boodlefoof

93'' here.

I didn't think so. Just thought I'd throw it out since the high windshield in conjunction with the sloping fastback design seems to be one of the problems.

Don't know if this is within the scope of possible testing, but what about testing the effect of lowering the roofline and raking the windshield? http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=101672&page=2&highlight=chop+top http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=94779&highlight=chop+top I'd also like to see the data on deleting the side mirrors. For my car I'm planning on some low-profile motorcycle mirrors that I found, which extend quite far off the body (from a Yamaha sport bike if I remember right). Another possible testing point is air extractors in the wheel wells to reduce Cd. I'd like to see the data on that. As for the under-body effects, these certainly can be dangerous when pushed to the extreme. Some racers experimented with having the exhaust exit into the diffuser to accelerate the under-body airflow only to find that downforce suddenly disappeared when they let off the throttle! Oops! Then you have lift-off. I don't anticipate weight transfer being too much of an issue. The car will be somewhat stiffly sprung and I have designed the front suspension to have what should be more than enough anti-dive. I also don't anticipate my diffuser design generating anything near the 2000# of downforce that the F1 guys are running, so suddenly losing any downforce generated by the diffuser, while unnerving, shouldn't be quite so catastrophic. Speaking of diffusers, you could also test the combined effect of your rear wing designs with the under-body diffuser. Using the rear wing to help drive the diffuser flow. That would be interesting. I plan to have my car into a tunnel (Langley tunnel down in the Tidewater) prior to attempting my 200+ mph run. If I am incorrect about my designs, I would much rather discover it in the tunnel than while I am in the car! While at the tunnel (this is still years away unfortunately) I also plan to try out various "nose-cone" designs. I will make a bolt-on nose-piece for the car to reduce drag on my high speed attempts.

Good grief. What a bunch of jerks they've got on there.

You can damage the engine if you run it with a short exhaust and then shut it down in cooler climates. The outside air will quickly go up your block hugger and cause the exhaust valve to cool very quickly. With a full exhaust, outside air is less likely to get to the valve and air is warmed by the time it reaches it. Rapid cooling may cause the exhaust valve to crack.

Yowch! Major bummer!

1mm intake and exhaust valves? Turbo sure will boost a lot with a restriction like that in the system!!! (joking about the probable typo).

I remember another bad story awhile back about a guy who bought a new C5 (if I remember right, it was a C5). Owner had it in the dealership for something or another and the guy putting it on the lift didn't center the car well enough on the lift... long story short, the car fell backwards a few feet off the lift. Smashed the heck out of the brand new car. Last I heard the dealership said they would pay for repairs but would not give him a new car. I've decided I will never buy a car from a dealer, nor have a dealership service my car.

I like it!

Factory Five is a very well-respected kit car builder. The GTM looks to be a really a top-notch product. They put a lot of R&D into that one.

Glad to hear the project is moving along! I went with the flare route on my 240-Z rather than widening the entire tub. I ended up widening the track about 8'' front and rear too. I thought about cutting and widening the entire tub, but it seemed like the more difficult route. More opportunity to mess things up. If you're paying somebody else to do it, I imagine it would cost a lot more as well.

I agree with those above who recommend buying a new starter.

typhoone, I think that the LS1 is an excellent choice, particularly now that prices on pull-out complete engines have come down so much. It isn't difficult to find a complete LS1 engine/T56 transmission combo (with wiring harness, computer, shifter and all accessories) with 50,000+ miles on it for $4,000. Sure, you can buy a fresh and powerful Gen I small block for $4k as well. But compare what you're getting with each: With the LS1 you get these added benefits - aluminum block (75+ pound weight reduction) - roller cam - shallow valve angle cylinder heads - EFI - block will handle long stroke without clearancing If you were to build a Gen I small block to similar specs, expect to pay an extra $2,500 for an aluminum block, $500 for a retro-fit roller cam, $2,500 extra for shallow valve angle heads and matching intake, $$$ for EFI, etc. You just seem to get a lot more bang for the buck with the LS1.

I put a Jeg's brand 4-point in my '68 Camaro. I was very pleased with the fit. They cut all of the bars long so that you can trim it to height, but the side to side fit on the main hoop was very good.

My father-in-law is addicted to old John Deere lawn tractors... he has a half dozen of them.

You're not referring to "Big Red" are you? A '69 Camaro that ended up getting to 223mph in the Silver State challenge? I seem to recall that they started out with a small block, but ended up going with a roughly 600 horse big block to get up to 223. This car was otherwise very stock... dangerously stock to be going that speed! It crashed on that run, but recently was unveiled in its newest iteration.

I just received an LS2/T56 combo via freight the other day. It was complete with all accessories, wiring, computer, mounts, shifter, a bunch of lines (for AC/steering, etc) and a wooden pallet that it was strapped down to. Total weight on the shipping bill was 787 pounds! A little more than I expected actually, but then I'm not certain how accurate the shipper's scale is.

Thanks for the info Tony D! I hadn't yet looked much into local availability of high speed courses. All that I keep hearing about are out in Utah and Nevada! Now, if I could only complete step 1: getting the car running!

Tony D, Unfortunately not for a long while yet. The car is still a long ways from being road-worthy, let alone salt-flat-worthy. I also live in VA, so it would be a long trip to make... but darn it, someday I will! I'm hoping for a target timeframe of 5 years.

To cover both the looks and function aspects of my build, I plan on making a detachable front nose piece (ala the old Dodge Charger Daytona) for my Z. When I am just cruising around, no nose piece. When I hit the salt flats, nose goes on.

jt1, I'm with you. I've seen these go for around $5-6K before, but it looks like this one is going through the roof!

I didn't mean to come down on the IRS. You're right that the R200 can take a fair bit of abuse. I just wanted to point out that a live axle rear design isn't necessarily worse. It all depends on the design of the suspension, be it IRS or a live axle. Sam, you mention track use and hard launches. Am I correct that this is primarily going to be a drag car?

The LT1 is actually a gen 2 engine. Unless you meant LS2, which is a 6L gen III. However, the price for those is still fairly high.

I don't think there is any kit that you can buy to directly fit a live rear axle into the Z. There are several people here (myself included) who are installing solid axle rears into the Z, but it requires a lot of custom work. Of course, deviating from the stock suspension will also require you to design a new suspension for the car... which can be tricky. You can just slap a new suspension under there and hope it works... but more than likely it will not be optimal. Ledphoot, You can design a solid axle rear to handle very well. Additionally, they can be set up to reduce squat to give better traction on acceleration (you don't want your quarters dragging!).

You probably don't want to remove the heads. Squirt a little oil in the cylinders through the spark plug holes and turn the engine over a few times to be sure everything is nice and coated. I'd also be wary of removing the oil pan. Leave it on to keep the crank safe. Seal up all of the openings and you should be good to go.