Mikelly

Does it really matter what he called you if you showed him your tail lites??? Hell I get called an A$$ at least twice a day. If I stopped and tried to persuade every moron just what a nice guy I really am, I'd not get anything done. Don't sweat the small stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff! Mike

This will be my final post on this thread unless things get out of hand again... Depending on the materials used, 1/4 inch thick steel used in this application should be more than enough to hold a caliper of choice in as large as a 13 inch rotor application... How did I come up with this??? Again, I went out last night and did a little research. My rear caliper brackets from Jim Cook Racing are aluminum and less than 1/2 inch thick. My Mustang COBRA brake package uses a 13 inch rotor and PBR caliper. The mount ears?? They are just under 3/8th thickness, Almost at 5/16th. Coleman Machine, Stock Car Products, S&W, Port City Racing, Poskie Racing all sell mount brackets and adapters for Outlaw and Wilwood brakes. All of the units I found in those catalogs showed thickness of about 1/4 inch. I don't believe these are mild steel, but could be wrong. I'll be finding out soon enough since I'll be welding some onto my rear housings for the rear disc conversion on the race car. Now, I know some of you have commented about the bracket you see in the web pics... Here is where I feel VERY Confident in making MY Statements (Since one of you challenged it in your previous comment..). I HAVE THE PARTS in hand, and I know WHERE the bolt holes should be based on Mike Gibson's design, The outlaw Calipers I own, The TWO KINDS of Wilwood calipers I own, and the JCR brackets. And as far as the comments about a 2500# late model Mustang... I'd have to see it with my eyes. The car is a pig. One of the largest complaints Steve Saleen had about the current generation car was its gurth. Hard to make a race car out of a vehicle with such mass... Lets stick to comparing parts ONLY on the Zcar since this is what we are applying THIS part to. Makes sense to me. Back to the brackets. I'd be MUCH more concerned over the type of hardware used in the application (Bolts) than a 1/4 inch piece of (EVEN MILD) Steel based on the way the steel plate will be used. You are talking about a piece of steel approximately 3 inches wide by 7 inches long with four holes (Two of them tapped with threads), Offset from each other the appropriate amount of distance (Figured athematically of course) to allow the mounting surface of the strut housing and then accomodating the caliper base. I'm pulling these rough estimate figures from last nights memory and the 5 lug setup I bought from Mike Gibson, so I may be slightly off in the dimension, but again I will Say with a great deal of certainty that it WILL WORK and stand by the simple statement that this same (Very SIMPLE) braket is used EVERYWHERE in racing where larger aftermarket calipers and rotors are adapted. This is NOT rocket science guys, and some of you engineers (Richard I respect your input and opinion GREATLY) are making this much harder than it is. The load should be spread out among the material from all four bolt mounting points to sufficiantly even the distribution when the torque arm (Rotor) applies its leverage load against the caliper, transfering the load through the adapter and to the bolts. Since we aren't applying the load directly, but from the sides, the loading doesn't carry the same fatigue or leverage rates. I'd be much more concerned about someone running down to their local LOWES and picking up some low grade bolts because they were in a huirry to throw on their new bling bling brakes to show their buddies. I'm not a mechanical engineer. but I have worked with many of them, and I called TWO of them over the course of the last two days and gave them this data and this link. BOTH came to the same conclusion (Which means nothing since I rarely get two engineers to agree on anything) that this piece of steel, even in mild grade, and at 1/4inch thickness would not be the issue. However, both recommended atleast a hardened steel type, and Neither liked the use of aluminum, period. When the issue of heat came up (Serious concern for me personally since I've seen heat transfer from brake rotors catch brake ducting on fire!) both recommended further analysis to figure out what types of material would best be suited in that particular application. So I'm left to draw the conclusion (AGAIN) that we should use the same type of bracketry that the stock car and race car fabircators use, since they race EVERY WEEKEND and know what fails. Oh, and I know, I know... "You don't know who has tested what and what parts are certified by X manufacturer..." Come on guys, really, do any of you, with great certainty know that ANY aftermarket parts have been certified by anyone you trust? Seriously? My guess is if Juan asked someone at Stainless Steel Brake's Tech department, he probably got someone who knows what they are talking about, but then again, I get the feeling that you guys are SO skeptical, I'm seriously questioning why any of you would modify your cars with anything but parts made from Nissan or some other known Auto Maker. Bob_H, if you get the chance you should probably go to Stock Car Products in Richmond and talk to those guys. Last time I was there they had a buyer for Childress racing and One for DEI who were placing orders for their teams... These are two of the strongest teams in NASCAR and they deal DIRECTLY with the same supplier I use. Now I'm no genious, but I'd suspect anything that works on a grand national 200mph car would work just fine on my 2700# (I put it on weight gain just for you!) Zcar. My personal opinion... You could take four engineers, send them to a brothel in Nevada and none of them would get laid, Even with a suitcase full of money. They'd spend too much time re-engineering the exact proper way to install a condom. You guys have fun. Mike

Think before I read? You want to re-word that? I have read and monitored this whole thread from the beginning. I don't appreciate your comments or the direction you have taken this thread FROM the beginning Bob. If you want to debate Juan's designs with Juan offline, then do so. But spare the rest of us your lesson in engineering. I go by WHAT WORKS, PERIOD. As another poster commented, If you don't like his design, then don't buy it. Since you are such a smart guy, Why don't YOU make something that works, then come back to the table. Until then, I'd applaud everyone who does, and be glad they took the initiative and risk involved in actually DOING something and then providing it to the public. Mike Kelly

You guys amaze me... OK, I have several materials books here for RACE CAR manufactures parts... These are parts that fabricators (Like Mike Gibson, Juan, Ross and I use for supplies) use to build these kits when ever we can substitute something that is already in use. EVERY SINGLE caliper mount brackets that I see in these catalogs is 1/4 inch thick. If the stock car and road race boys don't have failures on 1/4inch mounting ears, I'm quite certain a road Z won't. Bob_H, Making a comparison between a Mustang that Maximum Motorsports makes suspension and brake parts for (At 3500#+!) and a 2400# Zcar is not even in the same hemisphere. 1/4inch thickness of these parts will be fine. When Pete P brings his car to my gettogether I'll be checking to see what Arizona Zcar offered in their package, but I'd bet serious dollars that their mounts were 1/4inch thick as well... But hey, What do I know. I guess all these cars running on AZC brakes should immediately stop using them because they are SOOO Dangerous and SOOO prone to failure. GEEZ! This thread and the intentions of some of the posters makes me wonder why anyone would want to make anything for the Zcar community. It seems pretty obvious to me that Juan and JSK are not appreciated for their efforts. But hey after all there are soooo many other options out there for the Zcar community, right? And as an FYI, My caliper brackets on the package I bought from Mike Gibson... They are 1/4 inch. Mike Kelly

Well I'd rather them PM you than start some stuff on the board and force me to ban them. Classics that come to mind are the battles between Ron Stoy and I over on Zcar.com, and the ones between myself and Kim Blough. There are others too, but you know it all boils down to balls... Come say something face to face and toe to toe. Real easy to sit behind a keyboard and type like a child, and I'm a real easy guy to find. Screw 'em! Mike

THis type of thing is what I keep telling my son about... He is searching for a car and he thinks he won't get ripped on ebay. I would never buy a car sight unseen. If my new job prospect comes through, I'll be either buying a Ford Lightning or a C5 Vette, and I won't be shipping for it on Ebay! Mike

On the whole guy Vs. Girl thing I have to disagree... All you have to do is go to any haardcore porn site to see young girls doing extremely stupid things with a bunch of guys twice their age, So yes, girls use bad judgement too. I'm a HUGE Fan of natural selection, and more than a few members here have tasted my "Rules are rules" brand of justice. However, Being a parent of two teenage boys is certainly prooving that the parents are the ones who suffer the most. I'm a fan of Darwen making his selections, and yes I cheated him more than once as he was certainly caught napping... Kids do dumb stuff not thinking through to the possible end result, and yea weeding through them by removing the labels would help. However, a lot of great leaders were once stupid young boys... Mike

All of the L series motors are a direct swap. All you want to make sure is that the wiring harness and computer are from the same year range car as the motor. If it runs and does everything well, I'd not worry about it... Mike

No word. Police took the report. TOmorrow she goes to the insurance adjuster and we get a check... I have a buddy who owns a body shop and He is gonna fix the trunk and paint the wing when I order it... Mike

DJ, THat is an excellent idea... And the 5 piece unit would be much easier to pull molds from... Mine was a one piece unit I drove to Atlanta to buy from a guy... Les Still has is somewhere... Love to get it back.. Mike

PLan on about $1500 in materials and setup/ waist materials... Les Heath went through an awefull lot of supplies only to throw all of them in the trash. Making a single, Large one-piece mold is the tricky parts... My guess is that is why Show Cars product is soooo bad... Not that the guy intended to do bad, and based on what I saw Les go through, The ShowCars part is probably pretty darned good for a single unit mold... Still not optimal for a Zcar though... It won't be easy and if you are new to fiberglass, You might want to practice on something smaller... Mike

Just went out side and found that some piece of garbage stole our rear deck spoiler off the Mustang... Cops are on the way. They just broke it off by hand... I'm PISSED OFF... Mike

Last night, after all day working on the entryway for the new family room, I decided to go tinker on the track car for a bit... I had the car in the air already and I wanted to pull the stub axles and remove the spindle pins, and prepare for installing the new rear coil overs on the car. Will loostening a mushroomed spindle pin nut with a 12 inch cresent wrench, the wrench slipped off the nut at max torque and it hit me square in the middle of the eyes... Knocked me down on the floor of the garage. I'm off work today with a mild concussion and a big BUMP on my forehead... Wife stayed home to keep an eye on me since I have a history of head injury related medical issues... Great! Stupid things... Mike

Absence makes the heart grow fonder... Sit tight and do NOT move here for a month or two... Take the time to do things for yourself, by yourself, and you will be stronger for it... But don't sit and pine away for her... Get off your ass and go do something fit and or productive... Trust me, you'll thank me later! Mike

Got new pics of the Garage converted to familyroom status in my Personal pics... Chech them out! Those who have been to my house might notice a small difference.... Mike

Juan, Contact me offline and I can provide you with a picture of my five lug setup that you can put up on your website and use for advertisement purposes... And I promise I won't come on here and bash you. Again, I applaud you for your efforts... Here is a good idea of what Juan's brake setup will cost you AFTER buying HIS rotor hat adapters and caliper adapters... Calipers from SCP: Dyna LIte 2s are - $101 Each Superlite2s are - $130 Each Superlite 3s are - $230 Rotors Vary from $44 to $135 depending on the venting, Slots or no, number of vents, if the vents are radial... But if you go with Dynalite2s and the $44 rotor option, all the sudden you have a brake package that costs Less than $600 for light weight calipers on 12.19 inch rotors... VERY good stopping power for minimum cash outlay. My point here guys is that MOST of the members do NOT need the setup I bought from Mike... Not knocking Mike. I was building a top speed open road racer at the time and I got very good brakes from him. The cost was high, but so is the retail cost of THOSE parts... Juan is putting together an option for YOU the HybridZ member to pick and choose what you want. I applaud that since Juan is offering the parts at a VERY FAIR price. I've said it before, and I'll say it again guys, Nothing wrong with competition in our business. Mike Gibson is a good guy and I've done business with him. I Also LIKE Ross Corrigan. However, if someone wants to start making control arms and selling them, GO FOR IT. Make them cheaper and better? Knock your sox off... Just don't use my pics without my permission. I can see where Mike Gibson was upset oover the use of the pic... However, It is just a matter of time before one of Juan's customers does supply him with one, or he takes one himself... This is free enterprise, Lets not lose site of who wins here... YOU the customer do, Not Ross, Mike Kelly, Mike Gibson, or Juan. Mike Kelly

Couple of things here... First I HAD a Gnose until I loaned it to a former member to use for molds and I never fot it back and then he disappeared.. I love the Gnose look and I'll probably have to resort to getting one from Show Cars and having to spend tons of money on it... Anyway, You MUST USE hinges made for the Gnose so the hood won't interfere with the Gnose. You can't get around it... Anyway, Next topic is the headlight covers... I was told they are no longer n production and you won't be able to get them unless you find them used or have them custom made. If you find anything out let us all know, because there are several of us interested in the covers and sources for the Gnose. Mike

Guys, I've got two different setups on my cars... I've got the ground controls on one car (12 inch springs) and it has a 5 lug conversion and I'm running 17X9 inch wheels... I currently have 275-40-17s on it but they are at the outer edge of the fender lip. A 255-40 fits PERFECT. Click on my pics to see the car with 245-45-17s on it... You could use the ground controls.. The other kit I have more labor in, but was MUCH cheaper (At about $300 for all the parts!) Stock wheels rolling it around right now, but it is flared big time, so that is a whole different animal! Mike

Dan, Actually this is even more significant since Phantom is using a 120#+ T56 trans instead of a T5. That is pretty darned amazing if you ask me... There you have it, Full interior, A/C, Sound deadening to I'd imagine, Stereo and speaker rear hatch panel... God Bless the GM Bowtie! Mike

Phantom, Did you weigh it with the same amount of fuel??? I know this question will come up, so I figured (As a fellow V8Zer) I'd go ahead and ask! Fuel is 6# per gallon... BTW, Your weight differences are EXACTLY what I like seeing! But wait, the V8 and T56 Combo are supposed to be SOOOOO Much heavier! Couldn't resist! Mike

Couple of comments here... Building a 383 Stroker isnt nearly as expensive as it used to be. My shortblock, as documented elsewhere, was relatively inexpensive at $1400, inlcuidng Forged Hbeam rods and forged Pistons and a new Scat9000 crank, all internally balanced and assembled. That price included an SFI Harmonic Balancer and SFI 153Ring Flywheel. This shortblock should dyno with the heads and induction I'm using at well over 500HP. Scat is now selling INTERNALLY BALANCED 383 CRANKS for Less than $300 (Got mine for $219) which does away with the concerns over not being able to internally balance the assembly, so I don't think is an issue SPIIRIT! On the trackday car we have opted for a 350 build for a couple of reasons... They are a little more forgiving for revs and missed shifts, and I can get all the parts for the same idential build as my 383stroker for Less than $1100. You simply can't argue with that. A word of caution on using USED Forged cranks... You are far better off going with a new Scat crank for $200 than with a used forged crank of questionable history. My engine builder (And Pete's for that matter) stressed this big time... His exact words were "How often do you hear about a forged crank failing at the track???" If you are shooting for a good baseline shortblock package to build 350 crank HP, I'd shoot for the 350 Chevy. Yea, it is common. But that is the attraction to it. They are the most cost effective, and will handle the change in configuration much better when you decide that 350HP isn't enough... Mike

The Sub-compact thing was BOOMING LONG before F&F. I don't know what country you've been in, but I've got SSC and Turbo & Hi Tech mags from the 90s with TONS of relatively fast imports... Bob, I'm interested in your background and what other cars you've built? Also How old are you??? Mike

Absolutely... There was a member on here for a while that had done the Swap and everytime he stepped on the gas the car would twist, so much so that going around corners his doors would pop open! Make sure you add sub frames at bare minimum. Mike

OK Guys TAKE NOTE!!!! These guys WHO GO TO THE TRACK, and who ACTUALLY DRIVE THEIR CARS, They are the guys I expect to make statements like "Such and Such make car SUXs!" I'm getting fed up on some of the members who have NEVER made it to the track making claims of these types of things... Smells to much of Fast & Furious-like BS to me... Dan, EXCELLENT POST! Mike

BlackBob, I don't think that "Forgetting the L28 ever existed" is the answer. I think the answer is to recognize the limits, research and experiment to overcome the limits, design changes to overcome the limits, or live within the limits. Not sure how many Zmotors you've had a hand building, or how long you've been into Zs, but the issues being discussed by Guys like James, Jeff, DaneL24 and others are the same issues and problems people like Bob Sharp Racing, Electramotive, and other Nissan teams struggled with back in the day. Only difference is that the members here have been more successfull recently (With the technological advances of the last two decades) in getting around the limitations, only to have them resurface later on, if at much higher output. Mike