blueovalz

We folks (in the know) prefer to call it the "Wasp body" look. I knew my car would be "da bomb" when I first envisioned it, AND I knew it would be fast, so I took a tip from the design of the B-58 Hustler supersonic bomber (yeah, I'm telling my age as well as spewing out a lot of masculine bovine feces here ) in which low drag was accomplished by the "constant cross-section" theory. Hence, wide before and after the doors, and narrow, between the front and rear glass. Now, if you believe all that, I've got some great ocean front property here in Arkansas I'll sell ya.

Another interesting victim of Photoshoping: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/computer.asp What was poised as a future home computer was in reality the doctored photo of a Smithsonian Institute exhibit...of a modern submarine maneuvering station.

Hey Here comes trouble, when are they gonna get you off the "Junior" member status!

Thank you Chaparral2f. I like the idea of "doing myself" as well as anybody, but I don't want to live in a country in which we want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The REAL issue is management of the SS and even more importantly, medicare system. "Oh, the government's stealing my hard earned money". Yeah, I agree, but why not address that, instead of pointing our finger at the the program they are stealing from. I don't like handouts, but there will always be a time when it's preferable to hand out than to hand off. I just thank god that I've not had a catastrophic situation in my life that has bankrupted me (yet), and for those folks that get knocked down, or become too old to support themselves because our own government is more aligned the pharmacutical industry than with the citizenship in general, then I hope to see them sitting outside their single wide trailer than on the side of the curb, any day, even if it costs me a tiny bit per paycheck. Make the spenders accountable instead of the programs.

Yeah, I need something a little more effecient as well. The one I've got is fine during the winter (firing up the furnace to get my large soldering iron hot on top of the open flame), but this is just too much trouble during the summer, what with all the heat and all . I suppose I could find me an electric one, along with the DVD player I've yet to buy (dang VCR is about shot, and my soldering iron melted the plastic casing when I was trying to fix it) .

No. The backspacing on the rear wheels is 4.5 inches and the front 5". This was because the wider quarter panels required the "aesthetically" correct change from the front wheels, to fill the rear wheel well as best as was possible. Even then, I added a 1/4" spacer to bring the rear wheels out just a tad bit more.

Great project! I hope you'll keep us updated with photos and text as the project progresses. I don't think the "deep dish" look will detract from the overall impact of this design. In fact, with the proper finishing on the wheel, it could look quite dramatic. many prototype design drawings are with the deep dish wheel look. The BlueOvalZ is roughly 9" wider than the OEM Z body, and with the wide wheels, I have been able to reach the outside edges of the fenders without having too high an offset. Unfortunately, the proper proportions will not be possible due to the "tall and narrow" Z unibody. The high hood line and roof line will pull your proportions off somewhat. But you'll still be lightyears ahead of others if you can "mold" the Ferarri body around the Z's unibody shape. One of our members that has chopped the roof on his Z has brought it's roofline very close to the Ferarri's roofline.

I've got four old-tread tires under the house (one has some funny wires poking out of the tread though). $50 for the set? Anyway, here was one thread I found. Unfortunately, quite a while back, a lot of strings were on the Chevy site when they should have been posted elsewhere. The key words are in the link below, and there are several posts associated with it. Good luck. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=84740&highlight=pinion+angle+mustache

Yeah, and these new artsie-fartsie gauges cost a pretty penny as well!

After looking at the pics of my suspension, I cannot imagine why the bolts would hit unless the ball joints were installed from the bottom instead of from on top. as for the steering knuckle hitting the rim, I've seen (with deep back spacing) wheels of small diameter (14" and maybe 15" wheels) hit this arm (this was with the 1" spacers) because it has been lowered relative to the wheel. My arms actually ride just inside the wheel's ID, but only because of the 17" wheels. If I had used smaller wheels, this back spacing would not have cleared the steering arms. Also, make sure the correct arms are on the correct side. The Ackerman angle will make the arms point outboard instead of the normal inboard bend if they are on the wrong sides.

2320 for mine with tags and insurance.

If my trig is correct, based on a 22" strut length, the 3/4" movement would net a 1.95º camber change.

I've got some used ones sitting on a box just waiting to be thrown away.

If I understand your question (the slight bend in the tie-rods) correctly, then the answer is no. This arm could have any number of shapes, the true centerline of the tie-rod is from pivot centerline-to-pivot centerline, regardless if there is a 90º bend in it, a loop de loop, or a plain ol' straight rod. Bends will make no difference. Now, you will have to lengthen the tie-rod ends by screwing them out, and 3/4" is a good bit of length (but I do not remember what the total thread depth is to begin with.

It's not hard to work with as long as you've got some patience and accept that problems do pop up from time to time. Email me (not PM, that way I can reply with a Word document attachment) and I'll send you a very brief summation of what I did to lay the body out, and some other "tips" I use whenever I "glass it." The glass is attached to the steel body via pop-rivets.

I like the "hobby" aspect of it and can't see it going any further. It's a shame I live in the middle of Arkansas (but it's not all bad) in that I think I could really enjoy being in the midst of fellow hybriders. I've seen a couple of V8 Zs here in town, and one GTO conversion (all of which surprises me, ...considering) so the environment is not totally 4WD/Trucks, but its not a Mecca of hot rods either (lots of rice though, but I guess that's everwhere now days). Oh, NOS is fixing to be outlawed here as a couple of kids got killed during a race that involved the magic gas. Now some legislator wants to outlaw it's use because it "enhances the car's performance beyond what it was designed for." I suppose my HybridZ will be next.

Looking good so far!

Because he could! I had my heart set on a 250GTO kit body, but then started wondering if a full body fabrication could be done by myself (that and the lack of $4500). A great deal of satisfaction is had in fabricating something from basically raw materials, and when completed, it becomes another chapter in the book of life experiences to its creator. This is what makes this site so different from others in that self-fabrication is a major characteristic of HybridZ's personality, and the open mindedness of our members allow this characteristic to exist.

The internet....What can you say! The incredible shrinking world.

Can you say that in a heavy French accent Inspector?

Looking forward to seeing these!!

Yep, with my hands too!. My wife likes rough hands (old school girl), so before our first date I went out to the garage, sanded on the fiberglass quarter, bare handed, with 36 grit sandpaper folded over so the grit was exposed on both sides, and made her a set of "perfect" hands. That was 11 years ago and she's still my sweetie, and I her's.

Sounds interesting. I'm not sure I understand all that I've read (I don't even own a DVD player and my computer is 5 years old) but it sounds like a very nice offer.

Nice parts! If you've got the pads, could you tell me how tall (from inside of rotor toward the outer edge of rotor) the pad is? I thought about going to this type of caliper, but the pads I saw one time were about 1 5/8" tall, and I was curious if the pads you have are any taller. In other words, how wide would the "wear pattern" be on the rotor with the pads you'll be using?