Heavy Z

According to the bill, the SS surplus was to be used for(and only for) SS, not the multitude of non-SS programs that have been paid for over the years. Politicians from both parties have made this point repeatedly in the past. I agree it's a third rail, that is part of the problem.

Yeah, once it's DONE and the bugs are worked out you can then consider using it as your daily. Then, go for it if your lifestyle doesn't require a back seat!

What they are borrowing from Terry is this: in 1982 (or thereabouts) an increase in the amount that ss takes out of everyone's paycheck was passed, with the idea that this surplus would be used to pay off debt incurred and any potential shortfalls in revenue. Instead, the last 20 years has seen administrations looting these funds, Bush at a rate 4 times higher than the average set by his father, Reagan, and Clinton. Now the issue of ss insolvency has come up, like it's a surprise or something. Like you, I wonder why the news hasn't connected the dots here. Pete, thanks for the links you posted earlier. From what I read questions remain about specifics, past and present, that a bona fide study of the issue would help answer IMO.

Welcome to Hybrid Z Scott. I have a 327 in my 71 with a 5 speed from an '88 V8 camaro. It is called a T5, in this case a 'world class' or wcT5. You can use a non wcT5 (from an 85-87 camaro) or wcT5 (from an 88+ camaro, stronger than a non wcT5). I also installed a countergear stabilizer in mine from gearzone. Search gearzone, 5speeds.com, and G-force on this site for more info. You'll need a 153 tooth flywheel, camaro bellhousing, slave cylinder, and modify fittings. The JTR catalog covers it all, JTR.com. You probably won't need a light flywheel as that V8 will rev up pretty quick as it is, look around as some of the stock flywheels you can use were lighter than others. Searching this site will get you most everything you need, good luck!

That would make such a cool foundation for an autocross car...

Social security is largely a mess because both parties have borrowed from it w/o repayment for 20 years. We should be mad at them, they aggravated the problem we are in today. As others have said, at least people have paid into this system over a period of years, so it isn't "welfare" in the strict sense. The bottom line is that our system is bloated and some people are pissed that we spend so much. The issue should be how to trim the fat. If you are in this category, how do you feel knowing that corporate welfare is costing us 3 times as much as all those deadbeats getting welfare benefits? Or blatant wasting of cash, like that (just one example) the US gov pays $1.50 per .223 round for its rifles, when you or I can get them for less than a dime a piece? Imprudent spending practices are rampant, only when the spotlight turns on an issue (like SS) do most people care to notice. We should care to notice more often. The plan being proposed will mean borrowing a huge sum of money from Asian banks for financing, and to me, with record borrowing already underway, something doesn't feel secure with a strategy like that. There are also past examples of failure. The tipping point in the collapse of the Argentinian economy came after the privatization of their retirement system, and the Brits did it a few years ago and want to switch back because privatization is too expensive. With that said, I am open to ideas as something WILL need to be done eventually.

I used 75-90, good luck!

Gear oil for nwc t5's is correct, I'd go with amsoil or redline synthetic.

You'll be fine using off-white w/ the paint colors you mention, IMO.

Pete, your post gives a lot of details about Iraqis being safer today than under Saddam, something I'm interested in finding out more about. Could you link a study or something done on death rates before and after? I looked a few months ago, and the only study I found (comparing current with pre-war death rates) said the chances of a violent death were 58 times higher after the invasion than before. It was in the Lancet medical journal and was based on interviews with Iraqis, most of them doctors. From what you said though, there must be more info on the subject I haven't seen.

Sorry for the trouble everyone, if you download the new version of quicktime you'll be able to see it. Select operating system, free version is at the bottom left: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ Glad you like it Joshua, the exhaust is 2 1/2" off the headers to 2 moroso spiral flows then a Y-pipe, 3" from there to a hooker aerochamber in back. Wanted something that sounded different. As for the oil pan, it's actually standard size. I don't have one of the low-style airdams up front to hide it is what makes the difference. Also that camera angle helped. I used to have a low airdam and banged it up in street driving so I took a different route on this Z, no fears of parking blocks or curbs now.

Mat, if you can't get it to work I could post a realplayer version, although it is bigger and the quality is not as good. I don't have good compression software so making an mp4 was the best choice with what I have, maybe someone here has a better compressor to shrink it down. Thanks Pete. The camera my brother has is the same type the crocodile hunter uses, so sound/video quality came out pretty good.

Thanks guys. It was fun messing with some new editing software on this. I wanted to stay law-abiding but have a bit of fun. Larry - The dyno shop is great timing, I'm getting a 650 Demon tomorrow so can't wait to hook up and see everyone.

Nothing fancy, just shots of the car and some low speed tooling. 5.8mb http://home.comcast.net/~bigfire8/Z327.mp4

Larry, I'd like a copy of that too please.

Lots of good stuff here to discuss. Nice point Mike. Marine Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey was a platoon leader who left service after 12 years largely due to the stress of checkpoint security. In his case, the 5 times they lit up cars no explosives were found and civs died - that messed him up. These situations should be reduced whenever possible, especially if the technology's at hand to do so. Covert action can get really messy without solid intel, and unfortunately in Iraq it's been hard to find people willing to drop the dime on the insurgents. That's why we have resorted to the same method other occupiers have done in the past when they get frustrated: street sweeps, house to house searches, looking for clues, weapons, and suspects to interrogate. As for a civil war, most war buffs I listen to have been talking this possibility for a while. We'll be cast in the role of midwife should one erupt in Iraq. Right now, under the media radar, Kurdish forces are waging war against the Sunnis and Turkmens in the north of the country. In addition, the above mentioned seem unprepared to accept the rule of the Shiite majority. One big happy family.

The issue for me is more about the checkpoint system than the number of bullets fired. Same thing happened a few weeks ago, a BBC photographer was there to snap pics of 5 kids in the back seat and their dead parents up front. They also didn't hear the order to stop. Elsewhere, these pics were big news. Could we enhance the "Miss the shout, proceed with lead bath" policy? Those illuminated stop signs work pretty well around here. If not, retractable road spikes come in portable versions too. Certainly troops on duty would be less stressed with a better system. It's unfortunate this hasn't been resolved. Until our checkpoints are modernized, people vacationing in Iraq should be warned not to listen to rental car stereos too loudly.

Thanks for your help Mike.

Wow Hanns, that must be quite an awesome experience to drive. With the right avionics and a couple small wings I'll bet you could get airborn a good 50' or so. Could be handy in traffic. Anyway, your Z certainly was lucky to meet you!

Hello everyone, currently I'm running a line from the rear of my holley DP to a vacuum canister to master cylinder. My brakes are good as a result, but this setup doesn't leave room to run a PCV to the back of the carb. I'm just using breathers at the moment. My victor style single plane has no place to plumb a vacuum line. Does anyone have a creative way to run a PCV considering my setup? Any help appreciated! Thanks, Brett

I've read here in a prior post on the subject to use a breather on one side and a pcv on the other side. Good luck.

By the time I showed up there were only a half dozen Z's left, thanks for the pics of what I missed!

I have nitto 555r's in 275/50/15. It is a big setup, even with zg flares I'm rubbing a bit.

I was going to stay out of this, why'd you have to go and post that resolution? If we are going to discuss the resolution that got us into this mess, than let's not edit stuff out (like the most important part): a1: As indicated, Hans Blix had made it clear inspections were going ahead. Saddam's phantom navy wasn't threatening us along the eastern seabord nor was his broken-down air force dropping bombs on US cities. a2: This fell apart when Bush said he would go to the UN for a vote and then didn't. b1: Again, no evidence Saddam was amassing his navy for a D-Day style invasion of New Jersey, nor does he have an air force capable of much else than being shot down at the moment of our choosing. Did we forget about the four trillion we spent on the biggest deterrant of state-sponsored terrorism - the world's most powerful nuclear arsenal? b2: No solid link to 911 was presented to the senate within 48 hrs of the attack. Terrorist ties are minor compared to those of Iran or Saudi Arabia. My point is that rather than debating whether this or that happened, it should be clear that there were questions that weren't fully explored, answered, etc with regard to this resolution by the President. It is his job to do so, as the resolution clearly indicates. I am saying that had Bush actually done what is spelled out above, the inspections would've made it obvious that Iraq was disarmed (as our former head weapons inspector Scott Ritter was saying, he was shouted down by those dead-set on war). We could've saved a lot of American lives and money, and focused on real WMD states that actually have nukes to lob at us (like N. Korea). And if while we were inspecting there was an attack by Iraq against the US, remember we have the ability to wipe the entire country off the map. So honestly, why the rush? Letting the weapons inspectors finish their job would've complicated things. There was a rush to fulfill a plan that had been drafted years prior on flowery speculation. Bush's own cabinet (O'neil and Clark) made it clear this was his intent the week after 911. After Afghanistan, our mindset proved malleable enough to jump aboard a plan to attack a country not directly involved with 911, while the country where 16 of the hijackers were from is left alone. We said the 'war part' would only cost $2 billion. Now we have a war that is costing America $5 billion a month ($1 billion of this going to Halliburton) and the Iraqi economy has been carved up by American companies. Power is out in Iraq regularly, water lines are down still, disease is on the rise, and infant mortality rates are above pre-invasion figures. No Iraqi suicide bombers were ever mentioned prior to the invasion, we had 8 in one day last week.

Wood's right, you can't beat the deal on an LT1 these days. With everyone hot for LS1s the LT1 has become the dealhound's choice. Another thing, you can run higher compression than an old sbc due to LT1 cooling characteristics.