Mikelly

I'm with Doc and 383 240z as well... I'd stake them or tap and screw them. However, next question will be does it transfer the pressure elsewhere? Interesting issue for sure! Mike

My condolences to the family and friends. Truly a tragic loss... Mike

Well put... My advice still stands for Jon. He's in a tax situation that would certainly benefit him (from what we've discussed offline) and hopefully he'll be smart and buy in an area that trends towards appreciation, rather than depreciation. I'd also still recommend that you become active in your community Michael. My guess is that you have a lot of less capable people making decisions on behalf of your community and its direction. Although your comments about Ohio's job sitation are spot on, there is a huge push to get government OUT of the "blast zone" known as Washington DC, and goverment agencies are looking into relocation strategies. Over the last three months I've worked closely with representatives from the state Senate and regional development representatives to get the opportunity to provide alternate solutions to government agencies looking for contingency planning/ disaster recovery space to call home... It's a big market and the federal government is HUGE. I see no reason why these more depressed areas of the country shouldn't be put at the front of the line to get their slice of the pie. But often times it's the players involved from those depressed states that simply aren't capable of making the deals or meeting with the right people to get to the front of the line. Good luck Michael, and I bet your mom would sure like you to come back to Va. to live! Mike

Guys, Let me chime in here for a second... We greatly appreciate the donations. It keeps the amount the admins contribute to a more realistic amount. Some of our admins and senior members contribute large sums of money to make this site possible, and although they do it out of no other reason than the love of this site, every dime helps. That said, recently we have had a few members comment with displeasure that they donated and then an administrator or moderator had to do their job and chastise them for something that occured in a thread... Know this here and now... We appreciate all the donations we receive from each of you. However, your donation is just that, a donation to the cause of keeping HybridZ up and running. It doesn't buy preferential treatment or special privilages. The rules still apply. Many of you are shaking your heads in amazement that we would even have to post such a reminder, but unfortunately that is sometimes the case. Thanks, and again we greatly appreciate it. Mike

Welcome... We have our share of cranky bastages as well... Case in point... Yours truly... Mike Kelly

Mounts are cheap, and I'd get on that quick... Good luck and keep your chin up. Mike

Check with Doug Carrow *known here as Synlubes. He knows of a shop local to newport news that can probably rebuild all three for you! Mike

With regards to the "BRE" spoiler, I know well the history of that "works" part and how it was developed elsewhere in the world. However, Here in the good ole US of A, which is where fully 90% of our members hail, We'll continue calling it the B-R-E... History lesson over. Mike

Bravo Jon! Bravo!!! Mike

How about this: REDFive and theHelix112, Knock it off... I'd hate to be accused of favoritism, so let's just QUIT with the bickering, BOTH OF YOU. Are we clear? JonM, Good job moderating this one... Mike

That, and painting the rest of the walls white is also on the list, along with putting sheetrock on the ceiling (and insullating the ceiling!), once the rest of the wiring is done and the extra feeder to the 24X42 addition is complete... We did the math and I should have about 1750 square ft. of shop space in this combined shop... plus the two car attached garage at the house, which has an additional 625+Square ft. of space... WOOOHOOOO!!!! Mike

If that's the case Michael, You might want to start attending county meetings to find out what the hell your tax dollars are going towards. That seems outragious. By comparison, our home assessed at over $450K and we're paying 1/3rd your colleagues taxes, and I've got a fire/rescue house and waste collection site within 2 miles of my home, and I'm not in a subdivision... Yea, you're right, I'd be pissed too if I was in your shoes... Mike

...Or you could just make enough money that the taxes won't matter... Although I suspect I'll be crying a different tune come April when I have to pay the IRS 40% of our black profits for the year... Again Jon, as I said earlier... If you buy in a depressed market, sell in an inflated market and make some coin... I'd also not buy anything that you wouldn't be 100% happy in for a 10 year stretch. And keep in mind where it's located, and do some research to find out what your county has planned for zoning/planning for that area in their out-year planning... You don't want to buy a place where they may be planning to put an airport or landfill! Happy house hunting, and for gawds sake, get one with a nice big garage!! Mike

My wife bought our youngest his first car... It was a pristine 1993 MR2, white and with T-tops... He had his license 32 days when he totalled it, failing to yield at a left hand on green light. He was hit by a Lexus and spun into a full sized dodge conversion van that was stopped at the light... Craig was lucky to walk away... At first I didn't want her to buy him such a car. But after his pleeding and her bitching over it, I gave in. I'd hoped he'd take extra care and be a safe driver. The car didn't make a lot of HP, so I figured he couldn't get into to much trouble... Oh well... I don't know what the answers are... I know I had to buy all my cars when I was a kid. My dad was a construction worker who could barely get clothes on our backs, and my mom stayed at home to raise us. We didn't live in a nice home, but we owned our home, and it was a "home" to us, even though it was a trailer on an acre of land out in the country. They did the best they could, and we turned out OK. I think there is something to be said for making your kid work for what they want, especially when it is something as significant as a car and a driver's license. But it also makes sense to help them, as costs rise every year to have kids driving. My stepsons and their friends now consider us "rich" and the youngest is complaining that we could afford to "hook him up"... I'm getting ready to hook the eldest up by paying for the rest of his student loans... I'm hoping the youngest will get a clue and notice the areas he can "get" help. I do believe that most of us grow up and pull our heads out of our collective arses and start to appreciate everything that's been done for us. I'd suspect that'll happen when they are in their Mid-20s... Hey I can hope, right? Savage, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Having met you, I know you're a good kid. And I'm sure you can be a royal pain in the arse to live with, as I was to my dad, and my stepkids to me... Some things never change! Mike

OK, OK I'll take some pics and put them in the normal location, later today, how's that! Our addition to the detached garage will add 24X42 additional space to the existing structure which is 26X32 internally. It's all cinderblock construction. The important part about the addition is that it will have a ceiling height of 13Ft., which the current garage doesn't have. Mike

Just for snicks, I went digging for my statement on the new home... We're paying approximately $2800 in taxes annually for this place and it's valued at over $530K... OOOOO-hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyy-OOOOOHHHHHHHHHH! :lmao: Mike

Hoohaa, Haven't we done this already? I believe your other thread was locked... Mike

So those of you who have been to my new place, you know how dim it was in the garage with those two puny little bulbs... Well not anymore... Yesterday morning I went to lowes and used a gift card that had been given to me for $100, and I chipped in the rest... I bought 6 eight foot/two tube flourescant fixtures, two cases of tubes, a 200AMP panel (for later in the month when we upgrade the service) and some extra wiring "stuff... So later in the day a buddy of mine from a corvette site came over and helped me hang the fixtures. Today I finished up the wiring and man, talk about night and day... I CAN SEE!!!! Next on the agenda is to get an additional five 4 outlet boxes mounted, and to mount the panel and meter base. Then I'll get the power company out there and get the second service done. After that, I'll be able to wire in the compressor and atleast get closer to "back in operation", even if the lift has to sit dismantelled in the corner for a while longer... We won't be able to start on the excavation and dig footers for the expansion until spring, as my friend with the equipment is tied up until then... Making progress though! Mike

Jon, I'd do exactly what you're planning to do... Michael's breakdown on homeownership is in the minority and I'd bet dollars to donuts you'll not find many in the financial or tax world who will tell you that buying a home is a bad thing from a tax standpoint. I won't get into this here, but Michael has had a very bad experience with a property that is located in a market that's not very prosperous. He also bought a home that needed a lot more repairs than he probably was aware of when he bought it (based solely on what he's told me in the past when visiting) and his situation is not the norm for savey buyers who are patient and have the luxury to buy in areas that are more lucrative. I stayed in my last home 8 years, paid $126K for it, spent an additional $45K in total mods to it, and sold it for $345K, on the back side of the "boom", when prices had started falling... Had I chose to sell in 2005, I'd have been able to sell in the $400+K range. It all boils down to location, condition of property and timing. My tax bill annually on my old house was $1650. Where Michael get's his figures from is beyond me... Maybe Ohio has some special "ScrewmebecauseIownahome" tax or something... But if that were the case, I'd move out of O-HI-O! Mike

I don't know your dad. It is disheartening that he did not attend your graduation and it's obvious that he should have and that it hurts that he didn't. Hell, Craig DIDn'T graduate and had to go to summer school, and we STILL went to his graduation to see him walk with his class, because we knew it was important to him... Fathers can sometimes give up on their kids, as I did with Jeff & Craig both, Resigning themselves to allowing the kid to flail away "figuring" it out on their own for a bit. I don't know your personal situation, but I can relate a few instances where I, the stepdad in this relationship of mine, spent lots of time, and cubic feet in dollars, only to have it thrown back in my face and me left feeling pretty un-appreciated. I guess what I'm saying is that you and your dad have obviously drifted to opposite ends of the spectrum. However, it's encouraging that he bought you a car, and it's also encouraging that you are going to college. He probably limited your choices for car purchases because he was trying to be practicle. The car he chose is economical and fuel friendly. It is neither fast, nor furious. It is also reasonably cheap to drive every day. It's a "Daily Driver" you can use while building your project car. In comparison, I gave my youngest a 1990 Civic hatch to drive daily... he put springs on it, lowered it, did the lambo door kit, wired in all kinds of video and gaming stuff, and then complained when the doors didn't stay up, the video stuff started draining his charging system, and the tires were killed due to excess camber... ALL things I raised as concerns when he pretty much told me "I'll take care of it, don't worry about it..." After the car was deemed "unworthy" for him to drive anymore, he started demanding a car for his 18th Birthday... I refused, because he simply didn't take care of the first TWO cars he'd been GIVEN... I told the wife no way/ no how, Unless he graduated highschool... Low and behold his father stepped up and bought him a 1994 Turbo'ed Honda Civic Hatch with a bunch of bolt ons and add ons in the entertainment department... So to show his loyalty and gratitude, he moved out of our house on his 18th Bday and into his fathers house... Forever breaking my wife's heart. That car didn't last TWO MONTHS when the motor blew, among other "failures" that were hidden by the seller, an ebay transaction gone horribly wrong... That little car cost him and his father more than $12K before all was said and done, As he tried to rebuild the initial motor, only to have it blow up on start up. He eventually sold the turbo kit to partially afford the second motor, a bone stock honda LS motor. He is now doing everything he can to unload the car, seeing that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. And it cost him a lot more in that our relationship has been damaged, and his mother still hurts over the fact that he let daddy buy his loyalty with the purchase of a car. And there's no chance I'll be allowing him to have a project car at my place... No chance in hell... Because he doesn't have the money (And honestly shouldn't be spending it right now) and I'd end up having to do the work. He has not shown me that he has learned from the above choices he has made. The choice of going to live with his father should have been one made without the dangle of "prizes". Love is not based in bobbles and trinkets... The lesson there hasn't truly sunk in, but time will tell... Now this young man is wanting US to buy him a car, and of course, he's telling us he'd come to live with us... I relay this to you only to give you a peek into the "other" side of the fence. For there is no way you will ever truly be able to grasp at the straws of your father's thoughts until you place yourself on his side of the fence. Honest and open, trusting communication will get you both a lot further down the road. I only hope that some day Craig and I have that. Good Luck! Mike

Mike

This is a good example of stupid corporate decisions on management personnel, and what happens when you don't take care of your people... Good luck in Washinton and hopefully your decision to leave will open their eyes... Mike

OK, This sounds like a post I would have read from one of my stepsons (Now 18 and 21 and both more able to take care of themselves now)... And I know you as a good kid, so I'm gonna bust your balls for a moment... Your dad made a bad choice in buying you a car... He bought you A car. Your tattoo itches... Coulda spent the money on your car. You could always buy your own car. Get to work on that and save save save. I know it sucks being at the stage in your life you're at, where everyone else still makes decisions for you, and you're stuck under their roof with their rules... Trust me on this one though, it'll all change soon enough... Sit back and ride this one out... And let him fix it. I bet in the end, he'll not make you pay all of it back, just some of it, to help teach you the lesson of responsability for your expenses... See, now Rant on for me... Toilet paper... someone pays for that... Remember that the next time you're thumbing through that magazine while prairie doggin'... Lights on... Yea and the TV, the computer, the iPOD and the stereo... Someone is paying that electric bill... bet it's DAD. Hungry? Go to the fridge and grab some food... Hmmmm Wonder who stocked it with all that good stuff (Or as My youngest used to claim "You guys never buy anything I want..." "And Craig, you never contribute!") Wanta get a clean pair of pants out of the dresser drawer? Gee, the pants got clean with the water someone paid the bill for (Unless on a well, and then someone paid to have it drilled!)... And the dresser you're pullin' it out of is probably another item provided for you by him/them... And that roof over your head, or the pavement that the oil is KILLING every time it drips on it??? You get the point... When you can afford to carry your own load fully, pay your own way fully, and provide fully for the roof over your head, I'll feel sorry when you have a bad streak of luck. Until then, thank your dad (And mom!!!) for all that stuff on the list, and tell him to add the cost of that tranny to it... Cheers and Happy weekend! Mike

It's also why the Vette isn't currently on my shopping list... Although it's an impressive car, I really recent Chevy (And the car rags) for "claiming" $65K for that car... You can't find them for less than $70K used. If you want to order one, sit and wait and HOPE your order didn't get redirected to someone else (Has happened a number of times already) and get it sometime next year, sure go ahead! I'm looking at the left over 2006 Viper Coupe, along with the P-car! Mike

I used the first whaletale pictured on my car with decent success and I was able to power a 6cylinder car to above 160mph according to a stalker radar gun. I was also able to use the same setup with my 383 stroker/T56 combo cruising rock steady at 155mph. The only adverse affect was that the body seem molding where the spoiler sat on the hatch showed stress cracks. I noticed ZERO loss in power with both power plants due to negative drag effect. Mike