DTMAce's Z26 project - DD usage for the time being - 6-8-12

[DTMAce]

Bleed it? What for? I haven't touched the PS system in nearly 6 years. Fluid is clear, not air bubbled. Just a noisy pump, it happens. It did sit for 3.5 years after I moved up here. We all know letting a car sit is the worst thing you can do to it. Probably why the front wheel bearings make noise ever since I put it back on the road last summer. They do not throb, they are just loud, howling a bit. I will be replacing them along with the front calipers and rotors when the brakes are due up for replacement. Yes, I may be upgrading them then too to something better, along with the rears, depending on funds and what not.

[Money pit Beretta]

Well, if your just going to put a new one on then forget about what I said. I thought there may be a small leak or some sort of leak down after sitting and a bleed could keep you from buying a new one.

[DTMAce]

Naw. It doesn't leak. I have not added any fluid to the PS in god knows how long. Probably since I rebuilt the PS and put in the new rack, back in 2003.

Not a big deal, just noticeable when the hood is up.

[Money pit Beretta]

Did you get it done? I'm going to have to do the same, mine makes noise too.

Hey man, I'm looking for some filters for my side markers. Do you know where I can find them? I put some blue lights in my rear side markers and they are hard to see. I have a purple car and I thought they might look nice. I do have an open mind, so we can talk about some red markers with blue LED's. I'd like to try the blue filters first though, just to keep everthing stock. If they are not bright enough I may want the LED's.

[DTMAce]

Have to watch coloring the markers any color but stock, some states/counties/cities have laws against non-DOT approved colors on your lights.

Figured I should post and update a few things...

Installed a new Sony HU this week, the MEX-BT3700U. Damn nice, bluetooth works perfectly, decent sound, features, etc. Had some sub problems, turns out one of the 2 voice coils on my 12 is bad. So I re-tuned the amp to just push the full 200W through the one channel. Speaker is rated for 600 total, so no problems with it handling that. Got a new speaker ordered and on the way already for 25 bucks! Nothing fancy, but then I can have it back like it was with both channels fed through. Also have a newer Sony amp coming as well to replace this older Optimus one.

Car has been running great, no real issues, but I will have to do suspension work, probably after the winter is over next year. Needs front and rear brakes done, rear shocks, front bearings and lower control arm bushings replaced, etc. (again) I hate changing those.

Oil has been staying CLEAN! Engine runs strong, fast and powerful, like it did when I bought this thing new. That part I am happy for. I hope to make some progress on the interior during the winter or when I get it back out.

She will probably be going into storage the first week of November, or when the first snow starts to fly around here. Whichever is sooner. Ah well.

[DTMAce]

Guess its been awhile since I last posted! lol

Currently the car is hibernating for the winter. I put it away the 2nd of Dec I think it was. Won't get her back out till probably late March or first of April. Then, time willing, going to strip the interior finally. Need to fix a few spots, do a bit of painting, then put in new carpet that I have now had sitting here for over a year in the box! Oyi!

Clean the seats really well, rework the stereo system so the wiring is upgraded. Haven't changed the wiring since I put it in back about 12 years ago, been having a few sound issues. Want to re-route it anyway, currently it goes under the sill cover on the driver's side. Just want to run a heavier gauge wire, properly fused, and some better quality audio cabling to go between the HU and the AMP. Probably rebuild the speaker enclosure, keep the same design, just build a new one, with new covering and a more finished look to it. With all the work done to it over the years, and the age on the particle board its made of, its starting to disintegrate unfortunately. Built it one month after I bought the car originally, on its 3rd 12" Sub, and its second amp. LOL

Plan to pull the rear dash panel and try to clean the speaker dust stains from it. Oyi. YES, I still use my original OEM speakers, have never had a problem with them, yet. I usually keep the bass load to a minimum on those, and let the sub do the work.

The center console..... I need to pull that out, and thoroughly clean it! Maybe make a custom E-brake boot, maybe do a custom shifter setup, never did like that damn strip thing they came with, bent my original up and both replacements I got either were bent or bent anyway. (folded up when shifting). Those always sucked. I went through the mechanism the last time I worked on it after the deer hit, and its... ok. But I just think something else would look nicer.

The dash just needs a good cleaning, as so far I don't have any dash damage yet. It might be starting to bubble in one spot, but I can't really tell. Definitely not an obvious thing. No tears, or scratches, or anything on my dash. From that perspective its in perfect shape, just has shrunk some over the years like most.

Should pull the gauge cover and polish the scratches out of it, from me cleaning the dust off of it over the years. Plus get rid of the dust bunnies behind the panel!

Door panels are going to be a pain. Both sides had damage from the seat buckles! Going to try to just repair them, but still, going to be a pain. I have to pull the driver's side anyway, and clean out debris in the door. (mouse activity apparently from a few years ago)

Then I have to go over the paint, now that it has had time to cure and do a scuff and polish of the clear coat, to bring out the real shine. Also to put back a few pieces of trim that are currently missing, then a good wash and wax. Try to work the wheels a bit, make then nicer. I have never done much to my wheels over the years, other than clean them. They are NOT the originals. Those corroded really bad in less than 10k after I bought the car, so they ordered me a full new set to replace them. So yeah, the wheels have 10k less than the car does. LOL

And somewhere during all this, I have to make time to redo the front and rear brakes, front bearings, and some other suspension things. Probably putting in a lot of new parts, etc. Make sure the engine is in tip top shape, and good to go for Chicago.

[Barry]

Sounds good!

If only more owners were like you...

[Money pit Beretta]

It has been a damn long time. Keep me up to date on the E brake boot(I could use one). Man, you got alot of work to do. Get youself a cat(lol). Wow, that was one hell of an update!

[3X00-Modified]

When your done, Come and clean up my interior... and I'll build you a motor... LOL

I keep forgetting I need to install my inverter in the car, swap a seat with my red car before I kill the good ones, and do some other cleaning... AND replace the rear upper seat if I can find one... Cack was my only option and he has been somewhat lost lately.

[DTMAce]

Damn, be careful, may take you up on that one. LOL

[DTMAce]

This is a duplicate of my post on Bstuff, so some of this I already posted above I see. Anyways.

Well, its Spring. (almost)

Time for some updates, as my project on the Z will be continuing very soon. I will be moving the car from storage this week I believe. (Someone wants to get their boat out from behind it, go figure!)

That means I will be tearing into it a bit sooner than I planned. I have a lot of work to do to the interior, as that is first on my list. Hopefully I can try to keep the car out of the weather till I can finally get a couple of the leaks pinned down and prevented. I know generally where they are coming from, just have to locate and annihilate.

New pictures will be forthcoming soon, once I get out there. Have to hook the battery up and fire it over for the first time since the beginning of Dec when I parked it. Shouldn't be an issue though. It once sat for 2.5 years without being ran and that time it only took it like 2 extra revolutions than normal to fire up.

Either tomorrow or Wednesday it will be out!

Then home, and then start removing most of the interior. Headliner has to stay put, but no biggie. Its still in excellent shape anyway. Everything else but the dash is coming out. Seats will be thoroughly cleaned/hopefully retreated with scotch guard and reinstalled, once the floor pan is repaired/sealed up and panted, amp wiring re-ran and new carpet put back in. Rear deck panel has to be cleaned, as well as some other parts. Not sure what I'm going to do with the center console. Would be nice to replace it, but I think I am just going to clean it up and make it look as nice as I can. Visors are being replaced, reinstall the rear view mirror, install the new steering wheel and airbag (finally), reinstall the new head unit so it looks proper. Fix some of the dash lighting in the lower console that doesn't light up. (HVAC panel) Remove the ty alarm system and see if I can fix the door light in the process.

Get the interior done, then I have to work on redoing the front brakes (new rotors, calipers, pads), new front wheel bearings, replace the A/C compressor and recharge the system. I am not going to bake when I go to Chicago.

If I have time (and funds):

Do some more unique LED work both external and internal.

Do some wood work. (inlays)

And whatever else I may think of.

Stay tuned for more.

[DTMAce]

Ok, the Z is officially out of storage! Went out, had to put a bit of air into one tire. The rest were good. Hooked up the battery (it was left in the bay during the winter but unhooked), kicked the key on, the fuel pump kicked in, and after a few it shut off. Cranked it over and she fired right up. While it was warming up, it was stumbling a little bit, like one of the injectors wasn't spraying but after 30 seconds that quit and it smoothed right out.

Did noticed a bit of fluid residue, apparently it leaked a bit of coolant over the winter. Looks to be from one of the heater lines (backside of engine area).

Shouldn't be a big deal to fix. I'm betting its the line coming from the backside of the T-Stat junction. That damn plastic fitting that I didn't replace when I did the LIMG. lol

Other than that, runs fine. Drove her home and parked it. All the lighting works perfect, fogs, heads, and bulbs. Dang thing smells like an old boat though. LOL It was stored in a boat storage building. Concrete floor, metal building. Nice place. Not heated though.

Will probably start tearing into the interior this next week. Want to get in there, get it out, get it fixed and back together. Just not going to start it this week, too much to do. My radiator for the 03 didn't show up today, so it had better be at my damn door tomorrow so I can get that bitch fixed.

Will take some new pics tomorrow. Didn't have my camera tonight and I had a fire meeting on top of it.

[3X00-Modified]

Shouldn't be a big deal to fix. I'm betting its the line coming from the backside of the T-Stat junction. That damn plastic fitting that I didn't replace when I did the LIMG. lol

Other than that, runs fine. Drove her home and parked it. All the lighting works perfect, fogs, heads, and bulbs. Dang thing smells like an old boat though. LOL It was stored in a boat storage building. Concrete floor, metal building. Nice place. Not heated though.

That damn fitting is a BITCH, thats why I replaced it for the o-ring pressed in version.

And I put a vanilla air freshner in my car for over the winter I opened the door yesterday to look at my inverter plan and it smells nice in there

[DTMAce]

Aha. So where would one find this O-Ring pressed in version might I ask?

[3X00-Modified]

Oh, you need to do the newer large port upgrade to eliminate that whole threaded in adapter that has the plastic clip on it.

9 times out of 10 its the alignment of the tube working against a crushed o-ring, so you could replace just the o-ring and make sure the pipe is going in perfectly straight and plastic clip or not (as long as the tube is secured to the side of the head) it should not leak.