet to fix the seal. While cleaning it one day I bumped the tank and the flood gates opened up. Both tank bolts had rusted all the way thru and the only thing holding it there was gravity. It was an easier fix than a wax ring though.

[DeCaff2007]

Here's thinking if you Decaff, a few months ago I started seeing a small water spot at the side of our toilet. I kept putting it off thinking the seal had developed a leak and not wanting to take time to pull the toilet to fix the seal. While cleaning it one day I bumped the tank and the flood gates opened up. Both tank bolts had rusted all the way thru and the only thing holding it there was gravity. It was an easier fix than a wax ring though.

Glad you got it fixed.  I'm DONE plumbing for awhile.  Electrical I don't so much mind.

Today I... decided to replace a control arm bushing on my Camry.  Had to remove the control arm to do this.  I came out like warm butter (helps that I knew what I was doing and have all the proper tools).  Even pressing the new bushing in was uneventful.  Then it came time to reinstall the control arm.  I ended up bashing my hand with a sledge hammer, burned my other hand with my welder, and stripped the threads on a very important bolt, as well.  I got in on the road but FML I'm sooooo tired of things going wrong!!

[76455sd]

Replaced the rear quarter to top seal in my '02 TA vert.  I bought the Soft-Seal replacement and the part was substantially different from the original one.  I had to do a lot of trimming and reattaching the molding piece was difficult due to the increased thickness of the replacement.  Should've been an easy job but turned out to be a PITA.  Not sure why the replacement was so different.

[BlueByNight]

Today I finally got my most serious wiring issues sorted out and got the old 78' fired up (with the help of a buddy). I believe this car hasn't ran in ten years. Today was a great day 

[DeCaff2007]

Today I finally got my most serious wiring issues sorted out and got the old 78' fired up (with the help of a buddy). I believe this car hasn't ran in ten years. Today was a great day 

Well now I have to know, what was the wiring issue? 

Today I...  went work for 9 hours.  Yeah who does that on a Sunday? 

[BlueByNight]

Decaf- I feel dumb but it was the alternator to starter wire and an additional smaller gage wire that were not connected properly to the starter... also the starter solenoid was bad. Fortunately I acquired a small hi Po starter with some headers I bought off Craigslist. We attached the proper connectors to the wires installed them to the new/used starter and life was good. There is still some work to do with the dash/gauge wiring but at least the car runs and lights function. Once I receive my new ignition lock I can get my steering wheel back on and take it for a test drive. So nice to finally moving forward...

[DeCaff2007]

Is it just me, or is the PVC 90 sweep turned up instead of down, like the cast iron 90 is?

Yeti, no matter what my crap pics look like, the PVC is a an exact repro of how the cast iron was.

Looking at the pics again, I see what you mean, though.  That PVC is a sanitary T, not a 90* sweep.

Decaf- I feel dumb but it was the alternator to starter wire and an additional smaller gage wire that were not connected properly to the starter... also the starter solenoid was bad. Fortunately I acquired a small hi Po starter with some headers I bought off Craigslist. We attached the proper connectors to the wires installed them to the new/used starter and life was good. There is still some work to do with the dash/gauge wiring but at least the car runs and lights function. Once I receive my new ignition lock I can get my steering wheel back on and take it for a test drive. So nice to finally moving forward...

Nothing to feel dumb about there.  I work with people that call themselves electronic technicians, yet many of them can't even solder.  You're doing fine, BlueByNight.  Glad you got it fixed.

[Casey]

Apparently someone dropped by yesterday while my brother was outside working on his car and offered to sell me a Chevrolet TH350 for $75, but then he didn't think to get his name or number...

[77 TA man]

Today I....drove a turbocharged vehicle for the first time. Its an almost magical feeling When you feel the boost kick in and start to pull the vehicle from you.

[DeCaff2007]

Today I....drove a turbocharged vehicle for the first time. Its an almost magical feeling When you feel the boost kick in and start to pull the vehicle from you.

Oh really?  The only turbo charged vehicle I ever drove was an 87 Dodge Shadow.  5-speed, 2.2L of complete GARBAGE!  I could have gone faster that that car on my pedal bike. 

Fast forward 15 years or so.  A co-worker of mine has a 97 Integra (claims it has dual turbo).  Uh huh...  I saw him drive by one day and it was blowing a solid stream of blue smoke out the exhaust and it sounded like a can of angry bees. 

Can you see why I'm so skeptical?

[76455sd]

My brother had a volvo C70 convertible ('03 I think).  It was a turbo 5-cyliner with a 6M.  Redline was ~7k.  The manual said the turbo boost didn't kick-in until ~3k.  He drove very conservatively and typically shifted at 2.5 to 3k (no he never got any boost).  I had it for a couple days and You could definitely feel the boost taking it up to 5-6k before shifting.  It was quite exhilerating.

I laughed when he said he never really noticed any difference with the turbo.  I told him it was because he never really engaged it. 

[Casey]

Oh really?  The only turbo charged vehicle I ever drove was an 87 Dodge Shadow.  5-speed, 2.2L of complete GARBAGE!  I could have gone faster that that car on my pedal bike. 

Fast forward 15 years or so.  A co-worker of mine has a 97 Integra (claims it has dual turbo).  Uh huh...  I saw him drive by one day and it was blowing a solid stream of blue smoke out the exhaust and it sounded like a can of angry bees. 

Can you see why I'm so skeptical?

That's because one was a piece of crap and the other was full of it.

[77 TA man]

Today I....drove a turbocharged vehicle for the first time. Its an almost magical feeling When you feel the boost kick in and start to pull the vehicle from you.

Oh really?  The only turbo charged vehicle I ever drove was an 87 Dodge Shadow.  5-speed, 2.2L of complete GARBAGE!  I could have gone faster that that car on my pedal bike. 

Fast forward 15 years or so.  A co-worker of mine has a 97 Integra (claims it has dual turbo).  Uh huh...  I saw him drive by one day and it was blowing a solid stream of blue smoke out the exhaust and it sounded like a can of angry bees. 

Can you see why I'm so skeptical?

My sisters 2014 LTZ Cruze, not sure of C.I.D. but its a turbo Ecotec. I felt boost start pulling at roughly 2,500 RPM to 3,000.

[DeCaff2007]

Oh really?  The only turbo charged vehicle I ever drove was an 87 Dodge Shadow.  5-speed, 2.2L of complete GARBAGE!  I could have gone faster that that car on my pedal bike. 

Fast forward 15 years or so.  A co-worker of mine has a 97 Integra (claims it has dual turbo).  Uh huh...  I saw him drive by one day and it was blowing a solid stream of blue smoke out the exhaust and it sounded like a can of angry bees. 

Can you see why I'm so skeptical?

That's because one was a piece of crap and the other was full of it.

LOL true that!  That car was the single biggest POS I've ever bought.  The ONLY reason I bought it in the first place was because it was a 5-speed.  I wanted to learn how to drive a stick so that was it.

Today I...  got up @ 4:30 and actually managed to get a workout in.  First time in about 3 solid months I've time to do that.  Granted, by the time I'm done at job #2 tonight around 10:15, I'm going to DRAGGING ass, but hey it's money.

[Casey]

Should've gotten a Celica All-Trac, 2L of turbocharged AWD goodness.

[77 TA man]

Should've gotten a Celica All-Trac, 2L of turbocharged AWD goodness.

The Cruzes I've driven all handle so freakin nice. Absolutely no play in the steering, and its really quiet. Going 60mph+ in a 45mph zone is no problem if your not paying attention or even if you are. I've been able to pull off 90 degree turns going 25mph+ which I'd never dream of doing in one of our silverados.
If I ever buy a family car, it'd be a Cruze. The driving school I went to used a Cruze with the naturally aspirated Ecotec and that thing was a screamer for what it is.