Mikelly

I used to think Dirtbikes were more fun than road bikes, until I got into the science of taking a road bike/ AKA crotch rocket around a road course... Then I gotr out of bikes all together. Now I'm back into them full force, and there is NOTHING like dragging your knee on pavement, NOTHING... Give a crack addict a few hot laps on a closed course and he/ She would give up the pipe! Moab, Utah... Was just there October... man oh man... Love that place! 'Course I have mountain bikes and not dirt bikes, but the feeling is the same! Mike

...Mind you I know NOTHING about turbos and haven't worked on ANY turbo cars in over a decade... My kids T5 turbo kit came in last night... Anyone know of a good source for rubber boots that connect the tubing?? It came with all the piping... No boots though... The intercooler is an SVO unit, and the BOV and waste gates came with it as well... I've got a few oil plumbing questions... Can I just run one of those sandwhich adapters to the oil filter and get oil from there??? I also have a TURBOTX manual Boost controller, a Vortec FMU, and an HKS Turbo timer for it... The wife bought him the two gage pod and Autometer Boost gage and oil temp gage for it. Can't think of anything else I really need right now, other than learning how this stuff will plumb in. I also need to make a down pipe, and we'll have to get a custom exhaust made... He needs to order a new hiflow cat with 2.5 inch inlet/outlet... Should be a fun ride with about 7 PSI of boost... Mike

Joe... #1. Yes. #2 120 AC! #3. DUH! and finally...I gave the kid my normal response... "Are you on Crack?" He got the point! Mike

Denny I've got an extra Microwave, and we're scheduled to upgrade the frig when I'm done with the garage anyway... So guess where the extra is going??? Well we're done... Took three of us from 10AM until 3:30 without a lunch break, but we got interior wiring, extrerior wiring, the panel, and the service set. I'm tired.. I'm also a bachelor tonight since the wife and stepson took a bustrip to NYC to see the Xmas tree and a Broadway show... I'm gonna order some food and settle in for the evening... Pretty tired... Now to schedule the rough in, and go buy some insulation... Mike

One of our Z bretherin who has since left the Z scene (Mark Schiller to those in F'burg and Roanoke) is on his way down there to free you folks of your power woes... Va. Power offered their employees Mega bucks to go down and lend a hand, and Mark Jumped at the chance! Jamie, you get my phone call message??? Turnbuckles are in... Cromoly turnbuckles...! Mike

Scott, I still have the upstairs on the garage to finsh and my 15 year old is begging me to let him live up there... 11X32, and it would make one heck of a guys haung out... But we're likely gonna move the mail order business out there, so the whole business venture is out of the house! Needless to say the 15 year old isn't too stoked about that... I told the wife that if we had plumbing out there she'd never see me! Mike

Trust us on this one, most guys don't know what the weight of their wheels are... True racer types and autocrossers take wheel weights into consideration. But the average gear head, hell if they are th right size and look cool, they'd put a 40# rim on their car and not understand where all that power went... Contact the maker before buying ANY wheels used if you are concerned about wheel weights... Adn 26# for that wheel isn't good at all... my 17X9.5 cobra R knockoffs are only 24#s and that is still to heavy in my book... Shave 40#s of your wheel and tire combo and you could free up as much as 100HP equivolant... Rotating weight in the form of tires and wheels is a VERY big deal! Mike

They all have tie rods on them... Every model Zcar does... Get them from (Dare I say???) MSA or Victoria Brittish... Or your local parts store... There are two and they attach to the steering rack, at one end, and the turnknuckle at the bottom of the strut assembly at the other... Mike

Ruben, Nope I don't mind at all...we're all learning and I need as much info as I can to make the parts better in the long run... And Terry is right, it is the uprights (Not the mustach bar) that you mount the sway bar to. I just did win an adjustable rear sway bar and the uprights on ebay ($50) and it is a nice setup that allows some adjustment...I'll mock that up and see what that gets us... Mike

And as a follow on, Please keep me in the loop on this, as it MAY effect how we (ZF Racing) make the rear control arms... Ruben has my tubular arms, which SHOULD provide more clearance, but not much... I also thought running the CVs required mounting up the sway bar off the mustache bar... Mike

... Well this weekend we wire it up, and move to the rough in inspection phase of this whole nightmare... Maybe by next week I can get the rough in inspection done, get the insullation in next weekend, then get that isnpection done, and move on to the final! God I hope this goes to schedule.. I'd like to refinance this homestead while the rates are as low as they are... I'm still waiting for the garage door to arrive and be installed... Pictures are forthcoming... Wish me luck guys... Mike

FYI, Motegi is the marketing BRAND of rim now being offered to the import crowd, but the wheels are made by American Racing Wheels... Mike

http://www.tweecer.com/index.html Here is the link for the Tweecer RT, which is what I bought... It is a direct plugin to the EEC4 computer. Jim this car was Matt Cossand's 95 GT that had a whole host of mods to it... 75MM Pro-M MAS, 70MM BBK TB, GT40 Upper and lower, MSD Ignition, Mac Headers, Underdrives, K&N Cold Air Kit, 9mm plug wires... The SN95 EECs are known to ping, throw multiple 02 codes, and just pull the timing right out of the car... The cool thing about the Tweecer RT is the datalogging feature in it. Read the info on the website... This doesn't have to be the baddest cutting edge technology, as it is the wife's car, and I just want the car to run right WITH the mods, and the addition of the aluminum heads and cam I'm throwing in it come January. Car should be running low 14s/ high 13s right now but I can't run it hard because no matter where I set the timing, the damned thing pings... Mike

Take an MSF course first and formost! Motorcycle Safety Foundation Course! Best money and time you will spend and it will tell you if bikes are for you or not! As to the safety gear... Go here: www.newenough.com and buy the absolute best G-E-A-R you can buy... Helmet is Extremely important, but so are your hands, body and feet! I ride YEAR ROUND in FULL leathers with HARD armor! Good luck, and I'd look at the 600CC class twins in a standard configuration... Not a cruiser, not a sport bike... Mike

After working on them Randy, I am now! I'm looking for a shortblock to build up for the white Z... I'll just have one of each I guess.. What amazes me with the Mustang my wife has is that it is SOOO stable at speed, and the aftermarket support is awesome. I expect to be in the low 13/ high 12 range at the 1/4 next spring. With the ability to override the EEC4 factory tunning, I should be able to take full advantage of the parts the original owner put on it, plus the larger rockers, aluminum heads and cam I plan to install. I'm also in communications with COMPCAMS about getting a custom grind for it... Fun and games blue oval style! Mike

Ah, but focus on what I said... If he wants to hide it, there must be a reason for it... I've worn a path around the proverbial block when it comes to women and relationships and I can speak from personal experience. It is a BAD idea to shoot yourself or anyone else doing the bump and grind... It NEVER looks like the pros... Much better left to the sylicone and muscle bound pros of the adult industry... Mike

Damn good advice Tom... And this from a 16, soon to be 17 year old! Mike

See, here in lies the misgivings of youth. If something is on that tape that you are ashamed of, then I say tough. Let mom and dad see it and take your lumps. You are in their house, living under their rules (I assume...) so you need to face the music. I assume one of two things... You either had a roll in the hay with someone you are smitten with that they (Your parents) are not, or you pulled some stunt that you HAD to video tape so you could show it to your buddies... Either way, your stress is mildly amusing. Take the advice of others and swipe the tape or take your lumps... Being a step-parent is making me cranky... Mike

Just say when... I can whip you a set up! Mike

Actually I found the HOT TIcket for EEC tuning... It is called the TweecerRT, and is pretty cool. It goes for $600 and I found one on one of the sites for $425 new in the box. I'm also gonna look for a shortblock to build up and put in the white Z. I'll take the heads off my wife's car when I swap the aluminum one's into it, and I've got the factory Upper and lower intakes and TB. All I need is a shortblock and a T5 and I'll have enough parts to put the white car back together as a dedicated Racer Via Ford power... This tweecer RT stores up to four custom "Burns" and you can send the data out to have a custom chip burned. What that means is that I can use it daily on the wife's car, and then use it to tune the white car, and when it is right, I can take that data and have it burned to a chip for the white car, or Vise versa! Pretty slick datalogging as well! Mike

1995 Chevy S10 Blazer with the VORTEC motor... Took me three hours to do a tune up on it... an hour and a half was on the sparkplugs... 2nd place goes to the V6 Fiero... Requiring unbolting the freaking front motor mount and rocking the engine towards the back of the car to get to the three plugs closest to the passenger compartment... Mike

Ah the beauty of tricking out a motorscooter... A $50 sprocket and you now have deeper or shallower geering, depending on what you want to do... Top end or 1/4 mile sprint! Most likely Not done to fool the speedo, but to get top end speed/ longer legs! Mike

My 98 ZX9R weighs in at a svelt 402 pounds and Runs the 1/4 in the 9s at well over 140... Previous owner would bounce the front wheel and do wheelies at over 100mph. I've personally weighted the gas tank and blown off the rear tire in a smokey burn out down the length of the front straight at Jefferson Circuit at Summit point at speeds well over 70mph... It is pulling well over 130HP and is SCARY fast to ride...and is MUCH slower than the newest crop of bad boy bikes. I've tapped 150 on it in 6th gear and had 3-4KRPMs of headroom left in her. The newer bikes like this Busa can hit well over 200MPH with minimal tweeks. Takes LOTS of disciplin NOT to go to Jail or the morgue! Mike

I saw this car at World of Wheels in the Mid-1980's and it was a show stopper then. I believe the roof was supposed to have been chopped a full inch, although I bet they got the "Full Inch" from the trim that is painted around the door frame... Nice illusion. And yes, those are 280Z tail lights. The pictures do NOT do that car justice. Another tidbit mentioned in one of my bio books on the man; Knievel had actually planned to Jump that car in an arena at some point, but scrapped the idea because the cage tubing they wanted to install wouldn't allow enough clearance for his safety. In fact, in later years Knievel had fond memories of the car and later mentioned that he didn't have the heart to see it all cut up to have a cage installed, only to have him trash it in a stunt jump. As was mentioned before, this car was done up in the late 70s or early 80's. For the period it simply ROCKED! It is a Scarab style setup with the hooker conversion kit. I had few "Heros" growing up... Figures I picked a violent drunk to be mine... Mike

Well honestly for me, it comes down to price. After reading the article in the above link, I'll admit the 350Z is a nice read, and I'm sure impressive to drive. I just think 27K-35K for THAT car, based on the original intent of the first generation 240Z, is just too high. It gets too close to jumping into other cars made by other makers... I've always said I'm not a brand snob, and I'm certainly not a "Nissan" brand fan. I'm a vintage Zcar fan, and I think the original theme was lost in this car. However, as someone posted earlier, I don't think I'm the intended target Nissan had in mind. What the hell, I never thought I'd own a Mustang, but I do. One day I may own a "PRE-Owned" 350Z! Won't be a new one, that's for sure! Mike