capt_furious

It's been civil so far. We got moved from body & paint to wheels & suspension, so if we were going to get TSed, it probably would have happened by now. There have been some good points aired on both sides. I think in the case of reproductions, it comes down to how particular you are. If it's dead on(such as the current production SSR MKI, MKII, MKIII and FLII - SSR went out of business and the name was bought by Tanabe, they're now producing repros, but one wheel will cost you as much as a set from another manufacturer!), there's probably no issue, but some might take license and just grab the overall look, and not the construction / exact shapes. If you're not particular and just like the overall look, there's no issue. What we SHOULD be asking, since this is HybridZ, is what does its job the best with a minimal investment...it's not about looks or impressing others, it's about performance. I suppose I should be asking how light and strong the Rota Flashback is.

Actually, the B.Bomb is a copy of the SSR MKIII...which now that I've seen those, I'd prefer them, with the right offset.

WOW. Scott, good job keeping a cool head! It's difficult not to get involved with a situation like that...it's not very clear who's the victim and who's the assailant sometimes, and stopping the wrong guy might put you in a world of hurt. Most people will stand around and scream. This allows someone who's still thinking straight to take command, because everyone else is to busy being scared.

...and if I were to build a track car, JDM wheels wouldn't be anywhere in the equation. I'd be using a 5-lug or center hub nut conversion and some form of modular forged wheel...not a wheel with a cast center. Considering this is for a daily driver that might someday see the occasional autocross or track day, some cheap knockoff is just fine. I bought my Z because it was inexpensive, simple, lightweight, handles well, is fairly common, has a large engine bay, and a considerable aftermarket. I DIDN'T buy it for image or to be part of some subculture...it's a machine. I'm going to make it whatever I want it to be. It stopped being Japanese as soon as someone made the first modification from its stock form. Edit: You know, I just realized that I put this thread in body & paint and not wheels & suspension. MY BAD! Sorry, folks. Admins, can I get a move?

With regard to 'screwing' people who developed the wheel, the reason these 'knockoff' wheels exist is because the original patent has expired and there is no legal issue in copying them. They are not getting 'screwed', especially considering that the original wheels are just as cheap as the copies - if not cheaper - in Japan...the absurd cost that people pay stateside is due to profiteering. It costs very little to ship a container full of parts back to the states from Japan, especially if one were to spread the cost of shipping out over all of the wheels you could fit in said container. In reality, the companies that originally make all of the wheels that are now being knocked off are screwing themselves by not exploring a massive market potential here in the states...they've already done the development work and have all the tooling, all they need is a distributor network. The high price of original JDM wheels is not due to their quality or scarcity, it's due to the fact that they are JDM wheels with no USDM counterpart...until now. Someone else has jumped on the USDM because the original manufacturers are happy exploring the Japanese market. Buying knockoffs would only 'screw' the original manufacturers if one were able to buy directly from them here, or from a factory distributor of theirs...in which case, the price for said wheels would be much lower, because you're not going through some exclusive one-off importer feeding off of the 'culture' who is maximizing their profit and charging whatever they want. Quality? It's a wheel...and not a very precision one. As long as the castings don't have any porosity, quality isn't much of an issue. I'd sooner sink my money into quality tires and have inexpensive wheels that look good. Back to the original issue: Anyone know about the Rota Flashback?

I knew I'd get a response like this, which is why I put that last line in there.

Indeed. I've been scrubbing away at a pair of Hitachis for my new (to me) motor for the past three weekends, and with exception to the flanges, they're exactly like that, linkages and all. I was looking at the photos and thought, 'Man, Hitachi sure did a good job of duplicating those if they're SUs.'

They're a copy of the Work Equip 03. Rota has a photo of one in their 'Latest Wheels' section of their site(including this photo), but nothing further, and a search on Google reveals nothing. Any ideas? Just a teaser photo? I'd love a set...Work wheels are way out of my price range.

I've got an extra switch stalk floating around, I'll be in Fremont this weekend if you want it. Edit: Actually it's in the back of the car right now. It's a JY pull and not in great shape. Might be useful for parts, but from the sound of it, your switch itself is the problem, not the stalk.

Supposedly, an attempt is being made to clean it, but the site for the company doing the work is devoid of news or photos of the car.

I blew out the manifold-to-pipe gasket on my Z, ever since, it pops much more than usual on decel. Often I get a shotgun-like blast out the back after letting off from a hard run up to speed. If it happens at night, I'll occasionally see a flash light up the road behind me in the mirror. The pops are unburnt fuel lighting off, like BRAAP said, it's normal for decel to be rich, but make sure it doesn't blow out your mufflers or gaskets. I've neglected the gasket because the motor is coming out next weekend. I kinda like the gurgling when I slow down, anyway...sounds cool. I'm such a ricer at times.

Absolutely. I just went to get a haircut and a guy in a pickup nearly wiped me out on the freeway when he pulled into my lane without signaling or clearing his blindspot. Just started coming over...if I didn't have a sixth sense about other people's behavior and see it coming, I'd be getting picked out of the center divide by the CHP right now. Even with my horn blaring, lights flashing and swerving out of his way, he didn't even acknowledge my existence. CHECK OVER YOUR SHOULDER! Mirrors are not a substitute!

Pretty sure the seal on mine is leaking. If one were to attempt to replace the glass themselves, is it the same process with the hatch glass, just run a rope around the seal's channel and pull it through from the inside, or is there more involved? I've got a secondhand hatch window without tint, I'm going to be replacing the hatch glass soon and take care of some rust issues back there. I want to try replacing it myself. Might as well do both at the same time, if I can.

Good to know. Any thoughts on how that mockup looks? Not enough braces, bad positioning, etc?

Agreed, mirrors should be as line-of-sight with the road as possible without placing them too far away. The location on the Black Beauty looks neat, though. I find myself really wishing I'd had the mirror holes on my driver door welded up before I had the car painted, because the stock location is pretty far out of the line of sight. It's amazing just how much of a difference a few inches forward or back makes. I've been driving without any side mirrors for about 6 months now, and the center mirror is almost useless due to the incredibly crappy tint on my rear window. For the first few weeks of driving this way, I was really paranoid. My habit of checking my mirrors didn't go away and I found myself looking at blank space where my driver's side mirror used to be. I've become quite adept at being situationally aware and glancing over my shoulder. The Raydots have shipped, and I'll try to get them on in the next week. Watch this space!

Plastic can be chromed, but there's a durability issue. It depends on the process used. The chrome taillight surrounds on 260Zs and 280Zs is a triple plating process, with a layer of copper and nickel underneath the actual chrome. It ends up being a fairly thick layer of metal on top of the plastic, and while it's durable, it's not cheap. The kind of plating you see in plastic kits uses mostly aluminum and is inexpensive, but wears off easily. I found this company with a quick Google search. There's also Mirra Chrome, which is a paint...it's expensive, but might be a good middle ground between the two processes. If you had steel pieces on the back (240) I'd have suggested polishing them with a buffing wheel. People don't realize that mild steel can take a mirror polish just like aluminum, you just have to seal it against moisture(with something like ZoopSeal).

Wow, that's thick. Funny, first thought I had was, 'Looks like a Cobra Daytona'. Looks as if there's some curve in the bend. How was that done? I'm getting better ideas of how I want to do this. I don't think I can mount it the way speedgato did if I want adjustability, there's just no room for braces if I want a decent angle on them. Looks as if I'll unfortunately have to drill down through the top of the hatch. Since I'm not going to autocross any time soon, I can take some license with positioning / overhang. Here's a mockup that I did in Illustrator/Photoshop on my car. Dark area is the spoiler, light area is the hinge. Braces are obvious. The question is, will it hold weight, and how thick / rigid should the material be? Depending on the angle / height, it might look taller from behind.

...interesting approach! Height and angle look about right. I wanted to avoid coming straight down into the hatch from above, but that gives me a few more ideas. Putting the piano hinge on the surface of the hatch instead of the lip and putting just the braces through the lip would help spread out the pressure. One of the problems I've got is that the sheet metal on my hatch around the latch button is warped, and flexes up and down easily. Putting it on the lip would prevent the spoiler from making that worse, or being affected by it...now that I think of it though, that arrangement would put the braces at less than an ideal angle. Looking at the photos of the Solo2, most of those spoilers seem to have an inward curve. Is that achieved with bracing, forming, or a combination of the two? A dilemma with the piano hinge idea would be preventing a reverse of that form, having it bend downward at the outer edges and 'spilling' the air over them because of the upward curve toward the center. You'd have to use longer braces on the outside edges and force them upward. I need to make some cardboard forms before I think myself into a corner any further on this...

It got me. I got the number of passes right, and figured there was something else going on at the same time...but completely missed it.

Hahahahahaaa! "Not house broken :-(" is the best part. What is it, anyway? Looks like a VERY large rodent species of some sort...how someone could possibly think it's a cat is beyond me. Doc, I probably mentioned this before, but there are other realms electronic which have a specific 'aux post!' reference for the excessively bizarre.

Thanks, John! What gauge and grade of aluminum would you suggest? Should I split the hinge / brace instead fo the spoiler itself to make up for the curve? Pulling results from the C&D article and adjusting from what was discovered in the windtunnel, I'm shooting for a 30 degree from horizontal, 6 1/2" tall spoiler...I suppose speedgato's spoiler is serving more as inspiration than than a pattern at this point. Since my Z is a daily driver, I'm going after better fuel economy and highway stability, with the capability to pour it on when I want to. At 30 degrees, it should split evenly with the braces for 15, unless there are other factors I'm not taking into consideration. ...this thing may end up looking...funky. Side note, just so people know I'm aware of it: I need to duct my airdam to the radiator support while I'm at this or I'll just be pulling weight off the front. Bad juu juu. (and John, those images didn't load)

I'm going to give this another poke. Anyone care to lend a hand in getting a design like speedgato's refined into an adjustable version and put together? My idea is to use the same basic shape, put a split down the middle and attach another small piece to the forward face of one of the halves to cover the resulting gap. Both halves would attach to the hatch lip via aircraft piano hinges, and the whole thing would get two NASCAR style braces per side. Countersunk aircraft screws would be used. I checked my hatch, and it looks as if there's room for a strip on the inside as a reinforcement, so the rear lip of the hatch could be sandwiched by the hinge and bracing piece, with bolts / screws going through. I'm going to get some chunks of cardboard and start mocking up how I think it should be done. There's a warbird restoration shop at the local airport and they might be interested in doing a quick fab job once I've got it sorted out. Tell me I'm crazy. It'll give me something to disprove.

*low whistle* Good lord. I just made the mistake of looking at Kameari USA's site and products section. You're not kidding. For the price of a kit alone, one might be able to do an LSx swap. ...while we're on the topic, how difficult would it be to turbo an LD28? Has anyone done it?

I'm in the 'leave it red' camp, as well. As for the airdam, you may want to try painting just the lower lip of it black after a quick sanding.

I'll take the plunge first on a set of Raydots. I know I said I'd get one to begin with, but I'd rather not pay shipping twice and there's a 10% discount if you order two of the spun aluminum examples. I can return them if anything goes wrong, hopefully. A little searching on Finish Line and its owner, Enzo Alibrandi, brought up nothing negative. What I found were indicators that he's in the business for the love of it and the company is well known in the Cobra replica world. Both good signs. I'll do a writeup on the installation with photos. Anyone want to try a set of Talbots, despite the negatives? I'm fairly certain the viewing angle issue might be solved by moving them father forward on the door, and ordering them with convex glass.