Carl Beck

Hi Mike (everyone): First let me say thanks to Mike for his generous offer - and let everyone know it's not the first time he has made it. At the present time, an Internet Connection, Server Space and all support software are freely provided by several of our members. Nonetheless, as most of us know, things change over time. In fact we've moved/re-hosted both the Z Car List and the Z Car Home Page several times over the past 19 years. So I always keep offers like Mike's in mind ;-) WARNING - LONG COMMENTS FOLLOW - feel free to skip them if you have no interest. If you haven't anything else to do - it will give you something to read while your waiting... Carl B. As the three distinct parts of what we call the IZCC seem to have been intermixed in this discussion, I'd like to give everyone interested a little more background - to promote an understanding of each. Although I've been around for a long time - I'm certainly not the founder of the IZCC... only the longest running sucker, volunteered to support it. 1) Bryan is referring to the e-mail based, Z Car Discussion Group that was originally started in 1987. We call that "The Z Car List" (and it's digest form - The Z Car Digest). The original List Server was put on-line by Bob Weissman (at Boeing I believe)... because his personal e-mail distribution or copy list was getting too large, and not everyone was copied on all e-mails and replies. Today "the Z Car List" is hosted free of charge by Texas A & M University - Extension Services Dept. It's an old unix based Majordomo system...(what is old is new again). 2) The Internet Z Car Club - a virtual club started by John De Armond in 1992, among the subscribes to "the Z Car List" - with the main purpose of obtaining volume discounts for our virtual members - at various Dealerships and Vendor Locations. In the then spirit of the Internet - membership was FREE and Open to anyone on the Internet. We provided an on-line Membership Data Base - so that the vendors could easily verify membership in the virtual world (no physical membership cards at the physical Parts Counter). 3) The Z Car Home Page - originally started in Australia in 1994 by Salman Shami (an M.E.) at the University of Melbourne. The Site was moved to Princeton University when Salaman was Graduated and lost access to the Universities Servers ..then moved to our own servers when Stefanos Damianakis (Ph.D.) was Graduated from Princeton (and lost access to the Princeton Servers)...Today hosted free of charge and free of any advertising by Elie Rosenblum (an ISP). In The Beginning: Prior to the Z Car List - ie. the actual List Server Software being put up by Bob in 87... many of us Z Car Owners in the Aerospace and Defense industry had been using the ARPA Net and NASA's PSCNI net - to keep in touch ( I started on the ARPA Net in 73). Personally, as I traveled to various Prime and Sub contractor sites around the Country - working on various A&D Programs and Projects - I keep track of the other Z Car owners I meet - and kept in touch via text messages (on TTY's between/among main frames and super-mini's) and later e-mail on Personal Computers.. We all needed technical questions answered, sources for parts and good used cars... and we all keep our own contact lists etc. As the DoD ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) Net opened up to become what we know as the "Internet".. the next major user group was mostly located at Colleges and Universities - and usually first in the Engineering/Scientific Colleges (Post Grad. then Under Grad). There we found growing numbers of younger guys - that were just trying to keep their old Z's running as daily transportation... Loved their Z Cars.. but were far from having the funds to Race nor Restore them... Most of them simply could not afford to take their Z's to a professional mechanic, let alone a Dealership. So us older owners, found a group of younger owners that shared our love for the Z's.. and who provided an outlet for our "experience".. The main goal was to help them fix their own cars. (which is one of the main beauties of the 240-Z's). As the World Wide Web developed - Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS) and the World Wide Web Servers / Browsers followed...That and the continued opening of the Internet then brought the masses on line. By 1993 the IZCC had about 350 members, by 1995 a 1000 members. By 1999, 6000 members, by 2001, 10,000 members..by 2003, 13,000 and by 2006, 15,000. (about twice the membership of all Local Z Car Clubs combined). Of course the Internet then spread around the world - and today we have members in over 40 different Countries as well as within the USA. OK - So Lets Back Up to around 1995. Growing as we were - we wanted to more formally pull the three entities above - into a more comprehensive whole. So a rather large group of IZCC Members were volunteered to define the future direction of the "virtual club" and its resources. The Z Car Home Page: The Group decided that "the Z Car Home Page" should be a source of information for Z Car Owners. NOT a source of entertainment, not a commercial development... So , no "eye candy", and strictly "Internet Standards Based"... ie no Vendor Proprietary formats/software. As all data/information and articles were freely donated to the Z Car Home Page - the members did not want any commercial interest profiting, from the work so freely given. So NO ADVERTISING. Additionally, to preclude conflicts of interests between the members good and commercial vendors interests - we would take no Sponsorship Funding from commercial interests either. All information/data collected and possible future growth forecast - was then divided into seven main Sections - and the Sections then subdivided... the goal was to establish a structure within which one could to get to any information/data - within three levels of decomposition. KISS - keep it simple stupid - and get me to the information I'm looking for.! By 1998 - the Z Car List was sending about 65 to 85 Posts/Replies per day (to aprox. 2300 subscribers) - and many members were complaining that it was simply too much e-mail, most of which any one of them, didn't want to read. The use of Subject <tags> was supposed to allow everyone to easily sort, store or delete unwanted Posts/Replies within their e-mail clients. Nonetheless - Model or Interest specific sub-groups started to split off. Z31.com, 240-Z.org, HybridZ.org, TwinTurbo.net. That was then followed by all manor of attempts to start Z Car Sights/Forums.. ZCar.com, ZDriver.com etc etc. So at that point the Z Car Community had indeed fractured - split itself into smaller special interest groups. Nonetheless, IZCC Members like Bryan, wanted to keep the IZCC as a group that supported ALL Generations of Z Cars. As well as to preserve the huge knowledge base that subscribers to the Z Car List represented. It also provides a link to the broader Z Car Community than any individual model specific site can offer. So promotions for the annual ZCCA (Z Car Club Association) Annual Convention, the Motorsports Auto West Coast Nationals - and many Local Z Car Club shows and events - get published on the Z Car List as well. The IZCC Membership data base - provided the ability to find other Z Car People in local areas - and to reach them via E-Mail. In that manor several Local Z Car Clubs were formed in the Physical World. An unexpected side benefit of the data base.. but it turned out to be an important contribution to the Z Car Community at large. Today - I am reviewing the purpose, scope and usefulness of all three parts. We've talked about "the Z Car List"... and I'll be reconsidering the purpose and structure of the Z Car Home Page. It's original intent was to be a single source on the Web for Z Car related data, information etc. It was expected many years ago - that many people would volunteer to both build and maintain various Sections of the site. Indeed in many cases that happened... and in too many cases it didn't. So over the next year I'll be going through the site - and based on usage and access statistics - I'll be deleting or trimming a lot of sections/articles etc that are no longer supported by their originators - or which can be found elsewhere at the Model Specific Sights. Anyone can build their own Web Sites today (something not really anticipated in 95) - and do so in any manor they wish. With ever improved search engines, anyone can find just about anything any where. So the need for a centralized data/information repository seems at first glance to be to have been made obsolete...The problem then becomes Quantity vs Quality. A centralized focus of thousands of members, assures that the data/information held there is reviewed by many and corrected where necessary. Something all to any individual sites lack completely... It is an evolving universe...Being somewhat older and I hope wiser now - I've found that slower, better thought out moves yeild the best results in the long run. Nothing is going to change too quickly.. but change is a part of the evolution in the Information Age. I appreciate all your thoughts and comments - FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Bryan (everyone): It's kind of like the Big Bang - at first we were all in a fairly close, tight nit, small community "the Z Car On-Line community"(circa 85-95). Then as the universe expanded and time passed... we found ourselves spinning off in all directions, separated by light years, each in our own more unique model specific galaxy. So Bryan - regardless of what the original members of the IZCC wanted, forces beyond their control have indeed spit up the Z Community. I don't see it coming back together again. It is now way to big and way to diverse to be of interest as a whole, to the individuals. It has really very little to do with the technological "medium", and far more to do with Group Dynamics and Focus. Birds Of A Feather, Like Minded People, Shared Common Interest. We all like to be part of a "Group" and not of a "Crowd". When a Crowd gets too big, it splits up into smaller Groups again.. TRIBES... To a great extent, Nissan's evolution of the Z Car really set the stage. It only took time for the on-line group to grow large enough - that smaller model specific sites could spin off and achieve critical mass and begin to grow on their own. Today that very growth in total mass, is crushing what was once "the On-line Z Car Community". Almost without exception, individuals are primarily interested in one or two generations of the Z Car.. and not really at all interested in all generations, if it means spending too much time wading through too much space noise. It hasn't happened as completely in the physical world, but it's taking place there now as well. Where there were once "Z Car Clubs"... there are now "350-Z Clubs" and "350Z / G35 Clubs". I won't be at all surprised if we don't see "240-Z Clubs" started in the physical world as well, perhaps at the State Level more often than at the Local Level... "The Z Car List" does have a fairly large subscriber list - so a Post there should reach a fairly large number of Z Car People. Even though the list traffic is down to a crawl many of the subscribers wanted to keep it on-line. If nothing else, it's still a method to reach a broad range of Z Car Owners, and it does represent a huge knowledge base. ... So we'll maintain it. "The Z Car Home Page" and the "IZCC" are related but different entities...Traffic to ZHome are at an all time high and membership in the IZCC continues to grow - in spite of the apparent problems with the sign-up forms (which need to be better addressed). Just didn't want to confuse "the Z Car List" with the Z Car Home Page nor the Internet Z Car Club... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Alfadog: I'm not sure that is technically the case... It is quite possible that the original purchaser, knew he was going to send the car home to Australia - and did indeed purchase an Export compliant "DATSUN" 240-Z. Many US Servicemen did the same.. According to the info that Alan supplied some time ago - VIN's were in the same series for the Export and Domestic 240-Z's (HS series) - but each were within known blocks. The JDM Nissan Fairlady 240-Z VIN's stopped at HS30 103262. Very interesting car... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike: I too know the guys at Nissan Sport (was Sport Z). I too understand why they expanded the coverage and evolved the business model. I too wish them well and try to help them in any way I can. All that doesn't change the fact that I too, have really no interest in Nissan's current offerings. I enjoy getting Nissan Sport - but not nearly as much as I enjoyed getting the more focused coverage of Sport Z. It's a matter of focus isn't it? This site started as I recall, because you and others wanted to focus on Classic Z Cars (see below)... at the time that was considered to be the 70-73 First Generation Datsun 240-Z's. People didn't want to wade through all the other stuff related to all generations of Z's on the "big list". Now the Classic Z Car Club has expanded its focus to 280Z's, 280ZX's, modified Z's and 240K's ( I clearly remember that at the beginning no one ever wanted to hear about Fuel Injection problems). Now your advocating getting a magazine full of not only coverage of all Z Cars ... but all of Nissan's lineup, advertising and corporate news! To each his own - but I find it somewhat an ironic evolution.... At any rate I've enjoyed the ride.. kind regards, Carl B. = = = = = = = = = = = From the Way Back Machine - - -- - - - As Of Feb. 1998: www.240Z.org What is the 240z-Club all about? The "club" itself was originally created as an Internet location for people who were interested in the 240z. There is also a "big list" called the Internet Z Car Club (IZCC). IZCC was originally inspired by owners of all Datsun/Nissan Z-Cars. This list was created for owners and fans of the EARLY Z's. It is in our opinion that this car was the true Z and will always be the classic. There is a particular spot for us in the whole scheme of the Z. We are the EARLY boys (and girls). We own the early Z cars. These "early" cars are the true meaning behind the Z, and we all stand proud on that issue. and: Who should (or shouldn't) join? Should: 240z owners. Owners, managers, or staff members of a Z-Car related organization. 240z fans but not necessarily current owners. Discussions about 260 and 280z's are also welcome if they relate to the 240z in some way or another. People who love and hate the Z. Shouldn't: ZX owners 300 series owners Persons who do not wish to discuss the 240z Sales messages or any discussions that do not stem the 240z.

I don't see how anyone could point you in the right direction; at this point no one knows where you want to go. FWIW, Carl B.

Hear hear !!! and Amen... Carl B.

Lets see... that 240Z weights 2500 lbs and a E-Type might be 3500 lbs.... Wonder just how big a lift one really needs... the smallest Challenger seems to be 12,000lbs.. Personally, I have got to have that Eagle - Extreme Duty Four Post Lift - 40,000 lb lifting capacity... Instead of lifting a car - hell, I'll lift the whole garage and park four more cars under it ! I wonder why Eagle doesn't put the Eagle name on their Mechanix MS-7000? I wonder why Eagle doesn't offer a comprehensive, assembly / operation manual for their Mechanix MS-7000? I wonder why Eagle shows you more information about their Eagle SS series lifts - when you hit the "Click here to read more about our Storage/Service lifts"... on the page that shows the Mechanix Lifts.. Do you wonder why there is $900.00 difference between the Mechanix MS-7000 series and the SS-7000 Series? decisions, decisions.. but you know that Mechanicx lift looks a lot like the "other brands cheap lifts" that they show you on the Backyard Buddy site... hummm... Nonetheless, at $1850.00 - the Mechanix MS-7000 would most likely hold our 2500 lb Z's without too much risk... and it includes jack tray, caster kit and aluminum ramps... Just knowing about it might help you swing a better deal on some other lift... Get ahold of the right salesman, and most of these companies will deal off their full retail prices... FWIW, Carl B.

The length of the throw-out bearing collar - is related to the clutch assembly used - not to the type of transmission. Both the A and B type tranny have the same input shaft length. Originally the 240Z Clutch Assembly (mainly the Pressure Plate) was THICKER when measured from the Flywheel to the Top of the Pressure Plate Fingers. Stronger springs were used in the 280Z Clutch Assembly (Pressure Plate) and the result was that the 280Z / 280ZX Pressure Plates are THINNER. So today - if you order a clutch assembly for a 240-Z - you'll more than likely get a 280Z Pressure Plate anyway - as they are considered suitable replacements for the 240-Z units. In fact it's all most impossible to get the older thick 240-Z style... There are three or four different lengths of throw-out bearing collars.. The shortest is used with the older 240-Z Pressure Plates... the medium and longer one's are used with the 280Z Pressure Plates.. The problem you describe - would indicate that you need the longer throw-out bearing collar.. If you don't have access to a good junk yard - you'll have order the part from your Local Nissan Dealer.. Is the clutch assembly you purchased - an OEM Nissan Part? It it is, you should be able to find out what year/model it was originally specified for (ie not superceded by) and then order the matching throw-out bearing collar. If the clutch assembly is aftermark - you might have to try a couple different throw-out bearing collars... This picture was on Eric's site... but I can't find the URL for it again.. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Rich: Backyard Buddy has NEVER had a lift fail. Big as any garage is, you don't want to take up too much unneeded room. Depending upon where you want to locate the lift - most people have to keep in mind that the typical garage door is only 16' wide. Which means that they would want to be able to center the ramps within an 8' area to the right or left of center of the opening. If the Posts are too far apart - it leave little to no room on the other sides of the opening. For example, if the Posts are 10' apart - the remaining side of the garage door opening will only have 7' left open. Just some other things to consider.. regards, Carl

Hi Rich: Yes, I'd buy from Ben Person again - they now have about 35 years of experience. It would depend to an extent on them having the type/size lift I wanted and of course a competitive price. (competitive with other high quality lifts). I've seen several of the other vendor products at the National Street Rod meets in Tampa, as well as having several friends with commercial or private lifts. Having had some longer term personal experience with lifts - I always look them over a little more closely. The Backyard Buddy is really tailored to the private homeowner or Classic, Collectible and Special Interest hobbyists (although they have now expanded into the commercial market as well). Many of the four post lifts in the commercial market are simply too large for a private garage. I liked the smooth operation of the BYB as well as the numerous accessories they offer. Mostly I like the quality of the materials and design. They are not the cheapest... Nonetheless, they do have some good information on their video's on their site. Kind of gives one at least one benchmark to keep in mind. <ahref=http://www.backyardbuddy.com/ TARGET=NEW> BACKYARD BUDDY</a> FWIW, Carl B.

Never mind..... see edit above... Carl B.

The person on HybridZ was talking about Ben Person lifts... In 1975 I owned/operated a Muffler Shop - had a new Ben Person Pipe Bender and two 4 Post Lifts. After I actually learned something about the business... I realized that I should have bought a Huth Pipe Bender... and I found that Ben Person was a young company at that point. One day I was letting a car down, as I watched a fine young girl walk by outside... distracted to say the least... My attention was returned to the car when I heard it sliding sideways and threatening to fall off the lift!! YEA GAD !!! One of the "stops" had failed to retract on the Left Front Post...so that corner was still at its uppermost position... in the mean time the other three corners were allowed to come down... The car was sliding backward on the ramps, as the Right Side was now about four feet lower than the left front... As the car slide - it the lift made a horrible noise... twisting posts, drive on ramps sliding across the cross braces... I jumped back away from the lift.... as the Customer exclaimed "Watch My CAR!!"... Everything was at a "ALL STOP"... and I stood there wondering how I was ever going to get this customers car safely back on the ground... After I calmed down... I called Ben Person in Arkansas. They put a "technician" on-line... I explained what had happened..... cute little arse and all.... and he said; "no problem, just go out and push the UP button and raise the car back up... then make sure all the STOPS are up and let the car down". I told him I was not intending to get too close to that mess, because I was afraid that it would either fall on me, or go through the side of the building. He said; "then take a broom handle, stand back and push the UP button... I will give you my word that if anything happens, other than the car returning to the full up position - then coming down properly - Ben Person and Company will pay all damages". He added the fact that he was the lead engineer there - and that lift had 4 times the strength required in every aspect of its design build. He also said he was one of the Principle Owners of the company.. So I took a boom handle - stood back - and pushed the UP button. Among much loud creaking, screeching and poping... the car did in fact return to the lifts full up position... and all four posts returned to their former unbent state. I put the STOPS up and let the lift and car down... The Customer, now some three hours into this venture... exclaimed "I'll be damned!"... "if I hadn't been here to see that - I wouldn't have believed it." Needless to say, there was no charge for the work on his car... Two days later the man from Ben Person was in the shop to inspect the lift... and find out why one stop had failed to retract. He OK the condition of the lift ... and three months later a service team from Ben Person was in the shop installing a new mechanism for raising all the STOPS.... At that point I found out that I had two of the first twenty 4 Post Lifts they had designed and built for the Muffler Shop industry... Bottom line - don't buy a lift from anyone that hasn't been in business for at least 20 years. Don't buy a lift from anyone that builds their lifts outside the USA (to avoid product liability suites)... Don't PAY for anything purchased from ANYONE until it is delivered to you (the exception is when you are dealing directly with the factory, that has been in business for at least 20 years). Way too much FRAUD with retailers and resellers or "factory rep.'s".... If they don't have the working capital to order and deliver your lift - prior to payment - RUN... I'd by a Back Yard Buddy... FWIW, Carl Carl Beck Mad Hatter Muffler Clearwater, FL USA http://ZHome.com

Depending upon the design of your roof, and the trusses that hold it up - - it is quite possible to re-configure four or five of them to allow space for the car to rise above the standard ceiling height of 8'. The Z needs about 4.5' of clearance sitting on the ramps of the usual 4 post lift. You need about 5.5' of clearance below the top of the drive on ramps (as the Z sits an additional 0.5' above the top of the ramps. So it would be easy enough to re-configure about five of your trusses to a scissor type for example and that would do it. There may not be a need to put "stops" in the lift - if you re-configure the trusses.. because most 4 post lifts don't lift the car higher than 6 to begin with. The main problem with the four post lifts in standard garage is that the Posts themselves are over 6' 8" high. If you add wheels to the lift - they raise the height even more. The standard garage door opening is 6' 8" high... so once you set the lift up inside, you can't roll it outside unless you have taller openings in your garage. FWIW, Carl

Hummm...... I haven't seen too many Edsel Dealers around lately. Come to think of it, where did all the Oldsmobile Dealers go? I think we can drop Ford and GM from that list.... There are a couple of "reasons" given for the use of the DATSUN Brand name by Nissan for it's Exports. The Nissan story is that not knowing how their venture into export sales would fair, they didn't want to risk the Corporate Name and have a potential failure associated with it. Looking at the actual history of Nissan and its actions in China during WW-II, and given the fact that it's Founder and CEO was charged with war crimes, sent to prison and banned from holding any Corporate Office in Japan - it seems logical that the Brand Name of Nissan may not have been broadly accepted in other parts of the world during the 50's. No matter how it was rationalized, I firmly belive that the destruction of the DATSUN Brand Name was part of the attempt to destroy the legacy of success associated with Mr. K. Most business analysts also agree that it was one of the largest corporate blunders of the 20th Century. If Nissan gets strong enough to launch an entirely new Model Line, you might see the DATSUN Brand come back to America. It hasn't bee ruled out... although I do agree that it is unlikely in the near future. It might be generational now - but I believe that the vast majority of the Baby Boomers all recognize the DATSUN brand. Given that they are still the largest generation in the population - I'm not so sure that the "average" public wouldn't remember Datsun. Especially given Nissan's broad advertising campaign a few years ago to remind everyone ... Dream Garage?, "Dogs Love Trucks"... FWIW, Carl B. Carl Beck Clearwater, FL USA http://ZHome.com

Thanks... we can keep wishing for now... The BMW Z1 was really a trail forerunner to BMW's later efforts at re-establishing their Sports Car image. The Z 07 and Z8 that followed later, was in my opinion one of the most beautiful cars BMW ever produced. If I won the lotto... the Z8 would be at the top of my list...Although I'd rather have it with the in-line 6. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Guys: Thanks for the kind words... I was simply trying to get Nissan to think once again of their end Customers. Build the car we wanted to buy, rather than the one they wanted to sell. It was too bad that Nissan simply was not in a position at that point in time to either think "out of the box", or take on the R& D for something completely new. It's hard to argue that they didn't make the right decisions, given the successful turn-around that followed.. Still there is a large gap between surviving and flourishing. For now at least the "Z" has survived.... maybe next time they will take the risk to flourish... Why be limited to one or the other? After 36 years, I was ready for a new Z, but that didn't mean I would ever give up my 240-Z. We weren't asking for a new version of the 240-Z, but rather a new incarnation of the original spirit of the Z Car. Beautifully styled in the curving sensuality of a more classic form. A lightweight Sports/GT that offered loads of Customer Value, as well as some practical utility. A Z Car that was once again would actually establish a paradigm in the enthusiasts market. FWIW, Carl

So what did you wind up painting them with? Carl B.

Not being able to see who is bidding on this car - now that e-bay has changed their auction rules - kind of leaves me cold. Just too much chance of his brother being the second highest bidder. At any real auction you can at least see who your bidding against... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Guys: I ask my Daughter to look at the two wheels pictured below - in indirect sunlight. She is 12 years old but quite the Artist with all the charcoal, oils, pastels etc in her many Artists Kits.... She and her Mother really have "an eye for color" so to speak. At first glance she said; "they are black".... then;... "well actually they have a slight hue of blue underlying, so technically they are a blue based dark gray". "Black is the absence of any color, so if I were mixing oils to match that, I'd have to add some dark blue, some white and maybe some others to get that exact color". I said; "well I can't go to paint store and by a dark blue based gray - is it charcoal gray or black?" "As dark as that is, I'd go with black", she replied. "But if you took the wheel to the paint store, and told them to color match it - they would mix in colors other than black", she added. (she and her Mother have been to the Paint Store and had various colors - color matched - for her room. So she knows the process by now.). OK - I used a "semi-gloss black"... lacking a good can of flat black, and I lightly sprayed one half of the wheel on the Right with it - the white arrows show where the new paint starts/stops. The wheel on the left is an 11/69 and the wheel on the right is a 7/73. The square in the middle of the wheel on the left is sprayed with a couple coats of semi-gloss black. I have to agree Arne - other than being semi-gloss and fresh non faded paint - the two (old and new) are very close. If on the other hand I was trying for a 100 Concours Car.... I'd most likely go with a very dark blue based gray... just off pure black. I think Bonzi Lon's "Graphite" might be a better description... Given that these wheels are now 30+ years old, and given that Nissan used cheap paint to black or Graphite them the out - - - no matter where they were stored - - that original paint simply evaporated over the years leaving the graphite color we see today.. That may partly be the result of having the gray undercoat as well. Bottom line - if you pain them black, dark charcoal or graphite... most people won't have the color perception needed to tell them all apart unless they are held side by side. I called it black once and dark charcoal once... so I'll call it a draw, or still a toss-up. FWIW, Carl

Hi Ron (everyone): Yes, that is the original cage - Dr. Logan purchased the car from Mr. Brock and he assures me that other than putting it into "Street Clothes".. everything was left the way BRE built it. The exceptions included removing the original 26 gallon fuel cell (which he did not keep), replacing the original BRE modified hood with a stock hood ( he did thank goodness keep the BRE hood and that came with the car), replaced the stock interior (but didn't keep the BRE Racing Seats).. and putting it on street tires (didn't keep the original LeMans wheels either)... Other than that it was still in it's as raced configuration.. I was hoping to get it done by Jan. 1. 2007, but that may be delayed another month. Still working on getting that 26 Gallon Fuel Cell recreated. That may take 4 to six weeks to get the bladder/safety foam custom built. Of course I have get our seats done too ... past that it's just a matter of many small items... like rewiring the car for the lights and the BRE instrument panel and gauges in etc. Still need to find the right size batteries...I found that the original battery frames from BRE were still welded to the floor behind the seats, when I removed the carpet and pads Dr. Logan had installed! I don't know if anyone noticed or not in that picture - but when BRE put the "spreader-bar" on the front shock towers, they notched the valve cover in order to keep the spreader-bar straight. Kind of unique...(pictured below). Ron - I'll e-mail you with details on the seats.. FWIW, Carl

Yea Gad... first it's colors and now its numbers...!! WFIW Cral....

Hi Arne: I said that three years ago? .... "black" .... what was I thinking? Either my eyes are getting worse... or my memory was clouded... So tomorrow in the sunlight, I'll go out to the garage and dig out some original wheels.. I will then spray a color chip with flat black to hold beside the wheel ... so maybe side by side I can tell the difference if there is any ... I'll let you know how that turns out (just got new glasses too;-)... Shades of Gray... Carl

Hi Ron (everyone): Gee..that looks a lot like mine <vbg>. However I have an additional bar at the front of the rear deck area... behind which the 26 Gallon Fuel Cell sat... Note the metal "divider" on that brace to keep the seat belts from sliding... As front bars were mentioned.. When BRE put the front bar in - it was referred to as a "spreader-bar" in Off-Road Vehicles Mag (Oct. 73)... now known as a strut tower brace... thought some would get a kick out of that... FWIW, Carl B.

My new Red Top Optima came with a removable plastic base - intended to bring it up to the standard height of a group 24 battery. The problem is the Optima is ever so slightly smaller in width and depth. So - I took the plastic tray off the bottom - and cut parts of it out - and used the remaining parts as spacers on top of the Optima... the spacers fit between the OEM top hold down and the battery along the front and rear edges... they are wide enough to bridge the gap in width and depth between the battery and the OEM battery hold down frame. The battery is now held down securely.... even if it is a bit Jerry-Rigged... by the original battery mount. At some point in the future... I may make a very OEM looking battery hold down frame.. downsized slightly to fit the Optima... but that's way down the priority list right now... Just a thought.. Carl B.

Hi Arne: I may well be color blind - but the wheels you have pictured, aren't flat black as far as I can see. Charcoal Gray...perhaps. I've always felt that the wheels were sprayed with the same charcoal gray that was used on the rear tail light finisher and the grill. Because of the underlying colors there is ever so slight a difference in the finished product... If you call Les... I'm pretty sure he'll say the same thing. He sells that OEM Charcoal Gray in a rattle can.. I suppose that if you sprayed a very very thin coat of flat black over a silver wheel - it might come close to a charcoal gray finish... FWIW, Carl B.