| So continuing from my post last week, here's my Zcon write up. Sorry about the middle of the story as I get kinda detailed about my issue I ran into. Had a few local guys cancel at the last minute including the person I was rooming with. Found another guy to go, member Coma_Ass. His Z was apart still so he was gonna drive my Pearl White TT. Well at the last min Genic decided he wanted to buy it and he flew out in fast order and drove it home, so that idea was out. He ended up just riding along with me instead. Being my engine only had 500 miles on it I wanted to have another car at least along for the drive. Found out the Omaha guys were heading threw Denver so we met up with them and headed on our way. All taped up and ready for the road. The white 3m tape is still working great. I throw some duct tape on in a few spots to help it stay in place on longer drives.
 
We stayed overnight in Santa Fe as it was already a long day for the Omaha Crew. Few shots of the next morning.
 
We got to town on Monday afternoon so there werent many people around yet. Few Z's in the garage and of course the ones on display.
 Rodel's Z looking good as always.
 I always link about getting a hood like his if I don't fix my SpeedyZX-type ones I have collecting dust.
 
Pretty decent wrap job on the 370z. The painted color of the car is actually yellow.
 
Car wash area. Even though I brought my own stuff, it was nice to see they provided everything you needed as well and cold bottles of water.
 The Toniq
 
Gave the Z a quick bath, and then it was off to give myself one of my many showers due to the heat.
 Tuesday was the opening dinner and such. Relaxed most of the day. I wasnt able to go on any of the drives though. It wouldn't be zcon without some kind of issue. I put on new brakes and pads before the trip. Everything was good. No issues most of the trip into town. We decided to head in the "back" way though Payson instead of Flagstaff. Once I hit Payson I felt my brakes start to vibrate as we came into slower traffic and town. And it seem to get worse as we got to the hotel. After checking it out in the garage I found one of my rotors had warped. WTH. The way into Payson is very hilly, but we were either letting the cruise control and engine hold us at speed or we were on the gas. Didnt use the brakes much at all, and deff not enough to cause them to warp. Not sure what happend, but the issue was there. My main concern was I wanted to be able to make the Nissan test center outing as it was confirmed we were going to get to drive on the high speed oval. So after calling the usual places trying to find someone to turn a drilled rotor I found a Napa repair shop that said they would do it. It was close to the hotel so things were looking up...... Wednesday there was another tour drive but I still wasnt fixed and TT.net dinner was that night. Most people were gone so I needed to find a ride to drop my rotor off. I enlisted the help of SactoTodd. We go to Napa and of course they tell me they cannot turn it because its drilled. Here we go. I go back and forth with them telling them they just told me the day before they could do it, etc. So at this point I was starting to get pretty pissed. The Napa guy says he knows of a guy who turns flywheels and has a mobil shop and he does it in the back of his van. We give him a call and he said he could do it. Sacto and I took off and met the guy at another job he was at, dropped off the rotor and he said he would have it done in a few hours and then drop it off to me at the hotel. From there we went and met the rest of the gang for go-karts. Sorry, my dad gave me his old camera right before we left and its got more bells and whistles than I'm used to so most action shots didnt turn out. Karting was fun. I got there late so I went with a seperate group my first run and then had to go again right away. Well ever since I was diagnosed with MS, I have been getting car sick when on the race track after so long. Doing back to back sessions with no break and wearing a head sock (heat) about did me in. Luckly I got a break before the final/3rd group. Have to say it was a nice facility but of course there were some issues. In my second race my kart started dying (they were battery) and I had to let everyone pass me. The kart was crawling at the end. The 3rd race I couldnt reach my pedals. The seats were not adjustable but for some reason the pedals were further away. Still had fun and ran faster than I thought I would. 3rd fastest of group blew me away. I have a video but it makes everyone look so slow. Maybe my blurry pictures with make them look faster :)
 
After karts I headed back the hotel. Its about 2:00. I called the mechanic guy to let him know we are back. He told me he was just finishing it up and he'll bring it by. Clock keeps ticking by and I never hear from him. He knows I have the dinner so I start worrying. 5:00 I call, no answer. Goes right to voicemail. 5:30, again nothing. I'm leaving messages, etc. 6:00 and now I'm late for the tt.net carshow. So now I'm getting upset. He finally calls at 6:15. Says his phone died and he had to go back home to get his charger. He says he's 45min away from the hotel now. I go off on the guy. I'm pissed but there's nothing I can do. And it doesn help that the guy is an ass to me. Amoung other things he asks why I dont just drive another car to the event. Anyway he finally shows up at 7:00. Calls me and is lost somehow. For those of you who went to zcon, the hotel is pretty damn hard to miss. Besides the track, its the only thing you see at the exit. I get him squared away and walk down to meet up with him. We walk out the hotel and see him park in the parking lot, take out my rotor and set it in the rocks and proceed to get back in his truck and get ready to drive off. I was super pissed. I walked over, grabbed my rotor and and walked away. Put it on the car and drove off to the dinner. I was too pissed and stressed by the time we got to the tt.net dinner to take any pics or to really eat. Plus it was dark. Car show voting was over as well. The tt.net diner was one of the main things I really looked forward too, more so than zcon in a way. I had talked Mike Smith into coming to zcon and I bought his ticket for the tt.net dinner. He has helped me so much over the years it was the least I could do and I had never met him before so I was looking forward to it. When it looked like I wasn't gonna make it this was the main thing I was gonna be bummed about. But I made it finally, met Mike and we shared a table. Was a great time. We talked so much that I missed most of the dinner. Got to see and talk to Greg and Seb, and a few others. Wished I could have made it on time to chat with everyone else out in the parking lot. I was really bummed about the whole thing. Thursday morning was the Zcon car show. Started off with a bang. 3rd or 4th person in line to get in and I had to wait almost an hour. For some reason they had my name on the list, but didnt have a dash form for me so they wouldnt let me in. So they had me wait while others passed me by. Then the lightbulb finally came on and they filled out a blank one and let me in. Woo-hoo. After some cleaning and things got started they told us we couldnt leave the cars until they were judged as we had to be there when they came by. Well after wasting almost the whole show, they told us my category would be last and they finally came around. At this point I was soaked in sweat, overheated and sunburned pretty good. Always fun. So I didnt get to see all the cars but I got a few pics when I would sneak away to get some shade. 
There was some Gold Cup talk among a bunch of people and I did get rejudged for it but it was not to be in the end. I'm sure once I get my judging sheets I'll have to make a post about it. Figured I would throw this in as I've already seen others mention it in other peoples zcon posts and I'm sure it will come up again. I would rant about it now but figured I would just wait. This post is already too long. Friday was the track day. Went and hung out for a bit. Too damn hot to stay all day and actually left for part of the day to go cool off and take a nap and then came back. Chris from Omaha working on his brake ducting.
 I would liek one, but I cant afford a NSX, let alone a track NSX.
 
Wish I had one of these for when my track car is done
 
Obviously Luis was going way too fast for my camera and his magnet.
 
Later that night was drift and drag. Went over with the Omaha group. SZ had just tuned Rays highly modded Z32 for E85. I think it ran a 11.04. From what I hear the track conditions were very poor though. John putting his slicks on.
 John and Ray
 Saturday was the Nissan Test Center. No pictures allowed. But driving on the banked oval was great. I took it to the top and it was a weird but great feeling. I heard people being told it was a 45 degree bank at the top. Depending on what your tour group leader was like your group got to go faster than some others. I wasnt in the fastest groups but I got to enjoy it still. 
And then of course the awards dinner. I took home 1st in my category and surprisingly got a Best of Show award as well. 
The dinner went on way too late as normal and being we head out early the next day I had to get packed and get the car ready. Sorry I wasnt able to stick around and chat and say goodbyes. I have to say over all it was a good zcon and one of the better ones for me personally. I felt more relaxed (aside from my brake issue) and got to chat and hang out with more people than I usually do. Gonna have to start planning for 2014.
JackB nimble JackB quick JackB can suck my dick =P - james-lee 11/02/01
Arrogance is the #1 weapon against Supra Owners - MikeH 08/06/02
Dallas with a Z: I like the bulge dude 05/02/03
Bezbefootball: Does dick have anything for me? 10/21/03 |
My Zcon writeup to join the rest. - 
