baddriver

"Can you nail a six-inch spike into a board with your penis?" For context, read post by HLS30.com two post's back. I don't remember her name, or where the Z was. I do remember one supposed 'genius' asking 'Is that liquid nitrogen?' while staring at a (solid) lump of dry ice.

I think I might have the original radio from my 74 260z in a box in the garage. It was exactly the one you describe, but I never had it hooked up to a speaker to find out if it worked. I might have the antenna swith too. I'll see if I still have it. If I do, let me know what old part you have taking up space in your garage, and I'll trade you. Otherwise I'll have to ask you for shipping plus $5. Oh wait, I just noticed where you are. Let me see if I have it, and then if you want it for cost of shipping, I'll be happy to do that.

I wouldn't say I hate ricers, I actually think some of the wings look good on cars. I think rediculously sized wings are ugly, but that's my opinion. I also think PT crusers are ugly, but I don't dislike the people who drive them. But I have seen a giant wing on a rusty 80's pontiac grand am, or an old cavalier, and wondered if the people driving it knew how um....(I'm looking for a nice word for stupid) ah..silly it looks. These were brand new wings on cars with rust and 15 year old paint, and the kids were driving them like they were the hottest thing on earth. I think it's the attitude and the poor (in my opinion) tast that gives ricers a bad name. I recently saw one of these wings on a 1st gen laser. Now, I like the way the factory spoiler looks on these cars, but the wing looked rediculous. Not to mention the fact that the original spoiler was still on the car! Come on kid, one or the other. Subtle aerodynamics, chosen carefully to fit the cars lines, look great. Billboard sized air-brakes do not.

The only legitamate reason I know of to add a wing to a car is to help in cornering or high-speed stability. Wings actually reduce quarter mile times, top speed, fuel mileage, and aesthetics in the case of the giant GT wings (some of the previous statements are statements of opinion) The most critical part of a drag race, and the only time traction is a serious issue, is the start. And unless you are facing into a pretty stiff wind, the wing won't do a bit of good until you are going at least 50 mph, Few cars are capable of breaking traction at over 50. (I'm talking production cars here, I know dedicated drag cars do use wings and they do benifit from them) But the aerodynamics do help corner, mainly by offsetting lift, and they can improve high-speed stability, which won't make the car faster, but it might make the driver a little more confident, resulting in better times. I believe wings on most street cars are just for looks, they generally hurt the performance more than help, but I have to admit I do like the way they look on certain cars. And I laugh every time I see a FWD car at the strip with a big wing, 'cause I know if I want to beat that guy, all I have to do is buy an identical car and take the wing off.

That pissed me off just reading your post, I can't imagine what it was like to be there. Hope you find the jerk and well... maybe you could just sideswipe him while he's coming out of his house in the morning? So he knows how it feels. Try and just hobble him a bit. I can't believe the things people think they can get away with. A while back I pulled into a parking lot just as a caddilac was pulling out. Well, the caddy rammed into a red cavalier in the parking lot. The driver, and older woman, opened the door, looked at the cavalier, looked at me watching her, and then drove off. She must have thought that I just wouldn't get involved or something. The hell I wouldn't! I wrote down the plate and told the kid working inside. It was his car. Now I don't know what the old lady was thinking, but trying to get out of responsibility for damaging someones car, especially when it was clear that she didn't have a money problem, but the poor kid washing windows at petco did, well, I just don't know what people are thinking. That's what insurance is for, and people in Iowa are required to have it. Anyway, the plate matched our discription, and the old lady must have taken car of the kids car, so my story had a happy ending, I hope yours does too!

I checked my wallet, but I am a couple million short. Anyone want to spot me 7 mil? I'm good for it.

The turbo engine from a ZX is a simple swap, and while not as refined as the RB series, it offers a lot of potential. The 240z is a great car, if you can find one, and if performance at any price is your goal, you can't go wrong with one of these. However if you want a great performing car with a little less work involved, a 280z will come with the fuel injection, and the R200 (in a manual tranny) already in place. Find a running turbo zx for $1g or less, and do the swap in a couple of weekends. You'll have a great looking, great performing car on a budget that will make anyone jealous. The RB engines have higher potential, but remember that you only get what you pay for. Getting the super high hp numbers from the RB will require some expensive aftermarket parts, and the engines themselves are more expensive. But, I forget that not everyone is trying to build a car for bottom dollar like I am, so if that doesn't suit you, build the car you want the most. These projects are long and time consuming, so if you are going to do it, build the car you have the most enthusiasm for, least you run short of ambition before you're done.

The good news is that with the holly carb, installing a plate nitrus system underneith would probably only take a couple of hours.... And while it's not popular on this site, there is nothing wrong with the Chevy V8. Turns dinousaur juice into acceleration as well as anything else.

I've changed U-joints in a number of cars before, but the Z joints are tight! I could not get them apart for anything. Took them to a shop that had a press, and they got them apart for $20. If you are going to do them yourself, I highly suggest you get a u-joint press or arbor press to do it with. A press is around $50 to $100, but if you are going to do all four half-shaft joints, a shop will want at least that much. Spicer are good joints, but there is nothing wrong with the Brute-force joints either. I used these, and they are every bit as solid as the Spicer joints, plus my local auto place had them the next day.

UNDERSTEER: have you ever been going around a corner, and you hit the brakes, only to have the front wheels lock up and the car continue going in a straight line? This happens a lot when it's Icy out here in Iowa, but I don't know if someone from texas will understand what I'm talking about. Anyway, this is brake induced understeer. The car tends to want to keep going in a straight line, and the fix is to turn the wheel more in the direction of the turn. OVERSTEER: Have you ever been driving in the rain, (rear wheel car example) and as you go around a corner, apply the gas, and the rear end of the car slides around in front of you? This is Oversteer, and the fix is to turn the car Less into the turn. If you can't tell what your car is doing, most likely it's understeering. Most production cars do this, However, the Z with the rear stabilizer bar often tends to oversteer. If you tend to spin out going around corners, you have oversteer. Typically, the best bet is to have neutral steer, with just a little bit over or under depending on if you typically enter a turn too fast, (and Brake) or too slow (and accelerate).

There are a couple of guys on Hybrid Z who have done this, it looks good and the performance is incredible. Get ready for the downside, though. Someone asked what it cost one day and there wasn't a single reply who came in under $10,000 for the swap. It is a rediculously expensive conversion, and there are a number of problems for which there is just no good solution. If anyone tells you they've done the swap for less, I'd ask to see their car. I'll bet you ten to one it isn't running yet!

The surge tank/resevoir is a good fix, or you could have a sump welded (by a professional) to the bottom of the tank. Tank must be dropped for this. Summit has a sump that would work for this. I'm going with the resevoir, using a small pump to fill the resevoir from the big tank, and then running the main pump from the resevoir. I got the resevoir from summit as well (it's actually a filter/water seperator, but it's large enough to hold about a pint (1/2 liter) of fuel.

I don't know about wet roads, but the guy two cubes down from me wrecked the company truck last year. It was icy and he was using the cruise control. The truck was in 2-wheel drive. Hit a patch of Ice and was in the ditch before he knew it. He didn't claim that the truck became airborn or accelerated, but the wheels broke loose and it was over. Wet roads can sometimes be very slick, and a truck usually has a lot of power and very little weight in the back. In 4wheel-drive he probalby would have been fine. If a car wrecked in this manner, I'd suspect someone needed some new tires.

My wife's 4-door sentra just went bye-bye, so we've been looking for a replacement. There was a Mitsubishi 3000gt Twin-turbo in the paper for 8K, but she's not interested. We need four-doors to manage the child seat. If I hadn't already spent my cash on the Z, I'd pick that up in a second. Otherwise, 'Vetts are cool, I'd take a stingray anyday. Anything with a rear engine, even a (yuck!) fiero. Just to see how they drive. The Subaru Impreza WRX might make a nice family car. Too many others to list. There have been a lot of cool cars made.

I live in Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA. I'm 27, have a wife & son, I think I might have the most cats. (3) One 260z, boat, truck, 2 non-z cars. 5 parking spaces. Looking for more parking spaces. You know why. Jeff E.