Tony D
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Posts posted by Tony D
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But on the other hand, if someone handed you a nice rifle and pointed to Bambi standing looking at you stupidly, you DO know how to turn the funny fourlegged horny critter into BBQ and stew right?
Oh, without a doubt---konwn that since I was pre-teen!
Though I'd prefer an Arrow.
There is a difference between doing 6 deer and countless small rodentia a year...
And a couple hundred pigs a day! "Cottage Industry -vs- Production Line"
Hope they never put an open season on two-legged horny critters. I'd be in trouble!
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I don't know many that retaper needles. I know how to do it because I had to learn back in the late 70's when Single SU fed Turbochargers were 'state of the art' for a relatively infamous Air Cooled Turbocharged Flat Six Rear-Engined car...
It's not that difficult if you know what the positions and etc are...
But there is a REASON I jumped to EFI when it became 'cheaply affordable'... Anybody that says 'carbs are easy' hasn't really gotten into tuning one for a foreign application where you have to map everything!
A gasket set and readjustment isn't hard at all. Setting of the float and getting it right between front and back is likely the trickiest part if you dont remove the needle from the piston.
Try it, you might like it!
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"The real thing that gets me is just up at the boarding gate. It is downright impossible to get people to follow directions, and every single time it just turns into one big cat herding session."
I board, first. I was there first. Before the old people. Before the people with children. I spend $50K+ a year on tickets with one particular airline group...
The least you can do is make a distinct gate announcement, a clearly demarked boarding gate area, and recognize the people who make the money.
That guy in "Up in the Air" with the small backpack? Comfortable shoes and plastic belt buckle? That's me. Get me from the door of the terminal to my seat ASAP, and with little fanfare as possible, and I'm happy.
This, apparently is impossible within the continental boundaries of the USA.
It's the same stuff that was in the bag last week. Same as the week before. Same as the week before that. It's not changing, I'm not allowed to pack it and check it any longer, and it HAS to go to my final destination, so it's in my carry on. My small carry on that I could fit two of in the sizing frame.
In 20+ years of flying before 9/11, I never lost a thing from any bag. Lost a bag or two, but usually they caught up.
Now that I have 'professionals' pawing through my stuff, things tend to disappear. Other people have found them on Craigslist or E-Bay. What can you do? Just chalk it up to the cost of doing business, everybody disclaims liability. Catch-22 Yossarian!
The dearth of common sense and 'rules are rules' nonthinking in customer service really doesn't do anybody any favors. Closing the gate 10 minutes beforehand is great....if the flight pushed back on time....for once!
My favorite was the hag from Delta 'training' a new attendant at the first class check in line. She checked me in every week for three months straight. Same flight, every day. I had distinctive baggage, but was not a suit. She commented to the new girl that 'those people always have things they shouldn't in their bags'... Well I didn't, yet each Monday she made my check-in a living hell with snotty questions and snide remarks. I just happened to hear that one that day. She insisted I take my bag down to the scales to be weighed (AGAIN!). "It was xx pounds last week when you checked me in, and the week before that, and the week before that, YOU want it weighed, YOU drag it to the g-d scales!" She then proceeded to tell me all about how people "like me" violate all sorts of laws, and that they need to open my bag and I just might miss my flight. (Pre 9-11) So they open the checked bag and look for contraband. There is none. Now I have to rush to my flight.
But not before FINALLY seeing Air-Hag's I-D Tag (which she for some reason turned around every time she checked me in...)
THAT precipitated a letter to the President on Company Letterhead.
Next week, "New Girl" was checking people in at First Class. I asked where 'The Air Hag' went, and apparently someone had complained up the line and she was out working the baggage rack at Ontario Airport... Never did see her there again.
I guess I'm one of 'those people'... you know, the ones who make you lock your car doors when you drive through 'that' part of town. Or the ones in the jungle that make you flick the safety off and keep your finger near the trigger...
Appearances can be deceiving. The guy in the suit may be on an FF upgrade. The guy with the jeans and a tool box may not be as stupid as one might think...
Flying has turned sour since 9/11. Entitlement mentality, unchecked power, and frustrated people on both sides of the counter. When I find an airline with people that seem happy, I fly them.
I don't fly Delta any more...
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"D, you're doing real good. Keep this up and you'll be inside before it gets cold!"
'Boog' yard supervisor, Packerland Meat Processing 1983
Yeah, I was fine outside, I didn't WANT to go inside. I knew what they did inside. I'll push em to their demise. I'll demise them with no thought...
But chainsaws?
Gutwagons?
A man got to know his limitations.
Same went for my very brief career in 'Poultry Management'...
Animal Husbandry was not in my future.
Save for Dolly the Sheep. I'd be her husband. Cause I'm Baaa aaa aaad!
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WARNING THIS VIDEO WILL GIVE YOU A HEADACHE WITH MORE INFO THAN YOU THOUGHT WOULD BE POSSIBLE:
You asked about Tau, you got it!
Now, Engine Intake Port Flow questions?
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LMAO at Pedro the Woodsman! hahahaha!
I knew someone else saw the elusive pallet eating gnome!
Runs around in a mid 70's early 80's domestic pickup with pallet walls on the bed, expired tag and those bhrama bull stickers on each door.
Beware, beware of the pallet bandito!
Substitute 'Pallet' for Fritos Corn Chips:
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Thanks John, those in the know realize this is the kind of thing the BAR does.
This is either the dumbest guy on the face of the planet, or the laziest BAR inspector trolling for the dumbest SMOG Tech in SoCal.
I have had similar referrals to referees after asking questions on why a particular component would have failed or passed a given test. If you know 'too much' about your car, they get jittery and rather than pass you they send you on to the Referee for HIM to risk his neck on certifying your vehicle.
$10K fine for Smoggies that get caught. And it does happen.
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As a 150K mile flyer, I can say the exact same thing back from the other side of the counter...
And thing is, when I pay $1000+ for a damn ticket I would expect my freakin seat WORKS (and doesn't bleed down to reclined every 45 seconds...)
You want airline rants? Pick any US Domestic carrier and I'll dig out an anecdote that will make your skin crawl from customer service.
Want a hint: Go spend some time at the Singapore Airlines Counter, and take some flights on their jets.
You will see how badly you suck (and I don't care WHAT airline you are working for in the USA, compared to Singapore Air...chances are great that you indeed suck.)
I exempt SWA from that comment. They haven't lost my bag, and actually don't seem to take themselves too seriously. Their people actually seem to think for themselves from what I've seen. As domestics go, I'd say SWA is 'top of the heap' though I haven't tried Jet Blue yet (mostly international.)
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Oh, this is RICH!
Hey, I'll pay money if you pass my car!
Any chance at all this is a SMOG Inspector simply trolling for the dumbest California Smog Tech in the Inland Empire?
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When you get into it, especially in EFI, you realize the fuel wets the wall. It does, period. The key to proper homogenous mixture is to keep this layer (referred to in some texts as 'the tau layer') as consistent as possible. When you snap the throttle open, this tau lessens---making the mixture rich off calibration, when you drop throttle it may get large. If it concentrates in one spot, then it can make for really big swings. On off on application of the throttle can really screw up the tau layer and make tuning the engine a beyotch royale! Minimize places where it may pool, make the air work to move the 'puddle' to a more homogenous layer over a bigger area and tuning becomes easier.
This is the root of the Mondello discovery---EFI R&D people have worked to keep the effect of Tau constant because of emissions calibration during transitions. What Carbs benefit from is that (as you surmise) the whole tract is evenly coated, then you minimize the effect of the layer during transitions.
The transitions are where you sue accel pump, deaccel enrichment, etc... And that can eat a LOT of fuel. Before the development people concentrated on only airflow and maybe turbulence for swirl in the chamber. Now, with the importance of Tau being recognized, you port based on making that layer equal as it makes tuning under all conditions easier.
It's late, best I can do right now...
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Don't think the UGL would necessarily make a good 'garage floor' paint. Not really meant for traffic, and you can get a great two-part epoxy for the garage that will shine and be durable as hell cheaper I think.
Usually the basements are installed because in the north your footings have to go down 2 feet below frost line, and that can be minimiuim 48" in some places...so here you got a minimiuim 6 feet of footing......why not add a couple of courses of block, pour a slab (or dont!) and then have a full 8' height area to put all your utilities, run ducts for heat, etc...
In places with groundwater, usually there won't be basements. Like I mentioned our place built by August Mussolf (is that German or what?) in 1947 was unique to the neighborhood in that it was the only one with a basement! The sump pump would work all the time on and off. There was no sealing attempt but the walls were painted as was the floor. The paint stopped in the drains, so I'm thinking it was ersatz sealant. Probably some good lead-based paint that is illegal now...
The UGL is a more recent paint. I painted the inside of my septic tank here in CA with it, and they referred to it as 'pool paint' go figure!
Living underground is good. Coober Pedey is a good example in your country! Where it's HOT or Humid, people love basements. Nice and cool, consistent temperature, I'd live in a basement and rent the house if it wasn't for the noise transfer. Some people call me a troll, but I don't think this comes from my subterranian propensities...
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this was discussed elsewhere recently
look at the stock rail for answers, look how it feeds the injectors, and where the FPR is...
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If youre not getting stumbling there with water, you can check again with carb cleaner to see if a more volative (thinner) solvent goes in there. That would be expected, but it doesn't sound like you have shaft leakage, and in that case $650 is highway robbery.
Group Z the local Z Club is having a 'Show and Shine' at 1200 on Saturday at Fuddruckers in Buena Park (91 at Beach Blvd, near the 91 5 interchange) you might want to mosey over to see if you can get some local direction there for a shop that can assist with basic carb setup. Either Alt Z or Sunrise Z should be able to accomplish this for you at a much more reasonable cost. The Z Therapy Video may be all you need...
Seriously may be nothing more than a couple of quick twists of the mixture screws under the carbs and you're on your way.
Remember the downfall of the SU is it's needle taper. If you aren't willing to alter the taper to match your engine's needs (and just grab stock needle profiles) then all you can do is richen or lean out the mixture through the entire RPM range. If you retaper the needle, then you can have a lean idle, and rich power section... but with stock needles you're stuck. Most guys adjust them way rich anyway. It makes for smoother driving, but not the best fuel economy, fume production, etc...
It's why the Dreaded and Despised Flat Tops used on the 73 and 74 cars had a separate adjustable idle circuit for emissions compliance (and why people rape them for the needles, which have a richer taper on them than earlier carbs...)
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changing carbs won't fix the underlying issues. Mileage is easily recorded when you fill up, fill the tank to the same point, record the fuel used to reach that level, divide. Composite mileage.
SU's will be in the same range, or worse, or better...depending on the state of repair of the engine and it's ancillary systems.
I have gotten from 17 to 27 on the SU's with my L26. All depends on what I'm doing. My commuter mileage is steady 22-24 at 70-80mph on the 60FWY each morning. I am not light footed. In town that will drop to mid 15-17. Combined 22.
But get me on the interstate and block my foot to 55? 27 or more.
Block it to 65, about 25/26.
75, 24/25
85, 21/23
95, 20
100, 19mpg
And I have copious ledger notes to back those numbers up from 20,000+ miles of intense monitoring with a navigator/assistant who logged such details. That's interstate numbers. In town 35-50 accelerating and stopping every block, more like 14-17. I bet that's rght in line with what you are realistically doing. How long is your longest steady-state interstate trip?
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You didn't find anything because most people refer to it as an "H4 Lights Conversion"
A 'sealed-beam conversion' is what you did to the Model T with the acetylene lamps!
It appears you got some DOT MSR lights, they don't look E4 Compatible (from the photos)...
You might like the E-Code variants even more! It's curious they didn't come with a heavy rubber debris cap for the back of the bulb connection, most Euro H4 Reflectors come with that.
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Better protected from road debris in the fender?
I would take issue with that, as Nissan took great pains to duct air to the area and back out, keeping the cooler from debris flung from the tire!
I would say high and in the middle of the car is the best 'protected' spot, and as mentioned in fender vents...even moreso from something entering from the road...
Good screen works to keep out most stuff that would damage it.
Gotta love the 1st Gen RX7 Coolers!!!
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and the mileage you are currently getting is...
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UGL is cheap and colorful. When I sealed mine, there was a 5 gallon bucket that someone mis-mixed and was bright pink. Wife said 'do you want that?'
HELL YES! Sealant is sealant, I can always put another coat over it. And that is EXACTLY what I did! Whole basement was pink before it was white. Neighbors thought some strange things snooping around while I was working, they stayed politely silent on my color choice until they saw the finished product in white, then to a person they said 'what happened to the pink?'
Hey, 5 gallons of UGL Sealant for $25 is TOO good to pass up! Sealing it likely will stop it from happening completely, believe it or not. UGL can take some pretty high hydrostatic pressures. My water table is less than 12' here in CA, so no basement. We're on the lake in Michigan, and it's even less. When the table gets high, both my neighbors are bailing like crazy. As was this place before the UGL. Since it's an 'unattended' place now, I didn't want water sitting there for months. It wasn't good for the floor joists. The humidity was persistently above 80% in the basement and wood borers were at work there. Now that I sealed it, with a single dehumidifier it keeps R/H below 40% and the wood stays dry. No more insects.
And that's with a 1200 gallon cistern in the basement it keep it dry! I guess you have a seasonal cistern. You should pump the water to a tank and use it for showers and stuff....
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crating charge...
I always keep a weather eye out near dumpsters for small pallets. One of those, a band-it strap or two, and like JohnC says some cheap plywood and scrap wood and you got a nice shipping container.
When I worked at 'the large compressor company that doesn't have blue products, but grey' they would ship these european stacking crates, basically 1X6's with hinges. Fit over a standard pallet, and you just stacked them till you could put a top on it, and band it all together. I got spoiled stealing those for personal use (still have a child's sandbox and two tomato growing pits where they are used!) Also the old compression element crates were good for shipping small stuff, like a rotary, the elements are about the same size. They charge customers for them now, so they aren't particularly as available as before.
But at least I got the metal banding machine when the office closed...
I would expect in the area of $300, the smaller the box you have, the better. Might want to cruise the dumpsters in the industrial area, you might get lucky before Pedro the Woodsman comes and takes all the pallets away.
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I totally agree, and I think ultimate HP would also go to ITBs for the aforementioned reasons (the head loss incurred by the venturi). There is zero doubt that power under the curve goes to ITBs. What I also want to know is, since my flow bench test gives cfm numbers for steady flow (not pulsing like a real engine), is the cfm rating for carbs or ITBs also rated using steady flow, or is it talking about a "for real" cfm flow of an actual four-stroke cycle's pulsing flow patterns?
Yeah, that is all I was saying--the pumping losses are less, and it confounds sometimes the contentions being made when they are clearly apples and oranges. A stock 280Z T/B flows something like 500CFM... Look at that package size compared to most Carbs of the same flow.
Almost all flow benches use a standard vacuum aparatus to measure flow, the dampening required for a pulsation check would add immeasurably to the cost. An inclined manometer and vacuum motor (vacuum cleaner) with a given orifice somewhere to read flow is all that is needed, and 'methodology' really isn't that critical, other than it must be repeatable and used identically head to head, port to port.
Mondello is now using 'wet flow' for more precise measurements and it seems to have some merit. It's a slightly different methodology, but the same basic engine for vacuum source.
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That was the way old-school turbo systems added fuel over what could be had by the typical hobbs switches and resistors on the ECU feedback for cold start.
Personally I think it's a little close to inject it for the methanol, what kind of atomization did you get from it? My recollection was it was not that great an atmozer nozzle.
Saving a few bucks that eventually costs you your engine may not be that wise!
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Check places like "O-Rings and Things" up in Ontario---if it's an o-ring they got it. Standard or Metric.
And likely in several different rubber compositions (epdm, nitrile, viton)---cheap too!
Near Cal Speedway, Bo! If you have a sample, they can get an A-number, or give you a dimension and you can order them from any industrial supply...
Sounds like an E-Bay sale in the making. You're welcome!
How can the typical airline passenger be SO dumb?
in Non Tech Board
Posted · Edited by Tony D
I will agree Emirates is a damned nice carrier as well!
But Singapore Airlines....those uniforms...it's the "on the plane viewing" (and not on the video screen) that gets MY nod!
John C: Awesome story!
Globerunner, sounds like the MBA's are getting ahold of the airline. That's, alas, the state of affairs. People start putting 'business' before they realise their job is moving people. They seem to loose site in that, and think we all are just another 'process to be managed and maximized'...some shite you just don't do!
BUT...before you delude youself into thinking that a ticket 'has' to cost any amount, realize I can take fares outside the USA booked sometimes hours before departure for less than the cab fare to the airport! Low cost carriers to be sure, but the customer service received is second to none. Cheap doesn't mean poor service, nor does it have to mean stripped of all accomodation. Air Asia flights kick ARSE compared to other carriers costs, and they have 'business class' style seating on most flights cheaper than most economy fares. No, you don't get a meal. You pay for everything including water. You can sometimes be tagged for baggage fees that literally cost more than the ticket... But most are regional fares of less than 3 hours so it's not a big deal. And sitting in that nice wide REAL LEATHER seat for some reason doesn't have me reaching for the burbon or other medicants during a flight. Which could lead me onto the rant about charging $3 to $5 for a damn BEER on the domestic flights when international flights treat it the same as water (or a mixed drink for that matter...)
I have no problem with my 15Kg limitation for baggage, but, nor being treated like a cattle call when it comes to boarding. If it gets the plane off the ground, and at my destination on time, do it.
I don't ask for much, just let me get on the plane as fast as possible from terminal door to seat, LEAVE ON TIME, and DON'T LOOSE MY BAGS! Southwest has been extrodinary in that respect. To the point that I usually try to fly them instead of my 'preferred' airline simply because of the last two items. Now they automatically upgrade me to 1st Class, or Business if 1st is full, but that is little consolation if the flight is mechanically delayed for an hour, or my bag goes to Cincinnatti when I'm in Detroit.
Most airports are now putting in 'FF Premium' screening lines, and that is a HUGE help. Frankly, the time I sit in some line behind 'once a year flyers' with all that crap they inevitably carry...the people that don't travel in slip-off shoes, have nonmetallic belt buckles, have their laptop in the foldout pouch on their backpack, their jacket off, and their keys, celphone, loose change and whatever already out of their pockets before they leave the AIRPORT TERMINAL SHUTTLE BUS FROM THE PARKING AREA! (Seriously, I am the "up in the air" guy!!!
) More places need those lines, I demand it! 
I mean, that time is all wasted from my life for no good reason. If there were a global pass that actually worked "EVERYWHERE" it would be wonderful. Instead you got to apply in Amsterdam and you're good at Schipol, You can apply again in the USA for domestic and some international flights, there's another for ASEAN... I'm not a terrorist, I may LOOK like one, but I'm not. I know what I can and can't have on the plane. I pack accordingly. Oh...Ohhhhh!
I think most people don't mind 'rules' and appreciate efforts, but there are as you said "forces from above" which are dictating actions. And when that impression is felt, and transferred, big problems result. When people don't think they have any control whatsoever the frustration quotient rises. Southwest lets people make decisions---like you said leeway on some things makes the endurance of the situation bareable.
Now baggage fees? Southwest doesn't charge them. A pound or two (uh...er 20...) they don't charge. On the times when I've really been over they say "can you split it up into the other bag"---nah, just charge me. But it's never a $50 charge for 2# (like, uh... SOME airlines)... Hell, I was charged $230 for excess baggage by Philippine Airlines for a MNL-BKK-NRT segment booked through TG. I'm premium on TG (Star Alliance) and my luggage wouldn't be 'excessive' had I checked in at BKK, but Philippine Air was so nice as to 'collect the baggage fee for Thai Air' right there in Manila. Uh, yeah, right. LEFT BKK with those same bags, weighing EXACTLY the same, and I didn't get an Excess Baggage Fee... Inconsistency is what breeds the rage. It's not the $50 so much is the lie that it is somehow actually justified in being charged. It's not $50 to fly that bag at 2# over. Not even close. But some marketing guy and some MBA got together and figured 'This is what they will bear and it won't impact our flight ticketing sales' so they charge it. Southwest lady says: "Hey, you got one big, heavy bag there, it's overweight, and it's going to be $50. If you want to repack it, we have these duffel bags for $25, that's CHEAPER, if you want you can move the stuff over and then it's only $25 to ship your stuff instead of $50."
WOW!
Now, landing in Bangkok, I got no problem finding my bag on the carousel. It's the big black Duffel Bag that says "SOUTHWEST AIRLINES"... And I take perverse satisfaction out of having my FF Bag Tag from "Star Alliance" on it when on domestic flights!
If anybody wants a nice duffel bag, ask for one on an outgoing Southwest Flight, they will sell them at the ticketing counter. It's a PITA to sell one to you on the other end of the flight, they have to ring sales at the counter attached to a ticket. It's not really a 'for sale' item, but they sell them in association with tickets outbound.
There's an MBA who's THINKING FOR PEOPLE!
KTM, uh, it doesn't sound like you were flying very friendly skies that day, were you...
Actually Globerunner, if you get the gist of this...I think I may be agreeing with you, I'm just not the 'typical' airline passenger. I do have a modicum of grey matter and do read and generally comply with the guidelines, and am consistently amazed by what idiots I see at the airport do on a daily basis. I love the idiot who checks in late and carries EVERYTHING to the plane...oh yeah, like there's going to be space in the overhead for that....CHECK IT! And when I see them boarding looking upset I'm the guy who starts cought "CHECKIT! CHECKIT!"
At least on SWA, that gets me a free drink or two!