hughdogz

My roommate in college was also an M.E. This guy was super-brilliant (book-wise). He was going from his BSME straight to a PhD, had an internship at Sandia Nat'l laboratory doing weird FEA CFD on how bubbles form... Anyway, we started talking about cars one day, when I said I had to go change the oil (myself for the '78 Celica). He said although he is a great M.E. he knows nothing about working on a cars (no biggie). Then he said he's always wondered why there are different types of fluids in a car (oil, coolant, brake, tranny, etc.) and why can't we use just one type? I got a kick out of that...explaining that hey, the fluids need to have different material properties for various reasons. [Edit: TonyD, here is my take on the situation... 1) There are some people that know nothing about everything (meaning, they are a "Jack of all trades" yet they are not an expert in anything in particular) 2) There are some people that know everything about nothing (meaning they are so specialized that they cannot even tie their own shoes or clasp a safety belt, change their own oil, etc.) 3) There is a balance in between...Yasin knows what I'm talking about (thanks again Yasin ) Later, -hughdogz ]

Dude! Move out here already... Milwaukie is great...nice old suburb. I have met some really cool friends out that way, and nothing is really more than ~20 minutes away in Portland on the freeways (unless it is rush hour, and then it could be two hours some days...) Hope to hear from you again soon 24OZ'er Later, -hughdogz

Hi Challenger, I totally agree and wonder that myself... What is invented and what is implemented into production and status quo is another discussion altogether... As I walk around my neighborhood, I cross some old concrete bridges...some of them say "made in 19XX for the Portland electric trolly". If you pay close attention, all the roads / bridges / infrastructure is based upon the (currently implemented) technology Yes, I agree that we are in need of a new "revolutionary technology" but it hasn't happened yet. Electric cars used to be more popular than IC cars. In the infancy, we had no "gas stations" what we had were horse-driven carts, like taxis, filling up cars on the street (like a waitress at a bar, hehe) who knows what octane, methanol, ethanol, etc. we were using. ...I digress... The way I see it is that we have only so many fuel and energy types (chemical, electro-magnetic, thermal, solar and nuclear). We can only make engines work with what we have, and we can only design the engine to harness the energy with what materials, machining processes and tolerances we have at hand. I'd love to see a 1000 HP engine that doesn't have any impact on the environment (until you take a corner too fast or else the brakes can't handle ) It is true, you can design the engine to use different thermodynamic cycles (Diesel, Otto, etc.) However, if the Carnot efficiency holds true, we cannot gain above ~33% efficiency in an engine. What I would like to see is something based upon Tesla technology where we'd use the resonant frequency of the Earth to harness magnetic (and maybe anti-grav stuff) to make "free" energy vehicles. Sunday Sci-Fi...

I've requested access to the CAD files. We'll see if they will give them out to just anybody (me)...

Skib, no way you'll be able to get antique plates in Oregon, since your car wasn't built in 1954 or prior. We don't have "Historic Vehicle" plates like California... What we do have is Special Interest plates, and your 240 is already at least 25 years old. Special interest means you can only drive to group events, shows, races, etc. (but no mention of mileage) Oregon Plate Types link What would be really cool is to find some vintage "Pacific Wonderland" plates and have those transferred to your 240Z: (I bet you don't see many of these around anymore) I don't know if it is possible, but I know you can keep the same plates that were issued at the time your car was first registered...I think these might be the "Period Correct" plates.

Sweet! Good job Mike. I thought that rod may be a bit too corroded to thread, but it looks like you did very well.

Yeah, and if you start bleeding from the "white knuckle syndrome" just dunk your fist in the tank, and instant sterilization!

I would assume any of them can do it (DEQ = Clean Air Station). When I had to get my 1982 tested, there is a place on the test results that said noise level and it said pass. I assume that if it is on the borderline or above, they have the equipment to measure it and mark it as fail, if needed. I know for a fact that Gary Moissant did it. I don't see why the DEQ would refuse, unless they are totally slammed that day. Even if a car is pre-1975, you'd think it would still be in everyone's best interest to know how the emissions are measuring. I bet if you asked nicely they would comply.

Skib, you can get your db checked at a clean air station. They'll do it for free. If it were me, I'd also get the emissions checked to see how rich your SU's are running.

I work in the CAD industry. I used to do contract work, designing fixtures to inspect turbine engine castings, modeling turbines from 2D drawings to 3D, reverse-engineering castings for pattern shops, etc. Now I test the software I used to use. For the past few years, I've been testing the Simulation (CAE) software that works on top of the CAD software used mostly for machine design. Dynamic Simulation and Stress Analysis (FEA). I really like my job a lot, but it has been challenging and time consuming lately. I work closely with a worldwide team of mechanical and software engineers (US, France, Czech, China). It is cool when I get to travel (which doesn't happen very often lately). But conferencing with other time zones can get old fast.

Janaka, Maybe I just have some really strange ideas, but I seriously thought I'd be seeing some pics of a Z-car being built in your basement! Very nice Man!! I wish I could come by and help enjoy it too.

There are no real dangerous places to live in Portland, compared to some big cities like Chicago or L.A. I second lgoodson: We have a wedge sector model of the city...out toward SE 82nd it is nicknamed "felony flats" where the tweakers and hookers proliferate. There is also N. Portland where some crackheads tend to hang out. However, like most other U.S. cities, we have been undergoing re-gentrification. Some of those areas that were once considered "bad" are actually a very good place to move into. The "rich" part of the city could be considered the west side (either SW or NW). It was even mentioned by Art Alexakis (sp?) in that Everclear song "I will buy you a big house way up in the West Hills...". Hope this helped...

It may do that if you lengthen it too much. Now that I look closer at the photos, I can see how the P.O. modded it to be a higher boost level. I think they opened up the canister and added another spring, or replaced the OEM spring with a stiffer one. Then they welded on some tabs to seal it back together.

I'm pretty sure it can be undone, just lower the preload by lengthening the actuator rod like so: Notice the threaded rod and added sleeve. Hope this helped...

Guys, like those eternal words from Fast Times: Learn it, Love it, Live it. Heat transfer was actually one of my favorites, but English wasn't really my bag either... Good luck and stick with it (of course)

Incredible work Yasin!! Two years to get all that done is not bad at all, in my opinion. As everyone else said...more pics, video and sound clips please.

Oh man, this has Mr. Eckert's name all over it.

Success!!

The previous owner had replaced the OEM cat with a "high-flow" unit, just before I bought her six years ago. I only put on ~3-4k miles a year...so I don't think the failure was from old age. I think it might have been that I'm running too rich in some spots of my fuel map. What made it finally fall on it's face was after datalogging some REALLY rich areas (9-11 AFR's) under atmospheric load. I have a 3" high-flow cat to install when I get the 3" exhaust going this winter. That is, install the cat after I lean out the map properly.

That's good advice about minding the needle bearings.My experience was that the suckers kept falling out of place. I think it is best to put the caps on from each side a little at a time, since the yoke hole centerlines aren't completely parallel. If you put on one side completely, you won't be able to get the other side on from mis-alignment. Good Luck Challenger!! I know you can do this.

Sweet! Congrats Grumpyvette!! :icon14:

Calgary, did you buy the Keyspan one? I found that works great with Wolf and Innovate. However, I tried using that one from DIY autotune, and it didn't work for me. I tried adjusting the Baud rate too in Wolf too. I didn't know that 38.4k rate was minimum. Thanks for the info! I think the DIY one is the one that Bo is using. I must be doing something wrong since it wouldn't work with Innovate either.

Don't give up and take it to the shop! This pic is almost right, but the u-joint cannot go down, only the flange.

I may be wrong, but I thought those retaining clips were to keep the caps from popping out. The caps can only go out. You can pound all day on the socket, and the cap will not go in enough to push the other side out. ...at least that the way I remember it working.

I may be wrong, but I think tapping on the cap will only work for install. Since they are tapered, they won't go in any further to push the other side out. If you tap around the cap, it will "push" the cap up. Then flip it over and do the same on the other side to get them loose. Turn it 90 degrees and tap on the axle flange to pop out the last two caps.