Mikelly

Those of you who are E36/46 fans out there, I gotta say after living with this car a week, I am drawing more and more comparisons between the 328iS Sedan and this benz. This car has the same handling characteristics, but with more power and better fit/finish. It pretty much as all the upgrades and improvements a 15 year newer car should... Really impressed so far! Mike

So in the quest to get the car back down to a much lower weight than it originall scaled at, we're going to change the following: Removing the Cat 30# flywheel in favor of a Fidanza 10# aluminum flywheel. Removing the Optima Redtop 42# battery in favor of a Braille 15# unit. Ditching the TSW 26# rims for CCWs wider and lighter rims at between 19-21 pounds each. The Slicks we're running a much lighter than the Kumho Victoracers. According to the specs I found the Hoosiers are 4.2# lighter per tire, even though they are much wider. I'm hoping that those changes, along with losing the weight and complexity of the previous fuel deliver system will help get the weight down below 2600#. We're also ditching the passenger seat/mounts/harnesses, in favor of a coolsuit kit. I'm not sure anything will be gained there from a weightsavings standpoint, but anything warmer than 70 degrees and I cook, so I gotta put the coolsuit box in. Mike

Had to wait until the weekend to knock it out, but I got a lot done today... We are now awaiting the computer, harness and a few more bits and pieces, but I'm getting there... Mike

Cool Read... Mike

Much like the Hyundai, If this one gives us trouble, It'll go bye bye too... I have no trouble with "me" driving a project (hence the 1997 M3 I drive daily) but I don't want my wife driving an hour each way to work in something unreliable. Ironically, the payment on the benz is going to end up being about $40 more per month, same terms, as the Hyundai was... Mike

Well heck, the mods cleaned up the thread, so I'll remove my retort to the bad behavior... Anyway... Back to cars... I expect to have the XFi in by the end of the week. I'll post updates as it unfolds. Mike

So yesterday, after some frustration with Hyundai over electrical issues on their 2011 Sonota, we decided it wouldn't be wise to wait for the intermittent issues to become full time issues. Central locking modules not allowing you to lock doors, and intermittent start button issues were the chief issues, but the dealership wouldn't honor their "warranty" until the components failed. So we punted... Bought the wife a 2011 Benz that was an "off lease" one year old C300 sport model. It was at the local Cadillac dealers so we had to run over to the local Mercedes dealership to pick up a second key and the owners manuals, compliments of the Cadi dealership. While there we stumbled across this in the showroom... These kinda seem like a letdown compared to that blue beauty, but here are a couple shots of her new ride... It's actually a decent performer in sport mode with the 7 speed trans working hard... Mike

Well we got the FAST XFI ECU with intelligent traction control (their slogan) and data logging, along with the main wiring harness and the injector harness ordered... I should have everything within 5-7 days. I'm broke... I'll order the CCWs in early February. Mike

Happy new year to you guys... Here's hoping for more economic growth, more job creation, and a healthy firing of current politicians of all parties in November. Mike

Yesterday was a total wash... In the morning I went to a gun show to pick up a simple little plinker to target shoot with... Was looking for a .22 caliber pistol. Nothing sexy... Just a cheap shooter. 4 hours later the background check was STILL not processed. I ended up leaving with the tactical stuff I bought for my Ruger mini14/1022s and a nice little site blade for the Model 27 Glock I use for CC. I have to go back today to pick up the Walther SP22 that I was trying to buy... Anyway, part two of my day was spent at a car dealership trying to work out a trade on my wife's car for a Mercedes Benz. They were trying to haggle me down below our payoff, which is below what NADA says the used trade-in is on the car. So it's not like we were being unreasonable. I was willing to give up about $1000 in trade in allowance, but they didn't seem to want to even do our payoff. So my wife, who is the hatchet woman of her company (Fires more people than all the other managers combined) got up and walked out. She's a tiny thing. But when she's done, she's done. As I'm collecting our keyfob to leave, they cave and "give us what we want"... Which means on Monday we'll go back and transfer everything over from her 2011 Hyundai Sonota to a 2011 Benz C300 AMG package car. But still, the day was a complete wash of standing around and waiting for people to DO something. Today the hope is to get the used gasket material off the heads so I can install the new intake gaskets and the Cutler intake/FI setup on the car, along with a new water pump and all the accessories. I'd like to have everything ready by the end of this coming week so when the harness and ECU come in, I can install it, start the car and start tuning. Mike

It's an offset issue with the other wheels. I have to use a 1/2 inch wheel spacer on the five star TSWs. Also, they're only 9.5 inches wide. I need more tire under this thing and want to fill in those carbon flares as much as possible. Jdizzy204, I don't honestly know what the size is because they aren't my wheels. I borrowed them from the Red Zcar a few pages back in this thread... I know this much, they're not right on their backspacing... I'll need 5.5 backspacing on the rears and 5 inch backspacing on the fronts for the CCWs I'm having built for this car. Mike

So today I got quite a bit done on the Zcar today. I removed the distributor, intake/carb, fuel connections, water pump, alternator and other bits in the engine bay. I then moved to the rear of the car and removed the dual fuel pumps, surge tanks and extra plumbing. Took a bath in gasoline, but made good progress. Also talked to a vendor who has all the stuff I need to finish up the swap to fast injection. I'll go ahead and order everything tomorrow. Getting closer... Mike

Got the FAST Fuel Pressure kit and Distributor in today. Tomorrow, I'll go ahead and start the swap after installing some lower splitter bits on the M3. If all goes well, I'll pull the old Fuel pump(s), surge canister, and plumbing, along with the intake, carb, regulator and associated bits, and swap on the Cutler intake again. Still need to order the computer and harnesses. Need to talk with someone at FAST first... Mike

Joe, Jamie T made a pair of them and gave them to me when he sold me the rotors. Mike

Also, Check my forsale ad here. I'll be selling the induction/fuel delivery/ignition system off the car immediately. Just ordered the FAST components to replace the fuel delivery and ignition. Waiting until Tuesday to order the ECU/harness. Mike

Yesterday I mocked up the close-out for the fuelcell, first with cardboard (those of you who have been to my shop now know why I keep that stuff) and then with fairly thin kydex. I have plenty of it left, so I used it for this... Heats and forms well to get around various contours... I need to finish adding the little aluminum angle that will provide attachments between the four pieces, but was able to get it all around the cage and covering the rear of the car well. I'm not "done done" with it, but it's close enough to call it good. I won't install it until after we get the fuel system converted over for the fuel injection. After that's done and the car is tuned, I'll finish the install of the panels... I'll also take lots of pics. Mike

Looking good man!

How about these? Mike

Looks very familiar... http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/63250-mike-kellys-zcar-project/page__st__200 Mike

I'm guilty of theft... I stole all four CCW wheels off Jim's Zcar... I couldn't help it... I couldn't look at my car with those beautiful, but empty fender wells... Really Digging these CCWs... Mike

Took a wire transfer in "full" for the sale of the Spec Miata today. So I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to give the datsun this season... This season, in full. I'm spending the money on CCW wheels, and then the efi upgrade, along with a coolsuit box and the fire system. If this car doesn't do two things in 2012, I'll be parting it out and moving on: 1. Perform reliably 2. Perform respectably I'm down to my tow vehicle, daily driver (97 M3) and the Zcar. And contemplating selling my motorcycle... I know some of you die-hard guys will be like "You have so much time in building it" and "Building it is the fun part". You're certainly allowed to have your opinions. I have morphed into someone who wants to drive their cars... I don't want to always wonder if the thing is going to start, stay running, or fail for yet another unknown reason. I'm a track day guy who wants to be competitive lapping in the groups he runs with. It's less about the car and more about the driving. I also want to be able to continue improving my driving, and you can't do that if you're troubleshooting in the pits... Spending more good money after bad to prove that you can make something work was fun, when I was younger... Now, at 45 my priorities have changed... So the Datsun gets one last season to prove to me that she can be reliable and competitive. Mike

Dude I'm just glad you reminded me I had them to still mount! Now I gotta order the CCWs... next week! Mike

PAssenger side Carbon Flares installed... Very happy overall with fitment.. Still need to finish trimming the front of the front flare to clear the MSA Type3 front bumper. Mike

Just started installing the Carbon "huge" fender flares I got from Justin... Quality is good overall... There are some "rub" marks on them, but my guess is they're going to get banged up on the track anyway...These things are freaking huge...I'll need those 12 inch wide CCWs for the rear!! Scratches in the clearcoat, will probably buff out... Mike

Got motivated today and welded in the tabs for the rear fuel cell surround panels. I should have that whole mess resolved soon. I'll need to order a couple more sheets of thin kydex to finish it off with. Also found that I "think" I know where the oil leak is now coming from... After cleaning off the valve cover the other week and getting it all dried up, I ran the car last week, drove it and then parked it. Today I found the same drip on the lower bellhousing... But now, it's red. I've got to check inside the bellhousing to see if there is fluid inside. If there is, the trans front seal is leaking. If not, I'm clueless here...But hey atleast now I know that the minor oil leak was masking the color of the fluid. The oil leak issue is pretty much addressed, so I'm atleast down to not having to pull a head to resolve the last fluid leak... Mike