Hugh

Here's Mine for sale with SR20DET installed. Fast daily driver.

Take a look into a JDM parts catalog with a price list. It's outrageous. Trust, HKS, etc... their list prices are nuts. The shops in Japan sell them for less than the list and its still expensive. Once its shipped back over here, then its just out of control.

So goes business. Those fake Greddy manifolds are what we call "Freddy" manifolds. I've seen some studies on them several years back. One guy cut one in half and showed how horrible the ports were inside. He had to grind away a bunch of material to clean it up. It looked like a porcupine died in the port or something. The cheap casting was so porous that it was causing leaks in the middle between runners. There was no way to identify this until you really inspected it very closely. Once you apply a ton of boost pressure, it would be blowing air right out those holes... wasting power, and causing the engine to run rich for no apparent reason. Once he fixed all that and welded it back together, it worked. He then said he'd buy the more expensive one next time and avoid all the trouble. There are 'good' knock-off parts out there. You have to research them and find people showing good results from them before you try, though. I personally don't run any. There are name brands that are not Japanese that produce great quality parts... as the Japanese gouge their prices really bad. You wonder why companies like Apexi and Trust are at risk of going out of business? How about the exorbitant prices they charge for their parts? Lot's of the R&D involved is simply buying a part from an American company and stamping their name on it. Then they double the price. I'm not going to start listing specific parts here, but I discovered a lot of dead-on rebadged American parts in Japan when I lived there for 5 years. We ordered as much as we could from the states to save money. JDM = BS. If you can get the part elsewhere, go for it. Even the Japanese manufacturers are moving all their production out to China. (actually, the likely beat us to the punch, as they are right next door and shipping costs a lot less)

RHD in the US in just annoying and a bit dangerous, in my opinion. Not seeing the driver side causes clearance issues, and you can't see when you're pulling out into traffic. I drove RHD in Japan. Also done LHD in Japan, and it was scary. (and inconvenient every time I came to a toll booth, drive thru, etc...) Just my 2 cents.

and now you get what I'm saying about 56 led's pushing 10,000 mcd from 14 volts.

Definitely not my favorite BMW color, but wow that looks great! Nice work, thus far. I'm considering shaving that logo, but I kinda like them. Still undecided on that.

That's how my brother built cars. He'd have a built motor with a blower and heads etc... piling up, and not even know what chassis to put it in. They were all really fast when he did, though.

Looks wider to me. (pantera)

Whichever is newer, engine or chassis, designates which smog laws you have to comply to. If you pull an engine from a newer chassis, you are required to have EVERY smog device that came on it. You will have to pass the smog regulations of the donor vehicle. If the chassis is newer and the engine is older, then you have to make the older engine meet the requirements of the newer chassis. (to the best of my understanding) The engines he mentioned are not street legal in the US. There are no smog regulations for them, because they weren't sold in California originally and shouldn't even be on the road.

This is the Hybridz site, right? Cut that thing up!! Go wild. Hahaha Good luck with it not caving in on you, though. The roof is an important part of the structure of a unibody. If you had a good roll cage with a targa top, I could see it working. Or if you somehow managed that newer porsche style where it retains the roof around the windows. Everyone whom ever added a sunroof can tell you it leaks. (fyi)

What's my level of commitment? This car is my only mode of transportation, and I run my own business. This is how I get there. Problem is the business takes precedence, so the money gets invested there now, rather than into the car most of the time. $100 isn't that huge of a commitment, by the way! Now if you had a motor set in your garage waiting on a car... that would be a different story.

How often has this come up for Hybridz Members? I mean... how often have members here been given a date with the ref? I know there are plenty of 240sx owners who had to swap back to stock motors to visit the ref. I've just never seen a 1975 or older car owner have to make the trip. (although I understand it is a possibility)

I went ahead and contacted Devfuse directly with these comments. I don't know if just one guy complaining will help, but at least they've now heard my suggestions. This system could be really cool with some work.

Let me clarify my statement then: There is no regular smog check requirement. (I said there is no smog requirement - a little vague)

Something I hadn't considered.. haha - how stupid of me. A dimmer. I'll go ultra-bright then, and adjust it til I like it.