vashonz

Working model is definatly the way to go, from my mechanical engineering school days I have a demo copy of working model 2d. I'm not sure if you can find one online, PM me if you can't. Oh, also have a copy of solidedge (with dynamic designer) on cd, it stopped working about a year ago and I havn't tried to make it work since then.

is that what youre trying to do?

I think this is the summit part # HLY-12-920 http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=HLY%2D12%2D920 $159.88

I've head the 240z tachs are not that great, and any of them can go bad (like yours did). It might get better, but your best bet is to simply replace it. or you might be able to find a temporary external one at napa just to get it tuned.

What about where they made the semi trucks into transformers, with lights, lotsa shiny stuff ect.

Whoa, its a small world. I know him, used to work for him as a prep cook. He currently owns/runs "the malt shop" here on Vashon I never knew he was into z cars tho. To get in touch with him you might try calling the malt shop:206-463-3740 I think he is trying to sell the resteraunt right now, but as far as I know he still cooks there most days. If you cant get in touch with him that way let me know and I can go find him(its a small island).

Sand blasting aluminum gives it a really intersting texture, I saw this used on some aluminum tubing and it gave it a really even almost satin finish. I'm not sure if this would work with sheet aluminum or if its too thin. To get it to be a different color I would definately have it annodized.

You might check out the porsche 914 seats, narrow, light fiberglass. They dont offer too much side to side support, but they can probably be modified. I picked up a pair off ebay for $20. The other thing for more lateral support might be to modify the stock z seats.

I learned car control (sliding, mbe some drifting) in a dodge dakota, it worked pretty well. Also did a lane toss exercise in neons (changing 2 lanes at speed in about 50') according to the instructors any vehiecle should be able to do the same thing without rolling over. As long as the rodeo is in good shape it shouldnt roll over, but bring a camera anyway, i wanna see the video if it does.

I think toyota wheels will fit, one of my parts cars came with a set of steel wheels that were exactly like the ones on my moms (toyota) van. They were not very wide, and kinda heavy, but you can probably find a set really cheap. I think the mk2 supra had the same bolt pattern. you might check that out too.

My experience with either one has been pretty limited, i used the mig at work, tacking together .120 wall tubing for the dies we were building, at first it was not pretty, but quickly got better, and i didnt have to worry about the heat warping the metal too much. I saw someone use it to try to weld some thin wall tubing together, and he had trouble with burning holes in it, he was an experienced welder, but did'n like that machine. I got an oxy-acetlyene torch for xmas, experimented a little yesterday, cutting and welding some scrap sheet metal together, the material was thicker than the zcars are made of, but I still warped the material quite a bit, also the welds I made were not nearly as strong as the beginning ones with the mig. I did not have trouble burning holes in stuff, except when I really tried. Eventually I expect to be able to do much nicer welds, gotta get a friend over who knows what he's doing to show me the basics.

I like the new bmw brakelight. It gets brighter as the driver steps on the brakes harder. Not as annoying as the blinking one, and a little more informative of the drivers intent than the simple on/off ones.

An example of why people should use seatbelts. Think of what his face would have been like had he hit the steering wheel.

When I went to a talk by joe speilman(Pretty sure, the guy who saved the C4) in oct 2002 he said at least 500hp. More recently i was told by friends that work at gm research they had it up to 550-600, I think that was with a 350 and no boost.

I've heard that the curcuit taillights are run through the hazard light, I dont have a wiring diagram here, so you might check that first.

Check out the Locost, its a build it yourself lotus 7 replica.

What about using turn buckles? Cut control arm, weld threaded rod into exisiting control arm, then install turnbuckle to connect them. Use lock nuts to keep from adajusting under stress. if you went further you could weld nuts in to support the all thread inside the control arm. I'm sure the turn buckles would be able to handle the compression/tension loads. I'm pretty sure it would handle the lateral loads too. If you want/need help with this I know people with tig welders and plasma cutters in the seattle area. I also have a couple extra sets of control arms to 'experiment' on. If you're new to the seattle area you might check out pacific industrial supply (near the stadiums, really cheap stuff), or boeing surplus (down in kent), also westmarine would be able to provide the specs for the turnbuckes.

Check out iTunes, Apple released it for wintel machines. It's the only program ive found that will let me burn cds(mp3, regular audio) directly from the playlist. (none of the programs that came with my computer would do that)

My understanding was that the stronger (more desireable ones) looked exactly the same as the 350. This could be used to cheat a little, just saying all you had was a 350 but instead running a 400.

I think (99% sure from what a friend told me) that there were two different sbc 400 casting designs, the good one looks like a sbc 350, the not so good one (not necessarily bad) has a different number of freezer plugs on each side.

I have one of the sony vaio ones, it was a desktop replacement one for me (going to college and not driving) so I got the biggest screen they had (16") and as fast as I could afford (1.6ghz). This was a little over a 18 months ago, but it still works great and is fast enough to run -almost- anything I want.

Put the old spring back in? It sounds like you got a much higher rate spring.

Around here there is a guy who makes copper head gaskets, whatever thickness you want, its a couple hundred $ but it shouldn't blow up. The hks one is also supposed to be good, I don't know how hard they are to find. Bigger combustion chamber, not shaving the head= lower compression, easier to run more boost, less likelyhood of detonation on pump gas. Bent vanes are bad because they prevent airflow and decreasing the effectivness of the ic. You should be able to just bend them back, with a screwdriver or needle nose pliers.

I went by precision and exchanged it for a different one, didn't cost me anything. This one fits much better. BTW, I think the 240z didnt have a piece of weatherstrip across door jamb, instead they relied on a rubber flap attached to the bottom of the door.