Mikelly

...Yup, contact MAS directly...Tim, they shipped from Minnisotta for $60 to Virginia, which should be further than you. Jamie has my old front end, and I think it is a decent starting place for a glass front end. UI wasn't happy with the hinges they sent, so I was gonna make it a bolt in unit, but I supose those hinges would work with a little help! Good luck and send us some pics! BTW, MAS Sells several sizes of fender flare and they are MUCH CHEAPER than MSA , so shop there first. They have NO website, but will send you a catalog. I can vouch for the quality of their flares, but the front end will need work! Mike

...Well I'm an idiot! Apparantly Sandy Cook, Owner of Jim Cook Racing, was the lady that stopped Steve and Ian and presented them with the exhaust! MSA apparantly had nothing to do with it! As far as I'm concerned, I'm done doing business, trying to do business or being nice about MSA, my association with them, or cleaning up what happened at the show. Screw them. You guys want to know off line, contact me and I'll give you the skinny! As for Kurt...If he were my employee, I'd fire him. The man is NOT a people person and seriously lacks professionalism! Mike Kelly ZF Racing LLC

....Well I can honestly say that this being my second year, I'd just as soon have a true ALL HYBRIDZ show somewhere. I think I will take the business dollars next year and probably go to the national convention instead of MSA. So what does that mean? Does that mean I won't be going back to Sunny Southern California? Not at all. What it realy means is that the wife and I will be back there next year for a week driving the coast and enjoying everything without the cramped timeline. I spoke with Kurt at MSA for a while yesterday afternoon and MSA is NOT interested in my control arms, as he claims they only sell very limited numbers of real racer parts, such as coil overs and big brake kits. I think MSA is missing a huge market opportunity with the Pro Touring, and real street racer types buying up everything that will make their cars fast and furious. Kurt was skeptical at best when I gave him my gross profit numbers from last May/ June thru yesterday, which is fine by me. ZF Racing LLC will continue doing what we do, while expanding the product line. I look forward to meeting all of you guys somewhere in the near future. These HybridZ gatherings are realy the main reason I like coming out west, as Pete and I agree, the true performers are among our ranks! Mike

Well guys, I just got back from the left coast and I'm pretty beat, but also pretty amped up! We flew into JWA Thursday Night and got checked into the hotel without a problem. My stepson hadn't been to the left coast since he was an infant (He was born in Orange County), so he wanted to do the whole "See Hollywood" thing. We got in the car on Friday morning and headed towards LA! Within 45 minutes we were on the Strip! We drove Mulholand and then came back and parked on the strip and did the walk of stars. After that we did a little shopping, did the Ripley's tour and headed over to Venice for some lunch at the pier! Friday evening we realy got the happy hour hosed up, but I managed to meet Tim, Van and Pete at the resteraunt. We'll have a definative location next time and a table for our folks... Several guys showed up, went to the bar and never found us. Friday night we headed over to Dromo1 and Mark's wife loaned me her wrist band so I could run the kart course...MARK TELL YOUR WIFE THANKS!!!! By the time I got out of the cart, the guys from SportZ magazine had gotten there and were razzing me about my carting times... Oh well... Friday Night also found Pete paraska and I shutting down the Hilton Bar. Way to many Jack and cokes! Saturday morning Pete and I headed for the Autocross school. Donna and Craig went shopping and then hung out at the pool! Pete had picked up a 2002 Mustang Convertible, but was too cheap to opt for the extra ponies! We looked like two old guys trolling for chicks.... Anyway, Irwindale was a bit further than I expected and we roled up to the track at about 11:20AM! I found out immediately that our car was running the top two times for the event. Now, I know that John C. and a few others will remind me that this wasn't a race, but make no bones about it, every guy there was jocky-ing for the TT of day! I was soooo pleased when at the end of the day Steve Carlson in the ZF Racing FP car pulled out the Fastest ZCar time, bested only by one of the instructors driving a modified C4 Vette....She ran a 47.862 to Steve's 48.117! Ian ran a best of 48.661 and it is our collective belief (Particularly after an Instructor ran the car and couldn't best Steve's time) that we could have had another .5 seconds trimmed with better tires. The Yokohama tires we were running were hard as a rock! Saturday Night found us my group eating at JT Schmick's and then a round in the hot tub. Pete joined us at dinner and the hot tub! Sunday morning we headed out to MSA. Ian and Steve got there ahead of us and already had the car set up with Jack stands. I laid out the flyers, enlarged copies of the magazine article, and an example of the front and rear control arms. That's when all hell broke loose! Kurt, an Employee of MSA came over and gave us grief about the layout, a set of struts Steve and Ian had sitting on a bench with a forsale sign on them, as well as the pair of tires that came off the drivers side of the car. The tires didn't have a sign on them and would have been needed to get the car to the trailer!!! Anyway, Kurt informed me that if we didn't have the materials removed that he would have ME removed by the Orange County PD!!! I'm pissed at this point because this person is being extremely unprofessional! I held my ground and informed Kurt that I was gonna go straighten this out with Sal. Within about two minutes of conversation with Sal and the Owner of MSA, it was decided that I could stay, and that the struts being offered for sale would have to go. They were Tokico Illuminas and Ian only wanted $100 for all four... Needless to say, they are now mine... worth the $100 to make the problem go away, plus my car only has premiums on it!!! UPGRADE! During my conversation with Sal I was told that MSA would like to add my control arms to their inventory. So the storm had passed. We went back to work handing out flyers, bragging about the car, and enjoying the sun! I took over 200 flyers with me and we were out of them when we packed up at 2:45 PM! What a day! On the way out Sandy Smith, Wife of Owner Greg Smith, Stopped Steve and Ian and gave them a brand New Seabring Exhaust for their hard efforts during the Saturday Autocross, and wanted a picture to put in the newsletter! I'll be calling them this week to discuss the issue of putting our parts in their catalog and just what they have in mind. After we left the show, we headed back over to JT SCHMICKS and had the 2nd annual post MSA HybridZ get together! I met more guys than I can remember, so I hope they will all chime in here! We sat, talked about Scott's ZED, Dragonfly's stroker, Dave's Z, Tim's and Owen's projects, as well as the two guys from Arizona who had their respective projects under way. And of course, Pete and I were bummed NOT to have our cars there AGAIN! After the group departed, Pete and Craig shot down the I5 in the Mustang with the top dropped, and Donna, Gail and I drove down in the family car! The running joke of the weekend was how fast I could loose Pete in traffic! I'm apparently a little aggressive behind the wheel, and by dinner Sunday night the rental car was making a funny grinding noise in the front axle! Again, Pete and I finished up the night in the bar drinking and chatting up the weekend and our experiences! What a trip! I'm glad we went, very happy that the ZF Racing entry was so competitive, and realy pleased at how things unfolded overall! Mike Kelly ZF Racing LLC!

Well I'm in a different boat... I had a crate motor that wasn't built properly, and is now torn apart... I have forged 6 inch Hbeam rods Rods W/cap screws, Wiseco Flat top Forged Pistons (.030 over) and a Scatt 400 Crank. I also have a external Small balancer and an external T56 153 ring flywheel.. I CAN't GET ANYONE in my area to balance the assembly because they are to busy... All these parts are like new except for the pistons/ rings and rods which are BRAND NEW... This combo will build a 383 stroker... Contact me if you are interested in the parts.. I'm gonna unload them and BUY A balanced assembly to stuff in my 4 bolt main block... I'll take $1200 for everything plus shipping.... Mike

....A little SNAFU in my plans has come up...Seems my engine builder/ balancer is backed up for the near term... I was told yesterday that if I want my motor balanced within the next two months that I should take it eslewhere.... This is getting to be a bit much... I'm gonna end up BUYING a built SHORTBLOCK that has already been balanced if I can't get a decent shop to do the work on my parts... Mike

I'd be careful there... You absolutely need larger primaries for 300HP... GrumpyVette and others can jump in, but I'd bet you'll stand to loose significant HP in running a 1.5inch primary. What head are you planning to run? You want the exhaust ports to match the header intake ports as much as possible, and on a 1.5 inch primary tube, you aren't gonna have much chance of getting good flow with anything other than small exhaust ports. My advice is to atleast look at the 1 5/8th inch units. I used the Flowtech Ceramic coated headers in 1 5/8 inch primary tube design and had pretty good fit on a 383 stroker, although even those had small port sizes for my Dart Conquest heads. If you plan to upgrade your heads later, I'd look at getting the right header now. Several of us are looking into the Rewarder 1 3/4 primary headers mentioned in another thread here... Just my advice, but I wouldn't spend a dime on anything less than a 1 5/8 and send your head-matched header gasket to the maker of the header you are looking at so they can match up the header flanges for you. LOTS of power to be gained or lost in exhaust flow.... And reaching 300HP, you can make or break that number by using the wrong components. Mike Kelly

SuperNova, You sure you want a 1.5 inch primaries?? Those pipes will choke down any significant HP you plan to build with a SBC... Mike Kelly

Jim, I need to get my motor back from Performance Machine before I can do anything with the test fitting. I'll let you know when it is ready...I'll be out of town from Thursday of this week through Monday of next week. I'll be at MSA. Mike

We could absolutely do that... I have the motor out and the whole front end OFF... Let me know, but I'll be booked the rest of this weekend all the way through next weekend with preparing for and going to the MSA show. Mike

I think I'm just gonna wait until next spring and see what deals are out there over the winter... I took the GIXXER out over the weekend and actually could have used knee pucks, and I realy enjoyed my bike. I've recently aquired a full leather two piece suit for $190 (Used and in great shape) some wind boots ($109) and some Triumph gloves ($55) with kevlar built in... I'm realy enjoying the addition of greater protection. I just need to get some velcro sewn on to the knees for the addition of pucks... I'll get that done in a few weeks... I'm also looking for an additional seat pan to send off to Sargent... 1993-95 was the only span on this model that NO ONE makes an aftermarket seat for... Oh well... I do love ripping corners with the knee dragging! Mike

...One more thing... Don't settle on one Dr's opinion... Get more, and more and more... Don't give up... Read that book and you will understand... They almost Killed Lance Armstrong with the first group of Drs... Hunt out the best, and make sure she keeps a fighters mentality... Mike

Ryan, In my own world of turmoil and health concerns I missed this one as well... 1st off, I'm sorry to hear about all of the misfortune you and your girlfriend have experienced. 2nd... Get the book by Lance Armstong called "It's not about the Bike". The University of Indiana at Indionapolis (I believe, been a year since I read it) has some of the best Dr.s in the world. She could make it past this... Don't give up hope all together. Get the book, read it, then make the phone calls... The two of you have nothing to lose, and you have nothing if you lose hope. Godspeed! For those who don't know, there is this crazy texan known in the cycling world as Lance Armstrong. He came down with a particularly violent strain of testicular cancer at what was expected to be the height of his career. Didn't work out that way, as the cancer hit hard in his head (Tumors) and lungs (More tumors) and he lost a testicle... During all of this he was cut from his contract with Cofidus, one of the largest bicycle racing teams in the world, lost his health insurance, and almost lost everything due to the mounting bills. He has since won the tour De'france THREE times and is probably the strongest cyclist this country has ever seen.... he had Tumors in his LUNGS and BRAIN....Lungs and legs are are two of the key ingrediants to being a winning cyclist... the third is your brain.... He beat the odds, because he had hope, and was a fighter... Never give up, never lay down for the count. Mike Kelly

I'd also be interested...I'm not running an LT1, but I'm using a SBC with 23 degree heads... 1 3/4 primaries would be sweet! The only other option is starting to seem to be getting a set of header tubes and flange kits and tackling making your own... Mike

BLKMGK, What exactly was interfering on the Sanderson units? Which side, which model did you use, and all the gory details... Mike

Actually I'm looking into the Badnit 12, the FZ1, the Honda 996 Twin, and the Kawi KZ12. All of those bikes are getting rave reviews as good compromises between the sport bike and the cruiser... the naked bike craze is booming.... If I don't get what I want for my GSXR, I may end up trading it in over the winter on something like one of the above listed bikes... Mike

...In an attempt to make my bike more comfortable (GSXR750) one of my plans was to sell it and buy a 1998 or newer ZX9R Ninja... Shop right around the corner has a new left-over 2000 model that they wanted to charge me $1000 for crating fees, tax, processing fee, on top of the $8299 price tag... for a two year old bike... I don't think so. These sales men at these motorcycle shops are crazy. I won't be buying from the shop right around the corner. As a matter of fact, I'll likely KEEP my bike and just suck it up... The thing is SOOO good in the corners... Mike

John, I'm using dual 2.5s as well. I was gonna cross that bridge before I ordered them. I'm still waiting for my motor to come back and I still need to order to harness adapters and an HEI distributor for my Holley Commander setup, so the headers are atleast a few weeks awa6y minimum. If you find anything out, let me know... Mike

John, I haven't, but I had the 1 5/8 units and the folks at FlowTech told me that there was little difference except for the 3 inch collector on the units. They are VERY similar in design and should fit fine. Mike

John, You did your best... I'm not sure about the Tri-Y and if it will help in the HP/ torque areas MUCH over the other options out there. If I'm not going FULL LENGTH, then I'm doing the Block Hugger and NOT worrying about it. I'm thinking if I give up 10 hp, that won't KILL me. Mike

I hear you guys when you talk CUSTOMER SERVICE.... I also like the idea of getting the Gov't to fund it. Donna told me that she is up to the challenge of it, so as soon as the garage construction is underway, we will start pulling together data and preparing a business plan. We are NOT gonna use our own money for this... We'll exhaust the Gov't grant/ SBL angle and see what happens. Mike

Happy Bday Jamie and thanks for taking a ride to Henderson NC to pick up to R230 rears yesterday! Mike

BBowtie, you're correct... Us white guys already make to much money apparantly...Atleast in their eyes.. No, our plan is to put it in DOnna's name and get the loan that way. I'm gonna do a business plan over the summer, and then we will pitch it. I'm hoping we can get $100,000 to start it. I already have close to that I can lay hands on, but it would wipe out my retirement, savings, and investments... If we can use someone's money besides ours, then it makes much more sense! mike

Well guys, Jamie ran me around to a couple of shops he does part time work at in Richmond, Va. and I noticed that both were SLAMMED with work. it got me thinking. There is no "Hi Tech" speed/ race oriented shop in Fredericksburg, which currently has a population explosion of about 250,000 people in the three county region. Donna and I have looked into starting our own business, and because she is a woman, she stands a much better chance of getting a small business loan. Anyway, I'm day dreaming about 3 work bays, and an alignment rack bay, as well as a Dyno bay. I'm also day dreaming about an upstairs for storage, and a "Show room" for small parts samples like shifters, pedals, seat harnesses, wheels, bolt in and weld in cages, brake systems... the usual stuff. Couple of questions here... What would YOU ADD to a business shop, and has anyone tried to get a small business loan before and how hard was it/ successful were you??? Mike who is DAY DREAMING, but possibly gonna make the big leap....

For a while Nissan COmp. sold a set of TC Rod Boxes that were heavier gage metal than the factory units... basically you cut them off and welded the heavier units into place. I don't think they are available anymore... You could beef up your existing units though, and I like the idea of a rod running between them... Maybe I can fabricate a rod with some heim joints for that... Mike