zliminator

I'm trying to locate a fluid leak on my z project and with the v8 all the way to the firewall there's not much room. I noticed the housing where the dipstick goes into the pan turns. Its really hard to turn it and when I do, the braided tube starts to warp. I'm wondering if it supposed to turn or be tight. Thanks.

I'm searching for "how to shave door handles" and it looks like the only right way to do it is to weld in a piece of sheet metal over the hole. Since I've had some experience making fiberglass molds, why not fill in the hole just long enough to make a mold of the door, then make a part and cut out the entire door skin? Not that it would save that much weight, but as long as I kept the mold, I could always make another part. Has anyone ever attempted this? I've been wanting to do this for a long time and besides, one of my doors was hit by a falling branch during the storm.

It has a round type air cleaner. I was thinking of just putting some grills in the hood and ducting it around the aircleaner and be done with it. Except how do you keep the rain from getting into the air cleaner? I may just go with cowl induction.

I've been planning to do a cowl induction for over 2 years because I saw a documentary of the 1st GTOs where they said the front hood scoop i.e. ram air was just cosmetic because as soon as the air hits the front of the hood it bounces up and creates a vacuum around the front of the hood. Now someone has just informed me that unless I'm going to be racing, then I should just stick to a ram air and that cowl ind. doesn't really kick in till I get up around 100 or so. Who's right? I was thinking I could just put some vents on the hood duct it in around the air cleaner. That would be the easiest way, I'm thinking. I was hooked on the cowl ind. mostly because of looks, too. Dan

I was thinking about replacing the back hatch on my 240 with a windowless fiberglass replacement and mounting some louvers on it for asthetics. I'm also thinking about mounting a cam on the roof or inside the panel next to the lic. plate to show whats in the rear. Harbor freight Tools has one for $40 and MCM has a 4" monitor for $99. I have a pair mounted in my truck. It works just like a rearview mirror only the image is reversed. I figured replacing the hatch would save some weight and I wanted to redesign my dashboard anyway and it would add to the coolness factor. I just put some pics in my photo album. Haven't figured out how to link pics here yet.

Cascade Quite Kote comes in a 24oz spray can - covers 4 square feet at $16 per can. Dan

I want to dynamat under the back hatch of my project Z and I was wondering where a good source of it is. I looked in http://www.mcmaster.com around page 3270 (put it in the search window) and found all kinds of sound-absorbing info and materials. I have some loud 3" flowmasters and want to try to tone it down some (for those inside anyway). Dan

I'm thinking about mounting a fire extingusher with something like 1/2" plastic hose to the engine, possibly pointing at the carb and have the fire ext so all you have to do is pull the trigger. Also, I want to put a shock sensor in line with the power to the fuel pump like they do on most cars. You can probably use just about any shock sensor from a junk yard. I'm thinking also of having a valve for the fire ext that can be operated by remote and have an extra button on your key fob or a sep. fob. Also, it would be nice to have some kind of sensor near the carb that can sense fire or excessive heat, like a fuseable link or something. There is a limit to safety systems where it gets too complicated to be useable, but I've got a long way to go before that happens. I've heard too many horror stories. Dan

I have redone the ramp using 4x6's - if you're interested. I opted not to use blocks. http://www.hampleman.com/ramp.htm

Has anyone ever tried to replace the door windows with plexiglass? I'm in the process of replacing some body parts with fiberglass and thought it would be cool to replace the back hatch window and door windows with plexiglass. Dan

I've got a door in my hobby room to experiment with. I have a solenoid intended as a trunk opener. Can't find anything here. Any links? Dan

If you're ever in Lakeland, FL be sure to stop by Bobby Watts speed shop, just don't expect to find a seat. http://www.hampleman.com/speedshop.htm

I learned a lot from the fibreglast website - they have a section with tutorial documents and I also bought the instructional videos. Get the one called "Step-by-Step Guide to Molding Fiberglass". The example uses epoxy and flanges, but start with polyester resin and stranded mat. My first project was a speaker enclosure from a plug. You will find the most of the work goes into getting the plug to take the correct shape and getting it to a glossy finish. I like to use sandable primer when I get close to the right shape. I apply several coats with a cup gun and then I start with the wet sanding and 800 sandpaper. Don't take shortcuts when sanding the plug. Use a single handheld light source in a dark room to check for humps and valleys. My current hood scope project is at this stage and I have a few pics on my website: http://www.hampleman.com/car.htm

I'll keep out from under it until I can find some RR ties Dan

do you have any pics? are the mounts similar at all to the 350?

sounds to me you might want to buy bigger tires after that.

put plywood under each layer. I like the idea of 4x4s. Thanks.

I don't have a garage or even a driveway to work on so I build a car ramp by cutting a hole in the ground and lining it with blocks. http://www.hampleman.com/ramp.htm

I just weighed my stock hood: ~40# door: ~45# and I had the fender off which couldn't have been more than 20# I would like to replace them with fiberglass which would cut it in half, I'm guessing.

your door is a gull wing where part of the roof is attached to the door and you have more room to get in and out. Otherwise, you still have the same opening to squeeze into. What difference does it make which *way* the door opens? Either way, what I'd like to know is where you would put the counterweights. Also, I'd think the door would have to be a composite material too. zlim

http://www.hampleman.com/car.htm

I have a hood which I am using as a plug to make a cowl-induction scoop. (can' t figure how to post pics, yet) I had it to a mirror finish at one time but the mold stuck real bad and now I'm having to go back a couple steps in the smoothing and sanding process (a minor setback). The front of the hood has collision damage, but I just want it to make the part and then I will install it on a good hood and later make a fiberglass copy of the entire hood with scoop. Just for grins, I took the hood off, and laid the donor hood w/ scoop on the car to see what it would look like. (Now I really need to post a pic), but from looking at the side view, I'm wondering if I should somehow incorporate the grilled cowl piece that covers the wiper assy. The edge of the induction cowling just looks like it needs to be closer to the windsheild. Zliminator

I had 2 quarts of 10w-30 syntech and went to buy some more, not knowing what I had. I got 4 quarts of 10w-40. Should I take it back for 10w-30? Its for my 350v8z and its pretty much broke in with regular oil.