Derek

Hi Ed I bought some 1/2 push lock fittings and some non parker hose from mcmaster carr for my vacuum log. The hose sucked flatter than a pancake. I read the specs on the parker hose and it say's it will take up to 28" of vacuum so maybe it's more ridgid. The hose is a bit tricky to get on but it seems to seal really well. I heated the ends in hot water and used a little soap. Derek

Waterproof and long set time before you have to scuff it up for anything to adhere. Most primers have to be sanded to get proper adhesion for the bondo or whatever. The epoxy from SPI has a 72 hour window for re coating before it has to be sanded. Go here http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/body-exterior/ And search around for epoxy primer and SPI and you'll get a ton of info. Here's a shot of my car the first time I fixed the rust And starting to put it back together This was about 15 years ago and I tried to do it right. Weld through primer. Wurth undercoating blah blah bla. The rust all came back. The paint was so perfect I couldnt bring myself to go back into it and fix it when it was small. Then I had to park it and it became this Yes thats the same brand new from nissan 1/4 panel that I painstakingly welded on. This time I went with the glue method and I'll tear into in a few years and fix it again without a care in the world because I didn't spend a ton of time on it. Man those pictures make me sick. That was a sh!t load of work for nothing. Derek

Hi Josh Here is how I fixed my stuff. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=128208 Keep in mind I have a full metal fab shop and could have repaired this any way I wanted. The dogleg ended up cracking on the fender well lip but that was because of poor cleanup. I ended up putting a small tack weld at the beginning of the seam and refinished the area. The biggest mistake I made and I knew it as I was doing it is I rushed the process and ended up with some shrinkage in my repair areas. I wasn't looking for a show finish as it's a daily so I wasn't disappointed. Check out Southern polyurethanes. I used their products and saved a ton of money. I went with the epoxy primer then the turbo 2k for the filler. Then I used the base system for the top coat. http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/ Derek

Thanks Dan

I've had the Nextengine scanner for a couple of years now and the thing is truly amazing. I use it to scan a part and then I reverse engineer it into a more friendly 3D form. Best 3 grand I ever spent. I love it! Derek

I did search. No really! Here's the deal. Since I got my car back on the road I've had my f4w71b 4 speed and my fs5w71b switched back and forth a few times. The upshot of the deal is I really like the 1-2 ratio on the 4 speed. I've heard that they are the same transmissions but with a 5th gear added to the reverse section. Can I take the 5th and reverse goodies from the 5 speed and add them to the 4 speed? Thanks Derek Oh and I know someones going to post a link with the pertinent info to prove I'm a searching slacker! But I did search.

I no longer see it as an option on the search drop down. Thanks Derek

PM sent

Ok my mount is all the way to the small side of the adjustment slot. So there should be about .200" adjustment which would give you about .400 on the 36-1 wheel OD so it SHOULD work. At the worst you may have to make the slot bigger with a rotary burr. You can try it and if it's more than you want to deal with you can return it and I'll refund your money. Derek

I'll do a little measuring and let you know. Derek

Well my car weighs a lot. I have quite a bit of extra sound deadener. I have a 5 speed out of a 78 and the stock rear end so it's not the best out of the hole. I didn't even do a compression check on the motor yet so I really don't know what I have. I have an E88 head (not sure which one) and an l28 with dished pistons. It's a lot easier to make something look good than to run good. That's why it was #1 on my list. And it already runs a whole lot better than the SUs. I'm sure when I get the tuning straightened out I'll see even more performance. But now I have to concentrate on work. Coincidentally I got a project to bid on from one of my foundries. It's a ITB set up for a 4 cyl. Funny how things work out like that. Derek

Yea but they look cool! My wallet is beyond empty after this adventure! Now I have to come back to the real world for a while and bang out some work. I'd love to see what these would do on a nicely built L6. I'll have to save my pennies so I can buy something decent down the road. I don't think there's much to be done with my current setup. I do need to pull the head at some point to fix an oil leak. Hmmm... Cam...Porting.... Man it sure is a slippery slope! Derek

Well I took the wife unit out for her first ride since the install. Now keep in mind she's not a car person and has know idea what I've been up to on this thing. All she knows is I've been working on the "fuel system" Anything more than that and her eyes will glaze over and I'll be wasting my breath. I make our way to the main road and ran it through the gears making sure I shift below 2500 to keep the noise to a minimum and she say's "it sounds a lot better" KA-CHING!!! We run around for a bit and I'm pushing it a little harder and she say's "It feels faster" Double KA-CHING!!! There you go guys, the only official "wife approved" ITB intake manifold. The best part of the trip though was making it back without any problems. That would have been the kiss of death. I ran the A/C the whole time and it idled and started without any problems at all.I can't wait to get the basic tune done so I can start figuring out the finer points of megasquirt. It just keeps getting better. Derek

Ok. First off sorry for no posts lately but I've been quite burnt out as well as majorly frustrated with megasquirt. There's nothing wrong with megasquirt it's just a little much to take in in one gulp. Plus I'm sick again. Got the same crap I had in December. My wife is a school teacher and she seems to bring home every single bug. I made some major breakthroughs today. First off I finally got my arms around the tuning thing. At least enough to make forward progress. After a couple of tuning runs I noticed something mighty queer with my vacuum line. It was sucked nearly flat! I put a stouter hose on and made another run. WOW!!! It just kept pulling and pulling and pulling. The road I was testing on was littered with cops so I couldn't get too crazy. My tach doesn't work yet but I was shifting around 5500 according to the log. It felt like it still had plenty to give! This thing is a lot faster than my crapped out SUs. Now the car isn't super fast off the line as the motor just doesn't have the guts but it's a huge improvement. And around town it already drives better than the carbs. And of course there's the sound. It's something! The heat blanket is working great. It will burn you if you touch it but 1/2" away it's very cool. I've run it quite a bit and the wires show no sign of burning. I'm going to some temp probing and see what kind of temps I'll get. I still have a ways to go but I'm uber happy so far. They're everything I hoped for. I need to make a mount for the video camera and see if I can come up with a better mike. Then I post an incar video. Derek

The wheel is cold rolled steel so it will need to be coated. Derek

I think any tps is going to need modding to fit my contraption! Derek

Ended up buying one from a Chrysler. It's not a D shaft so I'll have to make an adapter but the quality is much better. Thanks Derek

I was having problems with my IAC loosing position. I pulled it out of the housing and was cycling the ignition. after a few times it went out instead of in. This spits the pintle out of the IAC. It happens every 4 or five cycles of the ignition. Thanks Derek

Hi I bought a Haltech TPS for my intake project because it was open so I could mount it in either direction. Unfortunately it's a POS. It won't return electronically back to the same spot. It's off as much as 20 percent. I verified this with an ohm meter. Can anyone make a recommendation on a TPS. I'd like to find something I can buy over the counter as I don't have time to hit the bone yard. I'd be open to switching to a different type of TPS. Thanks Derek

Thanks Daniel. That worked like a charm. Do you think I have a firmware issue or is that just how it works. Derek

Hi everyone. Trying to tune my manifold and I'm having a weird problem. I can make any changes I want to the ecu and burn the value except for the tables. If I want to make a change I have to do it off line and then reload the msq. It's a ms2 running 2.885. I tried it with 2 different computers one a laptop with an adapter and a tower with a serial port and get the same results. Thanks Derek

Hi Phar At first I was a little disappointed in the power but I was sure tuning would help. I was right. It's absoloutly faster and has more pull than the SUs. And the sound..Ooo La La. The tuning is a little bit anticlimactic. You put the manifold on, get it running and then soon realize what a daunting task tuning can be. Then it turns into a bit of a grind as you tweak and read and tweak and read. Of course the fact that I've never tuned a EFI system before has been a hindrance. I'm still trying to get a handle on it. Somebody really should do a Megasquirt for dummies book! I ordered a heat shield blanket from summit It's the right size and according to the specs it should do the job. My engine is a L28 with dished pistons and an E88 head. Not much power out of that combo! 8.5:1 compression isn't going to set the world on fire. I'm really happy with how everything came out. I just wish I could get the tuning a little better. I'll post an in car video soon. Derek

Got the 36-1 wheels from the laser cutter and they are nice. The addition of the slots verses the clamping washers is a real improvement. I'll be shipping tomorrow or Thursday. I'll be stocking this stuff on a regular basis if anyone is interested. Thanks again everyone. Derek

you mean like this Mac Mini's are a good choice. There are quite a few people running them especially if your running itunes I'm running a mini itx with compact flash cards as the drives. Go here and read read read http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/ Derek

I have a Syncrowave 250. For most aluminum work your going to be in the upper ranges on the 200. You will have to do a lot more preheating with a torch with the 200. The 250s are much easier to find used. Either way used or new I'd get the 250. Derek