maichor

I pulled the LS1 Velo Rossa out of the garage again on Saturday because a few friends were in from out of town. They all had a white knuckled ride. So, what does it say about me if my friends are afraid to ride in my car and I want to go faster? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I think I'm a speed addict! One of the guys drives a C5 convertible and the other a Dodge Charger. Both of them were boosting my ego talking about how fast the car was and how they like the lines of the body. All I could think of was that if felt good but I would like more top end, cam? long tubes now available? Yeah, I think I've got the bug. I need to get the car safety inspected, but I have a long way to go. No brake lights, cracked windshield etc. I don't dare drive it around the way it is. Does anyone else here suffer from the same illness?

I think the "I can beat anything" attitude comes from the fact that the Mustang is an entry level sportscar. Practically anyone with a job can afford the payments. I drove a 1980 Mustang sedan with a mild 302 transplant (was a four banger). I must admit that I had a little of the syndrome. That is what happens when people go from driving a four cylinder Honda, Mazda, Ford, whatever, to a V8. Back in HS in that same car I got smoked by a Z31 turbo. I had an excuse too. "Well, there were four people in the car, and he only had two." I also agree that this mentality provides a lot of entertainment. Real car guys know the difference between an '03-'04 Cobra and a GT. Those that do not learn pretty quick when they get spanked by "lesser" cars.

What's wrong with returnless? The only difference I can see is that the regulator is on the fuel rail and at the tank. Does this cause other problems?I am already using the Camaro tank, so I found no reason to convert to the return style fuel rail (which you can get from a '98 LS1). The returnless style does have a return, it is just not at the fuel rail. It is right befor the fuel filter. There is a T with a return line back to the tank. The main line continues to the fuel rail. If it really bothers you, you can change the fuel rail, probably for less than $100 if you find a used one.

Yes, it is like the Thomas, but it is not Thomas, but all the Thomas stuff fits on it. So, we bought some Thomas trains from Target, and bought this train table. Thomas is really pricey. You can pick this up at Sam's club online for $129! The comparably priced Thomas set pales in comparison. This is huge 4' X 4' octagon.

It also depends if you are going to wait a few years or start now. If you want new, you can build up your own LS motor for less money than a crate LS6 and way less than the Z06 version of the LS2 will be. I believe the LS2 block is now available so you can start with around 400ci and do cam and heads and WOW! What a monster that would be!

Christmas is already out of the bag at my house. My wife got a nice widescreen TV with a DVD player for the bedroom so she doesn't have to watch Thomas the Train every night (we have a toddler). I got tons of parts for my Velo Rossa project. Wiring harness, mirrors, trunk hinges, headlight covers, AND (this bums me out) a 150 shot NX wet kit for the LS1. I'm bummed because my wife said, "no way am I riding in the car with that!" I tried to explain that nitrous doesn't just blow up like she has seen in the movies. I guess it was too early, maybe next year. So, I sold the kit. Most exciting is a wooden train set for my son. I assembled most of it last night. He is going to flip! We can't wait to give it to him.

There are TONS of memebers from Texas. I used to live in Dallas and will return to the Rockwall/Rowlett area outside of Dallas in a few months. I have only met a handfull of members, but here is a short list of Dallas or nearby guys. Zfan Zman377 Lone Star 1 Phantom Corzette RPMS If my memory is correct, here is a rundown on some of them. Zfan announces at the track at Ennis sometimes. Really cool guy, his only hangup is that he keeps blowing up motors! (383 with juice). Zman377- I met him and his wife last year at Ennis. This guy has some toys! -Two Grand Nationals- -An in your face Toyota 4X4- -Wife drives a WRX- -and his 377 Z is killer- Also with nitrous, I think. http://www.1badz.com Lone Star 1 has a SC LS1. I believe he was the first to have his LS1 up and driving. I rode in it when it was NA and it is very quick! A real pioneer with great fabrication skills. He is always doing soccer stuff with the family. Phantom has an LS1 daily driver that was the prototype for the John's Cars Kit and it is a beautiful install. Super cool guy. We went to his house just to get a ride in the car. He gave me and my wife a ride. When he was researching the swap, he came to look at how I mounted the LS1 and brought by a present for my newborn son. He is a definitely a class act. Corzette is all about the 1/4 mile and he is dropping in a 383 soon. He loves AFR heads and made me add AFR heads to my future wish list for my LS1. I met RPMS at the same lunch meeting when Corzette picke up some parts from me. RPMS also has a SBC, likes motorcycles and has a website. I can't recall it right now. There are certainly many others but those are the few I've met briefly. My impression of each has been that they are stand up guys and it appears that this whole Hybridz community lures that type of people.

I agree LS1/LS6/LS2, pick any one of the new generation SBC and you won't be dissapointed. The advantages- Computer control. Much better fuel economy without losing lots of power. How much is petrol over there $5 a gallon or something like that? I haven't calculated my mpg yet, but my buddy gets 27-30mpg on long trips. That is amazing considering the car puts down 400RWHP. It is also smooth like you said and very tunable. Too rich or too lean? Just change the programming. The LS1 has great top end power and pulls so nicely. The first few drives on it, I kept bouncing off the rev limiter because it climbs to the high RPM so smoothly you hardly feel like you are at 5800 RPM. Just my opinion and I am a little biased. Some people shy away for the computer controls because of wiring and unfamiliarity. I say those are not good excuses to overlook the advantages.

Yes, very nice! Do we have some fabricators on this site or what! WOW! To reply as to why my setup looks so different, it is a 240SX/300zxtt subframe style multilink IRS. I'm surprised you haven't seen it, because I have posted it several times. I finally made a thread. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=96050

I believe that is just what it says, a disclaimer. I doubt the tax would be enforcable. I don't think that when someone steals your car and fixes it up, that you could be made to pay taxes on it. . . (yes they steal the car because it is taken without the owner's permission or knowledge). There is an insider but almost never the owner. The show can call it a prize, which they probably did because the IRS said, "Hey wait a minute, all of these donating companies are writing off Overhaulin' donations as expenses, where's our piece?" When push comes to shove, do you think that the IRS, Chip Foose, TLC or anyone else would remove all of the new parts, paint, etc., and reinstall the old parts, paint, rust, etc. It is impossible to do, yet the car is still owned and registered to rhe person being overhauled. They would have to return it. All that person would have to do is press charges for the theft and they would be allowed to recover their car. That is my guess anyway. I think the IRS asked TLC to ask the owners of these cars to pay the taxes. I doubt that they could legally hold the car as a tax lein (i.e. not turn over the car to the owner until taxes are paid. Any attorneys out there?

Unfortunately, the only pic I have that shows any of the piece we are talking about, has the diff installed. Look to the right of the diff and you can see the corner of the missing section. I removed about 1" from the front of that piece and as tall as the unibody piece itself. You have to remove a section nearly as wide as the diff cover. The pics are large so you can zoom where you need to. I will also include a pic of my tank install so you can see the transverse member (in front of the tank) I installed to strengthen the chopped unibody. http://www.theadairvillage.com/isapi.dll/c/content/f/viewproperty/siteid/jNsLAQ/contentclass/PICT/contentid/ZZZZZZSG/propertyname/Original/~/misc_039.jpg http://www.theadairvillage.com/isapi.dll/c/content/f/viewproperty/siteid/jNsLAQ/contentclass/PICT/contentid/ZZZZZZSF/propertyname/Original/~/Maiden_voyage_026.jpg

I've pretty much become a Tuesday night regular for that show. The lure for me is the thought that they do this for regular people, and in 7 days! Amazing. Although they only do minor fabrication, they certainly do overhaul these cars. They easily drop $30-40K into these cars for free. Somebody "donates" a 600hp crate motor, usually Ford Racing or Edelbrock, somebody else chips in with a pile of electronics, all costom upholstry etc., etc., etc. SOMEBODY PLEASE NOMINATE MY CAR! Oh, how I wish, but they will never do it. They usually pick muscle cars because all of the sponsors will pony up the dough to advertise their parts. That would not work with a Z. There is not enough aftermarket to pull it off. What I like most is that Chip Foose is an extreme talent, but so humble, even tempered, and upbeat. What a guy. Compare that to the drama always unfolding on American Chopper and American Hot Rod. Chip is a class act. I've never heard him bleeped out or seen him yell at anyone. He certainly is a "Good Guy."

S14, however, all of the arms are swappable except the lower control arms. For example, if you wanted to run the aluminum hub housing from a 300ZX (Z32), you could, but you would also have to have the lower control arms from the Z because the ball joints on the LCA are different. Also, I believe the S13 hub assembly is different than the S14 so you would have to use S13 axles with the hubs (Smaller than Q45 and 300ZX). With the S14 there are four bolts holding the hub on and one giant nut holding the whole assembly together. Maybe when I get home I can post a pic of the hub assembly. I would go S14, just so you have more options later. S13 will work fine, but you will have to stick with S13 axles, even if you want to upgrade later unless of course you buy the S14 hub, housing and LCA.

That's the kind of detail you need in a good write-up. Cool! Also, it looks like you have room to raise the diff (except where the unibody hits the rear cover.) By raising another 1/2" you will clear your TL with room to spare. CUT IT UP! I cut out that same area, just weld in some extra support behind. I have a 1.5 X 2 X .125 wall tubing behind that spot running behind the original unibody that I welded in to mount the 240SX IRS with my R230, so cutting that small section did nothing to weaken the setup. You could definitely do the same. IMO the higher the better for the diff.

I have a Ford T-Bird/Mustang rack conversion like Blueovalz did. He has nice writeup somewhere. I used tie rod ends instead of heim joints. So far, very few miles on it but it works great. I used the stock LS1 PS pump. Blueoval runs a 315 wide tire up front and I have a 275/40/17s. Power steering is not required for this tire but it sure is a lot nicer. As far as weight, pump, fluid and aluminum rack weigh about 15 lbs more than the stock setup. Not a huge weight penalty IMO.

Very cool! 4th to last pic with orange or yellow instead of blue/purple. Keep the grey.

Love the velour racing seat covers. WOW!

133.6 MPH. Funny that straightaway is not bumpy on the XBOX PG2. You lucky dog!

Bill, I think you are running as big a tire as you can, correct. If not, you can run a taller tire. Since my fenders have been chopped for the VR conversion, I have monster 335/35/17's and have regained all mph/rpm and then some over a 23" tire with 3.7 I think if I ran 3.54's the tire would be too tall. My tires are just over 26" diameter. See if Zfan or somebody has some larger diameter drag radials you can slap on next time to Ennis for a few runs. Then again, you probably are already maxed out on diameter.

I don't have a mustache bar because of the complete IRS swap, but I had to do the same thing to mount mine. If you don't add the washers the diff will always be rubbing steel on aluminum . . . not good! EDIT: Oh, and the ears will center the front of the diff where the R200 sat, but they are also farther apart. What I did was make a new plate for the rear (for mustache bar guys this would be like redrilling new holes centered off or the old ones) That put the diff where I needed it. I cut the old front mounts off and bolted them to the front of the R230 with it in place, then rewelded them and PRESTO! The diff is centered and straight.

Yes, except the sleeve. Although . . . that would be a good idea for you. When I added the second frame rail to move it inboard, I closed the main one without a sleeve, then welded them together, then they were both welded to the floorpan and the 1/8" extended floorpan that I made. It is not going anywhere. Remember, I also have 3/16" plate on the arm coming down from the old unibody through and welded to both those plates and then to the boxed frame. If you don't have the heavy extension I added, that area will become a flex point. Sounds like you have a cool project! Keeping the front stock mounting points may work for you just fine. I wanted to really push the subframe up as far as possible to get a low stance. That meant I had to lose about 6" of the length of the front arms.

"Would you say that I have a plethura of pinatas?" Great movie, I thought it was spelled plethora, but never checked on that. As far as trans mounts, search for Jeromio's he has a custom mount. Others are using the JTR mount, and John's Cars has a unique mount which may not work because your engine position will likely be different. I made my own modified version of what Jeromio did. I'll see if I can dig up a pic.

Here it is. You are looking at the rear portion of the passenger's floor. I cut the floor our and boxed it to allow me to move the seat farther back. The plate clamped into place is 3/16" steel. One was welded there and one to the front of the tool cubby. I then notched them out and put at 2 X 3 X 1/8" from the upper unibody through both plates and to the subframe connector and welded everything in. This is way overdone, but I have no roof and I wanted to make sure the car would not sag or flex too much.

It doesn't. I am all about family. I mean, all about family. I rarely work on the car during family time either. I have to get up early to work on the car. I play games after my son is asleep and while my wife is getting ready for bed. Does anybody else have to wait 45 min for their other half to do their nightly ritual?

Video games?!?!? Who has time for video games . . . Okay, you caught me. I bought it mainly because I use it to bribe the kids in our church youth group. I am one of the adult leaders and I host Xbox nights (not church sponsored) for the guys about once a month to keep them out of trouble. Believe it or not, it seems to be working. Nothing brings you together like talking trash and shooting each other! I am a little ashamed to be 32 and playing video games, but hey. How else could I drive so many incredible cars. (Project Gotham 2).