Pop N Wood

Well that is what I ended up doing. I adding a sun room to the back of the house myself. I would have done the electrical myself but the county won't give a permit unless you have a union card. But pulling off an entire roof and adding a second level using 26' gluelams is not exactly a DIY weekend type job. The few people who I had references for were too busy to be bothered and simply too expensive. Housing prices have tripled in this region in the last 7-8 years so contractors are being kept busy with all the home equity loans. Makes a lot of room for a bunch of would be contractors to start out.

I hope you don't leave that cloth dust bag connected to the saw. Seems like a fire hazard. Just use less pressure and cut more slowly when cutting thicker metal. That is what I do, but with a hand held wood saw.

I have no direct experience with RB alternators. However, if it is an internally regulated alternator there should be a voltage sensing wire coming out of the alternator. This wire is usually hooked into the wiring harness near the volt gage somewhere. The voltage regulator in the alternator will then adjust the alternator output to maintain a constant 14 or so volts at that point. If you have the voltage sensing wire hooked to the wrong place, say somewhere near the fan electrical inlet, then the large current draw through the fan wire will cause a voltage drop along the wire. The voltage regulator will then pump up the alt output to maintain 14 volts at the end of the wire. This means the alternator may have to put out 17 volts to compensate for the say 3 volt drop along the wire. So my recommendation is to check where the voltage sensing wire from the alternator is going and see if the alternator is maintaining the correct voltage at that point.

We at one point thought about adding a second level to part of our house. Placed an internet request on a home improvement site and got one quote at $75K and a second at $55k. Both companies had clean BBB pages, but couldn't find much else to check them out. Asked around and found a coworker who's husband did replacement windows for a living. Asked her who they would hire to do such a job. They gave us the name of a guy who didn't normally work in our county, but he said he would consider it for what amounted to $120K. At that point I gave up on the idea. How in the hell do you know who to trust?

Peyton played a hell of a game yesterday. I was massively impressed. Given the way the Colts played yesterday, if you think they are overrated then you must have them rated high indeed. And this is from a guy who lives near Baltimore. The colts are not well liked around here.

I have made about a half dozen attempts to buy items out of the classified and have yet to get a single reply. All I can figure is people on the HybridZ classifieds are not very serious about selling their stuff.

Man. $18700. Good price for a V8Z

You put a 100 amp fuse on a circuit going through your ignition switch? What on earth for? The switch will go up in flames before the fuse ever blows. And why would anyone put a fuse in the main cable going to the starter?

These things in a die grinder work great at getting down to clean metal http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/ap50c.html

At which point they took you out and broke your thumbs. I loved that movie.

I had a super slow coolant leak on my Z that took years to track down. I had no visible trail of coolant, just needed to top off periodically. Finally I put a vial of green food coloring in the radiator and wrapped white paper towels all around the head gasket. When the paper towels at the back of the head turned green, I knew I had a head gasket that was letting vapor/steam out that just evaporated. At any rate a tube of stop leak fixed the problem.

Man I would try and talk him down under a grand. The LT1 T56's are actually more desireable than the LS T56's because the input shafts allow them to be bolted up to a first gen SBC. BUT used T56's all too often need rebuilding. That can easily run $1500 all by itself. If the motor is that far gone, the trans can't be far behind. This F body stuff isn't getting any easier to find, is it?

Inspiration. Makes me want to work harder to get the Z running. Glad your brother is back on track.

Has anyone with a V8 swap had to switch out the center console from a 70-71 240 for the later 72-73 console? The JTR manual has pics and says the later console has a larger shifter hole moved about 1 1/2 inches farther forward. I was just wondering what is involved with this swap cause from the JTR pics it looks like the console rear mounting bolts are in the wrong place. Also as per this site the early ash trays sell for $150 to $225. Mine is uncracked and in pretty good shape. Has anyone ever sold one for that much? My shifter is coming out so far forward I am going to have to cut sheet metal to get clearance. Used consoles don't sell for that much, but I am torn between cutting up my 70 unit or trying to get a later 72 unit and modifying it to hold my choke cables. Don't really need an ashtray anymore. $$ Ching Ching $$

Actually I was trying to talk you into the adjustables. Reading back though the post it does look otherwise. If you just look at cost, then kind of hard to justify. But the way I look at it breaking parts gives you a perfect reason to upgrade. You know "Damn, honey. Spit a U joint. Gonna be expensive to buy that Q45 and CV axles to to ensure it doesn't happen again. Damn old cars."

I have read that you should change the tip anytime it comes in contact with the weld pool. I usually change them whenever it seems like I am having a difficult time getting the settings right. A dirty or worn tip will cause the current to fluctuate making you think you need to adjust the volts or wire speed.

Absolutely no question, call Ross at Modern Motorsport and get the adjustables. Obviously the stockers are not good enough or they would not have broken. Plus, who knows, you may need the adjustability in case something in the rear end got tweaked. Absolute no brainer. Of course then you need to do the same in the front. No way I would cheap out and get a $20 replacement at a pick and pull.

Yeah. LT1 prices have dropped drastically since then.

I have a Canon ZR50MC miniDV that is a dream to use. It is a few years old so don't know how the picture quality compares to the newer stuff. But it is still working without a hitch. Canon makes a quality product. About my only complaint is the low light sensitity is not the best. But for trips to Disneyland and kids recitals I couldn't ask for more.

There have been some HybridZ classic posts of what people have done to get struts unstuck. The guy who used two pickup trucks and a length of rope comes to mind.

Yeah, believe it or not. According to my GM installation guide, the part numbers are 12551577 Camaro/Firebird dipstick tube 12551581 Camaro/firebird dipstick 12558762 Camaro/Firebird oil pan 12558253 Camaro/Firebird windage tray 12558251 Camaro/Firebird oil pump pickup http://www.ls1tech.com has stickies with lists of part numbers also.

GM direct. Believe me, F body accesories are very difficult to find in salvage yards for just the reason you stated. I think most of the guys with GTO engines and such get new pans from GM. Try posting an ad on LS1TECH.com or LS1.com. Maybe somebody has one from a wrecked engine you could get. And then there is ebay.

I agree with Jon. Just use the bad dog stuff or do a variation of Pete's design. Either one will be leaps and bound stiffer than the stock stuff.

I know carfax has no clue about old car VIN numbers. My 1970 comes up with nothing. Their computer records only go back so far, and they don't like numbers that don't follow the current convention. Like HLS30..... Maybe the car is just too old. Check with you state motor vehicle association.