SteelToad

Yes you do!, there's a huge hole at the bottom of your pocket, go ahead, take a look. If you don't have money problems now, thats great, drive your car and continue to be happy. But DON'T take out a loan that will charge interest to spend on something that can only depreciate. It just doesn't make any mathematical sense at all. But hey, I'm just another voice on the internet. Please go to any of your local banks, and talk to the qualified loan officers there. Tell them you'd like to take out a loan to put a bigger engine in a 20+ year old car.

You could always just make one from scratch. The toughest part is getting the rear window in place. The rest is just sheet metal and a simple framework

You're probably right, once you're done only about 1 % of the driving public would ever notice that you trimmed your plate. That one percent however drives around in cars or bikes with red and blue lights. They'll walk up to you with their hat and "notepad" in hand to tell you how cool it looks.

It sounds like a better project might be a detailed Cost-Benefit analysis of doing the engine swap, referring to the JTR manuals, forum content, list of potential gotcha's, etc. I'd be interested in seeing that. Umm wait a minute ... I probably shouldn't

Dont go out running alone !!! take a friend with you at all times !!! Just make sure it's one who cant run as fast as you

Paint is not the answer. The intake is still bolted to the engine, and these points would transfer more heat than you would reflect with white, pink or any other paint. Hmmmm... maybe nylon bolts, .. thats the ticket

I see a blazer album, and a dishwasher range album, but no Z album ?

Drive a nail up through the floorboard, and wedge a shotgun shell between the point of the nail, and the bottom of the seat. Problem solved. Oh, dont forget when it's in there

It doesn't necessarily even have to look good. I had a 63 Chrysler with four doors, oxidized green paint, and a back window starting to milk over with age. People would still rev it next to me when they heard a beefed up 383 with duals.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html or http://ejelta.com/tiresize/index.html?ws17=1&ws16=1&ws15=1&tiresize=195/70-14&minwidth=&maxwidth=&minratio=&maxratio=&minwheel=&maxwheel=&maxdelta=2&orderby=delta

Give me about another year, and I'll be right up there with the nice looking ZX's, although not quite stock.

Just curious, but why did you disconnect the side marker lights ?

Bomb threats at schools are not new, enhanced media coverage of them is. When I went to high school we got about 6 in one year, and that's in booring Delaware. If one were to happen now, it would be on CNN for at least 3 hours. The funny thing is there is never a bomb.

My 2004 Toyota Matrix has something like that on the back of the center console for the rear passengers

You might want to take a look at http://www.lizardskin.com It looks interesting, I hope to be testing it soon

I'm looking into the idea of a fuel cell to provide more room for dual exhaust, and for a gas cap hidden behind the license plate. I've searched and there are lots of threads about fuel cells for racing applications, but not for a daily driver that is going to have to be inspected. I'm sure the guys at inspection arent going to like any possibility of fuel vapors getting into the interior of the car. What I'm thinking about is having a 45 degree neck off the top of the tank going out through the back, and then metal either welded or bolted in place to make a shroud covering the filler pipe and vent line. Has anybody done this, seen something like this, or have an even better idea ? Thanx

Sryofzr

I've got a 331 Hemi sitting around, but shipping would cost a fortune

I think there's a mfg. named Dino, this looks like it might be an older one. "Dino steering wheel" gets some hits in google.

It doesnt matter how much proof, or what pictures you show them, dumping exhaust gasses in front of or under a passenger window is most likely never going to get passed. IMO: there's a good reason for it.

Oh Man ! That would look so f'ing cool on my moped

I dont know where you would get one, but it shouldnt be too hard to make one. Necessity is the mother of invention

No, I'm not going to do that, but I was in the shop, the wheels were in front, and the back end was jacked up. I figured 'what the heck somebody here will think it's a good idea'. The guy doing the work assures me they would fit and look good. A little too radical for me but a fun thought

The Z is all about the lines following the flow of air around the car, gentle flowing lines and curves. Diamond plate is all about ungiving brutish straight lines, even the diamond pattern is linear. As to how it would look: It would look as though somebody had put diamond plate on a Z. For the floorboards it wouldn't look bad if it's a racer and not a driver.

Newsflash ::: You've already lost the friendship. Give your girlfriend $125, appologize to her for involving her in the whole mess, and continue on with your life. Just drop the other couple off your list of people to worry about. Who knows, maybe someday you'll see your money back, but dont hold your breath, or stay upset, till then.