Daily driving a ZR-1

[BigJohn]

Brake in brakes and then braked?

[Roadster]

Originally Posted by 8cam

And then there's my Sunday evening...just yesterday. Took the wife out to dinner and 60mph...BRAKE....back to 60...BRAKE...back to 60....BRAKE. Hey it was the first test drive after the brake job and I needed to bed in the new pads. She wasn't amused.

You have to do what you have to do......I hope this was before and not after dinner, her stomach may have been very upset if it was after, come to think of it, mine might have been too.......lol

On another thought, I am not totally happy with the brake pads on my Z, don't know what brand they are, they still are almost like brand new. Thinking about making a change to get a little more stopping power. That brand of pads you mentioned seem interesting. May have to try them out!!!

[8cam]

Originally Posted by Roadster

You have to do what you have to do......I hope this was before and not after dinner, her stomach may have been very upset if it was after, come to think of it, mine might have been too.......lol

On another thought, I am not totally happy with the brake pads on my Z, don't know what brand they are, they still are almost like brand new. Thinking about making a change to get a little more stopping power. That brand of pads you mentioned seem interesting. May have to try them out!!!

I really like the Akebonos, and keep putting them in different cars. One thing to keep in mind, they are ceramics. That means bedding them in properly is very important, and they take longer than most. So for your first several drives, they will feel like they aren't quite as effective. But once they are, they work extremely well with excellent stopping power. And my favorite feature...you won't have to clean your wheels nearly as often.

[8cam]

Well tonight I had my very first roadside breakdown, my own damn fault. I had noticed the last couple days that the belt was squealing for a few seconds when I turned on the a/c, but it quieted down quickly. I figured I'd take a look over the weekend. Nope.

On the way to meet some friends this afternoon and it started screaming, even with the a/c off. Luckily I was near a gas station, so I pulled in and popped the hood. Shredded belt fragments everywhere and barely 1 rib's worth still on the pulleys. After a few choice works at my own stupidity, I grabbed an Uber to the nearest Napa. They had the belt in stock, and a couple el-cheapo screwdrivers and a pair of pliers. My Uber driver hung around and drove me back to the car, super nice guy. He's an actor, already been in a few things around here and doing Uber to pay the rent.

I got the belt all routed, but getting it back over the alternator was proving to be a real bitch. I could pull the tensioner back, but then needed two more hands on the belt. Luckily the guys in the gas station walked out and they had a breaker bar. Nice to have the proper tool. With the tensioner held with the breaker, it was much easier to get the belt on and done. I bought them a six pack for their help.

Started it right up, checked everything, turned on the a/c and the clutch kicked in like it should, everything looks absolutely perfect. The drive home was easy enough, just sorry I missed the meetup with my friends.

Moral of the story, your car will tell you when something isn't right. Listen to it!

[Racinfan83]

Yeah that belt is not fun - even in the garage. Been there done that. Hope I don't have to do it again... Glad it worked out for you as well as it did

[8cam]

I'm going to be cleaning belt bits, strands, pieces and dust for a while. When it went, holy hell it really went. This weekend will be cleanup, I guess a good excuse to do something I needed to do anyway.

[WARP TEN]

When I got my '95 in 2012 it rolled off the truck running fine but with a serp belt that was just about gone. Lots of cracks and missing bits of rubber. Clearly the original belt (21,000 miles on the car). Fortunately it didn't break--I nursed it until I could get it to Marc for all the servicing it needed. I remember that with my '93 (which I owned from 6,000 miles to 74,000 miles) I carried an extra serp belt under the seat, but never had to use it. I think I had replaced the belt at some point in its life. --Bob

[mike100]

keep an eye on the tensioner. They get "sticky" and don't allow the spring to push the wheel through the entire range of motion to keep the belt properly tight. You can't get the LT5 tensioner anymore, but you can rebuild the guts with an LT1 unit (much cheaper than the LT5 one anyhow).

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by mike100

keep an eye on the tensioner. They get "sticky" and don't allow the spring to push the wheel through the entire range of motion to keep the belt properly tight. You can't get the LT5 tensioner anymore, but you can rebuild the guts with an LT1 unit (much cheaper than the LT5 one anyhow).

AND, just to add this tidbit: the tensioner pully/bearing assembly from an LT1 will work in place of the ZR-1 pulley, in spite of not having the guide ridges on the outside edges of the pulley (like the ZR-1 pulley has). Replaced my pulley 8 years/ 19,000 miles ago and never had a moment's trouble, FYI.

[8cam]

This looks like a good place to park.