Owen

Perhaps if the laser pointers were pointing straight down instead of forward at a wall, you could get a visual of how the points are moving from their original rest point. I too was thinking of jacking the control arms but thru my many converstations with Jon and re-reading of "How to make your car handle" it seems that jacking the car is the way to go? I remember somewhere in the book that care had to be taken to keep the car body from rolling, etc. Now, I'm a ways from doing this (Jon, I finally ordered those caster/camber gauges!) but I love this type of discussion I don't mean to change the subject here, but before you do all this, does the car have to be level? Ride height I can understand but the book kept talking about making sure the car is level....where do you measure this? At the suspension pivot points? Slotting the holes is a good idea, but my car is a street car mainly, I don't want to keep having to retorque the bolts, hence my desire to use tie rod ends for the steering rods. Owen

We need a ghost emoticon that will chase the pac-mans away! So I need to create a new album, that's all I needed to know. Everything got lost at the change-over, lost all my PM inbox and savedbox messages Owen

Nice, now take a dremel or something and cut out the "Z" in the center! Owen

Maybe this will help? http://240z.jeromio.com/frontcross.html Pop N Wood, correct me if I am wrong but average ride height is a variable thing, especially with coilovers, therefore whether the control arm is level or not is also variable. But I think I know where you're going with this, you set a ride height and then measure bumpsteer, you don't like the results so you think about making a change somewhere. "But I thought the bumpsteer mod primarily has to do with toe in and out as the wheels go up and down. (As the name implies, if compressing the strut causes the wheel to turn, then bumps will tend to steer you in a different direction.) And I am not sure how changing the length of the control arm influences that. " I agree with you on this definition. But after reading Wheelman's post I am now more confused. It sounds to me like control arm length vs. tie rod length would also be a factor (vs. tie rod length on its own causing toe changes). I plan to have some adjustable front control arms in the future as a means of adjusting camber, but if it's also going to affect toe, I need to really research this. Owen

Laws would be different for each state, Tim240Z shaved his front and rear marker lites but recently heard of a friend's friend being pulled over. Some cops will get you, some won't...it depends on their mood. I don't think the laws get that specific as to brightness, area, etc. I'm just guessing that if it's original equipment, it should stay there (yeah right, hee hee!) . When I talked to Tim about this, it sounded like he was going to get magnetic-backed reflectors and stick them on for when he's on the street. As for clear, I don't think it matters. The only things you need to worry about are the colors (legal colors) and if you're paranoid, are the lenses DOT approved? Owen

I have the same impression as Wheelman, to get the two rods (control arm and steering tie rod) as parallel as possible. "The point of the crossmember mod is to relocate the pivot point so the lower control arm sits nearly level to the ground when the car is parked." ---Here, I am under the impression that the pivot point needs to be moved up, which would not allow for the control arm being parallel to the ground. Your next sentence after that tells me we are basically talking about the same thing tho. (and don't worry about me being a godfather, I may have started this whole thing but I'm still learning and willing to learn!) As for the metric pieces, I swear I've seen metric threaded tubes and the metric rod ends are pretty common. Anyone know the size and pitch of the stock pieces? Owen

Do we not have our own personal galleries anymore? It seems like there are two categories and they're all a bunch of pix lumped together. I uploaded the same pic twice... Owen

Did this last year, I have the VW sidemarkers, there are two kinds and I have the clearer ones. This is the only pic I have on my work computer that shows it, not a good angle. http://hybridz.org/nuke/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10007/normal_v8z-11.jpg Owen I'll post another pic if anyone's interested.

For those who answered not to bother...my car is mainly street but lowered and definitely will see some parking lot/orange cone days. What do you think about using tie rod ends/heim joints with a spacer instead of doing the crossmember mod? Sounds way easier to me... Owen

Mike, Can you post pics of the emblem up close? I'm interested in knowing the actual size and how the letters are held together vs. each letter mounted separately. About half a year ago I started carving my own emblem out of polymer clay but it was too small to line up with the holes in the fenders so I gave up on it. Thanks! Owen

It's something to do with the version of software used I guess, I hope all my saved stuff in my inbox and savebox aren't gone forever. Owen

Hey Chris, If the rep told you it shouldn't be used, then I wouldn't use it. Most likely it's got a bigger tip and doesn't put out the right air pressure at the tip for spraying auto paints (I don't know how thick wood/house paints are). It seems to me like it'd just splatter rather than atomize like you'd want it to for metal. Owen

RacerX, Great information on the Advantage, maybe I'll look into one. I already have a Sharpe with a 1.3 cap that I could dedicate to clearcoating. Thanks again for your help last year in my "clear blending" project:D . Van, The Harbor Freight HVLP gun is great for high solid primers and such. Plus they're like $45!!! I like to use cup liners as well, a lot easier to clean up, especially when you have one gun. (like RacerX said, get at least one for primer and one for color/clear). Owen

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To all those using a T56 manual tranny, how did you shim the starter motor? With the engine/trans in the car, and the bellhousing dust shield on, its impossible for me to get a feeler gauge/wire in there. any advice? Thanks, Owen

Speakers would be nice in the door panels too, tilted toward the seats or something. I was gonna do this but didn't have room because of my seats and the rollcage. Hmmm, maybe I need some of those really flat speakers... http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ces200420.htm In the interest of adding gauges, I'm adding them to the door panels above the arm rests. I'd like to see pics of the console you've made. Owen

I'd still have to remove my dash...what about those "underdash" units that have the built-in vents and everything? All I need is for the car to get cool, the air doesn't have to blow on a specific part of me, and I could always snake some vent tubes around. Owen

There's a formula for calculating injectors, I'm sure you've seen this. http://www.rceng.com/technical.htm Owen

MikeKz has used it for a while now. My question is, how do I install it? I have a rollcage and there's no way to drop the dash without cutting it in half! Rather than do that, I was thinking of sitting the unit on the back shelf behind the seats and run ducting up to the ceiling and have it blowing down on the seats. Owen

The only junkyard part needed is the 5-lug front hub from a 300ZX (1984-1985???). The hub is a different height than the 4-lug, if the search function was working you could probably see some actual numbers. Guess you'll just have to go through every post in the brakes forum! Owen

What's everyone's opinion on the shape of the front air dam? The aftermarket ones currently offered are curved and look like they would effectively spill air out to the sides. But what about one that was more rectangular in shape, like a Skyline GT-R? I'm just thinking looks vs function here. Owen

I just placed an order from Summit, VIA-80158-35DP Remote "Shaved Door Handle" Kit, 2 Door, 35 Pound Solenoids, w/door Poppers $125.99 Basically, the same kit as the Autoloc, with remotes and everything. They're made by VPA and I have their powerwindow and power door lock kits already installed...guess I won't be needing the power door locks anymore... Owen

I have a 260 door on my 240Z, found out the hard way when I bought new window regulators thankfully MSA took one back and gave me a 260 one. Owen

I've been watcing every episode so far, I like to see the machinery they use rather than the actual cars being made. There's another show called American Hot Rod on Discovery channel I think. Owen