Z-TARD

$hit, there goes that thread......

Toyotas are awesome, they only weigh like, 14 pounds. They just kind of "float" over everything.

ARRRRRRRGHHHHH!!!!!!! Brain Hemorage!!! Brain Hemorage!!!!! For the love of God, My brain is BLEEDING!!!!!!!!

Is it true that most women don't celebrate, or only pretend to celebrate?

WickedWild, Thanks for the heads up about lateral stability. I'll be a little more careful now about sideways inclines. That's a bad *** YJ. I would have bought one of those if I didn't have such a long commute every day. I used to have an 89 cherokee years back. That thing was a tank off road. No lift kit or mods except 30" Pep Boys futura mud tires, and it would slug through mud and slop that most other built up trucks got stuck in. Must be something about the unibody construction on them that lets them just slide through the mud. All this and power leather seats. Ended up trading it in on a 2001 Eclipse, a mistake that I'm trying to make up for buy getting my 98 Cherokee. Maichor, Thanks for the drivetrain info. Looks like I'll be upgrading to the SYE kit sooner than expected. Where did you find one for $425? I've seen a few on ebay for around $220, but without the driveshaft. I'll probably end up getting the shackles too, I kinda like a car to sit a bit higher in back anyway. I don't think I'll lift it any higher than that, I need the stability for the freeway. I'm thinking of cutting out the fenders quite a bit. Maybe make some aluminum wheel arches linda like the old WWII Willys. I've driven through the Glammis area more times than I can count, but I've never stopped there for any length of time. That might change now that I have a vehicle I can drive out there. I live in Rancho Bernardo, about 5 minutes south of Escondido. Most of the trails I used to take my old Jeep out on have had freeway construction run right through them. If your brother knows a few trails around here I'd love to go riding some time. Side note: My fuel mileage seems to be a lot better with the new tires. I attribute this to the slower engine RPM at cruising speed. No definite figures yet, but I'm guessing about 20 mpg now, vs 17-18 with the old tires. Mike

Damn! I celebrated yesterday, prematurely.....

Wow, what an amazing Camaro body kit on that integra.....

Thanks for the compliments guys. It looks worse in the picture than it actually is, the suspension was articulated just enough to make it look kinda dumpy in the back. The rear lift kit is a Rough Country 3" add a leaf. I plan on getting some 1.5" shackles when the leafs start to sag a bit more. Right now it sits pretty level. I do have a bit of driveline vibration, less now that I put in a 1" transfer case drop. I think I should be able to take out the remaining vibration by using shims on the rear axle. If not, I'll be looking at doing the slip yoke eliminator conversion. The tires definitely look like they should make a symphony of noise on the freeway, but they are actually not that bad. I had 30" BFG Mudders on my last cherokee, and they were significantly louder than these. The Baja Claws also tend to run a lot truer on the road, they don't have any tendancy at all to follow ruts or grooves in the pavement. I was worried about the tread compound being really soft on these as well, but after over 200 miles they still have the little nubs from the molding process left on the tread face. Probably still to early to tell for sure, but they seem like they should hold up pretty well. I'll post more pics as the Mad Max conversion continues. Eventually I might start posting Z related stuff again too. Mike

Yeah, the stock version to me always looked like a Volvo station wagon on steriods. A more aggresive appearance also helps a lot in traffic, little cars just scoot to the side to make room now. The noise from the tires prevents a lot of idiots from merging into the side of it as well. So far, no apparent drawbacks from this, other than missing the MSA show to install the lift kit (How I ever thought that I'd get the whole thing done in one afternoon is beyond me). Next on the list is a roof rack, so i have a place to put the spare, along with shovel, high lift jack, etc. I'm also considering deleting ALL plastic from the exterior, including the cheesy fender flares. Maybe fab up some bolt on flares out of 1/8" aluminum plate. The hood is also going to get some scoops, vents, and lumps added to help cool things down a bit in the engine compartment. While I'm at it I might as well paint the whole thing flat black...... Mike

Heres some pics of my latest distraction/daily driver. I just put the 31" Baja Claw tires on last night. These things are friggin awesome, tons of traction in loose soil and rocks, and only a mild humming at 80+ Mph. Kinda rumbly at about 5 Mph and below. Gas mileage seems to be about the same as it was before adding the tires, maybe even a little better. Had to ditch all the front end plastic because it rubbed just a little when turning, even after the 3" lift kit. Looks better without all the tupperware up front anyway IMHO. The wheels are 15X8 made by Crager. Only $39.00 ea. through Summit, with free shipping. Tires were a different story..... If I had it to do over, I would have ordered those through Summit as well. Anyway, heres the before and after pics: Before: After: Mike

I agree. Disgusting on so many levels.... First, it's ugly. I wish the "Padunka-dunk Butt" fad would end so we can finally see some decent looking new cars come out. Second, it looks like a 99 Couger with a riced out body kit. I can't believe that Ford doesn't have a lawsuit started yet. Third, it's still a front wheel drive. I hate front wheel drive..... Fourth, Someone actually got paid a large sum of money to "design" this. I could have done the same job for half the cost, using only some tracing paper and a 99 mercury sales brochure. Fifth, I'm actually ranting about this thing almost as much as I was when the Aztek came out. I hate it when I'm forced to rant... Ok, end rant. Mike

Up to $200 now, No amount of Ramen noodles will compensate for that in the coming weeks. Let the insanity begin.... Mike

Sadly, I think it might not actually reach 240mph in free fall. Not positive though, too lazy to do the math right now. Heres the formula if you want it though: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/termv.html Mike

The Dodge Razor was totally set to be the next 240Z, but the bean counters decided not to build it. http://www.allpar.com/model/concepts/dodge-razor.html

Saw one of these on the road today: Does Mitsubishi realize that Ford/Mercury already did this like 7 years ago? As I recall, they didn't sell too many of these: Mike

Did you just declare Ebay Jihad? LOL, I'm already eating Ramen Noodles as it is this month. Over exended my finances a bit to get a set of M/T Baja Claws for the cherokee. I keep telling myself not to pick up any more projects..... Mike

Sweet! I was going to end up making the molds myself, but it sounds like you have a better setup. At the pace my projects progress at, it would be years before I made any duplicate flares off of those. Mike

I'll keep an eye on them. If it doesn't get too insane I'll try to grab them so we can get a mold made from them. These might be a tad big for my application, but I suppose I could always get bigger tires. Mike

And about 2 hours up the road from me...... Hmmmmm indeed.....

I thought for a long time about what kind of smart *** reply I'd post on this. I can't think of anything. In fact I'm pretty sure my brain just hemmoraged. That's the first time I've ever heard someone refer to a pair of pantyhose as a "Cool mod". Mike

You'd have to find another method to maintain engine cooling if you block off the front entirely. It's easier to just tweak the original design to displce air somewhere other than under the car, via the firewall. Ducting the air either up and over the hood, or out the left and right sides is the most realistic option. Ommiting the passenger seat and running a large duct through the cabin and out the back of the car would be another idea..... Overall, I think the shape of the Z would lend itself very well to areodynamics once most of the parasitic drag areas are taken care of. Driving a 2500 lb car at 240mph is another story though. I'm sure the car could be made to do it, but I'd opt to wear a diaper for the test run, just to be safe. Mike

Wow. Thats friggin awesome, I'm surprised that guy still has a liver. I bet at the very least, he's not on speaking terms with his liver anymore....

Dude, Hong Kong kicks ***. 6 months really isn't that long of a time, and it will be an experience you'll never forget. As said before, most of the people over there speak english, better than a lot of us do anyway. There are enough American food franchises over there that you'll never really feel completely homesick, and you'd be hard pressed to find more authentic Chinese food From my limited time spent there, I'd say it seemed safer than just about anywhere I've been stateside for sure. Contrary to what most martial arts films would have us believe, street wars are not the way of life over there. My recomendation is to go for it. The Z will wait another six months. Hell, mine has waited now for over 4 years! Being immersed in another culture will likely give you some different ideas for the Z when you get back as well. Mike

As disgusting as I find the new H2's, the carbon tail lights for it are really cool looking. A little surgery and those would pop right in. A lot of those other lights looked a little too 3 dimensional to work very well on the back of a Z, although with a welder and some more sheetmetal I'm sure you could fix that The Ferrari tail lights are very cool, but a little pricey, and most people would just confuse them for Skyline or Vette lamps. You might want to take a look at some of the LED lights available for trailers and other industrial vehicles, still pricey, but cheaper than a lot of the euro style lights, and probably more durable too. Your car is coming along really well, definitely going to be one of the more original and inspirational cars on here when it's done. Keep up the good work man, Mike

Strange things are afoot in the combustion chambers of my Jeep. After establishing a baseline of about 18.5 MPG without the acetone, I tried 4 ounces in my 18 gallon tank. As noted earlier, MPG stayed nearly the same, not nearly enough increase to be considered a legitimate result. Running another tank through the Jeep without adding acetone resulted in a dismal 16.3 MPG. I drive the same route pretty much every day with minimal variation, gas was purchased from the same gas station on both occasions. Now, after adding acetone again, I've noticed that my fuel consumption rate is right at the 18-19 MPG level it was before. So although I never really saw an increase in fuel economy after adding acetone, I did see a pretty significant decrease after discontinuing it's use for one tank. Any thoughts? Mike