The Phoenix!

[Jagdpanzer]

Paul,
Looking good Paul!!
You'll have it back on the road in no time
...and in better shape than this guy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5zn-mF2-_8

[Paul Workman]

Arrrrgh! A minor set-back.

I jacked up the driver side front corner to remove the wheel for better access. Then I proceeded to spend several hours of adjusting the fit of the bumper, the inner fender, and the hood. Got it "perfect", after several hours of iterative back and forth - loosening, pulling, re-tightening, etc. Then I re-mounted the wheel and set her down. GONE was the nice uniform 1/4" gap between the hood and the bumper...like ZERO clearance now!

Note to self: Don't adjust fitment with one or more corners on jack stands!!

I'm thinking a couple bumper shims on that side will do the trick w/o too much more adjusting afterward.

And, apparently, the front inner fender panels are different lengths, according to model years. Fine time to discover that one. So, I'll be looking for the right ones, but due to the Mountain cruise looming in a week, I opted to "shorten" the skirt. It doesn't show - so it will do until I can round up another pair. (Of course I had already pitched my original ones - which I know after watching Brett they could easily have been repaired - minor cracks and a few bolt holes was the sum total of the damage. [sigh])

Oh, well... Daylight burnin! Gettin' me some breakfast and back at it!!

[We Gone]

Originally Posted by Paul Workman

Arrrrgh! A minor set-back.

And, apparently, the front inner fender panels are different lengths, according to model years. Fine time to discover that one. So, I'll be looking for the right ones, but due to the Mountain cruise looming in a week, I opted to "shorten" the skirt. It doesn't show - so it will do until I can round up another pair. (Of course I had already pitched my original ones - which I know after watching Brett they could easily have been repaired - minor cracks and a few bolt holes was the sum total of the damage. [sigh])

Oh, well... Daylight burnin! Gettin' me some breakfast and back at it!!

Interesting, I knew the 90 back was different from 91 up and they moved the hole placements over the years.

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by We Gone

Interesting, I knew the 90 back was different from 91 up and they moved the hole placements over the years.

Yer absolutely correct! That is ONE of the hurdles I discovered last night while trying to put the skid bar and new air dam on. A 2-hour job at most, right? 6 hours later....

Just to smooth things, I bought a new installation kit (nuts and bolts) for the air dam. I was puzzled as to why the kit included nuts too, thinking I'd use the ones that are part of the bumper/inner fender interface flange. Well, I tried every conceivable combination of bolts and thread config, and NONE would thread into the nuts attached to the interface flange. Now I know now why they included the NUTS with the new flange bolts in the new mounting kit. I guess that's why God made drill bits and Makita cordless drills!

But the biggest part of the time was discovering some of the hardware to mount the skid bar to the bumper skids was bent in the crash. Some individual bracket damage was very subtle, but the "accumulation of errors" became quite large when the combination of several pieces are reassembled. So! It took some mighty big hammers and a big ol' vise and several iterations of trial and error, but finally got everything to fit nicely. Add some fresh semi-flat black paint, and snugged it all up and voila!

I allowed extra time to get this all done - the Mountain Run is looming - but I've got a feeling the window is closing faster than I expected. Were it not for Brett's help I wouldn't have stood a chance! But, after last night, I feel it is on the downhill side: all the body panels and that skid bar stuff are installed and aligned - better than it was before the wreck. All the hardware issues should be behind me now. Just have to reinstall the mirrors, middle brake light, the electrical stuff, a new windshield, and buff/polish/seal the new paint. Oh! My new PHOENEX license plates arrived. It's official now!

[Gunny]

Paul ... your write ups on the progress of the Phoenix has the rest of us almost as excited as you must be about having a "new" Z. Looking forward to seeing the final result.

[Paul Workman]

As many know, she's all back together, 'cept for some of her "jewelry" (badges), which will go on after her final (new paint) buffing, just before the first coat of sealant/polish. (Pictures to follow at that point!).

But, of course we can't have smooth sailing. Got my favorite kind of electrical problem going on: ye ol' intermittently working and failing again multi-circuit issue.

Starts with the "Door Ajar" light -

After fussing with the door close sensor switches yesterday, suddenly everything was working correctly: open a door, the courtesy lights come on - shut the door, lights go out and no "Door Ajar" (DA) with the ignition switch in the "ON" position. Musta been one of those door switches, I guess.

A couple hours after closing the garage - Ami comes in from outside and tells me the Z's horn is honking. Sure enough, it is. And, the courtesy lights are on (doors closed). Unlocking the driver side door with the key shuts the horn off, but the courtesy lights remain on - did NOT time out.

Oh...goody. A gremlin with personality!

Over a brewski, doing some preliminary research of the Electrical portion of the FSM before going forth, there are several references to the CCM...A LOT of 'em. But, this wasn't happening before we took it apart, AND the instrument panel, tach, etc all seem normal (driven by the CCM). Hmmmm..... Looks like a project. Just for giggles, I discovered the diagram in my (white copy) FSM showing the location of the AUX fuse block directly behind and in back of the radio...was wrong - which leads me to wonder if I have a preliminary FSM. More fun.

Well, I'm suspicious of the door switches. I did re-carpet the door panels before reinstalling the panels two weeks ago - so I'm wondering if there's an issue due to the fresh thickness of the new carpet. Generally, I like troubleshooting 'lectrical stuff. But, after almost a year of sitting, I was hoping to be done with this project so as to move onto some power adders I had hoped to have completed in time for the 1/2 mile run. [sigh].

More later...

[Gunny]

Paul,

Definitely check your door switches. My left door switch decided to go "intermittent" on me a couple of years ago ... the temporary fix was taping a penny on the door where the switch button hits (you might want to try this before proceeding to other avenues).

The recommended permanent fix is to replace the switch (if you're careful you can do this without removing the door panel) ... the other "permanent" fix is to carefully pull the center plunger out on the door switch button, then carefully shut the door (don't slam), and, after opening the door, check to see the how far out the plunger is positioned. Keeping this position, super glue the plunger so that it no longer moves. New switches have the plunger out and apparently "self-adjust" when the door is closed following a new install.

After 2 years of the penny "trick" I finally repaired the old switch a couple of days before the recent mountain run ... so far, no problems. Hopefully, this fix will last for a good while ... next time, it will require a switch replacement while, not terribly bad, will not be as easy as the glue "trick". I think JimV clued me in on the glue fix.

[Blue Flame Restorations]

Paul, the rear hatch switch can also be the issue. Been there....

[Paul Workman]

...

Originally Posted by Gunny

The recommended permanent fix is to replace the switch (if you're careful you can do this without removing the door panel) ... the other "permanent" fix is to carefully pull the center plunger out on the door switch button, then carefully shut the door (don't slam), and, after opening the door, check to see the how far out the plunger is positioned. Keeping this position, super glue the plunger so that it no longer moves. New switches have the plunger out and apparently "self-adjust" when the door is closed following a new install.

After 2 years of the penny "trick" I finally repaired the old switch a couple of days before the recent mountain run ... so far, no problems. Hopefully, this fix will last for a good while ... next time, it will require a switch replacement while, not terribly bad, will not be as easy as the glue "trick". I think JimV clued me in on the glue fix.

...

Ah! I suspected the switches were self adjusting. So, I'll give that penny trick a try and see if that is the culprit: easy enough to do before drilling down into the FSM.

Originally Posted by Blue Flame Restorations

Paul, the rear hatch switch can also be the issue. Been there....

THAT... is good to know too! Thanks for the tip, Brett!

Well off to "work". Perfect day too to buff and apply sealer, uh, huh!

[Gunny]

Originally Posted by Paul Workman

......
Well off to "work". Perfect day too to buff and apply sealer, uh, huh!

So I'm thinking .... you probably need plenty of "Wax on - Wax off" practice. Come on down to Georgia and do your magic on my Z plus the recently acquired ZO6 ... lodging & food provided (might have to put you on a beer ration, tho). Seriously, I'm facing re-doing both cars in the next couple of weeks before it gets too hot here ... mid-day is already starting to feel unbearable with mid-nineties and humidity.

Be sure to post pics when you get everything done.

George