Jeff

Wrong thread, oops.

I think I was 19 years old, which was 25+ years ago, and I was doing a frame off restoration on a 1949 International Harvester truck. I was working on the rolling frame assembly and had the running boards just sitting on their mounts. Space was tight so it seemed like a good place to store them. I also had the cast iron exhaust manifold sitting on top of the drivers side running board. I had stepped on the running boards many times as a means of access to the inside of the frame rails. For some reason I was working on it bare footed, yes very stupid, and when I stepped on the running board I stepped too far towards the end which flipped the running board vertical along with the exhaust manifold. The exhaust manifold landed on the big toe of my right foot. Causing me to do this several time around the garage. Amazingly it didn't break it but my toe nail fell off within a matter of hours. It still doesn't grow normal to this day.

My Z car project of course but I spend way too much time & money flogging my Trans Am around a road course or autocross circuit these days.

You can glue up the sheets from Home Depot to get the thickness desired or if you want thicker pieces you can buy them here. It's very expensive though.

I know there have been multiple people mention to watch your mirrors but I want to reinforce what Mike said above. Most times when a student of mine blows a turn before a passing zone it is because they are fixated on the car behind them. Don't worry about that person behind you until you reach a passing zone. Just make sure to give them a point by when you do and all will be good. Just remember to check that ego at the gate and focus on your driving. Don't try to be fast, speed comes with experience and time. Go out there and have a great time.

I'm 45 years old so I could relate to that comment until recently. I picked up a PS3 about a month ago along with Gran Turismo 4. I came home set it up did the software update and GT4 would not play after that. I've been watching the updates and the one I installed last night now allows GT4 to play again. It doesn't look bad but I downloaded the GT5 demo and it looks awesome. I've got to pick up a steering wheel because driving with the joy stick just plain sucks. Good luck with it and have fun.

Ditto on that.

Looking good. Here is one of mine all naked too. Yes the quarter panel looks rusty but that was just some shadowing.

That looks pretty solid but I agree with the comments to add some gussets. Just be careful when you fire that thing up. I love your hoist by the way, very nice. Yes, it's an inside joke for those wondering and no worries Jeff I don't need it back yet.

There is also the PVC valve....uhm don't you mean the PCV valve.

Now that's not nice Mike, even though it may be the truth. Sorry Rick, just having some fun.

I rescued mine from behind a friends shop and managed to bring a couple of field mice home with me. Little devils had made nests all through the car and chewed the wiring nicely. Of course you should have seen me trying to get them out of the car and make sure they didn't wind up in the garage.

The X brace is a permanent part of the new installation. Here is how mine sits at the moment and I will be adding an X brace to mine. Right now the top member is a bolt in but I don't think this is going to be torsionally rigid enough so I'm going to weld it in and add the X bracing. My frame rails & lower core support member are all 2 1/2" tube steel.

It looks like Pete forgot to post the link but it is an amazing commercial. Here you go, enjoy.

The Vette is the only one that located everything on the drivers side Scottie. Your only other option is the hot rod type stuff. The Corvette bracket isn't pricey but the A/C compressor sure is! Click here for pricing.

I'll agree with John 100%. Your damage and level of repair looks similar to what I started with. The car had been someones daily driver for years so I don't think there is any harm in drving it the way it is. I ended up sectioning mine in front of the strut towers and replacing the frame rails with structural tubing. Lots of work and expense, I should have started with a cleaner car. Here is where I sectioned mine and if you look closely you can see the dent in the frame rail just below the strut tower.

It's no problem and I hope you had some help unloading that thing out of your truck. I had forgotten how heavy it was!

You're more than welcome to borrow mine. It's in my storage unit off John Young Parkway near Silver Star Rd. It does fold up but you'll still need a truck or trailer to move it. I'll PM you with my cell phone number.

I had my car clipped in front of the struts to fix some previous collision damage, new front frames rails, sub frames and floor pans. I had a welder do this at far less than $75/hr and then I took it to a body shop for the final finessing and minor rust repair. I cut a deal with the body shop at $50/hr and before all was said and done I was in very deep. I now have a beautiful & straight completely rust free body shell but it cost me. It would have been much cheaper to buy a Z out of Arizona and have it shipped here. If you aren't doing the work yourself then find a clean Z to start with, you will be much better off.

You've got a PM Scottie.

Must be a Posche team based on the sizes. I've bought used rears from a Grand Am team before and they were still in great shape and lasted a good while. Those tires need a couple of laps to come up to temperature but once they do they have good grip. I'm now running on 315's, not a Z car, but it is tempting non the less since I still have my old wheels. I'll let you know.

I've been watching that one and it is very tempting. What do you guys think it's worth? The thought of actually having a driveable Z is strangely appealing.

I've lent mine out probably 6 times and it has come back damaged twice. Fender tweeked once and one of my ramps bent once. I'm with John, think twice about loaning it out. I've got an 18' dove tail with a closed steel deck and it weighs in at a hefty 2,000 lbs. I was of the mind set that a closed deck would be better but if I had to do it again I would go open to save the weight and be able to work on the car. I'm not sure that you need an 18' trailer for a Z car. I mainly use mine to haul my hefty 94 Trans Am to track events and there is still enough room in front of my car to strap down my street wheels & tires. I've only had the Datsun on it once and oddly enough it was because I was moving. It was just a rolling body shell but it looked tiny on that trailer.

I went to the MSA show in 2004 to get some ideas and take lots of pictures. I had to sort through them and pull out the interior shots but I finally got around to it. There weren't as many images as I was thinking but I did come up with 26 shots. Some of these have already been posted but here are my versions. I created a thumbnails gallery and a higher resolution gallery if you see something you like in the thumbnails. Enjoy! Thumbnail Gallery Higher Resolution Gallery

No not Victoracers, what the other guys have been talking about is Kumho V710's, big difference. They are a great tire for the money and will last a good while.