Mikelly

Zcar Magazine... Now there's a blast from the past... I actually contemplated buying that titanic of a business venture before SportZ cropped up. Sport Z is founded by some of the folks who worked hard to try and assist the previous owner of Zcar Magazine before it was pulled off lifesupport. So far, this magazine has done very well at being fair and balancing coverage of ALL Zcar makes. Plus the guys at SportZ are just nice people to work with in general (Except for Art, who is a purist at heart ) ! Art, Just kidding, of course! Mike

This was part of the problem we missed when doing testing on the tubular rear arms we built. The units that failed on Steve/ Ians race car and Mark Icard's Yellow car tore the tubular metal and not the weld. Both arms suffered the same failure on the same side arm. There is a tremendous amount of force from multiple directions being applied to the arm, and is one reason I now believe the factory arm was boxed the way it was for strength across the plane of the arm. Mike

That car looks straight. Only thing that I don't like and would concern me would be the rocker panels. What would you gind when removing them (All those lower skirt installs generally trap moisture and rot out the original rockers, and the rear spoiler is to big for that car in my opinion. Thar car needs a smaller spoiler to match the lines, since there is no added fender flare. Otherwise, it is a CLEAN car and I love the Gnose... Wish I still had mine... Mike

Go here for blueprints on the only subframe connector worth installing, short of going full tube frame: http://www.alteredz.com/ And of course, do a search on roll cages. The question asked above is the most important... What do you plan to do with the car? Mike

Only word of caution on the CCWs is they are a BIATCH to clean. We bolted a set on Jim's car... You can see them here: http://photos.yahoo.com/dat74z Click on the Red Zcar folder. ON3GO, We looked into sending Jim's wheels back and CCW didn't want to touch them. We had backspacing/ offset issues on the front of the car with the MML front hub (Only reason we swapped it out to Jamie T's hub/ brake setup) and wanted to send the fronts back and have the wheels redone with different offset and they told us it would be about the same price as buying new wheels! I did a little diggin' and found that they aren't as open to redoing wheels for customers, and they grill you a bit more on the backspacing/ offset of the wheel order before completing the order now days... There once was a time when they'd redo a wheel for you for under $200. Mike

I have GP Legends, F1 and my all time favorite is still Sports Car GT for PC based games. I didn't prefer Liveforspeed. It was ok, but the dynamics weren't any better than either of the three I have listed above. If you can, download all the add ons for GP legends... Very slick indeed. Mike

Here's the rational that normally takes place: Guy finally can afford something besides a minivan or grocery getter... He buys a modern "muscle car" and keeps it for about 2-4 years while doing bolt ons or upgrades. Over that period of time career and money are going better. Guy gets tired of "muscle car" and wants something and can now afford something that is a little more upscale... He starts looking. His choices are Infinity G35/ Nissan 350Z (35-40K range loaded) and newer pony cars... Gee, unimpressed he decides to look outside the box at other cars. He looks at STis and EVOs, but for that money, I wonder what the going rate is on BMW and Mercedees... All the sudden he's looking in the market around 45K to 50K and realizes he can afford a lot higher class vehicle... So now he's looking at Vettes and M3s, and Maybe Porsche Boxters... So he buys something in the mid to upper 40s American or European in the form of a sedan or Prosche Boxter, or a Corvette. Couple years go by and he is now running in a new class of "enthusiasts" with a whole new class of cars. Guy is doing even better, making more money and he's starting to get tired of his latest toy... So what can he buy? Hmmm Starts looking, and starts doing the numbers and realizes that he can afford a Z06 Corvette at $68500... Gee can't get one because they are sold out or marked up? Well now, we're close to the price of a new Viper, which is a BAD RIDE, so He starts trying to find one of those... For about $75,000... They are hard to find and test drives aren't allowed... BUt gee what else is available in that price range... All the sudden a lot of custom and specialty cars are out there in the market. Pick up a copy of Dupont registry if you're this guy and you're now like a kid in a candy store... Want a new Porsche 997 model? You're in that range... If you can stand to buy used, all the sudden a number of Ferraris and modified Porches along with a host of used hi hp vettes and vipers are available. Want something slighly more tame? Mercedees AMGs go used in that range (and lower) as well, and BMW Mseries cars are everywhere... I've sit back and watch this play out time and again. As soon as you get a guy out of the musclecar/ ponycar and into something upscale, it's over... You have a guy who has turned a corner on performance cars. It's that simple. All the sudden that Mustang GT with all the SVO parts bolted on it is just as bad as the ricer kid in a hopped up Honda... So what if he beets you at the stop light... It's still just a Mustang... You're in an XXX (Whatever you fall head over heels for!). You might lose, but you're doing in in class and style. Ford promissed their loyal Mustang Crowd the GT500 and they delivered. I don't think they did their homework and they clearly don't have in mind keeping step in the battle with the Vette and Viper shootouts. They've got the Ford GT for that for at least one more year. Unfortunalely you could buy two Z06s and have money left for the cost of a GT. And the GT500 is a joke. I bet handling issues are gonna be reported early. As to the weights on the regular mustang, they are in the 36**# Range and the GTO is 37**#. If I was going to do one or the other, I'd buy the GTO only because of the cost vs. potential power of the LS2. The GTO has handling/ wheelhop issues and fitting boltons to it has proven a chore, much like working on 98-02 Fbodies. The difference between the GT500 and the regular GT is the Triton V8 stuffed under the GT500s hood, along with the roots type blower used on all the SVT project V8s. It's a sad state of affairs when we have fewer rear drive cars to choose from. And the cars we do have are gaining weight every year. Unfortunately we enthusiasts don't make up the market. People wonder why I always wave the C5 Vette flag, but in the used car market it is a true bargain. I see 2002-2004 Z06s with low miles sell for under $35K. This was almost a $60K car when new on the lot. My C5 has everything the Z06 has bolted to it, except for the crappy Z06 seats, and I'm making more power... And I've got $28K total in it. You can get used C5s with moderate miles on it for well under $18K. It is the bargain performance sports car on the market. In that price range NOTHING ELSE compares. However, Buy one and you'll be that guy I describe above, Kinda like me! Mike

You also want to make sure the wall studs aren't 24inches on center. And get under the trailer and look at how the wiring is routed and make sure it isn't hanging... Check the brakes on the trailer too... If they sell you 4 wheel brakes, make sure you get FOUR wheel brakes. Mike

I did a bunch of research a while back and found that you can get really exhausted researching trailers! Obviously construction of any trailer is key. The only real advantage to aluminum is less weight in towing, and one of the reasons I bought my Dodge Cummins diesel was that most of the enclosed trailers with twin 5000# axles and costing under $10K were steel. I did look at Milleniums line of trailers and they were on par with most of the more popular brands out there. As soon as we're over the hurdle on this new business, I'll be purchasing something, but still undecided. I'm also undecided on if I should get a 24 footer, or settle for a 20 footer, since I'm putting a Datsun in it and not a Corvette. Careful on considering one though. What I found is two identical trailers on the outside were not necessarily identical under the skin. Some crappy wiring, wiring routing practices, and stud placement, as well as C-channel vs. beam construction and placement was also widely varied amoung product lines. Mike

Marcus, You sound like.... Me. Suck it up. If you sell it, six months later the money will be gone and you'll wish you still had the car. Mike

The exhaust I had built for the White V8 Zcar I had cost over $600 to build and install. It was tight under the car and full 2.5 inches of mandrel bent and welded/ flaged with an H-pipe. $600 doesn 't sound high for a true custom, well made setup... Just as a comparison, the full setup on my Corvette, Including the Z06 Ti rear exhaust and a stainless Xpipe cost me $700 and did the install. The cats and headers ran me an additional $1000. Mike

I'm not buying that... You see the weights on the viper and vette? The M3 Bimmer is a 4 seater sedan and it still weighs in at under 3500#... I don't understand why Ford used the triton V8 and blower setup... All that weight right on the front of the car... Mike

"it's just a fleshwound... I'll be ok..." Damn, man! Looking at it was almost as painful as reading through the (understandably) poor typing! Mike

I'm only going to wire in 2 speeds for the wipers and a wire setup for a small heater blower for defrost only. I really wanted to keep it simple, but won't be able to cut back much more and be able to drive it at all on the street... Which might be 10 miles of test and tune locally... Mike

Jon, Do you have pics of these seats mounted in the car??? Mike

Mark, Is the car painted yet??? I don't see pics of the bodywork completed... Just wondering... Also, that drysump has changed my motor plans... I'll likely scrap my current pan and go with a drysump on the 383 stroker. Fixes a couple of things... Does away with oil pan clearance and cleans up the underside of the car... Except for the headers hanging down to far... Mike

Yesterday I got adventurous and opened up the painless wiring "kit" I bought about 3 years ago. I thought I got a regular 12 circuit unit, but I ended up with the more robust 18 circuit model, which will have a LOT of wiring I have no use for. Guess I'll just spool it and zipp tie it incase one day I end up doing a Terry Oxendale and put it back in street trim. I also managed to digg out a bunch of my electrical components so I could prepare to mount it all and run the wiring. I ended up throwing a lot of stuff away. I'll end up throwing a LOT more away in the coming days... I made a panel that will bolt in behind the dash from the firewall to the trans tunnel, using the existing bolt holes from previous dash hardware, and that panel will hold my MSD and the Holley ECU. Still gotta sort out where I'm gonna bolt the wiring harness circuit panel. Gonna work on that one today so I can actually start routing the wires. I'm pretty impressed with the painless harness kit. Every wire has what it goes to stamped on the sleeve, including the code for the reference in the manual. This was a $300 well spent. The following are what will be wired in: Headlights Tail Lights Turnsignals Wipers Heater control Gages Ignition MSD ECU Starter Alternator Fuel Pump Electric Fan Accusump I've got a Moroso five circuit toggle box that some of these items will run off, and the starter button runs off that box as well. So I'll have to incorporate that into the wiring, along with the harness for the ECU... Gonna be like spaghetti for a while... Mike

So I got my handy dandy newest edition of Road and Track magazine and the new Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is on the cover. :party: So I take it to the family library and flip to the article and start reading... 475HP 475#ft of Torque "approximately" 4000 pounds WTF??? Edit: the coupe will come in about 150# less, at STILL Over 3800#! SO I start reading the stats and see that it is cracking off 12.9 second 1/4 times and 0-60 is 4.5 Seconds for this lovely little porker that is gonna set you back for an estimated $44K. Did someone at Ford R&D start handing out brown tar heroin, spoons, matches and syringes at lunch time? Anyone care to name how many other cars can duplicate those stats with less HP and for less money NEW off the showroom floor? How Many will come withing 1 second of the 1/4 time for $10K less? Edit: Forgot to mention that of course the magazine LOVED it... Advertising dollarts having nothing to do with their impression or favorable rating... Mike

All though I agree with the concerns posted by the last three members, I'd be surprised if someone bought TC rods that were agjustable and didn't buy an adjustable control arm to go with them... I would hope that is the case... Mike

It's a Gnose... Do a search and you'll find a ton of info on that rare Zcar piece... I believe you can buy them from MSA still. Mike

Yea, Mark gets another prime example to add to his growing collection of Zcars... One of these days I'm just gonna drop in on him and make myself at home looking over his collection of great Zcar stuff! Tim, Found a new candidate yet? Mike

We're running a Holley COmmander 950 with a Wideband piggyback on Jim M's car. Tuning is the issue with any of these standalones... Once you get beyond that learning curve, it depends on the interface you like. I've got TWO COmmander 950s now for my track car, so I'm gonna stick with them for now. FWIW they work in 4, 6 & 8 cylinder configurations. MOTEC stuff is stupid expensive. HKS's FCON seems to be like most of the others out there... What about FAST? Supposedly that was the latest and greatest to go up against the AEM unit... Mike

I"m going to lay out the elextrical today for the dash and all accessories, and maybe fabricate the mounts for the gages and mount some of them, and get that harness wired up. Then I'll finalize the dash and take some pics. I hope to have the bulk of the wiring done this weekend. Mike

I can give you a parts list and you can make your own TC rods for about $75 in parts for a pair, maybe less. The camber plates look like nice quality, but I can get the weld in units for about $200 from AZC. Mike

Well that is a good question and one the stepson commented on when we were done with the mod... Probably cut the weight down more than 50% and quite possibly by more. The few pieces of metal bracing I'm welding in off the cage to support the assembly won't amount to 3# worth including the weld and the shell/cap assembly combined won't weight more than 5# with bolts. The gages I'll use are all autometer Phantoms and are silly light... I'd bet the whole thing with all gages mounted won't be 15#. The factory dash is at least 30# and probably more. I'm doing this more so for ease of troubleshooting at the track, and ability to keep it looking sort of stock in the dash area... Mike