Luna: The cause of, and solution to, all of my problems

[ryant67]

Congrats, looking forward to lots of winter updates now!  

We are getting hit pretty hard with snow up here in Kingston right now.  My 240Z was put off the road yesterday - pretty happy to have lasted this late into the year

[rturbo 930]

Photos are private.

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

Congrats, looking forward to lots of winter updates now!  

 

We are getting hit pretty hard with snow up here in Kingston right now.  My 240Z was put off the road yesterday - pretty happy to have lasted this late into the year

 

Yeah, you and me both. I expect to be spending a lot more time out in the garage as well. Wow, yeah you got a long season in, that's for sure. I am so jealous, and can't wait until my car is functioning as intended once again.

 

I still can't sort out my damn blinkers. I'm not getting power to the switch, when the switch it engaged, but the blinker switch itself tests correctly, and is getting 12v. I'm starting to suspect the hazard switch, despite working properly, it may not be allowing current to go to the switch when the blinker is engaged. From my understanding, that's how the circuit works. I can manually light up my left and right sides of the car by manually jumping power to the correct contact on the switch. Very frustrating....

 

 

 

Photos are private.

 

Should be fixed. I can't seem to figure out the new mobile photobucket app, so I transitioned to Flickr, and am still undecided on if I like it or not...Let me know if you can't see the pictures.

[rturbo 930]

Still can't see them. Photobucket went down tube years ago. Flickr and imgur seem to be the popular ones these days. And it would be really nice if we could simplify HybridZ's image posting/displaying system, because quite frankly, it sucks, and makes viewing/saving photos far more annoying than it needs to be.

Edited November 21, 2016 by rturbo 930

[1969honda]

Pictures show up great on my desktop and mobile?

[Nelsonian]

The last set of pics from the red BMW will not open for me, but the Halloween costume does no problem, and thumbs up on that!!

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

I made most, if not all of the albums public. Hoping that did it. I think I figured out the right way to post with flickr. Now it won't link you to the flickr page when you click this newest post. Yesterday's is still messed up.

 

 

 

 

Got the e30 wheels painted. Going to try to mount my new tires tomorrow.







Good enough to throw some winter tires on.

The Pepper White should look good against the red of the car.

Edited November 22, 2016 by OldAndyAndTheSea

[rturbo 930]

Pics are working now, save for a few. How big is your shop and how long does it take to heat it up with the stove? Our garage has a stove, which I tried to use last winter, but it did practically nothing. 900sqft or so, uninsulated, wood doors.

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

The shop space is roughly 20x30 in the front. And the same mirrored on the reverse side. Two separate spaces.

 

It takes about two hours for the wood stove to come up to temperature and you start feeling heat at the far walls. I've only insulated about 50% of the space so far, and that alone makes a noticeable difference. Before insulation the inside temperatures were at best 10 degrees above ambient. Now with my limited insulation progress, it was 30 degrees warmer inside, than outside, with no heat source running. My doors are insulated, which helps a bit I imagine as well. The fan helped a lot too.

 

I'm actually kind of giddy when I think that it's currently a snowstorm outside, and I just got done painting automotive urethane paints in my garage. I've never had paintable winter temperatures before. This is a nice change.

Edited November 22, 2016 by OldAndyAndTheSea

[rturbo 930]

30 degrees above outside temp with no heat is incredible! I don't think it gets nearly as cold here as it does there - save for a few very cold days, highs are generally above freezing in the winter. If my garage were that warm in winter, I would be so damned happy. Only thing I have to my benefit is that the exterior of the garage is 5" thick stone, which probably helps a little. It's my parents garage though, not mine, so if I want an insulated garage, I'll probably have to get my own.

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

^^Yeah, I'm quite smitten with the place now. The thirty degrees over ambient obviously doens't apply linearly. Its basically saying that now my baseline in garage temperature when it is in the single digits to teens outside is about 40-45 degrees. Which is amazing in comparison. I don't think the stone helps you any, if anything it holds the chill until you can heat it up, much like a slab floor. That could be part of your problem as well. 

 

 

 

The e30 is now winter ready. Sweet. Waiting on some BMW stickers for the centers. Good 'nuff for salt and snow.




Tomorrow I bring the Mini into the shop to do a little touch up on that as well.

Then....it's 240 time. Can't wait.

Edited November 22, 2016 by OldAndyAndTheSea

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

I'm finally regaining control of my schedule. I'm now back to a reasonable amount of projects once again.


Ladies and Gents, today we return to our normal scheduled program: Turbo 240z



I fixed my blinkers!

Blink!



Blonk!


 
Oh how I've missed your song, you beautiful bastards.

This was such a pain in my ass for so long..... And something that prevented virtually any further interior progress from happening. Not anymore.



For anyone curious as to how the hell I could get hung up diagnosing and repairing the blinker circuit here is a really quick explanation as to the cause of the problem.

 

Skip over this next paragraph if you don't care about Datsun blinkers (I don't blame you)

The blinkers on these cars are unnecessarily complex. All current for the brake lights, blinkers, and hazard lights is distributed through the hazard switch. When my blinker switch was activated, the hazard switch would lose 12v, at the blinker circuit. Once I figured out why the **** that was happening, and re supplied power to that portion of the hazard switch, the blinkers worked.  Sadly, Nissan ran full current through the switches, themselves, which can lead to some problems, and are usually prone to premature wear, and or failure.  Overall, just a ****ty system. The design is archaic. Works now though. haha

tl;dr: Blinker bearings needed fluid. Topped off; solved. Blinks for days.



Now. the. dash. goes. in.

Time to confirm all my gauges are functioning, tidy up the harness, and then proceed to install the dash.

A simple ten dollar label maker will potentially be the perfect tool for labeling my heater panel controls. I love the classic minimalistic look. I'll stick those suckers on tomorrow.



I've got the time, and am now HIGHLY motivated. Lets do this....





Also, for those wondering about Tiny house stuff. Yes - still a go. Project evolved into a passivhaus custom design. Something a bit more serious than originally planned. But in the end it will be something truly special. We are changing detailing almost daily now, but once we have the drawings finished, I will post them. Nothing worth sharing now, aside for the following picture. My architect is one of my best friends, he owns the white IX I occasionally post here.  This is us today, returning from the site, mapping the building location and projected absorption bed location. I can't wait to share that story as it evolves. More on that later.

 Currently I'm dealing with procuring a percolation test in January. I've always been, and always will be, a glutton for punishment.

Here we see the AWD IX, hunting the RWD E, in its natural habitat.

Edited January 3, 2017 by OldAndyAndTheSea

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

Got the heater controls labeled. Has a vintage racecar look. I like it.

Cheap, easy, and reversible; Nothing wrong with that.





Other than that, I'm just rewrapping the dash harness, and taking my time routing and organizing the wiring.

Nothing else picture worthy.....yet.

[1969honda]

That actually looks pretty cool on the carbon fiber

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

Yeah, I agree. I don't feel they would work in all situations, aesthetically, but juxtaposed against the carbon comes off nice in my opinion. There's beauty in simplicity.

 

 

 

Day started off rougher than expected. Decided to thumb wrestle a razor blade. Spoiler alert: Razor won.   whoops.



Other than being a masochist....

I'm getting close. All the gauges work, and are accounted for.



Now it's time to hunker down, and wait out the storm.



Gotta love lake effect.

Edited January 9, 2017 by OldAndyAndTheSea

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

It hasn't stopped snowing in two days.

Many feet in some places.




So I've done a lot of this...



A little bounding with the pups...

Ralph loves the snow.





Calypso...she just likes being with me.




So in between plow sessions I've made some serious progress on the 240.

Today is D-Day. The day the dash goes in.

Rewrapped, and "tidied" up.   Ready for the dash.



But not before I, once again, make my mark. It will hopefully be some time before I sign this again.



A shit ton of expletives, and about 4 hours, later.....

a little teaser.




Gauges are functioning, the heater blower works, as do the cables controlling the air flow and temperature. I think it's safe to call the project a success.

Lots more to do, but I'm feeling good.

More tomorrow fo sho.

[ryant67]

Dash looks great!  

Barring anything unforeseen, it's really looking like you will have the car on the road this summer!  Are there any tracks for drag racing or club nights for autox or something down around there?  Might be fun to get a mini meet going with the Rochester guys.

Pretty crazy looking at all the snow you guys got.  Up here in Kingston we didn't get any, just a whole lot of wind.  

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

Dash looks great!  

 

Barring anything unforeseen, it's really looking like you will have the car on the road this summer!  Are there any tracks for drag racing or club nights for autox or something down around there?  Might be fun to get a mini meet going with the Rochester guys.

 

Pretty crazy looking at all the snow you guys got.  Up here in Kingston we didn't get any, just a whole lot of wind.  

 

 

Here's hoping......And the nearest track that I know of is Watkins, which I'd totally be down for a trip. I know a lot of the ZCCR people make an annual trip to the Glen.

 

We had gale force winds too, I think that's what helped the massive accumulation. Absolutely dumped on.

 

Quick batch of updated pictures, while I'm taking a short break from working. Slowly finalizing things. Tucking remaining wires, and lots of time consuming tedious things...

 

 

 

 

I'll be chopping the center console and fitting the fuse box cover with its components soon. Probably next step...

 

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

I got distracted with boat building obligations earlier in the day, but I'm using the heat this evening to work and putter on the car.

Quick release - installed. Feels good all tightened down. I was expecting slop, and was pleasantly surprised by the lack thereof....



Dusty carbon (cause I'm a THAT guy) release.

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Also roughly mounted the A pillar gauge pod. Now I can get and idea of what needs to be chopped/modified. Then it gets the flocking treatment.





I still need to find my horn button haha.

I'm heading back out now, just came in for a bite. I'll be attempting to play with the fusebox cover. We'll see how far I get.

[calZ]

Once you wire your horn in, the steering wheel won't be removable, correct? If you're interested in keeping it removable I have some pictures and CAD files you might be interested in. We have the NRG 2.0 release in our racecar, and I 3D printed a piece to go in the wheel hub that allows us to use the horn wiring as a PTT circuit while keeping the wheel removable. It would be simple to make that work for your horn.