RebekahsZ

With that much power, $20 says it is too wild of a cam for easy street driving. A wild cam gives you power pulses at low rpm that are masked at higher rpm. My cam is stock LS2-smooth as silk, but I'm leaving 50-100hp on the table that a cam/intake swap could give me. But I can idle in traffic and leave stop signs in third gear, smooth as silk, no problems. Race tuners and dyno tuners tune around wide open throttle for max torque and hp, driveability be damned.

Neither component has any exterior mechanical function, so it's ok to let them touch. If it is still too close to bolt up, just slot the mounting holes and slide it over a 1/8". There should be enough slop in the clevis to allow it to function properly.

Consider ditching the sway bar, it's the simple solution, and it doesn't contribute much to how the car drives and is just dead weight. Interesting that the boot is rubbing the control arm, I didn't have that problem. Pics if it is ever convenient?

Dan sold the car earlier this year. Don't know who bought it.

I run 2-3degrees negative for road course/autocross. But it looks pretty squatted. I would try to stay as close to zero for the street otherwise it looks like you are driving a worn out spitfire.

Axle rubbing on swaybar?

All is right with the world. Thank you for continuing to inspire me. So glad you got your mojo back.

Would be a shame to cut those fenders after all the work you have done. Can you just get some wheels with a proper offset to allow you to fit them where they belong?

Get a 16" zero offset 16x7 and all these fitment issues go away.

My wheels are 5.5" backspacing (which clears the caliper). If I use the 1"spacer, that makes them 4.5" adapted back spacing (which clears the fender lip). Not looking good for you. With a spacer you are at 3.7 or 3.8" adapted backspacing, which means that your wheel will hang outside the fender by about an inch. You willing to flare (a big job just to use wheels that don't fit)?

I miss the stickers.

PM me with your backspacing measurement. I have 4-pot AZC brakes and am running 15" wheels with 1" spacers. But I speak backspacing, not offset. If you wanted to, you could send a wheel to me and I can test fit it.

So now you will have to drop the tranny to do any work on the shifter? Looks great, but that looks like a move backward in terms of allowing in-chassis service work.

Matt, I have a $100 tailpipe stinger I can share with you?? If you don't bring out the Z (at least for a look-see), I'm going to follow you home and peep thru your windows!

So how do you "strap" them? Duct tape? Big c-clamp?

S30 days. Get with the program. You know I'm just kidding!

Post pics! I want to learn an easy method.

G-E: It's a race car. I go straight on the drag strip and you don't turn lock to lock on a road course much, although you might if you are drifting, but the Z isn't much of a drift platform. The best solution is the quick, lean, simple, cheap, EASY solution. The C-collars fit all those criteria. If I need to do a u-turn, I can bring the back around easily with a blip of the big pedal on the right.

Dude, you need a girlfriend.

I switched from a short screw to a short, small bolt. Now I can use a combination wrench on it. It is tedious but ot beat redesigning the hole placement. Evidently I'm no longer proficient with a long screw.

Oh, I am so exhausted! Found a weld I didn't think would pass inspection, so I got up at 7:30 and went to builders shop and he touched it up. Did a bunch of yard work until 2:30 in the blazing sun. Cleaned garage out and put car in the middle of the two car garage and got started. Wiped cage down with a acetone. "Sanded" roll cage with a wire brush and knocked the little bit of surface rust off. Spent some time dressing up the channeled seat mounts. Then vacuumed and air compressor and vacuum etc. wiped everything down with MEK followed by acetone. Did minimal masking and used a cut Manila folder to limit over spray. Shot a coat of etch primer from Auto Zone (lid was gray but primer was green). After a bit, I shot a coat of gray Rustoleum enamel spray paint from Lowes. Finished at 10pm. It took just over one can of primer and one can of paint per coat. I plan to do two more coats over the next two nights. Then I will clean up the overspray with acetone. I hope I never have to do this again-I'm smoked. 7 hours of jungle gym is a killer. I don't see new gauges for a LONG time.

Smyrna388Z-it was good to meet you at ZAttack. At the time, I forgot that it was you who turned me onto the collar clamps-so I missed a chance to thank you face-to-face. I installed a new (rebuilt) steering rack this weekend and swapped the collars over. I will likely be adjusting them again when I install brake ducting. Limiting steering angle as needed has really worked great and this is such a simple, clean way to do it. Additional pictures on the new rack.

Here in Alabama, there is a company installing storm shelters inside existing garages. They cut out a portion of your concrete slab and backhoe out a cave that is about 3' wide and 8' long. Then they lower a steel box into it and dress it out with a small raised lip so that it won't fill with water. It has a really nice sliding top so that you can drive over it (although I think it would be wise to try to straddle it) with your car. If you have time with a storm coming, you open your garage door, back your car out and get your family down in the shelter. There is a come-along down inside in case your house falls down on top of you and the door won't open after the storm. Anyway, it costs about $7000 and works as a great alignment pit. Tip: tell your wife you are really worried about her and the kids dying in a tornado and get yourself an alignment pit. My neighbor just got one of these installed and he let me borrow it tonight. After replacing my steering rack, I bought a set of Longacre "toe plates" that came with two tape measures, and combined with the tornado "pit," setting my front toe-in was a 1/2-hour job. Now saving for my own alignment (tornado) pit so I can use it at 3am if I want to. Unlike the local alignment shop (I've tried and fired three different shops), I even got my steering wheel straight. On the way over to his house, you could feel the tension in the front end from the toe being off, but on the way home it was smooth as silk and straight as an arrow with hands off the wheel.

Repair is done. I sourced a rebuilt rack. Am saving the inner tie rods off the old rack since they are still tight (and the treaded portion is significantly longer), then I am putting the old rack out on the curb for the local scrap iron scrounger. The old "rebuilt" rack that I bought a few years ago is significantly different from the new one I just bought to replace it. Specifically, on the old rack, the bushing area is expanded (had to have been manufactured that way) while the new rack tube is of the same diameter from one end to the other. The bushing material in the old rack is a very brittle plastic type material and the bushing material in the new rack is a thin metal tube like one would expect from looking at cut-away drawings. Totally different components. Other than follow-up discussion, I'm through with this project. Word to the wise: if you have a parts car, try not to let it go to the crusher until you have pulled the steering rack-the rebuilders have no cores. Save your inner tie-rods, they can be rebuilt.

That's a super nice car. Definitely worth repairing when the time is right.