Well this has been a fun week.

Friday, my brother's oil pump went out, taking with it two rods and a bearing. They came out of the oil pan in chunks. So now he's without a running vehicle again. Another one bites the dust.

Naturally, he has no money, so my Z is now being pressed into service as a daily driver. He aught to be thrilled with the non-working A/C, since temps have been breaking 100 degrees here quite often.

After spending two days working on the Dakota, he took a day off to try and get the Z to a comfortable state, and fixing a few problems that have popped up. I ended up taking the day as well, because a tire decided to die on the way to work.

So today I spent the day working on cars, and running through a boneyard looking for parts.

At least I found a few spare parts for my Z, including two new looking brake calipers, and some good condition T tops I can sell. Sadly, the fenders had no rust, but were so banged up that I couldn't use them. Along with most of the panels. It was a 2 + 2 car, so much of the interior was useless to me as well, and what wasn't wasn't in any better condition.

I still have no AC, but managed to trace the unending rats nest of vacuum lines out and get that back to normal. I replaced the half disintegrated intake hose. And I learned that I can start in 2nd gear same as first. I pulled out from my street, and didn't realize I had forgot to downshift until I went to upshift.

You are NOT responsible for your brothers inability to earn enough to have a running car. Buy him a bicycle but don't loan him the Z. His problem. Let him fix it.

Where are you located, azrael4h?

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'75 280Z Coupe 4-speed
'09 Altima Coupe
"Never been there, didn't do that."

"Some people call it "PeniZ Envy..."

I know he's family ... but your Z?? Wow! You're a better brother than I would be ;-)

Mike

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Charlottesville, Va.

1983 280ZXT in a million little ziplock bags.

I would not let my brother drive my zx. But thats just me. Maybe if he had a car that I might want to drive.

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western Nebraska
1979 280zx coupe parts car
1980 280ZX coupe
1980 280zx 2+2 gone to z heaven
1991 maxima
2001 maxima
2002 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom pickup


Where are the old guys?
Sometimes you don't miss them until they're gone!
Nobody to whine and cry to-
I kept telling you not to poke the bear
Better get an FSM, learn how to read it and keep it handy children...

My most awesome brother gave me a 70 mustang years ago when I was going thru a divorce and my truck died. Mike you are the best, and I didn't forget the train set you got me when we were kids.
azreal, you are ok in my book.Thanks for bringing me thoughts of my brother Mike, I live 2000 miles away from him now and I miss him.

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77 Turbonated coupe. Fire Ted Thompson. The incompetent white Rat
[www.cardomain.com]

Give him a skateboard and a month bus pass. That ought to be enough time to fix his ride if he gets his @#$%& together.

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1985 300ZX n/a

See my Z project

I wouldn't hesitate to loan one of my cars or motorcycles to a friend or family member in need.

Good on ya for taking care of your own.

Dan, can I borrow your S ? Theres a track day coming up and mine dont has a rollbar. Pleeeeeaase. I'll be gentle...........

You *might* be stretching the definition of "in need"!

But when/where is this track event?
And what's up with your much-much-faster-than-an-S2000 Z?

Perhaps we could work out an arrangement, my Z needs (or wants) some Bad Dog floor rails welded in, and some sheetmetal work to close off ~75% of the front grill area.

I live In The Middle of Nowhere, TN. It's near Memphis, if you want to call that near. :P 14 miles out. I have a 75mi round trip to work each day.

No, I am not responsible for his lack of financial ability. Or the fact that the prior owner of his truck hadn't changed the oil since it was originally brand new in 2001. Still, I know that he won't intentionally break my Z, because he's just as much a gear head as me. Plus, I carry a bat in my car.

Where we live, a bike is out of the question. No buses either, unless I go buy one. On the other hand, where I live there's no inspection, so I can put off replacing the cracked windshield until it falls out if I want, and the missing muffler attracts no attention at all. Project cars in front yards are the norm out here, as are deer running in front of you, and the occasional wolf coming up to get my mom to feed it.

Whats bad, is that he's still paying on that damn truck. Plus he just paid God-only-knows how much to go bankrupt for the second time (he's 29 folks!). He earns more than me, but I've generally managed to keep two cars around for a good while.

... and this would be why Tennessee is called the Volunteer State. Family, friends, neighbors. Fine job sir.

"Plus he just paid God-only-knows how much to go bankrupt for the second time (he's 29 folks!). "

He's an idiot and apparently doesn't have much integrity if he intentionally doesn't pay his debts. Let him learn his lesson. That will be more helpful that loaning him your car.

Can we not talk @#$%& on people's family here? for the love of christ, Junkman! My sister could go bankrupt 12 times, and I would still loan her my Z OR S if she needed it. It's family dude.

There is "family" and then there is enabling.

You have make this call each time an issue like this pops up.

I'd kind of like to hear more about the wolf.

Do you folks notice a family trait here - helping those in need?

Sounds like some nice down home folks this world could use a lot more of.

Given the number of times he's helped me out, I have no problem with loaning him a car. Tonight, he bought a new ignition switch for the Z, since the old one tended to not work more often than not. We were just popping the hood and jumping the starter to crank her.

It isn't a one-way street; he's drove me to the junkyard time and again, and helped me pull parts for the Z, and a myriad of other projects. This is only the third time I've helped him with transportation; the last time I loaned him my Camaro since I was just trying to sell it at the time. I also sold him a car for the price of a PSP and some games. He's helped me twice with transportation before.

If you knew exactly what all he's done just to help me out, you'd be ashamed of your words junkman and route 66.

I'll agree though, that he's irresponsible to no end. He's had around 46 vehicles since he was 15. Only about 3 have survived him. To compare, my grandfather figures he's had maybe 16 that he didn't buy just to resell. Only 1 wasn't sold running, and that was back when he drank. It ended up in a river.

My total number of cars is skewed, because I've had 4 projects. A '69 Dodge truck, a '73 Dodge car, a '53 Studebaker, and now the Z. I've had just as many dailies. Plus one Hyundai that kept getting passed around. It was given to my brother, who gave it to someone else, who gave it back, who gave it to me, who gave it back, and finally sold to a neighbor because he wanted the wheels.

We now have 3 broken trucks in the yard belonging to my brother. :P The problem is, he keeps buying these $500 vehicles that have been torn apart before he gets them; or takes up payments on something that has been torn apart when he gets it. The Dak had already lost 2nd and 4th gear before he set foot in it.

I keep two running cars for a reason. It's because of things like this. My parents do the same, as does my grandfather. It comes in handy very much so. It's saved my butt a time or two, like when I was run over by a drunk.

The way I see it, a car is meant to be drove. Sports cars moreso than others. My Z was sitting and waiting for nicer days that the AC didn't matter as much; so why should it sit when someone had need of her? Though tomorrow, I get her for the weekend. Gotta mess with the rest of the family when we send off my cousin to Afganistan.


erzelda - Not much special really. My mom saw what looked like a big dog, pulled over and dumped some food out for it. When it got closer, she saw it was a wolf. Didn't bother her though. She's one of those who could probably get a deer to come up to her if she tried. She's petted raccoons, possums, and all manner of wild critters outside before.

Your dog story reminds me of a teen bush party weekend. We heard a buddy calling "here puppy puppy.." so went to look. We were in the bush... The "Puppy" was a just over waist high timber wolf that he was trying to draw out with italian sausages. Scary part was that it seemed to be working!

We put an end to that, though. Hauled his butt back to the party to drink more!

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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
My main areas of knowledge involve the ZX.

Grammar Saves Lives! IE: Lets eat Grampa or Lets eat, Grampa.

Sounds like your buddy had had more than enough to drink! My mom's at least blind as a bat (especially back then, she was legally blind), so she has an excuse! :P