Mikelly

Evan, I know there's probably a little bit of stress in your life with that clock tickin' down... You've only got a few days before you head out to your NEW CAREER AND LIFE! Don't screw it up, man... That kinda speed on the street on those "may-pop" tires isn't so smart, for such a smart guy! Burn off that nervous energy under the sheets at your girl's house! Mike

I"d not buy the tokicos, and I have a set... I'd go with either custom Bilsteins or Konis, even for a street car, or find some Boges. Also, If this is just a street car, you might end up just going with a little narrower tire/wheel, and running your stock spring perch with a traction master/ MSA/AZC coil spring. Stay away from the ubber stiff adjustable sway bars as well. When you're talking with Dave at AZC, make sure he fully understands what you plan to do with the car (Really) so he sells you the best parts for the job. Coil overs and ubber stiff suspensions on the street just don't make sense to me... Mike

Pete Paraska and I were discussing this thread last night and some good points come to mind... These are 30-36 year old shells. The metal is thing to start with and only gets abused and fatigued over the years. Maybe the right answer to all this isn't the mounts, or pickup points, but what they are attaching to. Maybe we need to re-enforce those areas instead of making new subframe carriers, and such? I think the movement of the pinion isn't as much an issue as what it is moving against. Thoughts? Mike

Forward it to these nice folks: http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml They are very interested in this particular scheme and others like it, since there is serious concern that these emails are actually based out of the USA. Mike

Welcome to the board. This site has been in existance for SIX years and every question you have can be answered here for sure! My advice is to first, read our rules for using the board, so you understand when we lock threads like this one! If you're installing a 383 stroker in an early 70-78 Z, the instructions in the book are BUTT STUPID simple and Mike at JTR does an excellent job spelling it out. I've got the book, and had it for going on 10 years... Great read, great place to start. That book, Along with this site, and reading the results of your will help you help yourself. Once you exhaust all those possibilities, then post away. However, I bet, actually I KNOW you'll find your answers with a simple search of our new improved handy dandy ACME search engine! Thanks! Your HybridZ Administrative Staff

Welcome to the board... This thread is being locked. You've got your answers, and I'd personally appreciate it if you searched and read the rules before you continue! :search: In the future, we ask that, before you ask a question, please use our new and improved, handy dandy ACME search engine. It's twice as fast as before, and sure to provide years of entertainment! Have a nice day and thanks for playing! Mike

I hate when Pete's right. I measured and measured and thought this was gonna work with the clutch fork... Not only is the clutch for hitting the trans tunner, but SO IS THE BELLHOUSING! So Saturday, I'll lower the tail of the tranny with the car up in the air, and I'll get my BFH out and see if I can massage the tunnel enough to clear everything. I might actually have to remove the clutch fork, cut and reweld it about half inch shorter... We'll see... On the plus side, the motor is in the car (hopefully for the last time) but without the headers on it. Mike

Ross at MML makes a five lug aluminum hub, as does JamieT. You could use the rims, but you'd need the five lug conversion parts for the front and rear, plus the brake upgrade, and that's a couple bucks worth of parts. The five lug conversion is really independant of the rear question you PM'ed me about. Mike

You owned a Camode? Shame on you 289! Mike

THis guy said it was aligned agressively, and that he'd been driving it on the street for a while "hard". When I asked for the alignment numbers, they sounded very tame... I think he had Half a degree negative camber in the front with something like 3 degrees caster and the toe was set at Zero. On my daily driver I have 1.2 negative on the front, 7 degrees positive caster, and about 1/32nd positive toe. The rear is at 1.0 negative with 1/16th of toe in. That Factory five drove poorly and just was uninspiring all the way around... He commented that his wife won't ride in the car becuase of the side pipes and the uncomfortable seats. I thought to myself that she'd at least be safe that way! Oh well... We've seen similar from the cobras we've done track days with too. They are great straightline cars, but don't do so well by today's standards. Mike

Norm you would be wrong yet again... A: If you look back to my very first post on this subject, I stated that this advice applies to simple traffic violations. NOTHING significant like a DUI or other serious misdemeanor crime. B: Using my credentials to try to get out of a ticket would cost me my clearance. The only time my former employer would intervene was during jury duty. That's the ONLY time. I don't think of this advice I offer as anything other than common sense. If one can't conduct themselves accordingly, then I guess they deserve to get fleeced of legal fees to get them out of the trouble they got into... I stand by my comments... Mike

I ordered the Clutch kit on MONDAY Feb 13th and it arrived on TUESDAY Feb 14th... FREE shipping... WOW... Good customer service and $40-50ish cheaper than Jegs and Summit... WOW! Today, If time permits, I'll go ahead and install the clutch and pressure plate, and button it all up. I want to get it all ready for the Slave Cylinder bracket fabrication and then get the whole thing installed in the car so I can move on to the rear of the car. Strongly recommend you guys checking out autopartswarehouse for prices before buying another part for your swaps!! Mike

I guess my question is could you imagine what it would do to a Urethane mount? Over time it would probably destroy that... I was at CreationZ (Guys who used to work at Datsun Dynamics) yesterday and Dave (one of the owners) was telling me how their stroker car was breaking mustache bars and front diff mounts, and completely trashing the differentials. I'm really wrestling with this right now since I've got all the hardparts in house to mount a Q45 in the stock location, using stock parts, except for a front mount I'll need to make. I just don't think it's worth it. Pretty sure I'm going to weld something up like Jamie Taylor did or maybe like tube80z (Carey) has done. Mike

Norm, You never know until you try. Typically for me to get a lawyer in my area for any court appearances, I'm looking at $1500 MINIMUM! And then they will tell you "no guarantees" but I'll see what I can do for you when we go to court! Do a check on the most strict states when it comes to traffic court and you'll see that Virginia is one of the top three. Now, All those reckless tickets I collected over the years, they didn't happen in one county. Remember, I used to commute over 140miles round trip for work every day. I've been pulled over because a helicopter paced me for speeding on I495 going around the beltway towards the GW Parkway. My tickets are legend around CIA headquarters... Nothing like having your employees see you on the local news when the traffic helicopters get tipped to a "high speed chase" in rush hour! Point is that I've pretty much gotten a LOT of tickets over the years and had to fight them in a number of jurisdictions. If you don't feel capable of pleading your own case, and more comfortable letting your fate rest in the hands of a stranger, then GO FOR IT. I trust my own judgement. Fortunately, My insurance for our policy is reasonable for the 97 328iBMW, the 99C5 Corvette and the 2004 Medium Duty 3500 Dodge truck. We're paying about $475 per quarter, or $1900 for the year. Our insurance dropped from $4800 down to $1900 when our 18 year old moved out! That's what young drivers cost their parents... $2900 in "family" policy increases for adding him and a 1990 Honda Civic HF to the mix! Detectors and Jammers: I've been doing a bunch of research as of late on the whole Jammer/detector thing. Don't get caught with a jammer. There was a guy on Corvette Forum who is in jail serving a two year term for the jammer and other related offenses for ONE traffic stop. They aren't playing around when it comes to this particular FCC violation. The radar detectors I've considered that are under $500 are the V1 (V1.8 or newer) and the Passport 8500. I like the remote view for the V1, although the price for everything on the V1 makes getting into it close to the $500 mark. The Passport is nice, and supposedly right up there with the V1, but some complain of the display. Some like it. Apparently both have state of the art capabilities and Dual pop filters. I don't think you'd go wrong with either. I'll let you know what I end up with. Mike

If you ever get the chance to drive a Cobra Kit car, You may very well change your mind on doing a Shelby. Recently I got to drive one. This is one of my "must have" cars and the car was a factory five kit, done up with high end parts. I was so disappointed that the owner saw it on my face. I tried to mask my disappointment, but I think he could tell. What did I not like? The car rode horribly, had poor braking, and the suspension and steering were vague at best. I was not impressed. Sure, it went fast in a straight line, but handling was non-existant. Truly a disappointing "dream come true" for sure! Mike

If it is 30% then you're right... We're talking more like 585 at the wheels at sea level. That is a huge difference. Mike

Well Scottie, we've only for two ways of comparing power... quarter mile times and dyno sheets. He hasn't been to the track yet, so all we have to go on is dyno sheets. Do the best with the data you have, and that's all you can do... Mike

One more comment... Every time we get someone posting about a court appearance or ticket, Someone on here always posts that "the man who defends himself in court, has a fool for attorney." Horseshit. This isn't a felony or serious misdemeanor crime. This is a simple traffic offense. If you can't defend yourself in a simple traffic offense, then you've got bigger life issues that you'll need help with along the way. The fool spends his money foolishly on an attorney. This is no different than paying someone else to swap your oil or brake pads when you've got the tools, space and skills to perform the job yourself. If you can't conduct yourself as outlined above, then you might not want to do a LOT of other things in life either! Mike

240ZR, You got a dyno sheet? I'd be really surprised if you're making that kind of power. Also, remember, you're making it in Southern California at near sea level if you're indeed making 420Wheel HP. He's making 450 Wheel HP at about 6000ft. above sea level... By my estimate Ben would be making about 540WHP at sea level. And he hasn't even started turning up the boost. Just wanted to put this into true perspective.... Mike

First, I don't see this as that big a deal. Second, You've got a state's attorney IN THIS THREAD giving you advice... I'd be hitting Mr. Maudlin up offline for some advice (Sorry Lewis for throwing you under the bus!) and offering to buy him a HybridZ sticker or hat or tshirt or giftcard to his favorite bath house... OK, maybe not bath house, but you get my point here... THIRD, and this is super important... Don't LAWYER UP unless you can't walk and chew gum while speaking plain english. Go in to court, dressed to impress, and simply tell your story with these pics in hand. Ask the judge the question about the jurisdiction. Tell him you're confused. Enter DOUBT into HIS mind. He's the one who will be handing out the punishment. If you go in and conduct yourself with respect for the court (Dress appropriately and no slang terms) and ask intelligent questions, leave emotion at home, and address the officer with respect when challenging the ticket, you'll be fine. Worst case is you get convicted of the crime. Best case? It gets thrown out. I've posted this before, but I'll post it again. I've been charged with seven or eight (So many I forget) reckless driving offenses, which are the kiss of death in Virginia. These 6 point tickets stay on your record for 10 years... Imagine what they do to your insurance rates. I've NEVER been convicted of reckless driving and I've never Cowboy'ed up for a lawyer. This isn't curring cancer or aids... It's a ticket. The formula is real simple. Look at it like a chess game. Get your notes together, get a hair cut, dress presentably, and practice what you are going to say. You don't want to go in dressed in a tee shirt with jeans hanging down around your waist. You also don't want to walk with a tip, or a slow drag in one leg, and you don't want to speak with any slang... Judges deal with hoods all day long. If you walk in dressed like your favorite raper, you may meet his cousin while being "inprocessed" for your little stint in county lockup. Dress presentably. No, no need for a suit. But dress like you're going to church. It will make a difference. All this does work. It has for me over the years. Mike

The MML kit is a nice kit. The only thing to be aware of is it doesn't use the factory Cobra Brake rotor. Ross employes the same design as used in the original Zcar setup, meaning it isn't a floating rotor, but bolts to the back of the hub. Otherwise it is a fine kit. Mike

Ding ding ding ding! Cyrus, Move to the front of the class... If someone wants to believe something, you can only take them to the fountains of knowledge... You can NOT make them drink from it! MIke

You could ask the same question about NASCAR... WHY NO FI? Most likely it is RULES that are dictating some of these requirements to use carburetors. However, and this was recently a topic in Speedway Engineering Magazine (I think that's the name), the cost pros are experiencing in doing significant work to race carbs/ intakes/ fuel systems to get them to compete at the highest levels has now made them nearly as costly as FI setups. If you want to stay with a carburetor, that's fine. However, understand that technology is moving forward faster than ever before imagined. That comparison with the LS1 and the one about monster trucks are two excellent examples about WHY it's just a matter of time. Carbs are on their way out... Two decades or three down the road, maybe five, who knows... But Carbs are NOT on any production based vehicle to my knowledge. Now, Let me ask you this... WHY are there NO carbs in Formula One??? Mike

Well after talking on the phone with the folks from Midway Industries Tech line (Centerforce), I ordered the following part numbers for my clutch setup: CFT361675 - Pressure Plate LM384161 - Clutch Disk N1716 - Release Bearing I'll be picking up a chevy truck hydraulic master cylinder today or tomorrow, and I'll go ahead and set it all up with the motor out of the car. I've gotten the tech info for clearance between the release bearing and the pressure plate, the throw of the arm on the clutch fork, as well as the rest of the setup documentation. By the time all that comes in, I'll be ready to install the motor and tranny and my back will have fully recovered, although it feels rather well today! The place I ordered the parts from was VERY reasonable and has free shipping! http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/performance/psearch.php?part_number=384161 Total on parts and shipping was about $275 for everything... That's about $45 less than Summit or Jegs! Mike