CruxGNZ

I read the hilarious first page only to find there was 39 more pages! Me and my client would lkie to have ths summerized ore you wil lbe deaded! !M!

Had to buy one when I was doing my rear suspension. Got it from the dealership for $30. Expensive bolt, hey? !M!

But... the chassis is a unibody. The cage is already attached to everything in that respect. With the cage installed, the chassis will twist/bend quite a bit less than stock. Unless I'm misunderstanding what "blading the cage" is? !M!

I was hoping you would chime in John. I didn't want to bother you with another PM. The cage was finished up last night. I was hoping to get it home tonight, but it's now raining, so hopefully I can pick it up on Saturday. The work is awsome! The cage builder and I talked about putting a X brace between the two bars going down to the strut towers, but since the Z will still see street use, I wanted to use my rear view mirror. Also, I didn't extend the door bars per your advice John. The door bars are welded to the rocker panel and then continue forward to be welded to 6"X6" plate on the firewall/floor (where the floor kicks up at like a 45 degree angle). The headliner survived, although it got a little black directly above one spot where he was welding. You can't see it unless you lay upside down in the car and look, so no biggie. Plus it's getting dyed black anyways. After that little "oops", I was holding a plate of metal between his weld and the headliner. One thing I forgot and the cage builder and I had talked about, was welding the top of the main hoop to the roof (where the hatch hinges are). Oh well, I can fab up a few tabs and weld them in myself. Maybe I'll drill a couple holes in them to look a little better than just a few chunks of 1/4" thick metal. I'll post pictures here when I get the car back. !M!

!M!

http://digistash.com/ !M!

It's built from scratch. The guy took measurements and put everything in CAD and printed it out for use in his shop since this was the first Z he has done. We had John Coffee's cage pictures found on his website (betamotorsports.com) to go off of, in terms of where to run each bar, but we had to deviate from John's design a bit. I'll talk to my cage builder tonight to see about running those door bars further forward and tying into the subframe. !M!

Here is some pictures of my chromoly 6-point cage: Picture 1 In this picture you can see the main hoop and the brace that goes between both sides had to be pushed back a few inches, because I just didn't fit if it was a straight bar. I wanted a diagonal bar in the main hoop, but since that bar was pushed back, it had to be eliminated. Picture 2 Here is another angle. You can see the bars that go from the main hoop to the strut towers. Also, the strut tower brace was tacked in. Now, here is my question about the door bars... you can see the area that is cleaned on the floor for the 6"x6" plate, but what would happen if you were to drill a hole through the floor and angle the bar to the right and weld it to the sub frame right behind the T/C mount? So, in other words, the door bar would start from the main hoop, travel downwards and get welded to the door sill, pass through the floor (floor would be welded around the bar) and have it angle towards the sub frame and attach right behind the T/C mount. Would this add anything? Dumb idea? Picture 3 Here, we deviated from the "box" that I originally wanted to sit over the seatbelt retractor for the main hoop to sit on. What the cage builder suggested, is that the bar sit in the seat belt retractor pocket and have the 6"x6" plate cut in half and cope the plate around the bar and then weld it all together. He says it will not punch through. He a master fabricator/welder and weld inspector, so I trust his opinion. Nothing has not been welded in yet, everything has just been tacked, so any comments? !M!

Oh yeah! Looks great! Are you able to get a full car 1/4 shot picture? Would love to see how it looks in comparison to the full body. I think it will look a little like a late model Austin Martin. !M!

Well, if I tear the artery, I'll bleed internaly. If the accident is violent enough, it may damage the graft below the collar bone. I'm willing to race the car and take the chance of tearing the graft open in the case of an accident, because there is nothing I can do to protect the graft (aside from not doing anything fun), BUT I can try my best to keep the artery from getting pinched in a not so violent accident. I'm not a doctor so I don't know if there is a difference, but the artery that is routed above my collar bone is actually a large vien from the groin area on my right leg. I'm not sure if a vien is thinner than an actual artery and can be damaged more easily... I guess I'll have to talk to my Surgeon about that tommorow. I'm positive I will install a stock 3-point seatbelt along with a 5-point for my seat like VRJoe first said and you guys have also said. It will just make things easier. I just need to figure out a safe way to keep that artery from being damaged. I wasn't able to look at any sports equipment tonight, because I was helping out with my cage install. !M!

Yeah, you're not kidding. I have a tight fitting old canvas jacket that I might be able to sew a football pad to. There is a Play-it-again Sports place that sells used equipment. I'll check it out tonight. I did go to Pegasus Racing and the front desk guy happens to be a fellow 240Z owner! They didn't have anything to suit my rather unusual position, but he did recommend using a Schroth 3 point harness, which I found will not work either. So I was searching and found this: Click here I could use this and just leave the left shoulder harness off, shift the lap belt over to my right as far as possible and use the right shoulder strap over my chest (to the left) and attach it to the stock C pillar mount. But, this still leaves me without a 5-point, which will most likely be required if I go race at the track. I think sewing something into a tight fitting jacket will be my best bet. Then I can use a 5-point harness. I guess I'll have to "suit up" everytime I want to take her for a spin... or also have the old 240Z non-retactable seatbelts re-made and have those installed along with the 5-point. That way it won't be a hassle when I want to take the GNZ for a spin around town. Great ideas guys! Thanks !M!

That's what the commercial is advertising! I was just entranced by the women everytime, that I didn't notice what was being sold I really don't care if they keep running that commercial, it can't get old if I keep seeing Brooke Burke at the end telling me to, "Come and get it!" !M!

Holy balls Jon! "Price: $865.00 – $960.00" That is definitely exspensive alright I was thinking of something along the lines of a "bridge" too, but what would happen if the bridge moved a little bit and was right on top of it? I seriously just can't take that chance. I don't think a big cushy pad would help much, unless it was so thick, it looked like I had a fox draped over my shoulder . I like the idea of using the old style non-retractable seatbelts out of an early 240Z, but I don't like it, because of the seat belts age. I have the day off tommorow, so I'm going to head to Pegasus racing up the road here and try out some harness's. You know, I hope getting myself safely strapped into the GNZ isn't going to be a chore. Some of you might be thinking, "Well, what are the chances?". My answer is, I'm really NOT a lucky guy. So I have to prepare for the worst. Thank you for the replies guys. !M!

Ah crap, is this true? "NHRA requires a 5-point harness when you hit 11's. You will also need a SFI approved jacket." If that's true, I'm screwed if I ever want to take my Z to the 1320. At least I know I can go to Road America twice a year (speedseakers.com) with no more than stock seat belts and have some fun. Terry, now that I look closer at the 4 point harness, one belt might not be able to be left off. I would probably have to use a 5 point harness and just eliminate the right shoulder strap. Now, provided the harness I get has enough material to shift the latching mechanism to the right, would anybody see anything wrong with that? It sounds like it may just work. I live just a couple minutes from Pegasus racing supply store and could try out a few of their harness's. I'll have to look into it. I'm just worried about safety here, you know should something happen. I don't wear a seat belt when I'm a passenger in a vehicle because of what was stated in my first post. Almost bleeding to death is not fun, actually peacefull, but not fun at my age. I came VERY close already (blew my spleen in half, almost died, long story). !M!

I guess we know who contributes some real information now Look at my post count, I dropped about 600 from the website upgrade and now over 1000 from this I feel so insignificant now !M!

Here is my problem... the time has come to upgrade my seat belts in the GNZ, but I cannot use a 4 point harness due to the fact I simply can't have a shoulder strap over my right shoulder. Don't want to get into why right now, but I have artery that has been re-routed over my collar bone and I have a graft right below that, so an accident with enough velocity could sever that artery or tear open that graft with a shoulder strap over my right side. Now, next week I get my car back from getting it's 6-point cage installed. The stock seatbelt can't be reused, because the seat belt retractor "pockets" now have a box welded to them that the main hoop sits on. After looking at a few web sites, I haven't found anything usefull. Have any of you guys seen anything that I may be able to use? I'm kind of in a pickle here. I never put to much thought into my seat belts. Well... at least my passenger will have a 4 point harness. Any help is appreciated. !M!

Mark, As far as I know, you are the first person to put a GN engine into a Z car other than a 240Z. The engine in my GNZ is actually located behind the crossmember and offset 1.5" to the drivers side for downpipe clearance. I'm not familiar with the engine bay of the ZX, so I really can't help you there. What do you mean? Parts interchangability between your '79 and the '70-'78 Z cars? What's a "box"? !M!

A guy I have done a few side jobs for has a white one that is immaculate. Awsome looking car and sounds pretty cool with a Monza exaust. I had to do some work in his garage with the Alfa and a (one of 2 ever made) Maserati. Man was I sweating bullets every time I had to walk by those cars making sure I didn't touch them. One day I was looking at the tail lights and thought about how they would look an a S30... anybody for a photoshop? !M!

Ah, nuts. !M!

My 6-point cage is being installed over this weekend and I'm worried about the headliner. It's absolutely perfect. How hard is it to remove the healiner? I don't want to wreck it. It looks like I have to pry a corner to get it started and just pull it down, most likely damaging it. What is above the headliner material? Thin press board? Is it glued to foam which is glued to the roof? I am changing the color from red to black so maybe the headliner is easier to dye when it's not above your head Or... should I just leave it up there and hope it doesn't get burned? !M!

Same here. I have so much music. Lately, I've been trying to find some good German hip hop/rap with not so much luck. I've got some Polish hip hop that really flows. Have you ever been so bored with new music, that you started to listen to the CD's you got many years ago? It's kind of a cycle for me. P.S. Aesop rock, Deltron 3030, and Atmosphere kick ***! !M!

Hey, I'll have to check that out! Bill lives just north of me in Wisconsin. He's an active member here. !M!

With a proper bit, your Dremel tool will work great! Used it for plastics many, many times. With the wrong bit, it melts the plastic and the bit gets "gummed up". !M!