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5 minute(s) of a 731 minute read
1-28-2020
Iceland is beautiful enough where I'd be willing to risk it to live there.
Nothing new on the Z front as we've been 100% focused on finishing the house projects. Now that we have a functioning bathroom on the first floor again I can get back to irresponsible daydreaming. A user on TT.net who had moved on from his 300ZX was looking to get rid of some memorabilia that he had been storing and I eagerly took him up on the offer. Naturally, USPS lost the package for a few weeks; but I held out hope and it showed up at my place yesterday!
Contents?
A 1991 11"x15" glossy dealer brochure filled with cool photos and dealer/sales technical jargon, two Car and Drivers from early 1990 featuring the Z32, and an unrelated supercar shootout featuring the F40 (who doesn't love those?).
Here is a sample image or two from the brochure.
3-25-2020
Well, I thought it would be a bright idea to bike to work during Day 1 of Wisconsin's 30 day "Safer at Home" order. The company I work for has been deemed 'essential' by DHS (but lets be honest, who hasn't been deemed essential aside from fitness centers) so I still need to report in. Thankfully, I also appear to be an essential employee and continue to remain employed. I thought traffic during my ride would be a bit lighter, and I was disappointed to find out that wasn't the case. Oh well; it was still a beautiful ride and it was great to get back on the bike for just the 2nd time since becoming a dad. Given that I was able to feed the baby, prep my bike, pack my clothes, make lunch, and bike to work before 8am tells you how spoiled we are with a well behaved and happy baby.
On to car things. I've managed three one-hour windows to tackle this project so far, and I'm almost on the schedule I identified previously.
Hour one consisted of moving the car to my workspace, removing the radiator, fan, belts, and timing belt covers.
Hour two involved removing the thermostat housing and bypass castings, the crank pulley, and the timing belt. The old timing belt actually looked to be in really good shape, no cracking, and no noticeable wear. It's been installed for 10 years and I'm not willing to chance it for the sake of an $18 replacement. I got the new timing belt installed and tension set (I can just about do this in my sleep now) when I realized I wanted to check all my idler pulleys for play; since I don't plan on doing a timing belt for another 10 years. I took the belt off, verified the pulleys still felt good, and reinstalled and tensioned the belt. Applying proper tension can be a slightly tedious process, as it's more or less a guessing game: tighten tensioner retractor bolt, install belt, loosen bolt to approximately 2-3mm, tighten remaining tensioner bolts, turn crank 720*, check tensioner gap. Generally this involves at least one more instance of loosening the tensioner, adjusting the gap and trying again.
Old belt prior to removal. Pretty simple routing and easy to access. These aren't THAT bad to work on!
Old belt, and some belt particulate on the back covers.
This is the gap in question. Pictured is roughly 2mm. I would expect a worn belt to stretch and the gap to become larger....odd.
Hour three saw me pressure testing the 'new' condenser and wrestling it into place. When they removed it from the donor car they appeared to have bent the aluminum pipes leading to the fittings, so I spent way too much time to line up the steel AC lines in the car with the aluminum lines on the condenser so the nuts would grab. I spent about 30 minutes making small adjustments and taking the condenser in and out to no avail. I'll win this battle tonight. Ugh
This is looking straight down in the engine bay. The lower half of the picture is where the condenser and radiator should/will be.
Next steps are to install the AC condenser and vacuum test the system before I do anything else. If it holds, I'll continue to re-assemble and tidy up the engine bay as I go; if not....well....lets not get ahead of ourselves. I don't plan on being optimistic about the outcome of COVID-19; but I can be optimistic about things within my control. Cross your fingers for me, and stay healthy. Wash your hands. Don't touch your face. Keep your distance. The case count is going to spike, and I'm still shocked by the sheer number of people not taking this seriously. Stay safe everyone. We'll be out of this sooner or later.