Guest Anonymous Posted April 28, 2001 Share Posted April 28, 2001 Heres a 280z 2+2: Note the slight hump where the hatch meets the roofline. (you can also see the roofline is extended somewhat.) This is a 280z coupe: Notice how the coupe even looks racier? Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 28, 2001 Share Posted April 28, 2001 This page has the particulars on that super gas Z pictured above BTW. http://www.dragracingreview.com/COTW/cotw0922.htm Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted April 30, 2001 Share Posted April 30, 2001 Maybe it's only my perception, but the coupe and the 2+2 look tremendously different to me. I think the coupe is vastly better looking, with the 2+2 looking a bit stretched and frumpy, the way cars generally do when the engineers take an existing shape and force it to do something it was never meant to. Rather like a hardtop Jag XK-E, or a BMW M-coupe. I was always very impressed that the last generation 2+2 300's looked as nice as they did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted April 30, 2001 Share Posted April 30, 2001 I tend to call the people that play with the looks of the car the "stylist" to separate them from those that do "design" work, the engineers. Design to me means actually working stuff out, not just drawing pretty (or not so pretty) pictures of cars. Sorry, that's the engineer in me making that distinction. I can't "style" anything, but I can design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patzky1 Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 so lone and pete, are you guys both engineers in profession? im currently studying that same craft. i hope to someday get my z project underway, as im currently attending school here in good old champaign-urbana, IL. come on summer, come on! Cheers to all, Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 No, not I. I went to trade school and was a old school auto mechanic (not even a technician back then, just a plain old grease monkey!), did that for years, had many other jobs mostly mechanical in nature, finally went into computers and got into management at a large computer firm. My abysmal math skills would have never allowed me being a engineer. At best I'm a homegrown engineer who likes anything mechanical, I love to see what makes it tick. And sometimes I can even put it back together! If has wheels I probably like it and want to make it faster... Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 I is a engineer . At least I play one at work. B.S. (Bull S__t) and M.S. (More S__t) in Mechanical engineering. Now I play with missiles at work, kind of like a rocket scientist w/o a license and other neat stuff. What are you studying? But I'll tell you what. I was "this close" to being an auto mechanic. My dad talked me out of it and I just spent my money on college instead. Even without those engineering degrees, I'd be tinkering on everything in sight anyway. Lone and me are very much alike like that! Degrees don't seem to make much difference when I'm in the garage making stuff. It's mostly gut feel for me when I'm working on stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 Yeah, Stylists are the ones the engineers curse once the board approves a design that looks great, but is really hard to do from a mechanical standpoint and no one cares how the engineer has to do it, they in turn do the best they can as cheaply as possible only to be cursed by the mechanic working on the dificultly designed and impossible to work on car. Just like sewage, it runs downhill. Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Bayley Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 I'll agree Pete, Eye too is a Engeenear. I think you'll find a few more on this board as well. Also, I don't think any of my "tinkering" skills came from my formal education. Granted, I did get an Electrical Engineering degree... but I still had to take my fair shore of Mechanical classes (more than the Electrical classes those Mech. Engineers had to take... ) Bottom line, anyone who's good working with their hands will prove sucessful in this type of hobbie. Heck, one of closest friends is a UAW mechanic without a shred of Engineering knowledge. However, he is very gifted and creative when it comes to car projects. On the other hand, I had a roomate that graduated with a 3.9 gpa in Mechanical Engineering... yet couldn't figure out how to remove a battery from his 83 Grand Marquise ...just my $0.01 (can't afford the other penny these days) -Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Andrew Bayley: Bottom line, anyone who's good working with their hands will prove sucessful in this type of hobbie. Heck, one of closest friends is a UAW mechanic without a shred of Engineering knowledge. However, he is very gifted and creative when it comes to car projects. On the other hand, I had a roomate that graduated with a 3.9 gpa in Mechanical Engineering... yet couldn't figure out how to remove a battery from his 83 Grand Marquise -Andy Oh man, this is so true in my experience. Most of the good gear heads I meet have no engineering training or whatnot. I think it's something you're born with. I have a little bit of these natural skills, but not as much as I'd like! My dad (an Electrical Engineer) is good with his hands, etc. but he too was born with it, he says. I think it's somewhat genetic, but I did help my dad work on cars, tvs, you name it, when I was a kid. And I know SO MANY engineers that have NO tinkering skills at all. Totally clueless about things mechanical. And these are mechanical engineers (mostly)! But I have to say it does come in handy at times, knowing a bit about stress, strain, stiffness, shear, vibrations, etc. Then again, I think knowing this stuff ends up diverting me from doing actual work on the car - but I find it fun as well to work out some engineering problems related to car stuff. It's a hobby, afterall. [ May 01, 2001: Message edited by: pparaska ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 Yeah, I think I'd agree with being born with it. My Dad was a sheetmetal worker in the Navy in WWII, but was as much a jack of all trades (and in his case, master of at least a few) as they come. He was good with cars, although I wasn't old enough (12) to really learn from him before he died, it does seem to come pretty natural for me. Patience (or lack there of) is probably my biggest fault but with age, its improved to the point of almost hardly ever throwing a wrench anymore. Mechanical ability does seem more natural for some than others, those with less natural ability just have to work a little harder at it, but its nothing that can't be overcome by just working on it. Another thing is, envision it and then execute it. You'd be surprised what you can accomplish if you don't know what your doing or follow some preconceived notion about how something 'Must' be made. Accidents sometimes breed new idea's and break throughs and if it works out you can always say in your best PeeWee Herman voice "I meant to do that". Philosophy mode off, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patzky1 Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 I would like to think that i have the mechamackanikal aptitude in my blood that some of you guys have. I AM good with my hands and this z conversion is going to be my second real car project. I have already rebuilt the engine in my 77 coupe once. And then........ I came to realze that they are undependable (at least MY engine was). This is a pretty good reason to upgrade in permance/dependability to the chevy in my opinion. Oh, I'm currently studying civil engineering and, like many of you guys, am also interested in computers. Thats all the time I have for now, Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted May 2, 2001 Share Posted May 2, 2001 I'm another one of those engineers in training, however even though I haven't finished my degree I have had 3 seperate engineering jobs. (the beauty of co-op) I would say I am more mechanically gifted than 99% of the mechanical engineers I know, however I've met more than a few mechanics, millwrights, welders, and 'hacks' that certainly far exceed me in that regard. After seeing it more than a few times, I have been thinking that to graduate as a mechanical engineer you should be tested that you can change the tire on a car first. Seriously, I've seen my share of certified professional engineers that couldn't. Unfortunately for society as a whole, the two things don't go hand in hand. Here's the beauty though. Having mechanical aptitude can help you a TON when it comes to engineering. Its what I've called mechanical common sense. "You don't put the filter that you have to replace every 500hours in a place that you have to dismantle half the engine to get to." I wish caterpillar had thought of that. I had the luck to work in a coal mine on my first co-op term, and believe me, the mechanics I worked with took every opportunity to impress on me (the young engineer) what sucks about engineers. I learned a heck of a lot from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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