strotter

Thanks Pete, that's what I needed!

Pete, how do you actually go about publishing software under the BSD license? What is the procedure?

I've been working on some datalogging software, and have gotten to the point with it that I think others might find it useful. I'd like to release the source code and compiled app as freeware. However, I'm thinking I need to protect it in some way, such as with the GNU General Public License. I've done a little bit of research, and have found this page, which outlines the "copyleft" procedure, but I'm still a bit confused as to what I need to do to enable it. Don't I have to provide a copy of the code to someone somewhere, so as to provide a record of what's actually being secured? Or is it that I simply include the copyright statement in the source code, as well as a copy of the GPL in a textfile alongside? That doesn't seem like enough, does it? And, if someone actually *does* rip off the code, what can (or should) be done? I'm a bit lost here, and any help from someone who's been there would be appreciated.

I made my faces out of that white overhead projector-sort-of-paper-plastic stuff. I had the faces off, but the pins were soldered on. Rather than fight, I just placed them as carefully as possible, gave the face a shove downward (impaling my thumb, be careful if you try it), then cleaned up the torn bits with a razor blade. Worked fine, totally invisible from 12" away.

Remember, too, that you'll have to smog the thing when you're done. It's possible, certainly, especially after you read the JTR book ( http://www.jagsthatrun.com/ ), but it's something you'll need to keep in mind. The number of hours even a pro would have to put into such a job would make it impressively expensive. Think five figures.

*** heavy sports cars? ExSqueeze me? Have these guys ever actually *driven* a Porsche? Didn't seem like a dumb idea to me, last time my buddy let me drive his 911, I threading a perfect line at RIDICULOUS speed on a road I honestly didn't believe couldn't be comfortably driven at half that speed...

Ok, I'll say it nicely before someone else says it rudely... It's very important at a technical site like this one to use the "search" function thoroughly before asking such a basic question. There are two versions of search, the "quick search" at the top of the page, as well as the "advanced search" linked in the same drop-down. The former will give you lots of very general hits for a word or two, the advanced will allow you to refine your search further. I can guarantee you that someone has asked and been answered regarding a virtually identical question. Second, you might notice that you've posted a question about putting a Ford engine into a Z in the Chevy forum. Though it's possible that someone in the Chevy forum might know the answer to your question, it's more likely that someone in the Ford forum might know the answer better.

I've been thinking about the fascination in the industry and government with hydrogen power. It's a bit of a quandery. The only plus I can come up with: it can be created from a variety of sources, in particular nuclear. That's it, the only thing. It isn't terribly efficient in use, and it has handling problems, and it's not viable in the near (or even mid) term. But it *is* easy to make and distribute if you have enough kilowatts flowing around, especially if oil (or its' equivalent) is $300/barrel or so. In those terms, it's not a bad way to go. Heck, you don't even have to synthesize it at any particular location, so long as you have some semi-decent high-temp superconductors coming out of the nuke and into your local fueling station. The ultimate source is with an existing industry, and, you can (fairly easily) modify existing I.C. engines to run it while you transition to more efficient technologies. A political win/win. Hm?

IMHO, the best cost/benefit ratio is found in a 4-5 year old Japanese machine. Compared to what we're used to with our old cars, the reliability is almost spooky. "Fun to drive" covers a lot of territory, but in terms of $/mi, Asian iron is the way to go.

Your readings may not be that far off, unless the 10.6 (which is a ratio, not a percent BTW) stays some hours after power-off. Your other readings aren't that bad for a moderately rich run; but remember, with a carb, the motor keeps pulling fuel during the spin-down after ignition off. It's only for a few seconds, but that's enough to pull a slug of raw fuel into the cylinders and therefore into the exhaust. EFI's don't do this, because the injectors shut off at the same moment as the ignition.

I've blown up a few T-5's behind a couple of fairly mild (<400 hp) small-blocks. To give you a reference point, my stock halfshafts have never had a problem (but then again, I'm hoping to experience "traction" - is that what it's called? - some day). Keep an eye open for tranny's, though. I picked up a T56 from Florida (I'm in California) for $800 on Ebay, $80 shipping, it has been phenomenal.

What's the correct name of the "trim" that fits atop the rubber weatherstrip on the doors of a 240? Not the rubber material itself: I'm talking about the semi-flexible U-section strip with the metallic core and sort of a cross-hatched surface texture? It extends all the way around the door-frame and is locked-down by the door sill-plate. Mine is so old it repeatedly slips off the weatherstrip: clearly not the coolest look imaginable. If it's in the Vic Brit catalog (Black Dragon? What's up with that?) I can't find it. TIA

Congrats of your first "recreational" (as opposed to "diagnostic") drive. It's a wonderful feeling, no doubt about it. What, uh, Mr. foof says is true, do your best to keep it under control. But, that said, It's Good To Be King, isn't it?

Is that the position the child was born in, or conceived in?

Well, I'm a GM kind of guy, but I can chime in just a teeny bit on this one. As a general rule in the smallblock world, there seems to be a slight preference for speed-density systems for performance applications. From what I've gleaned (mostly at thirdgen.org), the sd systems are considered more versatile than speed-density, though it's almost universally necessary to fiddle with the bpm maps and lot of other goodies in the ecu eproms. That said, the maf systems seem more able to adapt without modification to relatively minor changes in the motor; however, as soon as major changes are made you also have to get into their ".bins". The sd guys, arguing from this point, claim that, since you're fiddling with the brains anyway, you may as well use a system that won't limit intake volume (which the maf does, 'cause you're limited to the "factory" sizes available). Personally, I've always thought that maf is a more "elegant" system, but that's just me. Many modern systems, certainly on the GM side of things, essentially use both simultaneously. The guy to ask is GrumpyVette, who posts here on HybridZ occasionally. He's one of the real old-skool pioneers and has forgotten more about efi systems than most of us will ever know.

You said "huge balls". The show you're talking about was called "The Prisoner", starring Patrick McGoohan. http://www.retroweb.com/prisoner.html. For sure one of the weirdest programs ever broadcast on American television (except perhaps Twin Peaks).

The speed of light thing is a little bit odd - from what I understand, there are a couple of caveats that pulls it out of the "common sense" area and into the "you gotta trust your equations" area. First, velocity is measured as time for some displacement through space, such as from point "A" to "B". So, at some moment in that expansion, let's say it takes 1 second for light to make the trip. A and B are 186,000 miles apart, right? But during the expansion, space itself is getting larger. Light still travels between A and B in one second, and A and B are the same distance apart as measured relative the the universe and space at large, but the universe has gotten bigger in the meantime. Nothing has "moved", in the sense that nothing have changed its position in space, so the distance is the same, so the time it takes light to traverse it is the same. It's just that the miles themselves have gotten bigger. The second thing is about the observation itself. It appears, from outside the universe, that things are moving faster than light. We have a picture of a bubble of some kind, which we're looking at it from the outside, and it's getting bigger at some speed that's faster than light. But the trouble is that there *is* no "outside the universe" to observe it from, so the observation that things are moving faster than light doesn't make sense and can't be valid. *There is no space outside the universe to observe from* - the universe is defined as "everything that is, was, or ever will be". You can't be "outside" of it to observe it. It's very difficult for us as humans to picture "nothing", in the sense that space, volume, time, doesn't exist. The universe isn't moving into some void that's empty, it's expanding relative to itself only. There's nothing outside of it for it to expand into, because anything that's "space" is part of the universe, even if it's empty. It's all fairly weird stuff.

I was down at the local (Stockton) Pick 'n Pull yesterday (3/18/06), and found a rather torn-up looking '72 with what appears to be a good 5-speed under it. Anyone looking for such a thing should hurry, some others had noticed it too.

The movie's quality - or lack thereof - is of no consequence to me. The problem is going to be the hundreds of "WASSUP??? Hew kn I put NOS n my DaTsUn??????" posts were going to see.

I'm thinking "convertible"...

I've swapped computers around a couple of times, but never the particular one you're talking about. It may or may not be the same PCM, but it will definitely have a different "tune" in the PROM. One of the things the computer has to know is the cylinder volume, which of course you'll be changing, along with a number of particulars related to other engine details. As Paul said, you'll want to swap the computer at the same time as the motor. It may well run (somewhat) with the old computer and sensors, but it will certainly not run as well as it could.

I'm in the same position as you, with a StealthRam and a ugly old tpi throttle body. Didn't clean up well, I'm thinking of black engine paint and be done. With regards to flow: you might want to do some research over at http://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/index.php?s=. My impression is that the stocker (42mm? 48mm?) is capable of good flow up to about 450 hp. The larger TB provides a higher "buttometer" thrill because it opens to more airflow over fewer degrees, but the max airflow, and therefore hp, is still limited by the heads and the rest of the induction system. Won't hurt anything, but won't help, either. Note: I was going to do some detailed searches for you to make my point, but apparently the "search" function is dead right now because of a system crash of some kind. Maybe in a couple of days...

Zcars are cheap? I'm kind of depressed now. Jeez, I would have expected a "1" in front of that "3", no doubt, as an asking price for a car in that condition. I've spent more than he's asking on motor mods. Quite a bit more. He's done everything I was hoping of doing to my own car. I had thought I could get at $6k, maybe more than that for my '72, but I guess I was dreaming. Does anybody know if there's some particular reason it's going for so little? Please tell me it's a messy divorce or something.

I think the only reason you made this post is because you wanted to refer to yourself as a "noob". Seriously, though, an illuminated carousel logo means the clowns want to get out. No, really: it means the pony has to go poopy. (I got a million of 'em. Really, a million. I can be very annoying when I get started.)

Well, you know what they say: "You can't help getting older, but you can stay immature as long as you want!"