Mikelly Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Some of you may remember that I broke the vette back in March at VIR. We thought is was a clutch hydraulics issue, but it ended up being the internals of the torque tube, which is a complex driveshaft for the C5 Corvette. So I've been tearing that down and diagnosing it, as well as getting it ready to sell... Yes, I've supposedly got her sold to a new owner who is also a track day junky/ car guy friend of mine. At this point I could just keep the car and not sell it, as it's almost perfect as is, and with the new carbon drive shaft and hardware, you'll be able to twist the motor up to the 6900RPM redline... SAFELY! On the company front, we've won three government subcontracts for our consulting services in the last 6 months and are working hard to staff the work. We expect to meet our first year goal of 10 full time consultants on contract by the end of the summer. And if that goal is met, we may double our initial number by the end of the year, as lots of contracts are awarded and staffed in September and early October before the annual Federal budget dance begins. I've also taken steps to hire an administrative assistant to help with our HR/Recruiting/staffing issues. Adding someone in this role allows me to focus on getting more business and less on sorting through the mountains of paperwork required to staff the slots. JamieT called me on Wednesday of this week and I will be delivering my Zcar to him next week for paint and body, maybe some electrical, and some welding for my Kirkey seat mounts. Basically I'm gonna pay Jamie to get the car as close to completion as he can, since I don't think I'll have the time soon and I want to drive it this year. The wife and I are shopping for land and plan to build something new within the year. What this means it that we will be relocating the HybdridZ mid-Atlantic shindigs to a place near you (If you're near Fredericksburg Va.!) soon. We're going to build a much larger shop to go along with about the same sized house that we already have... I'll be taking my lift with me, and plan to buy a hunter alignment rack and other tools to support this sick hobbie. I'm also looking at replacements for the existing C5. I won't buy or order anything until this fall now. After some preliminary talks with 5 dealerships over the phone, I've decided that I probably won't get a 2007 C6 Z06 in the timeframe I want it, so I'm looking at some stock C6 Vettes as well as some 2004-2005 Convertible Vipers and used 996 Porsches as viable alternatives. I'll also be keeping my eyes open for a clean, restored V8Zcar as a possible daily driver. Right now my commute is only about 30 minutes in ZERO traffic, and with my 8500 passport fired up, I can make it in even less time! Fun and games! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillZ260 Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Hadn't heard from you in a while, glad to see everything is going well. Get that clutch hooked up in the Z??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 I'll be taking my lift with me, and plan to buy a hunter alignment rack and other tools to support this sick hobbie. Damn dude! I thought I was crazy when I was considering trying to get some used tire changing equipment. Alignment racks are like 40K new, don't know what they'd go for used though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synlubes Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 JamieT called me on Wednesday of this week and I will be delivering my Zcar to him next week for paint and body' date=' maybe some electrical, and some welding for my Kirkey seat mounts. Basically I'm gonna pay Jamie to get the car as close to completion as he can, since I don't think I'll have the time soon and I want to drive it this year. Mike[/quote'] If your going to be at JamieT`s place for more than a couple hours, give me some notice and I might drive up and hang out. Congrats on the business building! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted April 22, 2006 Author Share Posted April 22, 2006 Bill, I've not installed the parts yet, as the Vette has been taking up space on the lift for the last week and ahalf. I've got the parts in and I'll be putting it back together today. Them I'll be removing the motor/trans from the Zcar tomorrow so I can get the car to Jamie for paint. While it is out, I plan to go ahead and install the Tilton pieces. Doug, I'll confirm with Jamie the day (Probably Wednesday evening after work) and give you a ring. Once I drop the car off with Jamie, I'm taking the trailer to pick up Jim's Red Zcar and bring it to my place for some de-bugging. It hasn't run since two weeks after the last Zcar shindig JIm drove it to. I'll be fixing HIS hydraulic clutch issue, as well as his electrical issues so we can get the car down to North Carolina for some much needed tuning. We're also gonna start tearing into Jim's Black Z06 to upgrade it in a couple of areas that will help it be much more competitive at the track... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted April 22, 2006 Author Share Posted April 22, 2006 Damn dude! I thought I was crazy when I was considering trying to get some used tire changing equipment. Alignment racks are like 40K new, don't know what they'd go for used though. Jon, I've been looking at other brands of alignment racks, and as long as I can get the scales with the unit, I'll pay the man... The whole goal is to be able to do inhouse suspension settings on the cars I drive on the street and at the track. I really want to have this ability in-house! I've seen some of these units sell used for less than $7K! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 sometimes car dealerships upgrade alignment racks and remove older models.call your local hunter rep.since i work at a dealership i align my car before and after track days.the reason for that is tarck and daily driver set up is much different.i havent used wheel scales to balence my car though.since alignment racks are level you could use the air jacks on the alignment rack to slide some scales under the wheels .like some of those longacre scales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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