Build a driver or a "can't driver her"?

[Guest bastaad525]

I think some of us just get mad at Tim that he doesn't drive that beaut, because WE'D all like to be driving it ourselves!!! As a true lover of fast Z's it pains me to see any halfway decent Z just sitting... let alone any V8 or turbo conversion... there's enough junk rust bucket Z's out there, let THEM sit. Fast cars NEED to be driven. That's what they are for. If you just want a show car that you're never going to drive, don't make the thing fast... if you do... expect guys like me to be mad at you for not driving it

[zdmz]

My brother is just finishing a '66 mustang coupe - it's kind of funny because he is the ultimate "not" car guy. His intent was to build a daily driver but with a little extra oomph

 

He has had a friend helping (read that as doing all the work) him along the way and giving advice on what to do etc... he now has a very nice- mostly stock- looking car, with a 351 Windsor engine that is stroked out to a 408 and is easily pushing over 500 horses. He is going to hate this car as a daily driver but it will be an awsome drag car.

 

My intent with my car is to make it a good daily driver/ road trip car and push it as far as I can with the "comprimise" toward high performance car and have it still be comfortable - have AC, radio, heat !!, and maybe even a few custom interior upgrades. (not sure what yet).

 

I agree with the original post - have an idea of what you want to end up with so you don't build a car you won't 'like' to drive.

[pparaska]

I'd like to comment on this one...

 

Pete Paraska hammered home a very good lesson (Actually he cemented what I always knew)' date=' when he started driving his $30K+ v8 Z down to my house, and to Alabama, and to last years ZCCA Convention, and wherever the hell he pleases. That car is one of a handful of Zs I've seen in my life that qualifies for trailer queen status, hand he would have NONE of it. $10K+ worth of paint and body work be damned!

[/quote']

 

Mike, thanks for the billing!

 

You just forgot to mention that I drove it to Alabama for the 1st SZ, drag raced it, drove to the New Hampshire Convention, drag raced it, and did the track day! I admit I was a bit of a wuss not waiting until the braking cones on the long straight and saving the brakes - but that's more of a lack of confidence in my skills then the car!

 

I went too far on some of the stuff on my Z - like I started out with 300 lb/in springs in the rear. Route 85 in NC on the way to Alabama taught me the errors of my ways - TOO stiff. I'm now at 250 lb/in back there, and it will be coming down to 225 lb/in in the future. At least that's as simple as a coil-over spring swap!

 

The lumpy cam and light flywheel can make it a tiny bit unstreetable to sume, but the Holley TB EFI helped that. More cubes (406 vs 331 ci), more compression (10.5:1 vs 9.7:1), and roughly the same cam timing will mean the new engine will be much more docile at low rpm (but have over 100 more HP).

 

A/C was a must for me. I knew I didn't want it any other way. Years of sweating my arse off in the garage during the summer probably had alot to do with that! No way I was going to say I didn't want to drive the car because it was too hot outside! Heat - well, I decided I would leave that - it adds little weight to the car anyway, once you have A/C anyway.

 

Radio - that's one thing I still don't have in the car. I'd like it, just hasn't been important enough to me. On long trips (100s of miles) I throw an old in-dash radio and a 6x9 speaker box in the passenger floor and connect it up.

 

The one thing that does sometimes keep me from driving it is the chance of rain. I'm lazy and hate to have to clean under the hood and the outside. Having the car be an attraction at the local Sunday morning cruise in means I need to have it clean under the hood, etc. So I'll drive it the 100 miles to Mike's place if it's going to be a Z get together and they're calling for the possibilty of rain (sometimes) but if it's just to work for the day, I try to schedule around the rain. Pure laziness.

 

Insurance (Hagerty) keeps me from using it as a daily driver to work, along with the small parking spaces and bozo's at my work who ding the hell out of the car's doors. I don't like to subject my Z to that.

 

So the paint/body and insurance stipulations keep it from being a true daily driver. But my commute is 2.5 miles, so it's not like I'm giving up much there.

 

I agree about the different uses for special cars. Show, build, drive.

 

I like to show only in the sense that I like to do cruise-in's. I don't really care if the car wins a trophy or not at a show. It's won a few at the local Lion's club show - that's enough for me. In fact, I doubt I'll ever enter a show with ZCCA rules anymore - my car has too many little problems that keep it from winning anyway - that and I don't care to clean it within an inch of it's life to make those judges happy anyway. What I enjoy are meeting and talking to people who had a V8Z, wanted one, or just want to talk Zs, etc. at the cruise-in's.

 

Drive - I like to do that, and I'm moving towards making my Z more streetable (suspension stiffness, engine torque curve, etc.) to make it even more so. It's very "busy" now. But it's a hoot to drive!

 

Build - I did that for over a decade - I'm in the mode now where there are a bunch of little things that need to be done, but I'd rather get in and drive it!

 

Michael - SELL THE TOYOTA AND DRIVE THAT FREAKING BIMMER! (once you get the cast off!)

[Guest ON3GO]

well i just like driving these damn things.

 

my blue Z.. so not the nicest Z out there.. hell it has alot of problems.

its sorta quick, has a sterio (never really use it), is loud, smelly, not comfy, no a/c, no heat, no power anything, gets bad gas mileage, makes werid sounds, BUT i love driving it.

 

its a blast, just sitting at the light and having a guy asking "what motor you have in that Z"

or

"man thats so nice, my father had one when i was a kid"

or

"awesome car, i owned one when i was younger, wish i never sold it"

 

and man o man i got so many more!

 

i love the feeling this little turbo makes ya feel, i love the bov, i love the shaking steering wheel, and i so love how i beat Z32's, SRT-4's, mustangs, trans ams, modded this and that with a car that i only really spent 500 bucks on!

 

also i can say this about my green Z which i only drove for a week when it was stock and havent yet sense...

it doesnt have a/c, carpet, really a dash, heat, it has wide wide tires with nismo quick steering knuckles so ill be really trying to turn this car at a low speed, it doesnt have locks!, it has a very very stiff suspension, will have enough power to make most supercars scared and has wheels that if i mess up ill prob kill myself.. but even with all that said im gonna drive the SH!T out of it when i get it, every gear ill be in will be at WOT, and ill be shreading those 275's out back in 3rd HARDCORE!

also if somebody dents it.. so what.. its just a datsun, doors arent mega money, and it will give me something to do with bodywork!

 

mike

[Sleeper-Z]

i guess my z has been a garage queen most of it's life with me, but it's soon to change. i look at her in the garage and i get sad because i know she wants to be driven.

 

i love having the z because before i started this project, i had barely any knowledge of how engines worked and what parts go with what etc. etc. my z is a learning experience.

 

but it's all soon to change, she's getting new heads, cam, intake, carb and will hopefully be passed the 400 rwhp note and in the 11's. after that, i vow to drive her in the days tolerable (autumn, winter, early-spring, and summer when it's nice.) i don't care if i have to do a ninja flip over the 10-point, get squeezed by the 5-point, sweat with no a/c, freeze w/o a heater, or can't "jam out" with no radio. ima drive her!

 

i love taking it to the local cruise-in and getting WTF looks because they don't know what it is, or why it sounds like that!

 

my 2 best comments were from an older lady (maybe in her 70-80's) "i like what you've done to your car!"

;and while i was leaving the cruise-in spot "that car has got to be fast" said from a guy driving a nice cuda'.

 

after all is said and done, i'm proud to spend my hard earned money on her and i couldn't ask for more. now that summer is over and school is going to begin i can only say one thing, i need another job.

 

-steven m.