blueovalz

Broken down, I see 1/2" offset. The 8" wide rim (inside of lip to inside of lip as the industry norm for measuring a wheel width) is usually 9" from outside of lip to outside of lip. The 5" BS is based on a measurement from outside of lip, so this is why I used the 9" reference. Thus the 5" BS on this wheel is only 1/2" offset from a 4.5" centerline. Now if the 8" you are making reference to is actually outside of lip to outside of lip (which makes this a 7" wheel), then yes, the offset is 1".

Could a 2x4, propped against the back of the seat be used as a pryboard to push the window into place is one was to do this alone?

It sounds like you know what action to take (or lack of action in this case). I feel your frustration, but even though descretion and tact is underappreaciated in cases like this, it is the best way through this. If this guy is as obvious about this as you say he is, I'm sure there are other activities he's doing that are raising the eyebrows in the board room as well. Time will sort it out.

A sway bar upgrade front and back is where I'd start. This is easy to do and relatively inexpensive. A really good set of tires will do wonders as well. Then if this doesn't satisfy you, and you're industrious, springs could be the next upgrade, or poly bushings. I can't address the Z31 strut issues.

Ahhhh, I love this. Now I have something to do to the 325i this weekend (Note: do not let wife see this post)

From what you've described here, I'll go out on a limb and say you've got hydraulic lifters. I cannot imagine solid lifters being used with shimmed pedistal rocker arms (but then, why would you shim a hydraulic lifter either?) I'd crank it up if possible to normal operating temperature, and then shut it down, and quickly measure the lash. There should be no lash if it is a hydralic set-up. I believe this could be check by simply rotating the pushrod between two fingers which should have some resistance on a fully closed valve on the base circle. Some folks used to set lash at zero hot (no compression of the hydraulic lifter to prevent pump up), so this may be the purpose of the shims........I just don't know. The above suggestions may not be correct as it's been a long time since I've messed with hydraulic lifters.

Tough question. This seems to be common place in that aftermarket weatherstripping prevents things from fitting right (especially doors). I'd attempt to use a drift pin to pry the holes into alignment (using front ones while inserting the bolts in the back ones. I know the holes are small, but I have nothing else to offer. If you're in a cold environment, you may want to warm the gasket (and window) up a bit to soften it. Something like a pilot light in an oven should provide enough warmth to do this, or on top of a furnace vent in the house, etc.

I'm speechless! All I can do is babble at this point.

I undertook this whole project because: 1) to see if it was possible under the parameters of little money required, which was about $25; 2) easier for my particular situation because of the large upright plate verses the OEM uprights and straight transverse link; 3) I personally required nothing less than OEM strength and durability, hence the OEM arms are left untouched; and 4) I love designing and making things. As it has turned out, even 1/6 turn on the turnbuckle produces a noticeable change in toe. I love this thing , and for the first time I can finally experiment on rear toe to see what works and what doesn't. Unfortunately, because I never could adjust rear toe, I never paid too much attention to its effects on chassis dynamics, so now I've got something to learn about. Now I've got to find out what works. Let me comment on a couple of posts above about reproducing this part. I'm guessing that 90% of all transverse links are the later "curved" links, which will require some kind of modification to our design (I say "our design" because I consider this a group effort with special notice going to Jon for his ideas and for getting me off my skinny ass (acutally it's just a hole in my back as I have no ass) to do something I've been sleeping on for a couple of years now. This fact, plus the large upright made this a relatively easy project. I do have a set of later model OEM uprights and curved transverse link which I will experiment with. If all works out as well as this does, then I may be able to reproduce my efforts. As I see this idea of using OEM parts, I would weld a plate between both uprights, creating in essence, a single upright, shaped like a "U". I am very confident this will still fit behind the later positioning of the differential as I've double checked this several times. I've found it is not necessary to have a curved transverse link on the later model Zs. On mine for example, the straight transverse link comes to within 1/2" of the cover plate. The only problem I see here is interference with draining the fluid out of the differential, and nothing else. Small wings will need to be welded to either side (outboard sides) of the OEM uprights so that the transverse link mounting holes can be elongated and still have enough material around the ends of the holes to be viable (the straight plate welded between the uprights will serve this purpose for the inboard holes). Once this is done, then the curved transverse link will most likely have the turnbuckle placed in-line with the curved part to keep the tension/compression force associated with the adjustment process closer in line with the plane of the uprights (otherwise, the separated transverse link halves may try to jam or bind instead of sliding across the face of the uprights. For those thinking they may want something like this, I make no promises, but none-the-less, review what I've noted above, and if you have better ideas on how this can be accomplished using the later OEM parts, then sound off. If you can live with a straight plate behind the differential, then sound off as well. I'm just sending out feelers so that I can get an idea of what is acceptable, or not, in how much modifying some people are willing to accept. Below is a photo of my plate upright with the slotted transverse link holes to give some idea of what was hidden in previous photos. The amount of slotting I feel could be reduced from this example.

great looking set of flares and a great job putting them on.

Yep, 140 good transactions (purchases) here, but 2 sellers took my money and ran on purchases I paid for. It's an honor system and some people have no honor (I only buy from Klingons now). One thing that really pissed me off on the last one was that Ebay, at the sellers request, hid (or made secret) the negetive feedback. It was too late for me to use it anyway, but to hide negative feedback, even after the fact, still stinks .

Two buddies of mine at work have an SRT-4 and an S2000. Talk about two different approaches to performance! The SRT-4 was impressive to drive (I felt 1st gear was a waste of time) and made the S2000 feel anemic when I drove in next, but the S2000 was nimble and tight in the corners, which couldn't be said for the SRT-4.

Good use of the drill press! Did you use a regular cutting tool mounted somehow on the table (I've done this before, but never on this kind of scale before).

Looks great! What inserts did you go with for the sectioned struts?

Looks like a great job you're doing there.

The lips were custom made to resemble the OEM lips (pretty classy if you as me) if I remember correctly.

The spoiler is a separate piece. Mainly because I still can't decide whether I like it on the car or not. Something about the Z's tight little rear end (I can hear the flames roaring in the background already) keeps me from fully commiting to a permanent spoiler on the back.

I had a conversation with McLeod about 2 months ago about my "old" design leaking on the banjo fittings. He explained to me they would offer me a 1 time only special for a discounted "new" design if I would send my old one in to them. Your pictures look just as he described the part to me. I was told in the conversation that, just as you said, this assembly is supposed to replace the bearing retainer (which your photo shows 4 large holes that appear to match the 4 bolts holding the retainer in place. The puzzle is the flat inside face, because I believe the bearing retainer has a recessed cut for the bearing, but I may be wrong on this. I agree with you about the "look". It just doesn't seem correct. Thanks for the pics. BTW, I kept my old T/O bearing when I found that the leaks went away after I replaced all (4) of the O-rings that were inside the banjo fittings.

Please! This is something I'm considering from my hatch so I can remove the last two Dzus fasterners on the hatch, so some photos would be nice to see.

This is what I've done. I fabricated a fiberglass hatch that has a Lexan window in it of reduced size. The OEM hatch with hinges, weighed 41lbs. My fiberglass hatch with the Lexan window weighs 20lbs. The thing working in our favor on fabricating both the hatch and the window are that both of these items have a convex shape to them to a small degree. This prevents either from collapsing, or bowing, under their own weight. I used the OEM hatch to make the fiberglass skin (laid the glass over the hatch and pulled it off in simple terms). The Lexan window is 1/8" thick, was laid into a frame made into the hatch so that the lexan would be flush with the top surface of the hatch. I pop-rivited mine in place (it was a race car at the time) and the lexan formed very nicely to the convex shape of the hatch in a very uniform manner with no heat applied. Here is the framing: And a shot showing it sitting in hatch with no rivets. Again, this was a race set-up, but it worked well. For the street I removed the rivits, and replaced them with some really FLAT 8-32 screws, and a bead of sealer under the Lexan. I really like the few "race look" items on the car, and this was one I kept for that reason. [/img]

Too cool!! Keep us informed and illustrated in how this comes together. I love big projects like this, and enjoy seeing it come together through photos as it happens. Good luck.

Have you checked to see if the bearing is hitting the clutch prior to mating with the engine? Take a straightedge and place it across the bellhousing (engine side) and measure down into the bellhousing to the bearing surface where it contacts the pressure plate. If possible, then measure the same length form the back edge of the block to the pressure plate where it contacts the T/O bearing. The latter dimension should be just a tad less then the prior measurement. Also, if you want to try this, which helps a lot on my install, I drilled two 1" holes in the bottom of the bellhousing directly under the T/O bearing (one to look through, and one to shine a flashlight through). This way, after everything is bolted down, I can view the relationship of the bearing and the pressure plate, as well as the lines going to the T/O bearing to ensure they don't get severed by the rotating pressure plate.

The tail housing should have an aluminum tag with the type of transmission stamped on it. These numbers will give you most of the information you need, then find a site on the internet (there are several) that will tell you what the number on your tag means. If you can't find any of the sites, then I've got some conversion numbers here once you find the number.

Breathtaking . Thanks for the shots on the process and especially those last two beauties. I wish I could see this thing in 3D. Please keep the photos coming. Awesome job and looks. What is the paint color/code?

Jon, Lesson #1 learned so far: If I was to do this again (and I will change this later on) I would make an 1/8" backing plate (mimicking the transverse link halves) with two nuts, or flange nuts (3 in my case) welded onto the backing plate so that bolts pass through the transverse link halves, through the uprights, and screw into the nuts welded onto the backing plate. This way the nuts could be loosened, and adjustments made, from behind the car instead of my design where I've got to loosen the nuts from in front of the link, which requires some jacking up of the car. The backing plate would then slide with the transverse link halves across the back face of the uprights, and when the bolts are tightened down on backing plate, the backing plate sandwiches the uprights between itself and the transverse link. Edit 1/1/04: Backing plates are finished and the assembly is shown below. Now I can loosen either side's link half, and make a toe adjustment without jacking up the car.