Mikelly

You know it's kinda hard to guess without pics, but I can tell you this much... The Gnose without headlight covers on it performed worse than the regular Z with headlight covers. When I say that, I mean that BOTH had stock lower valance type designs with no lower spoiler. I think if you're going to run a Gnose, headlight covers would have to be mandatory. The abrupt verticle surface area of the headlight scoop really didn't do the car any justice in either factory or gnose modded version. This is something no air dam will help correct. Someone needs to make a headlight cover for the Gnose in order for it to be "optimized" to its fullest potential, even with the addition of winglets, spats, canards, or spoilers... Mike

Over the last 22 years I've sunk a growing fortune into these cars. I'd recommend a couple of things that will help you understand better the kinds of things you should be considering... These cars can be a lot of fun, but need help in a few areas. If you get one that is running, The last thing I'd plan is a swap, until you have had time to enjoy it for a while. I'm helping another member on here, Joe, with his Zcar project, and the last thing you want to do is take the car off the road for a considerably long period of time. It will kill your momentum. So focus on projects that can be tackles in a weekend... Joe and I have talked about this subject a bit, since he's been over a year since he took his car off road for paint/body work and a brake/suspension upgrade. He's just now getting it back on the road, debugging it and he knows all to well what I'm talking about with regards to losing interest and momentum. Easy things to "repair/upgrade"... Suspension Bushings... They'll be old and cracked, unless they've been upgraded. They're easily a weekend job with the right tools. Brakes... Change the fluids and check the pads/shoes. Also look for dry rot in the rubber lines or leaks at the master cylinder rod in the brake pedal/firewall area. Clutch Hydraulics... Check for leaks in the clutch pedal/firewall area and the slave cylinder. Drive the car stock and enjoy it for a while. learn why we all fell in love with the car first... If you troll here enough you'll find more non-running Zs in the midst of "transformation" that never see the light of day (*mine included) and this will kill your momentum and break your spirit. Remember, it's a car and should be driven, not left to sit and be pushed around for years while you "finish it". And don't let your buddies talk you into a swap. Make sure you understand every aspect of what will be required, and every part needed before you commit. Make a budget and then double it, and then double check that... Mike

Justin, I've had great luck (mind you on two different platforms than the Z) with the Kumho Ecsta MX and also with the Michelin Pilot Sport and Pilot sport cups. That said, the new Sumitomo HTR III is getting rave reviews and a lot of the porsche crowd are switching to them and reporting them comperable to the Michelin PS2, which is a LOT more expensive. I had Bridgestone RE750s on my BMW Mroadster and hated them. Worst "performance" tire I've ever owned and wouldn't recommend them at all... Very unpredictable for snap oversteer and hard to drive at the limit. Mike

Let me say this once, and once only, and after this once, I will no longer allow derogatory comments about this member, unless of course the member, without cause, comes on here and attacks someone else: Some of our members deliberately baited UA with what some thought "fun" comments about supposed work quality on someone's vehicle. Some even thought it would be funny to contact UA and link them to the supposed quality of work thread... They wanted UA here, Well they got them. UA will follow the rules, just like everyone else, but honestly I don't want to see people being rude for the sake of being rude. Further, UA has been attacked in posts by some of our members without provocation. If it happens again, I will start banning people for 7 days, and then go up from there... If you don't like their show, then DON'T BOTHER READING THEIR POSTS. I've chatted for quite a while with Will and Troy and made clear to them the rules and what we expect if they want to be here... I expect no less from our members... Mike

So we're down in South Carolina for a wedding and we got here early on Thursday afternoon. We're in Simpsonville, staying at a lovely B&B on mainstreet, and we've already gone out to several "must see" spots. First, I was amazed by how large, well developed and prosperous this area is, including the beauty that is downtown Greenville. The river park, suspended bridge, and pretty much all of the attractions to that part of downtown Greenville are amazing and well done. We also went up to Paris Mountain State Park, which was gorgious. We took time out to lay out on the lawn and take a nap... Nothing like laying in the sun and relax. Today we drove down to the town of Ninety Six, SC. This was an historic site where the firs inland battle of the revolutionary war took place. We took the tour, then went back up to the town of Laurens, where a BBQ cookoff was taking place in the historic town square... Very cool place to get lunch and check out the classic car show... We're off soon to the wedding, and then tomorrow we'll be heading back North, and home... Think we've added another area to our list of "possible places" to retire to! Mike

Some of you guys are going to get a bit of a time out if you don't check the comments... If you don't like what you saw in the video, don't post it. Don't bother watching... Rather than posting something offensive or rude, just DON'T. We get people sharing things all the time in the NON-TECH forum, and because it is Will Castro and Unique Whips posting, some of you want to show your asses... Knock it off... Got it? Mike

Cool Guys... Mike

Good to hear Scottie. I'll be heading out tomorrow and we're taking the truck, since it's Diesel and that is apparently more readily available right now. Mike

I like cheese whiz and sparkling water.

I may trailer my "in works" project down for the day... Mike

If it's a street car, you really don't want to go with camber plates in the rear. You're opening up a lot of roadnoise into the car by doing so... Go with those Gmachine bushings or adjustable control arms... Mike

I have a wedding to go to later this week/ weekend in Greenville, SC. Can you guys down in South Carolina let me know what the fuel availability, both gas and diesel. Please do NOT post anything related to the price of fuel, or anything political related to fuel availability. I simply want to know if I'm going to be able to find it during my trip down and back. Mike

You might be interested in knowing that we found that "less air" is more when it comes to ducting to the radiator. According to the windtunnel engineer, NASCAR uses 2X4 inch openings for air flow to the radiator and close or open them with tape as needed... Do a bunch of reading on this test. We found a lot of great info. Mike

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

I saw Mark's up close and personal and he did one hell of a job on it... That said, I'll be ordering the front and rear from Moto-delta. Mike

We're in the middle of discussing "editing" the rules to LOWER the size of images in sigs... Maybe we'll just delete a few as well! I'm feeling a bit Witchy today! Mike

You now, we were on the cusp of just trashing this whole thread, because we had no clue where it was going, and then Woldson MANS UP and just says it like it is!! Dude, some of us DO get your humor! Woldson FTW! Mike

I think there's a lot of internet rumor out about this issue with the tranny that just isn't true. I'll remind everyone that I've been pretty negative about this car until recently. That said, the ONLY thing I've read on any of the GTR owner's boards is related to long stints doing road course work with moderate air temps causing the tranny to trip a code for overheating the tranny oil. This is an issue the C5 regular and Z06 had. The only real concern I guess is the weight. That car recently scaled on one of the NAGTROC threads at over 3900# without driver. That was just the car with a full tank of fuel. I also thing that when these powerplants start turning up, they'll be with some standalone gear without the trans and AWD, and will be mated to custom bellhousings and more conventional clutch systems... We hotrodders are an enterprising bunch, no? Mike

Grumpy, Here's one for you... SBC 383 stroker using a Victor Jr. intake, Holley mechanical 750 double pumper, isky hydraulic roller cam and Dart 205 aluminum (Conquest) heads, along with 6 inch rods, forged wiesco pistons, at about a 10.5:1 compression ratio... On the carb, what should I start with on the jetting, and also cams/squirters or other recommendations on running in the carb properly... This will be a track day road course car. Also running a carter helper pump from the fuel cell out to a surge canister, then onto a Mallory pump to a return style regulator with vaccum port. Mike

John, I don't have an answer, but do have a recommendation from my brother inlaw who is a licenses electrician in Virginia... Work with a Commercial Power Electrician on this, and not "just" an electrician. Make sure the person you hire is licensed at that level. Apparently here on the right coast, that is a huge distinct issue and grey area when seeking services from the electrical trades. Subscribed, as I'm curious of the answer myself. Mike

Without knowing the distance between the halo and the roof/frame/windshield behind it, it's kinda hard to make that statement... But the bottom line is you don't want a roll cage to be put into a normal street driving scenario where you would be more likely to come into unprotected contact with the metal tubes. In my case, it didn't work out well. This subject comes up on every car related BB I am on and every single expert opinion I've read has been "NO, you're risking more serious injury with it." Mike

I had a full cage in a street/track Zcar back in 1995 and it was in a total loss accident... I had my "racing" harnesses on (5 point JRZs) and the accident consisted of a heavy duty "plumbing truck" with lots of hardware/tools loaded up in it (large box truck) rearending me and pushing the car into the back of a Ford Taurus sedan. My head hit the halo on the roll bar. Even though the halo bar was padded, I had a concussion. I'll never own another street driven car with a "full cage"... Mike

Great numbers... And I personally like your approach to this process! Mike

That's funny pete, because I found your posts in this thread to be personally offensive to the other member... You're close to a seven day time out...Keep it up. Very uncharacteristic of you to lash out at another member... of all the bs that gets posted on this board, blackwidow's post is branded "meaningless". Did you miss the emotican??? And Tony, no comments from the peanut gallery or I'll get that rope for you! Mike

I was thinking more along the lines of ZYa's comment... Pete, He used a "smilie" and was posting in jest... If we hammered everyone for posting in that manor, I'd be banning people left and right... Sorry man, but you over-reacted on this one. Back it down a notch guys... Mike