thrustnut

We had a bad hail storm back about four years ago here in Bend, golf ball sized hail. The Cessna aircraft plant had something like 150 fiberglass aircraft parked out on the ramp when it came up. ALL had hail damage requiring repair. Sorry to hear about this, when mother natures gets in a bad mood, watch out.

Like a lot of you out there I had my car before my Wife, I got it when I was a Senior in High School. It has been with me through lots of G/F's, hard times, moves across country (Cali, Alaska, Georgia, Oregon) and short of saving my house/Wife/Kids, it will be with me until it (or me) dies.... and chances are if it tries to die, I'll just patch it back together and keep it another 20 years. She understood before we got married that working on it was a big part of my life, and she has no problems with me spending time/money on it- as long as I know the limit. That is to say, don't rack up credit cards with car debt, only spend money I have on it and if I can't afford it right now, save up till I do. As far as the time thing, a couple hours here and there is no problem, but if I push it and spend a weekend out in the garage (unless she is studying) I get to hear about it. She's not so much into the "import" scene, which frankly neither am I, short of my Z. Her biggest question is when am I gonna be done playing with the Z and help he build a "real car". She wants and old Chevelle or Nova, and she wants to build the engine herself. How can you resist a good looking woman building a V-8? I believe this infection to be transferred by blood through the generations. My grandfather built and raced midgets back in the 40's and 50's, then moved on to Porches when my Dad was a kid, which infected my Dad, who built numerous cars from V.W. sand rails to a bad a$$ 67 Firebird, and then opened his own Mercedes shop when I was a kid. Now here I am 30 years later, I believe I stepped it up a notch working on aircraft (you can't argue with 5,000 SHPX 4 Eng). I have two daughters, my youngest is five, and when she rides in the Z she gets a big smile and says "Daddy, you drive to slow... make it go FASTER!"

I bought 280Z fender emblems from him a couple years back that where in "excellent condition, with two pins missing" and got some faded old looking ones with the chrome peeling and double sided tape on the backs because the where missing all but one or two pins on the back. I asked him about it and he said " What do you expect for 10.00?" They where unuseable and went to the trash.

Well then he should be grounded! We all know it's not safe to be unsafe! You can't just brake the rules, the FAA should hang him. Or maybe I don't understand the subtleties of aviation, I am a car guy after all. But wait... I think I remember pulling all the cylinders of a Piper Seminal for a AD last night... must be my imagination... Just to make myself clear, Sully IS a hero, no matter what rules he broke. Along with the passengers of the Christmas flight who took out that terrorist. Good stuff, and I hope that I would respond the same way in that situation.

Once again, I stand corrected. You never would have taken off in the first place with all those pesky birds in the area. It's a wonder you ever fly at all with all the inharrent dangers.

Rolling Parts could have done it better- Just ask him

I think its kinda funny... one of the members says "it shows what a big family we are". Well... If you vote like 20 times, wouldn't that make it like a weird southern inbred family? Any one can add bolt on's to a mustang, yes it's a sharp looking car, but nowhere near the time investment or quality of the BOZ.

Do you have any friends in the automotive industry where you live? The best thing would be to find out what day and time the dealer will be at a shop near you. I know our Mac and Matco guys make a special stop for my shift (we work nights at the local airport) but they won't make any special stops at my house or anything like that unless they are droping of a tool box or somthing.

I don't mind paying for a good tool. I bought a new style Matco impact quality 3/8 universal that's completely non-binding, which is important when your torquing hard to reach wing bolts on aircraft. It was 40.00 for the tool, but like the saying goes... you never complain about having bought a nice tool. That being said, nothing wrong with Harbor Freight/ Craftsman/ Husky for weekend projects. (That's what's in my garage)

That's funny, I did the same thing when I was rebuilding the forks on my dirt bike. I got sick of fishing the sockets/adapters/extensions out of them, so I taped them together. We had aluminum "seat rods" when I worked on C-130's that we used as extension bars on our ratchets. They where perfect size on the inside for a 3/8 ratchet handle, the outside was nice and smooth, they where about 18" long and light. Perfect!

I agree with MAG, IR makes some GREAT air tools.

Ebay is a good place for brand name tools (Snap-on, Mac, Matco, ect) which are all excellent tools, but better if you have a way to get them fixed or replaced if they break. I go there for allot of my stuff, but I'm a mechanic and have access to all the local tool trucks. Craftsman and Husky (Home Depot's brand) are good tools for the weekend mechanic and are replaceable if they let you down. My Dad has Craftsman tools older then me, so you know they will last.

I like it. Simple and to the point.

What did I tell ya?

Here we go with the "Someone put allot of time and effort into that, don't make fun of it" thing again. BTW, I think it's fugly

First, how do you not know your back tires arn't spinning? Second... none of his "friends" thought to stop him from destroying his clutch? With friends like those...

I just put my vote in. Looks like you pretty much got this wrapped up unless there's a huge swing in the next few days. Good luck and amazing car!

My Uncle was like that. My Dad bought a 72 Ford Ranchero from him in the early 90's. The first thing he did was change the oil, he pulled the plug and nothing came out. My uncle said he would just add oil to in once in a while when it "seemed low". That was my first engine build.

I like your style Tony, some things do need a personal touch to get your point across. That just might be the Italian in me coming out though...I had a couple buddy's back in Georgia that where into the GTP thing, got scammed over some parts and found out the guy only lived fifty or so miles from us. A bunch of them (I said them) went on a "road trip" one weekend and came back with money and parts. Pretty cool when things work out.

No pics, sorry. He was our fab guy when I worked at Epic, it was just his personal side project. The first bike was modeled after a WW2 style Harley, and I herd he started another. Not sure what this one is gonna look like, I just know he wanted to build something he could put a 2 cyl. diesel in. He's a real quiet guy, not the kind of guy to try to sell (or even post pictures on the net) any of his bikes.

I know a local guy who fabricates custom motorcycles with one and two cylinder diesel engines. He's not into it for the fuel economy, he just wanted to build something different. Gotta respect that.

I guess it's cool in it's own way, but at some point you need to weigh realistic driveability against fuel consumption. It may be ok empty around town, but loaded (it is a WORK truck) or at highway speeds, maybe not so good. I like the 250HP idea, the torque something like that puts out must be amazing. All that said, my only consideration for fuel when building my engine is that it would need it to run... how much? Who cares!

Anyone else see him slam the little car under the hood of the truck and take off? No big deal... just kinda funny

If I posted this ad I would have to keep the Z to sleep in

They did this at SGMP down in Valdosta, Ga. I think maby it's just a red-neck thing to do. The dumbest thing I have ever seen on a 1/4 mile track was there. Between rounds they decided to take two old beeters down the track in reverse. One pounded the wall pretty good and spread parts and oil all over the track right before the traps... you know, right where your at your top speed and need to brake... great job guys!