Mikelly

Bring it down for the July 21st Car get-together! We'll compare them side by side and I'll make a decision then! Nice car man, and seriously, bring it down July 21st for grillin' and chillin' all afternoon! Mike

So my riding lawnmower died back in the spring. It is about 12 years old, and was inherited along with the wife, two kids and a dog. It was time, I suppose... So I've been shopping for a new lawn tractor that would cut the drain/septic field behind the house (About 1/2 acre), the back yard (About a 1/3rd acre) and trim both sides of my driveway (About 450ft. each side) and the driveway going down to my detached garage. I also need to be able to push snow off the driveway come winter time. I ended up buying this: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100520385&N=10000003+90401+502008+1051&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125 The only one left was the floor model, and there were two people in line behind me wanting it if I didn't buy it... At 0% interest for 12 months, they were selling every mower they had faster than they could get them in and unboxed! I got it on a better deal than expected, as a woman at the store asked them to pricematch the same mower with the ad at LOWES and I said "Me too"... So off I go with my new tractor (And she DOES NOT think my tractors sexy!) and ready to cut some drain field/lawn... So I get it home and unloaded from the trailer and throw gas in it... And start to crank it over... Nothing... So for about 30 minutes I troubleshoot the electrical issue and even put a charger on it... Finally I notice in the manual that a 20amp fuse needs to be inplace in a socket I hadn't noticed. So I scavage one from the Z in the garage, and VROOM! We're in business! After about 10 minutes cutting and 1 minute in the drain field the thing quits cutting.... WTF??? So I'm back to trouble shooting... A NEW MOWER???!!?!?!! So after another HOUR of dickin' around with the damned thing, I notice on the transmission that the wires seem a little loose, and I stick my hand under it and come up with a loosened wire connector... No wonder the darned thing won't engage the mower deck. It had come loose... So back in business, again... Now the real challenge is I HAVE NO place this thing will fit through... It won't fit in the shed (Too wide) and we had to "modify gate posts (Think trans tunnel mods in JTR manual!) to get it through the gate into the back yard... Yup, I'm gonna have to clean out a spot in the attached garage, which already has two cars, a motorcycle and a bunch of bicycles in it... Ugh... Never buy the floor model, and always make sure what you're buying will fit within the spaces allowed. I measured before hand and figured the 53inch width with the plastic 'chute folded up would get me where I need to be... I was wrong by half an inch... On the upside, the grass is cut... Mike

Guys, Before I finish bolting up the rear end of my car, I really need to source a better set of companion flanges. Mine are dinged up and have some rust issues... If anyone has a set, or you guys know of a source where I could buy a set, please respond here or offline... Mike

Woa, we have a stranger in our house! Jim, good to see you on the site again, after such a long absence! Mike

Jody, I have a set in my car, and this is a bit disturbing. However, I keep telling myself those 10 second passes probably are a lot more harsh than I'll be on them on a road course... God I hope so anyway! Mike

No more than 10. Mike

Congrats... I plan to be on hand to support your efforts that weekend... I'm truly glad your car was picked, Tom. Couldn't think of a better example of waving the HybridZ flag! Make us Proud! Mike

I've got a track weekend scheduled for October 26/27th with my oldest stepson, so I want to get the Zcar ready for that weekend. Mike

Austin, I like your thinking! mike

And people wonder why blow-proof bellhousings weigh 50#+! Mike

Austin, Just pony up and Buy JamieT's RB26 Setup! Mike

It would seriously compromise the mold process and added labor, not to mention the added weight. Lot's of folks want the "racecar" look without the "racecar" parts, and often the two don't work well together. Mike

Carl, where to start... The formula used by the software at the windtunnel is one I've not seen before. We couldn't do simple things as merge the two separate sheets of data into one. When we tried, the fields would change. numbers would change, sometimes values would change. The data we collected is accurate, since we did a snapshop of the screens, and created JPEGs. That's the only way we could do anything to publish the data. Any number of other normal ways you would think to work in Excel wouldn't seem to work. The other guys can attest to the level of stress caused by doing anything other than opening the file on the CD and VIEWING the data. The data in the JPEG files I attached are absolutely accurate and are the raw data that was copied from the workstation onto the CD I have in my posession. Can anyone recreate the spreadsheet? Sure, knock yourself out. Will you be able to duplicate the formulas? I do not believe so. When I had one of my MS Excel gurus look at the formula, he found that the base formula from the program used at the wind tunnel does some funky conversion to the excel formula tables. It would be difficult to duplicate, was his comment to me. What do these results mean? To me, having been there, they mean a lot of things. I learned what needs to be done to make the car more stable, and why I've spent some coin and taken steps to change the basic design of my project. I'm sure the other members are doing the same thing. Will everyone be "satesfied" that the data is accurate and worth the effort? Who knows. We tried to please a large number of folks. I believe we did our best, and better than most had expected. Mike

In short, no. The data format was so unstable, we had a hard time locking it in without the tables doing some very strange things on us. Every member of the team had been given copies and tried to play with the data, and each of them can atest to the trouble and decision made to lock the data. I can't release the raw data because of this. Mike

In my opinion, those headers are junk for any application other than dragracing. They hang way too low, don't allow a lot of clearance of various oil pans, and I don't think provide a true "bolt on" solution. I have three sets in the shop right now. One set I cut off the car last weekend to replace them with block huggers, one set I have on the shelf that will become a set of 1 3/4 block huggers out of (Or something else) one set to give to Pete to cut up and play with for his own purposes, and one set for "just incase" I hack up the first set... Fortunately I don't have a lot of money in the three sets. That said, I'd never recommend 1 3/4 S&S headers for any member's project car as a "bolt-on" solution. Mike

I need 12ft. 6 inches for this particular lift, but check with the lift manufacturer because they vary from 11-14ft. depending. I'll just be tickled to get it back in service, and get those udly work benches out of there... I also SMELL a car parts yard sale coming... Mike

Depending on the instal, and the model Z, some folks would trim that panel to fit around the radiator core support lower area. Lots of folks couldn't clear the lower braces/ horn mounts and line the headlight scoop studs up to the fenders at the same time, which could explain why this one looks shorter to you guys. Mike

Let's put it this way... Last spring I was at a Corvetteforum.com Dyno day. Guy in a chamelian colored 2003 Cobra with a catback and a retune pulled 430+HP. Car was BONE STOCK other than the two mods listed above... Needless to say, there were a bunch of unhappy Vette Owners there! VERY impressive car at under $20K... The new bodystyle Mustang has been such a huge hit, the previous generation Mustangs are taking a real beating on the dealer lots used! Mike

The color combo is staying as is... And it's bumper black... Now what I do have slated for the hood modifications is that I'll be adding a bunch of vents/ Louvers and I'm going to use the under-lip of the carbon hood to attach the upper grill block-off panels to. I'll use some aluminum backing strips to attach them to and they'll extend all the way down to the top of the bumper on the Type3 airdam. This should work out well! Also, The Reaction Research Carbon hood vents will likely end up on the SIDES of the fenders with holes cut and air ducted to them from the inner fenders. I also plan to form some inner fender liners like TitaniumZ's and seal off the inner fenders. Mike

YUp, Word is that if this motor doesn't sell to one of our members soon, Jamie will be parting it out on ebay and making some serious coin... That motor/tranny combo is done and ready to go into something right now... Everything that people "want" to do to their RB26s has been done to this one... It's a bargain, for sure! Mike

Yup, these cars are true bargain right now. I had considered buying another one when I was shortening my list of cars. Mike

God this is sooooo true, although I only lost a couple hours swapping those brakes over... My goal is to get this car on track by October. The motor... It's an internal balance 383 stroker with a forged bottom end, Isky racing Hydraulic roller cam, Dart Conquest heads, With a holley Commander950 FI system. This same motor ran 10.98s @ 129mph in the quarter with a carb and Victor Jr. Intake in my 74 260Z. Mike

So I'd been talking about expanding my shop and needing more space... The plan was to expand off the side of the existing garage. However, the little black car in my avitar came to be and those funds got diverted. Now I'm looking at other options... I have 24ft. 8 inches by 32ft. 10 inches interior space in my shop. I have 13ft. 10 inches ceiling height, but the truss design didn't allow me to be able to install the lift, which is all I really need. So yesterday evening a buddy of mine was over for a cook out and we migrated to the garage while the wives told tales about us. Dennis was looking at the trusses, and drawing a few things out on a note pad and we've figured that we can redo the trusses, allowing me the space I need to install the lift with just enough room between the top of the lift and the modified truss braces. SO, it looks like I'll be doing this sometime in July, and then getting the power company out to run a separate 200 amp power service to the garage. The panel and meter base are already there... NEXT, I'm gonna gutt the shelving that is there, remove EVERYTHING from within the garage, and paint the walls, and finish the ceilings and paint them as well. I may build a closet for the compressor, but otherwise, I'll be spending some coin on some smart storage solutions. If any of you guys have ideas in this area, I want to see them, which is the reason for starting this thread... What I want is something CLEAN and PROFESSIONAL looking... Fun FUN FUN!!! Mike

JamieT is selling off his Zcar stuff, and I picked up some tasty bits from him yesterday... This BetaMotorsports CF hood is AMAZING and silly light... And Check out the Wilwood brakes... Good stuff!! Mike

Just buy Jamie Taylor's motor and be done with it!!! I was at his place yesterday and got a peak at some of the parts he's unloading... Get on it before it's gone! Mike