Sleek Z

Les Glad my "damn pictures" are stirring you up a bit because I wanted to generate some fresh thinking about all these issues. What will drive you even more insane is when we start to discuss the very sticky problems that arise when any flared or customized rear end look is viewed and photographed from a 3/4 or side profile view. Watch what happens when all your attention is fixated on making only the dead on rear view work and then you see the the other views that show the transitional design elements in the lower flared fender area rear of the wheel where they meet and transition into the side areas and rear panel. Hoo ha, plenty frustration for a customizer. I really struggle with my own design concepts when I get to this point. My life is in a bit of turmoil right now and will not allow me to sit down at a computer for hours on end or even for many days to show you some of the concepts I have in my mind for possible side and end profile transitions on a S30 body, but I do have a few in mind and would love to share them, but it'll have to be later. For now ,above is all I can offer, but I'll keep your questions in mind. Tail light treatment in the middle photo I believe is not from any model car, but rather of the builder's own design crafted with off-the-shelf components and smoked plexiglass. At least that is the way I understood the builder to explain his design o me when we talked at MSA. Anybody know who the guy is or where? He told me he was an "artist"? Note on Blue 300ZX shown above. I photographed the same blue 300ZX at MSA this year mostly to show the tail light design, but I have not published my photo at my website yet. Owner ilives in within 70 miles of me and has contacted me about doing a photo shoot of his car. I believe he told me that he purchased those custom tail lights directly from Japan where they are sold as trick replacements for stock 300ZX lights. Gotta get back to work,but I'll check response here this evening. Cheers, -----Sleek Z

**Modem users please pardon the inclusion of 3 semi large images in this post. I felt they made the points needed to go with the text. Hopefully the length of page 3 of this tread will now cause page 4 to be started so that load times for page 3 will not be drastic.** First off I'd like to thank everyone that has contributed to this thread that I started 5 days ago. It's over 60 responses so far. Must be this topic is on a lot of person's minds? Great examples and thoughts so far. Thanks much. Nevertheless, perhaps this thread about custom tail light swaps is limiting itself too much by only focusing on tail light swap adaptations from other cars. I am sure several will work nicely just dropped in, but there still is the issue of an overall, integrated rear end design that also needs to be addressed to assure a look that is not awkward or gaudy. Certainly, for most hybridz project owners this is the box most of us prefer to remain in, that of merely dropping in something quick and economically. However, we could start to think outside the box a bit and consider the larger possibilities of integrating whatever tail light swap or custom designs possible with the concern for changing the whole look of the Z car's rear end design especially if the car has wide flares, big tires and multi tipped exhausts at the rear. For instance, below is pictured a custom Z that I think may have taken 1st place custom body at MSA 2000?. Lots of inspired intent, work and quality finishing went into this car I am sure, but I question the design sense of the finished look because IMO, the builder lost focus on balancing the visual mods within the tail light, bumper and lower skirt areas. IMO, it is all out of scale and fights the original sports car look of the S30. What do you all think? Now a case in point of a possibly new direction would be the rear end design and tail light treatment on the Saleen 7 pictured above. If you look at the car as if it were nothing more than a stock 240Z (see Pierre's silver show car rear view look similar to the Saleen 7's outline)) with extra wide flares and a an extra low lower valance panel (ala what Dan Juday could consider because of his gas tank and dual exhaust tip placement) and then look at all the multi dimensional, 3D design concepts resorted to on the Saleen 7 's rear panel areas (contrasting recessed and flush panels with protruding round tail lights and underneath air turbulence extraction cut outs with exhaust tips integrated as design elements to overall look) to match the drama of the side and front design details of the car, you can start to see that similar recessed and 3D effects, although probably more subtle and subdued on a Hybrid Z, could be realistically added to a boldly flared HybridZ cars that would work well. On the other hand, an example of an approach that at first looked quite nice, but later struck me later as lacking in detail and balance, is pictured below that I took of the very, exotic and sensual creation of Pierre'Z shop show car at MSA 2000. IMO, of the Z customs that I have seen, this Z car custom comes the closest to taking rear fender flaring on a Z car to a very natural extension into the present day and points the way toward adding an exotic look as well. Note, I still think it is a great looking rear end custom, but I wish they would have added a bit of relief to the extra large, flat panel finish treatment below the lights, space the twin lights a bit further apart and not have placed the tail lights so far out board. IMO they are so out board that they are creating an uncomfortable visual "tension" in the look. btw, notice the potential in Pierre'z design to accomodate the design cue's used on the Saleen 7. For instance, consider that any Z that has rear end damage to it's panels or bumper or even bad rust out in the lip area below the hatch would be a good candidate for a redesign of the back end using totally non-stock materials and design look. These days, you virtually can not buy a replacement panel for S30 bodies for cheap (they are NLA although, 2 outfits are selling what many would deem, costly aftermarket replacement panels ) Quality used bumpers are near impossible to locate, and new ones are costly and flimsy so why even try to keep include them on your car? Dual exhaust for V8 projects are popular, but it you do not go a similar route to Dan's alternate gas tank, you'll fight many problems and possibly wish you had rethought out a dual exhaust solution prior to having proceeded with older solutions that still leave some satisfaction to be desired. Secondly, if you decide to dramatically flare your Z you are faced with the likelihood of fiberglass flares not installing solid enough to avoid cracking in new paint due to flex underneath. This mix & match can lead to some real "bummer" surprised to become unglued 5K down the road! Not always, mind you. I have seen some damn good flare addition body and paint work that gives me confidence that it can be done well. Third, once installed, aftermarket flares do not necessarily give a finished well balanced, well integrated design look from the rear view, but rather an "almost" integrated design look.where the lower areas taper down into compromised edges that beg for some kind of lower panel to be added to finish off the back area view. Fourth, if the rear bumper is removed, such as Dan's has been, to accommodate the exit points of the dual tip exhaust, a very important horizontal dividing line design element has been removed from Nissan's S30 balanced design that must be addressed. Otherwise the distance from the hatch lip down to the bottom edge of the valance becomes a very tall, vertical empty space similar to a square box that will fight the performance stance look of wide flares and big tires. Ultimately, IMO, this large area, having lost the bumper's critical horizontal dividing line will become the design space in which any custom tail light treatment must be scaled and balanced to or the end result will end up disappointing and not look "correct" on an S30 Hybrid Z. Just had to get all those thoughts written out once and for all. Dan and I have discussed this all before and I know that he wants to draw a practical line somewhere and not let "project creep" take over his project, bank account and life, but some others here ready to think outside the box here may want to consider rethinking their HybridZ body mods and customs in order to break ground in new directions not typical of hybrid z car projects of the past. Nothing wrong with the approaches from the past, but fresh design and forward looking ideas always jazz the young at heart , the gals on the corner and may even make sense to your bank account in these days of Nissan fast running out of stock parts for your older Z cars. OK, ball's in someone else's court. Any opinions pro or con? --Sleek Z

Thanks DAW I'll check out JC Whtney. I saw similar LED cluster units for sale on a website meant to replace the 1157 bulbs, but can't find it any more. What I am wonderiing is how extensive and varied the offerings and choices are for LED bulbs and as to whether some clusters are larger or more conducive to custom work than these small 1157 bulb replacement types. For instance, do these LEDs come in low profile, wide 'strips' or 'mat clusters" of some sort?

Again, Wagz, you came up with some interesting visual ideas. I am not totally sold on the late 300ZX look, but your first link seemed the most balanced to me. Big Phil's looks well balanced and blended to the 240Z stock look.. tim240z, it'll be most interesting to see your final rear body look after paint.. What color will you use? I had tried to communicate to Dan verbally about how finishing off the look of his car's rear area would require a very different approach because of the absence of a stock rear bumper to divide up the tail light panel and lower valance areas due to the positioning of his dual tail pipes. One thought I had at the time was how it might be practical to think of adding a complete new panel below the tail light area all the way down and underneath his gas tank that would tie into and integrate the lower edges of his rear flares. Your rear panel weld in design reminds me of what I was envisioning when talking to Dan, although not really the same design. Very helpful additions to the thread, Wagz & TimZ

I just came out of my cave last week and ran across a seller site for these LED light inserts, but can't seem to find the link now. Can anybody post a link to some detailed tech info on LED lighting units and the technology and hook up/power requirements for them? Being a person that often works with lighting and the modification of such, I have often considered experimenting with new approaches to creating even lighting distribution effects within tail, turn and marker light assemblies and I would like to investigate these LED units closer for that purpose. John Haag brings up an interesting and important point that I think is often overlooked in planning a custom tail light swap, that of the style of back side refractor patterns of tail light lens over the years. IMO, many of the designs of the past do not help distribute and refract light from a single bulb in a way that gives off the kind of "fresh" look needed on a cool looking hybridized Z car. Not sure why car manufacturers would need to resort to "diamond cut" methods unless the term refers to the current design look of today's new trendy lenses. What I have noticed though, is that the new designs are making strong use "designerly" refraction patters" inside the lens. The mix & match and interplay of pattern themes can be quite interesting to study up close. My main question related to creating "fresh" looking tail lights is whether I can find a way to design and cast my own designs with off the shelf plastic and resin components to achieve similar effects of my choosing. Anybody know anything about such things? Experimented with such? Below is some extreme, hand built custom work done on an E-Type Jag showing home crafted tail light lenses. Not that dramatic compared to what we are looking for for our Z car projects, but man, look at what this guy did to the Jag's rear look and fenders! This guy has also worked over an S30 body nicely as well, but no fancy tail lights. When I interviewed him 2 years ago, he kept referring to how he creates such cars by "seeing" with his hands instead of his eyes. Cheers, Sleek Z

Wagz, In the name of this kind of interesting experimentation, take all the 'liberties' with my photos of Dan's car you care to. I think you have hit upon a pretty good idea with these Supra 4 poppers. Even dropped in a hurry, they show promise. I wish I had the time to work up my own Illustrator and Photoshop concepts that I have had in my mind for years, but alas, I am swamped with other concerns. Very glad you are contributing the photoshop "what if's" for us all. Maybe you could try out the same on the rear view shot I recently took of Dan's car with the flares added at http://www.zparts.com/events/dj_bbq_070602_ps/pages/dcp_4690.htm or http://www.zparts.com/events/dj_bbq_070602_ps/images/dcp_4692.jpg btw, if any of you out there with35mm or digital cameras get the bug to try similar "what if" photos of tail light ideas you see around your neighborhood or at car shows, I'd recommend that you be sure to use the same lens focal length to shoot all shots including any rear view shot of a Z car that you want to superimpose ideas onto. I prefer longer focal lengths in the 100-200mm range equivelant on a 35mm. Secondly, try to shoot all rear end views centered at identical distance from the cars and as close to the same camera height. I prefer the exact height of the center of the tail lights and another from standing eye level aproximately 10-20 feet away from rear of car. Keep it uniform and you'll be able to drop in images that will look credible. Place the camea on a tripod at dusk and you can take cool shots of lights on and off on the car if someone in the car can hold down the brake pedal while the parking and headlights are on at the same time. COOL effect if lit up tail lights do not overexpose badly! Sleek Z

Dan, It is not the literal re-use or copy of the light design Nemeziz showed so much as the customizing potential of those lights done in circular, rounded and non-round designs broken into seperate light modules, that most interests me. All kinds of arrangements of multi shaped back side refractor surfaces (concentric rings, radiating lines and even mondarian'ish overlapping rectangles) and faceted colored glass interts and mix and match of red, amber, clear, white and even "blue dot" components could be arranged into designs that could possibly be dot legal (red and amber colors must be of correct hue, saturation, refraction and brightness to be legal on the street) and perfectly balanced to the original recessed tail light panel above the rear bumper area. However, I could see how even a straight copy of Nemeziz 's design could look more integrated and 'correct' on a Hybrid Z concept design than you may be giving credit to at this point. Limitless possibilities if one does not get too carried away in filling up the panel's "empty" design space originally intended to define the Nissan Z car look of that day. Now, once a customizer adds flares as large as yours, I think the potential to take the rear lighting design beyond the confines of the Nissan panel increases decidely. Once you have altered the shape of the orignal car dramatically, I think any customizer could explore the entire back area below the bumper and out into the large rear flares as potential tail light mounting areas using many shapes not appropriate within the original S30 panel area. For instance, just draw in the basic outlines of the rear of your flared car including the flare bulges, rear panel recess and bumper dividing line area in photoshop or with a clear overlay on top of the photo and color in between in black or dark gray and then draw freehand tail light out lines or designs across any area that interests you and fill them with red and amber tail light detail photos as aproximated effect patterns to see what the potential each may have. Next copy that layer to one above it and use the levels and hue/saturation adjusters to create a "lights on" effect and then run it through an animated gif program or Flash movie setup and wah lah, instant on & off test of your taill light design! Do a selection of area outside the car, darken and/or desaturate the surrounding area and you can aproxiamate the car seen at differnet hours of the day and early evening. See the possibilities in this kind of a exploration? Ball's now in someone else's court, --Sleek Z However, I could see how even a straight copy of Nemeziz 's design could look more integrated and 'correct' on a Hybrid Z concept design than you may suspect.at this point.

Oops!, While I was writing my last response someone else post ahead of me with a photo I was not comment on (although interesting in it's own right). Just to be clear, my last comments refer to the photos that Nemeziz posted above. --Sleek Z

INTERESTING1 Yes, now your talk'in my design "sensibilities" a bit more! Overall, I like the idea of this one because this shows how a home customizer could start creating similar designs and constructing them in a home work shop while slightly altering and scaling different pieces to develop a visual rhythm that properly expresses his project look while nicely integrating into any color paint job he decides on. Two other strong points of this design/construction approach that I see is that each light transmitting section can be made up from bits and pieces of off the shelf or junk yard salvaged lens or even hobby store craft making products and the matched (or not) body color look allows a fairly modern reinterpretation of Nissan's 30 year old S30 rear area look. btw, what car brand/model is that tail light on and is the bottom one a real photo of the light lit up or has the effect been Photoshop'd into it? Thanks for posting that one. Sleek Z

Interesting start to the discussion. Dan called me today to point to the Acura Legend tail lights that somewhat interests him. The ProCar lights, although very trendy at the moment, strike me as a look hard to adapt to both the car's scale, shape and classic sports car stature, but guided by the right instincts and matched with the right paint job (dark colors or black would be my suggestion) I could see someone successfully pulling it off. I also have been looking carefully at the new plastic reflector designs being used on the internal red and amber sections of these trendy looking lights wondering whether these internal sub-components could be cut out or sectioned in some way for adaptation to the Z? The biggest draw back I see to both the Legend and ProCar look is that the lights are either too large for my taste or seem to be totally out of scale and visual balance with the stock Z tail light inset panel area or the rear dimensions of the S30 body. The other day one of those Pontiac sport vans of the early to mid '90's with the tall, skinny, slightly arched, vertical tail lights mounted from mid height to roof line on each far corner of the van's sides, went by me and I found myself trying to envision these lights (made up of 4 red sub sections) arrange horizontally in the upper arch of an S30 rear section just below the hatch lip arch line. Not quite right I suspect, but close to one design consderation I think critical to a S30 custom, that of strengthing the low, wide stance of a flared Z by using wide, thin horizontal design themes integrated into the tail light panel area and below the bumper. Sorta Ferrari Testa Rosa or Lambo look of many Italian exotics of the past 10 years. OK, that my thoughts for now. btw, if many of you are going to post tail light photos in this thread plus all your graphic sigs & humorous pics, please keep in mind that if they are too large or too many, that modem users may not be able to load and view this thread without long download times. Please try to economize for their sake or just drop in the URL to the image for them to check out at their convenience. Sleek Z

Dan Juday and I have been asking ourselves about what tail lights from other makes & models of cars might make sense to swap into a custom tail light mod on a 240Z (260 & 280Z as well)? Pictured above is sample of a popular tail light kit sold commercially back in the '70's, one of several examples I have on display at http://www.zparts.com/showcase/wczn20/index.htm http://www.zparts.com/events/wcn2002/promo/index.html I thought it might be interesting to put the question to the Paint & Body forum. Would anyone care to make suggestions? Be sure to mention the year & model of any you suggest. For myself, I still feel that a custom tail light mod on a Z should be mostly designed and constructed from scratch in order to achieve an integrated and balanced aesthetic, but time, money and skill levels being what they are for many of us I suppose my approach may not be all that practical for some. Nevertheless, if any of you have original design ideas or illustrations or have mulled over the implications of shape and proportions of customized tail lights for an S30 body, I would like to see them. If enough designs come forth, perhaps I could publish them as a "tail light photo gallery" at ZPARTS.COM. Returning to my original question, I've also been toying with seeking out year and models suggested as sources for tail light swaps and photographing them up close for purposes of creating a "swap tail light photo gallery for others to use as a project resource. If you guys make many suggestions, I'll try to round up photo samples of same. OK, ball's in someone else's court. Hope one or more of you speak up. Sleek Z eric@zparts.com

RacerX & ALL One of the problems I am having in documenting these rotisserie designs and their use with Z cars is in not finding one in use in my area to photograph in detail as I would prefer. If anyone on this list knows of anyone in the SF Bay Area or Sacramento area using one for any model restoration I'd like to make his acquaintance to see if I could photograph his setup in detail and in operation. Later I would be able to publish the results in a way that might help restorers here and fans of my website learn even more about how to construct and use rotisserie stands. Somebody know of some in use? Sleek Z owner of ZPARTS.COM

Hi, ALL Thought you all might be interested in a new illustrated photo display, complete with measurement overlays and text commentary, of the car restoration rotisserie stands that Paul Henley of England adapted from a MG design while restoring his 73 240Z. You can find a link to Paul's project coverage and that of others in the FEATURED PROJECTS section of at ZPARTS.COM In addition, I have been in contact with 2 other restorers that have built a rotisserie stand setup from their own design. Although displayed elsewhere, the 2 restorers and I are working on a photo display and construction FAQ complete with matched materials and tools needed list intended for publication at my website to better round coverage of this topic as related the needs and interests of Z car restorers. If any of you have questions you would like to see addressed or illustrated in these photo/article displays please speak up so I can make my coverage as useful to all here as possible. SLEEK Z (aka Eric Neyerlin - owner of ZPARTS.COM Eric Neyerlin - owner of ZPARTS.COM

Just to add to the gossip. A bay area contact up my way told me that he personally knows a young doctor in SoCal that has already purchased a V10 crate motor and matching 6 spd with the intent of installing it into his 240Z.. Wait and See, I guess. Sleek Z

James I am presently puting the finishing touches on the first part of a featured restoration project being done by Paul Henley of England. The first part will present photo documentation of a rotisserie stand setup that he adapted from a set of stands originally used for a MG restoration project. You can review what he has provide me so far at Paul Henley's Rotisserie Stands Illustrated page Jeff I'd be interested to have a few photos of your rotisserie stand design to add to my ZPARTS.COM website for others to review if you have them. Please contact me at eric@zparts.com ===SLEEK Z====

Gang This is a topic that I track regularly and have had some passing contact with those that know of Q45 swaps into S30 engine bays being planned, attempted and completed. Most stories are out of Australia and New Zealand so far. About 6 months ago I was passed a link to a some excellent photos in Japan of a VH45 being test fitted into an S30 engine bay. It looked very tight and barely doable but the guy had it in and mounted to engine supports. Problem was the width of the head covers. Almost no clearance between the stock shock towers and the engine. That link is no longer active so I do not have any more news about that project. Secondly, a young woman from Australia contacted me last year telling me that she was actively sourcing a VH45 half cut in Japan with plans to swap it into her 240Z autocrosser with her machinist father's help. Haven't heard from her for over 8 months, but I intend to check on her project this summer. The interesting news is that the VH45 engine has a baby brother named the VH40 or VH41 (I can get the exact model # if necessary) that is virtually the same displacement, but is 1.5 inches narrower at it's widest point. One of my 510 buddies in Washington now has a clean, used version of the VH41, with matching tranny and control system, sitting in his garage waiting for a donor Z body to do a swap into. Biggest problem for this very talented Datsun sleeper builder is that he thinks Z cars are "too modern" for his swapper tastes and secondly, that his new baby and professional obligations are pulling him in new directions away from his swapping hobby. When and if he starts the project, you can bet it will be well documented and showcased at my website, ZPARTS.COM. --Sleek Z

Perhaps none of you have thought of it this way, but I know from experience that a Tomahawk's "presence" is not the same under all light and different physical locations. Being a "visual" person by nature, I distinctly remember that both of the dark colored Tomahawk cars parked on the bright, gravel covered tan dirt at the Rio Vista Event, under a high direct sun, did not look at all as impressive as they do when parked on asphalt under a low angle sun or overcast sky. I have made 2 trips to the West Coast Nationals from the SF Bay area in the "Purple Candy" Tomahawk car and I can strongly attest to what a crowd pleaser and "chick magnet" that car is where ever it goes. No matter where the owner stops or drives, he is surrounded immediately by admirers of the car's look and proportions or high five'd by chicks and gents alike as he drives down the the freeway. It is obvious to me that no one thought the car's proportions looked like a "fat lady in a bikini" Note: I am referring to the S30 based design only. The later kit designs adapted to the S130 and Z31 bodies do strike me as being somewhat "fat" or dumpy looking from some angles IMO. What is curious to me is that so many tend to compare the Tomahawk to a Cobra, when, in fact, it is quite different close up. When the owner and I went down to the 2000 MSA show, we first converged on a motel parking lot where other Tomahawk owners were registering. While there, a large mob of cobra replica kits, down for the Knott's Kit Car Show that same weekend, pulled in and parked amongst the 4 Tomahawk cars. Immediately, I could see that the Tomahawks were decidely larger and more "muscle car" like than than the diminutive looking, low slung Cobra replicas with the paper thin door shells. Also, the Tomahawk kits looked sleek and solidly constructed with integrated body lines, well designed and fitted appointments and solid doors, whereas the expensive Cobra replicas looked more like something assembled from off-the-shelf components from a hardware store and some chrome fasteners. They may have been true to the British heiritage they were celebrating, but they were not impressive visually, IMO, compared to the Z base S30 Tomahawks. Another problem in appreciating the Tomahawk kits, when seen at Z car shows, is that when parked along side the stock, non-flared, stock Z car's lines the dramatic fender and rear body treatment on the Tomahawk cars may seem somewhat "fat" in comparison, but when they are viewed at speed on a highway or out in an open space, such as a large parking lot, they have a very striking "presence" that impresses almost everyone that first sees one. -- Sleek Z

Did either of you check out Dan Juday's project photos ? He cut the entire spare tire well out, braced and and ran a dual system straight back through the rear valance "ala McClaren" Check it out. Your idea and more has been executed with class. Next, check out the Rio Vista Event photos for more exhaust system ideas. - SLEEK Z

I've addressed this topic several times and have some interesting photos of many setups on my site. Try these URL's to check out some ideas executed or discussed. SLEEK Z PROJECT HybridZ thread, "SIDE PIPES- Pro & Con" Rio Vista Hob Nob hybridz event photo display Hope that gets you down the road a bit with this topic. -- SLEEK Z

Gang This is a topic that I track regularly and have had some passing contact with those that know of Q45 swaps into S30 engine bays being planned, attempted and completed. Most stories are out of Australia and New Zealand so far. About 6 months ago I was passed a link to a some excellent photos in Japan of a VH45 being test fitted into an S30 engine bay. It looked very tight and barely doable but the guy had it in and mounted to engine supports. Problem was the width of the head covers. Almost no clearance between the stock shock towers and the engine. That link is no longer active so I do not have any more news about that project. Secondly, a young woman from Australia contacted me last year telling me that she was actively sourcing a VH45 half cut in Japan with plans to swap it into her 240Z autocrosser with her machinist father's help. Haven't heard from her for over 8 months, but I intend to check on her project this summer. The interesting news is that the VH45 engine has a baby brother named the VH40 or VH41 (I can get the exact model # if necessary) that is virtually the same displacement, but is 1.5 inches narrower at it's widest point. One of my 510 buddies in Washington now has a clean, used version of the VH41, with matching tranny and control system, sitting in his garage waiting for a donor Z body to do a swap into. Biggest problem for this very talented Datsun sleeper builder is that he thinks Z cars are "too modern" for his swapper tastes and secondly, that his new baby and professional obligations are pulling him in new directions away from his swapping hobby. When and if he starts the project, you can bet it will be well documented and showcase at my website, ZPARTS.COM. Sleek Z

Gang, It's been awhile since I had my tilt front end. The front hinge point on mine made it problematic for addition of front bumper that could protect parking spot bumps from other cars, but overall it's fit. when closed. was excellent without any warpage. Not sure what brand it was back in mid eighties, but I presumed it was the one from JC Whitney . Probably my best contribution to this thread would be to point you to a page I have devouted to featuring my old tilt front end and that of several others that have purchased the unit and installed it in different ways. Check out the photos at Examples of Tilt Front Ends on Z cars I am always looking for more photo samples and brief text descriptions about them from other owners in case any of you care to contribute. SLEEK Z (aka Eric Neyerlin of ZPARTS.COM) eric@zparts.com

Hi, everyone. Vincent Hudson and I drove down in his "Purple Candy" Tomahawk Z Friday night and hung around the show events all weekend, eventually hauling back up I-5 to the SF Bay Area Monday morning at full throttle. Did any of you get a chance to check out the 3 Tomahawks at the show? btw, the black and the silver one won 1st and 2nd place awards at the Knotts Kit car show the weekend prior. The owners actually drove home last week from that LA car show and then drove back down again the next weekend to attend MSA for one day before driving all the way back home the evening of the show! Wow, really dedicated car enthusiasts, I'd say. 1000 mile round trip each time and in a topless convertible as well! Many online personalities came up and introduced themselves to me while I was shooting at the event. Tim240Z and Owen both spotted me doing my thing and introduced themselvesl when they figured out who I was. Got a nice shot of both of them in front of the newest 4x4 V8 Z to hit the show. Many have asked when my photos will be posted. Unlike many others, I do not do straight image dumps to my server of all images that I take at an event. I took over 320 photos, but intend to cull the total down below 100 before I post them up for viewing, a process that may take me over a week to complete. Hopefully many will find the wait worthwhile. In keeping with the ZPARTS theme of my site, most of the shots I took were of customized parts on the cars. However, Mike, manager of Pierre's body shop, set up an after show mini photo shoot of his 2 show cars with me that netted some good record shots as well as several "cool" shots. Stay tuned. I think you'll love some of them. Anyway, it was a "wrap" by 5:30 pm, Pierre's crew drove off in the 4 cars they had at the show, Sal, of MSA, brought me out a nice cold soda as he locked up the store and only the tear down crews and my sun burnt legs were present on the premises. Everyone else was gone and the year 2002 show was history. Although not a photo that says "Car Show", I'd like to share one image I took early in the morning as all the cars were waiting in line to enter the show area under the gray LA overcast, that I have already grown attached to. Click on the link below for a larger view and tell me what you do or do not like about it. It's kind of subtle but timeless, IMO. Larger View Eric Neyerlin - ZPARTS.COM

Hi, All As some of you may have heard, the Rio Vista HybridZ event on April 6th was pretty popular, especially the part of the event where attendees were invited to have their cars hoisted up on one of 3 lifts provided by the event host, Bob Lapp, Jr of Rio Vista Muffler. Although, I did not manage to photograph the exhaust system designs of every car that was on display at the event, I did manage to clearly document a few of the more unusual or clean system designs that drew a lot of attention. I thought that all of you here, discussing exhaust system solutions and design, might be interested to check out the very clean systems of HybridZ members, Rick Lapp and 3 other cars with unique dual side pipe systems to see what others are running. Maybe it will help a bit with future discussions here. The index to the Rio Vista Event photo display can be found at http://www.zparts.com/events/webdsply/riovista2002/index.html If anyone can give me some feed back about what type of exhaust system photos they would like to see in the future, please comment here or drop me a line at eric@zparts.com Enjoy, Eric Neyerlin - owner of

See Large View (100k) of above image. As some of you may have read in the Announcements section, the Rio Vista Z Car Event was a big hit with many HybridZ.org attendees. One of the most popular features of the event was the period when Rio Vista Muffler provide access to their lifts for lots of hybrid Z's to get up in the air so all could inspect the wide variety of trick exhaust system designs used on cars there. Above is an unusual dual exhaust system with intergrated "X" cross over pipe flowing from a trick L6 engine setup showing the clean design and installation work of Bob Lapp, owner of Rio Vista Muffler. Car is owned by Bob's brother. Need some clean , custom exhaust work done on your Z? Check with Rio Vista Muffler in Rio Vista, CA. Great work at very reasonable rates. Stay tuned. I hope to publish a whole group of close up photos of exhaust systems at the event. Among the hybridZ'ers cars will be cars owned by Lone, Jumbo240Z, Ray Manzos plus a side pipe system on a Tomahawk car. Eric Neyerlin - owner of ZPARTS.COM

Mke & Jumbo Dan Juday alerted me to your replies this evening. It's usually best to email me direct at eric@zparts.com when you wish to talk specific projects. I now get so many Z related project calls and email from around the world these days that I barely have time to get back out to Hybridz to check the threads. Mike, I tried your web address, but ran into wall of non-Z related phone stuff. How do I find your project photos? Jumbo, just checked your pics. Your conversion and custom work looks very photo worthy. Can you send me a few particulars on your Ford V8 and other custom work so I can plan a bit on what to photograh? You have much fresh stuff underneath interesting to photograph? How far you live from Rio Vista time wise? I know where Antioch is. You ever get over to Richmond with your car?