Daily driving a ZR-1

[RussMcB]

Originally Posted by 8cam

<snip> BTW Russ, you need to post up some progress pics!

I don't really have any. Below is what the car looked like on 3/16 when I loaded it up to take to the body shop (my Mad Max pictures). Yesterday I heard they've started on it. I'm pretty nervous about getting it back in time to get everything done before the MR/BG event in May. In addition to putting it all back together (big job), I need to install shocks (not a big job) and install a stereo. If I'm not thrashing I'll take some pictures of those jobs (if they're interesting).

[8cam]

Haven't updated this thread in a while because, well you know a ZR-1 is a great daily driver! And it's just been rolling along, commuting in the hot southeast without a hitch. Our daughter just graduated high school and will be starting college in the fall, so we are just about empty nesters. That means downsizing! Yes we actually sold the big house and bought a small place with no steps. Daughter still isn't happy about it, but that's our business. So here's a couple pics, the Z in its new home (yes garage is tiny but we'll be fixing that soon), and my copilot Samson.

[edram454]

Mark,

You gotta do what you gotta do. your new house is nice and you have a two car garage. Your car looks good and is behaving properly and you have a faithful co-pilot. I say things are going good for you. Congrats.

ed ramos #3028

[Racinfan83]

We've been empty nesters for awhile now. Wish we could get rid of this biga$$ house with 32 stairs in it as well. Market hasn't been good enough to even think about selling for quite awhile - kinda getting there now. Problem is we looked on MLS the other day just goofing around and there are NO ranch homes in this county for sale with our need list and price point. I have too much stuff as well - moving would really suck. One of these days maybe...

[8cam]

Moving did suck. The lucky part was we were in the hottest area in Atlanta, with precious little inventory and a line of people trying to get in. We posted the house on MLS at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon and by 10pm we had two offers for well above our asking price. Sunday morning we asked for "highest and best" from both, and had an agreement by Sunday afternoon...with two MORE backup offers. It was nuts.

This new house is 1400sqft, so much smaller than the old place. We sold or gave away so much stuff, and some of it was really hard to do. Movers took the big stuff over, and then we rented a 12' box truck to handle the small stuff ourselves, and we STILL took more than 1300lbs to the dump. Again, nuts.

But I am really enjoying this little house. No steps mean it's easy on my knees. My wife can be in the kitchen and I can be in the bedroom, and we can carry on a normal conversation. And the yard is a 45 minute job, including trimming, edging, and watering. Not really much room to work on the car though, but I have plans for that too.

Meanwhile, still driving the Z every day. The last couple of weeks have been ridiculous here in Atlanta, more like August than June. But the a/c works well, fans are cycling just like they should, and it's just super-comfortable even in traffic. Can't ask for more than that.

[8cam]

BTW this is the first house I've ever had, where I HAD to hang tennis balls in the garage! It was the only way to consistently park the cars and leave room to walk around them. Believe it or not, the Z and the Merc are within inches of being the same length, and when they are parked correctly, there's about a foot on either end of the car. I mean the garage is really small! Kinda funny the Z's ball is about a foot lower and nearly two feet further back than the Merc's.

You probably noticed no 308 in that pic - no room at all. It's living with my brother for now, which really sucks. But we'll get back together eventually.

[8cam]

Originally Posted by edram454

Mark,

You gotta do what you gotta do. your new house is nice and you have a two car garage. Your car looks good and is behaving properly and you have a faithful co-pilot. I say things are going good for you. Congrats.

ed ramos #3028

You are so right. I love my life, and I'm very happy with where we are, could not ask for more. My wife is my best friend, my son is out with a job and going to school, and my daughter starts at Kennesaw State this August. Both kids have their moments, but they are good kids with their heads on straight...mostly. And Samson sticks with me everywhere, best buds.

This is all a prelude to REALLY downsizing. In about a year, my wife and I will likely get rid of almost everything else and rent this house out. Then we hit the road, nomad for however long we want, going home-free. That's what I'm really looking forward to.

[WARP TEN]

Here's what you need Mark:



Unless your garage is too small. Mine is 21 x 21 and 10' tall, just enough for a lift with a 5' tall car and a 4' tall car. The reason I have this is when my wife moved me into the 2 car garage I had to sell HIL KING-- no room. After twitching for a few years, I calculated that I had enough ceiling height for the lift and bought WARP TEN. Works great. --Bob

[RussMcB]

Originally Posted by WARP TEN

Here's what you need Mark:
--Bob

That's pretty cool.

What do you do to make sure you don't push the Corvette into the attic? :-)

[8cam]

Originally Posted by WARP TEN

Here's what you need Mark:



Unless your garage is too small. Mine is 21 x 21 and 10' tall, just enough for a lift with a 5' tall car and a 4' tall car. The reason I have this is when my wife moved me into the 2 car garage I had to sell HIL KING-- no room. After twitching for a few years, I calculated that I had enough ceiling height for the lift and bought WARP TEN. Works great. --Bob

I wish I could! I just went and measured for the hell of it, and this garage has an 8 1/2 foot ceiling height, so a lift really isn't an option at all. Besides this isn't the "forever house" anyway, so there will be a much better solution at some point. Meanwhile I'll just have to live with it, and that's not so bad.