Mikelly

OK guys, don't get all excited about pics just yet... I'll take some as soon as this all matures. However, Something today happened that actually made this Dash project "work". My youngest stepson stopped by to show me his new tattoo and in order to deraille his attempt to show me it, I had him instead go up stairs of the garage to fetch me one of my extra old dashes... He brought it down and we stripped it clean... down to the frame. Then we cut off the bottom half/ verticle section of the frame work. We were left with the top of the dashpad frame that bolts to the firewall and provides the base for the dash to sit on and the little metal black vent panel to bolt to at the base of the windshield. So once everything was trimmed exactly like my dash board cover and around the cage work, I was able to bolt it in, lay the dash pad in place, and bolt the little black piece in at the base where the windshield would be. I then took a couple of my gages and test fitted them. They will work perfectly and I'll be able to use the dash framework to bolt the gage brackets to. I'll weld 3 to 4 braces of steal bracketry in place at the cage and bend them to form a front face brave for the dash and then also I'll drill four holes in the top of the dash cap where the matching holes exist in the frame, tack weld the nuts in place and use black cap screws in the dash to bolt it to the frame work. It'll take less than five minutes to remove the dash completely and get to the electronics/ accusump, and other items I plan to stash up against the firewall. Pics will come once everything else is done and I can show the final product and the dis-assembled pieces. I'm stoked! Mike

Yea, the filter we used was the Cheapie "Best selling" filter on the market... Because it is so damned cheap! The other issue to be concerned with is flow rating. You want the filter to filter out the smallest particles without impeeding flow ability. I've got CM filters for the Zcar. The Oil canister basically acts as a poor mans oil cooler when hung remotely. I also use the CM fuel filter and those products ROCK! Mike

They look decent, kinda a BBS knock-off... What's the price on a set? I'd get them in the 17X9... Mike

Well done... What are the stats on the motor? Mike

See, we told you to keep the faith! Glad all is well and you have DOUBLE the joy of being a parent! Mike

Based on some research I did (I really shouold have documented this one... ) with cutting up about $200 worth of oil filters, I found that WIX, AC Delco, FOMOCO, Purolator and K&N are all constructed very well. The factory OEM filters from Ford, Chevy and Dodge seem to be made of similar construction as well. We cut open 14 filters and the only two we found at the time with what I would consider inferior internal construction were Fram and the Walmart house brand filters, using waxed cardboard for some of the internals, and a paper filtering agent. Now, where the devil gets into the details is in the number of microns filtered. The guy I was working with from work, real brainiac kid, went over seas with all that data and I lost contact with him. The factory filters and the K&N unit were the only units that filtered and caught 60 Microns. We skewed things when I threw in my Canton filter insert from one of my cannisters. It filtered to eliments 75% smaller. We're talking particles you can't see with your eyes. Like I said, this kid was nuts about this stuff and had a degree in bio-chemistry. He was also a car guy. But the other filters from Purolator and Wix did very well. The cheapo filters didn't do "Bad" in the sense that they filtered down to reasonably small particles, but the construction of the filter was my concern. I bought a bunch of Amsoil filters when I became a dealer, and eventually cut one open to find it constructed similarly to the K&N and OEM filters. I don't know what the micron rating is off the top of my head, but my conclusion was the added money spent on the K&N and Amsoil were not required if you were able to get the OEM filters. The Factory filters are about 1/3rd the price and do as well as the "gucci" brands... YMMV! Mike

You are required to have the diagonal on the main hoop for NASA and SCCA. Driver's side bottom to passenger side top, and run the rear harness bar horizontal into that diagonal bar. Mike

They are also having problems retrofitting LS2s into the C5 Corvette. There is an extra boss on the passenger side of the block that has to be trimmed in order for the mount to clear on the C5s. That motor looks perfect in that engine bay. I can't say enough about how much of a good thing the S30/ LS# swap is. Think about it... More HP and torque bonestock than MANY turbo swaps, without the tuning headaches, and LIGHTER than a NA L6 Nissan Motor... What's not to like? Mike

Eric, That advice is state specific. In Virginia there is a much higher percerntile of officers licensed in multiple Lazer and Radar equipment types. Also, Virginia officers aren't required to even show you the locked on display on the radar gun. They are considered trusted agents of the court and their word is all is required. However, Asking all those questions in the form of motion for discovery will get you all sorts of valid info, like the fact that the radar equipment might not have been recalibrated within the required amount of time, or the officer may not have been recertified within the required amount of time. All this can go a long way towards fighting tickets. Bottom line is you do not know until you try. Are there horror stories out there about people getting thrown in jail over simple speeding? Sure there are stories, but I've never met someone who actually was, and tend to toss those stories into the "Urban Legend" files. I've had States Attorneys (commonwealth Attorneys in Virginia) tell me unofficially (And remember, most of my education and a large chunk of my early career was in law enforcement in Virginia) that the absolute worst thing you can do when fighting auto related tickets is NOTHING. If you plead guilty in most states, Case closed. Pay the fine, it gets reported to the state insurance board and goes in the national DB and your rates eventually go up. You collect points on your license and then things get expensive. I've also had these same attorneys tell me that unless injury is involved, DUI or gross negligence in the form of excessive speed (We're talking 30MPH over) then you really shouldn't bother with an attorney unless you look the part of a criminal eliment, or come across as an absolute dullard. As I stated to Bastaad when this whole thing started, If you can represent yourself in an intelligent manor, speak without any street slang, and without any negative attitude coming through in your tone or body language, and can speak without letting emotion get in the way, You don't need an attorney who has been educated in speaking intelligently without street slang or negative tones or body language. Why pay someone an exorbitant amount of money for something you can do yourself. In traffic court cases what is at stake is points, money and insurance rate increases (More money), not incarceration. Do your homework (As Bastaad did) and take pictures for documentation, and make sure what you are going to say is plausible and believable. Look the judge in the eyes, and make sure to be 110% respectful to both he and the officer who is an extension if his court. Make sure that what you were charged with is in fact charge-able in the conditions described in the ticket. Often times the office may claim "in appropriate given weather conditions". That is a judgement call and speculative in the least. You stand a great chance at having charges reduced that have speculation built into them. Being charged with speeding after being paced is one such offense. You should always seek advice, but know that if you're guilty, and truly guilty in a charge, and that there is no extenuating circumstance, that you may just have to pay the piper. And make no bones about it, Officers not showing up for court is more and more an Urban Legend. They schedule court dates on OFF DUTY days in Virginia so the officer can collect overtime. There is a great deal of incentive to show up in court. If an officer doesn't make his own court dates, then he gets reprimanded. Bottom line is we're all human and we all make mistakes. Officers do to. So do judges. We all have bad days. The difference is when we have a bad day, we either get caught or don't. If we get caught, it can cost us money. If they have a bad day, it costs us money. Do your homework, and clean up, get a hair cut, dress respectably and leave the emotion and attitude at home. If you can do that, you have better than 50% chance of getting it reduced or thrown out. In my most recent case, I was cited for reckless driving because I took off aggressively from a stop light, made a left hand turn at the stop light, and then proceeded to break traction, spinning tires for an unspecified distance at the 1st to 2nd gear shift. There was a recent snow storm, and lots of sand/ chemical melt stuff was on the ground and in the roadway. That was my out. I explained to the judge that I was indeed having a bad day, and that I was sick and had been to the Dr. (*All true and I had the Dr. note for work that I provided). The officer was clearly out to get me. He made it a point to tell the judge that I was in a Chevy Corvette. The judge asked what I was doing out in such a car (*Ah, possibly a car guy!) in such conditions... I produced the inspection slip and receipt for my TRUCK, that was being inspected that very day. I explained that I was having trouble with the car (I had been... Shifter wasn't adjusted properly, and the thing would kick out of first gear in the middle of pulling out from a stop), and explained the trouble, and then explained how the car lost traction. I told the judge that I hit the chemical on the roadway and the car spun. I waited for TCS to kick in, but it spun for a distance before the car finally caught traction. In my case, I told the judge that I certainly wasn't guilty of reckless driving. Maybe stupidity, may something improper, but certainly not reckless. In Virginia a reckless driving conviction can get you dropped from your insurance company. It was imperative to get the ticket reduced. My explanation of the circumstances certainly gave cause for the judge to take into account the extenuating circumstances. The weather, the malfunctioning car, and my poor health at the time all conspired to aid in giving the judge cause for reduction or dismissing the charges all together. For me, it worked. It has also worked repeatedly over the last 23 years as I've never been convicted of any reckless driving ticket, and believe me, there have been a number of "doozies". Fight them! Mike

I'll be getting into town on that Saturday 1st of April (No this isn't an early and well planned April fools Joke) and leaving to come home on the 8th. Mike

A4s... They come with universal seat mounts. Shipping is gonna be a biatch... Mike

I've taken pics and they are posted in: http://photos.yahoo.com/dat74z They are in the forsale folder. I've reduced the price and will consider trades... You can buy and send to me a pair of the Kirkey Intermediate seats with covers (About $400 for the pair from jegs or summit) or make me an offer... These seats are nice, but due to the fact that my car is primarily track day focused, a fixed back seat with a slot in the bottom for anti-sub belts is required. Mike

The wife has training in early April, and has asked me to accompany her on her trip to San Fran, so I'll finally be coming out to Northern California for about a week... More info to follow, but I'd like to start working up meetings now if possible so we can make the most of the week. I'll have ZERO to do during the day, except chase work via the laptop and cell phone... Mike

DOn't know off the top of my head what the gasket thickness is. Guess you're shooting for quench numbers? The other thing to think about is that with LS1 edit you can pull out as much timing as you need to, and remap your fuel and spark tables for optimized fuel. I suppose in doing that, you'd be able to tune to fuel availability. I mean, heck, there has to be more than a few C5/6 corvettes and 98-2002 F-bodies running around in your neck of the woods. So it is do-able! Mike

David, You need to have been involved in his original thread to understand that the cops botched the tickets and the speed. They wrote two different speed limits in the separate tickets, and the speeding ticket was grossely incorrect in identifying the zone as a 40MPH zone, where the seatbelt ticket identified the zone properly as a 45MPH zone. So Bastaad wasn't doing 20MPH over. The tickets would have been hard for the officers to defend, based on the inaccuracies between the two tickets. The matter was complicated further by the fact that two different officers worked the same traffic stop, writting two different citations with conflicting data on them. Mike

Carefull on that assumption... I showed up for my reckless driving ticket back last April and there were about 30-33 people in the court room who were charged, and only about 5 officers. Wouldn't you know that the pri... er' Officer that cited me had written about 15 of those tickets? Mine was reduced, although I was guilty of excessive speed and loss of traction. You should always show up, and always plead not guilty. The judge can't dismiss jack if you admit guilt. Mike

As long as it isn't eating into your ability to pay your bills, or have spending cash to take her out, or put money away for savings, She shouldn't care. If all those boxes are checked and she's still being pain in the arse, it will only get worse from there. Now, if you're no treat to be around either, the cards are all skewed and you're both doomed to a life together in a Jerry Springer like household... Run. Run far away... Mike :coo:

...Furthermore, the powerplant knocks down 25-27mpg with the correct transmission. You'll be getting far better MPG than any standard V8 swap. You'll also be able to afford the 93 octane fuel because of that increased mileage. We're guestimating (Based on GMs 15% powerloss claim) that I'm running 430+ at the crank on mine. I regularly see over 30mpg in my 3200# C5 Corvette. A Zcar would certainly see at least the same results. Mike

That be the one... As to the slave, you may have to shorten the rod a bit. I'd run the best filter you can, and the higher the volume, the better... Shorten the slave rod if possible. If you have to run a smaller depth filter, go with one from (I think) an early 80s 350 caprice. Mike

Bottom line is any S30 will work, but the earlier cars do have a weight advantage. You may want to poke your head in at ArizonaZcar and speak to Dave, the owner about locating a rust free car for you. Bet he'll have leads on them. Oh, and search here for tons of info... If searching to buy an LS1, look for a 2002 camaro. Go over to ls1tech.com and do a search on the serial numbers for the blocks that came in those specific cars. Later 2002 production cars came with truck cams, the LS6 block and the LS6 intake. Those cars who had this configuration were showing higher numbers out of the box for torque and horsepower. Mike

Based on what we've seen around here, you don't want the hemi anyway. A lot of them are ending up back on the lot used within less than a year due to poor fuel mileage. I know of 5 guys who own them and all wish they'd bought a diesel or some other make GAS truck for less money! Those Hemis are knocking down a cool 15mpg on the HIGHWAY! Mike

The components are largely the same. The Outlaw setup is a 12.2 setup as well, uses Coleman Racing components, as does the AZC setup (Pretty sure all that stuff is sourced from the same manufacturer for the rotors/ hats) and the calipers are very similar. The pads are the pads. Everyone likes a certain brand of pad, but Wilwood and Hawk both make excellent pads in a wide range of uses. Weight wise there is little to no difference. I've had all these kits in my hands, so I feel reasonably confident in these remarks. The money I could have saved if I'd just kept ONE kit and been done... They are all GREAT kits and the only reason I'm using the JamieT. hub/ Cobra rotor/ PBR caliper is servicability and "Overhub" hat design. Sawpping them out doesn't require unbolting a hub, which is old technology in this day and age. Mike

I love my Cummins. Not being a Dodge fan in some time, I was impressed with this truck from the beginning and have continued to be. I simply put Diesel in and drive it. We had 6 inches of snow on the ground this AM and the wife wasn't feelin' the whole "drive the BMW to work" thing, so I drove her in the Dodge. Thing is like a tank, goes well anywhere, gets about 21mpg on the highway, and pulls like a freighttrain. I've surprised more than one sports car from a dead stop at lights... Funny as heck when you look at the expressions on their faces when you get to the next light! Mike

I hated the look of black ZG flares on ANY car until I saw them on 2003Z's car with the black door sill stripe and matching black bumper trim. Then I saw your red car with the same factory graphics. I think this is exactly what the car needs to make a black or carbon over-fender work without paint. The flow across the car, front to rear, just simply WORKS like that... :2thumbs: Both air dams look good. I agree with the comment about the satin black rattle cans, unles your bumper is metal. If it is, get it powder coated. Mike

Qwik240 gets my vote for one of the most clean installs, and most clean donor cars to start with... This thing was AWESOME to look at... Jim M. (Drove his GT3 racecar to the shindig on Saturday, has the red Zcar, and a Z06) was very impressed with this car... When David sells it, I'll be first in line! My pics are in my link in my profile! Mike