kenpomgm

Got the Z registered today (temporary anyway), insured, and washed off. Drove it to work smelling those wonderful exhaust fumes. It was just like old times. Almost forgot what a beautiful car the 240z is to drive, since I have been driving a Volvo & Suburban for the last year.

Here are a couple of low-quality parking garage pics. Wheel covers still aren't on yet (need special screws), need some rubber for the rear bumper, and progress on the interior is slowly moving along (sound deadening goes in this weekend), but she does look good and drives beautifully!

260zturbo

looks good.

SportBikeMike

Thats a beautiful car!

KasbeKZ

yep. bet it PWNs every other car in that parking garage!

kenpomgm

Thanks for the comments. Now that it is running I hope to see some other Z's on the roads around the Bay Area, and might make the trip to the MSA & Blackhawk gatherings this year.

veyenyl

You are soooo lucky you didn't scape on that stop

Looking good BTW. Makes me sad that my Z is down for repairs with this perfect Z driving weather we've been getting.

kenpomgm

Yeah, the air dam cleared it easily, but my radiator hangs pretty low! I need to be more careful.

It was actually so warm today that in stop-and-go backing up at the tunnel my temp gauge was creeping up. I have an electric fan, but I think I may need some tweaking on the temp sensor.

And, got my first ticket in the Z on Tuesday night. The tags are from '94, so I got pulled over and threatened with a tow. I was lucky that I had the paperwork with me to prove that I had just picked the car up from the shop after a year. I suspect that since I am over 40 and wasn't speeding at the time he believed my (true) story and gave me a fix-it ticket. I hate the Dublin PD. Got my last speeding ticket there 3 years ago in my 300zx.

snwbrderphat540

LOL ^^^^ exactly what i was looking at. but i was gonna say, if your Xenon front can clear that curb, that means the car just isnt low enough. but it really is a beautiful car. i cant wait till i get to drive my fresh painted Z to school/work.

kenpomgm

Thanks snow. Thankfully it wasn't a real curb, it is one of those plastic 3" ones. I would have nailed a real concrete curb! Dang, I have to be more careful!

Does your car rattle your teeth? I feel like I am riding in a covered wagon at 70mph. I am sincerely hoping that the sound deadening stuff will calm the rattles. I changed the tokico shocks down to 1 from 5 and it helped a bit, but I suspect my springs are way too "heavy." Handling is great, but I need to wear a kidney belt and a mouth guard on some roads.

snwbrderphat540

no, but i really only drove my 260 on stock everything for suspension. ill let you know how it is once i finish up the 280 with the front end getting all poly bushings and painted parts, and i get the springs and shocks in there. i dont have as lo pro of tires as you though so your ride will always be a bit more harsh because of that.

kenpomgm

Harsh hardly covers it: brutal is more appropriate. Still, the handling is very impressive. It will just take time to find the right middle ground.

snwbrderphat540

thats why im going to keep it less rim on my car. i want 16X8's so that way when i have all my stuff in, there will be little sidewall flex that can happen, but also enough tire so that i wont feel every pebble i hit.

kenpomgm

That makes sense to me. The 17's look nice, but a little more meat would make for a much better ride.

KasbeKZ

if your car is a rough ride, relaxing will help a lot. my summer job involves driving for 8 hours a day in an old truck with worn out shocks on farm dirt roads that are re-made each year by tractors. it's pretty rough. just relax! that saved my back a lot when i discovered that

kenpomgm

Relax? In commute traffic in my beautifully painted Z? Not likely.

Where in Virginia are you from, by the way? I was born in Martinsville, lived most of my formative years in Roanoke, and went to college in Williamsburg. My parents live in Rocky Mount, and my wife's parents are still in Roanoke. I learned to drive on those dirt roads you describe.

KasbeKZ

i'm way east in middlesex (not a joke, real name). pretty close to williamsburrg. would that school be william and mary? i've never heard of matinsville though... and i've only been through roanoke once on the way home from tech (def not he way to go either)
and i mean relax your muscles in the seat and let it throw you around a bit. not relax your mind by any means!

kenpomgm

Yes, I went to W&M from 82 - 85. Never heard of Martinsville? You mean you live in Virginia and don't follow Nascar? Martinsville Speedway? Not much there other than that, I admit.

I will be able to relax when I get the sound deadening in, and get the stereo installed. That will help a lot.

KasbeKZ

haha yea that would be an accurate statement. i've never watched a whole nascar race without getting bored and leaving. i like the cars enough, but not the racing. good stuff at w&m. got a friend or two going there next year

kenpomgm

I agree, the cars are cool, but I couldn't sit through a whole race either.

I liked W&M and Williamsburg very much, but I was a techie even back in 82, and I should have gone to Tech or UVA. W&M didn't even have a computer science degree back then. It was a math degree with a comp sci minor. Good luck with your choice.

KasbeKZ

thanks man. williamsburg is pretty nice. i'm only recently finding that they get tourists from all over just for shopping. those outlett malls!

BoulderZ

Looks great!
I was worried about the ride harshness on my '78 for the same reasons, but it's not been too bad. Just for your reference, here's what I'm running:

All new poly bushings, tokico springs, and tokico blue tube strut cartridges. I wanted the alloy slot mags in 16" but couldn't find any. They make 'em in 15" and 17", so I went with 15" and matched stock tire outside diameter with new Kumho Ecsta ASX, keeping gearing and speedo calibration the same. I've had it around the block a few times (no plates yet) on our torn-up-from-winter streets (lots of big potholes for springtime repair). The ride is harsher than in a new car, but not kidney-rattling. I think if I had the original worn-out seats it would be a lot more bone-jarring. It's got Corbeau Targa RS seats, and the bottom cushion is much thicker than the stock seats (this makes fitment difficult, by the way).

Oh: Go Tribe! And hark upon the gale. My wife got her Bachelor's at W&M, it's one hell of a good school. Lots of fun Williamsburg memories. We hope to get back for a visit some day soon.

Keep up the great work on your car!
Dave

kenpomgm

I would never have imagined to find two others on this board that even know where W&M is. Wow. Everyone out here in California thinks "the College" is in New England somewhere.

I have BMW (Recaro) seats in this Z, much more comfortable than the stock seats. The 17" wheels and low profile tires have a lot to do with ride, as others have pointed out. Honestly, I can live with it except for the rattling in my driver's door and hatch. I need to spend some time figuring out what is causing all the noise, and that will probably go a long way to making it more comfortable to drive. Progress will be made this weekend.

Other than that and needing to get the wheels balanced I am not going to make any more changes until I can get a couple thousand miles of driving in.