Your convertible Z has been an inspiration for many, and we have all seen the set backs and progress of this car.
Thank you to Brad for allowing me the time to interview himself.
Real name: Brad Wadden
Gender: Male
Birthday: 22 Dec 1972
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia CA
Q: What are some major shows you are planning to hit in the near future and 2006?
A: Next show is at SCP in Montreal in October. For 2006 we plan to take the trip for the J-body Bash, possibly to Indy for the small car bash, and everything local.
Q: Do you plan on doing some extensive traveling in 2006 to other provinces and possibly throughout the US to show case your Z?
A: Yes, that is the plan as of right now. I am hoping to be able to work it into my family schedule.
Q: Who would you like to thank for helping out or supporting the whole process of this monster of a car?
A: My wife for starters, she has put up with alot of late nights and empty pockets to allow this car to take shape. Also some really good freinds (Steve Collins, Nathan Webber, James Bartlett, Richard Peddle, and various others) that have been there off and on to help me off and on. And Thanks to Mark Whynott of Overall autobody for getting the car sprayed and fine tuned body wise for me.
Q: Tell me a little about Double Z Automotive and what you guys/gals do there?
A: We are an Automotive repair shop.
http://www.stark-os.com/doublez/ Only very small, with the intent to expand. We opened the shop in june of 1997 and have been rolling strong since then. I have two techs, and my wife working for me here, and we base this business on service. I have one tech that is awsome with fabrication (Nathan Webber), and my other tech that is a really good R&R guy (Chris Rowat), My darling wife is my Service Writer/Book Keeper. Me, myself, and I, do all of the above, unless I am fully staffed, then I get to go chat to my customers, and dissappear for PR work.
Alright, let me switch things over to a more technical view of the Z.
Q: Did this car turn out exactly as planned or were there any compromises or changes of plans along the way?
A: compromises........I would be here all day. I have employed people in the past that have created bumps in the road, we hit a few small pot holes.....but we just kept trucking. Now we are ready to go wide open.
Q: What were your inspirations for this car and the influences that they had?
A: My largest influence was J-Body.Org and James Bartlett aka. Raven. James introduced me to the .Org and to be honest I was a First Gen guy all the way! I have had dozens of them, and still have two to this day. At one point and time I told James that I would never own a third gen, didnt agree with the 2.4dohc change, as the big engine. I thought gm made a huge mistake, but they are quick. So after seeing what was available for the third gens to dress them up, I bought my first one, My converteble. Then Tanya's sedan. And the rest is history.....or present lol.
Q: When selecting the body pieces for this car, what were you aiming for in particular? (Sleekness, clean, aggressive, etc...)
A: Hahahaha!!! if you only knew. Well....the first kit I bought for the convertable was a Bomex kit, I pinned it on, wasnt sure of it, found a drift kit, pinned it on, liked it more. Still wasnt sure of it till I had seen the aero gear kit. I wanted something that could be aggressive yet clean. I didnt the the wide open mouth of most other kits, but at the same time didnt like the closed up look of others. The Aerogear Extreme kit, to me, looked clean and not to open, yet not too closed up.
Q: How did you go about selecting the colour of paint for the car?
A: Nascar! Jeff Gordon ran this color in one of his cars in richmond in 1998 and I have liked the color ever since. Racetech had a car similar also and the body lines or lack there of made the paint flip really nice.
Q: What were the biggest challenges in this build for yourself and your crew?
A: Trying to tye everything together, and make it look clean, but yet do it our selves. I wanted a little bit of everything, but to look clean. Still some stuff to do, but we are working on it.
Q: How many man hours were put into this vehicle?
A: From start (october 22)to finish Jun 8th 2005) we calculated 3500 hours, inside and out. Thanks again to my wife, because this all took place after hours and on weekends.
Q: If someone wanted to build a show car like your own, how much would they be looking at spending?
A: If you were to calculate parts, labor, and materials, we calculated approximitly 120000.00 CAD.
Q: What is going to be your next big project? We all know that you have something in the plans already, when will we find out what it is going to be?
As of right now I am planning to start picking with my 89 gmc sierra, and my 89 cavalier convertable, then to the 87 z24 convertable. Im saving the best for last...maybe. I would love to do a Cobalt SS.
ABOUT THE CAR
Parts and peices of the car
Body kit: Aerogear Extreme
Spoiler: 3 piece brickyard
Tail lights: TYC carbon fibre
Brakes: RSM 12.5's 4 wheel disk
Wheels: 19" Foose Lussos with Toyo proxies 225/35/19.
Fenders: Aero gear Z3
Hood: RK sport ss style fiberglass
Headlights: Tyc black projectors I think they are tyc
Suspension: Easystreet air ride set up
Paint: Dupont Chromolusion Purplene
Other body: clear corners, taken apart and painted along with the bumper lenses.
Stereo: Kenwood dvd and Nav system...just purchased, Jl Audio component set, 10" mtx subs, Soundstream monoblock amp and a Sound stream 2 channel amp.
Interrior: Cyberdine digital guages, and custom cluster, Katzkin leather seats (four buckets), custom console from front to back, housing one playstation 2 and two controllers, air ride switches (originally window switches from an olds lss), base controller plus regular window swithches and air ride guages. All Interrior is painted black or Green, Base clear. Doors were done custom for the speaker set up. And New carpet. Ichebahn steering wheel, pedals, shifter knob, and boots. And cant forget the Ps2 in the airbag hole, and two Clarion screens in the head rests.
Now under hood.
This is something that took alot of thinking......and I mean alot. Not too big...not too small....and easily accessible...sort of. We thought about 3800sch, Northstar V8, 3400ohv.....nope nope and nope, I wanted something....something that everyone that had attempeted to do, failed. So the prime candidate was the 3.4 dohc, nice challange, fun to do, and an engine that worked well, and since we already stuffed two 3800sch, where was the chalange right? So 3.4 dohc it was....and really not that bad to do. And on stock mounts....slightly modified. The transmission is just a Thx125...this is coming out this winter when the twin turbo set up is getting done. I think i have just about everything......god i have done some pile of stuff to this car.
Links:
Doublezed Auto:
http://www.stark-os.com/doublez/
Doublezed's Car Domain:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/705557/1
Interviewer: Colin Davis DomesticTuners.com
Original URL:
http://www.domestictuners.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=4407#4407
www.DomesticTuners.com 'The Place To Tune Your Domestic'
