Build Thread 1978 Fairmont. I bet somebody back home’s thinkin’…I wonder why he don’t write..?

[CarMichael Angelo]

You should see Jamaica, it's even worse. The resorts around Montego Bay have high walls around them so you don't get shot. Speaking of which, why are you worried about the Rona. You not get your jab yet? I thought Bama had plenty of vaccine.

Kurt

No, im fully vaccinated, as is my wife.
Just a little scary when you consider the "what happens if"..even if it is very unlikely.
Its one of those things Kate supposedly told me about before we left for here. Had I known that there was this stip to get back in, I would've put up a fight to stay in country.
What plane are you training on? That little Bombardier?

 

[revhead347]

No, im fully vaccinated, as is my wife.
Just a little scary when you consider the "what happens if"..even if it is very unlikely.
Its one of those things Kate supposedly told me about before we left for here. Had I known that there was this stip to get back in, I would've put up a fight to stay in country.
What plane are you training on? That little Bombardier?

I was just at my Aviation Medical Examiner's office last month. Maybe what he told me will put you at ease. As he put it, the numbers for these vaccines are misleading people. This vaccine is 80% effective, that one is 95% effecitve, bla bla. They are all proven to be 100% effective at preventing severe Covid!!! That's what really matters to you as an invidiual. So if you are vaccinated, there is a 1 in 20 chance that you could catch it, and spread it, which matters to the politicians. But for you as an individual, it's going to be a case of the sniffles, maybe a little bit of the hershey squirts. He said I should go get the one shot deal, but I don't understand why I need it.

I'm going to the Airbus 320(319/321). It's the most fun I have had in the sim ever. So far I love it.

Kurt

 

[7991LXnSHO]

@CarMichael Angelo
Did you get out of town far enough to see any Myan pyramids? Seeing Chichen Itza on a spring break was worth the crappy bus ride, and this was before Ancient Aliens.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

That is on the east coast side ( Cancun/Cozemel) we are on the west coast Cabo San lucas/Aculpolco/Puerto Vallarta.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

I ask these guys if I can take a picture. Not only are they ok with it, they all group together to get in the shot.
Good to know you got guys out here looking to keep things all peaceful n sht.

 

[KZGUNS]

upon first look i thought they were storm troopers.

 

[slow84lx]

upon first look i thought they were storm troopers.

Same thought, we did just have May the forth be with you!

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

PCS day...waiting on the cab to take us back home. Everything's all good, we both came up negative on our required Covid tests.

Gotta say in hindsight that I really like this place, which says a lot for somebody that normally can't stand doing nothing for more than an hour.

I did nothing for 4 days.
( well,...other than walking, ( alot of that) buying some stuff, eating, and drinking).

I get the notification that my 350z trans is sitting on the dock in Birmingham, waiting on me to come and pick it up. Ironically, its the same place where I dropped off Steve's trans too.

So one box out, one box in

I won't be able to pick it up till Wednesday, but come Wednesday ill be there bright and early.
( Dont know why, the conversion is still far off from happening)

 

[95BlueStallion]

I don’t know why I was so excited to get my new Ed Curtis cam. My wife won’t allow me time to swap it until the interior of our home remodel is done. There’s just something fun about getting new parts.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

I don’t know why I was so excited to get my new Ed Curtis cam. My wife won’t allow me time to swap it until the interior of our home remodel is done. There’s just something fun about getting new parts.

I think that's part of the problem with the hobby. We all like getting stuff even when we're the ones buying it.

So you keep yourself happy by scheduling the arrival of more "presents".

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

In DFW..30 more minutes before we get on this tiny assed plane and fly home.
Glad itll be Friday when I get back to work..
A couple of relatively short good days in front of me, and then Sunday...in the USA.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

I find time to go pick up the trans today.
It’s wrapped in red shrink wrap, and on an open pallet. When the forklift driver delivers the thing to me, and puts it in my truck, he informs me that if I have a core, or have to send this trans back, it’ll have to be crated.
How is it that the sht that comes to me can come in like this, but when/ if I have to send it back, it has to be in a box?
Bastard suns a bitches is what they are,...all of them.

Its a big bitch. Not what you’d consider typical behind a Jap six cylinder.
it’s also been in a fire. The top tail piece of the trans got hot enough to melt the rubber accordion gasket at the tail piece, and the wire pigtail going to the rev-match computer in the tail shaft is melted.
The shift thingy at the tail piece is complicated..it appears to be bent, and worn. I cannot figure out how to test if it will go into all six gears without the shifter socket attached to it, and an actual shifter handle in place to try it. I’m sure the thing is empty, IDK if attempting to dry shift it will hurt sht inside, and that will bug me.
one more thing...
Its out of a 370z, not a 350z. IDK if it’ll even freakin work.
A 350z has a clutch fork..this thing has a hydraulic T/O bearing..
Im sure my late night friend will be back to visiting me again.....I can’t wait.

 

[droopie85gt]

Wow, I'm subscribing to the best geography/socio-economic/geopolitical thread on Mexico right here!
And you bought some guud tekila. I may or may not have had too much of tekila last night....I know my head is trying to tekila me right now.

Well none of you are gonna want the shifter, the 4l80, the converter, and the 2jz/GM trans adapter,..but i’m confident that that’ll make up more than half of this conversion.

Hold on chief. 4L80...bellhousing already cut off? Good rebuild kit? Manual shift kit? This a$$hole doing a LS swap could maybe just put a transbrake and a LS SFI bellhousing on it? Color a guy interested.

Especially since I can relate to the excitement of ordering a transmission and when it shows up realizing I didn't look at the pics close enough or read the description close enough. The 4L80 I got is for a SBC. Not that it really matters because I was planning to put a SFI bellhousing on it anyway, but still when it comes metal strapped to a pallet...barely strapped...I immediately notice the lack of a 12 o'clock bellhousing bolt. But it's a rear lube case which was the biggest buying point.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Wow, I'm subscribing to the best geography/socio-economic/geopolitical thread on Mexico right here!
And you bought some guud tekila. I may or may not have had too much of tekila last night....I know my head is trying to tekila me right now.



Hold on chief. 4L80...bellhousing already cut off? Good rebuild kit? Manual shift kit? This a$$hole doing a LS swap could maybe just put a transbrake and a LS SFI bellhousing on it? Color a guy interested.

Especially since I can relate to the excitement of ordering a transmission and when it shows up realizing I didn't look at the pics close enough or read the description close enough. The 4L80 I got is for a SBC. Not that it really matters because I was planning to put a SFI bellhousing on it anyway, but still when it comes metal strapped to a pallet...barely strapped...I immediately notice the lack of a 12 o'clock bellhousing bolt. But it's a rear lube case which was the biggest buying point.

The factory bell housing is still on it. it has a full manual VB through 4 gears, and the converter is locked up with a button. Brand new, 800.00 10” converter. and a TCI outlaw shifter. This was behind a Diesel, I don’t remember if it had the top bolt hole.

 

[droopie85gt]

Oh, I thought you had some kind of adapter that required the bell to be cut off.... I guess I was thinking about 4R70. What's the stall on the converter?

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Oh, I thought you had some kind of adapter that required the bell to be cut off.... I guess I was thinking about 4R70. What's the stall on the converter?

3000, behind an anemic 3 liter

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Oh my God!......If you are watching this show on purpose,..you need to be taken out back and have the piss beat out of you in an alley. What a piece of cheesy assed garbage.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Doing my homework,...it appears that I have two shifter options with this transmission:
1. I can buy a couple of different “ kits” that include the shifter, relocation bracket and hardware...
2. I can buy the shifter i want ( that costs the same as the entire kit above) and MAKE the relocation bracket.

But...

Both kits look wimpy to me, and the mount location is fixed. Wherever the shifter ends up i’ll have to live with it.

If I buy any of the standalone shifters out there, I’ll have to make the mount, and adapter to get it to work, but the shifter will be exactly where i want it. And While that doesn’t look too difficult, it is still has potential to create some bind/ or hard shift as a result.

Ive already committed to a Collins adapter and shifter. The instructions that i’ve read state that their shifter doesn’t have a reverse lockout like every other one seems to have. Their justification for which is stated as “ it’s impossible to put the thing into reverse at speed anyway”. This kinda Makes sense to me.
So that will be one less adjustment I’ll have to make.

They also have a disclaimer stating that you will have a learning curve if you are used to the old shifter pattern, because the newly shortened travel distances are much closer together. Again, it kinda makes sense to me as I have no reference standard for what the regular pattern felt like anyway.

I guess we’ll see won’t we?

Since i haven’t tried to hide my research from Kate, she asks me why I’m changing the transmission out again..I say because Im considering converting to a 6 speed...
“Considering, or Doing”? she asks..
“Well...I have to consider something it before doing it”. I reply.
I get a pair of rolled eyes from her.

One one hand, after 35 years, it kinda sucks that a person gets to know you so well that there are no secrets.
on the other hand, if the only penalty you take for being read like a book is a set of rolled eyes, where’s the problem?

 

[95BlueStallion]

So I have 22 more years to achieve that marriage status. Whew, that makes me feel better.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

So I have 22 more years to achieve that marriage status. Whew, that makes me feel better.

It’s a great place to be..At 13 years in I coulda been sent down the road just as easy as not if not for the funny likable personality that I Posess.