Mikelly

Jim, Over the last 20 years I've attended some very worthwhile courses on driving, thanks to the federal government and my former life. I also paid out of pocket to learn how to drive faster. Every time I get in a car or on a motorcycle I hit my marks, watch for braking distance judged on speed, the vehicles ability to stop and driving conditions. I've been doing this since my first track day back when I was a teenager... I am of the firm belief that if we teach kids how to drive safer at speed, and also teach them how to threashold brake, panic stop, and control skids, I bet we could save many many more lives MUCH sooner. Also, although I agree with the comments about Japan in general, when getting a license to operate a motorcycle you must graduate from class size to class size... You can't just go out, plunk down $10000 and buy a literclass sportbike and learn on it... You have to start out in the 100cc class... and then gradually you move up when you pass skills tests based on your abilities... In Europe it is as difficult, and they are MUCH more skills oriented... I agree with regards to the other comments, although I understand where Kevin is coming from... You have the right to contest ANY ticket in court, and I have been quite successfull at getting out of several. However, When I'm dead busted for doing something wrong, I generally pay the fine and shut the hell up... Guilty as charged... Mike

Leny, Bare with me... I'm gonna address that... And for what it's worth, My V8Z was VERY drivable, so much so that I drove it in the worst taffic in our country on a regular basis, AND it hit ALL THREE of your marks. EASY to do... I'll show you how, just stay tuned... Mike

Couple of other things come to mind here...We are always comparing our cars to modern technolody cars... But we miss something VERY important in our comparisons.. Safety! No airbags, doors so thin I get a shiver up my spine every time I pull a door panel, no antilock brakes, crush zones designed in the 60's... and SUPER THIN sheetmetal... Yea, our cars are ultra light compared to a lot of new muscle roaming the streets, but the fact of the matter is that a Zcar is NOT the safest car out there... We give up quite a bit of safety for that light weight... And don't bother telling me you dno't plan on crashing yours... They are called accidents... I'll get back to the original post later this evening... I need to figure out how far back this rain is pushing my framing... Mike

Oh boy, opinions are gonna come out of the woodwork on this one... Lets forget appearance for the moment and discuss why it is soo important to build a V8 Zcar, and to have a plan... By the way, You know how to make god laugh??? Make a plan. Anyway, the most important thing you want to do before you ever start purchasing parts is to decide what you intend to do with the car REALISTICALLY... This will ultimately decide which direction you want to go in. For this excerisize lets say we want an high 11 second to low 12 second street car that handles reasonably well for some occasional drag passes at your local strip, and the occasional solo2 autocross. The next question is also equally important... What creature comforts can you live without, and what must you have...Radio, CD Changer??? A/C??? P-L-A-N... Make sure you have researched everything... Notice that you haven't spent a dime... Next, lets face it, some of the items we purchase for the car are must have, and others are well, BLING BLING, bragging rights, cool factor parts... But certainly fall in the more expensive of options... What CAN you REALISTICALLY afford... That is very important if you don't have a headroom on the credit card, or have a wife who will NOT understand spending that additional fun money on parts parts parts... Sometimes the cold hard reality of a projects cost can be the nail in the coffen. Trust me on this one. If there are any other cars out there that you think you can have just as much fun in, then do a little comparo... I could have bought a C5 Corvette with the money I have tied up in V8Zparts... and I'm NOT kidding either... Make sure you REALLY want to build THIS CAR!!! OK, so now you have your I's dotted and your T's Crossed in your plan and you are resolved to the fact that you can do this... Powerplant - doesn't matter. Unless you can't fabricate. Then go with a Chevy since JTR and Hooker, as well as MSA already have solutions pre-made. If you aren't affraid to roll up your sleeves, then drop in a ford, dodge, or pontiac motor... Trans??? Slush box or row your own, again, not a huge factor...Unless you do the Hooker thing... Then you have problems with the shifter to acocunt for... So keep that in mind... The weight issue has been beat to death...Guess what, ALUMINUM WEIGHS LESS... Shocker... OK, if budget can afford this hit, plan on aluminum heads and intake. Those are the most important in my mind when picking parts... Other than Cam, and valve train type. Internal engine components...Hmmm Seems that you could do a search here and find that in HybridZ's inception I was a fan of cast pistons because that is what I had in my motor at the time... Until I opened it up and found CLAIMER low end pistons in the motor... You can get forged pistons and rods relatively cheap... I'd recommend building the strongest bottom end you can afford... But don't scrimp on bolts... GET TOP OF THE LINE ARPs regardless of the other areas to cut corners at... Lets move to a couple of areas I always read about when a HybridZ guy first gets his project running... Heat of the starter solenoid, and coolant issues with the radiator... bottom line is the engine bay keeps in a LOT of heat, and if you don't MOVE enough air through the radiator, then you will not cool the motor... Make sure to get a remote starter relay and hang it in a location AWAY from the heat of your exhaust manifolds... Also, plan to shroud the fan, and invest in a good electrical cooling fan. Do those now, and you won't have to worry later.. The other area is the infamous Drive line angle... Might as well research that now. You will deal with it later, so you need to understand what is causing it and how to fix it. Braking... YOU Don't need big brakes, but it helps. I wouldn't say you even NEED rear disc brakes, but they look nice, and the maintenance is well worth the conversion. Keep in mind the Bling Bling comment I made above. However, At the least, I'd plan to upgrade the front rotors to something vented, and larger in diameter, as well as a better caliper. The rears can be compensated with better shoe material, aluminum drums and better fluid. Brakes can run you crazy money... Keep in mind that when upgrading the brake calipers and rotors that you will probably need to upgrade the booster and mastercylinder which will add to the cost. Budget $1500 to cover a FRONT only disc upgrade with better fluid and better shoes for the rear. See Mike Gibson for ALL your braking needs... Suspension... This is another hotbed for contention... Coil overs are all the rage, and if you don't section the strut housing then shame on you... Uh, No. You can build a relatively balanced car without going crazy on coil overs. Just keep in mind that coil overs do give you something besides the addition of ride height adjustment... You can also set your corner weights, which will make your car MORE TUNABLE for ANY serious road course work!!! However, my V8Z had MSA springs and the old Koni Red oil filled struts that Arizona Zcar used to sell and everyone I took for a ride in the car was simply amazed... After you get the car running and have enjoyed it for a while, then you can go back and put my crazy ZF Racing control arms and coil overs on the car at a later time. Bushings, subframe connectors (A Must) and a bolt in cage helped mine, too. What is mandatory is getting a good set of struts on a nice set of stiffer (Not necessarelly shorter) springs, larger sway bars (Atleast a larger front unit, but not too big) and urethane every spot possible when it comes to bushings is a minimal starting point... That should cost you about $1500 including all parts listed below: Springs from MSA OR AZC are about $300 Struts are About $65 each for tokico non adjustables. a full bushing kit is $200 plus installation, and getting a shop to weld in your subframes should run less than $500. A cage is nice, but NOT necessary, and weld in's are better than bolt-ins, but don't discount a bolt in unit. Mine saved my life when I was the middle car in a three car collision. Neither caster nor camber is adjustable, but if you can afford adjustable suspension, try to get 5 degrees positive caster, zero toe, zero camber to negative 1 degree camber in the front. Zero toe and up to a degree negative camber in the rear is also a good bet. Fuel injection or carburation... Knowing what I now know, I'd go FI all the way. Factory 5.0 ford stuff is dirt cheap and stuff for LT1 chevys is also readily available for cheap... I'd go that route, or you can save up for a system like the Accell DFI, or others, and I'd even consider the Holley TBI aftermarket units as they are SUPER cheap and easy to tune. Cooling... Aluminum baby. That is all I can say on the subject, other than getting a high flowing water pump (Stewarts are good, as well as Edelbrock) and a GOOD electrical fan, as well as a fan shroud. Rear differential... R200s are plenty strong for 300-400HP, but the axles are a major issue... Budget for CV axles, as well as Ross Courigan's CV adapters. CV axles are super strong and will allow you to survive hard launches, and provide you with the confidence a daily driver requires. Wheels Wheels Wheels... The issue is bolt pattern Vs. width. One area guys are missing that Jamie Taylor has clued in on is that you can get a VERY NICE set of wheels that is the wrong pattern and have the holes re-drilled for CHEAP... Ask Jamie about his Steeda wheels that he got for cheap and had drilled for $75!!! Other than that, plan to shell out big bucks for custom wheels, or look into other alternatives such as Wheel adapters or Lug conversions. Interiors can really go mild to wild, and race to last place... Choice is yours, but plan on a better set of seats. The stock seats don't provide the proper lateral support, and most are covered in vinyl. Bad Bad Bad. Once you check into re-covering your existing seats, you'll find that a pair of aftermarket seats aren't that far off. Gages are Really good add ons that are FUNCTIONAL, as well as an aftermarket wheel. Everything else is just gonna be up to your personal taste and style... Keep in mind though, the more electrical stuff you install, the larger the chance for electrical problems down the road... And electronic stuff such as power locks and windows, large amps and subs all weigh quite a bit. They take away from your performance advantage. Fuel for fools... Well now we are getting into another area... Fuel depends on how you choose to go, EFI or Carb. Once you sort that out, you can buy the proper pump, cut off switch, and regulator. If your powerplant warrants it, or if you are looking for an area to upgrade later, you can swap lines to larger units, as well as installing a fuel cell... Exhausts have been done many ways and folks do them for different reasons... Some guys want to hide what they have, trying to provide the sleeper mode, and others like myself have run duels out the back. My custom setup ran me $600 plus stage 8 bolts, as well as the headers I ran. The system was very well fitting, had an H-pipe and 5 flanges to allow removal of parts of the exhaust in sections. Flowmasters were a bit rough to live with, and Pete Paraska's car is MUCH quieter with his Dynomax Hemiturbos on it... I recommend a listen if you get a chance... Just remember that these cars don't have as much sound deadening on them, so you may have to work that issue if you get too loud... All of these areas can be researched here on HybridZ in the VOLUMES of DATA collected over the last 2+ years, and this is certainly not the ONLY example of how it is done, but just a sample of how to provide a balanced, well thought out, MULTIpurpose machine on a fairly reasonable budget. Getting a well balanced well handling, well braking car that will still run 11s in the 1/4 for less than $15,000 is VERY do-able with the above recipe. This figure also leaves some wiggle room for A/C and other additions such as new carpet, and a nice stereo... Do some research though, and figure out what best suits your budget! Let the opinions NOW begin!! Mike

Camber plates work (I even have a pair of carreras for sale $100) but the two biggest complaints are: They rattle ALOT, creating a LOT of noise, and they require the removal of ALOT of material from the top of the strut tower sheetmetal. Mike

Well, although I agree with Kevin on most things, and I'm sure this would work for someone who is A: Savey enough not to push the officer to far, B: Confidently Sell themselves as Knowing MORE about the law and legal implications, C: Has the revenue to back up the claims IF an attourney were needed, I just don't see someone who is already emotionally charged over getting pulled keeping it together enough to remember HALF the things posted in that above list. Bottom line is what should WE call excessive revenue generation and what is absolutely needed for the safety of the greater number of society. Speed traps, if placed in a dangerous area are absolutely nessecary if a rash of bad accidents happens regularly at a specified location. However, Cops hiding behind blind curves, over back sides of hills, or down in low spots in the medium on interstates, that is pure revenue generation. Now, here is where I GET hot under the collar. Four weeks ago a horrible accident occured on a back road near my house at 1AM. The car, a 1 month old Subaru WRX (I think) was loaded with 5 teens. Three girls (Ages 15, 16 & 17), two of which were in the back seat, and two guys (Ages 18-19). The car left the pavement at well over 80mph, not leaving so much as a skidmark, striking a tree, ripping the engine out of the car and the front clip off the car, and ejecting one of the passengers out of the car and into a tree where she was found hangin upside down - DEAD, before running into a Jersey wall a home owner had placed in their front yard for fear that such an incident would happen and a vehicle would hit their home. After striking the wall, the car finally came to rest in the street on its side. Only the 16 year old girl survived. I had seen the owner of the car two weekends before at a local car hang out and he was bragging to his friends that he could get from one point to another in a VERY short amount of time. Being familiar with the route and locations, I commented to my little brother that the kid would be dead in a month. Unfortunately I was right, and this case, along with MANY others, is being used by legal eagles in the region to stiffen the fines for excessive speeding. After the incident (I don't call it an accident, that boy killed himself and his friends..) kids came out of the wood work to say how that guy was always driving wrecklessly and they all expected this to happen, just not with so many people in the car... To add to the tragedy, the young man in question was a new father, as his girlfriend had given birth to a new son 6 weeks prior to the incident. Getting popped doing 10-15mph over on the interstate is one thing. Getting popped on a rural back road, or in a sub-division doing 15-20 over is another all together. I know, I know, I'm a hypocrit for saying that, because we all know that I speed. However, something has to be done. There are way too many kids out there wanting to re-ennact the fast and the furious. Too much bravado pumping out into the streets every time these kids are getting behind the wheel... Education is the key. Kids are gonna speed. I did, and I bet most of you did. We need to make our kids safer drivers, and give them the training they NEED to survive pulling a right rear wheel out of a ditch without over-correcting... We have to, if we are to stop the killings of teens on our hiways. RX7Man, NONE of this has been directed at you, so please don't read into these posts, these are just my thoughts in general! Mike Kelly

OK, time out... $62,000 for a Zcar??? Guya that is just a BIT much, dontcha think??? I mean, you could buy a Viper for damned close to that... Mike (Who has just commited Zcar sin)

What an ultimate waste of talent. It is so sad that people so gifted (John Bohnam was my drummers Version) can just toss it all away in an instant. Hendrix was truly awesome.... Mike

Excellent! I just posted my data... Mike

Thure, Good point... Buddy of Mine owns a fairly doscile Bandit1200 and just replaced a pair of BENT sprockets and a stretcjed chain... I was shocked to see how badly bent the rear was... Could you imagine what this BEAST would do??? Bet they are running a 530 conversion on it too to save rotating weight... Mike

As John Coffee said, Aluminum/ Delrin bushings are NOT designed for extended use on the street. I used them on a car I autocrossed and had to check the alignment before every event due to slipping... I also wore them out so much that they wollowed around the inner control arm mount internal area, not only crakcing the plastic, but ovalizing the bushings in one season... They are NOT optimal... and a waste of money in my opinion... Use ANYTHING but those things if you don't want to keep replacing them... Thanks Jumbo240Z for the plug... Mike

I went through this when the little brother got popped doing 104mph in a 55mph Zone... What I was told by the Commonwealths attorney was that state-wide Virginia is going after anyone under the age of 30 (Used to be 25) for speeding. The state's fatality rate for the 14-30 age group for men and women is one of the highest in the nation and that ZERO tolerance is what has been passed down from the capitol. I know that over on the sport bike bulletin board I hang out in, the exsperiences passed on by riders who have gone to court from there is pretty much ZERO tolerance for ANYONE speeding on a sportbike. Guys in Virginia, DC and Maryland are going to jail every week for speeding on bikes... Now, the question came up over there, and actually got very heated in the thread, because several members are police officers, but anyway, some will ask is it fair to target a specific age group. I say it is. The theory is that lack of experience is what causes most accidents in this age group. Most of the drivers in that age group don't get advanced drivers training, although every single teen/ early 20s driver I've ever spoken to will tell you that they are the best driver they know, and that they could run laps around Paul Tracey. However, statistics and general conversation bear out the truth. Most kids don't even know what an APEX is, and threashold braking??? Decreasing what??? Panic stops??? "Oh yea, that was the thing I probably accidentally did right before I blew through that stop sign while I was screwing with the radio". I actually had a kid tell me that, and his girlfriend laughed and said "Yea, that guy almost T-boned us, it was soooo funny!" In America we do NOT teach people how to drive. We give them enough information to get into a car, start it, stop it, park it, and get out... Congrats, you passed, now go terrorize society and generate revenue for the commonwealth via fines... This subject is obviously a sore one with me since not only do our state taxes go up every year due to fixing public property that is damaged in accidents, but our health and auto insurance premiums also go up every year as well. I fail to understand how a country so advanced can impliment such poor standards for drivers education... Germany and Japan set the standards MUCH higher and we could learn a lot from their drivers testing requirements... Mike Kelly

Actually Yamaha and Kawasaki BOTH played with Turbos on bikes for a bit and they were very managable. However, that Hyabusa beast is a real mean quarter mile machine... No turns required. My current street bike is a 1998 ZX9R is making about 132hp and I can actually stand it up in 1st through 5th at any time, and break traction, which is super scary... And My bike is a slow one compared to the new bikes. These new tech bikes are absolute beasts!!!!!!! Mike

Yup, Virginia is probably one of the most strict in the country. They are even trying to make inspections much more strict, and also trying to outlaw modifications to cars in any way. They may force me to move sooner than planned if that happens... Mike

Actually the GTO makeover was announced ( I think in Chevy HIPO) as the replacement for the Firebird for 2004. I am a BIG fan of the current GTP grantprix, and can't wait to see how the new GTO will fare! Mike

Who listen's to that crap??? Funny, I thought the same thing... They were rated #2 behind Howard Stern and fast Growing to superstar status according to the two news releases I read today when someone tipped me to the story... I agree... they were scum of the earth... Mike

Actually I wasn't a huge fan of theirs either and only caught their show and really listened when there was a good comic on. Their contract was a 4 year 4 million deal, so although the probably will get a nice severance pay, it won't be 5Mill... I'm amazed it took THREE years for them to get caught... Amazing... Mike

http://www.msnbc.com/local/wnbc/a1298090.asp?cp1=1 Seems These two and their bosses have been canned. Word on the message boards, as well as the New York Post claim that Jeramy COleman and Ken Stevens (For those of you who are Don and Mike fans...) got fired along with O&A... Mike

Yup, Pete is right. I had 225-50s on the front of the White Z... And those tires had been on the REAR prior to flaring it... Also, Centerline DOES make the Saber in 15X8 because Summit ordered them like that for me. Unless they have changed their policy in the last few years, the cutoff was at 8 inches on any of their four lug wheels... Mike

Yup, The same Billet Saber that MSA sells for $200 can be had in a 15x8 FOR $159 I Believe... Summit and Jegs BOTH can get them for you but they are a special order bolt pattern, but you can specify backspacing! By the way, those wheels are Pretty darned lite weight, as when I sold mine the 4 wheels weighed 62# and that included boxes and packing matterials... They are Nice wheels... I highly recommend them! Mike

Inboard of the control arm is the bolt that connects the control arm to the Crossmember... 19mm wrench of ratchet and socket will break that loose... Outboard side has the sway bar, as well as the TC rod bolts (Both require 14mm wrench/ socket) and the two bolts that connect the control arm to the Strut assembly... Those require a 12mm socket/wrench... That is it in a nutshell... swapping out control arms should take no more than an hour for both sides if you have the right tools! Mike

Oh I agree John. What works for him IS best, particularly AFTER relocating the rack 15mm which is a fair amount... My guys JUST switched over to some Goodyears, so we'll see how they compare to those worn out Yokohamas.... Those things wouldn't hook up for anything... So far the setup is still consistant and they took TTD and 2nd TTD in the last event! Mike

YUp, We found that running crazy amounts of positive caster required much LESS static negative camber. Our car is one of the fastest in Northern California's SOLO2 racing ranks and we're running 6.5 degrees to 7.0 degrees positive caster with less than a degree negative camber (I think it is .8 negative!) Mike Kelly

Ron, give me a call and we can chat... 540-891-4420 Gearhead240Z I'd be glad to if I weren't in Virginia...Exactly as FAR from California as I can possibly get, except for maybe moving to Keylargo.... Mike

Ron, YOu guys interested in any horse trading??? I could put my hands on a set of adjustable front control arms and TC rods and maybe a little cash for one of those nice sleak CF units.... Mike