Guest Anonymous Posted June 2, 2000 Share Posted June 2, 2000 Well I have been away for a while with an absolutely "crazy" work schedule (Mike Kelly, I swear I have not forgotten about meeting up to discuss the Vette tail lamps and I would still like to get copies of some of articles you mentioned before regarding the V8 Z with the tube front end). Now that things at the office and at home have cooled down I hope to be able to spend some more time on the forum and start looking more seriously for a V8 candidate. My questions are regarding a tube frame Z. I have spoken with Ron Jones and looked at some great pictures of his car (by the way Ron, thanks a million for the e-mails!!). Most of the Z's that I have looked at lately all have severe rust damage in the frame rails (I know, you all are not surprised) but it seems like the cost for some of the tube frame kits from places like S&W Race Cars, Chris Alston, Art Morrison, etc...are close to the same cost as having the rust repaired. Have any of you all run across any chassis fabricators that make tube frame kits especially for Z cars that retain the factory suspension components? The previously mentioned fabricators have all stated that they can make a tube frame kit that will fit the Z car but it will utilize a four link Ford 9" rear end. I would very much prefer to retain the IRS. I remember reading a month or so ago that someone on the board had purchased a chrome moly frame for their Z but I was checking in from our office headquarters in Ohio and did not get a chance to check back for a couple of weeks and could not find the post. I would really appreciate the details of the chassis kit found if possible. Thanks in advance for your responses. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 2, 2000 Share Posted June 2, 2000 One Word....MONSTERZ!!!!! Check out my site. I am building a full tube frame that retains all stock suspension components. I am going to run a Ford 9" differential driving Porsche 930 CV joints and custom 4130 chromoly stub axles. It is exactly what you are looking for except I'm only building one and don't plan on doing this again (unless enough money is offered of course). My old site has lots of commentary and the new one is prettier. SpencZ MonsterZ Cont. http://members.xoom.com/SpencZ/index.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 2, 2000 Share Posted June 2, 2000 Spence, I just saved it as a "favorite"! How did you go about bending the tubing? What was the cost of the tubing? I have been considering fabricating my own frame but I do not have the engineering background. This is the purpose of my looking for a chassis "kit" for the Z. I do have a good friend that is a VERY good welder and he has offered to do all of the welding for me. He has some experience in building tube frame cars but has never fabricated one from "scratch". I have been looking over your site, Brad and Mel's site and looking a photos of Ron Jones' Z, all are VERY impressive and are the type of frame I am looking for in the conversion. Any advice, information, etc...you have to offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 2, 2000 Share Posted June 2, 2000 Chris....the undertaking of constructing a tube frame from scratch is no little thing as I'm sure you can imagine. I had to buy over $1000 in tools just to bend and cut the tubing efficiently and the actual conceptualizing of the whole process has been in the works for 2 years prior to the first tube being cut. The tubing was fiarly pricy and I bought it through a pipe fitting company locally. They had it shipped from Boston Mass in a 25' tube. I paid around $400 for the tubing and I have run out with another order of $200 needing to be placed before I can complete the project. My only advice if you are planning on going alone in this venture is plan on taking it very slowly and make a chassis jig like the one on my site. It keeps the car straight when cutting out all the rust and serves as a building jig locater when you are welding in tubing. I have a mechanical engineering background so this stuff came a little easier to me but I will still be holding my breath when I first get on the gas of the 500+hp powerplant. Good Luck! SpencZ MonsterZ Cont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tyrant Posted October 11, 2001 Share Posted October 11, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Chris: Well I have been away for a while with an absolutely "crazy" work schedule (Mike Kelly, I swear I have not forgotten about meeting up to discuss the Vette tail lamps and I would still like to get copies of some of articles you mentioned before regarding the V8 Z with the tube front end). Now that things at the office and at home have cooled down I hope to be able to spend some more time on the forum and start looking more seriously for a V8 candidate. My questions are regarding a tube frame Z. I have spoken with Ron Jones and looked at some great pictures of his car (by the way Ron, thanks a million for the e-mails!!). Most of the Z's that I have looked at lately all have severe rust damage in the frame rails (I know, you all are not surprised) but it seems like the cost for some of the tube frame kits from places like S&W Race Cars, Chris Alston, Art Morrison, etc...are close to the same cost as having the rust repaired. Have any of you all run across any chassis fabricators that make tube frame kits especially for Z cars that retain the factory suspension components? The previously mentioned fabricators have all stated that they can make a tube frame kit that will fit the Z car but it will utilize a four link Ford 9" rear end. I would very much prefer to retain the IRS. I remember reading a month or so ago that someone on the board had purchased a chrome moly frame for their Z but I was checking in from our office headquarters in Ohio and did not get a chance to check back for a couple of weeks and could not find the post. I would really appreciate the details of the chassis kit found if possible. Thanks in advance for your responses. Chris Chris, You wrote this some time ago. I 'don't know how much of this information you retained, but I'd like to test your memory. When you talked to S&W Race Cars, Chris Alston, Art Morrison chassis fabricators did they indicate the cost of the frame. I'm interesed in doing a 4 link setup so this would be right up my ally. Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted October 11, 2001 Share Posted October 11, 2001 Chris has bowed out of the Zcar scene at this time and is now the proud owner of a Mustang. I don't think he even reads this BB anymore. Best bet is to contact S&W yourself. They are very helpfull and informative. Mike kelly ZF Racing LLC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziceman Posted October 11, 2001 Share Posted October 11, 2001 Spencer: I can't get your website address to work, please confirm it. Would like details on jig and frame setup. Thanks; John jkershaw@icrossroads.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 11, 2001 Share Posted October 11, 2001 Uh, SpencZ also left HybridZ a while ago. Last I heard he still had the car, but was going with a hopped L6 instead of a V8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 26, 2001 Share Posted October 26, 2001 No, I am still around... I check in on the board every couple of weeks or so... As Mike stated, I am in the process of building a Mustang as a "daily driver" so the Z is on the back burner for right now. Tyrant, if I recall correctly Chris Alston was by far the most helpful in answering my questions regarding a tube frame. The folks at S&W are really nice to deal with as well. The reason I did not pursue that aspect further was due to being able to locate a relatively rust free Z car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 I'm still around too....MonsterZ took a seat in the back of the shop while I finished school, got a real job, and got married. It is now back in the shop (more towards the front) awaiting some finishing touches to the frame, and an SR20DET engine. Spence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest the_dj Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 I'm still around too....MonsterZ took a seat in the back of the shop while I finished school' date=' got a real job, and got married. It is now back in the shop (more towards the front) awaiting some finishing touches to the frame, and an SR20DET engine. Spence[/quote'] The reply that took only 3 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted July 6, 2003 Share Posted July 6, 2003 Spence, its good to have you back! Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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