Wondering about the age of our Z owners
#3464
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Laugh if you want, but I retired last May and bought a Z for my retirement toy. I'm 63! Had a 280Z back in '78 before I got married and always wanted to get another one.
#3466
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Pot? Kettle? Geddit? Geddit? Zzzzzzzz....
Seriously, I'm right there with ya (almost 10 years behind but same diff).... If you read my other post from a thread on the "350Z becoming the next 240SX", it's pretty obvious I don't care much about what other people think of this old man.
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Enjoyin' my Z just before I lose all my hair.
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#3467
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No offense taken! I really don't care what someone might think about an "older" guy having a Z. I get a kick out of it when they (younger guys) get up close and act like they're going to fly past me only to find out that the old man isn't afraid to speed up. I've actually had a few younger guys follow me home to ask me about the car. It's all good.
#3470
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WARNING: Mic's Digresso-O-Matic Machine is ON - you are warned cuz this doesn't have a thing to do with this thread.
I wrote in another thread recently that I am open to advice and/or recommendations from anyone - no matter the giver's age, younger or older - and the comment about working on cars with dad resonated with me here.
While my dad was also not a "car guy" per se, he was a mechanical engineer and knew his way around nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines better than I know my own cars or bikes.
One day, I was replacing the clutch on one of my gen-1 Z cars. Teardown was normal but then proceeded to spend the next three days on my back trying to get the da*m tranny back in. Shaft wouldn't go into the pilot bearing, stopping the bellhousing 1/2" from engagement.
Dad comes down to the garage on the third day. "Problem, son?"
Being a young smartmouth: "No dad, I just like the f***ing view from underneath my car!" (Ahhhh, youth....)
"Did you line it up?"
Exasperated, I snap, "Of course! You think I'm some kind of idiot? I even have a clutch alignment tool!!"
"Is it straight?"
"What the f..... of course it is!"
He shakes his head and walks upstairs. (Likely thinking, "Doofus son, one day you'll thank me."
I'm laying there on the concrete floor amidst the fluids and other detritus, pi$$ed off and irritated.... Welllllll, after looking and seeing he's not there, I take the alignment tool and give it a look.
Yeah, you know where this is going.... The tool WAS bent!!!
I get up and eyeballed the clutch and see that the disc and plate are misaligned causing the input shaft to hang up on the edge of the splined disc hole. Ten minutes later (seriously), after re-aligning the clutch BY NAKED EYE, the tranny shaft slipped right in and bolted right up.
I'm not sure I ever told my dad that. Hahahahahahaha!
He was a very clever guy and taught me some of the most valuable lessons EVER that day..... the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid), NEVER assume anything (like the linearity of a clutch alignment tool) and NEVER shun anyone's advice, no matter how smart I think I am.
Thanks, Dad. Fear not for I have passed on this lesson to my own kids.
![Wink](https://my350z.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif)
Ahhh, I digress..... back to your regularly scheduled broadcast. Now what was the offset I needed for that 22x15 wheel to fit without rolling? Oh, right....wheel tubs!
Mic
#3480
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64 this month, probably the oldest. Bought track 350Z brand new out the window in 2003. Modded it up and it's fun to drive today for events. Total actual miles 21,1xx.