Mikelly

Good one Rufus, Good one! Mike

SO I got the bellhousing out of the box and low and behold, it doesn't fit... Seems there are OTHER Lakewood bellhousings that are designed for the TKO600... I'll be calling D&D tomorrow to sort this out... I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that pretty much every facet of this project is going to go like this from here on out... Mike

Got some... They are made by Longacre... Let me look up the name and get back with you, but I think I got them from http://www.racerpartswholesale.com Found them... "Pipemaster tube fitting tools" in the link above under the Longacre section. Mike

Well the Bellhousing just arrived at the shop this afternoon and I went in to pick it up... I'll attempt to dial it in tonight and get it all lined up on the tranny... I then need to make a pretty quick decision on the release bearing/ slave cylinder. I don't want to deal with an internal bearing failure/ bleed/ Clearance issue, as it means pulling the complete setup appart, which generally means pull the trans... SO I'm leaning towards an external slave cylinder setup, like found on C4 Corvettes... But I'm still in the air... Time will tell as I plow through info and take measurements. This car could actually be started sometime this summer... Holy cow.. Watch out... The end is near... The Sky is falling! ! Mike

...And Again, I'll point back to a thread above where I specifically state that ALL the issues you'd worry about with my old pushrod dinosaur, I'd worry about with your turbo motor... All the issues you guys worry about with your turbo motors, I'm not worried about.. Sure Drax, I'll have to be concerned about EGTs and AFRs, but not to such a level as in a turbo application... Say what you will but I think I outlined it well above... It's called simplistic POWER. You add the sum of parts required to make a turbo motor run properly... then add the weight.... Then add the potential ADDED STRESS and ADDED potential FAILURE of those required parts... Nothing wrong with turbos... JUst not my cup of tea... Mike

...and I forgot to mention... grumpy is the bowtie GOD... Take notes, there will be a test later. Cheers! Mike

Forged rods you picked are good... The rest... bleh... Get a decent crank and forged pistons... Shop around and you can find excellent deals on forged "Kits" with rings for under $420. My whole 383 stroker shortblock ASSEMBLED, BALANCED, BLUEPRINTED using ARP bolts was less than $1400... Oh, and having a 383 stroker, I'd not build another one... I'd keep it 350-355 and spin it a little higher, or go crazy and stroke it BIIIIIGGGG! GIDRDONE.... BUT Get her done RIGHT! Mike

Spork there is no "UPPER" control arm in the design, which is why any of the serious drag Zcars convirt to the solid axle from the IRS. If you look at the suspension layout on a C5 Corvette, that is considered an upper and lower control arms setup, using shocks instead of struts. The double A-arm setup is an excellent example... If your HybridZ is truly capable of 10 second passes, plan and prepare now for the inevitable. Change the rear out now and not later... Mike

Tell you what, Go view my footage from VIR and tell me how "Lazy" I am being... Spinning a motor up to stupid high revs to MAKE THE SAME HP has NEVER made sense to me... But then again I'm not into swapping blown head gaskets or fretting over EGTs and AFRs... Lazy? Mike

"Dead chicken on my hood" Me too! I had some issue with the whaletail I had, as it was producing some serious downforce on the rear hatch, so I know what you are saying is true! Mike

Uh, Unfortunately I'm serious about one. And I'll pay Alex' markup, rather than give it to some tool I don't Know... At least I know this tool! The reason being why I may have to go with something of that nature is that my car may actually require a larger pedistal mount wing... Remember, I'm talking about driving my car to its potential on a road course. At least one street legal car at VIR has been seeing speeds of 170 mph on the long, back straight... I think that qualifies for additional downforce and may require a big ricer wing or BRW from here forward... Can't even bring myself to say it in text ! So, yea, I may need one of these BRWs, so Let me know Alex... I've actually started mocking up the bodywork on my car, because it will likely go out for paint soon... Shooting for July. Mike

I'll take one off your hands if you decide to sell one... let me know! Mike

Well I'm certainly no one's parent, and I have financial means that some may not have. But let me tell you WHY you may want to look into another hobbey with your Z, rather than road racing ilegally on public roads... Here in Virginia there is a stretch of road where we used to test our project cars on high speed runs with the aid of a few of my former college buddies who are now State troopers or otherwise in lawenforcement. My degree was in criminal justice and I used to also be in law enforcement and what I'm about to admit to would have at one point thrown me in jail and removed my driving privelages forever... This particular stretch was on I95 between North Stafford and Stafford Rt.630 where there is no turnaround for 3 miles... We used two way radios and would get an 80-100mph start and make runs in the 150-170mph range late at night with no one harmed and no issues to worry about... At the wee hours of the morning that stretch of road was lightly traveled and there was no cause for concern. In 2000 I actually did some shake down runs with the aid of a friend in my 74 Datsun/383 stroker/ T56 combo car, the white flared Z. The downforces generated by the 930 style porsche wing actually caused stress cracks on the wing itself. Otherwise the car was fabulously stable. Anyway, Some kids that were hanging around at the time overheard me talking with someone on the phone (Actually a member originally from here, HybridZ) about the "testing" and they told others about it. Soon half the teenagers in the area wanted to do these runs and BOOM, Law Enforcement cracked down, taking some kids CARS in the process. Because I was plugged in, I never was subjected to that. BUt a lot of kids got big tickets, arrested, and lost licenses in the process, as the word didn't spread soon enough for some of them to abandon that stretch of road. However, On February 2nd of this year I got popped with reckless driving in my 99 C5 Vette for spinning tires. The officer wasn't amused... and it was a wake up call for me... I was partially guilty but there was sand in the road and I DID have an issue with a false first gear kick back into neutral that helped, I just kept my foot in it AFTER it broke traction... Fortunately the judge agreed with me that improper driving was a more appropriate fine and conviction... But I talked to a few people in the insurance business, as well as law enforcement in Virginia about how strict they are becoming here and elsewhere in the country with those who speed... You're talking JAIL time, Loss of property, loss of license privileges, rediculous insurance rates (My stepson who is 17 is paying over $2000 per year for liability ALONE on a 1990 Civic HF Hatchback!), and huge fines/ legal costs... I weighed the potential legal costs, and all of the above against ONE YEAR worth of track weekends and broke even on the cost, including gas and lodging... And insurance rates don't go down in a year... I've pretty much been broken of driving high speeds on our public roads. It took me until the age of 38 to "GET IT", but I did... You can roll those dice if you want to, but I won't anymore... Now, Imagine if, While you're out racing that there is an incident and your car is involved in the death or injury of another person... Your life that you know right now, all the things you may take for granted, your job, the stability of your family, the obligations you have to your lendors, all that goes out the window... Is it worth it? for five miles and 3 minutes of fun? I'll spend the $400 on a track weekend and hit 150mph once per LAP for up to 8 thirty minute sessions and learn how to TRULY BECOME a MUCH better driver. Just a view from the other side of the fence... Mike

Mark, Do yourself a favor and CALL D&D... They were selling the same setup for $1549 I think for the Ford. Mike

John, based on discussions with the guy who sells them, and based on looking at my own setups on the Vette and other SBC FI setups, I do believe they will flow enough. That unit is being used on some large displacement Chevies making HUGE numbers... Mike

John, Mine were tweeked by the previous owner, then I cut off the 3 bolt flange, finguring it would gain a little more. I've got the motor sitting dead level... Should be ok I'm thinking for the track... Street might be another story. On the vacuum canister, it is for brakes.. I've never thought I really "NEED" it, but I've got it and better save than sorry... I did notice an improvement when I added it in to the other car's system. Mike

We just did a test fit of the extreme unit, which is really sweet looking BTW, and here's the deal... On Jim's car, using the provided crossmember spacers, and using the NEW HOLLEY MPFI intake (Comes with the Commander 950 setup as pictured in Summit and Jegs and can be seen in my pics on my yahoo link) the top hit the hood with the spacer provided by the engine builder. We swapped to a thinner, standard carb spacer and BINGO, no interferance... I didn't have my camera with me... But I did takle a few measurements... The Holley intake "rise" on the single plane setup is 1.5 inches to the top from the base of the plane... My Cutler is about 1/4-1/2 inch shorter, which means even more clearance... I'll be ordering mine this coming week! If I get a chance, I'll snap some pics of Jim's setup, or post my own as soon as it comes in. :thumbs: Mike

The transmission was $1730, plus the TRIAX Shifter at $30 additional, and the speedo gear conversion for $69... Shipped it was $1890. This still leaves a bell housing, clutchkit, clutch for, relase bearing (Or Hydraulic relase bearing setup), master cylinder and pilot bearing. To do the whole thing right with everything mentioned (lakewood Bellhousing is SFI rated and Centerforce DF clutch kit was 11inch unit) You're looking at about $2700 I'm guessing. Mike

http://www.ramairbox.com

I used the ramairbox on my previous setup in the white flared Zcar. It worked well... I just wanted to uncover the motor.. We're trying one of the Extreme units on JIm's car and if it works out, I'll be ordering one myself... If you go the Ramairbox route, use the 110 degree unit, and plumb it out both sides, and use the largest drop on the bottom of the unit you can get. Mike

I'm trying Mark, I'm trying... Teaching a basic mechanics/ Home car repair course on Saturday, got mother's day Sunday, and then Sunday night I get to start work on the Vette to find an annoying bearing issue in the drivetrain, which will require the removal of the headers, exhaust, torque tube, trans and differential to diagnos and fix this particular issue, so the Vette is gonna tie up the garage for about two weeks while I sort it all out... After that, I'll be back on the Z hard... I'm smelling burnt fuel and loud open headers in my sleep... Can't wait for it to be reality! Plus, I can't let you and John have all the fun terrorizing the rich boys and their expensive toys at the track! Mike

THe rear arm fix pic is very premature... we're just kicking around ideas on how to retro fit the existing several pairs of arms out there with a repair solution on the outboard half at the strut. I'm kicking ideas around with Pete P., Jamie, Doug, And a few others... The Vette and Z are mine... The Porsche and red Z are Member MacDaddy's (Jim McNemar's)! Mike

Well I've had all that done... And I know John is a man of means and has probably done all this as well, but I'm concerned about rocker geometry now... Need to check a few things... I'd also add that these cars that Mark and John are talking about, and these motors in particular see LOTS of abuse... We're talking about full rev range to redline for 20-30 minutes at a time for 6-8 sessions at a track event... John and Mark are two of the few select guys on this site who are actually HAMMERING the living hell out of these cars... One weekend at a high performance driving event (HPDE) is more abusive than a year of driving for most of our HybridZ bretheren! Different balls, different wax... Mike

Try it now...

http://photos.yahoo.com/dat74z It is the New ZCar folder... I just installed one of the new rotors, as well as some other stuff and pics of S&S Header ground clearances, and a few other ideas... The car has a certain stance that I'm starting to groove on! Can't wait to get the tranny and differential installed and get the cage welded in. Mike