Pop N Wood

You're information is a little dated. A recent study came to the conslusion that more fuel is consumed in growing and producing the ethanol than is available from the ethanol itself. It is a waste of time. Plus, someone on here once posted the numbers. The amount of ethanol that could be produced would never be more than a fraction of our oil (USA) consumption. If I remember correctly it was only a fraction of a percent. Plus ethanol doesn't have the energy content of gasoline. You generally pay just as much per gallon for it, then you get noticably worse mileage.

Is the X really necessary? Seems like the lower mounting point, where it goes into the side of the strut tower at the floor, would be so flexy that all the cross bars are adding is extra weight. I understand the desire to triangulate everything, but is the extra X really addressing a need or are people doing it because it l"ooks" like a good idea? Plus I would think if bracing is needed, that you don't really need both parts of the X. Can't imagine needing more than a single bar going corner to corner. Just asking.

The solid TC bushings cause the rod to flex with suspension travle instead of the bushing. A number of people have had their TC rod break under these conditions. Fortunately I have not heard of anyone getting killed yet. MSA sells the TC ball and socket type joints. I think they are ground control units. Do your family a favor and if you have urethane TC bushings, replace them with something that moves.

Ideally you would put the car on a frame machine to ensure it is perfectly square and in spec. Then you weld the car to a metal dolly of some type. That way none of the critical dimensions change when you do the work. Or you can do it the HybridZ way and just unbolt everything that unbolts, hook the empty shell to a couple of engine stands, break out the sawsall, BFH and MIG welder and have a go.

In the automotive advice column written by two guys names Click and Clack, they claim there are some cars that legitimately require a 3k oil change interval. Something about super tight tolerances yielding a very low tolerance to contamination. They specifically referred to a Saturn. My advice is to follow what the manufacturer recommends. Also I wouldn't get overly worried about oil changes violating your warrantee. If you bring the car in with a blown motor, an inch of sludge in the crankcase and the original oil filter, then they are probably within their rights to deny your claim. If you honestly keep up with the oil changes and something goes wrong, a reputable shop will be able to tell. Of course the key word is reputable. But keep in mind most warrantee claims are not oil related.

This is one of the more bizarre threads I have read. Seems like nothing but attitude and little to no technical content. At least change the title so no one gets the wrong idea.

They are called stub axles. And there are wheel bearings in there which could go bad or get excessive slop in them. If you have a 1970 240 like your screen name implies, then you also have the smaller stub axles. They have been know to snap. When they do, if you still have stock drum brakes, then there will be nothing holding your wheel on the car. It would probably not be a bad idea to pull the 35 year old stub axles out and inspect them anyway. You could then easily upgrade them with the heavier stubs out of a 280. Keep in mind that replacing stub axles is not alway easy. Do a quick search to get some details.

Which is what I said in the first place.

The problem with compressed air motor is the same as a hydrogen or electric powered vehicle: where are you going to get the compressed air from? Most likely an electric or gas powered compressor. Back where you started. Still need to generate electricity or refine oil to run the compressor. In this vehicle air is just the storage medium. You still need a power source to create it. The compressed air solves nothing. Maybe less environmentally unfriendly waste byproducts, but still locked to the fossil fuel cycle. But as an engineer I think the "efficiency" you talk about with an air motor could be disproved mathematically. Compressing and expanding air is a highly inefficient means of converting energy. When you think about it that is all a car motor is. A heat pump that uses burning fuel to pressurize the air.

I have owned a couple of old cars that never needed oil changes. My 74 Impala would go through a quart of oil with every half tank of gas. I drove that thing cross country and had to pull over more frequently for oil than gas. Ah, the memories!

Try again. The one article says the carbon fiber tanks are pressurized to 300 bar. That is roughly 4500 psi. Last time I checked the local gas station wouldn't pump my bike tire that high. The refilling tubes would have to be heavy gage pipe with bolt on connectors to withstand that kind of pressure. It must take hours to refill a tank with a volume sufficient to drive any distances whatsoever. Think about how fast a die grinder will suck down a tank of compressed air. And like said above the majority of the energy used to compress the air would be lost as heat. Just as a point of comparison, ballistic missle subs use 4800 psi air to blast the missles out of the tubes and above the surface of the water. The ship I was on had a 3000 psi compressor to eject torpeados and such. That thing was flat scary. It was a massive piece of machinery. The Navy use to give me shots using a compressed air device that injected the immunization through the open pores of my skin. That thing only used 2200 psi air. Could you imagine what would happen to you if you got in front of a 4500 psi air leak? I am skeptical to say the least.

Yes, that is exactly the reason they gave. There is more rotational give in the shaft before it snaps.

I always thought the longer the shaft, the higher the torque capacity. At least that is what the Navy thinks when rating propeller shafts.

Do you have any room in your garage rafters? Easy to build a platform and plumb some copper distribution pipe. Saves valuable floor space.

Good score. One of the most useful tools I own. I was lucky enough to find a set of tanks that size for only $50. The guy I bought them from sold them so cheap because he thought I would have trouble getting them refilled. I guess they don't sell that size tank to the general public anymore. Of course then I bought a cheap azz set of Radnor regulators. Wished I had ponyed up the extra $$$ for a set of Victors.

A couple of years ago I made an inflatable zombie out of some plastic sheeting, duct tape, a pair of coveralls and a leaf blower. I put the thing all slumped over in a chair next to the front porch. When the kids would come for their candy, I would warn them to watch out for the man in the chair. As I handed them their candy, I would stomp on a foot switch that turned on the leaf blower and a 500 watt work light. The leaf blower would inflate the zombie causing him to sit up in the chair. Between that, the noise of the leaf blower and the light I had a dozen kids run off screaming.

RacerX, one of the resident body gurus, is high on the zero rust stuff. http://www.zerorust.com/ Guess I should say he talks highly of it. Hell, maybe he gets high on it too. Looks like a pretty good product either way. BTW, if you have rust that goes through the sheet metal, I have always heard you need to cut at least a half inch around the rust into good metal. With an old Z that usually means the little hole in the floor boards ends up cutting away the entire floor and half the firewall.

dr hunt is one of the good guys here. He acted with a lot more civility and restraint than many of the moderators would. Read the stickies and play by the rules or your thread will get locked so no one can answer any of your questions.

Well I am no welding expert, but cooling hot metal quickly will harden it making it brittle. Better to have the metal bend than crack. One way to do this is to cool the metal slowly and evenly. That is why some welding experts contend welding chrome moly with a torch is referrable to TIG because they believe it helps stress relieve the material.

Can you weld on a piece of steel and drill a new hole?

Oh man. That one is going on the wall at work.

Guess I am asking the wrong group of people. http://www.mp3playerstore.com/ It's all just ones and zeros....

Just start bringing the axe into work.