capt_furious

Six Shooter is actually referring to the intakes in the core frame / support of every Z that ducts air back toward the firewall...I'm not sure where they end up, either. As for those vents in your hood, what are they from? Two of them over the carbs / exhaust side of the motor might help vent hot air.

...they won't do it with the 370Z, either. I've said for years that Aston Martin is producing the new Z and overcharging for it:

It's an Allison T-53, same as in a UH-1 Huey. It's going to a free turbine pickup on the trans input shaft, which unfortunately loses a lot of power. Still an awesome conversion. I'd like to drop something smaller into the hatch area with a generator magneto directly connected to the exhaust turbine. Run the output to a transformer / rectifier and a battery bank in the engine bay, and put the biggest electric motor you can fit in the trans tunnel right onto the diff. Muhahahhahaaaa.

That was a good watch...the music was strangely appropriate.

Hrmm. Good point. WE DEMAND PHOTOS! Incidentally, Dave's Z HAS been moving around under power for a few years now. ...if you count the parts of it that are attached to my car!

Cool! The added height might actually make it possible to rest your arm there while driving. I know the stock armrest that I've got isn't all that useful, as it's too low to effectively rest your elbow on while driving. Now I've got another item to look for while I'm in the JY next time.

I think I'll give one a shot. If I like it, I'll pop for another and put it on the passenger side. $30 each isn't bad at all, especially considering there are places charging nearly double that for the same product.

Sick minds think alike! I found them at Finish Line Accessories. Pretty decent prices for stuff as high end / exclusive as Cobra parts...they've got a deal on side louvers going right now, as well...I was thinking of using those for hood vents somehow, I'm just not sure how I'd mount them. The thought of cutting holes in a freshly painted hood is a bit daunting. I'd like to hear a bit more confirmation on what I've heard so far about the usefulness of Talbots on a Z, as well. So far what I've come across on Raydots - with exception to applications on Cobras themselves, due to the mounting locations - indicates that they're useful and pretty resistant to vibration.

I wanted Talbots (and can get some decent quality copies at $30 each), but heard of issues people were having mounting, adjusting and seeing out of them. The stock holes are too far back along the door. The Talbots aren't very adjustable once they're mounted, and combined with the mounting position, they're somewhat useless. They also look awkward that far back. I neglected to have the stock holes welded up when I had the car painted, otherwise I'd have bought and mounted a set of Talbot copies already. I'm considering the Raydots because they're very light and are available with convex glass, and highly adjustable. I can get them at the same price as the Talbot copies, but have the real item instead of a knockoff. If I get the aluminum versions, I can paint them if I want, or polish them. I'm still going back and forth on matching the aluminum 'duck' spoiler I want to build with the tail panel on my car. I know I want to eventually paint a set of 5 or 6-spoked wheels the same graphite color as the car's tail panel, and possibly mount FG bumpers and match them. It's all about options...with a stress on function, of course. The Gone in 60 Seconds remake 'Eleanor' had Raydots, and the beltline cross-section on the '68 Mustang seems similar to a Z. They're actually a bit smaller than they look in photos by themselves. Brainstorming...if the base of the mirror isn't excessively wide and the only issue I have is with the concave curve on the door's sheet metal, a really thick rubber washer might work to fill the resultant gap. The useful width on the Z's beltline is 1 1/4". Wish I could see the base in this shot...

OTM, for the 'shelf' in front of the lens on the new helmet, a piece of light-gauge steel cut to shape and 3M VHB taped or epoxied into place might be a more permanent and durable solution than the OSHA tape you've got on it. You might want to try swapping the electronics and headband from the new one onto the older one, if the attachment points are the same. Not bad for $50.

Smart dog. He knows exactly where to put it...not sure every dog would be able to figure that out. Pretty neat. Right up there with the soda can launching mini-fridge.

Anyone ever tried a set of these? My only concern is that the base might be a bit too wide and flat to fit on the 'sill' part of the body where the mirrors mount. The aluminum ones should be very light, and could be painted or polished and clearcoated. The chrome ones are steel.

I'd say this would vary from region to region or state to state, depending on the vehicle code. I've seen numerous polished steel or aluminum cars on the street (Jay Leno's Blastolene Special, a few AC Cobras and Lotus Sevens come to mind), so the whole 'distraction to other drivers' bit seems like a load of bull without a citation of the section of a state or federal vehicle code that prohibits it. I'm considering FG bumpers myself, since the weight savings would be nice, although I'll probably re-mount my stock bumpers at this point, due to the expense of the FG bumpers.

Eeeeeexcellent.

Ron, can I get your permission to put a 'GOOD P.P.E., BAD O.R.M.' tag on that picture and put it up on a bulletin board at my squadron? I can see the straps on the roof(tied to the truck's trailer hitch, perchance?), but at first glance, it really does look as if the car is completely unsupported. ...purely for humor value, of course. The last squadron I was at had a big official USAF published poster on one of the doors in the inspection dock of a crew chief caught 'mid-hop' while trying to see down into the oil filler tube on a KC-135R's #4 engine. It's a bit high off the ground to see into without a step ladder, but he was determined!

I used Monogram Clear Tint model paint on my reverse lights just to help them blend into the rear panel(I don't really like the look of the stock 260 / 280 reverse lights, they seem incongrous with the rest of the lighting array). No need for sanding or mixing, just clean and spray. I did wet sand and polish the lenses just to clean them up from 30+ years of age and remove the dot lettering to give them a slicker look. Here's the post outlining the whole tail panel cleanup process. The Monogram Clear Tint is cheap, goes on easily, doesn't require any special prep, and doesn't wear off even when the car is stored outside. It actually adds a little glossiness to the surface it's applied to. If you tint your taillight lenses, make sure you're able to give them a thorough cleaning inside and out, because you'll be drastically reducing their output. Clean the lenses, clean and polish the reflectors, and buy high-quality long life bulbs or switch to some well-designed LED units that throw light to the sides as well as straight out. I'd recommend masking off the stock reflector area or only applying one coat to them(see previous safety / law warnings). One quick coat gives a little tint, and progressively darkens as you add coats. Let it dry between coats and be careful to avoid runs or spatter.

Many fighter aircraft squadrons operating in the European theater during WWII (particularly, the 61st FS of the 56th FG, and more specifically, Francis S. Gabreski's aircraft for an individual example) made a practice of applying heavy coatings of wax to their aircraft in order to give a small critical level of improved fuel consumption and ability to hit VNE more quickly. This practice carried over from lessons learned in air racing in the 1930s. Air racers at Reno today treat their aircraft in the same manner, they are fastidiously clean and the skins of the aircraft are slick as humanly possible. When you're dealing with triple digits and even subsonic speeds, you bet it's beneficial to keep surfaces clean...for motor vehicles, it's probably more effective to tape off panel seams and smooth transitions between body angles and pieces, but every little bit helps, and it's generally good practice to keep your car clean regardless. ...you'd be amazed at how much dirt and trapped debris / chemicals contribute to corrosion. One of my AF briefings this past week even made a point about using grease pencils to mark aircraft instead of a pencil because the pencil's graphite acts as an anode.

The 928 conjures up images of...

(I'm putting this in an existing thread instead of starting a new one...) I really like speedgato's spoiler, both from the shape / looks standpoint and the execution. It's got a nice hand-fabbed no-nonsense look to it, and from the look of it, it's inexpensive. Attachment is straightforward, just a series of what looks like bolts through the back lip of the hatch. (apologies to speedgato for using the photo without asking first, in the sake of expediency) Downside, it's non-adjustable. This could be fixed, however, by using a piano hinge along the edge and NASCAR-style spoiler braces...there's not much real estate to attach the braces on the lower edge. I'm not a fabricator by any means, but I LIKE this design and would like to replicate it with the above changes. Anyone have suggestions as how to best do it? speedgato, any chance you could post a template of some sort based upon yours?

Brilliant.

I really need a spear that occasionally shoots bullets.

I'm doing everything I can...

The phenomenon that made AOL the repository of HAY YOU GUYS (L)users has now branched out into the rest of the world. Cheap, easy access to the web has brought it out of the realm of exclusivity for the tech-savvy and 'geeky' and into common use for pretty much everyone. A person used to have to know a bit about computers and be somewhat a cut above the general population to get around on the web. The expense of having a web-capable piece of technology also prevented a lot of people from browsing the web. Now just about anyone can hop on a computer and go invade forums like ours. Cheap computers, cheap access, and web-capable devices are everywhere, as are their less than professional or courteous (L)users. If people have trouble with their shift key, they probably have trouble with their turn signal and checking over their shoulder before changing lanes...it's the same mentality. It's right at their fingertips, but they can't be bothered to use it, because it's not important to them and people that their behavior offends(or in the case of the turn signal, endangers) aren't important to them, either. From their point of view, we grammar nazis are just too uptight and need to chill out...from our point of view, they're lazy twits. While both sides are probably right to a considerable extent, it holds regardless that typing in a manner that is legible and easy to read is more conducive to getting one's point across. Don't expect people to expend the extra effort to understand shorthand or your lack of effort in using the resources at your disposal to correct your grammar and spelling. RANT: You know what annoys me the most? pEopLe whO tYpe As iF theY'vE Got aN iNtERmiTtenT sHoRt iN tHieR sHiFt kEy. Do you have any idea how much effort it takes to type like that? You're honestly going to expend the effort to put in random capitalization because it 'looks cool' and 'that's the way you roll' when it's discourteous and annoying to others, and would take LESS effort on your part to simply type properly? GET OUT. I've Also Seen People Type Like This. I Appreciate Your Effort, But You Don't Need To Use Your Shift Key That Much. Again, your overexertion is making it difficult for people to communicate with you. Lastly, learn how to properly use a !@#$% apostrophe! It's not that difficult!

Neat! A little research turns up that Carrozzeria Motto of Turin did the bodywork on the TD Sport. Rocco Motto did a lot of work for Ferrari...Pininfarina was responsible for the 340MM, though. Interesting coincidence. Great photos, John!