JMortensen

Anybody else worried about header wrap soaked in gas? The wrap might not be flammable, but the gas is, and now you have a gigantic wick soaked in fuel attached to the hottest part of the car. Not good IMO.

On the stock setup the flat part of the uprights pretty much lines up with the end of the frame rail. So if you flip them around then the rear control arm bushings would be located too far forward by the thickness of the angle, if that makes sense. So your above idea would work if the bolt mounting flange faced forwards, then your vertical braces faced backwards. They can't both face the same direction, because then either the bushings will be located in the wrong place or the mustache bar will be interfered with. If you have a second look under your car and I'm sure you'll see what I'm talking about. EDIT--I'm partially wrong in the above statement. I'm still stuck in my own project I think. I needed the verticals to line up with the end of the frame rail so that the bushing cup pieces could line up where they were needed as well. Your design does not need the verticals to line up since you can put your cups wherever you please with respect to the uprights. So as long as the bushing cups end up below the bolt holes at the top and you have room for the mustache bar you should be OK.

I think the main force that these parts face is a lateral force. This comes from several discussions with racers who had cracked the stock pieces up at the top, or had seen damage around the bolt holes. I braced mine at the top with a piece of angle across the top and some gussets as well. Looks like the majority of your strengthening is geared at the bottom end. There was some pretty good discussion of this on the rear toe adjuster thread here: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=89111&page=1. Basically we all thought that the structure needed to be improved on. I went to the top to strengthen, Terry had already replaced everything back there with a single aluminum plate, and Jeromio braced across the bottom. Mat is right, your uprights will definitely interfere with the mustache bar, as there is only ~6 or 7 mm clearance there. If I weren't modifying existing uprights I think I'd end up with something like Terry has. That has got to be a HUGE improvement over the stock setup. Here's another link to the original thread on the toe adjuster: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=88572

Page 112 and there is a picture as well. The externally adjustable style has a 10mm lock nut with a little flathead screw in the middle. Not really clear in the picture.

Never noticed that before, but you're right, you can measure from the fuel level to the "horizontal surface at the top of the jet block hole" and it says 21mm according to How to Modify. That's much easier.

You don't have any Mikuni info? There is a pic of how to set float level in Hot to Modify. You actually have to take the cover off the carb and hold it at a weird angle then take the measurement from the top of the float to the cover. The level should be 12mm from the top of the float to the cover, but it is much easier to understand if you look at the picture.

Weird guys. I've never seen flames come out of my carbs and I've only seen gas come out when I'm synching them, and my ITG isn't singed at all 40K miles later. Float level is pretty critical on these carbs. I was flooding around right hand corners when I first got mine on, had to lower the float level to cure that problem. I don't understand what you're doing with your timing Isk, but I can tell you that with your setup you'd have to have the timing VERY VERY retarded to keep the engine from going over 5000 rpm. Retarding the timing like that puts LOTS of heat into the exhaust. Maybe enough that it caught the filter element on fire?!?!

Do you chamfer the tube when you make your own flares? Mine weren't working at all until someone told me to chamfer the end of the tube before flaring. I use a drill bit like a 1/4" or 5/16" bit to take the corner off the tube. Works like a charm now.

That is some scary crap right there. Seems really odd to me that this would happen, since brass is sometimes fired out to another size. I was looking at a .257 Roberts Improved when I was about 17, and you took the regular store bought 257 Roberts ammo and fired it and it would totally change the shape at the end of the brass. Then it was 257 Improved brass and you could get just a little more powder in there when you reloaded it. Very weird. I'm guessing you threw the rest of that ammo away. Is this the first time you fired this gun? Maybe it has a problem in the chamber...

It's a hybrid when the most frustrating thing about buying parts is when the guy asks: "What kind of car is this for?"

The calipers are Dynalites. Same ones used in the back of AZC's kit. It would be a great upgrade for a 510 that runs 13" rims, which is really what it looks like the manufacturer is making it for.

I used 800-FIX-ARIM about 8 years ago on a wheel that debeaded a tire and ground on the asphalt for a bit and had a big flat spot. It was also pretty dented right there too. They returned it looking great, ran true as well. I seem to remember that fix was fairly expensive, so your cheap wheels might not be so cheap after you pay to have them sawed in half and welded back together.

Thanks Jody!

Pretty much done. Here's some pics of how it ended up. The gusseted uprights: The new link all done: Assembled: Top view: 3/4 view: I didn't get the bolt holder done yet, and all of this needs paint. It looks pretty good. Only problem I can see right now is that I didn't tap the tap tube perfectly straight. No biggee, I can just loosen the 4 bolts a bit more and it should still adjust fine. If it's really a bother I can buy a prefabbed turnbuckle from Coleman. This is my biggest fabrication project yet, and I definitely made a bunch of errors during the process. I had fun with it though, and I like what I ended up with. Can't wait to finish my 9000 other projects on this car and test drive the thing... EDIT--One more thing. With the gussets welded in the uprights cannot be dropped without lowering the diff. I don't EVER remember having to remove the uprights without pulling the diff, but FWIW I did lose that ability.

This thread describes the method I used last time. Worked great. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=92106

That is a helluva fish! Are you really into fishing or did you just happen to catch that on the day the magazine guys were on the boat?

OK, so Jody, is this the right one??? Seems to be the largest that HF carries. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=35336

I was thinking it might be a good deal for taking tire temps, not for an EGT. I guess the problem that has been pointed out is that it takes too long for the cheap gauge to get a temp reading. Need to take tire temps very quickly after getting off the track. I guess I'll just stick with my IR pyrometer for now.

Damn. This thread had gotten my hopes up. So no go on 1 5/8" DOM then Mike? Bummer.

Thanks for that Terry. Kinda puts things back in perspective a little. I think putting the angle across the top is a good idea because I've heard of several racers who have had failures where the uprights bolt to the frame, and by connecting the two uprights the "footprint" of the piece that now takes the side load is much bigger. I had thought about some gussets too. Maybe I'll make some. I think you're right that having the link bolted to the bottom does mean that the turnbuckle doesn't need to be quite as burly as I've been thinking, so that is helpful. Sometimes I go a little overkill on this stuff. I think I've figured a way to make the construction of the link a bit easier too. Had plenty of time to think about it while I'm grinding away... Cut the whole angle off the top of the link. Weld the square tube as before, except without warping the crap out of it this time. Then make a small gusset to weld in between the upright and the inside of the tubing. The advantage here is that I don't have to cut the slot in the angle to make the square tube fit, and on the outer end I might be able to put a couple marks so that I can know where 0 toe is. Might be that the marks are too close together based on your comment from yesterday, but it would make the job of welding everything easier today anyway... I appreciate the feedback.