Pop N Wood

Insurance definitely follows the car and not the driver. When my neighbor borrowed my truck to go to the dump and backed into a BMW, it was my insurance and not his that covered it. Have know quite a few other people who have loaned out a car and ended up holding the stick.

Yeah, Charlie Starkweather liked those remote farmhouses. Sorry. Gallows humor. But it seems like no place is ever truely safe. I just like the idea of having neighbors I can trust close by. Can't imagine having something like that happen across the street.

If you want to weld CroMoly then you don't need a TIG. An oxy-acetylene torch will weld 4130. Some people claim it even does a better job of it: http://www.tinmantech.com/html/faq__tig_vs__gas_on_4130.html Here is another good link about welding 4130 http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/chrome-moly.asp Gotta worry about cracks. Beyond that, if you truely want a TIG, then I say don't skimp. If you want to consolidate welders, then Lincoln makes some motor driven welders that will do both MIG and TIG as well as power your house during a hurricane. http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/equipmentseries.asp?browse=101|307|

Bummer. But still, you gotta admit, too funny. Actually I think your car insurance, not your home owners insurance, will be responsible for fixing the damage. Hopefully the guy who did the damage will offer to pay out of pocket and you could sue him directly if he doesn't. But I doubt there is any type of insurance he could have that would cover him in this situation.

There has been quite a bit of discussion on this particular engine in past posts. A quick search should yield volumes. The engine I always wanted to build was a ZZ430. That is the fast burn 385 version with the hot cam and GM supplied carb. IMO kind of the ultimate ZZ4 crate version. Grumpyvette once told me that for the same amount it would cost to build a complete ZZ430 (check out Scroggins Dickey), that I could build a better engine from scratch. Keep in mind the ZZ4 is going to need quite a few additional pieces to complete. Grumpyvette definitely knows more than I. But at least the crate engine is a known cost. If you build your own you always have to worry about getting bad parts that aren't rebuildable (like a cracked block). On the other hand, building one from scratch lets you use things like forged pistons and a cam more suitable to our low weight Z's. We don't need the low end torque like a heavier car, so putting in sligtly more cam and a Vic Jr. intake yields more HP with sufficient low end torque. Grumpyvette had specific combinations of parts. There are a number of guys who have used the ZZ4. Hopefully they will chime in also.

About the only thing that 2nd Z has going for it is it still has the 240 Z emblem on the glove box door. Those things are hard to come by. That and the tail light lens might be worth $50. How the hell that 3rd guys hopes to get $2300 for that rusted out hulk is hard to figure.

Man, you do nice work. I have never seen anyone put their battery below the rear deck. I like it. I have never liked the idea of having the battery in the passenger's compartment with me. Did you include a battery lug in the engine bay in case you need to jump start it? Also any chance of water/bleach being kicked up off the tires and corroding the battery terminals? The picture doesn't show any type of wheel well/sheild. Also any worries about a piece of road debris catching that big loop of rubber fuel line? From the picture it is hard to tell how high behind the rear valence it is. Will your exhaust/muffler be next to the fuel pump, or does it come out somewhere else? Sorry, just read my own post. Hope you won't take all the questions as criticisms but as a sign of intense interest!!

Having been in the military, in peace time, all I can say is that people take service members for granted until they are truely needed. Send him a picture of the towers on fire to remind him why he is there, and tell him thanks from me. Probably not much to offer him, but it is the best we can do.

You have an announcements section? That section is often not present on my forum page. Just keep entering via http://www.hybridz.org and see where that leads you on any given day.

This is getting irritating. The announcements forum doesn't show up everytime I log on. Really hard to get the notices. And now the threads from the weekend are lost. And once we switch back to the latest software my links to old HybridZ threads will once again point aimlessly into cyberspace. Just like they did when we switched to this software. Whoa is me. Glad I have been saving my favorite threads as HTML files rather than just the links.

Here is the HybridZ favorite http://www.modern-motorsports.com Ross sells complete kits that no one complains about. Also Juan at JSK Inovations makes some brackets to mount Willwood breaks. His parts look first rate, but I don't belive his kits are anywhere near as complete as Ross's. Hey Mike Kelly: I read on a metalshapers web site that it is actually better to weld chrome moly with a torch. They claim it helps stress relive the metal better than a TIG. Was that your issue with cro-moly? Other than the welding, cr-moly should work just like regular mild steel?

The vibration could be amost anything. Dirty injectors, vacuum leak, bad vacuum hose, EGR valve. Sorry I can't be any more specific. I owned that same year Prizm, but with the larger 1.8L 4 cylinder with a 4 speed automatic. The smaller engine with the 3 speed auto was truely a dog, but the larger engine and extra gear really moved the car nicely. We had very good luck with the car, with the exception of the Delco alternator and power widows that kept breaking a $300 regulator.

Man. You are comparing the $100 4x4 with the $1500 Arizona Z car brakes. Probably the cheapest brake upgrade compared to one of the best and most expensive. There is no question the Arizona Z car brakes are as good as it gets from a performance point of view. Many people have issues with the guy that sells them and price wise you can do better elsewhere, but I have never heard anyone actualy complain about the Arizona Z setup's performance. Arizona Z sells complete suspensions, but that is REALLY expensive. You may want to just start reading through old posts, because some of your parts don't mix well together. KYB struts are nice street units, but adjustable Tokikos (however you spell that) are more cutting edge. Coil overs are nice, but you want to pick spring rates that will work with the rest of your stuff. The ZX rear brakes are more of a budget than performance option. My suggestion is to get ahold of Ross Corrigan at Modern Motorsports. He will set you up with as much good advice as product.

You might want to sift through the archives for threads about unibody. There was a really good discussion about the topic not too long ago. With all respects to the guys you mentioned (I wish I could build something like that), unibody has several very distinct advantages over a frame chassis. You can get quite a bit more stiffness with less weight if you make the body panels a structrural, load bearing part rather than just dead weight tacked onto a tube chassis. The one comment I remember from the previous posts is "think pickup truck". Also think about how airplanes are built. It is more work to get right, but when properly designed every part of the unibody will contribute to chassis stiffness. Also this is just my personal opinion, but if you want a full chassis with a solid rear axle, then get an old Chevelle or Chevy II and trick it out. It seems like such a shame to lose the IRS of a Z. Just an opinion, and admittedly not a very popular one.

I read somewhere that beam type torque wrenches hold their calibration better than the click type. I guess if you can't afford to get them calibrated from time to time then sometimes cheaper is better. God awful lot of work either way.

There is also a U joint on the end of the steering shaft that can have play in it. That was the cause of wandering on my Z. It doesn't take much slop in the steering system to make this happen, so replacing 30 year old parts is not a bad idea.

Not an assumption. Simply a statement of fact. In our country, statistically speaking, minorities are "economically disadvantaged". A 10 minute google search should prove that for you. If anything YOU are the one letting your own prejudices get in the way of the truth.

I have also heard others suggest using an air hammer with a pointed bit on the back side of the stub axle. It doesn't so much hammer it out as vibrate it out.

If that car is everything he says it is, then it is a killer deal. He says it has a welded 3:36 rear, with a spare 3:36 LSD thrown in as a spare. Probably close to a $1000 worth of Ebay parts there alone. If the body is as rust free and never-been-wrecked as he says, than $3000 is a steal. He did say he bondo'd over some rust, so check that out very carefully. Definitely Scarab mount, but that is not a problem. Some guys like them. Sounds like a bit of a rat cosmetically. Definitely worth going to see. Also never buy a car you haven't seen in person.

i dunno whats funnier.. the exhaust or that you know what hello kitty looks like.. mike You obviously don't have kids. I also know the names of all the Wiggles and the colors of each of the telletubbies. Big Hug!!!

Just trying to get some definitive information. I am also interested in the G force, for much the same reasons as you. But the quote I cut and pasted directly from their website doesn't inspire much confidence. What would ice it for me is if someone is personally using the tranny with good results.

Not to be a PITA' date=' but you took that quote slightly out of context. The entire quote is Keep in mind you can't compare the price of an LT1 T56 with that of an LS1 variant.

Did you notice the location? Leavenworth. I didn't know they gave those guys web access.