Dan Juday

Glad to hear you made it there in one piece. The secret to school is study hard and ask all the questions you have. Your instructors have gold in their heads. If you want to made some "gold" you got to get it out of their heads. Don't ever leave a class with an unanswered question. If you don't understand the answer ask again. It's better to look dumb than be dumb. Hey, best of luck to you.

It really is a great deal Jason. Have you priced custom machine work before?

Oh Ernie, your spelling is atrocious! I only know because I had to look up "pulchritudinous". However your vocabulary is expansive. Thanks buddy! Have you got Alana's Z registered yet?

Vincent, would you like to see a Tomahawk with a modern fuel injected V8 in it?

Thanks Terry, means a lot coming from you. Everybody wants to see the wheels and tires on it. Like the expression, "clothes make the man", so a nice set of rims and tires can really set off a car. I still have a few things to finish on a friends car before I can work on mine. As badly as I want to my conscience wont let me. I promise guys, when I get all the trim and wheels back on I'll post some pics. :flamedevil: :flamedevil:

Hey Vincent, Welcome to Hybrid! What a pleasent surprise. Missed you at San Leandro. Dee was there. I saw pics of your top at Eric's site. I like your pseudonym, like the Bruce Willis movie, cool. Come on up anytime. You need to get a look at Steve's engine bay.

Here's a little piece of advice from someone who has been down the road you're going. Before you order those expensive non-refundable custom wheels do the home work. Buy your flares and tires first. Mount up one front and one rear (if you are planning on different size front and rear) on a cheap/borrowed wheel of the same width as you plan to use (need not be the right offset or bolt pattern). Bolt it up (pop out 3 studs if the bolt pattern is off) and take lots of measurements. This worked very well for me. You can design exactly where you want your tires to end up. Still I was paranoid. So I ordered my rims with 1/8" more backspacing for a fudge factor. You can always add spacers to bring it out but if they stick out too far you're stuck. Remember when you're measuring that you must allow for suspension travel. Good luck!

That's true. WWII surplus. Very scary car. A little goofy looking.

That sounds like a Caprice motor. The f-bodies had aluminum heads. If it were me I'd wait for a solid motor. Prices are coming down and the cost to repair/rebuild + $500 is no great deal IMHO. You can find good f-body 350 LT1's now for $1500.

Baby comes home. She had a couple of friends to greet her. Talk about a dream Z garage? All V8's: Steve Cameron's Tomahawk, Jumbo's FoMoCoZ and your's truly. Time to give some credit. Mark C. a.k.a. ZDreamer turned me on to Tony Mach. If it wasn't for Mark my car would still be sitting in my buddies garage, but we may not have been buddies anymore. Thanks to Mark (and Tony ) I have a beautiful blue Z and I still have a friend. More pics will come as she gets put back together. Stay tuned!

I had a friend that had one when I was younger. Handling was ok, not great. The frame is asymetrical and weak. It flexed badly in corners. Engine bay is way too small for a V8 swap without serious sawzall work. There is very little room to work on the stock four banger which is the weekest part of the car. A rotory swap would be the way to go. Beef up the frame. I wouldn't go with a cage if this is a street car. It would be very tight inside. Cool looking car inside and out. Mechanics need some help.

One of the last. One of the first. Only Mangusta I could find. The motor. Right where God intended it.

Right on! That is fantastic. You're doing that VR justice.

Love the Pantera. There's a guy here in town that has a beautiful black one he brings out for Bass Derby, our little town's big hoopla. Anybody else remember it's even rarer brother the Mangusta? I saw a fabulous one up close a few years ago at Ferrari of Los Gatos.

Thanks Rufus, I think you mean the wheels in my signature pic. Those are Billet Specialties, model GT 15. Centerline makes a wheel that is very similar. The 280YZ fenders have a flush edge at the wheel opening. I wanted the fenders to match so I asked John if he would sell me just the first 3", from the wheel opening out, off the SubtleZ rear fenders. The SubtleZ kit is like the stock fender at the wheel opening and has a rolled lip detail. My body man then grafted the two together and the result is what you see in the first picture in this thread. That make sense?

Hey whataya talking about Alex? There's always a way to make room.

Hey we've been waiting for this. How long has MSA offered it? Have I just missed it?

Jason and Davy make sense to me. I have a 305 (not a Ford but similar displacement) with duels all the way back with an H pipe and a pair of Flowmaster 2 chambers and it has that crisp bark when you get on it. I love it. Alex, move your head so they can see the H pipe!

BFG still makes a 295/50/15 TA. They used to make a 305 Euro TA but no more.

I had a class tonight up in Sac so I stopped by to see how things are coming along. Four guys were wet sanding it with 1500 grit in preparation for the final clear coat. I didn't know they made sandpaper that fine. Tony says you can get 3000 grit too. He uses that to get a really high luster on plastic light lenses. I have no idea. I never asked. It's included in the total. He said it took about a gallon and a half of color and half that got sanded off. He did say that it was not an expensive color. Not like burgandys or , gulp, the ChromaLusion (the ones that change color) colors. Those start at $300 a pint. ...times 12 equals...bankrupt!

San Leandro was fun. Did any of you guys (Alex) take any pics of Steves Tomahawk? Believe it or not, that's not the only one with an LT1 in it. It's not a good car to show off the motor though. The hood opening is so small and the motor sit's so low (plus the Tomahawk hood is a good 3" higher than a Z) that looking at the motor is like peering into a hole. Too bad we only had four Z's this year. Three were V8's though. And Leonard made it! This green guy here looks like Leonard, doesn't he?

I used them with my tpi/T5 swap but not the LT1/T56. I didn't need hood clearance in either case but I found that they also give you more tunnel clearance for the tranny.

Here's what I know about Quest studs: From shoulder to end 46mm (1 13/16"). Installed in the front hubs they extend 36.5mm (1 7/16") No report yet on length when installed on the rear. Napa Auto Parts part#641-2785. $1.90 each.

Sorry David K. I know it's not in your nature to be rude. I sould have figured it was not ment to be mean. I'm just a little slow, forgive me. I was thinking: "Does my car look like a pig? Is a plate of bacon more desirable? Is David hungry?" You guys are sharp. That's right, they don't come that way. Remember, I'm mixing and matching parts. The SubtleZ front fenders have all the details of the stock fender only about 2" wider. The 280YZ kit was pulled from a race car. No lips, no rocker panel details, no crease line at the door handle level. John, the consumate professional, was happy to lay-up for me just the lips from the SubtleZ rears (for a very reasonable price) to graft into the YZ rear fenders. Other detail changes were made to blend the two kits together into a harmonious "look". As more shots come out see if you can spot them. 8) Thanks for all the kind remarks (even Bacon Boy ) but the artist here is Tony Mach of Mach Auto Body in Sacramento. I know my limitations and they include body and paint.

Thanks guys, (everyone but DK. Whats with that "bacon" crack?) Believe it or not, as good as it looks in that pic it was still short one coat of paint. Heres a shot of the front corner. Can you spot the four different (now one) pieces of fiberglass?