Tony D

Hey, just a suggestion, but I've seen the bits firsthand, and they are nice! They won't do what happened to you. Check out the fabricator's CV from reading his website: http://www.va-motorsport.com/index.php?page=1 For a dedicated or part-time track car, bushings at that point add un-required compliance. The only reason they are there is with the existing design, bushings are required for up and down movement of the lower arm, and the OEM rubber deadens chassis resonance with an impact. Unfortunately they let the wheel deflect under braking (sometimes at different rates!), and are just a pain to get right. Solid is nice. But you hit a whack, and you will hear it.

Yes, 16:1 at cruise is not anything untoward. Fuel cut being properly set up will eliminate the put-put-put...and if you lean it out, chances are there won't be enough HC in the exhaust for one put, much less a three-putter. On turbos, past the torque peak, you can pull much more fuel than you would think. Even on JeffP's heavily modified setup, we were closer to 13:1 than 12:1 past the torque peak!

"There are some customers you don't want!" The 'salesmen' that I refer to usually don't make that distinction. My former "Bunghole Boss" was one of them. (did you do it that way on purpose? LOL, JC, I've actually used that line in a 'friendly' way to try and get an honest answer...usually, if it's to that point...the answer is 'yes' and you can sit back and be entertained with the story of the logic they used to come up with whatever it was they did! LOL) "She does not have a language problem" LOL, I'm going to have to remember that one!

I'm as late as JGK is on finding this thread. What did I ever do to get put on the 'blame list' for that thing? Nice shots!

Not if you pack the tube with axle grease first... I thought we covered chip retention procedures when using chip producing implements like taps/drills/chisels. In a Cylinder, Foamy Shaving Cream works well...can't rightly pack the combustion chamber with grease when you retap the plug threads head-on-engine, now can you? Sometimes, I wonder...

I just happened to snag the October 2008 Top Gear Issue on the flight to Singapore yesterday, and it had a 'buyers guide' of all the cars available in europe... The highest manufacturer's claim in those numbers was 68.9mpg. And that may be Imperial Gallons... Those were the little 1.4L Citroens, a 1.4L Skoda, and curiously the Mini Diesel Clubman Estate...which got better mileage for some reason than the normal Diesel Cooper which registered something like 65. So the '100mpg' claim is pretty much shot in the hiney. Close to 70, yes. Driven conservatively you might eke out 85... But 100? Not in a currently available production diesel, and if we are going by 'common' mileage figures, it was more 'common' to be in the 50's than anywhere else. Even large cars like BMW 7's were in the mid 40's. The BMW 180's did well, but not as good as the Citroen and Skoda. Then again, who wants to buy a Citroen or Skoda?

Nice Bug!

They are all identical, up to and including the Mr. Fusion unit. The 280 Fusion Unit is more powerful, be sure to swap the inverter assembly with the converter as well if doing a transplant...

"Technical Sales" as you put it Markham is as much education of a customer to what their real needs are, as opposed to selling something to move iron and make your sales quota for the month/quarter/etc... Sadly, with the emphasis on 'growth' driving most sectors and large companies, the focus is usually more on numbers than actually selling the people something they need. Generally, the attitude is 'Move the Iron, once it's on the site, it's theirs and the service department can sort it out. This has been the universal attitude in many of the companies I have dealt with...most times either through inadequate questioning of a customer's needs (takes too much time, gotta move that iron) or at worst some incompetent/arrogant/WAG at what they need just to move something...and the customer gets someting misapplied. "Application Engineer" is the term for many new grads put into sales positions. The newest company I'm with links an experienced Service Engineer to each of the new Application Engineers. Someone from Technical Services has a say on the front end of the design process when the unit is being specified, instead of just a bunch of guys who have never been in the field, and only have a 'sales' background. This unique linkup gives them someone who will tell them the mistakes of the past, and tell them what to look out for when reading specs, querying the customer, etc. In many cases, the Service Engineer may go to the site and do a survey to make sure the Application is correct. There are legions of 'salesmen' out there pounding on doors and trying to sell people compressors. And they will do some amazingly stupid things and make promises that can never possibly be kept to do the deal and get the iron in place. And these are the guys who usually make it and stick around to supervise the new Ap Engineers when they start with the company. Sadly, at the last three places I worked, fresh new engineers were thrown into the fray under the direct supervision of another Application Engineer (who has never set foot in the field) and they compound the same mistakes over and over and over. This last place made the change when they split off from the 'old company' and it was driven by the CEO and Sales Director knowing exactly this situation exists and couldn't wait to change it. At "Big Blue" I actually had coordinators who had never seen a compressor before they got the job ("He comes to us from G.E.-angels sing-where he worked as a stockroom assistant in charge of logistics and load planning of strategic widget support parts.") and then start fielding customer calls for technical service inquiries and service calls! Some of the stuff they promised through sheer ignorance just made me shake my head. But, hey, they booked service hours, and that was their job. And it doesn't matter that a 20 minute phone call would have solved it, we billed a day labor. Course, the customer is a bit upset by our ovaricious activities...'Good Service Sells Itself'. Hey, I LOVE when the new kids come ask questions...anything I can stop before it goes out the door is less issues I have to deal with during commissioning/startup/the next 20 years in service! Your style of sales, while 'ideal' is far from what is practiced in many larger firms, Markham. Too often it's 'move the iron and let service sort it out after we get the numbers booked'... I'd say that is the more dominant paradigm. And that pretty much sums up, for the Air Compressor Industry at least, why salesmen are uinversally despised. They simply lie too damn much. They are no different than many stereotypical used-car-salesmen. Now, the funny thing was, when I was in those shoes...I took a different approach. I arrived in a truck, with a tool kit. I wore proper attire for the area (not a suit and loafers), and went in the back door like some mechanic arriving for a service call. I worked with maintenance engineers setting up service plans and PM Programs...and universally I would get a comment 'Oh, you're not a salesman, you actually know what you're talking about!' I mean, that's a direct quote. It's really that bad in many industries. "I can sell ice cubes to eskimoes" Attitued. Hubris and B.S. will snow the customer long enough to make the sale...then it's the service departments problem!" And I think that is what some of these guys are getting at about 'salesmen'... Asking specific technical questions as a sales rep is one thing...but really, if an Engineer is worth his salt, most of the information is out there in specs on the equipment and you can base a decision on that. What the rep comes in to do is make sure they interpreted the information correctly, and look for things they may have overlooked. Selling patch equipment is a bit different than buying a car, refrigerator, or T.V. set. Some principles are similar, but the application is far from universal and takes specific knowledge to apply correctly.

JUST finished filling up the Hire Car here, and paid 119,850 IdR for 20 Litres of Pertamina Solar Super 95... 6000 IrR per litre, so Let's see, at 10,000 IdR for $1US that makes it slightly under $12 for 5.3 Gallons... what's that, about 0.60 Cents a litre, or about $2.40 a gallon for unleaded 95 octane super. Wow, that's a big jump from the last time I was here, then it was like 0.06 cents a litre. I remember the gas riots when the price subsidies went away and the price tripled almost overnight to 0.20. Looks like it's escalated a bit... This is a stone's throw from Australia, so why the price difference? 0.60 Cents per litre, compared to $1.60AU? It's all bought on the same market. The reasons Americans have 'big engines' is cheap petrol? Sure, in part. But why is your petrol almost 4X the price of your neighbors to the north? You'll never see it itemized on the receipt. Hell, when I visited Venezuela in 2005, it was 0.12 cents a gallon for unleaded super!

What do you guys think the returned frictional decrease would be at double that speed? The eaten "Frankfurt Reply" was a discussion of "area under curve at a set lift figure" and boiled down to the supposition that if you have a head that is already ported to it's potential for flow, then the only way to make it flow 'more' is to somehow increase the area under the curve of the valve being open and flowing. So it gets into the ramping issues Braap Discussed, as well as some modifications beyond the original design parameters wherein the cam towers are reworked to allow a split design, removing a lift constraint imposed by cam bearing diameters... And in the summary I basically agreed with Mortensen that the application would not be a street friendly setup. It could be but it's not the focus of the development at this point in time. There are places where something turning 9000+ rpms would welcome frictional reduction and the ability to have an agressive ramp on the cam, yet retain valve control with lighter springs. I'll give you a hint: Driving in Michigan during December got nothing on the salt spray you encounter where it's envisioned to be used. Well, I've gotten about 4 hours sleep in the last 62, and I'm about to go melt into my bed after taking a shower. And then get up to go to work in about another 10 hours. Sleep is not cumulative...

Whatever you do, don't sign anything till you get the shipping quote finalized. The old 'bait and switch' can occur and then they have your cargo and want 5X the price to release it! But the above mentioned prices look about right for an engine. Anywhere from 300 to 750 cross country the 'long way'. it does pay to shop around.

But don't you know? You have to show your work! First you have to convert to CF/Hr by dividing by 24... Second, you convert to CF/M by dividing that by 60... The fact that 24X60=1440 and makes for a direct conversion is just 'too far outside the box'... Perhaps you should stay within the lines, Bo. The lines are your friends. Stay within the lines... Of course, he may have had a marketing course in his past, and therefore 'Just guess, and we'll make it up on ASI Revisions during commissioning'... (ASI= Additional Scope Items) I am done spending a week chasing 83 Pounds Per Hour of 'Capacity Shortfall' here in Bonny Island. I found it. A blind flange up in the pipe rack for the 'weak machine' that was not 'blind'... "Hey, what is this '125' on the blind mean?' "Oh, that is a 125mm Orifice Plate." Then why is it shown on the P.I.D. as a blind? "Oh, that's wrong, it should be a blind." Think the pressure differential between this system and that system might bleed over that missing 83 PPH? Think it might explain why you're getting all that 'wet air' downstream as well, even though the dryers are showing -58 Dewpoints? Not bad work considering I was here to supervise removal of two redundant, superflous, useless, troubleprone solenoids in their inlet guide vane control scheme (that they insisted be there)... "While you're here (and since we control flights in and out, and we have you hostage...) can you help us find the issue on your compressor why it's not delivering capacity and won't pass it's acceptance test?" Sure, what other option do I have... Not like I can get my own boat and leave. The pirates out there got AK's and like to shoot up 'long pig'! (Or so I hear!)

The front resonator on the Trust system is a 'common chamber' design, meaning that I suspect it has much the same effect as an 'X' pipe or crossover in the exhaust at that point. I think if that crossover was accomplished, you could go with one can out back. Or a pair of them. It's not like it's hard to install/remove to do testing. Don't know the effect or requirement of the crossover on the turbo application, but I know with the turbo on it the car is much quieter than when it was N/A, so maybe a double set of tubes back to a pair of cans in the back would be totally acceptable.

Well, that was a long,detailed response that the Frankfurt Wireless Internet System ate. I shant type it again.

That is a grossly inaccurate assumption to make. Perhaps the people who paid good money for the rights to the existing research are sitting on it? Perhaps because nobody wants to actually pay for the information themselves, or to in anyway amortize any investment in R&D, sourcing, etc... Maybe one guy bought the head, and the other guy bought the rocker arms and all the relevant information. Surmise all you want, but because you haven't seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. That is downright foolhardy, especially in light of the above commentary from JeffP and myself surrounding the subject. Sharing information is great when you are the recipient of free information. Giving it up when it represents a potential competitive disadvantage is equally foolhardy. "Sharing" information will come in due time, after some events take place. But pressing the issue isn't going to make it happen any quicker.

Of all the places I stuck my Magnahelic and Digital Manometers while running pressure tests in my 240ZT, I never stuck it in the exhaust. I really have to do that some time. I plan on bumping my horsepower another 100HP when the car goes back together, and I figure the twin 50mm setup has been on there long enough, and it's time to put it on my Fairlady Z... I picked up the mandrel bends and SS tubing to replicate the system in 2.5" tubing which should give me plenty of flow potential (yes yes, I know, John Coffee, "at the expense of weight and complexity") But I like the way the Greddy system hangs from all the stock hangers and doesn't bump anyplace, or hang down any more than a bone stock system does. Plus, it's decently quiet. The system I'm going to replicate will likely be louder as the mufflers and resonator Greddy used was pretty heavy. Almost OEM specification stuff. Very durable. I mean, it was purchased new in 1978 by the original owner who put it on an HS30H (original Fairlady 240Z-G), who sold the car to the guy I bought the system from when he was upgrading to the Stainless Steel Greddy System (yeah, like $1750 in 1985!) Original muffler and resonator on it to this day. Not a bad deal for a $40 used part! WOO HOO! New they were $700 in 1985. Ask Alan Thomas, I'm sure he has a source...he has a source for everything! LOL

Google it, Summit Racing, Autozone, PepBoys, Kragen, Checker, O'Rilley, Napa....they all sell the Facet Replacement Pumps. Little solid state affairs that go 'tick tick tick tick' Only good for 3-5 psi usually. Self regulating. I think the first generation Mazda RX7's even had them... That Holley, is BIG, and NOISY. The one I'm talking about would likely fit in the palm of your hand and not extend over the edges. I can close my fist around mine and almost conceal it. I have a bunch of them laying around, they work great for pumping fuel out of old tanks, transferring fuel, etc... Self priming. THey work as well up front in this duty as out back as a total pusher. Depends on what you want to do with it. Mine is just there to refill the bowls after it's been sitting and it is easy to get to where I did it, so no switch or anything. If your bottom tubes are really flexible, they are the right ones. You don't want THICK walled hose, they should look almost like aquarium vinyl tubing and be as flexible. And some have a prebend in them. You don't want conventional stuff on there as it's too stiff and it will side-load the jet and can wear it out, or make the needle touch and wear a groove in it if you are using the starter system reularly. Me? I'm helping with an SU EFI replacement...screw all that carburettor business! LOL

There is a manufacturer in Europe (VA Motorsport Engineering) that makes these items with a BMW Inner Tie Rod End in the spot where yours broke. Allows for proper solid mounting, and gives a nice frictionless spherical ball joint that is very strong in compression. Adjustment fore/aft is done with a hexagonal piece in the middle of the rod and two jamb nuts like on a tie rod. I believe this has passed scrutineering in FIA Group 4, which should clear most any sanctioning body... Yours broke as someone said from a deflecting moment. If the rod was only in compression, the thread would not have had itself set up as a stress point from a movement of the A-Arm up and down. Hopefully my description was good enough you can visualize the component and go 'blimey, I can make that!' Failing that, contact Adrian (Ad) at VA Motorsport Engineering in Rotterdam and I'm sure he can ship you a set for an appropriate fee.... Muahahaha!

How about simply relaxing safety standards? At what point do you get diminishing returns? I would argue that I'm just as confident driving a 1968 VW Beetle as I am driving an early 90's Civic! The safety 'weight' is a moot argument, really. The 'weight penalty' is not appreciably more now than 10 or 15 years ago. What you DO have is electric everything, Windows, A/C, Seats... I mean, when was the last time you can remember a car, with roll-up windows and no A/C? The VX is no more because the emissions regulations changed, more than the 'weight increased due to increased safety requirements'... I have said it before, I'll say it again: a 2003 Air Cooled VW Beetle would suit me just fine (as sold in Mexico that year)... I walked on the lot, and for just over $6300 I could get one with EFI, Velour Interior, and A/C! What other car, on the face of the planet, in 2003 could you walk into a dealer's showroom and buy for $6300 and KNOW this vehicle and chassis was going to last for the next 35 years? I mean, we are talking a design for the vehicle that was done in 1934 for gawd's sakes, and in 2003 was still in production with a proven reliability track record that provided the basic needs of commuter traffic and decent emissions! Sure, only about 34mpg, but it's also $6300! Would it meet crash standards? No. But I can drive a 68 Beetle on the roads without being restricted. The same basic car. It should be my choice. If the emissions are compliant, I should be able to insure myself as required, and drive what I want. But we are digressing away from the Aero Content of this thread, now...aren't we?

Yes, you can remove it with a stepped-punch from the oil pan side, but trying a tap in the ID and screwing a bolt in and a tap tap taping from a small slide hammer will also work without having to uncork your gasket on the pan... As Braap said, 'shavings will get inside the engine' but then again if the engine is cold, you can pack axle grease down inside the tube before you run your tap into it and almost totally preclude that possibility as well... But if you want to pull the pan....you can...

Truthfully, I will have a far more enjoyable time watching junior college ball (there are like six teams+ near me that I can watch), and High School every Friday nite during the season. And then as a real substitute for first rate pro ball playing, Rugby Union (Go All Blacks!). Of course, there is the Packers, which I was indoctrinated into in 1966/67 and had a loooong wait after that. The new 'celebration and taunting' rules changes are only going so far---sadly there was a time when it was simply not done, they didn't need a rule. I think positive messages by the coaches like Singletary made will do far more to get player's heads back where they 'should' be. And when other players start putting peer pressure to stop the 'me me me' clown antics so many self-important bozos are out there doing it will be better for the game, and for spectators. To make a confession, the Rugby Union thing... I was in Wiggan at a local match between Wiggan and Liverpool. In the 'stands' simply because I showed an interest to one of the guys at the shop in seeing a match. I watched a guy, literally, almost get his ear torn off! The game did not cease. He quickly ran to the sidelines where a trainer who had sprinted up with some tape made two quick wraps around his head, patted him on the back as he ran back to the scrum full speed. The emotion I felt at that point, the involvement and link I felt to see someone with that kind of injury not let down his team, nor his fans... It's something I have not really felt nor witnessed with the NFL in a loooooong time. When the Match is over, the guys are spent. They don't have so much energy to jump around like buffoons and dance. To me, that says they didn't put it all in, and that's not what I'm paying for, especially at that level. Go back to less padding, slow the game down to where tackling someone instead of putting a 'sting' on him is more important. Hell, just let someone get up and start running if they aren't tackled... Knocking someone down and hitting is one thing. But simply making yourself a human guided missle with a one-hit potential wasn't what the game was about for me. it takes skill out of it IMO, and just puts in some quick meat to throw into the fray onto the field. It's like a Kurosawa Epic: "Blood, Mud, Victory or Death!" I am an anachronisim...LOL

Decal from 1970's vintage racing sled I once owned: "Carburettors Equipped for Methanol Change Diaphragms After Each Racing Day" That has not changed in 37 years... If we want to parse the pressure argument, it 'can' work at any pressure, it just depends on the nozzle design. Bette Fog Nozzles make a nice impingement nozzle (stainless steel) that will give superfine atomization spray well below 60 psi. The key is to get the droplets fine enough that they readily vaporize and remove the latent heat from the intake charge. Given Methanol's low boiling point, you can get a relatively large droplet size and still have complete vaporization (compared to something like water, or gasoline, for instance). Ultimately the droplet size from the nozzle will be determined by the distance the droplet has to travel while changing state, and the airflow velocity at the injection point. The further you have to travel, and the higher velocity you have, as well as the higher heat, the larger the droplet size you can tolerate and still get total vaporisation. The modern systems using super high pressures (relative to older systems) allow you to place the nozzle almost anywhere and still get total change-of-state from liquid to vapor, removing the maximum ammount of heat possible. In the old days, a carburettor jet, on a windshield washer pump, spraying into the turbo inlet gave the same results, having turbo outlet temperatures in the low 100F range, instead of 2 to sometimes 3X that value. But there is a lot of 'impingement and heat' going on in that system, as opposed to the stuff today where it comes in superfine mist for flashing in relatively low temperatures (allowing inlet temps below ambient when used with an intercooler)...and that is the final word on the high pressure: because it's so high, it can atomise so finely, it allows injection into low-temperature airflows and STILL remove heat from them. But the stock pump? No. Cold Start Injector? No.

That's a resounding no. The cam profile and metallurgical composition is much different in a roller cam, as well as the profile. As stated above, there 'once' was a vendor, but he passed on, and his developmental work was sold to someone doing the research on his own, in private, at his own cost.

JeffP gave a part number for the bolt from (I think) a KA24. It is slightly longer so you have more threads gripping for more torque application ability. In addition he posted something about the 1/2" thick Volvo Washer he uses to keep it from 'belling' under the torque you can put on it. Really, the thing should fit snugly if not tightly...and the clamping force of the bolt to the snout of the crank should clamp the balancer between the wahser and the shoulder of the crank where it abuts (squeezing the slinger, drive gear, etc VERY tightly). Can't do that with a thin washer. The numbers may be on JeffP's anglefire website as well, 'Extreme280ZXT'.