Z8

What will their childeren look like?

I run a 285 tire on a 9.5 inch rim and that's about the limit. Tire rack has spec's online showing the design limit on all their tires, it's a good reference tool.

Though ultimately not my dream Z, you've got to respect the workmanship! I've got to wonder how he gets that thing to hook up at all with those tires on it? They didn't look very substantial, but you don't get a good look at the rears.

Do they do any custom work? 7" wide is just too narrow for any serious meats. I keep finding 17x7's but it seems when you go 17x8 or 17x9 the price doubles!

What do these people tell their freinds and family? Are they proud of doing this kinda $hit? It's too bad that so many people think it's ok to burn someone and blame the burn-ee for not being observant/smarter. Someone should send him a big check-out of rubber!

Your lucky he let you off. I was coming home late one night from a friends, we had been bench racing and I had told him my freshly rebuilt engine (still an inline at that time) was feeling very strong. So when I had a straight stretch, no body around to "endanger" I lit it up in first, then second, and as I was reaching for third the lights came on. The officer was sitting in a deserted parking lot with his lights off and gave me a ticket for "squaling" my tires (his discription). And procceded to give me a battery of sobriety tests, and when I passed, lectured me on how I was putting others at risk. I'm very careful when I "street test", I was on a empty road, non residential area, with no lights to be seen!

When I get done fabricating a new part that turns out well I still can't resist running in showing my wife the smoldering hunk. She usually has no idea whats it for, but she's learned to pat me on the back and tell me what a good job I did.

I'll send you some pic's of my setup. I built mine, so they are not the shiny chrome deal-but I don't have alot of money in them and they work great and sound sweet.

I'll be starting the wiring project over the two weeks, I'll document how I wire up the stock switches for you. Wish me luck, I don't enjoy wiring and If I can get through this, anyone can.

That's one of the rare "dream kills', When I'm driving around in my Z I get challenged by ricers with a big tail pipe, stickers and a thundering 150hp under the hood. When I'm in my 4 door sedan or SUV, THEN I roll up next a Ferrari.

I've also got a side pipe setup. I built my set up pretty cheap, and I think it looks decent and I know it flows! I can also send you some pic's if you want.

CZ, Sorry for the late reply, I've been VERY busy at work. I purchased the COMP-9 modular harness. I have not installed it yet. When I unpacked the box I was impressed that everything was broken down into labeled bags. Each bag contains all the wires and switches for each circut. This will make it super easy to work on one section at a time. Each wire is labeled every few inches, so if a wire goes to your headlights it's labeled "headlights" from dash switch all the way to the socket. This puts an end to mystery wires forever! The wiring is all cross-linked abrasion/heat resistent wire and the kit comes with basic connectors and terminal ends. I want to use existing switches so I will probably be doing a little soldering. The modular fuse block means I can mount it anywhere, and just run the wires to it. Some of the other harnesses I checked out had pre-terminated ends into the fuse block already so you had a limited range from the dash to mount it. To your specific questions- I have the same needs as you and I added to the COMP-9 kit the two extra relays for the electric fan and fuel pump. This will ensure they get full juice and I don't blow fuses. I have not pulled the switches to figure out which terminal on the switch itself goes where, but since that's about the only part that's "factory" I'll should be able to identify which solder point is for what by comparing the factory wire chart to the switches. I've got thousands of dollars in this road rocket, I'm not to get stranded or worse yet, watch it go up in flames because I was too cheap to replace 33 year old wiring! (sorry for the long post )

I have run into the same situation, a short somewhere and when I started tracing wires and realized that its a rats nest of old wiring. I got so frustrated (like you, wiring is not my strong point) that I decided to redo the whole mess. I went with American Autowire modular harness. There are a couple of others out there that I researched, Painless Wiring and Centech, each were recomended. The newest wiring harnesses are very well labeled and designed. This way I learn about wiring with tech help when needed, and I'll know where every wire is and what its for!

Raw stopping power is part of the equation, but equally so is capacity. Ultimately, where the rubber meets the road is the true deciding factor on stopping power, but large brakes enable consistent and repeated stopping power. Stock Z brakes with newer compound pads and SS lines provide plenty of stopping power for day to day driving. But go to a track day and by the third hot lap your brakes will fade. In safe, but spirited, street driving I could over heat my stock brakes and feel the reduced stopping effectiveness. Plus I've seen guys with thousands of dollars in engines that could get their rides to 150+ mph, but had stock brakes. I wouldn't want to be going that fast with marginal brakes.

I think the thrill of the vid is that it satisfies the fantasy of bombing through the streets driving flat out. That Prague is such a beautiful city adds alot to the action. As much as I love Z's I agree that for the money I can't quite get myself to plunk down the money for 287hp/3350lbs of sports car. I warned my wife that if the new Z came in under 2900lbs and over 300hp I was buying one, she was relieved when it didn't.

I just got home and I've got the Arizona Z set up sitting on my kitchen table (my wife is sooo understanding) the fronts are the Wilwood Superlights, the rears are also 4 piston Wilwoods- but smaller that the freak'en HUGE Superlights. There expensive only compared to retro-fitted parts from the Junkyard. If you look in any magazine and check out the "big brake" kits for just about any other car $1600.00 for a serious, quality upgrade is reasonable. If you are EVER going to spend any big money on ANY part of your car, shouldn't it be the brakes??

The set up from Arizona Z is four piston Wilwood superlights all around. The front rotors are 12.2" curved vane 1.25" thick, while the rears are 12.2" straight vents .81" thick. The set up is not cheap to be sure, and it depends on your intended use. I have done all of my own fabrication and have scrounged parts from various sources, but when I do a track day or find an open, desserted road and and need to haul it down from triple digits I DO NOT want to depend on ten year old pieces and parts that I cobbled together.

11.7!! I don't know how much money you have in your ride, but to help to put that into perspective; Vette-$54K/13.1 qtr. mile Viper GTS-$88K/12.6 Ferrari 360-$176K/13.2 Porsche 911TT-$118K/12.3 I think that we hear all the time about 8,9,10 second cars and we get a little jaded. I for one, am thrilled to be able to pull up along side a $100K car in my 33 yr. old Z that I built in my garage and know that I could smoke'em if it came to it.

Just caught on to this thread, this is a great idea-makes people a little more willing to travel to events Hybrid Z or otherwise, I'm in.

Very nice!, I am shopping for new rims myself. What brand-size-price are those?

I have a B&M ratchet shifter in my 240, but I have not integrated the console yet. The B&M shifter housing is much wider, and the whole mechanism is higher. I've haven't worked on solving that issue yet (upgraded brake project is current focus), I'm thinking a custom console is what it's going to take to look good.

I don't know how you define "better" but the '70 240 is the lightest.

The "while I'm At it" symdrome has been played out on this board quite a few times. Then there's the wife thing, mine just asked me this morning when the Z is going to be done. I gave her a blank look for a minute and carefully explaned (she's pregnant with our first child) that the Z will never be "done". There's always something to fix-redo-fabricate-adjust-clean/paint-replace-modify-upgrade,etc. If I ever get "done" with it I'll probably sell it and buy another one to fix up-that's just how insidious this affliction is.

My front sump oil pan is 1.5 inches behind & 1 inch below the front crossmember. I have notched the firewall (and then reinforced it)to gain access to bellhousing bolts. Either the engine or transmission can be removed individually or as one unit. With the engine that low and the car lowered I had clearence issues with the exhaust which I resolved with a side exhaust set up.