RPMS

Heya! Are you SURE you want pipes that diameter? Seems like you're begging for resonance. And would it scavenge well? Seems like your exhaust velocity would be reduced quite a bit with all that volume in the pipes. You know, I still need to see your car in person. You're so close, we should get together for lunch some weekend and you can show me your toy! Scott

No, no... LEFT click on the provided link, then scan down to scc seats.pdf, then RIGHT click and select 'save as'.

Hurry up, Mike! I'm VERY eager to see what that puppy will do, both on the dyno and on the strip. I'm vacillating between wanting a 383 and wanting a destroked 400, and I can't make up my mind. You can be my test monkey.

This video is one of my favorites. No matter how many times I see it, I'm astounded.

I'm embarassed to say that I laughed at that. Y'all are definitely a corrupting influence.

Just about all cars do this. It's why your wipers don't stop in the middle of the windshield when you turn the switch 'off'. This 'switch' is an arc of metal attached to the side of the main gear of the wiper transmission. When the wiper switch on the stalk is turned on, the gear moves, and a metal finger inside the wiper transmission makes contact with this arc of metal, conducting voltage to the motor. Until this arc completes a full cycle, the motor will continue to spin. This makes the wiper arm stop at the same place every time. You'll see what I'm talking about when you take yours apart to clean and lube it. Scott

Yes. Unfortunately, that's the way most of these inquiries go. A few people suggest aftermarket alternatives, a few folks suggest cleaning and re-lubing the 30 year old parts, and a few admit to knowing nothing. Every now and then a real gem surfaces, but in this case it's a long-known problem with no known satisfactory resolution. Personally, I like the idea of using a step-up transformer to run the motor at 18 volts!

First off, let me say that the charges you incurred are clearly spelled out on their website...after you dig through pages of crap and conflicting information, that is. I say, dispute the charge to your credit card IMMEDIATELY. Don't wait on this one. Secondly, you have to remember that UPS rounds UP on length, width, and depth when determining the length+girth measurement. You can easily add 2 1/2" to your package because of this, and end up incurring outrageous upcharges. The absolute best way around this is to drop off the package at the UPS store. They're usually far more lax than the website, and my personal experience is that once they have it behind the counter and you have a receipt in hand, it's their baby. Any mistakes are theirs and theirs alone. One of my customers ships cotton candy all over the US. Guess what? His packaging is *just* oversize - by 1/2". UPS was going to charge him $90 to ship 10 cents worth of sugar and air. By talking to his UPS representative, they hammered out a deal whereby he ships lots of boxes at a very reduced rate. The UPS reps can be pretty understanding, if you deal with the right one. Good luck. Scott

Personally, I think the world can use a little limiting. As a society, we seem to lack the strength of character to maintain any but the absolute lowest standard. When did class and common sense become attributes that we had to enforce through legal means? Shouldn't we have the good taste to moderate ourselves? We should, but we don't. Shock jocks and media personalities get their jollies by offending as many people as possible, while their idiotic "Beavis and Butthead" audiences sit back and chuckle, "huh, huh... he said 'boob'," and we watch society crumble around us while we shake our heads and ask where we went wrong. Doesn't anyone have any pride or self-respect anymore? If these morons can't stop themselves from trying to drag others into the cesspool with them, perhaps the federal government should assist them. I'm going to go eat my prunes now... Scott

[quote="ON3GOis that the head from the benz that kinda works on our L6's??? if so... maybe we have a future there!! mike ROFLOL!!! I can just imagine it now - hundreds of guys across the nation swap V8's into their Z's, then this rotary head comes along and everyone swaps back to what they had in the first place. Too funny! Scott

Looks like a nice install, but you'd have to have a screw loose to pay 11k or more for it. The exhaust system looks skillfully done, at least. Ten to one it will time-out with no bidders. Did it belong to anyone we know, I wonder? Too bad he died - I would have liked to meet him. Scott

IIRC, pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way, even if they're jaywalking. Regardless, joking about killing someone because they did something stupid is the sort of thing you do when you either haven't thought through the ramifications of your actions, or you're a sociopath. Things can be replaced, people (even stupid ones) can't. And you can be sure that surviving relatives would be quick to sue your pants off. Nic, you did the right thing and you can take pride in the fact that your quick actions saved some people's lives. Those folks were damned lucky. Personally, I would have moved over into the traffic to my right. They have steering wheels and brake pedals, they can probably avoid me. But I think you did the best thing in giving the pedestrians a piece of your mind! They deserve to reap the rewards of their stupidity. Out of curiosity, did you curse at them? Scott

I can't believe I'm taking this position. For all my education and proper upbringing, every now and then I encounter a situation that just requires a good curse. I do not use it gratuitously, but I do season my language with it when appropriate. When you hit your thumb with a hammer, the use of an expletive is completely understandable. When posting in a public forum, I believe that as a sentence modifer, a curse can clarify your position in a way little else can. What I DO object to is excessive seasoning to the meat. Just like you wouldn't enjoy eating a steak that has been buried under a half pound of salt, so too will your good point be lost if you curse without reason. Use curses sparingly and only when absolutely necessary to convey your point. Otherwise you look like an uneducated nitwit who was improperly raised. In short, do not censor me. I am not a child, and I resent being treated like one. Thank you.

No, no, NO! I keep from going insane by thinking that 1) Perhaps the damage occurred on the track, and 2) It shoudn't be totalled, I don't think. I sincerely hope the matching luggage wasn't inside when the wreck occurred, or my #1 rationalization probably wasn't true... Scott

Take it back, or I'll sue you!! I'm not sure where you live, but I'm certain we can have you extradited somehow... In all seriousness, I wish I could meet mr. Cable Addict face to face, so I could personally ask him to take responsibility for his own actions. It's someone else's fault that you didn't get off your fat butt and turn off the boob tube? You didn't have enough control over your family to take charge and throw the damned tv away? You let your children tromp all over you and you blame it on someone else? How messed up can one man possibly be??? It's stupid people like this who ruin the system for the rest of us. And what's worse, he's training his children to be the helpless victims of the next generation. Where does it end?

I admire the creativity as much as I do that of the gullwing door hinge modifications. Hey, it doesn't hamper the functionality, so why not? Less than thirty bucks to make your car different than the rest isn't a lot of money. I give it a

That's a cool idea! Very Transformers - ish. Make sure you take lots of pictures!

WD-40 does a very good job, but takes a while to work. Best product I've ever tried was 3M Adhesive remover. I put it on a rag, swiped it across the old adhesive, and that stuff was GONE! It ain't cheap $12 a bottle or so, but it's worth it.

Sanders, I feel your pain! It sounds like you're putting a lot of blood and sweat into this, and in the end you'll think it was all worthwhile. All your effort will result in a beautiful, fast car that will really make heads turn, and you'll quickly forget about all the pain (and money, and time...) it took to get it to that point. Keep fighting the good fight, my man!

STOP washing your car! I know you're excited to have a fresh looking car, but you're not doing yourself any favors by gouging holes in the paint! Wait at least three more months in this cold weather before trying again. It's the winter, for the love of Pete. Cars are SUPPOSED to be dirty this time of year! One thing I did years ago was to throw away all my sponges. I've got three black cars and a black bike, and they all show swirl marks REAL well. Sponges hold dirt in them, and are next to impossible to get clean. I now use a very soft car-washing brush that I can rinse clean every few seconds. Rinse - shake out - dip into car wash bucket - soap up 3-4 square feet of the car - repeat. The soapy water in the bucket looks fresh when I'm finished washing my car. Using sponges, the water in the bottom of the bucket looked like filthy. Also, I second the vote for diapers, especially well-used ones. They work great for removing wax without damaging paint. One thing to keep in mind when using anything made of cloth is that you don't want to use any sort of fabric softener on them. The silicones in the softeners will keep them from absorbing as much water, and I think they might add to the streaking problem. Inexpensive buffers are okay to use, but you can't do the job with the bonnet they include with the kit. Go to an auto paint store, bite the bullet and buy a good wool bonnet with a good quality backing pad. Good backing pads will conform to the surface of the car MUCH better than the cheap, crappy pad that came with the buffer and will be ten times easier to use. For waxing I use an inexpensive random orbital wax applicator. It's called a Waxmaster, or something corny like that. Even though it's cheap, it still does a better, faster job of applying wax than I can by hand. Buy one at a pawn shop for ten bucks, and go buy some cotton waxing bonnets that you can throw into the washing machine after you're done. I can wax my car in 15 minutes with one of these babies. If you're having problems streaking on dark paints, try wiping it off just before it's fully dry. There have been some spots on my cars that come out streaky unless I do this. Apply the wax, let it sit for a minute, rub the heck out of it (lots of rubbing with light pressure), removing all but traces of wax, then come back later and rub over it with a fresh dry diaper cloth. I don't know why it works, but it seems to. One last thing I might suggest. Friends on the BMW list have had good results with Zymol (not the $18 "made by Turtle Wax" variety you get at Pep Boys, but the $80 a jar variety you buy over the net). It goes on clear, and never really dries. It doesn't leave visible residue in body seams, and the jar supposedly lasts for years. Good luck!

Astro? What happened to the 4 or 8 cylinder Camaro radiator JTR used to recommend? Have they changed their tune? If so, would someone please forward the information to me, as well as which radiator hoses work with it? I'm running a stock 3-row radiator, and it *BARELY* does the job. Thanks much,

Have fun learning OxyAcetylene welding. You're going to have the time of your life cookin' with gas. Just remember which end of the stick is hot! Welding is an arena where stupid REALLY hurts. (ask me how I know...) Welding with electricity is (to me) a violent and crude process (with the exception of TIG). Gas welding is much more elegant, and seems to be becoming a lost art. Arc welding does have the advantage of not setting your car on fire if you point the electrode in the wrong direction, though. I know you'll enjoy it!

Rufus, Scarab wasn't a racing team, they were a company who bought stock Z's and modified them, much the same way conversion trucks and vans are made. They also sold pieces to convert your own Z, if you wanted to do it yourself. Turnkey Scarabs have beetle-shaped vent covers on the C pillars in place of the "Z" emblem, and I believe they had numbered placques on the dash. Maybe someone else on the list remembers whether the V8's had "scarab" enscribed on the valve covers, but that wouldn't tell you whether it was a factory car or not. Maybe someone else can chime in and add to this?