Rosco Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) This all started several years ago when I decided I wanted to get back into a Z. I went threw 3 Z's looking for one with minimal rust, the 4th was the charm. At this point I didn't even know about HPDE's so I started building a street car. I bought a 3.0 street motor from Rebello and did the usual mods like new urethane bushings, 4 piston calipers, drums to disk, performance struts and springs… I ran it on the street like this for about 6-8 months. I had the stock ecu, wire harness and intake so I was always chasing something, electrical gremlins... One day I overheard some guys talking about HPDE"s and decided I'd give it a try so I rented a U-Haul trailer and found an event nearby. Needless to say I was hooked! I blew the stock damper apart at my first track event and that started the ball rolling with upgrades. I was tiered of chasing electrical gremlins and of course I wanted more HP so I called Rebello and ordered up ITB's and an adaptronics ECU, I sent the motor back to CA so he could set it all up and tune it. While he was building the motor I called Arizona Z and ordered a track suspension; lower control arms, coil over's, camber plates... once I got everything put back together I hit every HPDE I could for the next 2 years +/-. Of course I wanted more HP so I called Dave again and ordered up a 3.2 motor, I sent my ITB's, ECU and harness back to CA and had him tune it. While I was waiting I ordered some race seats, 5 point harnesses and a fuel cell. Got all this back together and tracked it as much as I could. I've always had to fix one thing or another (usually things I put in or wired). I'm mechanically inclined but I'm no mechanic I'm a carpenter. I was getting tiered of chasing my tail so I started looking for a shop that could work on my Z but its not something just any mechanic can work on. I met a guy named John at my first or second event who is a Z guru and he lives near me. I've asked him questions here and there over the years but never had him work on it. Recently John and a master fabricated/Cage builder "Mark" started Performance Motorsports Fabrication (PMF) I was the first in line. We met a few times and discussed my goals which are safety and reliability with keeping the dash, headliner, carpet and center console. The list we came up with is: Alt upgrade, relocate batt, custom body harness, new gauges in the stock pods, kill switches front and back, mini starter, stop what little bit of rust it has, new seat, cage, fender flares, paint, CF hood and hatch... I'll keep posting pics as we build. Enjoy! Edited January 27, 2015 by Rosco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gacksen Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 except of some pain in my neck looks nice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Here are some pics of the CF hood and hatch by Stan at "Benchmark Composites" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 Here you can see John has laid out the fender flares on the car. Ready for cutting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Push those fronts forward to cover about 1/2 of the turn signal and fill the turn signal hole. If you go to 17x9s or bigger, you will rub the flare and the airdam when you turn the steering wheel. It will look fine pointed straight ahead, then rub like a mother. Mock up your flares with intended wheels and tires with car sitting on its own weight. If you are going to track it, you need more room than most folks think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks for the heads up we'll look into pushing them forward. I don't need the side markers anyway it's a dedicated track car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Here are more cage fabrication pics. We fitted me in the car for seat and steering wheel placement. That was fun! can't wait to get back on track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Benchmark Composites Did a great job packaging the CF hood and Hatch. I told them I had vents and a wing I wanted to install and they accommodated by creating a flat spot on the backside of the hood for the vents and added support to the back of the hatch where the wing attaches. I cut and installed the vents yesterday, they look great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Looking AWESOME! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Domzs Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Great job! Love the hood vents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacktheRiffer Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Looking good. Love the hood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Stripper party at the house this weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Added some supports for the plexiglass and drilled the holes for the APR wing this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Here's the hood on the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad84 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 awesome man! Push those fronts forward to cover about 1/2 of the turn signal and fill the turn signal hole. If you go to 17x9s or bigger, you will rub the flare and the airdam when you turn the steering wheel. It will look fine pointed straight ahead, then rub like a mother. Mock up your flares with intended wheels and tires with car sitting on its own weight. If you are going to track it, you need more room than most folks think. im running 17x275's in the rear and 17x255's in the front, and hes right I rub when turning the wheel, but i dont have my coilovers on yet or the flares. Keep up the good work 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 By the rules, those rear window supports need to be on the outside of the car. Did Stan put them on the inside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 (edited) Stan put flat stock on the outside, I changed it to angle on the inside. Thanks for the heads-up. BTW Stan did an excellent job with the custom flat spots for the vents, extra support for the wing pedestal, packaging, aircraft grade hardware… very impressed Edited February 9, 2015 by Rosco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 OK. I was talking with Stan when he was building the rear window and I though he got it wrong. Those straps are there to keep the rear window from blowing OUT of the car. At speed going straight with the windows down there's a low pressure area inside the car. If you get the car sideways there's a sudden increase to high pressure and the straps keep the window from blowing out and breaking. You can also see a spike in interior pressure from a passing car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Makes sense, I removed them and installed Aluminum angle on the inside from top to bottom attaching them to the rim of the hatch and center of the glass. (see pic below) Thanks for the heads up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 They found the original primer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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