Mikelly

There are options out there for stock wheel bolt patterns, but they are far less in number and more expensive in dollars once you go beyond 7 inches in width. I know several companies stopped making wheels wider than 7 inches in a four bolt pattern. The five lug 300ZX/ Ford bolt pattern just allows for so much more selection is my point, especially when going above 15inches in diameter and beyond 7inches in width. Mike

Yes it is... Opens up your wheel and brake upgrade choices significantly! Mike

Based on what you described and how much difficulty you had with your hydraulics, and seeing the damage to the disc, it looks as though you had to much engagement in the rod. Looks to me like you over-extended the lever on the piston and fork throw, putting excess pressure on the face of the clutch, thus fatiguing the springs and forcing the tabs loose and the springs out. If they weren't directly opposite of each other, I'd say it was something else wrong, but based on the fact that they are horizontal to each other, that's my best guess. I'd nail down your hydraulic issues before driving it with a new clutch/ pressureplate setup, or you're likely to duplicate this failure. Oh, and I just installed an Exedy Stage 3 Hyper and noticed a large amount of increase in pedal pressure in the corvette's pedal... Just an FYI if you upgrade to something else... I didn't expect the Exedy to be that much stiffer. Mike

Yup, I heard a distinctive knocking as well... Hope it isn't serious. Mike

I'm using the five lug conversion and plan to use a BBS or CCW style wheel that will be 9-10 inches depending on the flair I'm running. With the five lug setup you can get Ford Mustang wheels CHEAP in the 8-9.5 inch width all day long! Mike

...We went to Allsports indoor go cart track (Located in Sterling, Va. ) this morning... But not to race gocarts. We did 8 minute sessions on dirt bikes! Apparently someone got the bright idea that riding small dirt bikes in doors would be fun. My business partner had gotten wind of this about 6 weeks ago and got his wife's Yamaha TT125 dirtbike out and put street tires on it... He went and did the December running and came back howling at what fun it was. I donned my road race gear and went at it in the beginner class while he was in the intermediate class, so we could share the bike... The course is a road race setup with a series of turns, two 180 hairpins, one long straight and about 6 switchbacks, and open passing everywhere! For $40 we got 6 sessions and it was HARD, but simply so much fun, I'm signing up again for the last three of the season! I'll post some pics and video later. You'll be amazed at how low you can lean a small motorcycle on smooth concrete floors! The advanced group was stupid fast, getting clocked at over 40 mph in some sections. This course is SMALL and tight quarters... It was big fun! Mike

You'll be sorry if you go auto. It's a true sports car experience to row your gears. Spend the bucks and be done with it. Mike

Guys, I really do hate to let a cat out of the bag and retract statements, but Baddog is going to release a FULL framerail that will look a lot like what Pete Paraska made and I copied. I'd recommend waiting or contacting BADDOG for this updated rail that is soon to be released. Mike

I"m gonna run the 10.4 inch setup because I'm running the 153 flywheel/ starter combo. I plan to go with a Ram Heavyduty Clutch setup because of the price and the reputation of the setup. Mike

My trusses were fabricated with a rectangular BOX made into each truss to allow the room. The rectangular box was 7ft X 11Ft. They came pre-made through 84 Lumber. As to the courses of cingerblock, I only have 1/2 of a block sticking above the slab. The rest was required to build up the foundation and was likely part of the issue with the floor falling. We're going to use rebar and mesh to aid in new floor construction some time this coming year. Mike

Wish I had blueprints to give you guys, Mine is a 32X24 with the bonus room built into the trusses. The upstairs room in 11X32 and makes one heck of an office/ play/ storage space. I got the trusses through 84 Lumber and they provided me the blueprints for them, but I promptly sent them to the county for approval and they were never returned. My walls are 12.5 ft. and I'm sitting on five courses of cinderblock, 32 inches of #56 stone and 8 inches deep of concrete with rebar for footers. The footers are 24 inches wide. We had some soil issues, so this building is on serious foundation. Unfortunately the floor is starting to sink and will have to be redone... Foundation was done correctly, the floor was not. Mike

If it was a two seater, It would truly be a find. But it's a 2+2 model and they aren't nearly as desirable... Mike

Good info here. I still need to finish off the front of my core support (Removed mine and tilted the radiator forward at the top, but may end up re-doing that whole section. You guys are making me think! Keep the comments coming... Mike

I have one of those carbon fiber ducts on my LS1 in the vette. It won't clear the radiator support on a Zcar. I actually played with mine on the Zcar before I installed it on the Vette. My Z has the radiator core support removed, so I'm pretty sure you couldn't use that with a stock configuration. Oh, and they are real carbon fiber and REAL freakin' expensive... Mine was a used blemish model and I paid $150 for it. New they are selling for over $350. The plastic units collapse over time, which is why I had to replace mine. Mike

I missed this thread... Here are a few things we learned when we installed the CV Axle/ R200 Quaif we got from Ross and put in Jim's car... These CV axle refurbishing shops make mistakes and sometimes use the wrong axles for the center sections. We ordered FOUR passenger side axles and all of them were the wrong size and all came with the correct part number. This cause us to not be able to get the axles in place even with the retainer flipped. We'd gotten on the phone with Ross and talked about possibilities with the first one, and ended up having to go to a shop that does axles and confirm that indeed the wrong length center was used on that run of passenger side axles. Here's the rub... Ross' axle came from somewhere in the northwestern part of the country near Canada. I'm in Virginia... YOu guys following me here? If he got a mis-labled axle, and I got FOUR MORE incorrectly assembled units, what's the likelyhood that you will? Pretty good in my estimate! Make sure you know the exact measurements of your compressed distances to insure you're getting the correct part. This was our problem and it was very frustrating for me, Ross, the techs at the shop we used, and Jim. Also, I believe someone earlier may have stated I do custom CV alxes. I do not. However, Tim Hepburn put togethe a quality set for me and you may want to contact him! Mike

Bill I'm missing something on the whole pressure plate thing... What was your question? Direct me to the thread... Mike

Brad, the reports I read stated that the aluminum chassis was stronger than that of the steel C6 Chassis. I haven't heard anything to the contrary. I do know they are going to have to jump through some huge hoops to get a roll cage approved for it with SCCA and most of the other racing leagues. They are having to sandwhich the frame with steel channels as footers, and so far everything presented to SCCA has been turned down. Mike

Yup, Jeff's is the bolt in BAR I'm familiar with. The cage they sell for ITS is a different animal all together from what I remember seeing on the units installed in the couple of ITS prepped Zcars I've seen them in. Mike

Nope, that setup snaked around my T56 combo just fine. Long tubes are the issue! mike

Two things... Ditch your existing exhaust. After spending all that cash on the motor, you gotta get it breathing... Get that low (below 1000RPM) power band dream out of your head. That car should be in the 10s when done, but it won't get there shifting below 2K rpms! Mike

The vette clutch is almost done. I did most of it yesterday while I didn't have any appointments, so I'll finish buttoning the exhaust back up and get back to the Z by early next week. Triple size rockstar??? Mike

I'll keep my eyes open for one running. Most are junker parts rust buckets around here. Mike

Screw that. If I do anything, I'll buy the whole car... AND I'm seriously considering just that very thing! No doubt that LS7 is one of the baddest production motors ever built... Very impressive info Pete! Mike

I don't think so. I believe that setup requires a different depth of flywheel/ clutch cover combo. I just shipped one of these kits out and it is 52 POUNDS!!! Mike

Jamie, Remember I got dibbs on the ones I sold you. Mike