Thegirlinthez's Weblog

So much for good intentions

thegirlinthez — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:31:11 +0000

Well I intended to post from our meeting but honestly, this crowd is too rowdy. Next time maybe they shouldn’t let some of these guys drink until after the meeting.

This is a test

thegirlinthez — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:16:20 +0000

I’m testing this from my new android phone. Hope to be able to do some live updates from the ZROC annual meeting later today.

Arthritis Foundation Car Show

thegirlinthez — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:41:54 +0000

This weekend is the Arthritis Foundation’s Classic Auto Show & Cruise-In and ZROC, of course, will be there. I finally got my rear brake calipers rebuilt last week so I will have the Girlie Z there. General admission is only $10.00 and children under 12 are free so it’s not a bad deal for the family and you will be supporting a worthy cause.

I will be twittering and possibly making a post or two from the show. Feel free to stop by and say hello!

I was pretty busy last month working on PodCamp Ohio and so didn’t really have a whole lot of time to post here, but the bonus is I was gifted with a Kodak Zi6 as a thank you for my work! You can look forward to better pictures of events and video! Woo Hoo!

Now, a note about those rear brake calipers….

I own four (count them FOUR) repair manuals. One of which is the official service manual for my car and NONE of them tell you some fairly specific information you need to know when working on the rear brakes for this car. First is getting the parking brake disconnected and subsequently re-connected. Second is putting on the new piston seal. Need to know these things? Email me and I can walk you through it.

ZDAYZ

thegirlinthez — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:05:54 +0000

Made it to ZDayZ again this year. I have a few pictures:

Interesting body kit on this roadster. I’ve never seen one like this before.

Z cars and a few GTR’s every where you look!

Check out the paint job on this 370Z. Looks like a map of the Tail of the Dragon!

A few ZROC folks took a ride up to the Cherhola Skyway. Look at that view!

A few of the ZDayZ organizers got giant ZDayZ stickers for their cars. Nice, I want one this big. We did get small ones in our swag bags though. This is Bryan’s tricked out for the track Z. Still haven’t been able to get a ride in it though. Someday….

We had quite a few accidents this year. A few too many people testing the limits of their driving abilities out on the turns. The staff at ZDayZ has made it very clear that this is not the place to push your limits or your cars limits and still people do it. I’m not sure what it’s going to take to get through to folks. It seems like this year there were more mishaps than in previous years. Not sure if that’s true or not though.

The good stuff: Jim’s awesome pie, ZDayZ staff and organizers (best bunch of people you would ever want to meet after ZROC), Riding with Terri in her brickyard 350Z, chatting with David Muramoto from Nissan Sport Magazine (very friendly guy), Hanging with the ZROC crowd, Seeing a bunch of folks I only see once a year and chat with on the forums or on Facebook the rest of the time and riding not only on the Tail of the Dragon (with Ernie) but checking out some other twisty roads as well.

One of the ZDayZ staff I met this year was a man named Glenn who worked the registration desk pretty much the entire weekend, while the rest of us were out having a good time. Glenn, thanks you for all your hard work! Finally, Thanks to all of the other ZDayZ organizers for a great time. Lots of fun things to do this year. We’ll Z ya next year!

Animoto.com

thegirlinthez — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:37:51 +0000

ZROC Heritage Tour

The ZROC Heritage Tour

thegirlinthez — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:47:38 +0000

Saturday was a perfect day to kick off the ZROC driving season. Beautiful blue sky day and lots of Nissan Z cars to enjoy. We started the day at Buckeye Nissan. The ZROC crew rolled in and by the time we were ready to roll out, there were 30 of us representing the heritage of the Nissan Z.

When we left Buckeye Nissan and headed up 270 to Nissan North, it was quite a site to see. Nissan Z cars four wide and six deep on the highway. No I didn’t take any pictures of it. I was busy driving!

Don and Joyce came out in their Roadster:

Later, Don returned with their GT-R:

Nissan North treated us to a cook out. Thanks folks! Always great to see you all! They also hung out a banner welcoming the ZROC crew! Awesome!

After lunch, a few members left for home as they had “honey do” projects waiting for them and the rest of us headed out to Germain Nissan for the last stop of the tour.

A few more pics from the day:

That’s enough for today. The sun is out and the Z is calling. I have an oil change and a rear brake job to do today. I’ll Z ya later!

Tomorrow Begins the 2009 ZROC Driving Season

thegirlinthez — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:37:27 +0000

I spent the day washing, polishing and waxing the Z for tomorrow. The first ride of the season is a tribute to the heritage of the Nissan Z car. The ZROC gang will be visiting all three Nissan dealers in Columbus. We will gather at Buckeye Nissan, in Hilliard, between 10:00 and 10:30 am and hang out for a few hours before we leave enmass to Nissan North on RT 23 north of 270. We will stay there through lunch and visit with the staff and show off our cars. Finally, the crew will head over to Germain Nissan in the afternoon for our last stop. If you are out any where near these three dealers, stop by and say hello.

I will be twittering and blogging from the sites as well as taking a few pictures. No, I won’t be doing that while driving. I might even get a couple of videos in if I can. Until then, I’ll Z ya later!

Slide Show of the ZROC Crew at the Auto Show

thegirlinthez — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:18:38 +0000

I made a slide show of the ZROC Crew at the Columbus International Auto Show. It includes some pictures of the 370Z and GT-R from Nissan’s display. I hope you enjoy it.

Lee’s Nissan Z Roadster

thegirlinthez — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:20:29 +0000

Lee’s Nissan Z Roadster turned out to be a show stopper. It’s also quite a chick magnet. ( A Z chick magnet that is.) More women gravitated to this car than any of the other cars. Many of them remarked that they would love to have a car like this. Here is a hint for Nissan: You might want to consider this when designing and marketing your cars. I’m sure there’s a way you can figure out how to get more women into the drivers seat if you put them into a roadster.

Of course it could also have a lot to do with the shine on this car. Check out the reflections:

One family that visited the ZROC area had a little boy about three feet tall who walked around the car several times watching his reflection in the car. It was really cute to watch.

Earlier, a young girl, all dressed in pink with a pony tail, walked into the center of the ZROC space, stopped to look around, spotted Lee’s car and grabbed her father by the hand to drag him over to the car. Truly this young lady is a Z Chick in the making.

A few more pics of Lee’s Roadster:

Still to come, pictures of the 370Z and the GT-R.

Morning At The Show

thegirlinthez — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:43:49 +0000

I got into the convention center before the doors opened this morning. I came in early just to see if they would unlock the GT-R for me so I could get some pictures. The staff working over at the Nissan display are a really great bunch of friendly, accomadating folks, so I will have some pictures for you tonight or tomorrow of the GT-R and more of the 370Z as well as our club cars.

This morning has been pretty busy and we have been enjoying some great stories from other current and former Z owners. A lot of the older folks go for the Datson Z’s with that far away look in their eyes. Most of them recalling their youth and their first Z car. The younger set naturally gravitates to the newer cars. They’re more attracted to the idea of twin turbos and four whell disk brakes.

Last night, Jim and I watched a man from several yards away, walking towards the ZROC area with his eyes fixated on the Datson Roadster we have on disply. He was aman on a mission. Jim and I joked about it while we watched him approach. There are Z lovers and then there are those of us who freely admit we have the sickness. At ZROC, we understand you. Hope to “Z” you here sometime today. We would really like to hear your stories. You can also follow me on Twitter (@merrycricket) I will be posting a few picks through out the day.