Going home any weekend I can (from school). This weekend, the lady tagged along. What was meant to be a 15 minute ride to a local home depot turned out to be a 1 hour cruise with Victoria. What a great day. 2 of my favorite "things":

You stuttering now ? ? ?

_________________
W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



75' - 280Z - HLS30203249 - #304 Gold Metallic (stockish)
96' - 300zx TT - JN1CZ24d3TX960293 - Black on Black (enhanced)

....oh the irony.

Nice catch. Looking fwd to some drives out to Somers when I get home for good. (September)

Ordered a bunch of maintenance stuff before I try to add some power:

So I have some stuff to tackle this weekend. Ball joints, inner/outer tie rods (even if one or the other isn't shot, they're getting replaced), and poly in the front. I've watched videos on youtube on how to do each part, to try to learn. What would you guys recommend as the easiest process?

For example, should I (after removing the struts) do the ball joints, then poly bushings, then tie rods, or should I do it in some other order? Is one way easier than the other?

Take it to Vinny or RDZ. It doesn't get easier than that.

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

There's no fun in that.

Ross, you're getting a this time.

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

I can finally add something here after what seems like a few months of inactivity...

This weekend I removed the inner and outer tie rods, ball joint and LCA from the passenger side. Also burnt out the old LCA bushing. It was an experience, especially getting the old ball joint out. I painted the LCA gloss black, uninstalled the sway bar, and started to prep that for paint as well. All the rubber that I am touching (including the tension rod) will get the new polyurethane that I have had sitting in my room since my birthday.

Hopefully install doesn't take too long, but it's my first time, so it's kind of expected.


Side note, I did manage to screw up one of the lug nuts while test fitting a new set of locking lug nuts. Does anyone know the proper dimensioning format so that I can source the correct nuts? I want to find locking nuts that will go into the actual hole in the wheel, where the lug sticks out from. The ones I got don't go beyond five turns. Thanks!


....yes. all that work and I managed to mess up a lug nut of all things. I'm not even mad!!

You're bonding with your Z. If you believe (as I do) that we learn best from our mistakes, this car will be an outstanding education for you.
Each part you work on or replace or upgrade (or break) is another chapter in your long Z-education.
Months from now someone on here will ask for help doing things you've already done, and you might be the only member in the Club who can help him.
It's a long road, but it's all a learning experience.


Frank

_________________
1970 240Z

Yessir! I'm learning, that's for sure. I take way to much pride in being able to say " I did this/that to the car " to pay someone else to do it. (Clutch jobs excluded, as well as custom exhaust work, haha).

What I've also realized is that I have inevitably volunteered my dad to help with this "project" of mine. Seems like when I can't handle something (whacking out the old crusted, rusted balljoint for example) he's the next line of attack. He's got a precision arm with a hammer that I simply don't.

In terms of helping others, last year when I did my Timing belt and a bunch of other stuff, I wrote a VERY detailed procedure on how to do things, so that others who had zero wrenching experience could do the work themselves. It has been posted on this site for about a year now, and has had over a THOUSAND views:

viewtopic.php?t=7654&highlight=

It's awesome to Z that I can pay it forward.

Workin' on some stuff in the garage, couldn't help but think:

Before I got my Z and some tools, realtors could list houses in my neighborhood as "quiet, sr. citizen friendly"...

Now: "Fairly quiet, w/exception of Z freak doing random stuff in his garage at any possible moment. Non gear heads beware."

My girlfriend's grandfather gave me a old toolbox he no longer needed. So I did this:

Hey Filipe - that's very creative and really, really nice! You keep revealing talents to us we had no idea you had...

- Jim

Thanks Jim!

I try to keep a few small projects happening so that when things aren't going right on the Z, or I'm waiting around, I can still get things done.