CBuff Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Well. 1 year 11months and 2 days since I put a deposit in for my 420R. Yesterday I road tripped to upstate New York to pick the car up. Drove it back today (keeping it in south west Connecticut for the moment ). Put 550 miles on the first day. Big thanks to Greg at Time Machines for dealing with my insanity for the last almost 2 years. I absolutely love the car. Looking forward to seeing you all on the roads and tracks moving forward. Charlie 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Congratulations! The car looks great! 550 miles is a good first day to get to know the car. Any surprises, either good or bad, or is it what you expected? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBuff Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 All went better than expected. No breakdowns. Temp stayed at 90 solid (or it’s not working and stuck there). Brakes bedded in a bit. Its was a lot to get used to. I have spent the last two years roaming here and learned so much. And you read all about people’s experiences in a seven. But to finally get to do it all and drive across the state of NY on day one. I’m exhausted. i was weary of the highways from taking to some owners. I actually didn’t mind that much. But I likely would drive thru the gates of hell with a smile on my face today. I couldn’t even imagine such an engaging car. It’s was a great drive and day. I took a guess and figured if the fuel gauge read 1/4 it might be empty. Nope that’s half full. Fully empty (needle sitting on E). You have 3.8 gals left.(it’s an SV so 10.8 total I think. One of the benefits of multiple fuel stops. When it reads empty go get some gas. Problem solved. I added some dated belts, so there was a good amount of time spent getting them adjusted. Greg did all the work while I sat in the seat. The car preformed flawlessly. And I was pleasantly surprised how much easier a long trip was in a seven. Not easy but easier than expected. But that’s also what makes it great fun. A great day for sure. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Congratulations Charlie! When I got your text video yesterday I cracked up laughing - I can understand the happiness! Yes your tank has 10.8 gallons (41L) however, not all of it is usable - maybe only 85-90%. Your approach to calibration is the right one - work out where empty sits and always fill up as needle hits reserve as you can assume the last 2 gallons are not usable. Enjoy the drive! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowdude Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 7 hours ago, CBuff said: All went better than expected. No breakdowns. Temp stayed at 90 solid (or it’s not working and stuck there). Brakes bedded in a bit. Its was a lot to get used to. I have spent the last two years roaming here and learned so much. And you read all about people’s experiences in a seven. But to finally get to do it all and drive across the state of NY on day one. I’m exhausted. i was weary of the highways from taking to some owners. I actually didn’t mind that much. But I likely would drive thru the gates of hell with a smile on my face today. I couldn’t even imagine such an engaging car. It’s was a great drive and day. I took a guess and figured if the fuel gauge read 1/4 it might be empty. Nope that’s half full. Fully empty (needle sitting on E). You have 3.8 gals left.(it’s an SV so 10.8 total I think. One of the benefits of multiple fuel stops. When it reads empty go get some gas. Problem solved. I added some dated belts, so there was a good amount of time spent getting them adjusted. Greg did all the work while I sat in the seat. The car preformed flawlessly. And I was pleasantly surprised how much easier a long trip was in a seven. Not easy but easier than expected. But that’s also what makes it great fun. A great day for sure. Yep seats aren't too bad for long rides. For gas in my S3 I'm averaging 25MPH on an 8 gallon tank, so about 200 miles range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBuff Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 Thanks @Croc you were so helpful and generous with your time. I very much appreciate it. Can’t wait to see you and others out in the track. Lots to learn on that front. One of the items I preemptively addressed was the mirrors. In reading about the side mirror vibrations I got the dprs and had them installed on the windshield frame. Man they are tiny in person. But was happy to see they worked great and were very stable. Was a little surprised that my windshield mounted mirror did vibrate quite a bit. It wasn’t stuck on when I got there. Greg mentioned he preferred it mounted lower on the windshield to improve forward visibility. And while sitting in the car I agree. While it looked a little odd at first I do love that it’s not in my forward eyeline. I love seeing those front wheels dance around. It’s relatively easy to remove if an upgraded one might be more stable. Or maybe a stubby mount to the scuttle like the aero. I did get the aero screen so I do have that spa type central mirror for that. I’m not concerned a solution is out there for the vibration. But the dprs worked great. immediately pulled the full hood and put the soft bits half hood on in case of rain. Fit very well and is very high quality. I love it, although that went into the boot in short order and hasn’t been out but I feel better knowing it’s there. the brakes take some getting used to. My modern car brain needed to recalibrate for the firm peddle feel. Especially after some highway cruising (where I wouldn’t touch the brakes ) then come to an off ramp. The ice cold and new brakes and my soft pedal brain combined for a slight panic when you step on the brake and feel like they don’t work. But as they bed in a bit and my brain got smarter they certainly do work. And shockingly well. The 6 point harness was a welcome combination with those maneuvers. For such a long cruise I was happy with the comfort level. The leather seats were great. My left foot sat nicely under the clutch. My right foot I could shift around a little while on long stints. I do have to tweak my Speedo. After it showing 170 mph at idle speed Greg put in the pulse code for the zzs staggered setup (think it was 039440 It’s reading a little fast (60mph indicated is 50mph on the gps , 95mph indicated was 80mph). I will look into some alternate codes. But was also reading about the “measured mile” method that the speedo can learn the pulse codes when programming. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBuff Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 I was getting about 24 mpg cruising at 80 at slightly over 4000rpm. You certainly aren’t bored as you’re always looking out for what everyone else is doing. A self driving Cadillac this is not. But what fun is that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11Budlite Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Congrats Charlie, your patience has been rewarded! Covering 550 miles on your first day is pretty impressive. Your car looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 See you in NJ this fall for NJMP 7s? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBuff Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 For sure. Let’s hope the weather is on our side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBuff Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 My head is still spinning. IMG_4443.mov 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBuff Posted June 11 Author Share Posted June 11 Sorry for the low res. John I will read the uploading instructions you all have thoughtfully laid out. here is a link to the Hi res https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ijkq0biti9a81xmhrhbq5/IMG_4443.MOV?rlkey=p53spqh79407jwlxch4t6ayzu&dl=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 No apologies necessary. Unfortunately, you can't embed videos from dropbox as they don't allow direct linking to the video, just the page where it's displayed. You would need to upload the video to YouTube or Vimeo, then paste that sharable link in the post. Car sounds good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBuff Posted June 20 Author Share Posted June 20 Did my first oil change yesterday. My first and the cars first. On the advise of fellow forum folks I got an extractor pump and sucked it right out. Pulled the finger filter. Got about 6.2 liters out. Had a bit of a time getting the oil filter off. Pulled the inertia switch and spun it up till it registered pressure. Pretty straightforward even for a mechanical novice. I also tweaked the Speedo which was reading fast. A bit of trial and error and got but got it dialed in (ended up landing on a ppu 042081 ). 13” staggered with Avon zzs tires. The calibration table said (039440) but was off. programmed the shift lights as well. It’s nice to be able to dim them as I went for my first night drive. I gambled and got some ppf headlight covers (for a Harley). They were a tad too big so had to carefully cut them. Not perfect but it will work for now. Hopefully it protects the lenses. getting excited for the first track day next weekend. Fingers crossed she stays together and on the track. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowdude Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 She will be a riot on the track and a big grin the entire time. These cars just grip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBuff Posted June 30 Author Share Posted June 30 Well the car survived the track day and getting there and back. An amazing day. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Some photos I took on the day. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowdude Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Absolute boss that you drove it 3 states down, tracked it, then stopped by me. What a fantastic ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBuff Posted July 1 Author Share Posted July 1 Thanks again @Croc for the hospitality and sharing your track knowledge. I learned a lot from everyone there. An amazing time. Put her back in garage today with the odometer just passing 1300 miles since I got her earlier this month. I am exhausted. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 8 hours ago, CBuff said: Put her back in garage today with the odometer just passing 1300 miles since I got her earlier this month. I know you had a long drive home, but 1300 miles in less than a month is impressive! Glad to see you're able to enjoy the car after such a long wait. Great photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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