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12 minute(s) of a 414 minute read
10-10-2022
It's starting to feel like all my automotive events revolve around Central Waters brewery....
Friday I finally dropped the Z off for tint (14 years too late). I ended up opting for 50% ceramic as I'm more concerned with heat rejection and avoiding attention than blacked out windows. 50% is all that is legal up front in WI and I'm not a fan of two tone tint. I also opted for 90% on the windshield. I think it looks great, but after the fact I wish it was maybe 1 shade darker, as the windows are still pretty translucent. The worst part is I won't get to test out how effective it is for 9 months.
The kid had her first sleepover Saturday night so we could attend a wedding, which left me/us with a day to ourselves. We each had our own plans during the day. Mine involved a trip up to Amherst for the Black Gold release party at Central Waters. I went up a little early to meet a buddy for some hiking nearby. Unfortunately we live on opposite sides of the state and time was at a premium so we really didn't get any 'fun' driving in. I had hoped to take the backroads, but it would have nearly doubled the drive time, and I was already pushing 4 hours. 90% of the drive was on the freeway. It was still comfortable and satisfying, but the Z really excels on the 55mph windy country roads.
This was my first release party at CW, and I was blown away by how busy it was. The brewery was shoulder to shoulder inside, and the parking lot was packed between partiers on the patio and under the massive tent. We got to sample a few brews, snack on some food, and got some Christmas shopping done. It would have been great to spend all day there; something to add to the calendar next year.
I got home with my haul (part of which is shown above...) and quickly changed gears to get ready for the evening. Since we were kidless and the weather was gorgeous, the Z saw the road again. We had a fantastic evening, got to tackle some fun roads (even elicited a few "WEEEE"s from the wife which is a rare occasion), and look forward to doing this again in the future. Our kid is almost 3 years old and this was her first night away. Woah.
Saturday saw just over 300 miles of pure driving bliss, without any drama. What a great way to enjoy one of the last nice weekends. I'm getting really close to buttoning the Z up for the winter; but that can't happen until I finish building the 2003 JCW I brought home a few weeks ago. This one has proved to be a real PITA, so there will be many late nights in the garage between now and our NC Thanksgiving trip. Plans are finalized and the wife will be flying with the kid and I'll be driving the dogs in the mini. I have new tires coming for my lightweight wheels this week, I need to do an oil change, and everything else is ready to go. One last adventure to close out the year!
11-16-2022
Not Z related, but....still worth sharing:
Having spent plenty of time watching automotive content on Youtube, the algorithm must have translated my viewings of Doug D. to another channel that does more 'regular' car reviews. I'm generally not a huge fan of this type of content, but I am always interested in learning about the lesser known models/engines/configurations. One channel resonated with me (Shooting Cars) and I found myself consuming quite a bit of his content after the almighty youtube first popped it up onto my feed. While watching a few reviews on a Saturday afternoon I picked up on the context clues and found out he was based in Chicago. On an impulse I reached out and offered up my JCW. A few weeks went by with no response and I kinda forgot about it. Long story short.....we figured things out in early October and he released the video today. For being my daily 6 months out of the year, I think it presented well!
I do wish he would have spent more time driving it, I may have given him too many talking points as this video was more heavy on the details than normal.
12-30-2022
Non-update update.
The Z officially went to sleep under its cover on Dec 7th, but it didn't seen any road time after mid November.
Because we're a family of 3, and because the kid is too young for the Z it's really challenging to find an excuse to drive the car. I'm really only able to get it out for events and special occasions. It's kind of frustrating, but things will improve after next year. Wisconsin child seat law says that after 4 years and 40lbs they can use a booster. I'm really looking forward to summer day trips, evening drives, and a C&C buddy in the Z. Thankfully I have another toy, so we're still able to do all those things with a fun mode of transport.
In other news, I was able to take the 06 JCW to North Carolina for a second consecutive holy-grail road trip. The wife flew with the kid, I drove with all our luggage and 110lbs of dogs.
This trip almost was over before it started. I have Hankook Ventus V12s installed....and we dealt with whiteout conditions at times less than 24 hours before I was set to depart. Thankfully the weather cleared...as did the roads and the forecast, so I felt comfortable beginning my journey. Left before 5am on Sunday (11/20). Made excellent time through what has the potential to be the most congested part of the drive: Chicago. Putting as much distance between home and me before most people roll out of bed is my motivation for getting up super early. And it's so peaceful cruising with the dogs listening to a good book or podcast before the sun comes up.
The trip down was uneventful and I managed to cover 780 miles in about 11 hours. The temporary roof rack and 80mph cruise was terrible and netted me just over 21mpg over two tanks. Ouch! But totally worth it to delivery to a buyer in NC.
I’ve likely mentioned this earlier, but our location in NC is a Mini owners dream. 7 minutes to the Blue Ridge parkway, 7 minute to the Diamondback loop. Even weekend drives to Asheville or Old Fort or any of the other towns are enjoyable. It makes all the hassle of packing the dogs and luggage into the mini and brute forcing an 800 mile drive each way more than worth it. If you’re ever looking for a fun roadtrip destination, you can’t do wrong with eastern TN or western NC in a mini.
On these trips I generally have to get up early or get lucky with downtime to get out on a drive, but our lovely child was being not so lovely at naptime. Solution? Stick her in the carseat! I got 90 minutes of time to myself on fantastic roads while she napped in back every day. She LOVES ‘daddys car’ so overtired crabbiness was easily overcome with “want to go for a ride?”. Within 10 minutes she’s out cold.
The week offered quite a few memorable drives, probably none more so than driving home from Boone at 9pm on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It runs parallel to the freeway (sort of) so its not the most efficient way to travel....which means it was deserted. The late hour meant there were no stellar views, but it was such a cool experience to climb up and down the ridge, in the dark, with no traffic whatsoever.
The week went by without drama, aside from the fact that I confirmed my earlier vague suspicion that my clutch was on its way out. On the way down, once or twice I thought I felt some slippage when stomping on it in 6th...but I was quick off the throttle and didn't give the opportunity to slip more (not wanting to potentially do damage before the trip really started). Thankfully it would only slip under boost in 6th, or when fully loaded going uphill in 4th under WOT. These two conditions were easily avoided so I was still able to have fun without worry. Unfortunately this means I'll need to do some pretty intrusive spring maintenance in 2023. I'll likely be going with a lightweight aluminum AASCO flywheel and LUK clutch. We'll see what the spring brings. Until then the mini will still see very minor usage until the snow flies, as boost with 30F ambient temps is so addicting.
I've been keeping busy. Spent December detailing our 03 JCW. Full paint correction, sealant, and wax. It's absolutely gorgeous. Still need to put some more miles on it before it gets listed.
As soon as I can get the 03 JCW out of the garage I want to dig into the $1000 V70 T5 I brought home. I bought it as a gamble. It's super clean inside and out (black on black) with every option as far as I can tell, but occasionally makes a ticking/knocking noise from the top end. PO couldn't provide more info than that, but he seemed to be a tinkerer so I'm not sure I got the whole story. I've had 2 V70's now with the torquier 2.5T motor, so I'm familiar with the platform and I'm not afraid to dig in. Ideally this will replace my slowly disintegrating TDI for a winter DD, and provide a backup option for the wife if the van ever needs work since she still refuses to learn how to drive a manual. 
But it means the last 'boring' vehicle in my lineup will be gone, the T5 should be a riot all year round. 
Back to Z stuff. It ran wonderfully following the turbo install. I have no nagging issues and no plans for the winter. One of these years I would like to finally get around to a suspension rebuild, but its just not on the priority list given how I drive the car and how much time and effort it will take. I keep waiting for a winter where I have no other projects. Haven't found one yet 
I'm going to begin sourcing a clutch, as the replicable friction plate on my flywheel is nearing end of life. I may get another season out of it, but if I have downtime I'll likely do it as soon as I finish the 06 JCW clutch job. Not really looking forward to doing two back to back; but the Z is easy and could be done in an afternoon. The mini is more of a PITA. But the mini will also get a MI kit when the clutch goes in and should make all that hassle worth it.