It finally happened to me: I had a car accident. A lady who was in a hurry (taking her little kid to school) didn't stop at a red light and hit me in the rear right door and wheel. Fortunatelly, I wasn't driving the 240Z, but my daily driver (2003 Liberty) which ended up among other things with a severely damaged differential. Thank the Lord nobody got hurt. My insurance agent took care of everything quickly and efficiently and now my Jeep is at the dealer waiting for all the parts needed so they can start the repairs.
However, it's gonna take at least two weeks for these guys to finish. My wife works, so she has her own schedule. For this reason, I need another car. Now, because of my job, I live in Nuevo Laredo, but we're from Piedras Negras, about 200 Km NW from here, and that's where my 240Z is. We go there every 2 or 3 weeks to see family and friends, clean the house, pay the bills and of course, to work on the 240Z. Since I have had it, and until last week, the 240Z has been used only as a weekend car (when it runs, of course), and I had never taken it for a long trip.
Last Saturday it didn't even had the tranny on, since I was installing the turbo clutch and having some problems with it. Anyway, my dad and I installed the clutch, tranny, driveshaft, etc, and the car runs now. I did a turbo swap recently, so I haven't really had much time to debug it. I just took it for a few short trips and decided that it was ready to go. I loaded my wife's car with as many tools as I could, including a steel cable just in case the 240Z breaks and needs to be towed.
I normally drive at 120 or 130 Km/h, but we decided to go at no more than 100 Km/h. So, we took off at 2:30 PM. It was a sunny day, there was no wind and the enviromental temperature was about 25 °C. Perfect weather. 25 minutes at 100 Km/h. No weird noises, no vibrations, no overheat. We arrived to the first checkpoint (where the mexican army checks your car looking for drugs, guns and other illegal stuff). The usual questions were asked: What kind of car is it??? Is it a Corvette??? What year is it??? Is it fast??? We continued. The car actually felt great. At some times I slowed down a bit to get away from my wife, who was driving in front of me, and then I floored it until I catched up with her, just to feel and hear the car under boost. Boost is addictive.
45 minutes after the first checkpoint, so far so good. We arrive to the second checkpoint. More usual questions. We continue. My wife seems to have forgotten about the agreed speed, because now she's going at 130 Km/h. That's OK, I floor it and catch up in one second and the car still feels great. 40 minutes after the second checkpoint going at 130. No problems so far. We arrive to Nuevo Laredo, so we have to slow down. Roads in Nuevo Laredo aren't exactly smooth, so I can't even shift to 3rd. We arrive at home (finally). I opened the hood and take a look. No weird smells, no burnt cables, everything looks OK.
On Monday, I went to work in the 240Z (my wife and I call it "El Zeta"). Did I mention that roads in Nuevo Laredo aren't exactly smoot??? I was wrong, roads are TERRIBLE in this town!!! It usually takes me 7 to 10 minutes to get from home to work. It takes me 21 minutes in El Zeta. It's dark in the morning and it's difficult to see the small bumps. I'm usually the first to arrive to work in the morning, so the Z looks lonelly in the parking lot. People starts arriving, and they start asking the usual questions...
The important thing is that IT MADE IT!!! I can't wait to get my Jeep back so I can take El Zeta out of this torture, but so far it has worked great!!! Not bad for a 35 year old car!!!
12/70 240Z, L28ET, 10 PSI, 5 sp, R200 3.54, A/C... "Better, stronger, faster..."
Post Edited (Mar 8, 11:03am)

Good looking car. Glad it made it.
Datsun---- classic import tuner

wish i had that turbo body ( looked at your site) it looks really solid !
You can sleep in your car, but cant drive in your house
if you are fully in control, you are not driving fast enough!
79 ZXR 46K!
81 ZXT EURO 2+2
83 ZXT
All fine Fastback winnabego's

Car looks good. You can make the other driver pay for a rental if you don't want to drive the z.
Anyone can drive a new car.

Take your chassis a part them out or sell the entire thing. the 280ZX chassis looks nice I'm sure some one will want that.
Progress:
Z32 Had to sell for DD 06 Sentra :(
S30 one of these days I will get around to putting it all back together.

Most insurance companies will pay for a rental for up to 30 days.
1983 280ZX N/A: 98% rust free, 118,000 actual miles.
1982 280ZX Turbo. $250 Parts car that was better than the rustbucket.
1983 280ZX Turbo. Hopeless rust case. The more I fixed, the more I found.

How come they didn't give you a rental car?
1991 300ZX N/A Slicktop
1970 240Z

Nice!
I think I've been to Piedras Negras. My dad used to work in Juarez.
The Z looks great!
Mario
1976 280Z - Dad's Z (turbo swap?)
1978 280Z - Stock Rebuild | 5 Speed | Twice Pipes | Gutted
1982 280ZX - Turbo | MSnS-E | 5 Speed | Large NPR IC
BROKE: Will build computers, webpages, networks, MS units, troubleshoot computers for money

Yeah, I know that in the US you can get a rental car, but not in Mexico. I have a full coverage insurance and I won't have to pay a peso for the repairs and all that, but I get no rental car.
12/70 240Z, L28ET, 10 PSI, 5 sp, R200 3.54, A/C... "Better, stronger, faster..."
Post Edited (Mar 8, 1:36pm)

Z is looking great! What was the deal with the clutch issue ?
-Pete
1978 Z ATK F54-P79
Drink Sobe No Fear Gold
Tokico Illuminas, Poly bushings,Techno Tuning TC rods. Bad Dog frame rails. Toyota 4 piston calipers & power slot rotors. MSA 2.5” turbo exhaust & K&N cold air intake. H4’s

Well, it's kind of embarrasing. When I installed the clutch slave cylinder, I didn't use the original bolts. The ones that I used were longer than stock and they went through the bellhousing wall deep enough to touch the pressure plate. This happened only when I depressed the pedal. I never fully pressed the pedal so the damage was minimum. Actually, the bolts got a bit damaged, but in the pressure plate it's barely noticeable. I installed shorter bolts and it's working OK now.
12/70 240Z, L28ET, 10 PSI, 5 sp, R200 3.54, A/C... "Better, stronger, faster..."

Thanks for the responce. I have a turbo swap percolating so I was curious. I think every body has had a few senior moments or two :)
-Pete
1978 Z ATK F54-P79
Drink Sobe No Fear Gold
Tokico Illuminas, Poly bushings,Techno Tuning TC rods. Bad Dog frame rails. Toyota 4 piston calipers & power slot rotors. MSA 2.5” turbo exhaust & K&N cold air intake. H4’s