Waiting on the driver seat to be repaired by the upholstery shop. Hopefully he will finish it this week.
Waiting on the driver seat to be repaired by the upholstery shop. Hopefully he will finish it this week.
WOW! That came out amazing.
That looks amazing! Does the plastic weld/filler flex at the same rate as the rest of the dash? Or will it eventually crack in the same places again?
docwyte said:That looks amazing! Does the plastic weld/filler flex at the same rate as the rest of the dash? Or will it eventually crack in the same places again?
Thanks, I am very happy with how it came out.
I hope not. The products are designed for dashboard repairs I imagine they took that into consideration.
https://www.polyvance.com/Padded-Dashboard-Repair-SOP/
The dashboard looks amazing!
Took the car to Gainesville today for the SR20 national convention. It was nice meeting some fellow nissan enthusiasts. I got to talk with a bunch of nice folks and got a ton of compliments on the car.
My old track car was there as well!
B13birk from the boards did a ton of work and put on a great event.
I'm really glad you made it out man. The Nx looks great. I didn't get a good chance to go over and check it out which was a bummer but the paint, in particular, looked awesome in the sun. I wish you could have made it for the track day - There were a lot more cars out there. Next Year it will be at Roebling in Savannah. I hope you can make it.
The Florida guys and I have been talking about trying to all go to a track day at the firm here soon. Ill let you know if/when that happens.
So….. I bought the Egg!
First and foremost, huge thanks to PimpM3 and Stampie. Without them, this wouldn’t have been possible.
Background:
Stampie was kind enough to remove a set of fiberglass mustang fenders and quarter panels for me back in January of 2020. Then Covid happened, and he’s held onto them for me since.
Fast forward to now: SWMBO’s best friend is getting married, and having a destination wedding in Savannah, GA. I contacted Stampie and set things up to pick up the parts and drive home after the wedding, but it just wouldn’t be GRM worthy if I was to take the easy way out and do it in a rental. Thankfully, we’d be flying into Jacksonville prior to the wedding.
On Stampie’s recommendation, I contacted PimpM3, and asked if he had anything that could fit the bill for a fly and drive. Something unique, something capable of hauling all the Mustang parts, and something hopefully sorted enough to get me home (STL, Missouri). Turns out, he was kicking the thought around of selling GRM’s favorite Egg, and having admired it from afar, it was hard to say no.
So, Sunday, after I drop SWMBO and SWMBO’s brother off at the airport, and return the rental we have for the wedding festivities, I’m hopping in the Egg, stuffing it full of parts, and heading north.
Planning to stay with some friends outside of Atlanta Sunday Night, and then make the rest of the journey home Monday.
More to come.
Day 1: Savannah GA – Jacksonville FL – Cartersville GA
Just to add some background: Apparently due to Covid restrictions on rentals, and the lack of demand for rental cars this past year, I was unable to find any rental car company that would allow me to pick up the rental in Jacksonville where we flew into, and then drop off on Sunday at the Savannah GA airport.
What did this mean? It means that after purchase, I needed to temporarily store the car in Jacksonville. And, that once the wedding was complete, and SWMBO and SWMBO’s brother were dropped off at the airport in Savannah GA, that I needed to drive back to Jacksonville and return the rental. Thanks to the generosity of Stampie, this was an option. Stampie graciously offered up a parking spot at Casa de Stampie for the duration of the time that the wedding was taking place.
So, with all the luggage loaded, we said our farewells from the wedding party in Tybee Island, and dropped off my passengers and luggage at the Savannah GA airport, and pointed the rental Kia Sportage south and set the cruise. 2 hours later, with the rental car returned, I masked up and hopped in an Uber and motored over to Casa de Stampie.
Here, I tetris’d 2 fiberglass Mustang fenders, 2 fiberglass Mustang ¼ panels, and my travel backpack into the back of the Egg. With the rear seat folded down, and the cargo cover removed and set on top, it didn’t put up too much trouble.
Then, off to Advance Auto, for some much needed essentials. Here I picked up oil, coolant, brake cleaner, shop towels, and glass cleaner.
Here I gave the Egg a cursory vitals check, topped off the oil (only needed about ½ a quart), topped off the coolant overflow, and set the GPS to everyone’s favorite hammer store
A quick stop was made at the hammer store for some Fly’n’Drive essentials, including:
2 gallon emergency gas can (due to fuel shortage in southeast, and the in-op fuel gauge on the Egg)
Breaker bar and ¾” lug socket
1.5 ton aluminum jack
4 lb sledge hammer
Wrench set
Ratchet straps
I then shoe-horned the essentials mentioned above into the Egg, ever-nearing critical mass.
One last stop at Autozone down the street for a socket set, an assortment of hose clamps, and some universal soft hose (for emergencies) and we’re ready to hit the road….
Jacksonville FL - Bucee’s Fort Valley GA
Leaving Jacksonville was full of nervousness and excitement – my personal first fly’n’drive jitters, non-stop what-if’s flying around inside my head, and hyper sensitivity to every noise, movement, and feeling that the Egg made.
Thankfully, though, the nerves settled, and all that remained was excitement – and approximately 392 miles of road.
About an hour in, I realized that the trip meter wasn’t moving past 29 miles, while the odometer was steadily clicking by as designed. After a brief second of surprise, and some quick Chinese arithmetic on my phone, I realized that I’d traveled about 80 miles. With the Egg’s 13.2 gallon tank, and a guesstimate of 25 mpg, I had plenty in reserve, so no worries. So we continued to motor on, until our first fuel stop outside of Jacksonville at a combo convenience store / Wendy's / gas station in Jasper Florida.
Here, the Egg and I topped up on fuel and hydration, and I installed a super custom harbor freight battery strap hold down, as I didn’t want to unpack the entirety of the hatch to find the OEM unit that PimpM3 had in the back.
Chicken nuggies, 4-ish gallons of 93 and 26 mpg later, we motored on.
Interestingly enough, the GPS didn’t dump me right back on the highway, but instead took me for a scenic drive consisting of approximately 12 miles of county roads running the same direction as I-75. This was a pleasant change of space, and allowed me to thoroughly enjoy rowing the gears and the eagerness of the car to rotate, corner, accelerate and stop. But soon enough, we were back on the highway, happily running along.
Eventually, we made it across the FL-GA line and I began seeing signs of a Buc-ee’s.
Having heard from Texan ex-pats and other coworkers who have stopped, I made it a priority and, soon enough, pulled off and nosed the little Egg to one of the many, many pumps.
28 mpg this go around!
The Egg full, I motored over to a parking space and checked the vitals – all good. So I parked, and stepped into Buc-ee’s.
It.
Was.
Awesome.
An entire wall of jerky, fresh sliced brisket sandwiches, spotless bathrooms, hunting and fishing section, convenience store section, fresh fudge and roasted and sugared almonds. It took a while to take it in.
I used the facilities, grabbed a cooler, 30 oz tumbler, some sugared almonds, and some hats as gifts, and proceeded to take some pictures w/ the Egg.
My car and my gut full, and the heat of the day dissipating, I removed the t-tops, shoe horned them in the cargo area and behind the passenger seat, and we nosed back on I-75 north, and kept on truckin’. According to the GPS, we had an anticipated arrival time of 6:50. The Egg and I were making good time.
Precipitously, I then got a phone call from the bride and groom of the wedding, with whom I was staying the night with at their new home north of Atlanta.
They were running behind, and weren’t expecting to be home until 8-ish. Would I mind killing some time or driving slower?
Absolutely not! So the Egg and I pulled over, re-routed to take the scenic route, and exited the interstate
Several state highways later, I turned off and took a quick detour thru Indian Spring state park in Flovilla, GA.
It was beautiful – lots of elevation change, the sunset, and a very pretty downhill right hander that looked ripe for a photo opportunity.
I hopped out, took my pictures, hopped back in, grasped the key, and *click-click*. Ooooofffff.
Luckily, with the hill, I was able to roll the car down and safely out of the way.
I popped the hood, and started investigating.
Positive terminal – tight.
Negative terminal – tight. But upon touching it, I heard the unmistakeable sound of electronics springing back to life.
A quick pop of the hatch, a 10 mm wrench, and a couple quick turns, and the SR20 purred back to life with the twist of the key.
Onward.
Upon reaching Atlanta, traffic suddenly drew to a halt. A black cloud in the horizon wafted upward, and the sounds of sirens echoed off the concrete.
After inching forward for 10 minutes, I discovered that the blaze was due to a Chevy / GMC SUV off the side of the road.
It was at that point, I realized that the comments I’d previously heard about Atlanta traffic were entirely true. A Sunday evening at 7 p.m, and I’m getting passed like I’m standing still as I’m needling along at 85. Saw a gentleman on a streetbike ride a wheelie in the middle of traffic. A trio of BMW’s and a pair of 5th gen Camaros, weaving in and out of lanes. Absolutely Wild.
Soon enough though, we were through the center of the city, and nearing our destination.
One last fill-up, and we motored on up to our lodgings for the night.
I cut the ignition, ratcheted the parking brake, and enjoyed the first moment of near-silence I’d heard all day. It was time for me, and the Egg, to rest.
After a bite to eat and a shower, it was time to rest. But not before I played with a very adorable pup.
I gifted the pup a very obnoxious squeaky toy. After 20 minutes though, both the pup and I were wiped. Time for bed.
I'm usually a big FWD hater but I really love these cars and my favorite part of doing trips in mexico is to see all the B-12 sentras running around as "new" cars
In reply to HotNotch :
Sorry that I missed your update. Was great meeting you in person and glad you're enjoying the egg.
In reply to Stampie :
It was great meeting you in person also. Sorry we were in a bit of a rush Wednesday night, I would have loved to stick around and shoot the bull and check out the K30.
Hopefully we can tag up at the challenge this year now that things are hopefully returning to normal-ish
Thank you again for your patience with both storing the Egg and for holding onto those fenders for over a year.
Glad to hear the fly and drive was successful. It was great meeting you guys and I am super stoked that the NX2000 went to a good home.
Been a while, it’s time for an update~
Day 2: Cartersville GA – Nashville, TN – Saint Louis, MO
After playing with the dog, and settling into a much deserved sleep, I woke up later than anticipated. Finally was able to get on the road around 10 a.m.
The NX looked ready to go from the window
Fueled up, checked the tires and hit the road, pointing towards Nashville. The projected route had me in Nashville around lunch time, pending fuel stops
Got to Nashville, had some chicken. Interestingly enough, the meter at the parking lot was by license plate. I was a little nervous, as the line took about 45 minutes to get thru, and was out of sight of the lot. Thankfully, it wasn’t towed (even though I paid and left the slip on the dash), so I sat and ate Hattie B’s on the curb.
After lunch, pointed the car homeward again, and settled in for a long stint. Upon reaching Paducah, KY, the clouds opened up and rain started coming down. Luckily, the Firestones were up for the challenge, and overall speed didn’t really take a hit.
Got fuel, again.
Upon crossing the bridge in Cairo Illinois, I was faced with a choice; cut across and enter my home state in Cape Girardeau (which I’ve done a few times) or head due north and enter in Chester, Illinois. But first, I stopped by the river for a scenic pic in the wet
I figured, what the hell, we’re on an adventure, lets try something new, so we motored north.
The wide open, flat ground of southern Illinois allowed me to make up some time, as the roads were deserted and the BMW Suv I was keeping pace with was well above the posted speed limit. So, I followed his lead.
And finally, Chester Illinois, home of Popeye!
The last 1.5 hours home from Chester was in the dark, so no pictures. It was home turf for me anyway, so, was kind of on auto pilot.
Around 9 p.m, I pulled into the garage and tucked up out of the now downpour, and headed inside.
Fly and Drive complete.
So, since I got it home, I’ve played around a bit with the car
AutoX’d it in June
had a blast duking it out in SMF with two Hoosier’d Hondas, and a Fiesta ST and JCW Cooper on 200 TW tires. Was quite content to come in 3rd out of 6th behind the 2 Hoosier’d entries
Washed it a few times, and have taken SWMBO and the dog out in it for ice cream. Dog loves the back seat and the open air
As I get time, I've fixed a few things, including the fuel sending unit (finally have a functional gauge!) , and a few other things including
-suede dash cover (kind of on the fence whether to install or not)
- replacement instrument panel dimmer switch (OEM one made gauges flicker)
- added an exhaust mount and replaced some slightly blown exhaust gaskets
- reattached the rear bumper cover (had some missing hardware / push pins)
- fixed the center console lid
- replaced the AC relay
- cleaned the air filter
-Fixed the Radiator hold down with a rivnut and new bolt
Still have a few loose ends but it's getting better all the time.
In reply to HotNotch :
That's great that the Egg is continuing to get used. I liked being it's foster parent for a few days.
I am glad you are enjoying the egg! It looks like it went to the right home.
I just bought a b13 Sentra of my own, I guess I missed having an sr20 powered car around.
In reply to pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) :
LET ME SEEE!
In reply to Stampie :
Its a great car. Everytime I drive the silly thing I have to wipe the grin off my face when I get out
In reply to B13Birk :
1992 123k miles. I got it from New Mexico so no rust. Needs paint desperately.
In reply to pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) :
So so awesome. Let me know if and when you need parts etc. SR20 convention this year will be in Alabama at little Talladega.
Since our last update, the Egg / Nugget some more love. The valve cover gasket and distributor O-ring were hard and leaking, so those got replaced, and the engine bay de-greased.
Along with that, it got a fresh oil change.
I performed more trouble shooting on the A/C, and it's working, just needs a charge. There was a loose connection down on the A/C compressor that wasn't allowing it to kick on.
I also replaced the front end link bushings with new ones, as they were all very dry rotted and the AutoX event made one disappear on the right front.
That being said... life happened, and it's time for it to be up for sale. A friend of mine has decided to sell a car I've had my eye on for a long time, so this and a couple other things are listed for sale.
I'd love to keep the Nissan, but I need to make room and liquidate this and a few other projects.
So, that being said, I will be posting a for sale ad in the GRM Classifieds this evening. I'd really, really like this car to continue it's legacy with a GRM'r if possible. It definitely deserves the best of homes.
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