Mikelly

Not relevant to the current state of the car. Mike Mike

16 ft. long bed really is the proper way to go. It allows for better draw on the straps for the load and better ability to adjust the car's weight on the trailer... I had a small 14 footer and it was REAL twitchy because you were limited to load placement... get it right and you could tow 75mph... Get it wrong and anything over 40mph would cause serious wag, to the point of wanting to jackknife! Mike

My wife's 1997 328iS sedan has been the best car we've owned in a long time... The interior has worn VERY well, and the car trips wonderfully... We had to replace wheel bearings in the rear, a radiator that was crack, and a leaking Vanos seal. I also had to replace the heater module (EBAY vendor repaired it for $50) and I've long since upgraded her stereo to a Kenwood headunit/Bluetooth module so she can drive and talk hands free... This car was bought 5 years ago with about 67K on the odometer and it now has well over 170K on it... We love it so much that we're dropping it off this thursday to have body damage done by a deer in January repaired on the car... The estimate was for $1200... The car probably isn't worth that, but it's so clean and straight, and runs so well, we're fixing it! Once we buy her a new car (when she finally gets tired of this one) I'll use it for commuting. I've logged 32MPG on major trips, and she sees 27mpg around town. Pete, we need pics of your new ride... You now are officially a eurocar snob... Don't talk it up to much or you'll be bannished from the cool kids club, like me! Mike

Had some free time yesterday afternoon so I unhooked the MSD box, and started welding my dzeus fasterners onto the chassis of the car for the hood and the MSA Type3 front airdam. Should have some pics of the final products for these two components in the next few days... Mike

Not relevant to the current state of the car. Mike Mike

Not relevant to the current state of the car. Mike

The exhaust turned out well, and it is modular in design... I can remove one of three sections, or all three by simply unbolting the collectors and the three rubberized mounts... This is the third system I've had robert's custom exhaust do for me for V8Zcars and he always gets better with each design. I paid $950 and he had the car all day. All the stainless tubing was tigged, but unfortunately he didn't have stainless flanges, expipe or race mufflers in stock... I'm good with it because the car won't see much rain. The tips were slashed and turned down sections of pipe at my request... I have zero interest in flash for this car... They'll be painted black so they blend in with the lower valance... I'm going to re-route the oil lines away from the pipes, along with the red fuel return line... This stuff will all be re-routed. The passenger side downtube will also get header wrap at the oil pan section. Mike

I'm going to pick up the Zcar in about an hour... Dropped it off to have the exhaust welded up this AM and just spoke with the fabricator... he's almost done, so I'll have her back at home within the next two hours... Pics may be posted by the weekend... Mike

They start at the TC/ frame rail pickup point and run back along the lower seam of the unibody/rocker...Bob, the windtunnel engineer said that those rockers were straight out of F1/Indy car thinking... Lots of things on Roddy's car are VERY impressive and subtle... You want to be even more impressed? Compare HIS times to that of Zcars with much more HP. All that little stuff works, and works well! And he's a hell of a drover to boot! Mike

I've mentioned this several times, and had a number of PMs, so I figured I'd update you all on the status... My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and was scheduled for surgery today. She had both of them removed and is doing very well this evening. As you can imagine, it's been quite stressful the last several weeks. We are very hopeful that she will be cancer free after this procedure, and all will be well... She's 65 years old (will be 66 in August) and we're hoping she'll be around for many years to come... I'm amazed at how well she looks after such a major surgery, and wouldn't have thought we'd be having a conversation or hugs and kisses after such a procedure... Man I need some sleep... Mike

The Zcar is loaded up in the car trailer and going to the shop within the next day or so to get the custom exhaust fabricated and installed. I will also be purchasing a larger Odyssey Battery (had the PC680) that should do the job for this car. I'm going to prepare to start the final fabrication on the car (mounting the MSA Type3 front end and carbon hood) for the Dzeus fasteners, additional bracing, lower the seat mounts, and weld in a harness bar... Shooting for a JUNE track event if possible... So we'll see how it goes... Mike

Well, right now we're kinda on hold, as mom's getting ready for a major surgery for breast cancer. She's got a "clean bill" as far as her major organs, and no signs of the dreaded "C" word elsewhere in her body. She'll go in for a double mastectomy on Tuesday of next week... What I've done? Well I've spent some coin on the Datsun... Ordered more lexan to re-cut the rear hatch... Tip, The rear hatch measures approx 28X38 and it sounds square, right? No... There is an ARCH outward to the bottom on the lower side. Cut it square and you'll find yourself like me, doing it over again... Don't make my mistake. I also ordered some Longacer mirrors, both side/roll bar mounted, and rear/wink design... Another wonderfull tip... Those gusset plates? They look cool right??? Yea, Um having ACCESS TO THE F'ING BARS would be nice for these items that require the ROUND TUBE to mount to... Yea, I'll be breaking out the dremil to notch the plates before the windshield comes for install... I'm also scheduled for a custom exhaust mount next week... Other than the exhaust, finishing the lexan rear, and the windshield, I have a handfull of bits to weld up to get this car ready for a track event in June/ July... We're getting damned close and I'm getting stoked... Better F'n believe I'll be doing an A/B comparison with the track data I have from that horrid, non-hybridz approved german blitzkrieg that sits in the garage that allows me to drive it to work daily. The Zcar fan boys should hope that my driving and setup skills hold out... I Don't have it in me to stack the deck towards the black car... I'm still a Zcar fan at heart, but the realist in me shines thru... Mike

Man, I'm sure I'll be labeled the arsehole, but, 'um, get over it... Cell phones, texting, MP3s, ipods, Iphones, texting, GPS, video systems... You expect peolpe to pay attention to YOU, while playing with all this FUN stuff? WTF, Man, It's you're FAULT! you're on THEIR roads!!! Good motocycle article I read recently on another board... We motorcyclists have been dealing with this for years... You "other folks" are just "catching" on!!! Mike

Everything here is no longer relevant to the build... Mike

Everything here is no longer relevant to the build... Mike

I could upgrade for one of those... Mike

Everything here is no longer relevant to the build... Not sure when I'll get back to my Zcar project. Mike Kelly

So very true, except I'm pedaling duals... I ran on OEM street tires set at 40PSI in the rear, and spun the length of the 1/4 mile and still managed an 11:24 and 127MPH... I've data logged some impressive 0-60 and 0-100-0 times too... 2.9 to 60 and 10.8 from 0-100-00! Sadly, it's getting ready to be detuned for a quieter (read restrictive) exhaust and more refinement, as it won't see much track use for a while... Mike

Ours uses smaller turbo housings of the k16 with the internals of the k24 just as was used on the gt1! Fast spool with minimal lag! This combo gives off the feel of a big block chevy!

Mine's in my garage. Mike

No Randy, No you won't. I'm producing over 500#ft. torque (at all four wheels), all of it coming in below 4000RPMS, MOST of it FLAT as a board, and all that without turbo lag... But hey, you keep thinking that! Mike

People make ignorant comments about "other" exotics and how expensive they're supposed to be to maintain... Bottom line is this is a BUYERS market for many consumer goods right now... Supercars are CHEAP... Mike

Couldn't have said it better man! Mike

Best movie ever

Actually you can spend a lot less and get a faster car than both... The used supercar market is the place to spend your money in these days... Bargains aplenty! Mike