It hit me like a ton of bricks...

[Mikelly]

This weekend I was gathering up stuff to box up that I sold this past week... Camberplates for for Larry, T56 parts together for Tom, and searching for some of the stock to make Dave's TC Rods... When it hit me... I have a LOT of stuff. I mean A LOT... Enough to put two full Zs back together and make them presentable. I started thinking about this while rumaging for these parts, as I passed by my painless wiring harness (Still new in the box), Cuttler Intake and TB, moved a box with Wilwood and Outlaw calipers in it, boxes of AN Hose and fittings, High presure FI Pumps, a Canton oil pan, forged rods, a box of new forged pistons, a box with an MSD 6AL and coil in it, a box full of BRAND NEW GAGES, new Corbeau A4 seats, and on and on... I'm SOOO Close to putting a HybridZ back together I can smell the raw fuel now... I really need to get my damned garage done... It is Killing me...

 

Then Yesterday, while hanging out with my little brother, he commented about the local cruise scene and how all these Honda kids think they know what fast is. He reminded me that I really need to get my car back together because he has continually commented about the baddest ride he has even been in, and how it is now in a million pieces...

 

I gotta get it back together...

Mike

[pparaska]

Mike, at least you have a plan and alot of parts and some $$$ to start with!

 

You'll be kicking butt soon.

 

The decision to have a pro put a CM cage in Chris's old car is killer. Good thing it's a 240Z, so it'll not have to deal with smog .

 

Hopefully Dave can get that engine assembly balanced for you and you can get an engine back together soon. A custom geared Tremec or better yet, a Richmond 6 spd (tougher, better shifting) behind a nice 500+ NA EFI smallblock is going to be killer.

 

It's going to be killer, since you've been through it all and learned a bunch of stuff. This time it'll be a better driver AND be fast.

[Sumo]

all these Honda kids think they know what fast is

It's amazing what kids think are fast today. When i was buying plugs for my Z at Autozone and gave him a sample Nippon Denso plug (or was it NGK?) for reference, he came back with only four. I said it was for a 280 Z car, i need two more. He goes 'you do?' Then an older gentleman wearing the white shirt(presumably the manager of the month) came out smiling and handed me two more and told the kid "280Z's have a 6 cyl engine, you know a real engine instead of that CRX you drive" I just smiled and got my stuff and left. Mind you the kid had a nice CRX, but all he was talking about were "MODS" like intake and exhaust. Nothing internal like hotter cams or different heads, better pistons or a Tornado (just kidding!) To each his own i guess, till they get thumped on and get shown a new reality. (it's about as bad as the time i was asking this kid for a replacement Quadrajet at O'Reily's Hi/Lo and he didnt know that it was a carb.)

[DavyZ]

Mike, get at least one together for the next MSA meet if you can. Gosh, now that I think about it, that would be one looong drive...

 

Davy

[Mikelly]

Dude, I'd get one together for ANY OTHER reason BUT the MSA event... I'd rather come out and organize a BBQ at Van's place or something like that than to do the MSA...

 

Mike

[Tim240z]

Dude, I'd get one together for ANY OTHER reason BUT the MSA event... I'd rather come out and organize a BBQ at Van's place or something like that than to do the MSA...

 

Mike

 

I hear ya Mike! I second that vote for a HybridZ only event. If Van is up to it, his place will be very central to the Riverside event, which sounds like a hoot (open header, show and go, and racing), or if he's unavailable, I'm sure that we can organize a parking lot somewhere to gather (there is an empty grocery store parking lot in my town that would be perfect and the City council is VERY hotrod friendly, actually there is at least one hotrod on every street in my town). Maybe we can start our own tradition

 

Tim

[280Zone]

Mind if I ask what is so bad about the Motorsports event? I know it isn't perfect, but it is a lot of Z's.

[Tim240z]

They are wayyyyy too uptight, and very rude (a certain member here can definitely speak to that!)

Tim

[280Zone]

Well, how about a Hybrid Z event on the same weekend, maybe on Saturday somewhere close, that way I'd have something to do on Saturday too.

[Tim240z]

Maybe Van will jump in and explain the Riverside event. It is in May (first weekend in May I think). It sounds wayyyyyyy better!!

Tim

[Mikelly]

Let me further explain, and I don't mean to offend ANYONE with the following comments...

 

However, I went the last two years and the first year I was overwhelmed with what I saw, so the second year I was a bit jaded. However, what I saw the second year (Forget about my own vendor experience for a moment) was a LOT of cars that shouldn't have been there. There was more rust on one street than I've seen in some junk yards. Don't get me wrong, Zs need to be restored, and we all need to do it within the confines of budget and need Vs. CC bills and Want. But to "SHOW" a car that has visible surface rust on the roof, hood, and fenders... What are we showing here? MSA doesn't care who enters the event, as long as it fits within the Nissan brand. All they are concerned about is generating business to sell more of their products. They spend a considerable amount of cash, and YES it IS the biggest ZCAR event going, but the quality of the vehicles shown is where I raise my objections. It also seems that the HybridZ members that show up and show their cars have a bit of a higher standard as to what is expected from quality workmanship. Yet they aren't given the proper consideration. However, MSA's staff made clear to me that HybridZ and its members aren't their target demographic for sales. I find it odd that they even host the Saturday driving/ Autocross based on Kurt's comments to me the Monday AFTER the show.

 

I would like to go to the ZCAR national convention this coming year as a visitor and NOT a vendor. Just walk through and see the cars and take pics. I hear it is a cut above the MSA show. I'll have to go and check it out.

 

From a Vendor standpoint, MSA wants to charge me $500 to come back next year. What I did the last two years was have the car I sponsor show up on Sunday for the show and shine, Pop tires off one side of the car so people could see the suspension on the car, and have flyers on the hood of the car for people to take. I'd answer questions about the suspension design and just hang out. I didn't sell anything at the show, and only offered information. This was approved the first year and confirmed in e-mails. It was approved the 2nd year, although final approval came verbally two days before the event. However, Email traffic I have up to the week of the event confirmed my intent and their confirmation that all was good. The day of the event I was approached by Kurt, Buyer for MSA and threatened with arrest if I did NOT remove my flyers and parts on display. This all happened in front of my wife and 14 year old stepson. The man was rude beyond reason, and if we had NOT been at MSA I would have kicked his ass, period point blank and gone to jail for it. I was THAT upset and offended. As it turned out, I was allowed to stay for the remainder of the day, and was made promises by Sal about the fact that they wanted to carry my product in their catalog. Sal lied to my face when he told me that. Kurt eventually called me on the Monday after the event and was rude yet again, making negative comments about our car, HybridZ and its racer "types", and the Performance "ZCAR" market in general. He was stunned when I told him he should be fired and that his conduct in public was beyond reproach. He all but called me a liar when I told him what my gross sales were for the past 11 months at ZF Racing, and when I used Mike Gibson's business as another example of how WELL the ZCAR performance scene was, he scoffed and then told me that MSA sells four sets of coil overs per year... Does this sound like a vendor with expert knowledge on performance parts for your ZCAR? Bottom line was that (And these are HIS own words) MSA is more concerned with selling carpet kits, rivets for interior trim, and hard to find factory replacement parts.

 

I don't go to Zcar.com, or any other Zcar sites unless I am selling Z specific parts. I'm always here at hybridZ, as I kinda think of myself as one of the founding members, so when some a$$hole like this guy Kurt hammers the "HybridZ" guys, I get a little bit offended. The folks at MSA are probably good people with an unsuitable individual representing them. Unfortunately, they have left their mark on me. Will I buy from them ever again? Likely, since they are one of a hand full of places to get a factory Gnose, and I'll likely resort to buying a factory unit. Will I use every option avaiable before hand? You bet. They don't support my market (The racer/ performance set), why should I give them business? Forget about the fact that they won't carry my parts. That isn't an issue for me. I hear John Williams bitch about how they do last minute presure orders on him, and how they mark his custom parts up considerably. Hell I want my parts to be affordable and reasonable. They would crank up the profit margin through the roof... A pair of my rear control arms would go for $1500 by the time they cranked it up. I'd rather not do that to those who deserve the right to buy the parts at a fair price.

 

Sorry for the rant, but you asked...

Mike

[pparaska]

I was there, but didn't witness the altercation. I was REALLY upset though. Sal should have fired Kurt for that nonsense. Sales people are everywhere looking for work.

 

I also will not buy parts from them unless they are the sole source. All my Nissan parts come from Courtesy or other discount dealers. Special stuff that only they carry I will either do without, find or make a substitute or buckle under only if I REALLY wanted that part that only they sell.

 

Too bad, I've given them lots of business for years. Not anymore.

 

I think John Williams (heck of a nice guy, BTW) should find someone else to market his stuff to us "racer" types, "performance Zcar people", etc. through others like Mike Gibson, Ross Corrigan, or ZF racing.

 

I smell a purist, btw. No room for that in an industry selling to Z car people, who mostly love to modify. That'll cut your bottom line. Bad business decision, IMO.

 

I was thrashing like mad to get my Z ready last year and drive it cross country to the MSA event. Well, I missed being ready by days. I was kind of happy I didn't make it. Almost all the nice cars that I saw there I had already seen pics of and it wasn't worth the trip to see them in person, really. I was hoping for some new stuff. The only good thing about it was meeting HybridZ people and hanging out. The rust and ugly beaters really bugged me too. A show is a show for nice cars not stock rusty beat up junk. Just my opinion. Fine if it's a little rough but has some nice engineering, but a rusty stock beater doesn't belong. I was overwhelmed by the number of cars, impress with some, but overall put off by the junk.

[Guest Anonymous]

My limited contact with MSA was a phone order where a salesman tried to get me to purchase some other over priced parts I did not need. Something told me that MSA and Victoria British phone clerks never rode or had much personal experience with an old Z. I agree with Pete and Mike to avoid MSA until they are eventually the monoply as they have long planned.

[Two40MuscleZ]

ATTENTION HYBRIDZ MEMBERS: A weekend of Z's, BBQ roll'n in the background some great tunes...Yeah, Im up for that! I will get the information on the Riverside Show N Go and post it later in the day or on Christmas day. Its always a great time had by all. My house has plenty of room and is close to it all. Will continue when I have more time. BTW HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL AND HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR...........ZZZZZzzzzzYa, VAN

[280Zone]

No problem "ranting" I asked. After hearing the items you mentioned I would still ask, "How about setting up an event on the Saturday before the Sunday show?"

 

I understand your anger about Motorsports staff's behavior, it sounds like they were a little uptight. Since I wasn't there for the discussion I won't comment on that. But to give them credit they do organize an event that I enjoy driving 6 hours to attend. I have been going for 5 years so I guess my expectations might be lower than others. I know there are some rusty cars in attendance but they are usually owned by Z enthusiast, that are only lacking funds or time, but can still be great people. I have also seen several cars around the perimeter of the show that I would like to talk to the owners of but can't cause they didn't think their car was worthy. My opinion is that is would be a little hard to restrict cars for specific reasons. Especially since they don't see the cars when people sign up. If it were my choice I'd allow them all in the show and then I could skip over the ones that didn't interest me.

 

I have organized several smaller events and it is not easy, sometimes you have to take a little bad with the good and hope for the best. I agree that Motorsports major interest in this event is to maximize sales. Hell they even suck at that when they are making customers wait in line for an hour to buy something, and then not having it in stock

 

Other things I would change is the distance between the cars, it would be nice to be able to walk between the cars and get better side view pictures. It would also be nice to hear some of the cars running, I am sure there are other things that would go into making this a perfect event for me but I would guess that it still would not please everyone.

 

I have yet to attend the annual convention so maybe that will become my vacation plan for the future. I am hoping everyone can find a reasonable annual solution so I can steal everyone's ideas by only taking Z car vacation a year : )

 

Robert

DesertZAssociation Prez

[David K]

I would like to add. The last 2 years i attended the MSA, i have seen some of the prettiest Z's in the world. Anything from custom, to original, it was there. Z Guys drive from all over the country, from Mexico, from Canada. The Z's are judged in categories anything ranging from performance to looks. I find it odd, that the local Z club, GroupZ, takes home the majority of the awards given by MSA. When i say majority, i mean 80-90% of the awards. While i have SEEN many better Z's at the event, and the owners made one hell of a trip to get it there, WHY do the most awards go to the local Z club? GroupZ is the largest supporter of MSA. MSA even has members in GroupZ.

 

Im sorry, i enjoy going there, but i feel MSA is a bit biased when it comes to their business and their show. I do agree that there are MANY Z's that should have not been there. I even saw an old 240 with a beater turbo engine, and the exterior looked like it had syrup poured all over it. Just a bad sight.

 

If yall hold a HybridZ event, ill throw a V8 in just so i can participate

[DavyZ]

Well Mike, I can finally see what happened from your point of view---you never posted about it before, but I guess we all know what transpired now. Thanks for sharing about the situation with them; too bad. MSA is a good venue with a lot of cars. Heh, at least I won't sweat it this next year if I don't finish in time!!

 

I do have to give credit to Yuichi and all the folks that made Z-FEST a great show last year in the SF Bay Area. After talking with Kyle and Yuichi, they really think that if Z-FEST is put on for a couple of more years, it will be bigger then the MSA Nat's. The great thing is that it is NOT vendor specific, and it is NOT limited to judging by one company or organization.

 

The best thing is: it's in the same city where I live!!

 

Davy

[Mudge]

Wow, thats quite a story Mike, thanks for sharing, I'm sure it was stressfull just thinking about it all over again.

 

Pete, does Courtesy do mail order? I use a florida dealership for GM stuff, good prices, so I'm hoping this is the same deal mayhaps.

[randy 77zt]

i used to buy stuff from msa but the local nissan dealer across the street from ford dealer where i work gives me %20 over cost on nissan parts and the parts manager that i deal with is an old time nissan guy that knows his stuff.after a while the parts i needed got more specialized so i use more race type parts-not msa resto parts.nissan still sells and stocks a lot of parts for z cars.but i just got the last of some of the oem weatherstripping.the msa show is a little slow for me-they should have it at a drag strip or something.my car is a beater track/work car.some day it might get painted.

[Mikelly]

I'd love to see ZFest be T-H-E show for Zs... It needs to be taken away from the vendors hands, and run by a club or association. Allow the vendors to participate, and don't let them take control.

 

If my operation was as big as MSA's I'd do the exact same thing, except I'd have people reprenting my company that appreciated their customer base A LOT more.

Mike