Mikelly

Check the various freigh companies. I forget the company we used, but shipping my LS1 was less than $200. Do a search, because I posted my woes, the prices and all... Should be in a thread from back in June-july time frame last year. Mike

Pop, If you buy an older model LS1 fromt he 97-2000 range (especially the 97-98 heads) you'll be down on power. We found this out the hard way with my new heads that were new 98 model cores. They simply don't flow nearly as well as they should, and don't make the power I should be making with my combo. If I was to do it over, I'd copy the MTI 402 stroker setup with the LS2 shortblock and a set of LS6 lightly ported heads, or the new Dart heads, which are on my short list. Mike

Guy, looking closer at it, I see purple fuel rails. Maybe he's gonna use an aftermarket TB with TBI injector setup with it on the carb intake, kinda like my Holley setup. That said, I'd have gone the FAST LSX intake route, gone with potent heads and cam, and been happy with more power than he could ever possibly get out of it on an autoX anyway. Twin turbos on something like that is just wicked excess. Adding more HP will only make that car near impossible to drive towards a TTOD. Mike

YOu'd want the clutch assembly as well as the flywheel and the clutch hydraulics, although you won't use them, get them anyway to make sure you get it all. Your best bet is to find a 2002 model Car. They make Crazy power bonestock. We're talking well over 310 at the wheels (little brother made 319/333 to the wheels last weekend on his otherwise stock setup) with factory cast steel manifolds. Go ahead and get the drive shaft with it and use the front yoke from that. You'll also want to grab the gastank if possible. Others here can give you a MUCH more detailed list of parts, but the Johns cars mount kit and the JTR headers would be on my list. Mike

It's kinda interesting because as have priced a new 2007 Z06, the reality has set in that at "$65900" you quickly get into the $78-80K with taxes, tags, dealer prep. What else can you get for about $80K? Well, as luck would have it, the Noble, the Ultimate GTR, a few Porsche models, the Viper, and a very few others in the price range. But $80,000 for something I'd want to drive hard and regularly... I may end up keeping the old C5 and just giving her a thorough freshening of the interior and paint, new heads and cam, and calling it a day! That's a $10K investment in something that's almost paid for. Mike

I seriously doubt he'll get sick of that RX7. That is ONE SEXY car. Best looking thing Mazda ever built, and made even better with that LS1 in it! Mike

He's still here... Just very busy... Keep trying. Mike

Excellent Advice Lewis. I find it hard to give an attorney a large sum of cash when we're not talking about DUI or something more significant. When I talked with our local Commonwealth attorney, he advised me to take the approach I did for a reckless driving ticket. I did, and it was seriously reduced. If you can present yourself as an adult, act professional,be polite, and leave your emotions outside in the lobby, you'll fare much better. If you can't do anyone of these things, Take Mayolives' advice and spend the money on someone who can do all those things for you. And dress apporpriately. I've talked with a few judges in the past, and had dinner with one, and he said flat out, come in dressed in baggie pants and scruffy looks, act disrespectful, use slang terminology, and you'll be rewarded more harshly than showing the proper amount of respect for his/her honor and the court system. I'm not gonna debate what is right or wrong here, but pass along some experiences. I was a horrible law breaker in my youth. From the time I got my license until last year (23 years driving), I'd been charged 8 times with reckless driving. I've never gotten an attorney. I've also never been convicted of reckless driving. One of those episodes was as a 17 year old kid, being charges 110-40 with reckless, endangerment, and hauled in with my car impounded. I represented myself and the charges were reduced to 5mph over the limit. Virginia is one of the tougher states when it comes to driving privilages, so I'm pretty confident you can get this reduced. But you gotta follow the advice above. Also, if your speedometer is truly off, you MUST go get it certified as being off. The court will want the documentation from the center that verified the incorrect data. That price is a one time fee... Your insurance increases are much more long-term impacting. Mike

Yes, we can actually start another thread and maybe move some of the text from here... However, I'd like to suggest also that we maybe start planning now and schedule a weekend around NEXT YEARs Triangle Zcar Club/ THSCC event at VIR to maybe get John out on a trip east for the HPDE weekend. I'm sure between us, we could get his ticket paid for and get him put up somewhere local to the track for the weekend... That is if John is interested, of course. There are a number of guys on the east coast who are driving their V8 built track Zcars successfully on large road courses. I think it is important to show the potential of these cars. John brings a lot to the table when it comes to the total package, so it would be of huge value to have him come out. Mike

I'm with Mikie on this one. Brace it or you're going to have long term cracks from the weight, added to the constant heating/ cooling cycles. The only turbo manifolds I've seen NOT crack are the larger oem cast steel manifolds out on the market. Lately, thanks to my kids and their friends, I'm seeing a LOT of turbo components and I've been asked to weld braces on TWELVE different manifolds. All of them cracked over time and none of them had braces to help relieve the stresses caused as described above. I'm not a mechanical engineer by trade, but I can't help but think the constant heat cycling, and the weight of the turbo are the culprit. Thoughts? Mike

Let's see, first Scottie, then Bastaad, now heavy, and I hear MAS is trying to sell his as well! Ah, the alure of all the same benefits of a Zcar, in 25 year newer chassis! Like I've said many, many times... I love my Zcar for what it is, and don't expect it to do what it can't. Zcar = Track car! Mike

Yea, Kinda nauseating when I go back and read it now! Mike

So Basically John took his V8Zcar and bested the ITS time by OVER 4 seconds. That's on a 2.3 mile road course, so four seconds isn't a small matter. This is one such reason that I've changed direction on building my Zcar and am now building it as a dedicated HPDE car. Mark Icard was a true force to be reconned with when we were at VIR last February with THCC. He was clearly one of the fastest in the advanced group and was cutting 2:13-2:15 second laps. A number of us were very impressed watching him do battle with some serious hardware. Mike

I'm in for one! Mike

Most shops I've heard of are doing $75-90 per hour for tuning, depending on the type of tune. However, I've paid $300 for LS1 Edit initial tuning with free minor tweeks and full on reconfigurations for $150 with 2.5 hours on the rollers. Mike

Rudy, Was the car your Z? You need to find a shop that does speedo calibrations. Once you find that shop, and get the car on their rollers, you'll know what the difference is in the speedometer. Contact me offline if you were driving your Zcar. I have some thoughts I'll share with you. Mike

We had this same discussion over the weekend when I was at that little Dyno day. The question always arises when someone wants to have "the most" hp possible. Two questions come to mind... What do you plan to do with the car? Are you (Be honest here) going to do all that power REAL justice? I know I was barely holdin' my own when driving my C5 when it was making 335/353. Now with 386/382, I bet it would be MUCH more difficult to drive properly. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I'm giving huge props to the guys with the lower HP cars that are like velcro to my bumper! Mike

Pop, I'd say yes, you could do it in that amount of time. To answer the other questions about the OTHER changes to brake lines, fuel tank and such, that answer is YEs. I'd enlist Doug Carrow, Pete P. And Jamie T. in the build process, and I've got a lot more tools and parts than the average bear. The true key is to make sure you have ALL parts in house before you start. I'd bet two months of weekends would get it done with ease. As to the Johns cars mounts, I was very impressed with David's car when he brought it down for the last cook out. The mounts look awesome and are truly top shelf parts. Mike

My youngest stepson is going through this right now with his turbo civic that lost compression in a cylinder. Here's what you need to ask yourself... Is it a daily driver or a car you don't need to rely on. If it is your main mode of transportation, PAY the man and get it done right. Otherwise, take your time, buy the right books, the right tools, and enlist the right help locally to teach you how to do it. If there is no stress to "get it done", you'll be MUCH more successful in the long haul. Oh, and DO NOT scrimp on the machine shop... Let them hot tank and check the block for cracks. Let them do a check of your head to make sure it is true and straight. Let them do seat pressure tests on your valve seats, and have them check the guides. Go ahead and have them hone the block with the proper PLATE. If you have the extra money, you might even want to get them to balance the assembly... But i'd NOT scrimp on the machine shop. That is the devil in the detail that will kill an otherwise good L6 build. Mike

Based on my own research, there is a ton of support for this swap. You'd need to get the JTR headers and the John's cars mounts, along with a complete LS1/2/6 and wiring harness/ ecu. Mount the ECU in the footwell sidewall like the stock ECU was un the 75-78 Z or in the passenger side passenger area against the firewall. You'd need a new driveshaft, and you'd need the MASS and plumbing for an air filter setup, but this is cake. I bet I could do an LS1 Swap into a Zcar in two weekends, from start to sending it to the exhaust shop for pipes. As to that weight table info, I have no idea how they came up with the weights, but that info is flawed a bit. The LS1 Shortblock assembly is absolutely 85-ish pounds lighter than a fourbolt main shortblock. Beyond that, there is certainly a weight gain on the tranny parts, but that isn't a bad thing, since that weight is carried more towards the center and lower in the car. Not to mention the 15 or so nissan transmissions I killed throughout the 80s and 90s. The newer Tremec TKO 5 speeds and B/W T56s are MUCH more durable than anything Nissan offered to the us buying public. Mike

I'm not even sure I'd go with the 18 circuit kit. The 12 Circuit kit comes with all you need, and it has a few accessory slots you can utilize for the one or two circuits not included. The 18 Circuit kit comes with power windows, power doorlocks, and other items not used. If you go that route get the universal setup without the chevy column, since none of it matches up with their plug anyway. Mike

OK Guys, Let's take a time out... Daniel and I've chatted about this. A post of his was reported to us as inappropriate and we chose to remove the thread. Daniel is stating that he wants people offended by his posts to contact him offline. However, it doesn't work that way. People don't like confrontation and would just rather "report" a post to the admins and moderators. What it boils down to is IF you think the post you are about to make is marginal, or NOT suitable for the site, then don't make it. If it is in poor taste, borderline sexual content, political in nature, or otherwise offensive, then simply don't make it. A lot of guys here have kids running around in the same room while they are surfing. It is the nature of being a parent. They also have spouses who might be offended. They also may just be offended by the material. Bottom line is if a post is reported, we're probably going to remove it. If it isn't reported, but seems like it will go down a certain path (Given past history) then it will likely be locked or removed. We're not going to debate this, and we're not going to justify it. We simply don't have to. It is what it is. There are 80million other sites out there to deal with, so go there to post your offhanded humor or comments. And for the record, I hear http://www.Ihatemikekelly.com is available... get it quick before it's gone! This topic is done. Mike

It's kinda like me with the Lotus' that have been at our track events... Rolling speed bumps. I guess it all boils down to what it SHOULD boil down to... DRIVER! Buy what you want and drive the snot out of it! Mike

I wouldn't recommend anything from Howe. We used the Howe unit on Jim McNemar's car and it lasted 3 drives. Mike

AND the fact that SCCA and NASA both are huge supporters of the Miata in racing series. If you're building something for street use, HPDE and have no interest in a convertible, the Zcar is great. However, Im stuck with a project car that I won't be able to race in a series because of the V8 and all the mods. Mike