Derek

Yea Baby now that's what I'm talkin about!!! My own stimulus plan. I think we'd be better off spending the money on "Teach Derek how Megasquirt really works" class. I just spent the morning redoing my VE table. I had everything so screwed up I'm surprised it ran as well as it did. The EGO control was really getting a workout. I was trying to fix VE problems with acceleration enrichment's as well. I'm not smart I'm determined. Rick I believe I'll take you up on that shroud offer. Thanks. Derek

Me no usey shroud because me no havey shroud! Derek

Hi Pete I have a 12 or 13" pusher in front of the condenser that comes on with the compressor. Right now I'm not running a shroud. This is the same setup I ran last August and had zero overheating problems. If I run 2 smaller fans the drivers side would blow air across the manifold. This may be advantageous in the summer at an idle. Or not.... Derek

Well I had a break in my "limited" action today so I decided to take a stab at redoing my linkage. When I did the conversion I ended up using a cable. I really wanted to use rods and continue them from the existing bell crank to the manifold but time issues forced me to use the cable. The cable sucked. It was like a leg press getting it off idle and then it was normal the rest of the way. It was really hard to drive that way. Here's what I ended up with. Smooth as buttah! What a difference. I ran out of hex stock so I'm temporarily using round. The cable on the factory bell crank goes to the cruise control. The bracket on the firewall bolts into the two holes from the pivot on the carbs. I know I should be driving it from the center linkage instead of #6 and I still might when I redo the rods but I'm going to run it like this for while and see how it goes. Derek

Fan...fan...fan That's all you guys ever talk about! Electric fan is absolutely on my list as is probably head work, pistons and a cam. But the key phrase was "money permitting". Derek

Hi Phar Well now that you mention it I've been wondering if I saw the two inner horns off would they work on a L20? Those 510 guys have a lot more money than we do! Derek

WOW Thanks for the support. And believe me I'm much more than happy with this setup. I guess I was looking for higher numbers so that I could get enough interest to go for version 2.0. Originally I had no intention of selling these. But now that I have probably $20,000 in time (seriously) and materials in this thing I'd like to pursue actually selling a few. Not to mention the ego boost it would give me! Mea Culpa time. I had an itch in the back of my head since I left the dyno and I just used my data logs to scratch it. I FORGOT TO TURN THE A/C OFF!!! I was so nervous and jerky as I was a dyno virgin that I'm sure I left it on. When i have the air on the data logs show 12.5 or so voltage. With the air off it reads 13.5 or so. Both data logs on the dyno pulls show in the 12.5 range. As the great philosopher Homer (simpson) said.... DOH! So whats that like 40 or 50 HP? Seriously, it's a SD508 so it's probably good for 4 or 5. Must....Resist....Increasing.....Need....For speed!!! Actually I was looking at the engine calculator and slapping in a set of flat tops and a cam is going to be the cheapest solution to upping the HP. And I think that will put me right where I want to be. The car is great but I wish (boy we've heard this before) it had a little $$$$$$ more grunt. Well Pete made me that offer about a year ago so he's first in line!If I do the motor upgrade I may try and put them on a known engine that's been dyno'd Nor can I. They have never come off the car since the first install. The only thing that has given me trouble was the TPS. Everything else has been tuning issues and minor hose changes. Hell I even slapped cruise control on it! Here's how I know it's making more power. I've got a whole new set of clunks and noises coming from the rear suspension! Derek

when I was building my surge tank setup I wondered why everyone dumped the hot return fuel into the surge tank and then back into the main tank. I have mine run that way for now but I plan on re-plumbing it soon now that it's getting hotter out. Derek

In a word....Nice But as the saying goes I have some good news and some bad news. First the good news. It looks cool, It looks really cool. And it even runs. Oh and it sounds great. So much so I can't seem to keep my foot out of it. Everyone that rides in it agrees it has a lot more power than the SU's. It also starts better, idles better and basically does everything better than my old SU's. I'm still tuning and realizing more and more power. What's really great is if your just cruising around it runs like a normal manifold. I've had it on a couple of hour long drives and it never gave me even the slightest bit of anxiety.It just purrs along. The heat shield is working as it should and so far no hot start problems in 85 degree heat. Now for the bad news. I don't think any amount of fancy NA induction is going to make up for a 8.28:1 compression ratio on an old tired motor. It's just not making a lot of horse power. I took it up to a dyno and paid for a couple of pulls. The results were pretty bad. I'm only making a peak of about 119 hp with about 135 ft pounds of torque. I can only imagine how bad it was with the SU's. And that's the problem. I can only imagine. I had planned on doing a pull with the SU's so I would have something to compare it to but got cheap and lazy and didn't do it. Oh and did I mention I'm broke! I had lined up 4 months worth of work in December before I did the final push only to have every project get put on hold. Never seen anything like it before. Of course you hear a lot of that lately. So My development funds have stopped as well. The $70.00 for the 2 pulls is probably the last I'll be putting into it until I can get straightened out. But at least they're on the car and running. I figure I'll post some prices and we can see if there is any interest and take it from there. If someones looking to meet the criteria that I set when I designed these I can guarantee you won't be disappointed. Derek

The epoxy primer will keep for a while so you can use it again. If your going for a basic finish I would go with a single stage instead of a base/clear. Keep in mind the shinier the finish the better the bodywork has to be. A trick I've done on a couple of beaters I shot was to put in a little flattening agent in the paint. The car looked great because it was all one color but it wasn't too shiny so the bodywork didn't jump out at you. You time frame really limits you. Derek

Your out of time and and as you inferred lead has a learning curve. Grind back the old bondo to bare metal. Brush on por-15. NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT when the por is still tacky but won't transfer any black to your finger (latex glove) then apply the epoxy primer. You will now have encapsulated that area as best you can in the time frame you have to work with. If you don't put the primer over the por when it's tacky it won't stick. If you put it on when it still transfers to your finger it will bubble the primer as it out gasses. Not the end of the world though. Now take Duraglass or equivalent and build up the area. Duraglass is water proof and has a very high resin content so it's flexible. shape it down with a DA sander. Try not to bust through the epoxy primer too much. Now put on a skim coat of rondo. Rage Extream is expensive but worth every penny. It sands really well. Only apply bondo when it's thin. As soon as it starts to cure discard. When the bondo kicks take a can of black lacquer paint and dust the area. This is a guide coat and will show you the high and low spots as you sand. Now lock your DA in a cabinet or give it to a friend to hold. Take a sanding block and start shaping the bondo BY HAND. As soon as you get into it a bit you will see the low spots. Mix a little more bondo and hit those spots. Re guide coat and bring it down to the final shape with the block. Some things about bondo. Don't buy cheap bondo. It's really hard for novices like ourselves to work with. Don't put a bunch on and try and block it the next day. It will have cured out and it will be a pain to block. Only work one or two sections at a time. Don't just put filler on the area your fixing. If the area your filling is 6" leave 4-6" or more of all the way around it so you can feather it out. Your going to get shrinkage in your repair areas because of the time frame but you'll just have to live with that. I did! Derek

Are you inferring my manifold sucks! I just looked up the hose I bought from mcmaster and it has a working psi of 250. I ended up sliding a piece of 1/2" od nylon tubing inside it to keep it from collapsing. The brand is w.p. flex lock. I can't find any vacuum data on the hose just pressure. Going with the parker brand may be the way to go. 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