Mikelly

Yup! You should see the absolute JUNK CF my stepson just bolted onto his civic hatch. The chin spoiler had air pockets and straiphes (sp) all through the weave and you could tell it was CF over glass. The same thing on the rear hatch spoiler he got in the mail yesterday. His response to me when I commented on the imperfections was "it isn't a show car!" THAT is why so much of that garbage sells. These kids don't care how crappy the quality is. They just want to look good in the parking lot with their friends not looking at the overall quality and fitment. Being able to say "I've got carbon fiber race this and carbon fiber race that" is all that matters to some... Joel, I'd send that stuff back and go another route all together. The quality just isn't there right now. And people wonder why John C.'s stuff is so expensive. Mike

Removing the clutch fork and slave cylinder gives more room for exhaust AND reduces the heat to the hydraulics for the clutch system. I was going the clutch fork/ slave cylinder route and decided not to after seeing how close everything was going to sit and seeing potential interferance issues between exhaust and hydraulics. Mike

Steve and Ian were very successful with their setup at many autoX events. They were running over 7 degrees positive caster. The added benefit in the front was less static camber, which in their case made for a better contact patch on the front tires. I'll be playing around with mine this spring and summer and will be able to tell you what works better, more or less... Mike

Steve and Ian were very successful with their setup at many autoX events. They were running over 7 degrees positive caster. The added benefit in the front was less static camber, which in their case made for a better contact patch on the front tires. I'll be playing around with mine this spring and summer and will be able to tell you what works better, more or less... Mike

"But dude, That bling dash will blind you!" (From the other thread... Owen, your fabrication skills are amazing. Wish I could have poured something off this cover. I've lost steam in the last two days and still haven't resolved where my lights are dying. Probably won't get back to the Zcar for at least a week. I'm starting to tear into the vette again to put this Exedy stage3 clutch in it. Mike

The new technical editor for Road and Track is the guy who built the Mclaren. He did the technical write up on the car and was probably one of the best people to objectively tear the car appart. They actually built in a lot of down force into the new bodywork in order to keep the car on the ground. It is an engineering masterpiece. Sure, VW will lose lots of dollars on it. That wasn't the point. The point was making a car that would do what they did with it. In reality, I doubt we'll ever see one of these on a public road. We are truly living in an automotive age our grandchildren will talk about as being the "good old days". 500HP seems to be the mark for the big 3 to fight over for their ubber sports/ pony cars. Then you have the mid level 400HP cars that are becoming pretty common. And with the imports pretty much selling in the upper 200 to lower 300HP range for their flagship and midlevel enthusiast cars, it is truly a time when we gear heads should be in a constant state of euphoria! Mike

Uhhuh, Well documented that the quality in the weave and the curring is substandard on those parts. That is why most are painting them or just dealing with the LACK of quality. Wonder who is making them for MSA? Mike

If money were no object and my CPA and investment banker were on board with it, you bet. That car is a technological work of art. I read the Road and Track article on it and that sucker is amazing. If all goes well, I plan to sell my current Vette this summer and place an order for a NEW 2007 Z06. Not nearly the potential of that Bugati, but not the price tag either. Mike

One kit has been spoken for... Guys Let's just round this whole thing off to $200 including shipping and the paypal fees. And YES, these two kits are compatible with the Fbody T56 combo... Mike

I'll probably end up with the 8610s. I will need to replace the rear struts as my new Tokico Premiums on the rear have on that has failed, and I had to "resize" the fronts for a little custom top hat experiment I was trying... Mike

I'll probably end up with the 8610s. I will need to replace the rear struts as my new Tokico Premiums on the rear have on that has failed, and I had to "resize" the fronts for a little custom top hat experiment I was trying... Mike

Guys, I'll be posting these over on the Corvette forum soon, but figured I'd throw them out here first. I've got two LOW mileage clutch kits that look brand new that are for the LS6 Z06 Vette, rated at 450Ft.# torque. They both come with clutch, PP and flywheel from the factory and I'm selling both at half the price you can get on the internet... $175 + shipping. Those doing the LS1 swap, this is an excellent upgrade over stock. Send me a PM if interested. Mike

No No No No No... The newest debate is LS1 Vs old school V8... Jtr vs. Scarab is sooooo Yesterday! Mike

Now see, John you're contradicting exactly what I would have thought you'd do, constructing one to fit your exacting needs... Proves me wrong yet again! The bars aren't a bad "cheap" alternative, and I'd opt for one of those over the S&W cage placement/ fitment issues. I'm just a big fan of welded in cages now days. Mike

Here's what I got from Tilton: "Hello Mike, We show the following: Retainer 61-625, takes the place of the bearing retainer on the front of the Tremec transmission. Must have for our hydraulic assembly. 61-601 hydraulic assembly with lines, for use with 10.5" clutch. or 61-604 hydraulic assembly for use with 11" clutch. 7/8" bore master cylinder, close does not count, must be 7/8". As long as you read the directions and install the pedal stop it will be a very reliable unit. You will purchase these parts through a Tilton distributor. If they do not have the parts on the shelf it will take a couple days to put them together here and ship them. Regards, Mike O'Neil Managing Engineer Tilton Engineering, Inc. " The only issue I see with this setup is cost. That said, every "proven" hydraulic bearing out there is $275 or more, so there ya have it... The Bearing retainer is $88 at Port City Racing and the bearing kit, complete with lines and fittings is another $245. There are four members here who are all using the McLeod Hydraulic bearing kit, which will cost about the same, and uses shims to set the clearances. I believe the Tilton unit is a little more durable, based on what I've been reading, and looking at the parts involved. Mike

I've personally owned that specific bar you have pics of above and I installed it as well. It does not go to the floor, but attaches onto the wheel well with bolts and 1/8th inch or 1/4 inch backing plates. You can see pics of that main hoop in the cage we welded into the car JT1 bought from me here: http://photos.yahoo.com/dat74z in the "my Photo Album" folder. It is the pics of the white Z with flares. Mike

Just got email from IOport... Nice... Didn't see anywhere on the site that these get a $38 charge for over sized shipping... So much for free shipping on items over $100. Buyer Beware, I suppose! Mike

True, John Sells them. However, I would be very surprised if he installed one in his personal car. I used to be a fan of these bars and had one bolted into a zcar that also had been converted to a full cage while using that four point bar as the main hoop. It did very well during a severe rear end colision from a plumbing supply truck. That said, there are much better places to sit the footers for that cage. I'd get a four point custom bar welded in it and be sure it works to your liking. Mike

I think I've got the Corbeaus sold, so I went ahead and ordered the Kirkey Intermediate seats with covers from IOport racing. Total for the 17 inch 20 degree lay back pair was less than $390 shipped, and included the black velour covers. I'll shop a bit for the mounts . Mike

I personally don't think you have enough room. Those seats eat up a lot of space. I've had that particular bar and both the other non-legal bars sold by autopower. Although they are better than nothing, I'd seriously research other alternatives. A bolt in cage is minimalist. A bolt in four point bar does next to nothing to help, particularly where this style bolts in at. Mike

Frank, What did you pay for it? List on the site was $17900. Good looking car, BTW! Where are you located in Va.? Mike

Well "job" did come to mind! Simmer down guys... You're gonna break their concentration! Regardless the moral argument, I for one would never want to have seen my parents gettin' it. I'm certain my step kids feel the same way about their mother and I. The sad reality this particular image is painting is that this child is watching a sexual act and there is no way of knowing the damage being done to that child's mind. In this country, that would be a case of child abuse and the child would likely be taken from the parents, assuming one of the two is the parent. Maybe it is a brother or sister hookin' up... Who knows... Sad though, anyway you put it. Mike

What I did was take a stock dash cover from either MSA or VB and lay glass inside it in about 4mills thickness. I took a stock dash and removed all the material from the metal base, then cut the top of the base off. I used that top flat surface and bolted it in. I'll weld about three to four braces on to my roll bar cross brace and bend it so that it will hit the front of the dash for a bolt in pickup point. I will use bolts to bolt the dash cover to the braces. I used fast drying epoxy to mount the gage braces that are mounted. I do plan to finish epoxying the last coupld of gages in place, along with my shift light. Funny thing is that the dash without the gages weighs less than two pounds! Mike

Mine's a 76 280. I only identified the wires I'm using. There are four others (all are blue with various stripes) for the intermitant side and the washer bottle. All it takes it powering each of them for the various combos. Mike

You guys can see some of the pics here: http://photos.yahoo.com/dat74z Look in the new Zcar Project folder. Some of them will be edited later with text to explain what you are looking at. Gotta Run! Mike