Diary of a Goon Noob [edin's build]

[Eagle_Adam]

coming along nicely!! 

[izzo]

NIce save dude. Bummer about the clutch line :( Didn't realize it was rubbing. there goes 50 bucks!

 

 

 

Looks a lot better lowered :lol:

[Spoona_Jay21]

looks good! and whats wrong with a little Rake? lol

[edin]

So, as previously mentioned, I had plans to do a quick and dirty paint job. It would be a sand-on-Saturday, paint-on-Sunday type deal. I had our fabricator from work helping me out on the project, and, well, it didn't quite turn out to be a two day thing.

 

Satuday, we sanded. Sunday we disassembled way more than I was expecting. Pretty soon, we had 13 of the 14 fender bolts sheared off and a pile of trim. It was too late to turn back. "We aren't doing body work" turned into "we aren't going to turn back now." So our two day paint job turned into an after work, work til 3am paint job. I spent my entire week groggy and dirty at work from hours of sanding and prepping the car for paint the previous night. But holy crap it was worth it. In about ten days, I would estimate that everyone who helped with the project put in 200 hours. I am so incredibly helpful that I was able to get this done in ten days for my cross-country trip. I thank everyone who sacrificed work and sleep to help me finish this crazy project.

 

Anyway, I was able to find a different door that wasn't completely rusted out for $35. A fiberglass valance for $50. All trim holes, rust holes, etc. were banged in, filled with kitty hair nasty fiberglass, then body filler, then putty. The rear quarters aren't perfect, but for several hours of work, they're certainly better than the concave mess they were before. We were running out of time with the fenders (they actually got painted the day before I left) and I just managed to do some quick bondo job on the wrinkled part that didn't turn out half bad

[edin]

Anyway, some pictures of prep

 

Day 1 of sanding

 

 

And pretty soon it looked like this

 

Found a few spots where there was 1/2"+ of bondo... all sanded down and used fiberglass filler

 

Taped up and ready for primer...

 

 

Primed

 

 

400 wet

 

 

[edin]

Shootin some primer or paint or something

 

 

Doors done

 

 

[edin]

Finally finished reassembling at 4:30am the morning before my cross-country trek. Blocked the rear (2.5" Pro Comp tapered blocks), loving that stance

 

[Draynor]

Wow man, you got that done fast! Looks good!  :thumbup: 

Making me want to get on painting mine now...

[edin]

So then, with a bucket full of trim, an extra door and valance, a milk crate full of every fluid the car takes, I set off on my 3,087 mile journey. The plan was this:

 

Day 1: San Jose to Salt Lake, a doable drive to stay with a friend's parents

Day 2: Salt Lake to Omaha, a long drive that would be unlikely in one day, but wanted to stay with family I haven't seen in years (or don't ever remember seeing, really)

Day 3: Omaha to Chicago (home)

 

I'd then stay in Chicago for a few days, continuing on to New Hampshire over one or two days.

 

I"m writing this update from Chicago, so that's a good sign. And, for the most part, I'm sorry to report that there's nothing much to report. The Nevada wind blew the bike rack sideways. The Nebraska heat limited me to 65mph otherwise I'd run too hot. Although with three bikes on top, it was like driving with a parachute. There was one part in Wyoming where I was going downhill, foot to the floor in fourth, and still slowing down with the headwind. No good.

 

The main problem I had was that my transmission started leaking oil and I didn't know it until it started getting loud. I filled it up but the bearings are still rather loud. Right now, it's at the local shop getting a new output seal thrown in. It's bothering me to not do it myself but I"m only home for two days and would rather spend time with family than under a car. Hopefully that fixes the leak and I can just deal with the noise at a later time.

[edin]

Day 1: San Jose to Salt Lake City

 

Having finished reassembly of the car at 4:30am the morning I was supposed to leave, I didn't exactly stick to my 6am sharp departure. I ended up leaving around 11am, after saying goodbye to the folks at my internship and showing them the car, etc. With three bikes on top and up at 7,000 ft through Donner Pass, the car was somewhat less than powerful, and I hung out with the semis in the truck lane for a big part of it. Moving average: 58mph. Not including stops... Needless to say, I was a fair bit behind schedule. Continued the push to Salt Lake and arrived at 3am local time. I ended up stopping in the salt flats for a 20 minute power nap before the final two hour push. Averaged about 26mpg with the bikes on top, so I was super pleased.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[edin]

Day 2 (and 3): Salt Lake to Omaha:

 

After arriving at 3am, I wasn't ready for an 8am departure as planned, so I decided (or, rather, my body decided) that I was going to sleep until noon. Woke up, ate some breakfast, bled the brakes, pretty standard morning haha. Started her up and first gear came with a grind... Drove down the road to the Sinclair where I was hoping to get it up in the air to fill fluid, but with all the weight in the car and the lower, the exhaust wouldn't clear. So I headed to Jiffy Lube to get it done. $6.41 filled up the tranny and I was back on the road, convinced it wasn't leaking and I was just dumb to have not filled it before I left. Anyway, day 2 ended in Pine Bluffs, WY just short of Nebraska where I spent the night at a rest stop. Day 3 brought me to Omaha, nothing eventful to report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[edin]

Day 4: Omaha to Chicago

 

Started early from Omaha and it was cool enough where I could drive 70+ the entire time. Plus it was flat so my foot wasn't even in the floor. Still, it sucks having those bikes on top. One thing I've noticed is that I get progressively less and less thumbs ups, rock ons, etc. the farther east I go. Almost everyone who passed me (so everyone on I-80) waved or smiled in California, and I have gotten almost nothing through Nebraska and Illinois. Anyway, if any of you are thinking about a cross country drive, I would suggest to avoid I-80. It is terribly boring. I drove from New Hampshire to California in a 320,000 mile Golf TDI earlier this summer and we took 90 and some smaller roads through Wyoming to Jackson and south to Salt Lake. Then from Salt Lake to SF, we took US-50 and pretended we were on Top Gear. Anyway, avoid 80. It sucks. I have no pictures because there was nothing to take pictures of.

 

I stopped in Iowa City to see a friend and I noticed the tranny bearing noise getting louder. It was Sunday, so all the Jiffy Lubes were closed so I was stuck doing it with a jack and stands. Bought a gallon of gear oil and a pump and went for it. A quick job turned into an annoyingly long job when the pumps I bought from O'Reilly's (perhaps not surprisingly) kept breaking. Finally, topped off the tranny and I was back on the road to Chicago. It was then that I noticed over the past few days, the suspension has sagged about three inches in addition to the 2.5" blocks I put in the rear. The tire was tucked way up into the wheel well and it was making me a bit nervous.

 

Anyway, here I am, home sweet home in suburban Chicago. Car's at the shop getting a new seal in. Only 980 miles to go until I get to school, and I leave in a couple of days. Wish me luck!

[edin]

My three favorite pictures thus far:

 

 

 

 

 

[TheShagginWagon]

Awesome

[darc510]

Wish I would have thought to chronicle my trip, very smart on you.

i know after a while that 'i just want to get there' sets in and pictures diminish, good thing you are giving yourself a little break.

[izzo]

what's up with the suspension sag?

 

Did the seal fix the trans leak?

[banzai510(hainz)]

looks good big improvement.

the t org slave is really from a 521 truck as they come straight out.

510 and 200sx 240sx Z cars are all about the same for slaves.

 

I would have added a 2 or 3 chamber muffler to quiet it down soemmore and route it out the back

[Eagle_Adam]

paint came out good man!

[edin]

what's up with the suspension sag?

 

Did the seal fix the trans leak?

 

I took all the weight out last night and nothing happened but driving on it today it seems to be better and came up a couple of inches again.

 

And the rear seal, yeah, seemed to fix things alright. We'll see if it leaks any fluid overnight but it's been doing alright today.

[Will]

Best wishes for the rest of the cross-country trip!

[edin]

This post is way late, but I have arrived at school in New Hampshire. I would tell you a total number of miles traveled, but unfortunately the speedometer broke at about 2,500 miles. It's rather unnerving to be cruising at 70 mph and watch the speedometer return to zero. The exhaust had burned through the housing. Oh well, I'll get another and secure it better to the body.

 

Things I've learned:

• This is a freaking awesome car. Thanks izzo for all the work you've put into the wagon. It showed on the way out.
• Lowering a car the night before you pile a few hundred pounds of stuff into a small car and leave to drive 3,000+ miles is a poor choice.
• Driving with three bikes on the roof is like driving with a parachute.
• Turns out almost everyone in the entire country has either owned or had a sibling who owned or a mother who owned or a friend who owned a 510.
• Thumbs ups, rock ons, and smiles are awesome things to keep me smiling on a solo road trip.

I hate to think that this will probably be my last post on this thread for a while, but I don't have time at school to do any mods. Anything that will be done on the goon will be basic maintenance; I need to address an oil pan leak and why my rear output seal on the dogleg keeps going out. The first picture below marks my arrival at my final destination! Exciting stuff...

 

Anyway, thanks for the encouraging words, and I'll be representing the nonexistent New Hampshire 510 community well, I hope.

 

Cheers,

Eric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[darc510]

Non-existant? There are actually quite a few peeps up there with you. Get a hold of Dave at FutoFab and branch from there. May require some driving, but they're out there. Plus, reserve some time in May to come down to Summit Point, WV for a 510 get together...SPEC510.

[izzo]

Glad its working out for you man.

 

Little things I over looked are catching up. Ex, speedo cable hitting exhaust, clutch line rubbing...

 

Should be pretty solid, mostly. BTW, i used to big o studs for that cross member mod. you'll never get it back on :blink: :rofl:  Just spend a hundo bucks and get an EE crossmember (www.vg30.com)  Way better, or just redo the ones I made exactly only use smaller studs :lol:

[Averaje]

Super nice...

[07FlyingWagon]

You sir have inspired me to look at shooting some paint on my 510 myself instead of paying for what I think I can do (especially if I dont mind a few blems in a first timers spray job)

 

Nice Build and great Road Trip documentation!! :-)  Best of luck at school!!

 

I've driven X-Country from Cali to Wisconsin 7 times and TOTALLY aggree with the I-80 comment!  I actually like taking 1-80 for the begining the heading north at SLC to hit I90 like you've mentioned.  Done the I-10 route, that sucks, also down the I-40 route - way better in my opinion - then you get to go north on I-35 and go through some beautiful country side in Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota.

 

Cheers,

Marty