boatbum

ON3GO - The guys at www.lettertech.com can do just about anything for decals or vinyl lettering. Did some stock graphics for one of my boats for about 1/20th the cost from the dealer. Will probably have them do some meatballs on my VR when it is ready. Are you guys painting your rides yourself? I am in process of moving to Apollo Beach (Tampa) next month and will be looking for someone to paint the VR in a few months. Would rather find some HybridZers who can teach me some stuff and pay them on the side if you know of anyone. Look forward to meeting you Floridians. Teo

Hey Indy! It is a bit overwhelming. I have never done any real car work and I have about 110-120 hours in my VR so far. I am close to being ready for paint. But I figure I have 10-20 more hours of body work - having a bitch of a time getting the bonnet to line up with the top edge of the door and the cheek fenders. My guess is I will have about 200 hours into it by the time I get the suspension and interior done and I change out the tranny. I am staying with the stock 280z motor but putting in a 5 speed for daily driving. Take your time and learn while you go - it isn't that hard - I just dove in a little too quickly in some spots and had to spend many extra hours with the sander Just feel free to ask questions - this group is a wealth of info. This site has saved me from making serous mistakes and have provided a ton of ideas. Hang in there and enjoy the ride! Teo

Gotta second Len on the Duke of Earl I did my '88 RX-7 converible about 6 years ago now with them - it was red going fast to faded orange. I figured for $229 for their "special" it was worth it to renew my "summer beater" with 180K miles. Also figured that the car would be long dead by now. But the car and the paint job have lasted another 60K miles. It still looks good - glad I put roller wheels on it - they oversprayed the hell out of them and it would have bummed me with my nice wheels. Just an idea. T

Larry, I am at a total loss for words. I know all too well the way the Feds operate and I wish you the best in your appeal. I have come to cherish our online friendship and will miss you. Keep strong and hang in there. I'll mail some pics of the VR as I go along. Take care, Teo

Joe, Post some pics when you get them finished. I have shaved my handles on my VR and will need to do this as well. Thanks, Teo

I'm back! Been sidetracked with selling the house and buying a new one. Anybody here in the Tampa / Bradenton area? Back to the VR - anyone have ideas on how to finish the rear wheel well area? The doors and rear tub are lining up nicely but those wheel wells look like ^%$#@@ I have 2 ideas. 1. lay up some glass from the outside edge to the metal? 2. Rivet in some stainless to the existing well and extend it to the lip. I would have to extend the lip with glass and so I could rivet it in. The other problem is that the brake vent cutout screws this up. Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks, Teo

Thanks TZ and Nezzie. I will get those hinges from VB - I have a bunch of items to place an order from them for both my VR and my RX-7. JC Whitney has the VW trim rings for the beetle for $5.99 and I have to place an order there soon as well. FYI - I nailed the Grant Classic wood wheel with adapter for about $75. The VR part yet to nail down is the driving lights. If you have ideas.... Thanks and have an awesome week. And of course - keep up the awesome work. The car is looking good. I have fallen behind with getting my house ready to sell so I can move to Florida. Teo

Great pics! Nezzie and TZ - a few quesitons if you don't mind. 1. Did you just get VW bug trim rings or something else? Any suggestions where to grab them? 2. Do you guys have any clues as to where to get the Mazda hinges? I am striking out a Junkyards up here and don't want to pay $80 for a pair. Any help is appreciated and congrats on the progress. Teo

Billy, My 2nd gen convertible did this but not quite as bad - more like 800 - 1100. Annoying as hell but then I put in new plugs and all went back to normal. Been fine for the last 10K miles Turned out the idiot at the shop put the front plugs in the rear and vise versa Don't know if that helps or not - I will be getting rid of my RX-7 when the Velo Rossa is done - The parts I need are just too much $$ to fix it up and with 180K without any rebuilds it will be needing a few Teo

TeeZee, We are looking at 3-1/2? backspacing per JW's VR Manual for both the front and rears (I don't have my manual with me right now) I will check on the adapters - I just was asking for the Z pattern. I will also check on whether Stainless or chromed. I will be talking with him today. I have been talking to a few dealers for Daytons and they are running $2400 -$2500 a set. Don't know how old you are but even if you are 30 you must have bought yours while in high school

I finally found a source who will make real knock-offs, 72 spoke cross lace in 15x8 and 15x10 with adapters and proper back spacing for the Z. These wheels are just like the Classic Daytons for almost 1/2 the price and have either the 2 and 3 tab hub spinners. I am ordering a set this week and will post pics when I get them in a few weeks. The price will be right at $1500 a set delivered. If anyone else is interested let me know and I might be able to more sets. Teo

Jamie, I don't think that John Washington is throwing the towel - from what I understand, he is agressively trying to get it back. I know he has access to a few unbuilt kits from old customers. He has stood behind his creation even though the company is dead with tons of build advice. My guess is that the VR will be back alive soon. I hope so - I will probably be building another after this one - I have too many friends that want one

Just gotta ad my $.02 here. I an not a mechanic and have never done any serious body work. With that said. I found the VR kit from John Washington to be made INCREDIBLY WELL. The front cheek panels line up perfectly with the door skins. I will have very little filling to do. The rear tub lined up really well with the doors as well. More filling to do on that but I cut the lip off and did a wet layup creating a little more rough area. And I am about 20-30 hours ahead of schedule - now if I could just get this house sold so I can move to Florida - I would have more time to finish the car Just my opinion but after seeing numerous other kit cars - I am liking the VR so much better then I already did.

I love this forum !! Hey TZ- Thanks for making my morning! Actually the gal isn't that bad looking. I am just amazed that they are suing at all. I don't even make any money off the blender - it is just a fun side biz. But I would rather pay several grand out of my personal pocket (which is what i am doing) than to allow the crook/lawyer to win. Some people are just stupid Tom, Actually they do come after the manufacturers of the kits. If you look closely at the GTO guys - none of them mention Ferrari. They will also not show any pics of the the ferrari badges. And a I believe that some of the changing hands with the molds was due in part to F-heat. If you remember McBurnie had to close out his Daytona biz because of F heat. I think the big thing is that eBay and the Internet is adding a ton of visibility to the world. Hell - my mom can't even use email but she has that paypal and eBay bidding down to a science Everyone have an awesome day! Teo

Oz, I am using the Simpson Style GTO dash in my VR kit and my car was missing the covers for the switchs and the key area. I got the dash before they closed but you might check with John Washington about getting a dash - he may know of a customer who isn't using one. Last I heard he had a few leads on dashes for around $300. The layout for my GTO dash has the steering column going through the instrument opening and I will only have the turn signal lever on the column. I am taking off the other switch that controls the lights and wipers and will have toggle switches on the dash instead with the ignition key switch from a boat and a push button on the dash for the starter. Depending on how it shows I might fabricate something to cover the turn signal mounting. Hope this helps. If you have any questions on mounting the kit - let me know - I have finished the mounting (except the hood) and it went really smooth. Now I have a ton of sanding and filling. Later, Teo

Damn - what did I start I am thinking it is more the lawyers than the F-guys. And I hate those types of lawyers - Mostly because some guy SUPPOSEDLY cut his hand on my blender so his wife is sueing me for loss of sexual intimacy ($250K) because her husband had stitches in his hand for a week! I am pretty sure it is lawyer thinking he can get something for nothing and putting words in their mouth. Most Lawyers suck! Just my $.02 until the lawyers get it And LEN - you are right - the Duke DID win the Vietnam war.

It seems that Ferrari's lawyers are picking on some of the eBay sellers: http://www.gtorr.com/Ferrari%20legal.htm Good thing I am building a VR

Oz, Go for it and get the kit. I am building a VR now and am continually impressed with it every day I am working on it. I have never done car work before and am about 70-80 hours into it. so far everything is going smooth. Good luck and give John a call. Teo

Well, I tried to block the airflow a bit and that actually improved a bit but still no go. It is stuck at about 1500 without anything and with my hand over it I get about 2K. Will keep at it Thanks for all the help so far. BTW - this motor is a candidate for a refreshening anyway but I would like to see what is going on before I tear into it...

TeeZee, Thanks for starting my day with a laugh

Myron, This totally floors me - I don't even have the air filter connected. I took it off when I tore off the front end and I will try to get over the car tomorrow before I jet out of town because I won't be able to sleep until I test this. I did test the gas cap idea and the TPS looked ok. Thanks a million, Teo

Tim - I am soo jealous - I actually left SoCal for Minnesnowta (actually because my wife wouldn't live on the boat) But today, I walked into the garage - promptly turned around, got a fresh cup of coffee and got on the phone and ordered a huge propane garage heater. Now the next time I work on the Z - it will be a nice 65 degrees With that said - I am on a flight tomorrow to Florida to catch a little warmth Teo

Tony, I've been cutting a lot of metal in the past few weeks (chopped the top off) Since a battery powered sawzall is expensive if you don't have one - you might try one of those Ultimate Disc setups on the cordless drill. I bought one for like $10 when I got my $19 grinder and the grinder works better (more RPM)but that cutoff wheel for the drill also works and chances are you have a cordless drill already and it has a 7" wheel so it should last long enough to complete the job. Just my $.02 Teo

I agree with Scott on this one - get a grinder. I just chopped the top on my '78 280 about 2 weeks ago and cut out the wheel wells. So I have a little recent experience. I used a combination of: 1. Rotozip with cutoff wheel 2. 24V Bosch cordless Sawzall with numerous blades 3. $19 grinder from Harbor Freight with the 4.5" cutoff wheels. Although I really liked the feel of the sawzall - it ate blades and would "bounce" the metal in areas where there was open space - thereby limiting its usefulness. The rotozip would bite and just about tear my arm off - not to mention those tiny wheels just didn't last (I think it took about 4 wheels to make it 1/3 of the way around the wheel well:bonk: The grinder is still going strong - I killed 6 wheels but with a 10 pack going for about $11 - What a deal. My vote - grinder. And it was a whole kit for $19 - sanding pads, cutoff wheel, wire brush, etc. Just my $.02 and my experience. Teo

TZ, No luck from me. I have been been trying to figure something out but am having a custom top made for my VR. Once I get it I will post all the specs so anyone can use it but it won't be until spring. Teo