tannji

I remember when the Solstice was still a concept... the Hard-Top version was pretty sick. Looks almost as good in production. I REALLY hate to say it, but in normal budget production cars, I like this as well as anything out there, and the power-plant seems to be good, durable with lots of performance potential. I could see that being my next project in 5 to 10 years. Grill treatment would be the first upgrade though = )

I used a similar HF helmet for my welding class a couple of years ago. I started wearing a beanie (weld cap) on my second day = ) I picked up the basic concept quickly, but after about a week I suddenly couldnt weld to save my life. Spent hours trying to correct my technique, settings, etc... then the instructor saw the front protective lens and suggested a magical (and obvious) fix. Problem was, my local HF doesn't carry replacement lenses, and were actually exchanging complete helmets for new ones so you could get the extra 2 spares that come with the new ones. That is my single gripe with the cheap HF and similar helmets... odd sized lenses that you have to either cut yourself or search for. Otherwise, I think they are a good value, considering that most of the commonly available helmets from Jackson, Miller, Lincoln, or Hormel cost at least 4X more. My current helmet is uses a Nexgen lens, should be interesting to see if it will work in the 5 to 30 amp range with my cheap TIG.

try that test test again and play around with as much of the harness as you can reach. See if it has any obvious breaks in the harness where the wires could short, especially near the point where the harness is attached to the chassis of the vehicle. Also check the obvious, like the area around the two contacts on the sender.

Mine when disconnected read empty. When jammed against the bracket, it read half full. If yours worked and now reads full all the time, I would guess that you have a short that is running the full current through the circuit, and not limiting the current as the arm in the tank moves across it's windings. Also possible that the arm is jammed, but I would doubt it.

LOL... I wonder how many people will even get what you are talking about... but for better or worse, the guy sure had an impact on a lot of people, not to mention the global economy = )

I will put this kindly, before one of the warhorses decides to weigh in = ) You need to do a search on this subject before posting. Even on this site, which will probably tend to lean against the STS system, there have been a couple of long drawn-out discussions about STS. The kit has no inherent boost limit, other than the normal limits any other turbo system has. 7 PSI is probably, but necessarily the safe limit for your engine without significant mods. The kit can be easier to install, if you actually buy the kit and install as intended, on the vehicle it was intended for. If you decide to build your own from scratch, it will be complicated, and have results that justify some of the stereotypes normally posted against the STS system. The turbo location means you are losing some of your thermal efficiency, and to some degree this is offset by gaining some charge-air cooling. To increase boost and net power, you will still need intercooling and/or alchy injection. The loss in power or efficiency from remote mounting does not have the hugely negative affect that many would have you think.... as long as the system is designed and installed properly. You will see boost come on slightly later than in a front mount... but countless knowledgeable and industry experienced installers have expressed shock and appreciation over how little perceived lag there is in a properly installed and tuned system. Your last statement leads me to believe you are in fact trying to build this from scratch. I don't recommend this... but at least know in advance that you can not buy just any turbo and expect this to work properly. go to the STS homepage and LS1tech and search for discussions... and read them all. If you manage to do that and still like the idea, you will at least know enough to not only start asking the right questions, but do it without getting jumped on by EVERYONE... now only the majority that don't like the system will do so = ) (and here is a suggestion... the first question you ask anyone who hates STS is "have you ever driven an STS-equipped vehicle?" that should kill the meat of the conversation.)

I built myself a new PC recently as well... I had been running the old one since 2002, and as it was a gaming PC, that was long enough! I more than got my money's worth out of the old one, it was built to own in Unreal Tournament, and hung in there through-out UT99, 2K3, 2K4, and a couple of wasted years we don't need to go into. (WoW) The new specs: Xion BlueSteel Abit IP35 Pro mobo PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 Watt PSU eVGA 8800GT 512mb vid card Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66ghz CPU Crucial Ballistics Tracer 2GB Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA 3.0 HD Lite-On 20X DVD+R w/Litescribe SATA Lite-On DVD ROM SATA Thermaltake CL-ROO26 Aluminum Heatsink/Heatpipe RAM cooler X2 Zalman VF900 VGA fan/heatpipe (vid card) Zalman CNPS 9700 110mm CPU fan/heatpipe Logitech G15 keyboard with back-light and LCD info screen Logitech MX510 mouse Belkin Nostromo N52 keypad Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 speakers I wouldn't call it a super computer, but going from an AMD Athlon 1900+ Socket A machine to this Core 2 Duo was an eye opening experience to say the least. I installed my old UT 99 just for giggles, and out of habit, I disabled V-sync. (old school tweak to gain a few frames per second, at the cost of some smoothness) I had to turn v-sync back on... it was playing UT in surges, spiking up to 500+ FPS and bottoming out at around 150 FPS. Completely unplayable... you would take 5 normal steps, and then about 20 on "NOS", lol. I play a little COD4 now, and with almost all settings maxed I see about 90 FPS. I can only hope I get the same mileage out of this as I did the last = ) Kinda garish, but I intend to "de-mod" it a bit to quiet it down.

I have the opportunity to grab a 91 240SX minus engine and tranny. It appears from description and photos to be fairly clean otherwise. I kinda like the 240SX in general, but have zero experience with them. Are there any reliable places to get the engine and tranny at a reasonable cost? Are there any known issues with this year of 240SX I should know about or be looking to avoid? I am looking at this as a potential daily driver, not a performance platform. (Unless an extra $30,000 or so drops in my lap for that Skyline conversion, lol) Thanks for sharing in advance = )

LOL... I hear tell of a fellow that had exactly that done to him by his girl friend... wont go into details of how she did that to him... but you all have imagination enough to fill in the blanks. It was a "sore subject" for quite a while in the household = ) I also got into dutch with my "much loved" step-father because after a chili roasting and peeling session, I judiciously washed my hands at the kitchen sink. Apparently I left a fair amount of oils on the sink towel, which he promptly rubbed into his eyes a few minutes later. I probably would have gotten off quite easily except for the uncontrollable giggles fit I fell victim to. He decided that the appropriate way for me to develop some empathy was to have me rub my eyes with the same towel. For some odd reason I always did enjoy seeing that man's constant struggles with pain and karma.

I think you need to start with lager and end with liquor... = )

The 210 is still a good machine... just not a steal like the 250 would have been. I would still jump on it, you are not likely to get another deal quite as good. = )

The Fabricator 250 is a couple years old, but sold for $1700 or so new. I just sold the same machine yesterday as a demo model... The guy really needed a Miller 212 or Lincoln 215, but he wasn't able to walk away from the Fabricator for $1000.... more machine for less money. It has a very nice arc and is well built. There was a random issue with some of the mainboards in those machines, but it was a pretty bad problem that usually showed up right away when you used it, if your friend has put any significant hours on this machine you should be good to go. I don't remember off the top of my head what the low amperage is on the the 250, but I do have several customers using it for autobody and sheet metal work. At $900 in good condition I would jump on it.

Gaaah! Sorry, the closest I ever come to guyliner is that running-mascara effect you get when you get a crap-load of greasy Z-dirt in your eye and run it out with a knuckle. Fortunately, were I ever to bend that direction my allergies would "rectify" the situation.

That 6011 rod covers a lot of situations and a lot of deficiencies.... but I have a couple of old-timers around here that apparently prefer 1109. Threw me for a loop.. because I am not a welding old-timer, either in application or sales. One of my co-workers rectified my ignorance by pulling out a 6011 rod, showing me the stamped ID on the holder end, then turning it over and handing it to the customer. Voila... 1109 rod. Consider this young whipper-snapper put in his place. = )

OMG... the Firepower looks Sooo good from the side... and then you look at the head-on view and eww, it's a little remnant of crossfire, and then you check out the lady's nether assets... and there are are none! Someone slapped some scrap sheet-metal from some other failed project on the rear and called it done, apparently. So sad to see a prifile like that not only not get produced, but get violated and then discarded.

The last Z I had with a L28 had a cam and head work, headers, and a good exhaust. It wasn't a world killer, but did very well against the IROC's and Stangs of the day. (Late 80's) I dropped the tranny and put in a ZX 5 spd with a Centerforce clutch, 12.5 or 13 pound flywheel, and 411 gears in the rear. That package installed all at once made it a little difficult to adapt to at first... I stalled first gear sporadically for the first couple of days but after that there was no looking back. I absolutely loved the combination, and it may have in fact kinda soured the V8 combination for me... I have owned several faster V8 Z's since, but none were as enjoyable as that package for me.

In my opinion only, the build quality of the current Lincoln Migs is a little better than the equivalent Millers. I also think that with a stated purpose of welding on light sheet metal the Lincolns have a better arc-start, and "feel" better while laying down a bead. Specifically, in a 110 or low-level 220 welder I definitely suggest going Lincoln. However, the current line-up from both Miller and Lincoln is pretty solid, concentrate more on getting the best deal you can rather than the color of the cover. Make certain that you get a continuously adjustable voltage control.. the cheaper 110's will tend to have tapped voltage dials. Miller is pushing their "Auto Set" 140... a gimmick that controls settings based on a reference table... which you can do equally well manually. Miller also just announced a cheap spool gun in response to Lincoln's which has been selling very well. Miller's gun will run you $300 and change, and is a very good quality unit, but I have had no issues with Lincoln's "cheap" unit either. One last thing... you can get some pretty good deals on last years models currently... but the Lincoln 140c and 180c have a wire feeding system that is FAR superior to the previous models, and is probably the best on the market right now. I don't really recommend the older Lincolns due to this, unless the deal is just too good to ignore.

How about "Shut the lights" or "Heat up" something, or can you "Itch my back?". My personal peeves are mis-use of absolutes, such as describing something as "Pretty unique". Being slightly pregnant would be pretty unique, don't you think?

The door skins and arm rest/handles look great! Just a question out of curiosity: If you put a 6.5" speaker in that hole that is capable of really moving air, how is that panel going to handle it? Has it been tested at all for rattles and buzzing? I can't tell how thick it is, but while car audio is not that high on my priority list, I really do hate the secondary noise and do everything I can to eliminate it.

I am planning on doing something similar, but with a Nostromo keypad strapped either to my knee or the console lid. It is an USB device that plugs in like a mouse or keyboard, and the 10 keys have 3 shift states, for a total of 40 or so total assigned keystrokes available to you, or a similar number of macros. (pre-recorded combinations of keystrokes, allowing a sequence of keys or commands to be enabled from a single keystroke) It also has a scroll-wheel, 8-way D-pad, and is form-fitted to your palm... very easy to train your hand to use. Those shift+arrow key combos could be a single keystroke, or even bound to up and down on the scroll-wheel or D-pad. As soon as I started looking into the Megasquirt manual in detail I thought it might be ideal for tuning on the go. Here is the basic setup, though it is an older version.

loved the music! I used to build Balsa Gliders when I was younger, but didn't have the money to install the electronics, so they usually got finished, tossed a few times in the park, and then hung from the ceiling for display. Honestly, I enjoyed building them at least as much as I would have flying them. I think a large complex glider is beautiful, especially before you paper-&-dope it. The newer mylar coverings are awesome, but usually hide all that craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing = )

LOL, never occurred to me that that was a hexanomial reference... and I was scratching my head about what software that could be = ) I am actually pulling this engine out for a different swap... but I didn't like the idea of giving it to someone with the famous last words: "it worked when I parked it". I have a buyer, and it will be a building project for his running TPI Camaro... but I wanted to accomplish getting it running again and learn that little bit extra before I give it to him. I just recieved an Amazon purchase: "How to Tune and Modify Chevrolet Fuel Injection" in the mail... Looks to be just the ticket for getting me up to speed on these motors, even if I am just about to get out of them = ) It's a shame, this setup really did run well with the 700r4, but I don't want an Auto, and I am looking to prove to myself that I do not want a V-8, either... We will see how that one turns out though = )

Thanks for that info... no one has the noid lights locally, but I can get them on Ebay or even rig that up myself. I am not sure what you mean by "$32 ID software"... care to elaborate? tannji

I am in the midst of refurbing my stored 240Z. I just refreshed the fuel tank and corrected some issues with the pump and filter. I am now looking at components under the hood, as I am not able to get combustion. I have fuel to the injectors, and spark to the plugs. The ECU is triggering the fuel pump priming cycle properly now. I am checking and cleaning contacts and connections as I go. I have not yet pulled the plugs (new plugs in hand to install) nor have I tested the injectors yet. I just re-read JTR's TPI and TBI swap guide, which is interesting but not really applicable. I have also browsed my 87 Camaro shop manual, which seems almost completely reliant on code reading. I ordered a cheap tool to force the check engine light to flash codes, but I am wondering if anyone has tools, scanners, tips, tricks etc to recommend. I may still have an intermittent short somewhere in the harness, and I am looking for an easy way to trigger injectors and test for proper flow, as well as test the fuel regulator. I am on the verge of buying a kit to do that, if necessary. Any input welcome! tannji

Hmmm... Without stereotyping myself here, I can probably understand where the faux Klingons come from..... but Furries??! Who the hell decided that was cool enough to have groupies or fans of that caliber? What exactly IS a Furry, anyway?? Never mind, I don't even need to know... other than to wonder which camp Aux falls into? = )