VRJoe

A few tests should help us to sort this out: 1) Based on your measurement of the fork you'll need a min. of 5/8 travel at the slave cylinder rod. Check the actual travel when installed, have someone depress the clutch while you take the measurement at the slave cylinder. 2) is the fork free to travel its full distance or is there something hanging it up. 3) Are you sure the fork is not flexing Let's start with these, with any luck we'll get it from here. It could as simple as the wrong length fork. If this doesn't work you may have to ship it to Mike Kelly for his get together in Sept. that way a whole bunch of us can brainstorm at the same time . If shipping won't work I guess a conference call might - VRJoe

While my Z is not finished yet I've been reading a number of posts about the exhaust smell. One point that needs to be kept in mind is that the exhaust can only be sucked into the car, i.e., air is being pulled in from the exhaust area into the interior of the car. The best way to solve the problem is to seal the areas that the exhaust can get in, and there are a lot of them in the back of the Z. With the windows open it will actualy create negitve pressure by the rear window (Ever notice how the dust from the back of your car comes up front when you open a window ?) and suck in exhaust if there is an opening. I've seen this in the past on other cars and sealing was always the answer. It may help to think of the problem as a pressure issue, and the the exhaust just gets carried along with the air that gets pulled in. Hope that helps. -VRJoe

So many songs ......... I figure that I can't pick a song 'til the car is finished, gotta see how it handles and pick the song that matches I will second Steppen Wolf - Magic Carpet Ride and add Jimmy Hendrix - All Along The Watch Tower - VRJoe

Here's what I did. I went to the U-Pull-it yard and found a car with what looked like a good touch pad . I pulled the touch pad from the door and disconnected it for the harness. I went to the trunk and pulled the keyless entry unit. The entry code is stuck on the side of the unit. I then went to a dealer and got them to copy the wiring diagram for me. If I'd though a little harder I would have checked with the U-pull-it guy and tried to find a car that he had the keyfob for , but once you have the entry code you can order a neww keyfob from the dealer or you can use another keyless entry system and just wire this one in to it so you can use the touch pad. The touch pad simply sends the same signals as the keyfob, you just have to enter the entry code first. Once you see the wiring diagram it makes sense, but it's hard to explain without it. I wired it on the bench as a test and used 12V LEDs to signal LOCK and UNLOCKED. It worked as expected. I'm probably going to wire this in to a good alarm type system, it'll be a while though, still lots of engine and body work to do. Hope that helps, VRJoe

The Brake indicator light hooks up to the brake sensor below the master cyl. on the fender well, make sure you didn't knock the wire off while messing with the alt. Check your grounds. Check that the Charge light is hooked to the new alt. correctly. They both are pretty simple wiring, so grab a wiring diagram, a Volt/Ohm meter and check it out. It could be as simple as a bad connection. -VRJoe

Hey Pete, I dove in over there, hope my explaination helped. Levers are a great invention. -VRJoe

Keep after the SPCA and the police. If you still get no responce from either let them know that your next move will be going to the press. Neither one of them want bad press, and dogs make good stories. You can always mention that you suspect that the people are trying to make the dogs mean for fighting purposes, that might put a little fire under their rumps. -VRJoe

My plans are to build a Velo Rossa coupe, right now I'm doing the LT1/T56 upgrade along with brakes (rear disk) and suspension (coil overs). I'll be installing the Phantom Grip when I get around to the rear. By then hopefully someone will have bought VR Eng. and I can order the body kit Right now I'm finishing up the engine compartment (fill in holes, prime, paint). I keep forgetting to take pictures of the progess, but I'll try to remember. -VRJoe

Let us know how it turns out. The SPCA has the law on their side. They can get people thown in jail for abuse. IF the police find other stuff while helping the SPCA all the better to put them away with -VRJoe

Jim, great post. I've saved those pictures so I can keep them in my files. You can never have too much good documentaion when you go to put things back together and your post definately exceeds the good catagory. Thanks again, - VRJoe

You can find a number of different keyless entry systems, but the only thing I've seen that's close to the touch pad is the autoloc tap entry system. The great part about about the touch pad is that you can lock your keys in the car and not worry. Add keyless to it and you've got a killer system. -VRJoe

I love the Touch Pad entry I have on my Merc. Mountaineer (Got use to them on my previous Explorers). I like being able to toss the keys under the seat, lock the doors and wander off. Since I'm planning to shave the doors as part of the mods I'm making the idea of having a touch pad someplace has really been bugging me. I ran out to the U-Pull a few weeks ago and pulled the touch pad setup from a Merc., the problem was finding a good wiring diagram to figure it all out. I stopped in at a local Ford/Merc. dealer and explained what I was trying to do to the counter guy. He made copies of the service manual for me that covered the Keyless Entry Module. Well, I wired it up this week on the bench to test it out It's going to work great. It really is pretty simple once you look at the diagram. I now have the urge to put it on every car we own !!!! I can get the Ford/Merc. dealer to get a key fob for the unit I have and bingo keyless entry with the touch pad, the next question is where to locate the pad Just a crazy idea I thought some folks might like. - VRJoe

I bought a Lincoln 150 from Lowes and so far have been happy with it. It took a little while to get the hang of it, but I'm starting to get better. OK, OK I'll admit I'm on my second grinding wheel, but I like the sparks. I got a 5 pound tank for CO2/Argon mix but I'm trading it in for a 10 pound. The 5 pound runs out a little too quickly. All in all I'm happy with it. The video that came with the unit is helpful, I'm going to watch it again just for good measure (maybe some small morsal of knowledge will sink in). A big help was a tip about holding a block of brass on the front side when welding a hole closed, boy does that make it easy. I have a true incentive to get better, nobody complains about the welding, but my wife gets cranky about the grinding -VRjoe

OK, I can admit it now, I went to Lowes and bought a Lincoln 135. It came with the regulator and hose for gas. I went and got a tank of 75/25 Argon/CO2, hooked it up and practiced on some scrap. It works well and my welds are looking better (in other words it's taking less grinding to get them smooth , I'll miss watching the sparks fly while grinding). I was suprised how easy it was to get a good weld. I guess it took about an hour to get a feel for doing it right. Hope that helps , -VRJoe

I'm guessing that your driveshaft is backing off the trans spline when the diff lifts. It could be that your driveshaft is too short and the new bushing brought it to light, or the diff moved rearward somehow. Just a guess, but you can probably slide under and check the front yoke to see if that's the cause. -VRJoe

These viruses get email addresses from infected sources and use those addresses as the sender. The from address may not be the real sender. These viruses have also infected some email servers, so who knows where that email is really from. Get Norton and be safe. I've gotten "returned mail" with the virus attached that not only did I not send, but I have no idea where the to address came from. -VRJoe

I've had a few conversations with Harley over the past few months and can vouch that he's a straight shooter. He's been very busy setting up the new web site and getting everything sorted out, so he's had a little trouble getting back to folks. His uncle built a Velo Rosa, so he knows what's going on and is open to ideas and suggestions. I'll be ordering my body kit from them in a few weeks. -VRJoe

I'm having my fuel tank ('77 280Z) modified by the local radiator shop. They're removing the area from below the fill and return lines and almost over to where the mounting stap fits. I figure I'll loose about a gallon of fuel, but it'll allow the pipe to slide right on by This way everything hooks up as before. I have some pictures of the cut out, once it's all done I'll post pictures of the whole thing. I just stopped off today and we decided where the return line should be moved to. -VRJoe

I have a '94 LT1 from a Z28 and right now I'm looking into using the A/C bracket from a 92-95 Corvette. This way the Alt. can stay where it is (high passenger side), the A/C can be moved to high drivers side. I'll keep everybody updated if it works. I'm going to get some measurements from a 'Vette setup this week, then I'll know. The bracket was around $70 from a dealer. -VRJoe

You can add me to the list as long as it's not to complicated an install. -VRJoe

I suspect this list of interested people will get pretty long I'd be interested to see what you come up with, once you've got pictures don't be suprised if orders follow. -VRJoe

I think it proves three things, 1 - You don't need brains to make money 2 - You realy can have more money than brains 3 - Certain people should not be allowed to own a house. -VRJoe

Looks great Can't wait to get mine put in, I got the L28 pulled out on Sunday, so now I can get started cleaning up the compartment. - VRJoe

I've been toying with this idea for a while. After investigating what it would take to get it to work coupled with information about failures of this assembly I've decided to go with the slave setup. - VRJoe

Thanks for the info and photo Big Phil, gives me some things to think about . I kind of like the idea of being able to open the hatch with a key. When I shave the doors it would be a nice backup if the battery went dead (keyfob battery would be most likely to go belly up). Best of both worlds would be to rig it for both key and remote -VRJoe