Tony D

"Going Poly"... I'm going to leave it untouched... I laid mine all out and like the last poster, if there were two bushings going into a housing, if I had them of differeing sizes they would be shuffled so parts matched. If both sides are like this, then I'd not worry about it. Can't resist: "Goin' Homo" or "Goin' Bi" all lead up to someone saying they're "Going Poly".... I likes Sheeps! I went poly long ago. I'm baaa aaa aaad!

I would have RELISHED the opportunity to ask that expert in the drunk driving case "then how drunk WAS he according to your calculations?" It really bugged me nobody asked it...especially the prosecutor! I think jurors should be allowed to do that. I believe they can in some Grand Juries. I would have LOVED to see that down in the Santa Ana Courthouse! "Glad to meet you, Senor Dover!"

I think the EFI'd L24's outnumbered the carburetted...

"They are a better IC module than the GM HEI inherently, but if you do the conversion, buy a quality one for around $50 as they perform better than the $13 Wells version from AutoZone that makes the tach signal screwy." Why is the E12-80 'inherently' better than the HEI? I didn't have tach problems with my $13 Wells module, but it did burn itself up several times before I bought the $48 Pertronix Flame Thrower...which I would posit is 'inherently' better than the E12-80, as it's dwell is better and performance far surpasses the E12-80. I mean, what performance upgrade is available for the E12-80?

Wow, and I complained when I had to pay $8 for my bank wires from WFB on the old account!23 Euros and 6 LSterling...it must have been a Dutch bank!

The neat thing is now talking with some of the guys who worked on those builds and getting quantifiable numbers from them as to the results they achieved. Remember, this was for a very high specific output engine, 333HP per liter + Most people will not need this level of preparation, and likely those who are running 1/6 of that horsepower level will start to think of this as some magic bullet, curing some 'inherent design flaw' which is not the case at all. I've said it elsewhere, if you are overheating on an 85-90 degree day in Georgia or Florida, you got something seriously screwed up with your cooling system! Fix THAT before going to something that wasn't meant nor required for that horsepower level. insurance is one thing, but you don't insure your tin shed for a million bucks just in case the wind blows it away. Putting these mods on a car making 200HP is kinda overkill, and likely any heating problems they are having in that application is related to overlooking basics of a good cooling system.

I get upset at the process of selection. they systematically weed out people with rational thought. Some countries you get a term for a year as a juror. You get paid your normal salary, and simply go to the courthouse every day. They pick you by random lot. You get seated, hear the trial and pass judgement. I think there is some merit in that. Too much shennanagins go on that jurors never see. I got seated the first time (after being called THREE TIMES IN A YEAR! Orange County: 30 days service requirement) after not shaving, using my 'compressor mechanic' thing for the first time, and dressing in dirty jeans, a denim shirt, and wearing 'mork from ork' suspenders... Got seated, and the next day showed up shaved and wearing my suit (I only have one...) Defense Attorney visibly was shaken by this turn of events. Ended up in a mistrail when Defense Attorney said something he shouldn't have regarding sentencing. Afterwards the prosecutor (not the sharpest knife in the drawer as you will see why soon) told us he'd been convicted of drunk driving three times before and was looking at hard time for a conviction on this one. I happened to ask why the HELL she didn't ask the defense expert on blood absorption rates what his BAC would have been using his calculated rate. She didn't get it. She simply didn't ever listen to the claim and didn't do the math. I was in the jury box, I did the math. The defense expert claimed the guy had a different BAC than the brethalyzer showed. That his weight was X, his absorption rate was Y and that it was not what the Brethalyzer claimed (.15 BAC). I waited for the defense attorney to ask the next logical question: and by those figures doctor what SHOULD my client's BAC been (0.07 or less, and he's home free, I HAVE to acquit on the charges, right---open and shut no debate) But this was not the question asked. It bugged me. The longer it went, and when the PROSECUTOR didnt' ask what the BAC SHOULD have been, I quickly did the math and sure enough the guy was right: It WASN'T .15, BUT IT WAS 0.08, SILL DRUNK BY STATUTE! I tell the prosecutor this and her eyes get REALL BIG and she say 'WHAT'? I repeat it, then draw her the calculations on her ledger so she can follow the math. I say, didn't this guy just put on the record the proof that the guy was STILL DRUNK? But I guess you're not open to pleas at this point? She just got a big smile and said "Thank you, thank you VERY MUCH! What did you do again? Compressor Mechanic on those little compressors in garages" Oh yeah, I work on them from time to time when I have to, normally the smallest thing I touch is 350HP, but generally it's 600HP to 1250HP. They can air up a lot of tires with one of those....QUICKLY! I saw the conviction of the guy listed in the paper later that next year (another 8 months had gone by before he went before the judge again!) I would love to be on more cases, I get paid to be there. It's just the waste of time to go and be honest and truthful . You say "Engineer" and you're bumped. Especially in Murder/Assault/Drug cases in my experience. And if they can't keep you off, VERY early in the trial the defense attorney will say something improper like 'Your honor my client is looking at 7 years here!' and that's all she wrote for your term of service (unless you're in Orange County, then it's back to the jury room till your 30 days is served...) I have come in the last few times with a "Seat or Release" demand. Either put me in a pool to get selected the first day, or release me. In Riverside county it's a one-day, one-trial service committment. This way I either get seated on Monday, or I go back to work/home and can do productive stuff for the economy. I do have the thought that they should jsut go to 'Jedge Dredd' justice for most offenses. If they let people participate in that, it would probably get more people interested. Maybe allow jurors to bring in rotten fruit and throw it as they saw fit during the trial...

Curiously, there was a sheep tied out to a telephone pole the other day. I slowed down the car to snap a photo, and it gave me this look, like 'Oh, not another one!' I figured since it was a 'working sheep' it wouldn't be worth the risk... What DO these guys down under do that makes their sheep so perceptive?

I suspect my wife conceals my summons so a bench warrant is issued, under they guise that it will keep in the country for a while. Last duty was January 2009, I'm due... I take the initial questions as a cat-and-mouse game. I no longer say 'Engineer', I say 'compressor mechanic'. When they say what kind of compressors, I say 'air compressors, like, you know, that you put air in your tires with and stuff'... I've been getting better at it, I've gotten empaneled the last couple of times. Time before last I was wearing the 'I want all burgulars dead, no trial, no parole, they try to hurt you---you shoot em dead!' Ted Nugent T-Shirt. Defense Attorney had me read the front of my shirt in to the Record! Then we go on break. Everybody in the panel (for the two alternates on the jury) laughed as we left the room saying "Oh you're out!" Came back from lunch, they seated the blonde girl who couldn't make up her mind if she was comfortable putting down a judgement on someone else. And then the people thanked Juror #248, Mr. Dighera who will be alternate #3. I mean, I was dumped every time I showed any intelligence, but this time I was pretty P.O. about getting called in as I had other things to do and was for sure this process was a total waste of time as I always got booted (and had been that way for close to 20 years at that point!) So I get on the jury, and a couple days in someone gets sick or something and drops out---has to be replaced. A day or so later someone has someone in their family die. They consider replacing him with blondie, juror alternate #2. I made the comment if she gets seated, and someone else has an infarction or something in the jury box, we're going to be in for the sex-crazed bozo show. Fellow jurors all looked at me and I said 'Right now the Defense Attorney is sweating bullets because he put me on this panel with the 'what the hell, what's the chances' attitude. But right now mr "Shoot the Burgular" is perched to get on this panel. If anybody so much as sneezes, that guy will go through hell to get a mistrial. I expect after a break he'll come back in with a Bozo the Clown suit and shoes, red hair and clown makeup, jump up on the defense table and start wanking at the judge to get a mistrial called... Thank goodness he didn't need to do that. I was ready to fry his client, but didn't get to cast a vote. Though the rest of the jury took five days in deliberations before they came up to that decision anyway...

They got a Jusco on Okinawa now? Man, a lot changes in 20 years...

Bank Wire Transfer should only be whatever the cost your bank charges for the service. Most larger companies will have a routing and ABA number for electronic fund deposits. Heck, I've had monies transferred to me that way, some Credit Unions in the USA don't charge for wire transfers to another CU in the same ATM network-guy pays my storage fees to my CU acct directly from the ATM by his apartment. I thinks I needs ta remine him he be obeydue on dat rent, two!

oooh, they have a 3.15 gear available? /Peggy Hill Voice/ "I did not know that!"

There is a REAL simple answer for that, which you won't like to hear: "You weren't looking for it." ozconnection can testify, this past Sunday, I stood in his dining room with the VERY book you mention and revealed where I got the information, and at that moment it all became obvious. It's there, right in front of you. It was there in front of him as well and he didn't find it in the book till I showed him the way. Unfortunately many people are very one-dimensional when it comes to learning. They think you just absorb what someone tells you. That, my friend, is a very big misconception! Understand something else, Frank Honsowetz didn't do anything to speak of in that book. The guy compiled what the people on the Electramotive (and other racing teams) chose to tell him. At the time the book was written, this engine was still in competition, competition which would add to Electramotive's headaches on-track. Like any professional race team they told him in the most general terms what they did. And while they told him a lot, they didn't tell him everything. But today, you can't carry a cel phone onto the production floor at Cosworth. Most places have you check any electronic gear up front before you go into the workshop. To paraphrase you "I wonder why..." Some people laugh at guys who buy Playboy for 'The Articles' when we all know it for the photos. But here you only read the words... Go look again and make the Homer Noises when you find what was there, looking at you all the time, right in the face, that you glossed over countless times before never LOOKING, never SEEING. You read, but you did not SEE. I hope that last bit was not to Zen for ya!

No, it's the damnable Vodaphone mobile broadband connection here in the 'sticks' of Lake McQuarrie NSW... Actually, the way IT has my computer configured with 'zspyfix' and 'spybot' on an autorun routine it bogs the processor and I never know when it will activate. I was so disgusted with 'site performance' because it was 'so slow' I figured it was time to donate so you guys could upgrade some stuff... I only now saw the triple post. But too late for me to delete them from my side, the delete button ain't there no more!

they dig that there, man! gwaaok gwaaok GWAAAAAAOKK!

Oh, I forgot to answer that, "TedNugent.com"... seriously, they sell the concert T's there. I ordered a pair of them so my son could wear it to school before he greaduates. The 'Shock and Awe' shirt he wore as a freshman was a conversation starter as well... There is an old 1973 Photo of Ted in a Loincloth holding two pistols which has recently been made into a 'T-Shirt on E-Bay' involving one of his quotes that went something like "I want burgulars dead, I want rapists dead, no trial, no jury, they try to hur you, just SHOOT EM!" That one 'went to school' as well.... Am I a 'bad parent'?

Speaking of 'showing his piece', my dad just sent me this link from the Detroit Free Press. I love their characterization of "People posting photos in expensive clothing and firearms" which made me think of this exact situation... And then I used valuable low-band connection time on my mobile modem to connect to post it here, such is my dedication... LOL http://www.detnews.com/article/20100316/BIZ04/3160389/1001/biz

What else can be said...sometimes cops have a hard time reconciling my outward appearance, usualy because of the apparel I'm wearing. Perhaps the perps do a little of the same. But c'mon... Some things should be obvious!

Methinks you misunderstood the ticket. The CVC clearly has a section regarding visible smoke, and...er....having been pulled over by the CHP in two separate incidences for 'excessive smoke' (which IS a citation worthy offense) I can say indeed the section exists. To Wit: CVC Section 27153. "No motor vehicle shall be operated in a manner resulting in the escape of excessive smoke, flame, gas, oil, or fuel residue. The provisions of this section apply to motor vehicles of the United States or its agencies, to the extent authorized by federal law." (Look on your ticket, dude, it tells you the CVC section you were cited for! You can even go online to check out what it says...exactly!) You can try and joke with the judge saying you were operating within 27156.3, I tried that on the second stop with the CHP, and he had to go to the cruiser and look it up. Came back LAUGHING and gave me an escort to the next offramp so I could pull over and call someone to come get me instead of giving me a ticket! A "Gross Polluter" is a separate classification and can only be rendered after failing a SMOG test. At any time a CHP or LE Officer in CA can pull you over because of smoke. They can also inspect you for operating smog equipment. If they suspect you are modified, they can cite you and send you to the referee. The 'exempt' cars are ones without an engine or chassis newer than 1954. That was the year the state strted emissions controls devices. Before that, nothing. 27157, 27157.5, and 27158 gives the 1955 date reference. Yeah, I been through this all before. They tell you what the rules are guys! It's all written down. You just take the time to read and it 'gets you things' in some instances!!! In 66 there were major changes like AIR injection, etc... And yes, those parts have to be on there if they stop you. The exhaust system section of the CVC, read and be amazed: http://law.justia.com/california/codes/veh/27150-27159.html The SCARIEST PART is the VERY LAST SECTION: 27159. "27159. Any uniformed member of the California Highway Patrol may order a vehicle stored when it is located within the territorial limits in which the member may act if requested by a representative of the State Air Resources Board to remove the vehicle from service pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 44011.6 of the Health and Safety Code. All towing and storage fees for a vehicle removed under this section shall be paid by the owner." Anybody know that an ARB guy can make that arbitrary decision and tell that local Chippy standing by to 'impound that one, officer'...Then you can argue the merits of Subdivision Section 44011.6 (f) of the Health and Safety Code... (it applies to heavy duty trucks, take it easy...) Like Frank Zappa says "Somebody comes to take your ride!"

Oh, and that 'to and from' is a 'commuter exception'---they are trying to do something they can't do. They have to define a 'reasonable commuting distance' to invoke that, and then 'to and from' the jobsite within those ranges, you don't get paid. If you drive 6 hours to one jobsite, then go ANOTHER 2 hours away, to another, they are on the hook for travel back of 8 hours. If you lived 2 horus from the office, then they wouldn't pay you for the first two hours and last two hours of the day as you would be doing that to and from the office anyway. But you are home - based. They are twising and misapplying a section of the labor code meant for people employed at a FIXED location doing OCCASIONAL field work. There is an instance of job-hopping assignments as an example on the labor board page describing what they are talking about, but I dont think it's applicable to you because of the distances. Really, you need to talk to the labor board! Heres some opinon letters on stuff from the Cal Labor Board Site. If you spend time in hotels, my suggestion is you start reading the codes. They are VERY eye opening. Travel Time (Page 6, Item #2---printing these out and leaving them where HR people are, with the applicable parts highlighted sometimes 'brings change' without ever having to say anything. It's best nobody see you drop them off. Mailing to the office from some faraway state helps add mystery...) http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/opinions/1994-02-16.pdf More Travel Time Stuff: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/opinions/2002-02-21.pdf http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/opinions/1989-12-07.pdf http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/opinions/2003-04-22.pdf Generally interesting reading: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/opinions/1986-12-01.pdf http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/opinions/1997-02-21-2.pdf http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/opinions/1993-01-07.pdf

Only out $2k a week? hope you got that on an Airlines Miles Card, or two, and rotate them so you get miles on there! I'm at $28K right now. Yeah, I get BIG expense checks. Costs add up, I can tell you're local! They are SO SCREWED. What they WANT and what the LAW requires them to PAY are two different things. And what they are trying now is based on you being a 'salaried management' employee. You do the work hands-on, right? If so, you have to be paid hourly. If the truck is at your house, and you have no office to report to, YOU ARE PORTAL TO PORTAL and have to be paid as such. There are some logical exemptions (You don't get paid to go from the hotel to dinner, for instance. You don't get paid if you sleep while driving your truck. You don't get paid, generally for time spent sleeping or eating...as long as it's in a designated area for those activities.) but generally you should be paid from the time you leave to the time you arrive. If they have not negotiated a 'travel rate' beforehand, then it's at your full hourly rate. They CAN pay you a lower rate for travel, but that lower rate works towards overtime. If you work it right, you maximize overtime. If they play the federal game, you get paid 1.5X for driving home. I always was travelling home on overtime... You are a 'remote employee' and the benefits are great... the company needs to get a call from the labor board to straighten them out. What usually works is sending HR a link to the applicable pages on the CA Labor Board Website that will detail the penalties for non-compliance. Another ding they try is 'split shifting' where they call the evening the 'next day'---and that doesn't work either. Law says you start at X time on Monday, your time starts that time EVERY DAY FOR THE WEEK. Meaning if they ask you to leave early on Monday Morning (say 4AM) but the prior week you were leaving at 7AM the week previous, TECHNICALLY AND LEGALLY you are likely entitled for 1.5X time from 4AM to 7AM monday (as it techincally is the last three hours of sundays workday, and if you worked 40 hours the prior week, that is overtime!) That's a hair splitter, and only really applies if you were working on the weekend, then it comes into doubletime anyway. They are playing typical games. Lots of times companies based in a state where Federal LAw is the only one taking precedence will do this in CA. They get a rude awakening. Lots of the HR people take general FEDERAL labor law courses, but CA is different! I went through 40 hours of CA specific labor relations and law course, lots of that changed, then changed back again... These people aren't following the law. Call them on it. And it doesn't have anything to do with the economy. Companies are ALWAYS doing this stuff. Esepcially smaller branches or places where some whiz-kid MBA has taken over from outside the state. They are betting if nobody compalins they get away with it. This was the case with IR. Got a new MBA to run the division, and he came out flatly stating 'we aren't having 50 pay policies for 50 states'---when I worked at another company that actually CARED about it's employees, that's EXACTLY what they said they would do if that is what they had to do! They are also the company that sent me to the labor board courses for CA! Long story short, Mr. MBA saved some money shaving my time going by Kentucky Labor Law, and while I didn't lodge with the CA Labor Board (I did, then took 6 months to get them off me for followup, they were like rabid dogs to sink their teeth into a big company!) I did follow internal protocols to get the money owed me. Even at that I was shorted as three months of heavy overtime records were 'lost' in the 'failsafe record keeping server' in Davidson... If I'd gone after them for what I was owed according to CA standards, it would have DOUBLED my take. I'd start keeping SCRUPULOUS manual records, do it all in writing. Make them aware they are in violation of state payment requirements. E-Mail is good for that. Find another job, and if they haven't done right by you by then, file the complaint the day you give your notice. Tell the Labor Board you left because of the pay issues and them acting like they didn't have to follow the law. That should get a good response. Nice thing about doing it this way, they calculate what you're owed. You are not an employee. Therefore, you get a SETTLEMENT CHECK. (eventually) And know what? That's not taxable! The more records you have when you go in, the better. I'll PM you with something else.

I'm hosed, just got the notice to give another guy a briefing on OH&S induction for Sydney/Eraring. I guess I won't be heading back to Oz.... To yetterben, Okamura said he bid. We'll see how it goes on that FET manifold.

As has been posted here, the ITS cars are close to that with an L24 and SU's, unported head, stock Nissan cam, stock cast pistons... L24's in RACING trim (forged pistons, or hell, MONZSTER's Car...) can be closer to 300HP using forged pistons, worked head, cam, etc... Not saying it doesn't take effort to get 300HP, but using alternate induction, porting, and a cam getting 200HP from an L24 is easier than trying to get it from the stock pieces (and it CAN be done!)

There IS a 'vacuum diagram' in the FSM. Shows where all these things go. There isn't a unified one, it's in each applicable section. Portions that deal with the A/C and heater controls will be in that section. EGR will be in Emissions. Most of the manifold stuff will be detailed in EF (Engine Fuel)... Additionally, under the hood, if it wasn't painted over or destroyed in the fire, is the emissions hose routing diagram.

Randy, take this from me, a fellow Californian who has had the EXACT same job description you now have... The labor board will CRUCIFY THEM for not paying. What you have to determine is where your normal zone of work is, or office. At most, they can say you have to 'give up' the normal commuting time to go to the office. After that, they pay. Period. Stuck in traffic, THEY PAY. It's portal to portal. The big thing is 'are they charging for the time travelled to the customer'---if they are, you have to be paid for it or they are committing mail fraud when they mail out the invoices. If you are 'home based' and dispatched from the house every morning to a job then your time starts and ends at point of dispatch. I worked for three different major companies based back east, and every time they tried that crap, HR called up the consulting line to the Cal Labor Board, and RAPIDLY changed their tune. Other things to note: Daily overtime. You work over 8 hours daily, you are paid 1.5X. Period. They have you working 4 10's witohut a written agreement: 2 hours overtime, retroactive for up to the last three years. Work at least four hours every day of the week? 1.5X for all the hours on Saturday, 2X for all the hours on sunday (7th day worked). CA is one of the few states which actually has doubltime codified in statute. If they don't want to pay, park their truck at the shop, drive into the shop and check it out every day and then drive to the jobsites. Make sure you're back at the shop at the end of the day. Do that for a couple of weeks and they will start to see their cheapassed ways don't help them, or their customers. One thing you NEED to do is keep track of your time. Starting, stopping, and lunch/breaks. I ran a daily log with entries for starting out in the morning and when I returned home. If I ate in the truck on the way to a job---THAT IS NOT LUNCH IN CALIFORNIA! That is chargeable time. For a while I simply turned in the time as I did it and told them "change the time cards yourself and let me know what you're paying me, and make sure I know who changed them---make sure they sign them and give me a copy for my records" If they are so stupid to actually DO that... the labor board will crucify them! CRUCIFY THEM! All it takes is one guy to say 'yeah, they're doing it to all the guys in field service' and they will (the labor board) send in auditors and aske everybody in a sneaky friendly way how they are treated, how long they work, do you get paid for all the time you're working, do you get paid for the drive time to and from jobs... Then they nail the company. I;ve been on both sides of this equation, being management first. AFter that experience it boggles my mind why managers still argue about this stuff, it's black-letter law. There is no disputation. Basically, if you are hands-on----your hourly. I'm classified differently now since I actually DO manage/supervise people. It's just that the past year they have all been so incompetent or green that I've had no choice but to do the work hands-on myself while training them! But these people PAY me on time, and I know what I'm due. Which is another thing, they have to give you a statement you can read and understand regarding your overtime, and your overtime must be paid in a 'timely' fashion.