clint78z

I am suprised that there are front mount kits quite cheap on ebay, might be garbage?? Top mount should serve the purpose though. Looking for a nice usable power 280ftlbs with amazing drivability. I am looking for the amount of power under the curve, not for peak numbers. I got my OBDII cable on the way for opensource tuning and logging. Drax you wouldn't believe how hard it was to find a 5speed, I simply would not comprimise. The E39 is sweet as well, looked quite heavily at that. I have never test drove one, did you test drive the Subie XT?? Intrested to see how they compare?? The boxer four sounds almost as cool as the L6.

Still have the 280 turbo, an on going project. I bought a shiny blue Subaru Forester XT, my first semi new car. I paid a bit extra to get a rare 5 speed blue. It's going to get a bigger intercooler, perhaps an 18g turbo. Going to keep it sane since it's my all year daily driver. The forester has huge room, and isn't that heavy 3300lbs, and all wheel drive to boot. Kinda the swiss army knife of cars. http://www.toyotaoftampabay.com/used-inventory/2007-Subaru-Forester/f94aec7a0a0a006400c14dd13930d93f.htm

Flipping the mount to the driver's side wouldn't require reindexing the harmonic balancer for TDC. Just thought some one had quick info, no biggie. I am currently very happy with the parts I have

I think the earlier 260's had more in common with the 240's, and the later 260's had some parts simular to the 280's. Read that somewhere, not too sure what it applies to. I am willing to pay for another sensor mount if it is possible to mount it on the drivers side. My car is not at my place, so I can't easily do the mock up right now. Anyone have a 280 ?? Is it possible to mount the sensor on the drivers side and still retain A/C?? I plan to do some more work this summer prototyping the car with Autodesk Inventor, I am getting sufficent with the package now.

I think they all interchange, Derek's is the first I have seen with opposite clocking. Is it possible to flip the mount to A/C compressor side ?? I haven't fully layed out that option, I was going to do all my machining myself before. Just a minor speed bump along the way.

I got my kit Derek, haven't tried it out yet. Some very good craftsmanship, glad you offered it to everyone. There are probably a few differences to the Z pulleys over the years, it's good we document them. Ford typically likes to change parts like underwear, same years can have 3 different setups. Not sure if my VR sensor is the same, got to do a littlle leg work. We all very much appreciate this kit, saved so much time and money. Cheers, clint78z

Great news Derek, they look amazing. Finally I can turf my HEI module, and get a smooth idle. I am going to try and find a day I can make it out to the farm to measure the dodge coilpack for you, I know I am late on this. Thank you for making quality custom parts for the Z car, it's good to keep the flame burning on these old machines.

Can't you just reverse the sensor leads?? I don't think you need a fancy circuit for this.

Hmm bit of a pickle, just throwing some thoughts out here. Might be able to slightly modify things to work. Can the current EDIS mount be notched the thickness of the timing indicator, that way it could be mounted underneath DEREKS EDIS mount. Not sure if that is feasable, may not be able to get a timing light in there. Or how about making a mirror image of the EDIS mount, considering the majority have timing on the alternator side. Not sure if A/C can be run this way ?? I am still in if we have to do it as it stands. Timing tape can be used as well to reclock everything, one shot deal.

Mine timing indicator is on the front passenger side (north america), where the alternator bolts on. I didn't know any L motor had timing on the intake manifold side ???

I will measure a dodge coilpack with the calipers, and take some pics to verify I did it accurately. I have to go out to the farm to get it, might take a bit. Cheers, Clint

I still can't believe the 685's are that price, $700 isn't exactly cheap in my book. However they seem like a steal for the sound they produce. Sorry can't compare them to many other's, listened to Focales and didn't like them at all, may have been the Pioneer amp that was completely wrong setup???

I am in for everything including the trigger wheel, looks like a great package at a fair price. Have you considering offering the option for mounting the dodge coil pack?? Some people don't wan to run the strange FORD wires, although the ends do look like the would do a better job.

I ran into a bit of a snag this amp doesn't pull audio from HDMI, I didn't want to spend another $1200 bucks for the new model. I thought that my TV would pass HDMI from my laptop to the optical output on the TV then to the amp. Little did I know that most TV's downmix this optical signal to a 2 channel optical. Why even have the optical output, talk about false advertising. HDMI is way to protective, to the point of silliness. Now I have to run 2 cables, when one already has audio. Oh well, I am always used to workarounds.

Overall I couldn't be happier with the system, a couple of notes after putting some listening time in. I have a couple of CD's that were favorites, they sound good on the system. It sounds better than most systems bought from chain stores. I wasn't aware the recording quality was below par. Then you shove in a good disc and it almost blows me away. It is almost like there is no stereo, they are playing in your living room. You can almost hear how much change they have in their pockets. Norah Jones, Tool (Laterus), Cat Stevens DVD Majikat. I have some new favorites just because of this system. The B&W's still haven't broke in after a couple of hours, needs a tad more bass. I hear this typical of these speakers. I am going to hold off on the sub until they break in, see if the mains are enough for my small room. Even at low volume everything sounds so balanced, no boomy voices or muffled instruments. The Rotel amp is a tank at 40lbs, the features seem to be just enough. It remembers many custom settings when switching modes, how many speakers, dolby or dts, crossover ... The remote build quality is junk, but seems quite functional with macros. It seems to have more than enough current for my needs, we shall see when I get surronds hooked up. I now have the low end of High end systems. I would encourage everyone to give this combo a test drive at a local dealer. It's not for everyone, for the money I wouldn't go any other way.

Great systems guys, always like to hear about everyones different setups. I did a test drive on subs last weekend, compared Definative super cube against the B&W ASW 610. The definative is impressive for the size of cabinet. Hands down smoothness goes to B&W, I am sure there are way cheaper one with big punch. I just enjoy the smoothness of bass notes, I want to each chord on the bass. I used Sarah Mcglaughin Sufacing CD to test a Bass riff Godsmack Voodoo is a another good one. I previewed Holly Cole, sounds very nice. I found this forum I really like http://www.htguide.com/forum/

I appreciate a good deep note, as long at is quite clear. Usually the problem with larger woofers is they aren't tight enough. The 685 have an impressive 6 1/2" woofer, I think a 12" would be overkill in a small room. It will make the proper notes, but I can usual detect a gap in the transition between the mid/bass and a 12" sub. A high power 10" with extra throw might be the ticket. I have an old Oz 12" passive I may throw on the center channel and see what it sounds like. It was quite the technology when it came out, fs was 18hz. It will hit the lows, when given some power. I think it will be too much, we shall see?? I plan to get some demos to try out at home. Thanks for the great suggestions, I will research the gear you guys have. I have been out of the loop for a while.

I lived without a stereo for five years, save for what I want. I would rather listen to nothing, than buy something I am not pleased with. Bought a set of B&W 685's and a sweet Rotel RSX-1057 reciever to power them. I would say that half the people would not be impressed with this, but the warm rich sound is like someone is in the room singing to me. I can't believe B&W put that tweeter in a moderately priced bookshelf. I have a new found love for the old Dire Straits, I had no idea of they were mixed that well. Time to dig out some Pink Floyd, Van Morrison, Cat Stevens, a little Diana Krall, Metallica to crank it up a notch. Any good songs you like to test your system?? I will add a small sub later to pick up some of the low's, don't want to muddy those 685's. Any recomendations?? What does everyone run here for high end gear ??

Looks like a good solid mounting point, and a great finished product. I just thought of something that perhaps got overlooked. Since Megasquirt can be very prone to false triggers, do you think it's a good idea to be mounting the VR sensor right by the alternator?? There is a fair bit of EMI from that area. Have you run the vehicle with this mounting, perhaps it is alright this way with proper shielding??? Anyhow definately watching this thread, some real nice work there Derek. Keep it up !!!

I would pop the pipe off the compressor side of the turbo, see if there is any oil laying there, wiggle the shaft check for play. Plugged oil drain, or not running a restrictor to the turbo bearing may push oil.

I think the Nicasil is only on the early blocks in the XK8's, same with the plastic cam tensioners are gone. I am pretty handy with a wrench so most of the labour doesn't scare me if something goes wrong. I do expect to pay a bit extra for parts, but most come out of the Ford bin anyways. I don't put on many miles, so gas mileage isn't a huge deciding factor. I wonder if it actually gets stated gas mileage??

Has anyone ever driven a jaguar xkr before, any one have any comments. I am not expecting a sports car, just a nice touring car to enjoy cruising around in. The only thing I wish for is a manual 6 speed to back up that supercharged V8 !!

Check out the strut towers and under the skin of the new XK series http://www.theraceforum.com/index.cfm?form_topic_id=3041&form_cat_id=13

Looks like you guys are going down the right path in designing the intake. May I suggest a using plastic, fiberglass, wood, for the initial test mule. That way you computer model gets you in the ball park, and you can test and make changes easily. Flow dynamics doesn't always follow the rules of the computer model. Datalogging, pressure and velocity taps, AFR logging on a dyno or on car will get you the finished product you desire. If you made the flow vanes removable with set screws, different ones can be used to tune a specific application. A wonderful collective effort, I imagine there is a lot to learned. Keep up the great job guys!!

I am an MET and have done fairly extensive design work, depends where you go. People are right that you might be a limited at a certain point by some job who want the ME papers. The ME's do get a higher wage, but there are some trade off's. IMHO ME and MET can do the same exact things it all depends on the individual, a piece of paper doesn't make a person smart. I would say 60% of P.Eng's don't do any design, the become project managers, lot's of meetings loosely checking other's work. I would say write do the jobs you want, talk with the people in the field. Then make your desicion from there. Don't think MET is a much easier course, I know people who transferred and were shocked by the workload, it very compressed. Good luck, it's a fun and intresting career path.