datsunlover

HAH!! No wories there, I've got bigger fish to fry! (notice my recent garage thread here..) I've got PLENTY of more important things eating me at this point!

Well well well.. Shortly after my last post, my phone rings! This guy starts in with a song and dance about how his girl's broke (cause she quit her job) and won't have ANY money for at least 4 weeks till unemployment ins. comes in, she has no TV/furtature/ect cause it was all 'rent to own' and she brought it back as she can't afford it, and she's moving to her mothers for a while. Of course (I new this was coming) when/if she gets her old car towed away for scrap, any $$$ she gets will be spent almost the same instant, bla bla bla. Here's where it gets interesting; I guess the car only really needed TWO tires, so there are two (which are practicaly NEW) still sitting in his shop. They were stufed behind his truck the last two months, so I just assumed they were on the car. He then tells me "Yah, so what I'll do is give your girlfriend $60 next week when I get paid ( heard that one before) and we can throw the other two in the for sale paper for $100 or something." After I re-informed him that I have ALREADY given my girl her money back, and he owes ME now, (you forgetfull drunken putz..) the kicker struck me.. While still owing another $60, he's saying 'we' can put them in the paper and sell them for MORE than that...which they ARE worth, BUT: Thats NOT HIS PROFIT TO MAKE!!!!! (nor is it mine!) I restrained myself from loosing it on him for suggesting this corse of action, and proceded to make up a story about my girlfriends friend needing a couple of tires that size for her car, so I'd just come over and pick them up. When I showed up, the tires were by the door, but I got the feeling he REALLY didn't want me to take them.. but I think he realized that this was 'checkmate' for him and really, what could he say!?! Makes me wonder how many other dealings have gone this way with him.. I don't care how much or little money you're talking about... I have a HUGE problem with 'friends' who think it's acceptable to get a good deal from a friend, and on top of screwing them around, try to make a buck off it!! Oh well... life lesson learned, and it only cost me a few bucks.

Well, I actually thought about this, and I think the way it went down, she's not really on the hook... cause before the car was actually done, it was in his name, and the deal was HE would buy the tires from my girlfriend, and that was that. Hell.. while working on the thing, he still didn't know if this girl was even going to pay him for it! There was talk of just fliping it if she 'defaulted' on paying for it, cause it was/is a certifiable/emisions tested car... Basicaly, as far as she's concerned, she bought the car from my 'buddy' (and I use that term loosely..) with no 'strings' attached... But who knows what (if anything) he told her about this whole thing..

Well, yah, that's why I'm adding bracing inside (it is almost 10 feet high in there!) with 2 laminated 2x10s spaning under the existing 2x6 joists suported on the outside wall by 2x4 posts (3 to 4 2x4s laminated together) down to the floor. (aprox 14' span) and in the middle from a hanger bracket to the OTHER 2x10 (2 laminated together) beam I ran from the front of the grage to the corner that juts in (small addition section) I'll try to do some drawings tonite, showing the original construction, what I've done so far and what I'm hoping to do. I'll try to sketch out what I'm thinking for the roof too, and see if my girlfriend can scan them for me, then I can post them later tonite or tomorrow. As for the pitch, I know the current 'code' says 4/12 pitch on 24" centers, but I'm thinking if I brace it well, even a 2/12 pitch on 16" centers would be better than the FLAT that it is right now! The structure does take the snow load as it is, and the saging is probly not that big a deal, except that it allows pooling and seeing that the covering has degraded, it now soaks through and leaks.. I've been driving around town and have noticed a LOT of garages built similar to mine, that have obviously had a pitch of some sort 'added' to the roof. Some go straight up from the front wall 2-3 feet and pitch back to the original flat roof hight, some pitch back off the front about 2' (like what I'm thinking) and then pitch back, givng it sort of a a skewed peak..

I'm goint to guess (with the limited info I have..) the TVS (throttle valve switch) is a possible cause. It's NOT a 'sensor' , but more simply two switches, one for part throttle, and another at 50% or more..(or something like that, I'd have to look in the fsm) and it could be the first switch is not making good contact, causing the ecu to go "AAHHHHHGGG!!!!!!!" and backfire as it messes with fuel and ignition timing to try and cope with a bad signal. The AFM could also be causing simmilar issues, or bad reading from the AFM due to a cracked boot (sucks in extra air that the AFM doesn't see, but it's there and changes air fuel ratio, ect.)between the AFM and throttle body.

So this is a shop problem more than a car problem, but hey.. you gota have a shop to build a Z in right! My FLAT ROOF garage is sagging and leaking.. go figure... At this point, I have almost compleated the nessasary (as I see it) bracing and structural suporting from inside with two new 4x10 headders/posts/ect and I need some advice/thoughts from other people... The layout is a little strange, bacause the 'main' garage is a 23 long X 14 wide building, and probly within 5 years (a guess judging by the simmilar building methods) a small addition was added to one side, which is 14 long X 10 wide. The small addition is at the front (attached to the back of the house) so it is basicaly a 24x23 with the back corner 'missing' on one side. (it juts in 4' from the rear, and over 10') SO... the roof is built with 2x6 joists, (running front to rear) covered with 1" boards and on top of that is what remains of a tar/graval covering, pitched slightly to the back yard, and not very well either.. The back yard grade is HIGHER than the garage, and of course what water does manage to run off the roof goes right into the garage. Need to do some retaining wall/gradeing back there.. It's not a 'downpour' but almost ALL the boards in the roof are wet. Very wet.. actually, waterloged... ANYway, I'm trying to figure out if I can just put a pitch on the roof and shingle it, so I can eliminate the water issue and insulate the garage. (I'm thinking I would rather do something that would be more of a justifiable 'repair' rather than take the roof off, get a building permit, engineered trusses, and the whole bit..) What I've come up with is a small steep pitch at the front, 3' rise, 2' run back from the front, (which would match up to the rear wall of the house) and a long shallow pitch from that to the rear. Say, a 22' run from that 3' hight.. I'll have to see if I can get a picture to illistrate this.. I'm thinking I don't need a permit or anything for this.. or am I wrong? (this would be built right over the existing roof, obviously with all the gravel/tar remains scraped off) Anyone got suggestions/insight? I am really against re-taring it, as I think a flat roof is utterly stupid in this climate (There was about 5 feet of snow up there this winter, and a LOT of water when it melted over the last few weeks!) but I'm willing to hear opinions.. My thinking though is it's probly just as much money and I'd be left with the same situation in a few years time.. Either way, something MUST be done.. I don't think the poor things got another season left in her, and I really want a shop for next winter.. Oh, and forget demo and building new: I can't afford to, and even if I could, the one wall is ON the property line so I'd never be able to re-build where it is, and the property is too small to put a new building anywhere else. Thats my sad story, what do you think? Any help/info is appreciated guys.

Well, I just talked to the guy on the phone.. he's pretty drunked up at the moment, so I'm not sure if he even comprehends what I just told him (I gave my girl her money today, so now he owes ME) but whatever. I'm too buisy with evrything else in my life right now to waste energy being pissed off. Work's getting buisy but there's not enough manpower, my garage roof is leaking/falling down and the front porch is coming off the house, the truck and Z need attention, and I'm not gona add MORE stress just for the sake of $125. Oh, and I believe that the engine stand is in MY garage, on MY property, so and this point, its as good mine anyway!

Thanks for all the replys folks. A strange thing though, I told my girlfriend I'm gona give her the money tomorrow (payday for me) and she says she doesn't want me to!?!? She's saying it's her problem cause she let him have the tires without getting money up front, and took his word that he'd come good in two weeks. I respect her for thinking that way, but I am not willing to just let it go like that. Obviously, if I hadn't asked her if she wanted to sell them, the tires would still be sitting in her parents garage! Which by the way, is FULL of 'stuff' and there will be a huge garage sale in a few weeks.. but I'll bet SOMEONE would have ponied up some cash for these tires and no way in HELL would they leave without paying! Hmmm.. I agree with the 'differing thoughts' about re-payment of monies.. seams some people figure the closer you are to someone (or the better you know them) there is more leaway and flexibility in pay back time.. And to boot, buying frivolous things instead of paying me back.. Like this morning for example; driving 15 mins into town (this guy lives a ways out) to buy a coffee, and smokes, and a case of BEER!!! And then complaining to me how broke he is?!?! Oh well.. I guess I know where I stand with this guy now, and if I never see the $$$ so be it. I'm not getting involved with him and money anymore, and frankely, my point of view is I could do evrything 'we' have done, by myself, it just might have taken longer. So I'll probly remain 'accuainted' with him, as there are times when it's good to have some extra help on something, but sad to say I think he's off the list of 'true good friends' now.

Well, perhaps a little more background here.. I HAVE had issues in the past with 'friends and money' and under most circumstances do NOT let the two mix. I've chased people for $$$, lost my shirt on deals, ect.. You see, I do have another friend that I've known for almost 10 years; I've lent money to him, and I've borrowed from him (In fact, he actually lent me over $400, when I bought the Z!!) and we always conclude our deals with no issues. I sell him something, he pays for it. We've worked out weekly payback plans, trades, ect and are still 100% good friends. Now, this guy who owes my girl $125, I THOUGHT he was now one of 'those' friends... I've known him for about 4 years, we've done a lot of work together on his shop and truck, my house, snowmobiles, ect ect, and it just BUGS me how this whole thing has gone. It's either one of two things; He doesn't see it as a big issue, or he just doesn't care... Oh, and yes, at this point I think it goes without saying that I'm likely going to give my girl her money and take the hit, cause hey.. I thought this guy would be above board and really, it's my fault she's out a set of tires easily worth twice what she asked for. (funny that she set a cheep price cause it was 'for my friend' don't you think?) Maybe I'll tell him thats what I did, and see if it motivates him to pay ME back then.. maybe he has a little more respect for me? Hmmmm.... Well, I guess I have to buy an engine stand now too, as my 355 is sitting on this guys stand that I borrowed a few months ago. He said "Yah, sure, I'm not using it right now anyway. Just bring it back when the motors in the car, in case I need it this summer" Well.... The way this thing is going, I'm sure he's gona want it back suddenly...

Ok, here's the rundown: About 6 weeks ago, a good friend buys a 96 monte carlo for his girl friend (of about 2 months) and the deal is he'll (well, him and I) fix it up and she'll pay him back when her tax's come back. My efforts will result in a case of beer. Fine by me. It definatly needs tires for the safety check and MY girl frinend happens to have a set from her old car that will fit (and are almost NEW I might add!) A deal is made that my friend will give her $125 for the set of tires, in two weeks when he gets his next pay cheque. No problem... So we start working on the car, and it turns out, the rear end is rusted badly, but the guy who sold it to my friend feels bad and is going to give him some cash back. My friend says "Well, I'll give your girl her cash when this guy gives me back some money." Ok.. sounds reasonable... but we're going on 3 weeks now... I do get my case of beer though, so let's let it ride... I KNOW he got money from the seller, but I didn't hear anything about it.. the next thing is "Oh.. well, I'll give her the money for the tires when I get paid for the car which should be next week when her taxes come in." Guess what.. She didn't get back as much as she thought, she paid him for MOST of the car/parts, and she's broke now. Week 4... Well, the car is on the road, changed over to HER name, and she's driving it around town! So I politely ask my friend: "Hey.. uh, my girl's wondering if you can give her any money for the tires yet?" and he says "Oh man... Well, I'm really broke this week, but she is going to get $100 FROM A SCRAP GUY for her old car.. (a rusted out 91 honda civic 4 door.. apparently scrap is up?) Oh, and he spent close to $500 this week on new brake componants for his dually/hotrod truck (summer toy, not the daily driver 06 Cobalt SS that he leases... ) Week 5.. Now my buddys girlfriend has quit her job. She has two small girls (not planed, their father is a dipshit farkoff drug dealer, not really in the picture anymore, but still 'around', ect.. getting the picture?) and is bringing back all her 'rent to own' stuff that she can't afford anymore. Still driving the car though... Enter Week 6.. Today, my buddy shows up around 11am while I'm working on the garage and his girlfriend shows up a few minits later. She is VERY hung over from partying at the bars last night, (and jokes about it, yada yada.) We shoot the poop for a bit.. Boo hoo, she has to move back in with her mother for a while, and then I hear talk of her going tomorrow to get a tatoo done!?!?! So she leaves (to go back to bed I guess..) and I ask my friend.. "So... is she getting that car towed away soon then?" "Oh yah, some time this week I think" Well, I've heard that before... Basicaly, this is really getting on my nerves, and MY girl friend is NOT happy, as you might imagine. It's only $125, but it's the principal of it.. and well, it's $125!!!!! I can't see any other way to resolve this stupid issue, other than freaking out at him, and loosing a friendship in the process... (Him and I basicaly worked for 6 months straight on his truck, and he's helped me quit a bit with my house.. he is/was one of a very few 'good' friends I keep) Although, he's not a stupid person and I'm SURE he's thought about this.. so.. I guess maybe he just doesn't give a shite and I shouldn't worry about 'losing' anything? Just venting really... I think I can see where this is going, just wondering if anyone has some thoughts?

Holy crap! Just hearing Yoda say 'biatch!' was priceless!!! I'mbusitn a gut here... :lol: Could be I'm pretty drunk at this point of the night though...

MAN! I hate this kind of crap.. but after going through similar issues, TWICE, I now check EVRYTHING when I buy a vehicle... Once I bought a 79 Jeep J10 from a guy who brought it up from Ohio (I'm in Ontario Canada) but never paid the duty, taxes, ect so I was stuck with it, and all the asociated fees. That was a PITA, but THEN... A few years later, I bought an Audi 5000 turbo (not a good idea on the BEST of days.. ) and the guy who sold it to me was NOT the registered owner. On top of that, the guy HE bought it from, filled out all the 'change of ownership' fields in the ownership, but never registered it.. So basicaly, I was out my $2000, and could never licence the car legaly. I couldn't get ahold of the seller, OR the previous buyer, therfore I didn't have a proper bill of sale, and the MTO wouldn't do a damn thing for me. Ironic that my ins co. had no problem covering me, but because the MTO wasn't satisfied, I ended up sticking plates from my old car on it, and driving it for about 6 months. Stupid I know, but it was a decent looking 4 door and I drove very responsibly.. and lucky for me, the car crapped out and I never got pulled over.

I would check the carbs too, as they probly have some crap in them now, if the filter is full of rust!! I'd say the tank is full of scale and rust, and you're gona have to address that.. I did mine in the back yard over the corse of 2 days. Droping the tank is not really a big deal.. I think I used half a jug of varsol and sloshed it around for a while, then washed it out really good with the garden hose. Let it sit in the sun for an afternoon, and re-installed. At the same time, I instaled a generic '2-3 psi inline pump' (I think it's an aux. pump for 80's chev trucks, ment to be instaled on the frame rail) and havn't had a problem in 2 years. Have to change the filter evry once in a while, but that's just normal maintinence.

If you started the car with no fluid in the convertor, it's probly really low on fluid now! Once it starts pumping, (on startup) what fluid is there will try to go through the tranny but basicaly run dry.. I'd check the fluid level before anything else. ANY auto tranny I've ever seen that is low on/leaking fluid will ussualy act like that. Mind you, I've found 700r4's to really like to hang onto 1st gear for what seams like too long.. really winding it out and SLAMING into 2nd.. Oh, and I thoght the TV cable was supose to be set with the throttle held wide open?

Stand your ground and keep going. If you really want to do all the things you're doing, you WILL complete them, it time. Besides, nothing really worth doing or havig is EVER easy. Don't get frustrated, that's the key. I've done lots of things that people said I couldn't, or I'd never complete.. I built a V8 rx7 when I was 19 with no air tools or welder (evryone said I was crazy) in my moms garage, I put my Z back together in a portable garage in the back yard (through the rainy fall and the cold winter, again... I was called crazy) And as time goes buy, I just get MORE 'busy'.... I bought a house (by myself) and am renovating it on a $16/hour job with NO line of credit and re-used/clearence sale stuff.. (cheep cheep!!) at the same time, I'm trying to help my Mom fix up her house so she can sell it (and look at other houses with her) , I'm helping my buddy with his truck, his girlfriends car, and yesterday drove 4 hours to pick up his grandfathers house contents in a cube van (hes in an old age home now) and 4 hours back to UNLOAD, and I'm thinking about the next car project too!! And yes, I work 8-10 hours 5-6 days a week, and I have people tell me all the time 'You have too much stuff on the go... you're trying to do too much... BAH!!! I take that negative 'energy' and USE it to keep me going. It's the ability to say "I told you so" at the end of it.. even if you don't say it out loud, YOU will know. You sound a LOT like me... maybe you don't know it yet though. I've realized I will ALWAYS be 'busy' with many things, it's just the way I am. If I woke up tomorrow and had NOTHING on the go, and NO project to work on, I'd be totaly lost... and I'd go find something to build, or fix, or help someone with. EDIT: Forgot to add, that you DO have to keep an open mind on some things...basicaly work out the logistics and schedual things carefully, if even in your own head, to keep immidiate family happy.. for the sake of the wife/girl and family. Anyone else that has a problem can bugger off and get out of your life. I know people like that, and I try not to hang around them too much. I guess my situation is a little diffrent, as my girlfriend doesn't live with me, so I don't have as much of a 'honney do list' on a day to day basis..

I saw something simmilar happen to a Porsche 924 of all things! The wiring was a hack job (3 previous owners) and the guy selling it, a brother in law, had NO clue... So after some rigging and arcing of wires, he turns the key and gets the starter to spin. After about 10 seconds of cranking, the car finaly comes to life.. unfortunatly, the starter was STILL ENGAGED!!! The guy yells over the noise of the rotten exhast "See, she runs pretty good!" And starts reving it up... I hear the whine.. and then see the smoke.. So I start signaling the guy to shut it down, but it wont!! He pulls the key out and holds it up.. wtf? So he tries to stall it by droping the clutch in 1st gear with the hand brake pulled; No dice. The car was just fired up cold and it's idling around 2K, so it digs in and takes off down the driveway! He finaly figures out to hold the brakes and drop the clutch in 4th gear, but by this point the white smoke and that SMELL have taken over the driveway. He wasn't happy when I left with my $2000 still in my pocket....

Still though, it WAS great!! hehehehhe... I can hardly wait till the back field is clear of snow at my bosses farm.. gona get some field cars to smash up!

Personaly, I can't totaly agree with that.. If thats true, how is it that I can play a riff on my guitar AND sing lyrics at the same time? Oh, and at the same time, be in time with the rest of the band, and focus on someone out in the crowd?

I wear lightly yellow colred polarized safety glasses at work, (machine shop) for simmilar reasons. In a dimly lit shop or a factory, it helps me to see clearly and things stand out. Most of my 'out of shop' jobs are in very buisy industrial/manufacturing settings, and you MUST be aware of evrything around you at all times. Press's are moving, automation/robots flying through their cycle, tow motors driving by, people yelling, and I'm ussualy VERY close to something moving or rotationg. Actualy, a lot of my work is BUILDING the saftey guarding so when I'm working, the machine/ect is wide open and quite dangerous! (at a ceartian point, I will ask that the thing is shut down though, I'm not crazy) I know most people would class themselves as 'above average drivers' but seriously, I do.. I've avoided hundreds of near accidents, and I have only had ONE crash in 12 years of driving. 100% the other drivers fault (they ran a stop sign right in front of me) and the cop even told me he was suprised it wasn't worse.. Heavy trafic, cars evrywhere, and I managed to stay in the lane and only hit the car that ran in front of me. 'creative braking' I guess.. (my truck skidded out to the left at oncoming traffic, and at the last second I let off and got it straightend out and then re-aplied the brakes just as I hit the honda square in the rear quarter.) I agree that people (for the most part..) just don't take driving seriously anymore.. the 'zoned out look' you see on people's faces, the poor reaction time and then obvious panic responce of slaming the brakes and swerving.. My girl friend sad to say, is one of these people and I think it's just the way it is.. some people just should NOT drive!! I regularly take whatever I'm driving out to a parking lot in the winter, and see what it will do.. (and what I can do!) In the summer, 2 or 3 times a month I find a backroad and practice threashold braking/heal toe downshifting... And I'm sure it has kept me alive a few times! Three things I've learned basicaly sum up what I conseider to be good driving practice; 1; Always assume the other people on the road don't know you're there. 2: Drive as if you have NO brakes (more-so for driving in the winter) 3; Be compleatly aware at all times of EVRYTHING around you. That includes the guy 4 cars back trying to pass evryone, and the guy turning left 2 cars ahead, ect... IE; always be looking for an 'escape' route or something soft to run into!

Man... that's not a bad deal! I wonder what it would need to put on the road.. Couple head lights and signals.. THAT would be a cool ride for the summer...

Dam you!! Now I'm on autotrader cheking out 190's ....and I find one for $1500!!! AGGGHHH!!!!! Visions of my freash 355 in a Mercedes instead of the RX7!! (85 and older are exempt from emisions up here, and the rest of the car looks great!!) Sonova...

I'm a big fan, but never found any in my price range.. not that I need ANOTHER project/fixer anyway! (Dually 1 tone, 280z, 85 RX7 awaiting the V8, uh.. HOUSE, garage...) There are a few around here, but nothing 'pimped out' just stockers driven by older Germans.

I slaped the whole mess right on my 75 280z (doner was a 72 240) and it works very well. I can't tell you for sure about the manifold though.. but I would think it's the same. I bought my carbs/manifold from a member here along with a 280zx distributor for $125 I think it was.. I'd recomend you do the dizzy too, as it's a simple plug and play and SO much easier to deal with compared to the stock points crap. Oh, and the su's are so dirt simple, it's really worth your while to compleatly dissasemble them when you get them and clean/re-gasket them before instaling them. (took me about 2 hours, not noing WTF I was doing) Make sure needles arn't bent and are both set the same in the pistons, turn adjustors out about 2 turns and make sure to ballance the throttles to open at the same time. That should get you going easily.

Hell man.. I just had an '010' block (previously bored to a 355) BUILT for $600!! Mild cam, new bearings/seals/gaskets/valve job/ect and I just have to put a carb on it! The builder was a guy I know, and he owed me $500 but he had a good core and some parts lying around, so I kicked in another $100 and I have a freash motor sitting on a stand.. now if only the garage wasn't so cramped and full of crap... (undergoing garage renovations...)

Reall shame to see a 911 in that state... but I'd have walked too.. Looks really good on the outside, but the insides are ugly.. 'Maybe' if the price was around $2500 it could be workable, but like stated above (and I'm sure you know) anything that has that many visible issues will DEFINATLY have more that you don't see right now..