In an effort to increase the rating in the looks department, I scrounged around for parts at Tower Hobbies. I discovered exactly what I wanted: Blue wheel nuts, a clear chassis, an Altezza Body, and a spring damper to help keep the rear end down on low traction surfaces. I was extremely happy with the results.

As can be observed, the new wheels and nuts contributed a lot to the look of the Z, and the body was pleasantly free of racing stripes. Also missing were the vast amount of dents I had put into the Z by this point. To this day, I never use the Altezza body for anything but show. It's now functioning as a backup for the Viper.

One day, I was driving around my driveway and hit a bump. "No big problem," I thought. I floor it, and watch the Z's motor pod swing out from under the body. "That's not good," I thought. That was safe to say. The force of the shock on the flimsy H-bar had prevented it from bouncing up and slamming into the interior of the body, and thus, the bar had broken.

Since my local hobby shop doesn't carry parts for the Mini-Z, I had to order from Tower again. In the process, I bought an X-Speed motor. The Z now does the scale, 54 foot quarter mile in 3 seconds flat. I also bought new H-bars, both made of carbon fiber. I broke the "medium" one by accidentally bending it too far. Oops. The hard one is still attached.