Phantom

Wheelman, You betcha - I wandered over and perused your lot burner. Looks like a solid all-business car. I'd definitely not want to be running against you in mine.

For you Washington east siders check with the Sand and Sage club and the Yakima Valley Sports Car Club for activities. Neither is a Z club but they do have many activities that include competition, car shows, and cruises. The YVSCC events can be found on the http:www.britishcentral.com website. You'll see a tab on the left side of the screen that says "YVSCC". Click on it and you'll be in their area. I know that there is a huge car show coming up sponsored by the "Vintiques" car club. I've heard it's not unusual to have 6-800 cars show up.

Not exactly - I posted the invitaion to the event a month or so ago so everyone would have an idea of John's true motivation. This is a follow-up with the newspaper article of the event. He's quite the local celebrity.

Pete, Thanks. Dave, I have a feeling that as long as Lisa is with you you'll have the upper hand. I've never seen anyone take on Mike like she did at Branson three years ago! I still laugh when I think about it.

Pete, Dave Olsen took photos of my car at the Don Davis car show in August of 2005. At the time I understood that they were going to be shown to Mr. K during the upcoming trip to Japan. Never did find out if it happened. Bill

See following. Thought y'all would find it interesting. Mary's Birthday Train Dallas Morning News article 4-19-07 Standard Header|Hide Pane John Rad ViewThursday, May 10, 2007 7:32:02 AM To:Ray Ayres ; greg@coventrywest.com; "Aungst; David J. (Dave)" ; carlsanne@aol.com; CASALINDA@PVNET.COM.MX; "Clark; Darrell" ; cshykes@martinsproket.com; darusso ... more Cc: file:///C|/DOCUME%7E1/JOHN/LOCALS%7E1/TEMP/nsmail-5.txt (1KB) Find: All aboard for birthday party pix did not run but fyi here is one http://www.railpict ures.net/ viewphoto. php?id=183971 12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, April 19, 2007 M ary Tomlinson , well-known throughout the Park Cities as one of the area's most beloved waitresses, wanted a horse for her 50th birthday. So her husband, John Radovich , came as close as he could and gave her 6,000 horsepower. On Sunday morning, more than 200 friends and family members gathered at the Age of Steam Museum at Fair Park and boarded a nearby train for a four-hour ride on "Mary's Birthday Train," consisting of two engines, a fuel car and eight passenger cars. A five-piece brass band, which called itself Mary's Birthday Band, played as people boarded. It was an interesting mix of kids, train buffs, Jaguar buffs, Mary's loyal customers from three restaurants, senior citizens and other friends and family members. The sign above the door said "Mary's." Her waitressing career began in 1980 when she went to work for Pat Snufferat his tiny new burger joint on Greenville Avenue, back when there was no back room. The current outdoor patio was the gas station next door. Over the next 21 years, Mary and Snuffer's developed a loyal clientele. Thirteen years ago, she left Snuffer's and joined Lola, The Restaurant (on Fairmont) as a waitress. She's still there today. And after seven years, she still works the lunch shift at St. Pete's Dancing Marlin in Deep Ellum. "I like waitressing even more now than I did back then," said Mary on her birthday train. "I can now step back and see the big picture. I enjoy the freedom, and I like taking care of my customers. I think I'm good at it. I'll talk to anyone, so I like what I do." Being married to a major train buff has always been a fun ride for her. John's hobby is collecting trains. Real ones! At his rail yard near Fair Park, John keeps his restored train cars on 2,600 feet of track that makes up his own train company, Dallas Terminal Railway . At that location, he makes his living repairing, restoring and converting vintage Jaguars at John's Cars . He has a strong customer base in the Park Cities and North Dallas. He has been at that address (800 Jaguar Lane) for more than 25 years. John has made classic Jaguars reliable, affordable and driveable for hundreds of North Texas customers over the years. John's passion for trains ("his obsession," says Mary with a smile) has taken the couple all across the U.S. All they have to do is hook their private rail car up to a train and enjoy the ride. His restoration of several passenger rail cars actually pays off when customers like the producers of the TV series Prison Break rent his train for filming. This past Sunday, while Mary served Lola's brisket and her famous cole slaw to 200 birthday party guests, they enjoyed riding the rails out past Lake Ray Hubbard and back to Fair Park. According to John, it was the first time a passenger train had traveled that freight line in more than 40 years. Word had gotten out over the Internet that a passenger train was coming down the line that day and more than 100 train buffs lined the route to take pictures. Or maybe they were more of Mary's customers wishing her a happy 50th. Kirk Dooley is a University Park writer. He can be reached at kirk@texmexbook.com . http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/parkcities/stories/DN-dooley_19met.ART.Central.Edition1.42daaf9.html -- John's Cars, Inc.800 Jaguar LaneDallas, TX 75226(214) 426-4100www.johnscars.com

Be advised that the two 2-wire sensors at your thermostat housing can cause a lot of your running rich problem. They are your Thermotine switch and the engine temperature for the ECU. Disconnect the wiring harness at the sensors - manually scrape the contacts clean, coat them with dielectric grease and then re-assemble. THEN - follow the leads from the sensors about 16-18" toward the main wiring harness. If you look/feel carefully you'll find a lump in the wiring. Strip away the insulation there and you'll find some wonderful little corroded aluminum bullet connectors. Clean them the same way and your running rich will disappear. Then you can set screw on your airflow meter back to where it belongs. Also - you may want to pull your plugs and clean them as they may be getting fuel fouled by now.

Bob- long time no talk! So now you're over on Hybridz?! Welcome! I think my older son summed it up pretty good after he had driven both the Z32 convertible and the LS1 280Z. He said that the convertible was a great cruising car - automatic, great AC, cruise control and very good handling and braking with reasonable performance. It's the type of car you can get in, point down the road and and just unwind. The 280, however, is more like a skittish, half broken bronco, that requires constant attention, challenges your driving ability and will literally ride the driver hard and put him away wet. Two cars with very different personalities and I love them both.

I can't believe I just now saw this thread. I must chime in. My 280Z is running an essentially stock Z28 LS1 with a T56 behind it. It dyno'd at 311 RWHP which equates to about 390 at the flywheel. The car has dynomat throughout with a very thick custom carpet. The interior is full Katzkin leather. It has a custom 500 watt Alpine 7 speaker stereo system. It has disk brakes front and rear and an AC system that holds its own to 100 degrees. It also has a 4-pt. roll bar and front and rear strut tower braces. It has turned a 12.9@110 in the quarter and raced at Texas Motor Speedway against Ferrari, Lotus, Panoz, Corvette, Mazda. Some I passed, some passed me - and that was before the brake upgrade. The car scales at 3,000 lbs, 1440 on the nose and 1560 on the tail. It is stone cold reliable and has been used as a daily driver for the 15 years I've owned it, including the 4 years since the drivetrain upgrade. Yes, it has manual steering. No, it doesn't have cruise control or a nav system. Is it fun to drive. Not at all - it is an absolute blast! Bottom line - the car can be built to do pretty much whatever you want it to do but it's basic architecture will keep it from running with the guys who do the same with a newer chassis.

Mike, Just logged on specifically to check this thread and see how Donna is doing. It's uplifting to my spirits to hear of the improvements. I will continue to pray for her total healing. Bill

I'd like to but I have another trip planned in May that includes work and being able to see my kids & grandsons.

Just thought everyone should know what Johns real love is in life. It's not Jaguars, it's not Z's, it's his very own TRAIN! This is a copy of the invitation that he sent me. Well - there are a couple perks for being a prototype! The Birthday Train It says: Mary’s (on the door) April 15th, 2007 from10:00 AM to 3:00 PM Train trip via John’s Trains from Dallas out to Greenville , Texas and return. Party time on the rail cars that you’ve seen at John’s Cars (and Trains) – the lights and AC will complement dinner in the diner. Mary is serving pulled pork and brisket with John’s iced tea - BYOB your favorite. Dress is casual and we prefer closed toe shoes - no sandals. No smoking, please, and those that misbehave will have to ride in the boxcar with no windows. Name tags will be provided so please specify what you want on yours. Knowing we’ll be cutting into church time, a sermon and a blessing will be provided. Mary wants a horse so I’ll do the next best thing with 6000 horsepower and a big horn. Boarding will begin at 10 AM and toot-toot departure at 11 AM. We will leave from Haskell Avenue and Gurley Street on the north side of the State Fair Grounds. ALL ABOARD! -- John's Cars, Inc. 800 Jaguar Lane Dallas, TX 75226 (214) 426-4100 www.johnscars.com

I copied this thread to my son who works for UPS. This was his reply: Has he tried tracking the package at UPS.com himself yet? I don’t have rights to post, or I would. No matter how large the package is, it can be lost if the shipping label gets torn off and they don’t know where to send it. He can track his package online and see every city it has been scanned in. If the front clip is damaged he needs to refuse delivery from the driver and call Tiger to let them know it was delivered damaged and that he is sending it back. They should immediately send a new one and will work with UPS for compensation on their end. He may even be able to get a free Next Day Air out of it. My son doesn't work in the area of UPS that he could actually take action but his prior experience gave the above advice that hopefully is helpful.

Background shot of car looks southeast to me.

74Zorro - Are you running out of gears on the run? With an 11.5 run I would think your top end should be more in the low 120's. My car ran 110 in the quarter but it took it 12.9 to get there - almost 1.5 seconds slower. With the slicks & the auto I'll bet you have a great 60' (mine was a 2.0) but something seems to be missing at the upper end? Don't get me wrong - I wish my car was running mid 11's with a shot at the 10's. That's a darn fine time. It just seems that you should have a higher trap speed and the car should be running in the 10's on just the motor.

Mike, I have some buddies still in the Boise area and intend to get over there every now and then - even if it's just for a PF Chang's fix. Interesting that your wife drives a 350Z roadster. Mine drives a '93 Z32 Convertible - pearl white, navy blue top, tan leather interior with the 350Z style Z emblems stitch in the seats in navy blue. 4-spd automatic for her. It's definitely a cruiser. She loves it. BTW - you're car looks gorgeous. Looks like you're really doing it right. It's about time to start over on mine. The paint is 10 years old now and really showing the abuse of regular driving. Bill

Joey - You're the man! Thanks!

A little history on the JCI LS1 kit. In 1997, just after painting my car, I visited John's Cars on Jaguar Lane in Dallas, TX. I had come across a post somewhere that indicated he had a kit available for a V8 conversion in Z's. At the time all he had was a derelict 280ZX with an SBC sitting in his salvage yard that evidently had been the mule for the kit. I got a chance to meet John, talk with him about the kit a bit, and see some of their workmanship on V8 conversions on a Jaguar. Impressive would be an understatement. The Jaguar SBC installation looked absolutely OEM and even cleaner than the original Jaguar engine. I was still debating at that time if I wanted to go the route of a stroker L28, boosted L28, or V8. It took me until 2002 to make the decision. Around May of 2002 I approached John again, this time serious about the V8 conversion but I had also decided I wanted the LS1, not an SBC. See what effect HybridZ has on lurkers! That took some talking because there basically was no historical data available to start from that John was comfortable with. He did, however, happen to have a '98 Camaro Z28 on his lot with only 3,500 miles on it that he had purchased with the intent of developing a kit to do the LS1 conversion in Jags. He hadn't had any takers and it had been sitting there quite a while so we struck a deal. I delivered my car to John just after the 4th of July weekend in 2002. A week later my drivetrain was out and sold to a Dallas policeman who wanted it to build up for his 280Z. Thus the saga began that is somewhat chronicled by the 'LS1 / T56 Update #x" that I generally posted in the Chevy V8 forum. It took 11 months to get the car on the road. I have no idea how many prototype parts John actually built before he finally settled on ones that he liked. I know it was more than a few. I think he went through around six sets of headers. One of the things I appreciated the most was the thoroughness of the his approach and that he kept me involved in the process. One thing we both agreed on early in the project was that the design concept was to be for a vehicle that would be a daily driver. That meant KISS was a primary guide so that the car would be reliable and easily maintainable. The line between Datsun and Chevrolet was pretty clearly defined and maintained. That is one of the reasons JCI offers the CableX box to retain the stock speedometer and can modify the stock tachs to work with the LSx output. That is also why his fuel pump is designed to work with a 280Z fuel tank and use the stock fuel lines for supply and return and he found an AC compressor that will work with the conversion. Bottom line - I got the car for some shakedown time in June of 2003 - drove it for a month - and then gave it back to John for another three months to refine some of the details. It took 14 months to develop the kit that allows a decent mechanic to do an LSx conversion in about two weeks. It was totally worth it to me - I hope it is to y'all.

TravRMK - The absolute first thing you need to do is be sure tha car is rust free. If it has much rust you need to pass. A first generation Z needs all the structural integrity it can get to handle the torque of a good V8. Secondly - is it an early model 260 or a late model? You can tell by the bumpers. Skinny and close to the body is the early model which is structually the same as the 240Z. Fat and standing off the body it's a late model and structurally similar to the 280Z which is heavier and stiffer. Thirdly - determine how much money you have to spend and what you want to do with it. Plan the whole project first - before you start spending money on things you'll be taking off later. Fourthly - Drive the car for at least 6 months before you modify anything so you'll know what needs to be done to just fix the car first. While you're doing all of the above you'll have plenty of time to search this forum, get yourself well educated, and hopefully miss a couple of the thousand or so pitfalls & mistakes the rest of us have made. Welcome to the forum! Oh yeah - I grew up in Boise - what part of Idaho are you in?

I vote for the street flares. The ZG's have a nice retro look but the flares will allow some serious rubber.

I thought maybe so. My 280 is/was a California version so the L28 came with a catalytic converter. It seemed to act like a resonator and kept the car pretty quiet inside even when I replaced the original muffler with a more 'sporty' type. I'd also feel a bit better environmentally too if I had them. The problem now is the cost and if I can find a place to put them on the current system which is dual 2 1/2" through an X pipe to a dual inlet muffler in the rear.

Actually it's more like the LSx stuff represents about 1/10th of 1% of their business and it takes a lot more of their time than that. They are a premier Jaguar conversion/restoration house and that is where nearly all their business is.

Just south of Fort Worth there is a place called Motorsport Ranch. It is a motorsport country club. It is a beautiful 1.7 mile, 11 turn, course with full amenities, clubhouse, garages, etc. and you can buy lots and build homes with a view of the track. Then there is my place here in WA - 4 acres & 7-car garage within 15 minutes of a 1/4 track.

Do the cats act reduce the exhaust resonance inside the car? I've thought about putting a set on for that reason.

Phil - you know an LSD would take all the fun out of those burn-outs! Then again - a V8 in front of that LSD would make twice the smoke!!! You guys do make some really entertaining videos. I got quite the laugh at seeing the neighbor drive through the smoke right after the one burn-out.