Mikelly

Chris, Most often the fans used to force air into the engine bay aren't strong enough (Even the super duty high velocity units sold specifically for it) to get enough fresh air (Not stagnent from sitting to far back in a shop bay door) into the area required to see the most optimal numbers. Your datalogging probably caught that. Sounds like real decent numbers to me... Mike

I'm with Mat... A NooB making sense... DAMN! Here here! Mike

I've found over the years that there just aren't any real worthy sites... I go to the Road Race/ AutoX section within CorvetteForum and post, and I go over to cornercarvers.com sometimes, but I just read there.... I found that on all the sportbike related sites, the stuff posted was just a waste of bandwidth, and the idiots would be so increadibly offensive in the forums, and then want to come hang out and act like they never did anything to offend anyone... I also go to dieselram.com forum for truck related stuff once in a while, and over the z06vette.com once in a blue moon... I gave up on ls1tech.com, because it has seemed to turn into another ls1.com which is a shame, because some of the info is very worthwhile...Diggin' through it is tiring... As to the comment about being perched precariously, I disagree. If we let this site be run like those other sites, we'd not have the caliber of members. Screw anyone who wants to act like a complete idiot behind a keyboard, and the act like nothing ever happened and they did nothing wrong in public... We all travel, and we all run in various circles... It's always fun running into someone who was a complete *** on a website, only to see them slink off quietely and embarrased when their conduct is called into question. Bottom line is if you conduct yourself a certain way online, I'll automatically assume you're that person in real life... And if I don't like that "internet" personality, I'm damned sure not gonna let you get within 10 miles of my home. Act accordingly. Mike

Good luck to you then! Mike

Dude, on that 5.0 motor, shop around ebay and such... You'll find cheap FI parts for it no problem. http://www.corral.net is another cheap place to find 5.0 related parts... Mike

I'm still laughing at the image of John C. on a bicycle... I biked 27 miles sunday in the wind and dark clouds... I call it therapy! Mike

Guys, My little brother contacted me today about TWO 240Zs a shop has near Orange County Airport. Both Zs are supposed to have good floor pans and minimal rust, and both can be bought for $450... There is one small catch... No titles existing, but you could always get them re-titled. Contact me offline for the phone number... Mike

Not sure when they went from the 325 to the 328 model, But we love our 97 328i. It is loaded, leather, 4 dr., and runs very well. I'd echo Austin's comments... Even with the auto trans (My wife's car), it has a LOT of get up and go and feels neutral... Ours has traction control and is a good year round car to have... Does GREAT in snow! Maintenance wise, the only complaints are the LED lights on the radio and interior computer interface for all the "stuff". That is a known issue with these cars, so don't be surprised if your display on your radio doesn't work, even when the radio is on... Ours has about 85K miles on it, and other than a tune up, and regular oil changes, as well as a re-charge on the A/C freon, we've had no issues... I'll flush the tranny and change the oil next week... Mike

Here are a few that are on ebay and within two hours of Washington DC...And one in South Carolina! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1977-Datsun-Z-Series-280-NICE-AND-CLEAN-REB-MOTOR-10K_W0QQitemZ4580067955QQcategoryZ6187QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Silver-1975-280Z_W0QQitemZ4580972603QQcategoryZ6187QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971datsan-240z-fully-restored-all-matching-numbers-red_W0QQitemZ4581371692QQcategoryZ6187QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

You'd be Surprised at how many clean, unrusted Zcars there are out here on the right coast... Just not North of Maryland. Check http://www.autotrader.com as well as the local craiglist for the DC and Richmond areas. I'd think your best bet would be in central and southern Virginia or in North Carolina and further south. Also, keep an eye on Ebay. I've seen a number of Zcars on Ebay that were within an hour or two of my house in Fredericksburg. Mike

Pop makes good recomendations... Pull the carpet up from the inside of the car and poke the floor pans with a screw driver... Also open the rear hatch and look for rust around the hatch opening on the body. Look for rust under the battery tray... Again poke around that area with a screw driver... Get under the car with a flash light and look at the frame rails... poke at the seems with the same screw driver. If there is little to no rust, and it runs, $3900 for a first year 240Z is a decent price. Mike

Austin, You're handling this better than most would... I applaud your candid, yet mature manor in dealing with this issue... To others, I'm watching this thread. I know some of you are friends with Alex, and some of you aren't. Austin posted "his" experience, and kept it to the matter at hand. Let's not get this one locked with a back and forth about Alex being a good guy or not... That isn't the issue at hand... Lots of guys I'd have a beer with that I don't want to do business with. Key is finding out who they are, and keeping business and pleasure separate. I'm sure Alex has his side of the story, and I'm sure his explanations seem very reasonable to him, and maybe they are... However, the customer's perception is something you always need to be keenly aware of when promising a product by a specific time. Austin, Check with the manufacturer of the pistons. They'll get you a part number you can use to order direct from Jegs or Summit, and YES, these two companies can get the parts for you... They just don't have them in their mail order catalog. Good Luck! Mike

I'm takin' odds he's keepin' the Z, and is now searching for the strength to tell his wife... Good write-up Bastaad! Mike

I'll chime in here as well... It really doesn't take a lot of brain power to steal someone elses product and claim it as your own, which AbsoluteMoron DID. The guy makes a LOT of claims to me offline about being affluent and from a well off family. If he is so "well bred", then why is he stealing someone elses intellectual property and re-selling it as his own creation? Now, onto the task at hand. I believe ANY skilled shop, with a decent fabricator on staff will be able to make the LS1 work in a Z32. The motor mounts from the Vette are a good starting point, and would also allow you to weld a plate along the existing frame rail to work with the factory Vette mount. I was contemplating this very thing when I was re-installing the mounts for my C5 install. If someone had a tape measure, some paper and pen, and the motor, chassis and everything in a shop, along with welder/ tools, and various materials to experiment with, I'd bet dollars to donuts that a mount could be created in a weekend. This isn't rocket science guys, and if you're looking for a JTR style kit, you might be waiting for quite a while... Get adventurous and build your own... Or snuggle up to a shop equipped to do the work, and offer to HELP them and LEARN along the way, while you maybe offset the expense! Now, as to AbsolutePower's comments about our site, Ask the tool when you see him why he declined my offer to visit him at his shop... The guy is a TOOL of the lowest caliber. Doing business with him should be likened to playng with fire... You'll get burned, Bet on it. Mike

I bought a few of them a while back in the sizes I needed. They are handy to use for sure! Mike:cool:

"Candy" comes in all shapes, sizes and flavors! Doc, you should know that! Mike

Guys, I appreciate the comments. I think my CEO is gonna look out for his interests first and foremost. I'm looking out for mine as well. I'll be cultivating POCs over time. We've got one contract off his business area, and did not violate any laws. We did step on toes, but overall things are good. I need to either find a contract for me in 90 days, or I lose my access until a sponsor prime contractor puts me on contract. The other thing is that If I get business developed for the company and hire cleared people to fill those slots, I'm effectively earning by building the business. Either way I'm good to go. I don't think my CEO is going to put the screws to me. But my guard is up anyway. However, it is to his advantage to keep me billing on contract for him for the same reasons I would like to bill on contract for me so I can pay my CPA her $2000 per month retainer... As of now, we're bringing in about $225K for 1800 hours work for Barry. I'd like to double that if possible by the end of the year, which realistically means putting me on a contract. Mike

...And Mike, You still owe me the final payment on that thing! Worked for me all those years... "Hey there... Want some CANDY????" <7mary3 running in my head> Mike

...Can't tell ya what I do, but the work is very rewarding... On a side note, the CEO of my company sent me an e-mail tonight... Knowing I don't have a contract yet, and knowing I'm living on savings and investments, and really liking me... He offered to get me another job and wants to chat about my future in HIS company while growing mine... This guy is the absolute tops! Yea, we knew it would come down to some hard topics and discussions about ethics and decissions made, but bottom line is we haven't done anything other company upstarts haven't done... Crazy times. The wife was happy to know that my current employer wants to keep me on his staff KNOWING I'm starting my own company. Now that he knows, we can move forward above board... I'm Much more comfortable with that! Mike

...Got the call to come into the corporate offices in Upper Marleboro, Md. yesterday. Seems the cat is out of the bag that Barry and I are starting our own company. After some heated discussion with our CEO, Barry and I decided we'll have to resign from our existing company. I don't currently have a contract with a contract company in the intelligence/ defense industry, but Barry does, and that will allow us to get by while I do some business development work. On the plus side, I'm not losing my clearances. On the negative side, I really like the branch I currently support, and I'll miss the work I do. Gonna be some interesting times within the "new" company! Been a stressful couple of days, and I still need to decide on "how" I'm gonna pay my bills until we get the first invoice from our prime contractor for Barry's work, or if I'm gonna hit savings, retirement, and equity in the house. Crazy crazy crazy... Needless to say, the wife is a bit "stressed"! I'll officially have "free time" come Oct. 14th when I resign from my current position and company. Mike

It came stock optioned on all C5 Corvettes, from 1998 forward... There is a headlite upgrade, but I'm not impressed with it. No Corvette has paddle shifters! Mike

Actually I do have the projected Heads Up Display. The lights are a nice touch though. Not $25K difference worth though... Mike

After my run-in with a New C6 last Friday, I figured I'd spec one of them out identical to the build sheet my 99C5 came with, to include the power accessories package, memory package, hud display, and every bell and whistle offer except the select ride option, which I'm glad my car did NOT come with... Putting Z06 bits on it wouldn't have been an option with selective ride equipped cars! Anyway, a brand new C6 equipped like my C5 coupe would run me well over $54K! For comparison's sake, with the huge list of mods and upgrades, I've still got less than $28000 in the car and it will make at the wheels what the C6 is making at the crank, and I'm doing it with better parts! The c6 is a nice car, and the Z06 is truly amazing... But I think I'll keep my old, tired beat up C5! Mike

...On the back roads coming the long way home from Northern Va. yesterday afternoon. I'm stuck behind a slow poke, and these roads are awesome to drive spiretedly on. This C6 came up through traffic on me and I could tell he was thinking he was gonna show his ancester how much improvement his new c6 was bringing to the table... Never mind the fact that I'm breaking in a heads/cam realistic 400+WHP C5 with about 500 miles on it! So we get open road and I'm not gonna go stupid fast speeds and have bambi step out in front of me...I figure 70+mph is about as fast as I really want to click along... Until we hit a nice long straight. C6 swings wide around me and romps on it... I drop from 6th to 3rd and nail it... He never stood a chance. So at my next turn he hits his horn and waves me over. I stop and he asks what the hell I've done to the car... "Besides lose half the hair left on my scalp?" He informed me he shifted at redline from 3rd to 4th and I was still pulling away from him... We had a good chat, and it was agreed that I'd stacked the deck in my favor. He claims to have dyno'ed his Orange C6 to the tune of 358HP at the wheels. We don't know yet what this new heads/ cam powerplant will do, but we now know it will probably be in excess of 358HP by a bit... Oh well, Fun and games, Fun and Games! Mike

Based on the hi torque applications we're seeing, I like this design. I'd want strength over potential failure. After the failures we saw with the round tube rear control arms, I'll never opt for an asthetically pleasing part over strength. Sure, there's a balance point, and I'd personally like to have seen the rear differential carrier framework in aluminum instead of steal, but hey, it looks good none the less... For a 450HP/400#ft. torque application car launching on slicks, or doing track days on slicks, this design would seem like an excellent solution, with a slight hit in weight. I'm impressed... Might have to drive down and take a look Jamie! Mike