RedFive

Sorry, I tried to take these photos with my digital camera, but when I got up there it decided it didn't want to work. So I had to take these with my crappy cell phone camera. What do you guys think...should I change all the chrome to black?

Changed the ingition switch, fixed the problem. Thanks guys!

Yeah, my connections are okay to the battery and starter. I guess I'll check the switch, thanks guys!

I have a weird starting issue, but I'm not convinced that it's the starter. When I turn the key, I can hear a click sound from underneath the passenger side of the dash. I can turn the key a bunch of times and all I'll get is the click sound. A lot of the times I won't hear the beeping from the car diagnostics starting up (oh this is a 76 280z btw). Other times I will hear the beeping and the lights will flash like normal. If I turn the key enough times, eventually the starter will try to turn the engine over and then it starts just fine. The starter is not having problems doing its job, it just seems like I have a short somewhere that isn't providing the electricity to the starter. Any ideas?

Nobody knows if you can use a turbo pump with a na engine?

I'm aware that horsepower is a function of mass flow rate, but it's unrelated to my problem. I think it may be my fuel pump because it was happening again today for a little while with a full tank. Plus now my pump is making a high pitched whine noise. I have all the parts for my turbo conversion but I just haven't done it yet. Will my turbo fuel pump work with my NA motor if I end up having to get a new pump?

I replaced the filter...hmm...roughly a year ago I think.

So I was on the last leg of my trip back from California and I was trying to avoid filling up a 3rd time. This last bit of my trip is very windy mountain roads for many many miles. I noticed that I was losing power. At first I thought it was just around 4000 RPM, but I'm pretty sure I narrowed it down to the turning. I guess my gasoline was sloshing around to the sides of the tank and not getting to the hose in the center. But my gauge said I had somewhere around 1/8th of a tank. Is that not enough to take serious turns with? Is there some other problem I'm not thinking of?

Awesome. I might have to buy a pair of those. What does it look like from far away at night? Is it like those pain in the ass BMW lights that are always right in your eyes?

After chemical stripping I went over the whole car with sandpaper. I applied it with an HVLP gun at about 40ish psi. Roughly 10-15 minutes between coats like the can said. I don't know if it's flaking in layers, but my painter sort of made it sound like it was going right to the metal. I'm not 100% sure, I have no visual recon.

So I used self etching primer on my Z and then dropped it off at a shop for the color. That was 5 weeks ago. Finally the guy has gotten around to working on it (in his defense, he had surgery) and he calls me up today and says that the primer is flaking off. For instance, he said you could put some masking tape on it and then the primer would come off with it. WTF?! The car was stripped to bare metal and then I wiped the surface down with solvent followed by tack cloth. So here's the question. Is this caused because I used multiple coats of etching primer before actually using regular primer? Or is it because the thing was sitting outside (under plastic) exposed to the elements (including rain) for 5 weeks?

How are you guys dealing with the black trim? I've seen a few cars like that. Are you just leaving the chrome trim out of the window gaskets? And then painting all the other chrome black with a spray can?

Oh, I see what you're talking about now. Never knew what a ZX looked like back there. Good flippin luck. That looks like hell.

woodboxer, I'm not sure exactly what you just said. I'm assuming you're worried because it's a dip and not a hole? All you have to do is cut a plate to fit and weld it in flush with the higher part of the panel. If you're really worried you could even drill a hole in the back of the panel so you don't have a pocket of air trapped in there after you weld and bondo it shut. Why would that matter? I doubt it would, but it would at least reduce the stress put on it by altitude change (assuming you ever drive it up a serious mountain). That said, it's probably not even necessary. As for bondo. Don't use bondo on anything that's going to be more than 1/8in think. It even says on the can. It doesn't have much structural integrity, so it can't handle any loading. If you have something that needs more serious treatment, use something like all-metal (and/or welding). Lead is great too but I hear it takes a lot of practice. When you're all done, use glazing putty over it.

Easiest thing to do is cut sheet metal to fit the size of the holes your Z has. Weld them in. Silicone the back for corrosion purposes and build up a lot of body filler on the back. Preferably something like All-Metal that will be tougher in an area that might flex. Sand it all down with a long flat block (80ish). Look for any high spots in the metal and tap them down with a hammer. Reapply the body filler until you have a nice flat surface. Then apply glazing putty, sand that down with a long block and a higher grit (220ish).

Perfect, thanks a lot!!

Hehe, good job Mike. So I'm curious...does that car not have a rubber gasket on the headlight buckets? Or is there something I can't see...

Hey, So I've decided what color I want to paint my Z. Red-Orange. Or Blood-Orange. Basically the same thing. I guess I would describe it as not being able to tell if it's red or orange...and I'd like it to be just slightly on the dark side. Anyways, my paint guy wants a sample AND a color code...and I'm having trouble finding color codes that are this color. Here's a couple of photos of a paint color that is almost exactly what I'm looking for. Can anybody help me locate a color code? I looked on Porsche's website, and I guess that's not a stock color. Ford of Australia also has a similar orange on their Falcon, but this is closer to what I want. I need a color code... Help! Thanks guys, Logan

Is this close enough? I'm just waiting for my glazing putty to dry, so I did it really quick.

Oh, it's not carbon fiber? Gah... Well in that case....I might as well ask where to get a fiberglass hood...?

So I'm just days away from final painting, and I suddenly decided that I might want a carbon fiber hood. I just took the old one off, and while it's really not too heavy...eh...lighter is aways better. So what's the scoop on getting a plain jane replica carbon fiber hood? And how cheap can I get it? How fast? Anybody know where to get one around southern California? I saw one on ebay for cheap (compared to MSA), but I remember hearing you guys talk about carbon fiber scams on ebay a long time ago. I can't remember exactly what you guys said because I wasn't really interested in getting any carbon fiber. Thanks, Logan

I wish I had time for a more detailed reply. I've been really busy writing my own research paper (much like the Mitsubishi one) on wing tip sails. But anyways...really quick... They are not worlds apart...I don't know where you picked that up. A key point that the Mitsubishi guys make in their abstract is that the vortex generators create drag and you MUST look at their placement and application and decide if the net outcome is good for your vehicle. Obviously, Subaru decided a wing was the better decision. Anyways, I will try and comment some more on this in maybe a few days or so. Sorry, I'm just swamped right now. Take care! Logan

Just checked out the photo again. Can't tell from that picture if there's any camber in that airfoil or not. *shrug*

Dave, A vortex, except under very specific circumstances, is pretty much always turbulent by definition. Don't confuse turbulent flow with flow separation -- read stall (in most cases). Maybe I can help you out with this concept. Golf balls... This is what "Ideal Flow" around a cylinder looks like. In other words, when I use the theoretical aerodynamic equation Cp=1-(4)(sin(x))^2 But that NEVER happens in real life. What happens in REAL life looks more like this: Note that the flow stays attached only until around the top and bottom of the cylinder. Then it separates from the surface and starts forming oscillating vorticies -- aka turbulent flow -- which create drag because they are LOW pressure. See the line going to the front of the circle in the middle and then stopping? That's the stagnation point, the highest point of pressure on that thing. If your wife is facing you, yelling at you, and putting a lot of pressure on you to do something, but behind you is an open door through which you could escape the conversation, you're going to go that way. Well maybe not, but if the cylinder had a wife.... Okay, so bad analogy. You catch my drift. Pressure differences are responsible for lift, drag, etc. In this case, drag. So why is a golf ball so much better? The dimples "trip" the boundary layer and make it turbulent. A turbulent boundary layer stays attached to the surface longer, thus creating less drag. Lets see if I can find a picture... I guess that one will do. It's a little big, but the best I could find. Anyways, you get the idea. As for the wing, I think you're wrong. If that wing is at the proper angle of attack (and it may not be), then it shouldn't be stalling out. The only real amount of drag you should see off of that thing would be skin friction drag (aka parasitic), and I think that would be negligible compared to the rest of the car. It will create some wake drag...but again, minimal compared to the whole car. It would be hard to find out without doing wind tunnel testing. I'd offer, but since I don't have a WRX, ehh...I'd need some convincing. If you wanted me to make a model of a Z and test some things on a force balance, that would be different. I will probably end up doing some of that this summer/spring anyways. You're wrong about vortex generators not generating lift. Since vorticies are low pressure, they have the potential to create lift. The wing doesn't have to create lift. It depends on the airfoil, the angle of attack, etc. For all I know, that wing could be a symmetric airfoil (maybe I should go back and look at the picture again to check). Based on all of this, there MUST be a reason Subaru decided to go with a wing. Not the least of which is that its mission is to prevent turbulent flow and separation which would render the rear "wing" useless for creating negative lift (read "downforce"). Last but not least, I'm a little fuzzy on your question about drag. Are you asking if the small wing is creating more drag compared to the same car without the small wing? Again, if they did it right, it should reduce drag considerably. If I am way off on what you're asking, help me out. I hope that helped a little bit. Logan

Justification for not buying one is easy right now. I have no place to put it, and since I will soon be an officer in the Marine Corps, I don't forsee having anyplace to put it in the next couple of years while I'm still in training.