Mikelly

We're co-signers on his loan. We won't be on his insurance policy, and basically I've got the collateral to cover the note. We're simply helping him build a positive credit history since he has no history at all. His other car was a signature loan in his dad's name. Craig want's to eventually buy a house, and he'll need a credit history to show for it when it comes time to qualify for the note on the house. So we're helping him in that regard. Since I'm paying the loan off in a few months, He won't ever have an issue of not making the payment. We're getting gap insurance to cover it if he were to have an accident. Otherwise, I'm not sure there is any other liability I'm assuming. Mike

We're carrying a note in his name for a couple of months to help him "build" credit. Once we've paid the note on it, we'll let the insurance company know that the lean has been removed. Not knowing enough about the banking industry to know which will help him more, I'm just going along for the ride and letting the $15K sit in the bank. Mike

I'm not giving any exact measurements here, but going off memory, the LS1 is wider at the bottom, but I'm not sure it's that much wider at the top, if any at all. There's a book on LS1s that I'd recommend buying. It has all the dimensions of the motor, both the internals, and the external physical measurements... Go to Borders Books and check. And you're correct on your assumption that making a 6 speed work with the standard Chevy V8 will be more expensive. I totalled that up a while back and I believe you're gonna end up with about $1500 worth of flywheel/clutch/pressureplate/bellhousing "stuff". What you gain though is the LS1 is a lot SHORTER on the hood clearance. It's a great fit in the Zcar because of that, as you can lower it in the chassis a significant amount compared to the standard Chevy V8.

So, being a step-dad has been a bumpy and sometimes unrewarding road for me. I never wanted kids, but ended up with two sons that have, thru no fault of my own, ended up with great jobs, and both living on their own, reasonably successful at all they shoot for... When the oldest went to college, I kicked in $10K to "help" out... So the youngest recently got a job at Lockheed Martin. His Dad and I had an agreement that I'd kick in another $10K towards the younger son's education, since I helped the older son, and then Dad would cover the rest. Now that he's employeed by Lockheed Martin, They're picking up the tab for his college, so I figured "What the heck, I'll buy you a nice beater commutor car". What should have been a simple process took a month. Finding "the right" car that we could agree to, and then making the deal happen, and unloading his 2003 Nissan Spec-V Sentra seemed as if it would never happen. However, Yesterday his dad took him to a dealership that Dad had bought several cars from. They found a 2008 Toyota Corolla with 32 miles on it, four door, automatic (Craig drives in some of the regions worst traffic for a rt commute of about 95 miles) and good fuel mileage. They wanted $16900, but Craig's dad beat them up pretty good, and they ended up with a "deal" of $15200 out the door, and they pay off his Nissan. So all is going well until they start calling about insurance... Craig calls me in a panic, since he's just been told that his previous mistakes behind the wheel, a couple of accidents in his early driving career, plus getting caught with a radar detector and speeding (Radar detector is the kiss of death in Va for your insurance.) and now he has a qoute of $400 per month on an anemic 126hp 4 door commutor box... Yup, his past has now come back to haunt him... Craig was so upset because he'd gone online and checked the rates thru a number of insurance companies. I'd advised that he shouldn't trust them, as they're hit and miss on the actual rates for young driver. So at the end of the day, he gets the car, but ends up staying on his dad's insurance. The goal was to get him off his father's insurance, as it's jacking his rate up by having Craig on it, but oh well... The moral of the story is to watch those speeds, stay out of trouble and do not believe those internet insurance qoutes. Every citation, or infraction will eventually make us all "pay for our mistakes!" Mike

With regards to the "sharp" edges, I need to post updated pics as I've trimmed more and the dash is now, as of yesterday afternoon, bolted in. I'll be lining the edges with a rubber trim that will cover it. What I really like is I can remove it by loosening 6 bolts. I weighed a stock dash with all the brackets and then weighed mine with all the hardware, the switchbox bolted in and the shift light and gages loaded and I still lost 37 pounds net weight. Mike

I hope for two things... 1. I get to line up next to one of these with my little winged beast. 2. I have tape rolling to capture it so everyone can see how "we" do. Finally Chevy made a Vette I'd think worthy of the name... The rear brakes are sourced from the Ferrari FXX and the fronts are the same as the Bugatti Vyrones! This Vette has some serious hardware... Mike

Sadly I must admit they do... My Dallas Cowboys won't stand a chance... Mike

You know, I must admit I'm pretty disappointed in the negative comments made about what this guy did. Those of you who commented negatively clearly "don't get it". The owner of that car has a goal in mind... He's not making it look pretty, he's making it functional and doing a hell of a job, I might add. A lot of people hate the looks of the Zcar with a big wing on it and all closed up in the front... but it works too... Mike

Jegs sells a real nice sheetmetal dash for $100...

255s worked great on my car for fitment/ full compression of the shock with the fender lip rolled. 275s stuck out an d the tire made contact with the fender even with the lip rolled. I confirmed this by removing the spring and running the strut into its compression cycle with a floor jack on the suspension and the car on my automotive lift. I personally think a 255-40-17 will be fine for your current setup. Mike

I'm with you John... Every time I watch that one I crack up... I hope and pray that I'm never that guy if I ever end up wheel to wheel racing. Mike

If I were going to buy a new aluminum trailer I'd also look at the Featherlights or the Trailex trailers like Jim McNemar uses. Those things are amazingly light weight, and hold their value. That said, having an enclosed trailer to hunker down in when the weather isn't cooperating is awesome. In November when I was in West Va. at Summit Point, it was 42 degrees outside and windy. Even though I didn't have heat in it, the ability to get out of the elements and relax was well worth it. Heck I've been known to put my feet up and catch a little shuteye between sessions in my Haulmark. Mike

Kinda dumb on his part then, because I went in expecting to pay $400-600 on a high end Blu-Ray machine and walked out with a $220 HD DVD machine! Mike

The wife got tired of seeing me struggle to roll the z around the shop, so she bought me some dollies to put it on. Should make moving it around a lot easier now! She got those from AW Direct! She also bought me some very neat magnetic shelves that stick to the side of the toolbox, for extra storage. She got those from Griots Garage. The oldest bought me a crafstman torque wrench for inch pounts, and the youngest bought me a kit to paint letters with... So I can paint "porsche" on a bunch of stuff. Finally, the wife bought me a new Watch. It's the Porsche Turbo Soeed Chronograph! http://eagleday.stores.yahoo.net/watches1.html Mike

Talk about timing... Xmas eve day I spent time washing, claybaring, then drying the porsche, and then I used my Porter Cable 2724 and the following: Stage 1: Optimum Polish on an Orange pad Wipe off with micro fiber towel. Stage 2: Zaino Z-AIO on with a white pad Let dry then wipe off with a MicroFiber... Pics speak for themselves... It took 3 hours from the time I started washing the car. I'm extremely pleased with this new process and will never go back to the "Zaino" 6 stage process... Gonna try and unload some of my Zaino "products". Make sure to buy the proper polishing/buffing hardware/pads to go with it. They make the results as much as the polish/wax you choose to use. Those pics were taken yesterday before the masses swarmed our house for Xmas lunch/dinner! Mike

Well the HD DVD we bought is doing a great job. Unboxed it last night and watched 300 on it. WOW. The main reason I went with HD DVD was I can still play my regular DVDs on it. If I understand what the sales dude told me about Blu-Ray, it won't accept or read regular DVDs... that kills the idea of getting to one player, and I don't want to have 10 different media disc players! This also gave me the excuse to move my Panasonic DVD player to the garage and to "make" a movie of all my trackday footage, timed to music and including graphics! I now have "stuff" I can watch on the TV again! I eventually want to put a cheap flatpanel in the shop on the wall! Mike

Regardless how low the trailer is, you'll need to either buy, or make ramp extnsions. I've got a beavertail fold down and I had to make some 2X10 5ft. long extensions. I killed a GT2 front spoiler on my Penis car trying to "get by" without them... Bank on spending a few bucks on some e-track and other goodies for it, and don't fall for the fancy aluminum doo-dads that screw to the wall. I have a bunch, and you're better off going to walmart for simple ideas on how to hold "stuff" in your trailer... I should probably take pics of how mine's setup... There are some things I like, and some things I'd not recommend to others to do! Mike

I have a Haulmark and I'll caution you that they all make entry to upper end models... Mine is the "Edge" series 24 footer, and although it does the trick, their "RACE CAR" series is a better made trailer. When I load my pig/penis car into the Haulmark, it's heavy enough that it pulls the side entry door out of alignment, making it hard to close. The RACE CAR series trailers have a heavier frame, and stud setup, with a flat roof, which aids in the construction/strength. Regardless which trailer you get, and length does not matter, if you do nothing else, PAY ATTENTION TO THIS NEXT "BIT" of info... GET the HEAVIER AXLES. DO NOT SCRIMP with the 3500# axles. Most guys think they can load 7K into the trailer, but you have to deduct the weight of the trailer from the 7K# rating. So that leaves you with about 3500# cargo. Add tools, extra tires, and all the other assorted crap that end up in your car trailer and you'll get well above 3500# in cargo weight. We rolled across the scales in my Dodge with my Haulmark and the Porsche. I wanted to see what the total weight was, and with four 5gallon jugs of fuel, and all the other stuff loaded in the trailer, the car, fully fueled up, and extra wheels and tires, the total "package" truck and trailer weight was 21054#. My Dodge 3500 Cummins is about 12K# of that, so we were close to the trailer limit. And here's the kicker... Your insurance company will figure out ever ounce of weight to see if you were over the limit if you're involved in an accident. If you were, you're liable for any incident while towing... Just a something to think about... So regardless of size, get the heavier axles... Mike

Merry Christmas to all of you and here's hoping for a safe, healthy and prosperous new year to each and everyone of you! Mike & Donna

I wet HDMI only because I am also thinking about a game console, and the PS3 is what I'm tihnking I'll buy, so I'll have both, but I agree with others that HDMI will likely be the winner on this one. Mike

I actually think the drip rails might have aided in stabilizing the air. Bob Smith commented that removing them might not produce the desired result when considering the cost to do so... Carl, You make good points... We're comparing a current technology supercar that cost about $140K new vs. a 1970 $3400 car. There is no comparison. That said, an autocross is not where a Porsche Turbo or GT2 should compete. Using that as an analogy is a bit absurd. The only reason I brought up what the dyno operator said was because of the previous member's post about Porsche. "Let them eat cake!" Mike

It's kinda funny, because during the test I had the Porsche out in the parking lot, and Bob the windtunnel operator constantly referred to it when describing what we were trying to achieve. If I had all the money I've spent on Datsun over the years I could have bought a brand new 2007 Porsche GT2 and still had money left over for track days, and more time driving the car, and less wrenching it! Mike

I encourage all efforts and if someone, with the assistance of one of the HybridZ senior staff, would like to take on this effort, I'd be more than happy to sit on the sidelines. I'll be ther first to admit that I'm running thin on knowledge and time with many competing interests... I'll still plan for another windtunnel test come spring, and keep everyone posted on the donation drive... I WILL ask that someone else write the article. It was way to much of a strain on my time last time around. Mike

Well my sympathies in your losses, but since you've yourself endured such great losses, think about if someone would have made such insensetive remarks in those instances... Sometimes its best to just not make a comment in a thread if you can't add anything of value... First you incenuated that Larry's friend was commiting insurance fraud, which got deleted, then you made other stupid remarks that you had to explain as joking, because the "joke" was above all of us... Folks PLEASE keep a lookout for the trailer and car in question. A guy's pride and joy was stollen.. Think about the sweat equity, the pride in building and ownership... Put yourself in his shoes... Mike

OK, This is "Mike" and not "Mike the Admin" talking for a second... I had a guy steal a $3500 bicycle from inside my house back in 1998. The cops refused to prosecute when they found that the scumbag was trying to sell the bike to a bike shop. Just so happened that 2 weeks after the crook was identified, he and his father were attacked in their front yard by an individual dressed in black. They never found that individual, but the cops showed up at my house wanting to arrest me. I can tell you that the scumbag and his daddy both got the snot beat out of them, and sometimes people have to take things into their own hands. I guess the "man in black" was another victom of the scumbag who wanted revenge. Crispy, I don't know if you've had stuff stollen by someone else or not, but I can tell you that reading comments like those you made make my blood boil. You've got a lot of money in a custom hotrod and car trailer just GONE. A guy took a very real loss and will likely never see it again. I find nothing "FUNNY" about it. Plain and simple a guys pride and joy was stollen. I'm probably qualifying as one of those "Rich guys" to steal from, and the comments are just FRIGGIN STUPID and make me MAD to read... GET IT?? I hope like hell the MUTHAFUGGas are caught and gutted like a fish... Thieves get no quarter from me... And uh, no, I didn't get the memo that this was a topic to make light of. Mike