Z-TARD

Whoa.... I feel another brain anuerism coming on.

Man that looks sweet! Those are the same lights I going to do mine with, except I got orange for turn signals. I love the flat black for all the trim parts and bumpers, I was actually planning on doing the same to mine as well. It's like you're inside my head or something Mike

I can't believe they were negotiating for 20 lengths. Might as well just put them way down by the finish line. Friggin ricers........

L-24 might be a bit heavy for a sand rail. I'd check the bellhousing bolt pattern on your ford straight six and see if it's the same a a small block 289/302. I may be remembering this completely wrong, but I think some of the inline six's had the same bolt pattern as the small block. That would wake your jeep up for sure. As for the L-24, if it runs decent you could probably get rid of it on ebay pretty quickly. Mike

Hmmm, that sounds interesting. They currently have a few of those on ebay now for cheap too. 10.3-1 compression ratio is pretty stout for a stock engine, must have a pretty good cylinder head design to pull that off on 87 octane. Depending on the outcome of my engine troubles with the 280Z, I might seriously look into the 4.2. Thanks for the tip! Mike

I think we've found a new project car for Mike (ON3GO)......

I'm actually tryingto get it registered in AZ. Surprisingly, Arizona has worse smog laws than the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia does. In the Tucson or Phoenix metro areas, the car has to be smog tested if it is 1967 or newer. 1967!!!!! Did they even know what hydrocarbons or carbon monoxide were in 1967? At any rate, I have some more research to do concerning engine swaps and smog laws before I try anything with the 280Z. Hopefully I can figure out why the engine runs so badly and fix it before having to resort to engine replacement. The problem seems to be with the injection and engine management system rather than a mechanical problem with the engine. Mike

Good point about reducing frontal area. If any one thing is most responsible for these cars bad areodynamics, it's the abundance of frontal area. Another way of looking at frontal area is to notice how much of the sheetmetal on the front of the 1st gen Z is nearly flat faced into the wind. The hood has very little frontal area to speak of, and for areodynamic purposes is probably almost invisible. The firewall on the other hand, along with the engine and strut towers is what the air sees as it hits the car. Isolating this area is probably the single biggest improvement that can be made. The drip rails are probably another significant problem. Any air trying to displace around the side of the windshield runs right into them, most likely causing a lot of turbulent flow in the process. The underside of the car has it's share of drag inducing structure as well, but I think that adding an airdam, along with ducting the radiator through the hood will mostly isolate the undercar area too. If I remember correctly, it was determined on the 240mph Z thread that the wheel wells are actually low pressure areas. I think rather than venting them, reducing the gap between the tire and fender lip would be more beneficial. This would help prevent the air displaced around the sides of the car from entering the wheel wells. The ZG flares probably also help with this to a certain extent, but at the cost of added parasitic drag. I think the key to reaching 200+ mph is mostly just trying to keep the car controllable during the attempt. Fortunately, theres really not much you can do to a Z to make it's areodynamics any worse, other than maybe welding a Yugo to the top of it...... Mike

Wow! Nice job Rick, IMHO that it the best adaptation of the YZ kit I've ever seen. Up till this point I though Darius had the most aggresive looking Z, but I think Porkchop looks a bit angrier now. Hurry up and get some paint on that thing! Mike

The best way to weld stainless to mild steel is with the 309 wire, it's formulated just for this. Another filler that works pretty good for bi metal welds is RN-82, it's kind of hard to find in most weld shops, as it's used for welding on Inconel piping on nuclear reactors. If you can get some though, it will weld just about anything to anything within reason of course. Aluminum to steel is not going to happen with any process available to hobbyists. The big shipyards weld strips of aluminum and steel together by a process called explosion welding, basically bringing both metals to a molten state and exploding them into each other. These strips are then used to weld aluminum superstructures onto steel hulls. It's been my experience that TIG welding is the best all around process for aluminum. Sure, you can weld some really pretty beads with a MIG gun, but at the expense of several hours of setup time to get it running well. TIG is more about technique than machine setup. Chances are pretty good that if you have a crappy looking weld with TIG, it's not the machines fault I've seen and tried SMAW aluminum welding, and can say with complete confidence that it is a complete waste of time. Aluminum brazing rods are available, and I've seen demonstrations where aluminum has been brazed to steel with decent results, this would probably be the best option for welding steel brackets to an aluminum radiator other than using epoxy. Mike

20% seems about right, I know I was thinning a lot more than 5% to get a sprayable mix. If the paint on your car is mostly intact and not rusting out from under it, I'd suggest leaving it in place and just painting over it. Taking a car down to bare metal often opens up a whole new can of worms as far as bodywork is concerned, as well as allowing moisture to get a pretty good foothold in the metal before painting. Here's a few alternatives to using a compressor for spraying: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91772 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47274 Mike

Nah, I like my jeep too much to tear it apart for parts. They have a few in the junkyards out here though. Oddly enough, just about every one I've seen has been wrecked. It seems the only way to kill them is impact trauma. I normally suspect engine problems on cars that make it to the junkyard intact, very few jeeps end up there unless they are crumpled up pretty good. I already have a T56, but it's getting bolted up to a 383 for my 240Z. Right now I'm just toying around with ideas for a possible engine swap for my 280Z. It's L28 is pretty sick, wont run well enough to pass smog for registration. I'm going to try a few more ideas for fixing it, if that fails it's getting yanked and replaced with something faster/stronger/better. Another idea I had was to use a 7MGE out of either a Cressida or NA Supra. They look like they would fit pretty easily.... Mike

I think the major reason for mounting the radiator like that is just to assist with the geometry of the ducting. Having it tilted forward makes for an easier transition into the duct going up and over the engine/out through the hood. Another good example of this is the Shelby Series One: Ducting like this effectively isolates the entire engine compartment from the incoming high pressure air through the grill opening. No high pressure air in the engine compartment means it wont be venting out under the cars floorboards, causing lift. Weather it will improve the areodynamics or not I can't tell, but it certainly will improve the stability at high speed. Mike

I think it would probably be a good idea to determine at what speed the hood duct should function. It seems to me that as the speed of the car increases, the high pressure area in front of the windshield will gradually extend forward as it becomes harder for the pressure to bleed off over the top and around the sides of the windshield at speed. At a given speed, the hood duct might become non functional as air pressure equalizes on both sides of it. At what speed is a hood duct required to maintain stability? I've read several posts on here with members taking their cars to 160+ with only airdams and spoilers for areodynamic aids. Personally, I'd like to get my car a lot closer to, if not over the 200 MPH mark. My speedo goes all the way to 200, and dammit, I want to see if it will actually do it Mike

I'm not sure I like the louvers. For some reason they look a little out of place back there. The edges of the louvers are also a good place for paint chipping to start, especially in an area low to the ground like that. Maybe have the areas with louvers cut out entirely, with some kind of grill behind then to hide the gas tank, etc? Or maybe just some .25" or .5" slots cut in place of the louvers. Idea #3, have a pattern (or several patterns) of .75" holes punched out. Sorry to come across like the proverbial wet blanket Pete Mike

Looks like it could have been applied a bit heavier. The rustoleum paint has really good self leveling properties if applied thick enough. I also used a sprayer to do mine though, which may have helped even it out. If you don't have a compressor, maybe try applying it with an airless electric sprayer. I haven't tried this with the rustoleum paint, but I know they work pretty well with oil based enamels. We painted entire rooms with these when I was stationed on my last ship. Also, you'll save yourself a lot of heartache by filling in any surface imperfections before applying paint. I've heard over and over how good prep work is like 90 percent of having a good paint job, and from my limited experiments so far, this has proven to be true. The small area I painted had a few scratches in it from when I did the bodywork in that area, they showed up right through all 4 coats of paint I put over them too. The only "easy" way to keep that from happening is to smooth everything out before painting. The rustoleum paint seems to cover pretty well over surfaces that have been sanded with about 320 grit or higher. That shade of green is pretty bright, you're right about it being "Kermit" green, Does the Wal Mart or Home Depot in your area carry the Hunter Green stop rust paint? Might be worth getting a small can to check out, it will be several shades darker than the last pic in your post. Keep us posted how it turns out, Mike

Crap. Might as well let the guys at Top Gear pick truck of the year. I seem to remember Motor Trend raving about the new Dodge Charger as well..... Seems the Aztec has a lot of competition lately. Honestly though, I think the Ridgeline has the "potential" to be pretty cool. Take off all the tupperware and put on some real bumpers, give it a rear drive layout like the FX 35/45, and a bit of a suspension lift and it might not be that bad..... Mike

Nice find! From what I've noticed, the silver ones are the rarer of the two versions, in fact yours are one of the few sets I've ever seen. As much as I dislike shiny things, I'd be hard pressed to powdercoat those. Glad to hear that your'e doing better as well, now hurry up and get some pics of those mounted on your car Mike

I think Terry (Blueoval Z) has the closest thing to an optimum setup for hood venting that I've seen. His is set up almost exactly the same as the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe (A car designed by Peter Brock of BRE fame). The radiator has beentilted forward at the top, which requires the fabrication of a new radiator support. Behind this is a large duct that leads up and over the engine, and out of the forward surface of the hood. The duct is far enough forward that the high pressure area at the base of the windshield will have little effect on it's ability to divert air from the front of the car over the top of the car. Terry's front airdam is also constructed to force most of the incoming air through the radiator. There seems to be very little room in front of the radiator for high pressure air to linger and cause inconsistant flow patterns up there. I think Boodlefoof's design is also going to be pretty efficient. The rake of the windshield should reduce the pressure of the air in front of the windshield by quite a bit. Doing this will of course help the overall flow over the car, and should also let him run a hood duct further towards the back of the hood than would be practical with the stock winshield. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more progress on that one. After looking through his pictures, I'm seriously considering buying another junk Z to try some serious surgery on. Mike

Try the Gloss Hunter Green in the rustoleum stops rust paint. That should be quite a bit darker than the Kermit green. Might be a liitle darker than British Racing Green though. Maybe a mix of the two, call it "Kermit Hunter Green" Mike

Got a lot of stuff here' date=' but I'm only a welder, and this is all greek to me.... Final results obtained from rwhois.verio.net. Results: Referring data: OrgName: NTT America, Inc. OrgID: NTTAM-1 Address: 8005 South Chester Street Address: Suite 200 City: Centennial StateProv: CO PostalCode: 80112 Country: US ReferralServer: rwhois://rwhois.verio.net:4321/ NetRange: 198.87.0.0 - 198.88.255.255 CIDR: 198.87.0.0/16, 198.88.0.0/16 NetName: NTTA-198-87 NetHandle: NET-198-87-0-0-1 Parent: NET-198-0-0-0-0 NetType: Direct Allocation NameServer: NS0.VERIO.NET NameServer: NS1.VERIO.NET NameServer: NS2.VERIO.NET NameServer: NS3.VERIO.NET NameServer: NS4.VERIO.NET Comment: ADDRESSES WITHIN THIS BLOCK ARE NON-PORTABLE Comment: Comment: ******************************************** Comment: Reassignment information for this block is Comment: available at rwhois.verio.net port 4321 Comment: ******************************************** RegDate: 1993-02-24 Updated: 2005-12-30 RTechHandle: VIA4-ORG-ARIN RTechName: Verio, Inc. RTechPhone: +1-303-645-1900 RTechEmail: [email']vipar@verio.net[/email] OrgAbuseHandle: NAAC-ARIN OrgAbuseName: NTT America Abuse Contact OrgAbusePhone: +1-800-551-1630 OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@us.ntt.net OrgNOCHandle: NASC-ARIN OrgNOCName: NTT America Support Contact OrgNOCPhone: +1-800-551-1630 OrgNOCEmail: support@us.ntt.net OrgTechHandle: VIPAR-ARIN OrgTechName: VIPAR OrgTechPhone: +1-303-645-1900 OrgTechEmail: vipar@verio.net # ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2006-02-27 19:10 # Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database. Rwhois server data: %rwhois V-1.5:0078b6:00 rwhois.verio.net (Vipar 0.1a. Comments to vipar@verio.net) network:Class-Name:network network:Auth-Area:198.87.0.0/21 network:ID:C052-198-87-3-0.127.0.0.1/32 network:Handle:C052-198-87-3-0 network:Network-Name:C052-198-87-3-0 network:IP-Network:198.87.3.0/24 network:In-Addr-Server;I:C60-VRIO-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:In-Addr-Server;I:U60-VRIO-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:IP-Network-Block:198.87.3.0 - 198.87.3.255 network:Org-Name:Nexpoint Technologies Inc network:Street-Address:8069 STONEWALL BRIGADE COURT #20 network:City:MANASSAS network:State:VA network:Postal-Code:20109 network:Country-Code:US network:Tech-Contact;I:EH-NX.127.0.0.1/32 network:Created:2004-06-17 20:06:36+00 network:Updated:2004-06-17 20:06:36+00 network:Class-Name:network network:Auth-Area:198.87.0.0/21 network:ID:NETBLK-C052-198-087-000.127.0.0.1/32 network:Handle:NETBLK-C052-198-087-000 network:Network-Name:C052-198-087-000 network:IP-Network:198.87.0.0/21 network:In-Addr-Server;I:C60-VRIO-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:In-Addr-Server;I:U60-VRIO-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:IP-Network-Block:198.87.0.0 - 198.87.7.255 network:Org-Name:Verio Data Centers - Sterling/Dulles network:Street-Address:22451 Shaw Rd network:City:Sterling network:State:VA network:Postal-Code:20166 network:Country-Code:US network:Tech-Contact;I:DCOPS-STNGVA01-VRIO.127.0.0.1/32 network:Created:2003-10-20 20:40:29+00 network:Updated:2003-10-20 20:40:29+00 network:Class-Name:network network:Auth-Area:198.87.0.0/21 network:ID:NETBLK-VRIO-198-087.127.0.0.1/32 network:Handle:NETBLK-VRIO-198-087 network:Network-Name:VRIO-198-087 network:IP-Network:198.87.0.0/16 network:In-Addr-Server;I:NS34528-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:In-Addr-Server;I:NS35624-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:In-Addr-Server;I:NSL662-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:In-Addr-Server;I:NS3-VRIO-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:In-Addr-Server;I:NS4-VRIO-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:IP-Network-Block:198.87.0.0 - 198.87.255.255 network:Org-Name:NTT America, Inc. network:Street-Address:8005 South Chester Street, Suite network:City:Englewood network:State:CO network:Postal-Code:80112 network:Country-Code:US network:Tech-Contact;I:VIA4-ORG-ARIN.127.0.0.1/32 network:Created:1999-12-15 00:11:53+00 network:Updated:2000-09-05 21:55:10+00 network:Class-Name:network network:Auth-Area:198.87.0.0/21 network:ID:NETBLK-C052-198-087-000.127.0.0.1/32 network:Handle:NETBLK-C052-198-087-000 network:Network-Name:C052-198-087-000 network:IP-Network:198.87.0.0/21 network:In-Addr-Server;I:C60-VRIO-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:In-Addr-Server;I:U60-VRIO-HST.127.0.0.1/32 network:IP-Network-Block:198.87.0.0 - 198.87.7.255 network:Org-Name:Verio Data Centers - Sterling/Dulles network:Street-Address:22451 Shaw Rd network:City:Sterling network:State:VA network:Postal-Code:20166 network:Country-Code:US network:Tech-Contact;I:DCOPS-STNGVA01-VRIO.127.0.0.1/32 network:Created:2003-10-20 20:40:29+00 network:Updated:2003-10-20 20:40:29+00 %ok

found this by running a search at geektools.com: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Final results obtained from whois.arin.net. Results: OrgName: USLEC Corp. OrgID: USLC Address: 6801 Morrison Blvd City: Charlotte StateProv: NC PostalCode: 28211 Country: US NetRange: 209.155.0.0 - 209.155.255.255 CIDR: 209.155.0.0/16 NetName: TXFER-FAST-USLEC-BLK-17 NetHandle: NET-209-155-0-0-1 Parent: NET-209-0-0-0-0 NetType: Direct Allocation NameServer: NS1.FAST.NET NameServer: NS2.FAST.NET Comment: RegDate: Updated: 2004-07-08 OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE34-ARIN OrgAbuseName: Abuse OrgAbusePhone: +1-704-319-1248 OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@uslec.com OrgNOCHandle: NOC136-ARIN OrgNOCName: Network Operations Center OrgNOCPhone: +1-800-978-7532 OrgNOCEmail: noc@uslec.com OrgTechHandle: RUSSE-ARIN OrgTechName: Russell, Fred OrgTechPhone: +1-704-319-1333 OrgTechEmail: frussell@uslec.com # ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2006-02-27 19:10 # Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I'll do a search for the other address too.

Damn, that looks pretty good. How fast was the drying time for the raychem paint? Mike