Slight respite in Z activity

The Z has not been in the forefront in the past year, as school and work have taken most of my time. I replaced the knockoff, peeling fascia with an OEM NA fascia thanks to Chris in Rolla, in exchange for the Alpine headunit I had in the Z. Currently, the Z has a Cherry Red Pearl fascia, but that will change when the time for a repaint rolls around (most likely late summer 2008). I bought a daily driver, partially to save gas from driving the Z, and partially for a pizza delivery job to make money for the Z. My daily driver:


1991 Geo Metro

$500, 55 HP, 5-speed, ~42 MPG delivering pizzas.

Initially I was just going to leave the Geo stock, except for maintenance to keep it reliable for work. However, I managed to get myself involved in Convoy11000, and decided the Geo would be an economic road-trip vehicle, provided I made some improvements.

I had some money saved up for a new paint job for the Z in December, until a deal came along that I couldn't pass. A friend of a friend was selling his '96 Camaro for a steal because it wasn't running (needed a new fuel pump, among other things). I used some of the Z money to buy & fix it, and will probably end up selling it in the spring, profits going towards the Z-fund.


1996 Chevrolet Camaro

In the mean time, I will try to fill in any 404-holes in my site, and eventually post some Z updates as they occur. Here is a link to the Z32 Color & Production Statistics, as some search engines direct it to this index page, which has no link (until now).

Posted Monday, February 18, 2008 3:53 PM

Anti-theft & other maint. work

I partially installed the anti-theft & keyless entry system a few weeks ago. The most challenging part was finding a good spot for the driver's side actuator; everything else was a matter of tracking down the right wires in the stock harness. I have not installed the remote start, and I'm not sure if I will do so in the future.

I also replaced the steering rack, and installed the polyurethane steering rack bushings. A pair of new tie rod ends also went on the new rack, as the old ones were shot. No more leaks under the car from anything, and a fresh steering rack to boot.



I'm still trying to save up for paint, but business is slow at this point.

Posted Wednesday, July 11, 2007 11:07 PM

Routine work

The Z made the trip from Texas to Illinois without a hitch, averaging about 23 MPG (loaded with all my stuff). I installed the SPL arms in time, and had everything aligned on the 10th.

Since returning, I replaced the tension rod bushings with the polyurethane Energy Suspension pieces included in the Master Bushing Kit. Unfortunately, I discovered this when I removed the tension rods:



The driver's side tension rod was bent, but thankfully Bernie from TT.net had a spare he sold me, and it arrived on Saturday. Polyurethane bushings are in, everything's buttoned up, and the ride has definitely improved.

I'll be diving into the security system install once I can find a reasonable price on a lock actuator.

Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007 7:48 PM

Putting some work in

In the past week and a half, I've installed a 'new' differential, dropped the transmission and replaced the rear main seal, retainer bracket seal, etc, and took a stab at the SPL rear upper control arms before I accidentally spun the driver's side adjustment bolt. The fancy new bolt came in at McGavok today, so I'll install the SPL control arms tomorrow after my last final. Tomorrow evening, I'm hoping to get the heads off the VG30DE sitting in my buddy's garage, and stuff all those parts that won't be a quick-sell into the storage facility. The Z is scheduled to be aligned Wednesday morning, then I'm hitting the road for the 1200 mile trip home. Just a random shot from the driveway where I replaced the differential:



The oil leak from hell seems to have been conquered by the rear main seal area overhaul, which is good news. My steering rack has started to leak again, which means the new rack will go in the first week home. I will also be installing the anti-theft system back home.

Posted Tuesday, May 8, 2007 12:42 AM