Moridin

It definitely beats serving coffee at my other job all day long. If you don't want to work 12+ hours days, my advice would be to not get into racing.

Before I forget, here's Flying Lizard Motorsports' website http://www.flyinglizardms.com and another picture of one the drivers, Johannes Van Overbeek, and the engineers:

I haven't been on here for a little while to really stir up any trouble, so I thought a few of you may be interested in my life over the summer. Here are a few pictures to explain: This is Peter Cunningham's winning NSX. I got to visit the RealTime shop when we were going to the Road America race. This car is going to the Honda museum Here's the driver for the #44 car that I help with the most. Mainly just tire stuff, but I get to do things on the car every once and a while. This is the #44 car itself that I spend a lot of time cleaning This is race start for the Road America 500 The Volvo S60R also made its debut at the race for the Speed World Challenge GT series with Derek Bell driving. Unfortunately, the car needs a ton of work. It was 10 seconds off the general pace during the first practice and blew up two trannies during the course of the weekend. Anyway, those are just a few pics that I took at Road America. For those of you that don't follow American Le Mans Series, the #44 car is part of a two car team (with the #45 car) racing in the GT class. Flying Lizard Motorsports is a brand new team this year and in the race for both a driver's championship with the #45 car and a team championship. I managed to get a job as a team grunt through someone who knew someone. It just all worked out. I've worked pretty much every race from Mid-Ohio on, which also includes: Lime Rock, Infineon, Portland, Mosport (only worked the testing days, both my parents and neighbor's parents were turning 50, so I didn't want to miss the party), and Road America. Road Atlanta aka Petit Le Mans, a 10 hour race, is probably out of the question for me, because school has started and I have tests that week. Hopefully, I can go to the Laguna Seca race, because its only a 2 hour commute to get back and forth. Just enough for me to go to school and get back home. Anyway, I hope that some of this was interesting. I'll get the rest of the pictures up on a new website sometime soon. [/url]

Honda-Tech is good if you can take the the time to sift through the crap. Usually, the tech sections are very good - hybrid, tech, forced induction, etc... Another good site for EF Honda Civics (88-91) is http://www.ef-honda.com What are looking for exactly? A place to ask questions? I might be able to direct you somewhere if you know what year Civic you have and what you're looking to do.

Here's an interesting account of an unofficial US inspection of North Korean nuclear facilities: http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_hr/012104hecker.pdf As far as I know, there is no conclusive evidence that North Korea has quieted down, because of the U.S actions in Iraq. Its a possibility, but personally, I haven't seen anything to prove this. As far as Iran goes, I believe the U.S. has on and off relations with them for years and years. This goes back to the Iran-Contra affair and even before that when we gave both Iran and Iraq weapons to fight each other. Unfortunately, as a result of the current the United States' current offensive, a precedent for the rest of the world has been set, or at least a perceived one. No country will have the balls to militarily act against the U.S. on its own soil. Terrorists will. I can very easily see relatives of dead Iraqis joining some sort of anti-American terrorist group to bring what is happening in Israel here. You talk about bombs becoming more than likely being dropped, because of negotiation. but I say we've created a situation even more prone to terrorist attack. That is just my opinion, because I cannot accurately comment on what our intelligence agencies are doing to stop any sort of acts of terrorism. So far they've done a wonderful job, but how much longer will that happen (Hopefully forever). With Iraq, the current U.S. administration has created a situation of fear around the world (just as 9/11 created it here). This has not done well for our international economy or relations. Just one person's opinions versus another, because I don't have the facts to back any of it up. Maybe someone can provide some more information.

With John Kerry we would have our first billionaire president. Isn't that his wife?

It has already been established why we attacked. We had reason to believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Saddam was a butcher and blatant supporter of terrorism - both in and out of country. With major caches of high tech weapons/delivery systems already being found I have no doubt that there is more. If you honestly believe that the world would be better off w/Saddam in charge of Iraq, you have a serious mental deficiency. If you want to blame Bush for the decision he made based on the intelligence received, then start spreading the blame on a few other presidents who cut back funding for intelligence - both Democrat and Republican. Kerry is a known quantity also - of low quality - he has managed to shirk his duties and resonsibilites in both military and political venues. Not only that, he shows a remarkable lack of insight into economic realities - which can be said of most Democrats. His voting record is pitiful, whenever he DID show up for them. Bush on the other hand inherited an economy which had already started its' downturn before he even got in office (thank you Democrats), and had to react to 9/11 in the manner he deemed most appropriate to information presented to him. He certainly didn't bury his head in the sand or try to cop out - he took action to protect the citizens of this nation knowing that there would be all kinds of recriminations - yet made the hard decisins anyway. I can't see Kerry doing this...nothing available so far has shown me that he has either the character, mettle or acumen to be President. Sorry guys, I like to fan the fire a little bit. Just look at all the links jmortensen posted. Good way to learn. Anyway, we were told we were going to war with Iraq for WMD's, right? That's fine. Now...I have yet to see any evidence, hard evidence, that anything of mass destruction (other than Saddam) has been in that country for years. Maybe that's just my own lack of knowledge, but I haven't read or seen anything. Unfortunately, what really bites my in the rear is that the Bush administration tried to tie 9/11 and Iraq together. A committee put together of all Republicans was made to find whether the 9/11 (Al Qaida sp?) Iraq grouping was truthful. That committee went in front of congress saying there was no such truth to any of it. I remember many people jumping on the bandwagon that Iraq was shipping weapons off to all these different terrorists groups, especially Al Qaeda. In reality, Saddam and Osama have been bitter enemies for years according to what I've read. It is very sad when it comes to the point that dumb or dumber will be elected as the President of the United States of America. This two party system is getting to be very old and I'm hoping there were be such an uproar about Iraq, Kerry, Bush, etc... that upcoming voters will push to change it. I say no more apathy, change the system 3rd party candidates can run and win. No more you need to be a millionaire to run our country. That's not right.

Not taking away Constitutional right? That is a laughable statement i.e. Patriot Act and Patriot Act 2. Mr. Bush is a known entity. One that started a war, in which more of our country's soldiers have died than anyone would have thought and they are still dying. We have yet to be told the truth as to why we attacked.

To change the system, things like instant run-off voting and much heavier restrictions on corporate money involvement in politics. Sorry for the three replies in a row, but I got a little excited. Anyway, I may vote for Kerry, but my choice is with the Green party or Libertarian candidate depending on what they think on things. Bush Jr. is not my cup of tea. I believe he has taken too many personal rights away and/or invaded our privacy in too many areas. Tonight, I just got off the phone with a credit card company. At the end of their waiver thing, they let me know that the government, according to the Patriot Act, could look at my financial records with the credit company. I don't like that at all. I know you, Mike, and I disagree on this, but I'm not comfortable with the government looking through my private stuff without my knowledge or a warrant. I have nothing to hide, but what happens if something becomes illegal (here's a stretch, but lets say non-CARB legal car parts become a jailable offense. Let the government go through my financial records and arrest me for that is not my idea of fun. Plus I wouldn't want to have to go through the hassles of trial. Look what happened to Tomohawk.)? Anyway, please vote, and please pay attention to the issues. It is important. WE are living here.

When you bring it down to just two, you're not voting for the "lesser of two evils," but the "evil of two lessers."

Anyone hear from Tomohawk (I think that's his name). The unfortunate man who was incarcirated for collecting guns.

What time are you going to be there. I have to work, but during the morning and part of the afternoon.

I've been on this forum for a little, but I go in spurts with posting. Been busy doing the racing thing. I'm trying to get some pics posted of my teamates, team cars, and some racers I've been hanging around for the past few months. I have around 120 pictures from this past weekend at Road America, but I can't find my card reader. Fortunately, I still have my Z, but I'm not sure how much longer until I get the money to work on it.

Yeah, he's been working on it for a little while. It doesn't have the power that black 850 does in the video, but it is pretty quick. He's thinking about an S60R or V70R soon. Those cars amazingly fast stock and the active suspension is ahead of its time. Who ever thought people would be saying "Cool Volvo, man," or "What does that R stand for on your Volvo?"

Hey...That's the Saleen 03 Cobra. I know that guy. He brings it to a local show around here every few weeks. Really nice guy, but he really loves his Ferraris. Too bad we missed the show. I'll bring mom's Cobra next time with a few more toys than before.

My friend has a 740 turbo that's been completely rebuilt with a hybrid T3/T4 turbo. Pushing over 300 to the wheels when the fuel system catches up to the boost.

You also said the Chevelle had 4.88 gears in the back. I'm not sure what the tranny was, but I'm sure that makes it quite a bit faster. I raced a LS1 Trans Am with 4.11's in the Cobra when it was making close to 390 to the rear wheels and we were pretty even. The guy had very little done to the car. As soon as he hit his overdrive though, I was gone. Gearing can do a lot.

If you are going to do the install yourself, you can come up with an awesome system for that amount of money. I say nice Alpine, Blaupunkt, or Pioneer deck. Next, get some front seperates. CDT audio is supposed to be very nice. Good, warm sound. I find MB Quarts to be too sharp in the highs. A good 10" subwoofer will do you well. JL audio W3, MB Quart, or CDT Audio audiophile sub in an appopriately sized sealed box. A good sub will compliment your music, not overpower it. Now, you're going to need two good amps to power the front speakers and sub. I suggest Blaupunkt T-Class or U.S. Acoustics, because they are very underated in power and offer a very good signal to noise ratio. You will also need to sound deaden the tin can car with something. There are two things I would use, Duplicolor's spray on undercoating and Brown Bead mat from http://www.bquiet.com. Lastly, you need good quality wires. http://www.knukonceptz.com has some very good stuff for Radio shack prices. I'd run a 2 or 4 gauge wire to your amps, and split it into the largest possible size that each amp will take. Good length RCA cables are also in order, and enough properly sized speaker cable for the whole car. Mounting of the speakers is extremely important. Many suggest making a kick panel to fit both the mid-range speaker and tweeter (or three speakers if you go with three way seperates). I've had good look mounting it right below the windshield, reflecting upward to bounce off the glass. Hope some of this helps. These are things I've learned doing some of this myself and reading a lot.

Those are pretty funny. Gross generalizations are never something I look kindly on, but I would like to say something about one or two of those arguments. Basically, things like prayer in school, the 10 commandments in a court house are in violation of the seperation of church and state. As little as they are, it is still something that should not be tolerated. Give an inch and they will take a mile.

The lead car, #45, took second at Lime Rock is now leading the GT points championships. Been a lot of fun, but exhausting. The team put together an entire car in two days. Awesome stuff. Pictures when I get home tomorrow.

I'm just a part timer and help clean and organize stuff. I do very little actual work on the cars, as the team has some full time mechanics that do most of the work. During pit stops, I pull the fuel lever to allow the hose to fill, aka the "Deadman Swtich". There are no pumps in the fueling system, because it is all gravity fed. To land the job, I knew someone through someone. Actually, I work at Starbucks, and a lady who works there has a boyfriend who rooms with the team manager. To say the least, I'm extremely lucky. Hopefully, I'll have pictures to post when I get home. More info to follow in the coming days.

The #44 car may be a bit of a surprise, so keep an eye out. We got choice spot in the paddock area too. Right up front. Pretty rare for a team that has only been around for two races.

Well...guess who's working for Flying Lizard We're now in Mass. and ready to get setup tomorrow for the upcoming race at Lime Rock. I didn't want to say anything about it until I actually spent one race with the team. Mid-Ohio has come and passed with the win. Look for me running the dead man switch on the #44 car.

Do any of you follow ALMS and/or Flying Lizard Motorsports?