Derek

Hi Jamal He needs the early style because that's the only one that will work with my EDIS adapter kit. Derek

We Have Liftoff!!! Here is the maiden run. You can see the plastic starting to droop. And after the suck job. I'm totally happy how the first pull came out. The plastic was too cold and I needed a clamp on the front of the frame to keep the vacuum sealed but that's minor stuff. This is after I did a hack job on the band saw. I wasn't too concerened with pretty cuts as I was just interested in the basic fit. When I cut the production pieces I'll use my CNC router so I'll have more control. And now for the moment I've been waiting about a year for! Now for some observations. Man my car looks shitty from this angle The pod is too low. It clears the clutch pedal no problem but it's crowding the dead pedal too much. I tried to keep it as low as I could for fidelity reasons but I drive more than I listen so up it goes. I need to totally rework the carpet cover. I have the right radius but it comes out at the wrong angle. I also need to reshape the area where the yellow china marker is so it will follow the rocker. I'm also going to extend it rearward so it meets the metal trim. I have to redo the base plate. The step downs on the front and rear are too narrow. By the time I cut back the radius I had no flat left. That's why there is a gap in the front. At least the pod is right! All in all I accomplished everything I was hoping for and I think I established a good enough base line for the next one. Derek

Thanks guys Yes if this works out I'll be producing a few extra for sale. Derek

Well I've been wanting to set up a vacuum forming rig for a while now and figured making some kick panels would be a good way to get started. First thing I did was model up a stock kick panel and a 5 1/4" speaker. I cut a test blank of the kick panel to check the fit and then basically took an educated guess at the speaker placement. Then I modeled in a pod. I have a full carpet set in my car and the green section at the bottom will come out and cover the inner rocker, Kind of like an extension of the black trim plate. I made it bigger then I wanted and I'll trim it to size. The panel is designed to contact at the front and back and the rectangular depression towards the top. This will allow a 1/8" air gap behind it to act as a wire chase. I made everything bolt together so I could easily modify it plus the pod and rocker piece are symmetrical so I can use them on both sides. Here's some shots of the pattern -plug - buck whatever the hell you call it when you vacuum form. I'm making the parts out of 1/8" textured ABS plastic. I have no idea if this is going to work or not but it's an awful lot of fun! I should have the vacuum form stuff finished tomorrow and hopefully the first pull will be Friday. Cross your fingers. Derek

Like this? This is Roger Berry's Z Wolf. Derek

I bought the Nikon D50 when they first came out and never had a single problem or regret. Nikon makes a great product. And I'm sure the same could be said for the Canon. Here is a good site wit a lot of info. Ken Rockwell Derek

I had fuel starvation problems and tried everything. I ended up doing the "turn the drain plug into an outlet" mod and it solved my problems. I'm thinking I may have had a few pin holes in the suction tube in the tank. Derek Oh and a long time ago (like in the late 80's) I had a similar problem. There was a piece of old tape in the tank. occasionally it would suck up into the feed line. the car would starve and die. Then after sitting for a while the tape would drop out of the tube and I would go on my merry way. Drove me nuts!

I'll be going this route Stainless Bumpers I contacted them and they said they could provide a one piece rear with no holes and a front with no holes. A few guys over at Classic Z have gone this route and they're very happy with the bumpers. Now all I need is the $1200.00!!! Derek

Unless your really strapped for cash I would buy a professionally pre built unit. Installing and setting up Megasquirt can be pretty daunting at first because it does so much. I've had mine for over a year and I'm still tweaking. I daily drive mine and it's never left me stranded. Derek

Very nice! Great fab work. The view through the hatch glass will be amazing! Derek

My first portable cell phone was a Motorola brick so I've been playing this game for a while. When I upgraded my original 2G iphone to a 3Gs I was able to sell the 2G with one phone call for $150.00 and probably could have gotten more had I listed it on Craigs List. This is the first time I had a phone that was worth anything after the contract was up. Food for thought. Plus I love my iphone. Derek

I just signed on using Opera and it automatically loaded a mobile version. Derek

Yea my dsl went out so i busted out the iphone What a diffrence Derek

I used sheet filter material from Uni. UNI I used one layer of coarse and one layer of fine. I also keep them oiled. Derek

What no cheeky comment  about my "shaft" flopping around! Tony your loosing your edge. Derek

I'll second what Daniel said about TunerStudio. The auto tune feature works really well and most certainly better than a novice (me) tuner. Derek Oh and my tune won't help you either as it's for ITB's. Â

Although Brapps method is the best route, I have over 15,000 miles on my shaft flopping around with no problems. Yet Derek

Hi Eric Shameless plug here. If you decide to do the .080 conversion I sell the cam tower shims. Derek

1973 Datsun 240Z And yes rain or shine it's my daily driver. My other choice is a 1995 f250 diesel 4wd. Which would you drive!!!! Derek

I would seriously consider adding an IAC to your setup. I have this on mine I'm running the extra code and I control the cold start and idle air with the valve. You really want the butterflies closed at idle and the idle controlled with some sort of air bleed. DIY Autotune has a nice unit from Darkstar that would work really well for you. Derek

Looking good! I agree with Tony about the linkage. I reworked mine a few months ago and it really improved the tip-in. My setup really likes it a little fat at an idle as well. Derek

Wow I'm Famous! Only $5.00 for autographs. Thanks for the heads up Graphicsdude Derek

Check out "the truth in 24" some time. It's a free podcast on itunes. It's probably available elsewhere as well. Derek

Yea it really captures the feel of an endurance race.

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