Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

Oh, I hated that. You will like the car so much more after you fix that and maybe a couple of the louder rattles. btw, I jammed a small piece of neopreme foam under my radio bezel as that was loose on my car. amazing how much noise a little plastic plate can make.

Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

Mark,

I have a spare prom you can send to Marc and avert down time. I had re placed one years ago on the 91 so it keeps getting rotated to others for Marc's upgrade. As I don't think you can find them anymore you would have to go to a piggy back set up if you don't send him a GM prom. This one is out of the 93. All I ask is you trade me your old one so I will have it for the next.

Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

Ok Steve, I'll take you up on that and the slave. :) I'll give you a call in the morning.

I made a run out tonight to pick up some beer, wine and pizza. Parked outside the beer store and a guy says "Hey is that a ZR-1?" He knew all about it, very detailed, talked about driving one back in the day hitting 130 without even breathing hard. Yep that's it. Not many people have spotted this car for exactly what it is, and that was pretty cool.

Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

Just let me know Mark.

Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

A couple days of driving confirmed that the slave was bad and deteriorating rapidly. What lasted a week, barely lasted a day, so I ordered a rebuilt slave from Jim @ Power Torque Systems. Super nice guy, very helpful with some great suggestions. I installed the new slave this afternoon, took about 2 hours which probably could be reduced to an hour after figuring things out like...unsnapping the hard line from the clip just forward of the bell housing gives just enough slack to rotate the slave down. And that gives just enough room to get a flare wrench on the line connection, which will finally get the old slave out of there. Putting the new slave in is a different sort of wrestling match, and I simply couldn't do it with the hard line connected. That meant reconnecting and tightening that line was a real b*tch.

Then there was the bleeding process. I didn't have a syringe to prime the slave, so I just hooked it up empty and started, with my lovely wife on the pedal. About 500 pumps later and still getting bubbles and not much resistance, so back under the car to crack the new bleeder valve - damn that thing is a real bitch to get to. Three cycles of this and we finally started getting fluid out the bleeder, so the slave was filling. Soon enough the pedal came up and felt strong, but definitely a learning process.

The test drive was great, clutch very strong and solid, much better than it's ever felt since I've been driving it. Job done. Just in time too, since I have shuttle duty tomorrow between my son taking the SAT, and my daughter going to the prom. Oh yeah tomorrow will be interesting.

Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

Getting ready for Caffeine and Octane tomorrow morning!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/b...psd1504d1a.jpg

Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

A couple days and about 100 miles later, and the clutch feels even better. It continued to self-bleed a bit, and feels fantastic now. I also disconnected that damn CAGS while I was under there and what a HUGE difference. So much easier to drive in heavy traffic now, shuffling between 1st and 2nd easily.

I took care of a couple of the interior rattles too and it's much more pleasant now, without all that buzzing going on. Biggest things on the plate coming up will be sending the TB to Marc for a real rebuild, and installing one of his software updates. I'll also be starting a real We Gone-style cleanup soon.

Later this summer will be a full paint touchup, correction and clean at my brother's place, and maybe by the fall we'll start looking at fun stuff like exhaust. But meanwhile I'm still driving it every day, and it's getting better and better. Just rolled 46k.

Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

The Z continues to roll along without a problem, nearly 47k now. The more I drive it the more I love these seats. They might not be everyone's favorite, but they just might be the most comfortable seats I've ever had in a car, and that's a lot of cars. If you've ever sat in an early Porsche 928, you know those seats are the absolute best...and these Corvette seats are right there, just perfect for me.

Mileage has improved slightly overall. I can get 25-26mpg on a long trip, but real world daily mileage is running right around 17.5mpg, including the daily commute, errands to Walmart and Advance, picking up the kids and evenings out. Not bad for a relatively heavy car with a big-*** V8. There are times when I see single digits though....

I need to do something with the HVAC controls. They have a mind of their own, working perfectly one day and then not at all the next. Years of non-use I guess. I'll have to pull the panel and start cleaning contacts.

Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

It's a damn good thing the rear vision is so good in these cars. Between the big glass hatch and good mirrors, I can see traffic around me much better than the 308 and better even than my wife's MB. I drive in heavy Atlanta traffic every day and in the downtown rush hour scrum, good vision and reflexes are critical. Yesterday I was on my way home, doing about 70mph in the far left lane and about to move to the right to let by BIGSUVSOB riding my ***. A quick glance right and I started to move, then saw a flicker of motion through the back hatch and I jumped back left.

An organ donor on a crotch rocket blew past me on the right, moving in 3 lanes at a shot, damn near launched over my front corner. I was doing 70 and he had to be over 100mph. If I hadn't caught that motion in my peripheral vision and flicked the car back left, there would have been biker all over the road. The stupid was strong in that one.

Speed is for the track folks.

Re: Daily driving a ZR-1
 

Been nothing to post because, knock on wood, the car has just been perfect. Averaging about 18mpg overall, a couple stays at the airport while I've been traveling, a/c is working well here in Hotlanta, just driving.

This morning I was topping up the tank and decided to check my oil. Imagine my surprise when the dipstick handle snapped off! Looks like the plastic just got brittle with age. I salvaged the pieces and might try to epoxy it back together, but I don't suppose this is an available part?

Also gave the guy next to me a jump start when his Honda Accord's battery died. Something funny about a 24 year old Chevy coming to the rescue of a nearly-new Honda.