Mikelly

Pete, we did all that, and indeed started the motor and let the accusump fill before checking it... I only was able to get 7.5 quarts back into the system and it still seems slightly high by maybe half a quart, but we'll see... fortunately, where the dipstick bolts into the pan, it allows you to get a really good gauge of the depth for the dipstick. A traditional dipstick is to long, so you have to cut it down... We'll see.. I'll re-check everything again... And for some reason, my setup will not allow be to drop the oil pan on my car... remember when you, Tom, Doug and I had to swap that pan previously due to the starter fitment issue? You know, the knockout in the bellhousing? The resulting hours and hours it took to remove the pan? Nothing has gone smoothly with this particular build... Mike

Finished the trans and motor fluid changes tonight... Thinking I may have to "remove" some oil... showing about 1/2 to a quart fuller than I'm comfy with... I drained all the lines to the oil filter remove base, the filter, the pan and the accusump... Guessing that the oil cooler and lines hold about a quart. So I put in 7.5 quarts, but I'm seeing a little more on the dipstick after start up and run in/check. Figures with a 7 quart pan, a 2 quart accusump, and lines/ remote filter/cooler, that it would hold somewhere around 10 quarts... shows what I know... Oh well... I did add some Royal Purple SyncroMax fluid to the trans and it already feels like it's shifting smoother... Mike

Some updated pics of the windshield and some interior panel cleanup... Yes the shifter clears the fireextenguisher perfectly... Mike

Took me an hour to find the "wiper" arms to bolt on, and another 30 minutes to find the nuts to secure them to the shafts. Amazing... I'll get to some of the short list tomorrow... Fluids should be done, along with the hood pins by Wednesday. Mike

Pete, I don't think I'm going to be giving rides at this event... I'm extremely concerned about shaking down this car. There are enough unknowns that I need to drive it, a lot before I let someone in the passenger seat. Summit Point will be the first time the car has ever been "At speed"...So I'm really concerned about how it does, what it does, if it will stop, and other related issues. Mike

I've actually been able to do a fair amount of debugging, which is why we were able to sort out the tachometer and gauge issues, the oil leak at the back of the intake, and the other various sounds and squeeks. Car has already been aligned, as I did it myself when I was setting up the suspension. I will be going through the car this week and putting a wrench on every bolt and nut associated with the suspension and brakes, as well as all drivetrain mounts. Having a long driveway has actually helped with a large part of the whole "driving the car" without a tag thing... I'll get an antique tag for the car this week, if time permits. Mike

So "What's left?"... I need to install some hood and hatch pin kits, and I need to flush the oil, trans fluid, and brake fluid. I need to install the new inserts in the heim joints on the camber plates (ordered them on Wednesday} and I need to find my wiper arms... Holy crap, I'm close... Mike

Finally got the windshield in yesterday, along with some of the other bits and pieces resolved. I'm off for the weekend doing stuff with the wife, but will get back to it on Sunday afternoon. I made a trans tunnel close-out panel and mounted the fire extenguisher, along with a couple of other things, while waiting for the windshield installer... Funny story about that... This installer, Tim was expecting "A rusted out pile of, well what you normally see with old Zcars" was his exact words. He's a hot rodder with a 66 Chevelle, so he was totally into the project and gave the windshield install extra care. I was concerned he'd balk at the cage and the added plates around the windshield frame/apillar, but he'd done a number of them over the last 25 years and had no issues working around the windshield... He had a major grin ear to ear when I started it up. Pete, Donna isn't planning to attend at this point. She just took a week off this week to babysit our granddaughter, I think she's planning to work that week. Mike

Thanks Evan! I'm as excited as anyone about the prospect of driving this sucker on track! Mike

Thanks John! It's been a long and "eventful" journey, for sure. I'm close to recording some footage for everyone, hopefully within two weeks. The windshield gets installed on Thursday. I'll also wrap up some more of the interior bits. Hopefully the car will be fully track day ready by the 10th when I load up and head to the track!! Mike

Adjusted the valved and got all the "ignition" stuff bolted back up...Windshield has been ordered and will be installed on Thursday. Mike

Thanks man! Looking back on this whole project, it's been pretty drawn out due to a number competing issues. Had I not gotten wrapped up in the whole ZF Racing thing, which took 3 years of my life, and then bought, first the Corvette, then the MRoadster, then the Porsche Turbo, I'd have been able to spend more "focused" time on this build... then of course I built a SpecMiata in the middle of it. And the motorcycles bought since this build "sort of started"... I've owned three dirtbikes and four street bikes since 2001. All that money and time could have funded finishing up this project. And don't even get me started on the track days and track weekends that have drained funds and time... We also built one 2 story garage, sold it (along with the house) and moved into another shop. That shop was nothing but cinderblock walls and rafters and required a complete make-over as well... And did I mention we built a consulting business from SCRATCH in that timeframe as well? When I look back over the last 10 years, it's clear why this build has taken so long and where it could have been resolved much sooner. Life sometimes gets in the way, and the decisions we make in one aspect of our lives can drastically impact others. I could easily have decided to stick with the Zcar, but honestly when your car is down so long during a build, it gets really easy to become disengaged. Some of those changes made in the last 10 years have impacted my health... to the tune of adding an unwanted FIFTY pounds from where I was in 2001. I've just recently started loosing weight by working out and trail running/hiking, along with managing what I put into my body. All those events mentioned above forced out the time I used to spend riding bicycles up to 200 miles per week. That personal stress management and weight management time was among the first to go when we started our company. So taking back control of that aspect of my life has been liberating... and I'm down 22 pounds to boot. It's easy to say "I have to stay on top of the phones and the email" when you have employees depending on getting paid. We've managed to grow into a multimillion dollar business over the last 5.5 years, and through it all we've never missed payroll and never cut our benefits. Even through this hard economic down turn, we've been able to stay afloat and keep the doors open and employees working. When the day comes that I can back this car out of my car trailer, fire it up, and have a fun day tracking it on a roadcourse, then I'll have a measure of accomplishment for this car I've build from scratch. Until then, everytime I find "one more thing" that needs attention just adds more weight to the albatross that this project has become, hanging around my neck. Mike

Michael, We did a Flyin' Miata instal on my youngest son's car... Don't go with the voodoo controller. It's junk. Do a megasquirt or the Hydra for control of the system. Otherwise, their kit is very well made and comes with pretty much everything you'd expect to need. Their phone support is very good as well. And I know some hate the Miata, but it's like a timex wrist watch (of which I own as well). We hammer on it at the track, bring it home, park it, and don't drive it much until the next track event... gas it up and go... Can't beat that kind of reliability. As to the other issues, I'm with you fully... Shouldn't have taken as long for me to do mine either. I just hope the reward justified the aggrevation and stress my build has put on my "already stressful" life. Mike

So the car's running and the tach now works. I replaced my old MSD 6AL with a new Digital 6AL box. Apparently my tach port has a loose solder joint, so I'll fix it and sell the 6AL later. It's one of the reasons the new boxes nolonger have that spade on them... They just direct wire it and expect you to make the connection to your tach. The current carb tune on the 4150 750 DP is: Main jets - 73 Secondarys - 78 Power Valve - 5# All else is stock from Holley Fuel Pressure is 6# at idle and increases to 9# at WOT The MSD billet distributor is set up as: Blue springs Silver advance stop Timing at 1000 RPMs is set at 12 degrees. Based on this setup, all my timing advance (25 degrees) should be in by 3500 RPM, and the total advance should be 37 degrees. I still need to adjust the hydraulic valves now that the car has been running, and I need to drain all the oil, since it's just been "tune and run in" oil. Mike

Good day today, with lots accomplished. The car was started and no oil leaks at the rear of the intake were found!!! Also got the coolant flushed out and distilled water was put in, along with water wetter. I installed insulation on some problematic hot areas, per Be Cool's insulated hoses... Very nice and I recommend them... Also installed a relay for the alternator (Painless Wiring) so the alternator will never back feed or allow the motor to run-on when the car has been shut down. Funny story about this... I was looking for harness hardware on Tuesday night when I found this part that I bought, probably two years ago? Amazing! I'm starting to run out of things to "do" to the car... I need to pull the right front wheel and find out what is rubbing, and I need to start buttoning up some of the additional aero bits...and there's that damned windshield to order... Real F'n close... Mike

Seat issues resolved and the harnesses were installed, along with rollbar padding, and new plug wires. I've also gotten a new tach I'll try to see if I've got a bad one or not. I'll get the coolant flushed and water wetter/distilled water in tomorrow and fire it up to check everything for leaks again. Mike

Intake is back on the car. We have HEAVY beeds of sealer on both the front and rear rails. Should have sealed up nicely. The front wasn't leaking before, but I figure we disturbed it, so I put plenty on both. Hopefully this addresses the issue...Going to re-baseline the carb. It was very rich running previously, so I dropped two jett sizes on both main and secondaries, down to 73 and 78 respectively on the 4150 series double pumper race carb. Hopefully will have this resolved and the windshield in this coming week. Mike

Thanks John! I'm going to jump on it this morning. My goal is to get this wrapped up today, get the seat relocated a tad further back, and then find out why my tach isn't working. I'm ordering a windshield this coming week. That'll pretty much get me to the point of "driving it on the road"... Yea, I'm going to put an antique tag on it and do some shake down drives to see what needs addressed... July 11 is fast approaching and I'd really like to make that event with this car... Mike

So I've been fighting a leak on the back of the block... My hope was that it would be an easy fix... Turned out to not be the oil pressure port at the back of the block behind the intake. I just removed the intake and found what appears to be the rear gasket leaking... Let's hope... Mike

We are currently on schedule to make it to the track July11/12 with trackdaze.com at Summit Point for our "debut" of the Zcar. I still have a few things to resolve, like a windshield and some "tuning". Otherwise, we're very close to being "ready." Mike

Today I found the oil leak at the back of the block. Seems like the oil pressure port/ fuel safety cut-off isn't sealed properly. I also resolved the stuck needle/seat on the secondaries. I need to pull the dash and resolve a couple of gauge issues, resolve the electrical fan not cutting on, and tighten up the front reservoire on the master cylinder, as it's started leaking... Getting Closer... Mike

In Flagstaff Arizona this week... So not getting much done on anything other than the wife, and my body... We've so far been to: Sunset Crator/volcano The Painted Desert Native Ruins along the route The Walnut Canyon hike Meteor Crator Observator Sedona Montezuma's Castle Montezuma's Well The Grand Canyon The Snow Bowl And tomorrow we're going back to Sedona for a jeep tour. Might hit the Monument National Park on Thursday, or head back to the Grand Canyon... Mike

Was at the track this weekend instructing my son Craig in the Miata. So I didn't get to work on the Zcar much. I did manage to pull the steering linkage today and clean out the threads on the lower end so I could bolt it down. I'll re-instal it tomorrow evening and work on a few other items. Also thought I had a leak on the valve cover, but it appears that the Canton adapter at the oil filter/block base might have loosened up when I was resolving the oil line leak. I'll resolve that as soon as I get the Miata off the lift from this past weekend's post DE "checkout." Mike