jbc3
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Posts posted by jbc3
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I drove the car to work today... AC on full, 90's and humid. The engine temps seemed the same as usual, so I don't believe that the air flow to the radiator was excessive.
Also, I didn't really mention this before, but one of the main reasons I looked at a lower half mod is the fact that my air intake/filter are right behind the grill near the top of the grill on the drivers side (can be seen in a couple of the pictures) and I did not want to interfere with any direct flow into the intake.
Jody
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I have been thinking about closing up the front of the huge grill opening, so this weekend I starter playing with a couple of designs and I ended up with this design. I am not 100% with what I ended up with, but it is starting to grow on me. I am thinking of maybe getting some kydex and redoing the bumper indent covers and lower grill cover as one continuous piece. Plus I think the shape can be easily curved a little and better blended into the air dam. My bumper indent covers are already made with kydex. I should be at the Mid Atlantic Shindig this weekend, so I'll get a few first hand opinions.
(A few small rivet holes and some 3M double sided adhesive and it is off if I need to dump the whole idea)
Thoughts?
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I have 4 of these jack stands and I got them because they are much larger than my standard jack stands also. I still only have a standard jack that gets the car up to about ~24", so I can not comment on the full height stability. I will say that the extra height and stability I get with these is well worth it.
The only downside of these jack stands (also the benefit because of the added stability) is the width of the base. Under the small Z car, if you need to go between the jackstands it can be a little tight at times.
Jody
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Thanks for the responses.
Well I guess I have been doing it wrong all along. I assumed that, like the tires on the car, you rarely run them at MAX. I have 40: cold: unloaded. The tires have a 50 lb max pressure rating. They have never been covered (except for mud
). It is still odd that they are now showing this rapid wear. It has been on a number of long trips, similar pressure and weight, but no tire wear noticed. Before these last 2 trips the tires seemed fine. After the first trip to NC, the wear was noticable, but after the second trip to NC it was much worse. The bearings were cleaned and repacked last year and checked earlier this year. Maybe the age of them is also part of the issue.
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The trailer was bought by someone I know, new. He had the trailer for about 6 months and lost a place to store it and I bought it. It had probably 300 to 500 miles on it. I have had the trailer for about 7 years.
Jody
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I have to add my own car to the mix. I drive it to work (14 miles each way) on nearly every nice day. If it is hot, I turn on the working and COLD A/C. If it is raining, snowing or threatening.... it stays in the garage. Check the videos in my signature. I know it is not a record setter for speed in the 1/4 but I truly drive it on a regular basis. (3 days last week to work, every day this week so far... and whenever I go to get groceries
)Jody
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I have an 18' car trailer that I have had for a number of years. The tires have always been fine, but recently in 2 trips to North Carolina (~ 450 miles each way... so about 2000 miles in 2 months) all of the the tires are all of a sudden wearing badly. The tire pressure was/is about 40 lbs (max pressure 50 on these tires) and nothing was hit. The trailer was carrying a ~3800 lb car. Also the trailer seemed to track fine and not bounce around.
They are cupping and wearing on the outside and inside only and the center third or more is fine. Here are pictures of the tires, The wear and cupping is tough to see completely in the pictures. The center 3 rows of tread are sticking up as though they were not driven on. Pics of all of the tires are shown (the first 4 pics are of the different tires)
I have not done any measuring to see if the axles are not tracking straight yet, but since the wear is both on the inside and outside, I figured it was something else.
Suggestions/Ideas????
Getting new tires at some point is probably going to happen, but I don't want to replace them and have issues with the new ones too.
Jody
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Interesting comments....
I will say that my wife and I have 4 biological children, the youngest is 18. 6 years ago we adopted 3 brothers; 2, 5 and 8. They came from multiple fathers and a mother on drugs alcohol and involved in kidnapping.... most every child out there for adoption has one or more sad stories. (yes that makes 7)
We have friends, neighbors and family that have been very supportive and positive with our decision. We even have friends that have gotten involved in adoption because of what we did. (no we are not in ANY sort of involvement in adoption promotion or groups etc...) The most interesting thing is we had friends that were down right nasty and critical of us adopting. We were very surprised at some of the responses and comments. Do what you feel is right... F the others and their opinions. Go in with an open mind, but ask a million questions and make sure you get the answers you are looking for. Don't take things for granted. Going to one of the exchange gatherings is a great idea. Make sure you ask more than the usual nice questions, ask about the system struggles. Look for more than just one, (multiple groups/agencies/religions) because some of them are all about the money. I know that in my state, we had to go to an extensive training class and there were background investigations and a full home inspection before we even allowed to be considered. Continue to ask questions.... you can walk away at any time. Our group/agency was awsome.
When it comes time to consider a child, they system plays you as though you are on trial and checks you out. You need to do the same to them, it needs to be right for you as well. The system is supposed to disclose what they know about the history and health of the child... suffice it to say, some of the initial reports are fiction.
The boys have changed our lives. We can't imagine our lives without them now. I am not saying it has been all roses, but they are great kids and have brought so much to our family. My children were involved the entire process and have accepted them 100%.
Good luck
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Many OBDII computers will not reset with the battery disconnected. Go to a local Advance Auto and borrow (free of charge) their code reader and reset the codes.
Jody
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Interesting thing about the state run OBDII testing here is you simply reset the computer just before you go through testing.... of course you "fail" because of the not ready codes, but they return your cash and tell you to come back in 2 weeks. They ask you if you recently had work on the car or had the battery disconnected. The next day you repeat the test the same way and as soon as they plug the connector in, you get a pass. The system seems not to understand the not ready situation and they just pass you on your second test. No visual inspection I know the "pass" flag seems to come up alot faster than the regular test, but the testers are unaware.
I KNOW this works in Maryland. I am not familiar with the NC systems.
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Here is a reason to limit the number of people you have around at a dyno pull!
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Yes it can be mounted in the car with the blow down tube. My blow down tube is actually 1/2" braided fuel line with AN-8 fitting on one end. The location of my bottle made it a little tough to run the straight down tube. This has made it through tech, no problem.
Make sure the bottle is secure.
I am under the impression that the feed hose is to be outside the cabin. That is how I ran mine and I was asked about it.
The bottle heating system should be regulated with either a pressure or temperature cut-off.
Now I should say that I am no expert, but I have teched my car in several tracks and these are the things that were looked at.
Jody
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I am also running 2 oil pressure sensors. The stock LT1 OP sensor goes to the PCM and the other is plugged into the threaded fitting just above the oil filter and is wired to the dash gauge. I am using the LT1 computer to control my fuel pressure relay.
I have not tried unplugging the stock sensor from the LT1 PCM to see if it will actually cause the fuel pump to shut down.... I thought it would.
Jody
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Well, I made the other side and decided to tape off a pattern and slip them into my glass beader. I am not an artist, so I kept the pattern simple and straight. I actually think it looks pretty decent. The pictures make it look like the pattern is painted white, but there is no paint.
Jody
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My intake is a real LT4 intake. They are powdercoated.
There are a bunch of different fuel rail covers out there. I have seen so many at the car shows where LT1's were transplanted into old hotrods. Many of them have fiberglass covers that are painted to match the car and even more have the stock covers similar to the black ones I have. I want something a little different. The more I look at the aluminum one, the more I like it. I had a sheet of aluminum plenty large enough to make both covers, so the price was right
I was also thinking of trying to tape off an area and sand blast either a design or pattern too.
The down side to the aluminum ones or any of the ones that bolt on, is if you do have an issue, they don't snap right off like the stock ones. Maybe I can get or make stud type bolts or replace the stock bolts where the covers can easily be removed and the fuel rails can be left alone.
Jody
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Hmmm.... maybe that is why the stock ones have the slots cut in them... It's hard to see, but the aluminum ones are not tight to the fuel rail and there is a 1/4" to 3/8" gap between the rail and the cover. Plenty of breathing room.
I got the idea from the Impala guys http://www.impalasuperstore.com/naisso/superstore40/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=36&cat=Billet+Aluminum
Theirs don't have any holes either.
Jody
I've been toying with that idea myself. I just got the plastic ones installed and like them but after seeing yours I'm thinking aluminum again. Thanks Jody, I need another project, LOL. One issue though, will the aluminum hold heat around the injectors and have some effect on them? Maybe some slots cut in them like the palstic ones would be a good idea. -
Forgive me for this highly technical, complex, detailed question
I made a simple fuel rail cover from a sheet of aluminum and polished it. The color in the pictures looks funny since it is reflecting the ugly garage ceiling.(mirror finish) These things look great, but there is going to be maintenance with these keeping them polished up nice....I have the plastic (no maintenance) Corvette FR covers already. Which one ???
Shiny - high maintenance (unique)
Plastic - low maintenance (ones that everyone has)
I still need to weld the studs in the passenger side valve cover so I can relocate the plug wires like the driver side.
(My quest to pretty up under the hood)
Jody
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Bart,
Make sure the coolant temp sensor is still reading correctly. The LT1 has 2 sensors, one on the water pump and the other in the driver side head. The head sensor works the dash gauge, the sensor on the WP goes to the computer. If it is not reading... the computer can stay in open loop.
Also did your coolant dribble all over the Optispark??? Hopefully not, because that could be causing the poor running condition.
Jody
So I've been having some issues with my LT1 and it looked like just about everything was resolved...until now. It was running good and I was enjoying a nice drive when all of a sudden it started running a little hot. I thought it would come back down, but it didn't so I turned around and went home. It turned out a bolt on the electric water pump came loose and let the coolant out, so that was an easy fix. The problem is now it doesn't run very good at all, it feels like it's missing or the timing is off. I hooked it up to my laptop and made a recording and everything looks fine - except it's staying in open loop. Any idea of what could be the problem?Thanks,
Bart
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I thought that the volt meter should not be constant, so I just took the power lead to the volt meter and moved it over to an accessory power source. Now I don't worry about my battery going dead after sitting for long periods of time.
Maybe it was designed to be on all the time... I guess you can say that I don't care... I like it better my way
Jody
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:icon14::icon14::icon14: 8-)8-)
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Here is an old thread covering this. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=101620&highlight=speedometer
I added LED lights for turn signals, high beams, e-brake and shift lights in my autometer gauges... mounted in the stock housing. I love the way they turned out.
Jody
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Ross,
Pictures and pricing would be great. I personally feel that the extra security and safety will make this a good seller.
Jody
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I enjoyed the ride very much thanks! It sounds awesome.
Thanks.... now I have to take you all on a ride on the spray
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I was going to ask the same thing....because I tend to do that also.
Jody, does your cam record to a disk or hard drive....reason I ask...I have a sony cam that records to dvd disk and it always shuts off in the car. i was thinking due to vibration but your cam never cut off. I missed some really good vids from the convention because mine just would not stay on.
Anyway your car sounds great!
I am not using a large video recorder, it is just a Fuji A900 pocket digital camera. It records to an SD card. Throw it in video mode, clip it on to the roll bar and go. The rattling you hear in the video is actually the camera itself. I am thinking of putting or mounting a piece of soft foam on the roll bar where I clip the mount on to help buffer the vibrations.
See my previous post about foot resting on the clutch... not an issue.
). 
:icon14:
Blocked off the lower half of my grill
in Body Kits & Paint
Posted
The top edge has a 90 degree aluminum angle piece and then to add strength to it, I riveted sheet metal section (about 2 1/2" wide) horizontal back toward the radiator and rolled it over. It is surprisingly stout.
As a matter of fact, I have some 3/4" tubular steel around the lip of the lower air dam to prevent it from flexing at speed also.
If I were to do this whole thing over in kydex, I would back support it with the same set-up I have now.