74_5.0L_Z

My car has the SubtleZ fenders and quarter panels. The hood and front air dam started life as the SubtleZ pieces, but I modified them just a bit. The tires on the car are 245/45/16 Hoosiers mounted on 16x8 wheels with a 5" backspace. As you can see, I have room for wider tires. I'm wanting to try some 275/35/15.

Great write-up!!! I think that you give the wrong length for your driveshaft. Mine is 19.25 from center to center, and you quote yours as 28 1/4. But still, great write-up.

By the X in the main hoop, I meant where the horizontal and diagonal intersect. The other X is the low one behind your drive shaft tunnel. But again, I will not push my ideas as right and yours as wrong like some on other sites seem so apt to do. And yes, there are some very knowledgable guys over there. Unfortunately, you have to wade through the flames to get an answer to any question.

Jon, I watched in horror as the guys over there "critiqued your work." That why I only lurk there. I have a question though: Why didn't you route your new bar going forward from one of the existing X's (The one in the main hoop or the one that ties you strut towers to the main hoop. I don't mean to be a critic. I think you are doing a great job. Dan

Pete, It was great meeting you. I didn't realize while we were talking that you were a member of HybridZ or that you were so far from home. I have some pictures of the tube chassis in my album on this site. Justin, Thanks for the compliments. It feels good to get some compliments on the car now that it is back together. The week in Daytona was the first outing with the car since I wrecked it at the 2004 Bay Bottom Crawl. In that time, it went from being wrecked(and ugly), to a car in a perpetual state of body work (and ugly), to finally something I can take pride in. There were many other beautiful Z cars in Daytona and an equal number of great people. Wherever the event is held next year, I have to make the trip. Dan

It was indeed great to meet and hang out with you and the other HybridZ members at the convention. I hope to do it again soon.

I just got my CD with the photos from Daytona. There are ~1200 great images. Here are a few of my favorites: These photos and the other 1200 photos from the convention are available on CD from Steve Rossini at http://http://www.highlanddesignstudio.com/...on07-home.html

bjhines, I wasn't offended, just surprised. Why do you say that it is necessary to go with rear steer? Achieving 100% Ackerman is not one of my goals. There are many options as far as uprights that will work with a front steer set-up.

bjhines, "If you want a different car, buy a different car." I'm sorry, but that is not the HybridZ way. I look at my Z as a blank slate upon which I can spew my wildest ideas (limited of couse by time and money). I know that I am not alone in this sentiment. There are some aspects of the stock front suspension that can be improved by converting to a SLA type front suspension. Mainly, camber gain can be greatly improved. His stated purpose for the car does suggest that a strut suspension based on the existing components will suffice. However, he is already in the process of building a tube chassis, so many of the constraints of the original chassis do not apply. I, on the other hand will probably pursue building an SLA front suspension. I already have my tube chassis complete, and it would be a simple task to add mounting points for upper control arms. My lower control arms are currently stock length (but utilize sperical bearings). My idea is to lengthen the lower control arms by two inches. At the same time I would increase the backspace of the front wheels by the same two inches. For an upright there are several options: First, I could cut off a strut housing and add provisions for an upper ball joint. I dont know if this option will provide an acceptable KPI. Another option is to acquire a front spindle set-up from another car (perhaps a C4 vette). This option is attractive because the spindle could be purchased complete with five lug hubs and big brakes. Whichever upright I end up with, it will be necessary to make some custom upper control arms. The same is true for the outer tie rod ends. The stock ones will nt be long enough. These would be constructed by sourcing the parts available through Coleman racing, Afcoracing and others. Regardless, on HybridZ I rarely expect to hear, "If you want a different car, buy a different car." For better or for worse, that is not the way we operate. Dan McGrath

Jon this all got started because boostedh23a1 is building a tube chassis similar to mine and has some strut questions. He was asked why he was going to the trouble of building a tube chassis front end but still keeping the strut suspension. As part of my reply, I posed the following challenge: Why don't we (the members of HybridZ) undertake the design of a front suspension that utilizes the factory front frame rails. We have several members on the forum with some expertise in this area and several like myself who wish to know more. As a start, I propose that the front frame dimensions (just the frame rails not the strut towers), front crossmember, and rack be retained (to the inner tie rod only). By holding a few things constant, we can reduce the number of variables in the design. The design should use upper and lower control arms and a readily available spindle assembly. Things that should be considered are bumpsteer, roll center, camber gain, scrub radius, etc... Is anyone interested in playing? Who has suspension design software to try out various proposals? I posed it as both an exercise with hopes of producing a real product. Call me weird but it sounds like fun. The original thread is here: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?p=818359#post818359

I'm sorry but "Milliken & Milliken ". "Hot 12" slicks" is a start. Be more specific. Provide us with a tire from Hoosier or Goodyear. Do you want to build the car around a 15", 16", 17" or 18" wheel? Do you want to minimize scrub radius or minimize KPI? What overall track width do you want? I think it would be cool to try and maximize the length of the control arms and design around wheels with a large back space.

The front fenders, airdam, and hood are fiberglass. The ducting was shaped in foam and covered in fiberglass. About the front suspension, I have a proposal: Why don't we (the members of HybridZ) undertake the design of a front suspension that utilizes the factory front frame rails. We have several members on the forum with some expertise in this area and several like myself who wish to know more. As a start, I propose that the front frame dimensions (just the frame rails not the strut towers), front crossmember, and rack be retained (to the inner tie rod only). By holding a few things constant, we can reduce the number of variables in the design. The design should use upper and lower control arms and a readily available spindle assembly. Things that should be considered are bumpsteer, roll center, camber gain, scrub radius, etc... Is anyone interested in playing? Who has suspension design software to try out various proposals?

I built my tube chassis front end to quazi-stock dimensions and used the front strut suspension. My reason was simple: I had recently finished the front suspension before I wrecked the front end. I had brand new coil-overs, koni struts, camber plates, and aftermarket brakes. Given the expense of doing the chassis, I opted to save some money by using the components that I had. If I didn't already have a bunch of new components, I may have gone with a upper and lower control arm. As it is, I did not. I do sometimes think about modifying the front suspension as follows: Keep the stock mounting fo the lower control arm and rack. Eliminate the strut. Create mounting points for an upper control arm (this would be easy once the tube chassis is in place. Use either a readily available factory front spindle (Mustang or Corvette) or one of the modular circle track spindle assemblies from Coleman racing or Afco. Whether I use a factory spindle or aftermarket racing version, I would source tubular control arms from Coleman or Afco racing.

I'll take these one at a time. Do you have issues with driveline vibration when accellerating hard? No, the only time that I notice any vibration is at steady state cruising. Usually around 80 or so mph. Even then, the vibration is just an annoyance. How about u joint wear? I've had the same driveshaft for 7 years. No problems. What engine crossmember did you use? I started with some plates welded to the frame rails that utilized the 5.0L rubber mounts. Later, when I rebuilt the car for the second time I switched to a front plate/mid plate configuration. I am in love with that type of set-up because it frees up the space on the sides and under the engine. Do you (know) what the length of your driveshaft is? My driveshaft is 19.25" from the center of the front U-joint to the center of the rear U-joint. If you search my old posts (circa 2000), you will find a listing for the part number of the neapco adapter. Where are your corner weights listed? Here: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=92703 The first post lists my old cornerweights and the last my new.

A very good question. My engine is installed centered between the frame rails, and it works. However, if I were to do it again, I would offset the engine towards the passenger side. This would provide the following two benefits: First, it would allow for better U-joint angles on the driveshaft, and better centering of the shifter in the factory hole. Second, it will make corner balancing the car easier. If you look at my post regarding my corner weights, you will see that the right front is very light compared to the left front. Also the left side percentage is about 51.6%. Offsetting the engine 1/2" - 3/4" to the right will help with both of these issues. The difficulty will be in finding block hugger headers that allow this engine position.

I just finished repainting my car, and as part of the process I removed the windshield and hatch glass. Removal was simple. I just cut through the rubber close to the glass, and then I just lifted the glass out. Then I finished removing the weatherstrip. After painting, I reinstalled the glass with new weatherstrip. I (like you guys) was a little concerned about the installation. I even called some local windshield people and got a quote for them to come install the windshield and rear glass. They wanted about $200.00. I am really cheap and a bit of a do-it-your-selfer, so I opted to try it myself. There are several write-ups on this site and others, but here is what I did: First, install the weatherstrip on the glass. This is pretty easy to do with the glass out of the car. Second, get some quarter inch diameter rope (~ 12 feet) and push it into the outer channel of the weatherstrip all the way around the periphery of the glass. I configured the rope so that the two ends of the rope met at the bottom center of the glass. The rope will act to open the outer channel of the weatherstrip so that you can get the seal started onto the lip on the body. Third, set the glass in body opening with the tails of the rope on the inside of the car. Try to set it such that the bottom edge of the gasket is close to engaging the lip of the body. Fourth, get a helper to apply light pressure to the outside of the windshield and to prevent the outer lip of the seal from getting pinched. In my case, my wife was on the outside using a plastic spreader to guide the outer lip of the seal. Step four is performed by slowly pulling the end of the rope from the inside and guiding the inner lip of the seal over the lip of the body. Work slowly and evenly. Pull one end of the rope and then the other. When both ends of the rope have been pulled around to the center top, the windshield will be fully installed. Use the plastic spreader to guide the edges as required. The process sounds complicated, but was actually quite simple. I installed both the windshield and rear hatch glass in less than one hour with only minimal assistance from my wife. In my case, I did not reinstall the metal strips in the new weather strip. I don't like the way that they look, so I left them out. Some have said that the metal trim helps with the sealing function of the gasket. It probably does, but I have not noticed any leaks. In my case, the car only gets wet when I wash it.

Great video and one of my favorite Rush tunes. I've seen them on every tour since Moving Pictures. With a name like Cygnusx1, I should have known that you were a fellow Rush fan.

I am resurrecting this thread because I have made some significant changes to the car, and thought some might be interested in the changes in weight and balance. My original numbers were as follows(for full detail see the first post on this thread) Here are the results with 16 gallons of fuel and me (190LBs) in the car: LF = 648 Lb RF = 607 Lb LR = 751 Lb RR = 710 Lb. Total = 2716 Lb These were are my percentages: (LF + RF)/ Total = (648 + 607)/2716 X 100%= 46.2 percent on the front 53.8 % on the rear. (LF + RF)/ Total = (648 + 751)/2716 X 100% = 51.5 % on left and 48.5% on right. my diagonals were equal ie.. (LF + RR) = (RF + LR) -> (648 + 710) = (607 +751) = 1358. Since that time I have done the following: Redone the body (SubtleZ with customized air dam and hood). Changed from a 16 gallon RCI polyethelene tank to a 12 gallon ATL cell. The old tank was centered, and the new tank is offest to the right. Replaced the old lead acid battery with an Odyssey lightweight battery. Moved battery forward and down from behind rear passenger side wheel well to behind passenger seat. After all that, the final results were: LF = 669 Lb RF = 626 Lb LR = 714 Lb RR = 668 Lb. Total = 2677 Lb These were are my percentages: (LF + RF)/ Total = (669 + 626)/2677 X 100%= 48.4 percent on the front 51.6 % on the rear. (RF + RR)/ Total = (626 + 668)/2677 X 100% = 51.7 % on left and 48.3% on right. my diagonals were nearly equal ie.. (LF + RR) = (669 + 668)= 1337 (RF + LR) = (714 +626) = 1340.

Thanks for the compliments. After three years of work, they mean alot. The color is from a 1997 Acura NSX: Monte Carlo Blue Pearl Metallic. The paint system that was used was BASF Base Coat/Clear Coat. I am in the process of putting the car back together. I'll have some more photos in a few days.

A little more progress: