Mikelly

...I want to echo what John Coffee posted... He asked to take a look at the arm and see if he could assist in making a few sets... That was it. He offered this up BEFORE I decided to bail out of the control arm market. I do NOT want to imply that John has gone into the business of fabing up custom parts... I can attest to the time that this project can rapidly eat away. John Williams currently has the arm and has another guy looking at it. My game plan is to get a few sets made for those who have expressed interest, and then for me to be done with this whole affair for a while. I will likely get back into the game of making parts of sometime for some type of vehicle. It will most likely NOT be for the Zcar. John C. sorry for the confusion and I certainly didn't mean to imply the above... Mike

I've got the Canton Roundy ROund version that is 7 inches and pretty wide...'Course it isn't on the motor and in the car yet... I'm taking it to the builder, along with rods and pistons, cam and chain for a full build up of the shortblock... Course I still have to order the crank and flywheel... Mike

Prenups... Yup, Got one. SHE made me do it. I had all the assets and she had the liabilities. After two years dating, she wanted to make sure I was protected. So I went to a lawyer, drew everything up, and they supposedly do hold water, but who knows... You can get a lawyer to contest anything these days... Hope I never find out. Love my wife. Mike

Ross, As I mentioned in my e-mail back to you, if you can make a better mouse trap, or as good a mouse trap for the money, go for it. I support all your efforts. You sell good products and I have every confidence that you and your sources could make a comperable product... I'd recommend something that is on car adjustable, as the customers have spoken with me about... Good luck! Mike

Yup, what Tim said. Guy is an adult and should know better... He needs to have the love goggles stripped off him and fast... Brings up another good topic... The SERIOUSNESS of marriage. When two people marry it is not only a union, but also a BUSINESS arrangment. The two of you now are partners in a financial liability known as marriage. What is yours is their's and vise versa. This, if no other reason, should be enough for ANYONE to really think HARD about who they are marrying and what each party brings to the table. I had a friend who had fallen into the trappings of quickie romance and he ended up losing his house and his car, not top mention the hottie bride he married... Love and romance take time... And time is one thing that won't hurt a relationship... Mike

Jim, I have a few to get out, but effectively the site can be shut down. I plan to make you a set of front arms for your efforts. I'll probably keep the site intact and maybe use a folder in it to store some images... I'll contact you offline. Mike

Guys, The day has come to hang up the hat and call it quits. I started this little venture primarely out of a promise made by someone else. However, the last two years have found me spending zero time on my own projects and lots of time making control arms. I've moved 24 sets of rears, and soon to be 38 sets of fronts. It is a time consuming process. Anyway, John Williams and John Coffee are looking at making a run of the rear arms for me. However, I need to know how many of you will want them. When these are gone, That is it. I'm done, finished, turn out the lights, Elvis has left the building. So if you had planned to get a pair, you might want to shuffle your wish list prioreties and put these at the top. I have three sets accounted for, but beyond that there are no others interested in the arms. Speak now or forever hold your peace... IT's been fun guys, but if I don't stop now, I'll never get my own car back together... I might, MIGHT start something back up next year, but for now I need to focus on the house, and my own car projects! Mike

Doug, I think he was trying to see how fast he could hit the back of his head on the pavement... I give him a 9.6 for style points and a 10.0 for execution... Wonder if the kid is still alive after that one. Mike

Georgia Flash, that is correct. There is no backside to that little threaded stud. Put the nut back on about two threads worth and tap it lightly with a hammer... You will find that the stud that nuts threads onto is a wedge that locks the spindle pin in place. Give me a ring at 540-891-4420 if you need more help. Mike

Yup, saw this the other day. It is making the rounds at most sites... Mike

Dan, it was at a machine shop in Stafford Virginia. The guy does specialty tooling for air craft parts and special tooling for people at Quantico, Va., FBI, DEA, Marines... He also used to be an engineer for NASA. I almost Married the guys daughter once and we hit it off. Anyway, he is somewhat the brains behind my engineering designs... I fly stuff by him and a few others. This stress tester (He calls it is demolisher) actually has four posts with Hydraulic pistons that have steel inserts that can be swapped for differing sizes... We put it in this vise like contraption and load the part in opposing angles (We did 8 in all) and test welds and such. We didn't max the system out as he has done well over 100,000 pounds presure on stuff designed for special customers. I'll try to get some pics of his contraption the next time I'm at his shop. I don't make this stuff up, and I certainly would not make a part and sell it if I didn't think it would survive on a ZCAR. Comments about the threads... I have recommended that adjustment on each end of the turnbuckles not be extended to show more than 3/4 inch. The threaded turnbuckles are 2.25 inches per side threaded into each rod. The rods are .130 thick and pretty strong. I had the square tube design tested without any failures. I had the front design tested without failure. I did have failure on the TC rod because we used an aluminum rod at first... Bad move. I never sold a part with aluminum, so that wasn't an issue, just added some excitement to our first MSA outing! The tubular arm split on a piece of tubing that was suspect from the beginning and I've not been given any tubing from SCP like it since. However, I'm open for options to look at. I'm also open for someone taking over the making of these parts if they can do it better/ cheaper/ faster! Mike

As young adolescant males we have the need to seek out and sire as many women as we possibly can. This drive is primal and natural. Understanding it and recognizing our own responsibilities is of the highest importance. Assuming that your female counterpart is taking all precautions is both ignorant and unfair to saddle them with all the burden, not to mention unhealthy in this STD filled world. What many of you don't know is that I also "fathered" (for lack of a better word because I was never a parent to this child) a child with the first girl I was ever serious about. It was right after high school when we started dating and we were hot and heavy for about 6 months before it fizzled. Fast forward to June the year after, we've since broken up, and this young woman is at my house talking with my mother. I arrive home after a day at school and she tells me she is pregnant, 6.5 months and thet the baby is certainly mine. We haven't dated in about 5.5 months and I am literally in shell shock. Mind you she is not showing. She is 5 ft. 9inches tall, still weighing in at 125#. No belly, no signes of being pregnant. I'm a full time student with a 4.0 grade point average, my life is on a super high, I've got a reasonably nice car, a motorcycle, a full time evening job as a park ranger, and I'm in college, the only person in my family to ever go... and now this... Turns out she was pregnant, and it was mine. This happened. Every year on August 6th I say a prayer for my son who is now to be 18 years old this coming August. I know not where he is, or who is raising him. His mother, Patricia and I decided that we didn't love each other and that we weren't ready for this, and she was to far along for an abortive option to be an option, so we gave the infant up for adoption to a family who couldn't have children for medical reasons. coincidentaly my Mother's birthday is August 6th as well. Talk about hard. Every year my mother and I have a sad moment due to the very fact that she is reminded of the grandchild she never got to know. We are both reminded of the irresponsibility of youth. To add an even more traggic footnote to all this, the young woman I created this human being with was apparantly CRAZY about me all along and went along with it because she knew it was over between us. She eventually had a mental breakdown and had to seek therapy and medication. Yea, I know a thing or two about guilt. I have several chapters in the book. I always swore that I would never regrete the decisions I've made in life. Those who know me, know me to give 110% to everything I do. I work hard, and I play MUCH harder. I do that to distance myself from that everpresent fear of regrete. However, the older we get, the harder it is to keep fear and regrete at bey. I've given my mother the go ahead to start the painfull search that may one day bring he and I face to face. That day will be filled with explanations, emotion, and the hard reality of a past lead by youth, testosterone and irresponsibility. So to the youth of the world reading this, heed the warnings of someone who has worn a path in the concrete that goes around the proverbial block. Be a man. Take the proper precautions, and for gods sake WEAR a condom. Don't let fear and regrete chase you through the rest of your days. Mike

Gary, I appreciate the compliment. However, Dave at Arizona Zcar does build a nice piece. His tubing is cromoly which is stronger and lighter than mine. My ultimate goal was to have it made of cromoly and one upgrade I'm gonna make to my shop after I move in is to shop for a tig welder and then learn properly how to use it, which will require me to go BACK to school since I haven't used one in 18 years. I think my design (Jamie's design really) is strong, certainly functional, and on-car adjustable, which is important to my customers. If I can alter them slightly to add strength and to give more swaybar pick up point options, then I'd be happier. John and I actually talked about scrapping the outboard section the turnbuckle threads into (Where the spindle pin mounts) and use a female Heim joint there at that point for better geometry, but I'm a bit concerned about that since it hasn't been tested... This would allow me to run the sway bar mount differently though... Hopefully I can get some super smart guy like John Coffee involved in this piece. At this point I'd be willing to bow out of the production of this part as long as someone I trust could continue on with the intended goals kept: Reliability, Affordability and ON-CAR adjustability! Mike

Dan, that arm is very similar to the Arizona Zcar arm. I can't speak about their product other than the differences in theirs and mine. The goal my customers specify is that it must be ON-CAR adjustable, and the AZ Car unit isn't. I have front control arms based on a male heim joint design like the AZ Car units and they were time consuming to adjust. Mine aren't. Also, I've sold 34 sets of fronts and over 20 rears with ZERO returns due to failure in workmanship. Mike

Not taking offense... I've got a number of folks here that are using them with GREAT success and ZERO failures... The threaded turnbuckle is not gonna fail. I had these units put into a hydraulic device that is designed to make parts like this fail, using four hydraulic pistons that push in varrying angles with varrying forces... at 78,000 pounds presure the only problem I had was one split tube. It was the longest tube, but then again, it was 78,000#. These units will NOT fail under normal conditions. This was with .130 mild steel tubing. Mike

Denny, re-read my post man... We are on the same page... Last thing I want people thinking is that I'm FOR people not raising their kids... I'm the product of the same parents being together under the same roof for 43 years. I also am a STEP-Parent and see the effects of divorce on the family... It is devistating and forever changing... My suggestion was meant for Young David here to stop getting women pregnant unless he is married to them with the intention of staying with them... Nothing says stress more than an unplanned pregnancy... Mike

I sell them here: www.zfracingsuspensions.com I carry Gmachine and Energy.. Mike

I'd also suggest birth control. Seriously, you've gotten two women pregnant (Even though they were at different phases of your life) and Although I've lived with women as well over the years, you really don't want a lot of children running around with out "DAD" there constantly. I know you are settled with this girl and you guys are excited about being together, but think about the first girl in your story. I bet in a million years you would never have thought you guys would break up during that whole first year... "Puppy love" or "Love Goggles" as they call it is a tough condition to get through. First true love of my life took a piece of my soul, as well as a large chunk of my bank account at the ripe old age of 22. She almost bankrupted me. Nothing like coming home to a house that was cleaned out and utilities turned off. She didn't even leave me any food or toilet paper, towels, sheets, bed, TV, NOTHING... Talk about a kick in the nutts... This from my first REAL love... Ain't it grand... Niche' said it best... If it doesn't kill you... Mike

Spoke with John Williams last night and it seems that the fellow he left the arm with decided to possiobly copy it and sell his own... John is getting the unit back and is gonna try and get another guy to take a look at it, but I told him if it takes too long that I'll just discontinue the line of rear arms all together. I'm now concerned about getting back my unit to complete my personal set... This brings up my frustrations over the lack of HONEST vendors support of our cars. I've dealt with a number of people over the years and it seems that most of my dealings with vendors and those interested in making stuff for Zs has been less than ideal. Actually, other than dealing with Ross, Mike G., and Scottie (And of course Jamie T. who was making the rear arms for me), I've had some pretty crappy luck. ...OH and ANYONE know where I can find Les Heath... Guy still has my Gnose... Any tips or contact info would be appreciated. Mike

Several things you will want to do for sure... Better rods... Shotpeen them at least, and I'd look at maybe getting them cryo-treated. I'd check with ARP for rod bolts, main bolts, head bolts... I'd look for a better Harmonic damper, as the stock unit will delaminate. Obviously go with forged or treated pistons, and if you can swing it, forged rods would be a better way to go than race prepped stock rods. Have your crank gone through, knife edged, the works... You want to make sure the bottom end is gonna be bullet proof. My guess is you will have better part of $4000-5000 in a properly done shortblock for that kind of Goal... Now that is high, but it is 100% the way to go for reliability reasons... Good Luck... Mike

The perfect woman??? My wife, of course! Mike

Youth and ignorace... I'll take age and treachery any day of the week... In my neck of the woods we have some real STUNTAS with Made Crazy SkillZ... And they can't hang on any of the group rides with us OLD dudes... Funny as hell watching these kids talk smack and then not be able to hang with some of the gils who ride with us! Knee draggin', now that's REAL made SKILLZ! Mike

You take a man, a truck and an engine lift, and two four hundred pound Auto Lift Posts... I had been dreading the day that I had to remove the lift components from my car trailer... So the phone rings and it is my Buddy Barry saying the contract on his house popped and he has 30 days to get all his stuff out of his house. My lights for my new garage are stored there... 14 four tube, four feet long fictures... and they need to go ASAP! So instead of mudding yesterday I figured Surely I, a reasonably smart guy with all this stuff around my place, can come up with a solution to getting the parts off the trailer... Sure enough, and hour and a half later I had everything unloaded, safety latched released, all the weight at the bottom of each base, and both units stood in place. Now all I need to do is place the top on, bolt it down to the two uprights, and then get my dad's hammer drill and drill the holes in the concrete and bolt it in place with some hilti bolts... However, Today WE MUDD.. I'll finish off the initial taping of the cieling today and start on the sanding and touch ups... I'll be glad when I can move in... Oh yea, I finally got my shipment of SCP parts so those of you who are waiting on TC Rods and control arms, I'll have them done and shipped this week! Mike

The guys over on the Bike web sites are bitching and moaning about this too... Bottom line is it boils down to economics. I'm just happy that we have Tuesdays for ANY motorcycle racing coverage. I also found that they (Speed) show a lot more than you think. You just have to really pay attention to the weekly listings... I see a lot of TOURING CAR series stuff, which I'm into BIG TIME! They also show the Valvoline runoffs several time AFTER the event, which I appreciate since I haven't gone in years... Just looking at it from the other side of the fence guys... Mike

Welcome to HybridZ... Turn off the Caps... In the world of the web Caps ON is equivilant to YELLING! FYI, Here is the link to the 2002 Valvoline Run Offs and the EP Results... http://www.scca.org/amateur/club_racing/runoffs/02results/ep-race.html Mike