jt1

Doug, here's a pic. Thanks to everybody for your help. jt

Thanks for the kind words. Mike, I had buffed the paint marks off, but you could still see a couple of creases in the aluminum. Mark, if I should find the thief, I can guarantee he will have a bad day, one way or another. It just disgusts me, I'm pretty down on the human race right now. jt

My enclosed trailer was stolen last night. 2002 Haulmark Edge, 32' Tag, white inside and out, diamond plate floor w/heat & air. VIN 4XSGB32242G038028, wearing NC tag BF43542. Inside was everything you would normally take to the track with you, jack, jackstands, gas jugs, two craftman toolboxes with a very complete set of standard and metric tools, a spare set of circle Racing 16x8 wheels for a 240Z, spare tires for the trailer, my helmet, chatterbox, the reese hitch I pulled it with, lots of consumables, and a mopar 727 trans with a Gearvendors overdrive. Stolen from Ellenboro NC, western part of the state, between 5:30 pm and 6:30 am last night. I would really appreciate everybody being on the lookout for this, and letting me know if you spot it. Thanks, John

As long time muscle Mopar fan, I fully agree DCX screwed up the charger. They've got a second chance with this one, let's hope they get it right. 4-500 hp, curb weight in the very low 3000# range, straight drive, plenty of rubber, and light on computer assisted controls. John

The word over at moparts is that's pretty much how the car will look, and it will be produced in 2008. And, of course, it's going to have a Hemi. Jury is still out on how much it will weigh; I suspect, like the 05 mustang, it will be a fat pig. Here's a pic of the new one and the original: jt

Ross Bentley's "Speed Secrets" series is an excellent read for learning how to handle a car on track. There are three of them, Speed Secrets, More Speed Secrets, etc, available at B&N or Amazon. Basically a understeer/push/tight condition means the front of the car slides first in a turn; oversteer/loose/free means the rear slides first. jt

An excellent point I try to constantly emphasize to students; Once you get the turn in point and speed right, the amount of wheel input, and the rate of the wheel input.....the corner's done, it's time to think of getting on the throttle and the next corner. Anything else is just trying to correct not getting some of the previous stuff right. jt

I hear you on the work and sleep. Work kicks my butt sometimes. l Let's see, I need to: 1) Change oil; 2)check over the valve gear; 3) Drop the diff and install new side seals; 4)Run the exhaust out the back instead of dumping at the diff like it does now; 5)Get a new set of tires mounted up.....I'll probably do good to get that done in the next 55 days..... John

A man has got to have his priorities. Glad you were prepared! jt

Sweet!!!!! Getting a project to run is a milestone and always a big moral booster for me. Good Job!!!!! VIR full course, THSCC, Feb 11-12th. You have 55 days, I've already signed up. jt

On mine, the yellow wire goes to the top terminal on the sender. jt

Looking great! On which side is the dry sump pump mounted? jt

Pretty amazing it will spike to 100+ psi on 10W30; I was expecting you to say you were running 40W or 50W. I guess your options are to run a thinner oil, or change the pump relief spring. In the pumps I have seen that come with more than one spring, the purple one is the highest pressure. A recent Canton pump came with three, plain(lowest), yellow(med), and purple(highest). You can't really say a certain spring will give a certain pressure because of variations in the clearances and oiling systems. If it was mine, I would stick with the 10W30 and try a lighter spring, even though dropping the pan is a PITA. John

More brake dust on one side is a giveaway. There's a good possibility that the side with more dust has a sticking piston in the caliper, or the side with less dust has some air in it. jt

Poundz brings up a good point about the oil filter adapter, one I didn't think of, and it would be a lot easier to check that first. A stock bypass style has a port for oil to flow thru, while a non bypass doesn't have the extra port. The bypass is the round part of the oil filter adapter at about the four o'clock position from the nipple the filter screws on to. If yours doesn't have the extra round part, it's not a bypass style, and could be the cause of the problem. Heavy weight oil will give high oil pressure while cold, then drop as it warms up. Multi vis will give less initially, but remain more constant as the engine comes to temp. I'm not suggesting the oil pump bypass is completely stuck, just that it could be binding when cold. jt

I nominate Mark's house for a "Carolina HybridZ Getogether". Catered of course, with a band and open bar. jt

Sounds like the piston in the bypass valve on the pump is sticking. Drop the pan, remove the pump, disassemble the bypass valve, and make sure that the piston isn't binding or have any debris in it causing it to stick. Also, what weight oil are you running? 40 or 50 wt single vis will do that, a good 15-40 is your best bet. jt

Mike, is there a choice of overdrive ratio on the 600? What did you choose? jt

Sunday morning, track was wet for the first session, but the sun is trying to break thru and it's now about 80% dry. Car has been running great with no problems, thankfully. Running the first session on a wet track was a lot of fun, with the emphasis on smoothness and delicate inputs. Second Most Asked Question of the Weekend: You're not as fast as the tall guy with the yellow V8 Z, are you? Answer: No........... No, I'm not. jt

No help on the 600, but I really like my TKO. With synchromesh and a P5.0 shifter, it shifts smoothly and has handled all the abuse I can throw at it. I'd buy another. jt

Another great day today. Weather was better, cool and overcast but no wind like yesterday. Much better without the car dancing on the straights. Mayolives rolled in to handle crew chief responsibilities, along with Mark and Roddy from the Triad club, so the Zcar crowd was better represented. They are a great group of guys to hang out with and run with on track. Roddy is a little quicker than me thru the turns, but I'm sneaking up on him, albeit slowly. 2003Z, I'm going to do the THSCC event too, see you then. Bring the Z!!!! Once again, Most Asked Question of the Day: "What kind of motor does that @#$%& 240Z have in it?" heeheehee..... jt

Most likely the bolt has been stripped and rethreaded, probably to big block chevy size. Try one of those. jt

Which, I was surprised to find, has a wifi network. Turned the laptop on to look at some A/F logs, and the wireless connection popped up. Cool!!!!!! My first time running the full course was a blast! We got to run 2 1/2 hrs, 5 30 min sessions, and I'm getting the hang of the place. I've run the South course and North course separately, but never the full course. It's much better than either of the split courses. Weather has been sunny but cool, high of about 45 and a little breezy this afternoon, which made the car really dance around on the straights. Let's hope the good weather holds out the rest of the weekend. Worst part of the day was when a Miata spun right in front of me going into left hook. It was pretty close, but I missed him to the inside. I had closed up on him to about 5 lengths thru nascar, then he dropped a wheel off on the right and spun back across the track. I went to the left, almost spun myself, but got by on the inside before he came all the way across. Why was it so bad? Because we were under caution for another cars spin in turn 1!!!! Mark and Mike, I wish you could have made it. I'm having a ball!!!!!!! John

Mark, try clicking on the "installation" button and you'll get a page that lets you enter your zip and gives you tirerack's "certified installers" in your area. You can get the tires shipped to them if you wish, and since they're in tireracks program they are more friendly towards mounting the tires. Now, here in the Megametroplis of Ellenboro, the two guys who run the only tire shop are old friends, and will mount up anything I carry in there for free, provided of course I scrape their driveway ocassionally...... jt