NSteXpo 99.2 November 12-14, 1999
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Subject:
OUTSTANDING..... .....is the only way I can explain it, describing NSteXpo
99.2 A tremendous round of applause for Karl Zimmermann and
hostess/wife Paige who made arrangements, selected back road twisties,
organized winery tours, set up a playground for our NSXs. Well done,
Karl. Paige - you *flew* in Karl's car. You go, girl. <g> Well, to put it mildly, there were several exciting
(proper adjective?) moments, but in the end I hope all affected will not be
plagued with NSteXpo-phobia (including me). But the highlights: Many, many, many pucker-factor roads that has hairpins,
180s, elevation changes, etc. Robert Bates relinquishes his title of "Four Wheeling
NSXer" to me as a result of a slight (actually intended) encounter at the
intersection of 29 and 2241. Several miles later, we name the intersection
of 2241 and 261 Andy "Andretti" corner where similar antics
were displayed. This time, I promise it was *not* intended. Whew! At the second winery, we "accidently" crashed a
wedding. Wonder what the audio of their VCR will sound like with the scream
of Comptech and RM mufflers? <g> This afternoon at the autocross, I was dubbed Andy Zanardi because.....well you figure it out. <g> All in all a good time was had by all, the weather was
beautiful and the company was great. Those that didn't come, we missed you
and you don't know what you missed. Looking forward to next time, Andy Vecsey Houston, Texas Red / Black T |
From: Roxanne Merizalde Sent: Sunday, November 14, 1999 8:32 PM Subject: [NSXCA-SOUTHCENTRAL] Fun at NSteXpo99.2 First of all, I'd like to echo Andy's sentiments of thanks
to our hosts and organizers the Zimmermann's, they were outstanding. Secondly just a comment about why I bought my NSX in the
first place and how much NSteXpo satisfied a fantasy. About a year ago last August I was
suffering a little "midlife crisis" (not just a guy thing) and
whining to a friend. My life was too predictable,
I wanted to do something different, exciting and unpredictable like "go
driving a 100mph in an NSX or jump out a perfectly good plane with a
parachute." My friend (who loves
cars and helping other people spend their money) advised that "we need
to get you an NSX". Three weeks
later I had one. I had a few regrets
about trading in my Maxima that I had for 7 years but as I got comfortable
with the NSX I've learned to drive with more confidence and have had a lot of
fun. But stodgy, predictable Roxanne
was hanging around looking over my shoulder and keeping me out of trouble
most of the time. I had my NSX for
more than a year before I finally went 100mph for the first time (in my life)
out in west Texas this September.
NSteXpo was the second time. Thanks to the nimble car, the good
company, and the great roads that had been selected; I had the confidence and
felt comfortable roaring around the countryside like the 20 year old that I
sometimes feel like (I'm actually forty(ish). Thanks again to my NSteXpo friends for letting me turn the
fantasy into a reality. Roxanne |
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I just wanted to give a public THANK YOU to Karl Zimmerman
for the wonderful planning for this weekends NSteXpo 99.2. What a
blast! We could only attend yesterday's fun in the Texas Hill county,
but we had a lot of fun. After driving about 600 miles in my wife's
1992 silver/black NSX, I now remember why I loved my '91 NSX that I sold to
another local NSXer. I just got a 1997 C5 6-speed, which I believe is
much more powerful and I love the targa roof, but after spending the time in
her car, another NSX is in my near future! Without a doubt it brought back the love I have for these
babies! Anyone want a deal on a black C5? How about $3,000 under
NADA? It's fast, black, and has every option they offer! Did I
say it's fast? I now realize that speed is not the only factor involved
in loving a spots car!
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From: Brent Cobb Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 1999 10:01 PM Subject: Transmission Failure Update Hey there! After several days of endless worrying about my
"transmission failure" during NS-teXpo-99.2, I received great news
today! If you did not hear, while at
teXpo before passing another, I managed to "downshift" from 5th
down to 2nd while moving along at about 100 MPH. After that bonehead incident, the shift lever would not go into
gear for a few minutes. After a
little desperate persuasion, I finally managed to get the NSX in gear and get
it back to the hotel and San Antonio the next day. Thanks to Karl Z. for having short gears
including 1st and 5th, NSX-R ring and pinion, and Jun lightweight flywheel
for purchase soon after the weekend!
I headed back to Austin on Tuesday morning and picked up all of those
goodies! That same evening, I limped
the NSX to Gunn Acura into the capable hands of Augie Ureste and Tracy
Townsend. This afternoon I received a call from Tracy
describing the destruction within my clutch! This information was GREAT news because I (and others) figured
I overspun bearings and/or syncros during that "fatal downshift"!
To hear the clutch (that had over 92,000 miles) absorbed" the forces of
the brief moments of 9000 RPM was pure bliss! I think most figured there would be some fairly severe damage
within the tranny itself. I headed to Gunn Acura this afternoon and
delivered the gears, R&P, and flywheel to Augie. To my surprise, Augie had already removed
the tranny, clutch, and disassembled the tranny itself by mid afternoon
today! First I looked at the clutch. It looked VERY worn, and the
"pads" were worn to the nub.
However, the most interesting portion of one of the disks was the
obvious absence of one of the large springs!
In fact, when the tranny "failed", that clutch disk spring
broke free from the disk housing and spun aimlessly around the clutch
assembly. In turn, the spring bound
somewhere in the system and would not allow me to engage any gears. You can see fairly obvious scarring in
several clutch parts due to the loose spring. A few loose shards of unidentified metal also mixed with the
clutch horror. All in all, one could say the clutch completely was ruined. I wonder why it worked on that remote road
in Austin and then all the way back to San Antonio! I'm not complaining!
"Flatbedding" is never fun. In turn, I checked-out the disassembled tranny
part by part with Augie. For a tranny
with 150,000 miles, there was really no indication of wear. However, two of the
three syncro assemblies did show a little wear. All in all, the tranny looked great, and there was no sign of
damage from the clutch failure/overspeed.
I've decided to replace all of the syncro assemblies, two of the main
bearings, and all other seals - in addition to all of the gears and
R&P. A new OEM clutch mated with
the light flywheel will replace the old grenaded clutch. This is probably as close to a brand new transmission
as anyone can get. The tranny case
had already been replaced after a snap ring failure way back at 116,000
miles. So, all's well so far! Two of the 10 or so OEM parts I ordered will not be in until
Friday morning. However, we predict
"oxide" to be back on its wheels perhaps by Saturday - early next
week for sure. Can't wait! Thanks again to Marc W. (helping me on the side
of the road after failure), Karl Z. (for being an awesome part
"supplier"), Augie U. (effectively taking my baby apart), and Tracy
T. (helping my desperate OEM part needs)! Take care! Brent |
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