Mikelly

THis is going into the Zcar I bought from Chris when he decided to get out of Zs... It is a 76 and is pretty darned straight. Clean chassis, no rust, Pete's frame rail design, my suspension and brakes... Should be a sweet ride. Mike

383 Stroker with internal balanced crank/ 6 inch Forged H-beam Rods/ Forged Wiseco pistons all in a Bowtie Block. Compression should be right at 10.2:1. This was balanced with the SFI Fluidamper and a SFI Cat flywheel... All the parts are held together with ARP bolts and studs. The block has been screened just incase something catastrophic were to happen... It will have my Cutler intake, 42# Injectors, 1000CFM TB on it, and the Holley COmmander 900 Programable ECU... Anticipated HP of the motor is 530HP and 495 Ft# of torque... Should be fun once we get it all put together... Mike

Well I got a call from the machine shop yesterday... Heads are done, so I'll pick them up this week and start assembling the top end of the motor... The heads are the Dart Conquest Aluminum units with 215CC runners 76CC chambers and 205/160 valves. I now have the proper valve springs in it for the Isky Hydraulic ROller cam I'm running. I need a 5 speed trans and I need to pick up a tremec TKO2 trans from somewhere... (Yes I know about the other option...$$$) I also need to pick up the headgaskets (.018-23 for quinch) a distributor, and some headers. Then I'll be installing the motor and trans after painting the engine bay and getting the body finished... I think I'm gonna move forward on this project without a cage for the moment... I can install one later after I sort out the tubing bender issues... Mike

FWIW, JTR Doesn't necessarely make the best of recommendations in a couple of areas in the book. Overall they did an excellent job on the mounts, and with the wiring. However, I'm not 100% with them on the cooling issue OR the trans section, specifically the T56 Data. Bottom line is to use it as a reference guide only and to go from there... My cooling solution didn't involve their recommendation. I used the Edelbrock aluminum water pump, but used a Griffin Radiator and an Allstar electric fan on an adjustable relay as my final solution. I will be tilting the radiator forward 40 degrees (From vertical) at the top of my new design and will still use the same electric fan. Before, I used a flex fan and the fiberglass fan shroud from the MSA kit and that worked marginally well. It will most likely be trial and error for you to get the proper cooling... Biggest headache I had was with starter heat soak... That issue was dealt with by getting the relay OUT of the engine bay! Mike

Trust me... I have the thing in my garage and have used it TWICE in two years... It is NOT worth buying, IT DOES damage roll cage tubing and does NOT make more than a 30 degree bend without damaging the tubing... Buy it and you will wish you had NOT bought the harbor freight bender. I can't make it more plain than that... Also, it clearly states that it is a pipe bender ONLY in their information... They advise that it WILL damage tubing of any kind. Save your money... Hell, I was thinking about selling mine cheaqp just to get it out of the shop... I take back all the things I said... It bends cages wonderfully... best on the market, buy mine at half price! Mike 8)

I have the harbor freight bender and if you use it for ONLY about a 30 degree bend, you won't deform the tubing, but forget doing a main hoop.... Anything more and it just abused the tubing... Crushing it... I may just buy a real tubing bender outright... Mike 8)

Actually I'd be interested in it when you guys are done with it. I'll chip in if I can get some guarantee that I'd get it in the end... Or else I'll just build one. And Jeromio, Check the rules for any of the events/ clubs you might possibly be interested in using the car with... Mixing tubing is a no go for at least the Silver state challenge and most of the open road type events. Mike

I use Sabian AA and HH cymbles except for the two Wuhan Lion chinas...12 & 16s... I also use the Sabian 13inch fushion hats, some DP Chimes, blocks and cowbells, and I've got a Rogers Marching snare and the same throne with backrest you mention. My Rogers Snare is a custom unit and requires a bit of tuning but is done when you get it set. It will go for over a month without coming out of tune... I've got all the mics still but I don't have the mixer anymore... But I have some awesome monitors and some other studio stuff... I had a part time studio for 7 years. Mike

Aaron, What did you end up with? I wanted some laquer finish drums and I had special requirements for sizes... So I ended up with the Mapex Mars series in burnt Orange marble in 8X8, 10X10, 12X12, 13X13, 16X16 and 22inch kick, with their snare... I already had a nice custom overhead cage for all my cymbles and percussion gear, and a camco double pedal, so I sold the hardware. These are the most tunable drums I've ever owned, and I had DWs before these. Mike

Uh, no, I have to disagree... AFTER reading the posting and AFTER realizing he was gonna live did we (And those on the site) make the assumption that the dealership was gonna get sued and should, and in not such poor taste, since the poor guy is living, and will apparently recover from his injuries... What is SAD is the fact that an employee of a dealership chose such poor judgement as to drive wrecklessly with a customer in the car, putting them in harm's way. You gonna tell me you wouldnt sue the dealership if that was YOUR kid laying in the hospital? If so, then you are a much more forgiving sole than I. I WAS that guy laying in the hospital at 17 due to another driver's bad actions and my parents DIDN'T sue, and instead let my insurance company dismiss the claim, causing me great financial burden at such a young age... Bottom line is IF someone else is liable for injuries caused to YOU then THEY should PAY. It is called being HELD ACCOUNTABLE for one's actions... Mike

Most of the people here commented about that as well... And that is a fact of life we have to deal with now. However, in this case, the guy should absolutely sue the dealership and follow up with criminal charges against the driver IF the driver was at fault in the accident. Bottom line is the guy is lucky to be alive... And I for one appreciate Alex's contributions to the site. Mike 8)

Have I got a deal for you.... Interested in a complete rolling chassis with custom suspension and big brakes??? All suspension and coil overs are powdercoated, and the control arms are my adjustable units. Newly built and never fired bowtie block 383 stroker long block making 530+HP (forged Hbeam rods, forged pistons, SCAT9000 internal balance crank, ARP everything, aluminum Dart heads, waterpump and cutler intake, roller hydraulic valve train and all accesories and BIG AMP alternator) with custom fuel injection and holley commander 950??? Tons of extras including two Q45 rears and rosses CV axle adapters already welded up... 5 lug conversion... Carpet kit, painless wiring kit... Clean and straight chassis... All glass and body panels plus lots of extras... Full interior... Corbeau A4 seats... Where are you located? Mike

Truck has a LOT of miles on it but runs well, normally... However, the last few days it has developed an eratic studer at about 2200rpms, and last night it died on my wife. It completely cut off in our neighborehood while she was going about 15 miles per hour... Lost everything, power steering, the lights dimmed, and the battery and check engine idiot lights came on. Started back up and ran, but now I need to troubleshoot it... It is a TBinjected 350 Chevy... Ignition module? ECU? Anyone else dealt with this? This is a popular model truck, and I know other members here have it so... Ideas appreciated. I'll be pulling it into the garage this evening when I get home. Mike

Boy do I know that feeling... I played drums last night and cracked a cymble... 'Course I've had them since 1989, so I shouldn't complain! Music is a great pass time. Mike

The PBRs on the Vette I have are identical to the PBRs I bought from http://www.discbrakesRus.com for the Mustang... I believe they are identical to the pics of the PBRs on 1FastZ's car! They work VERY well and you can usually get them for $360 for all four calipers powder coated red on the Vette websites. Mike

Thanks for the ideas fellas... None have scratched the itch though... And no, not interested in ANYTHING to do with cars. I did that before and it became work and turned me away from working on my own Zcar. I'll keep diggin'... We'll find something... Fortunately we have all the time in the world... Might get into foreclosure homes and renevations... We'll see... The car wash ownership sounds good... Game plan is to make the wife the president so she can get all the A-8 perks for minorities... And it has to be something she can do if I croak, AND it has to generate enough to pay the overhead, insurances, and pay our bills... Washing and detailing cars isn't quite what I had in mind... We're talking something a bit larger, since I can put hands on about 250K if I need it and she would qualify for A LOT in small business loans... Mike 8)

I'm all ears... Mike

Mr. Coffey, out of all these responses, my decision was hinging on your comments the most! I kill me! You got anything better??? Mike

Don 't know what we will get involved in, but likely not something manual labor-ish since I'd like to do it with the wife. I can do employees... Maybe open a store of some type, I don't know... Really just doing prelimenary research now. I'd like for it to be something we could start with her opening it, and me jumping in after we get it established, me working behind the scenes until we get her up and running and then me quitting my current consulting gig... Mike

OK, OK, I know I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, and most people would kill to have my gig. However, I'm starting to plan for my next move, once the 16 year old is grown and in college. The wife and I are considering moving to somewhere less congested, and more relaxed, and most likely on the east coast, and likely in Virginia or North Carolina... We may even stay in Fredericksburg. However, I do NOT want to drive to DC every day for the next 20 years... SO, since her job pays much less, we are starting to research our next big adventure... I'd like to time this so that it will distract her from the "empty Nest" syndrom she will certainly experience when Craig leave's home... Any ideas you guys can think of? Doesn't have to be car or auto related (And I'd just as soon it not be at all...) Gonna need to sustain our living expenses of about 2k per month with out mortgage and bills... Mike

I'll be trackin' the Vette. I have an extra set of wheels and will be buying some dot Kumho V700s to abuse the car with, and I've just gotten the russel speed bleeders and braded lines for the brake system. I'll likely upgrade to a two piece rotor for the front if I can source the parts. Mike

Absolutely... The calipers are MUCH MUCH lighter when not loaded with pads... However, regain some with the addition of the larger pad material, which is good, because THAT is one of the reasons to GO to bigger brakes in the first place. I've got both the outlaw 4000 caliper and the Wilwood Superlight and both are extremely light weight caliper setups... mike

Well as a moderator I don't see anything that is showing on the girl... Umm, I've seen worse on public channel TV... But, yea I oculd see where a boss or two might get offended... Nice looking car! Mike

Jmortenson... My point in my original post! Silly things like that are equal to arguing on the internet... Mike

...And yes... WAY too MUCH oversteer... DOH! Could you imagine how STUPID that guy must have felt afterwards??? Mike