mikeatrpi

Awesome! You really stepped into some good fortune. I'd go visit the old man if he's well enough to have a guest. A collection like that probably took him years to acquire. Enjoy the tools and put them to good use!

Mid turbo-swap...

Brilliant! Or make a mix CD of tunes that remind you both of events.

It looks pretty good. Thanks for sharing.

DHP, more info on your lights? Any pics?

Well you've taken enough grief about the compressor already. I'll give some info on the prep You sanded it with 400 grit, from the factory finish to that? Yikes. Normally you'd start in the 80 grit range, do some hammer and / or bondo work, then 120, repeat the bondo, 220 grit, spray some primer, block it down with 400, tack it off and spray your color. I wouldn't fret about the bare metal, just prime it. Etching primer is funny stuff, to me anyway, I'd go to the auto paint store and buy some standard aerosol primer - whatever they recommend. I don't think you can always put it on top of other primers. Caveat emptor. Yes you can buy premixed paint in aerosol cans. You have a set period of time from once they mix it till it hardens up and you're SOL. I believe its comparatively expensive, but that's the convenience tax you pay. Grassroots Motorsports did an article on it fairly recently, doing body work on their saab and e30. See if they'll put a single stage urethane in there for you. That way you can skip the clear. If your paint is a solid color - not a metallic - that's the way to go. For the cuts in the metal - I had the same thing on a fender. I hammed and dolly'd the area, tack welded it from the inside, and said "good enough". On the Z, its behind the headlight bucket so nobody sees it anyway. HTH.

This was my first time welding repairs like this. I tried to have only 1/8 inch overlap so that the weld would consume it all and there wouldn't be a "shelf" for water to get trapped in. For the one by the driver's seat, I couldn't avoid having a difference and so after I welded the outside as best I could, I used seam sealer to fill in the overhang. As for your repair, start small. You should make a replacement section of the floor boards / firewall. It would probably be several smaller pieces welded together to make a replacement section. Then I'd tackle the battery shelf / inner fender. That would be another several smaller patches to rebuild that metal. Lastly I'd tackle the front frame rail. It might be a part from a donor car, or you might have to fab. I can't tell from your pics exactly what I'd do. On my car, the lower section was rusty so I only patched that section. I hope that helps a little...

Well geez, it sounds like you're prepared. Cut out all the rust. Then, make templates of the patches out of cardboard - like a cereal box. Transfer it to sheet metal - I used 18ga on my car - and shape it. Get creative, you can clamp it between angle iron for a bend, or flex it over a pipe for a curve. Any body parts you can cut from a donor car - rear quarters come to mind - will save you that much time. Look through the photos at the link in my signature. You might have to go back a couple of pages to find the right sections. When I repaired my car, I jumped in with both feet and didn't know what I was getting into. I learned a lot, and when I re-do this one or my next project car I'll be that much more prepared. For instance - you'll see I did use fiberglass on my car. Not to cover rust, just in some weird places I didn't feel like shaping sheet metal to fit. So I guess I better keep an eye on it!

I'd say its repairable - do you have the skills (or are you willing to learn) and do you have the tools (or are you willing to buy)? Out of curiosity, did things get worse underneath the fiberglass, or would you say "no change"?

Add me to the "maybe" list, from NY. Just so you know - February isn't the best time to visit the city... you get the sloppy snow, not the pretty kind, but all of the cold!

That's great!! I laughed.

Sounds like you have a problem in humid weather. My initial thought is that LED16 is on because it should be on - IE, the problem is not in the output circuitry but rather an input is causing accel enrichment to be on. This agrees with your comments about it running extremely rich for a short time. If you have a stim, can you play with the RPM and TPS pots to see if you can get the LED to go out? However - you changed the function of LED16 and yet you said "no change". No change = it still won't run, or the LED was still on? I would reflow any joints that looked remotely suspect around your input circuitry. I would also consider using a conformal coating. And for good measure, stash a desiccant bag where you mount the MS box. I'm going at this from the EE perspective, hopefully someone with more MS experience than I will tell you more.

Ah yes... Lines, Fields and Waves. Fun times... you haven't lived until you've integrated a three dimensional equation in spherical coordinates... Those of you in school now probably don't need me to tell you: keep an eye on the economy. It might be best to ride out the storm for a year or two in grad school if you're close to commencement. And, Josh - walk it off like a man.

As they said, diversify. If your company has a 401k plan, contribute! Max it out to the government limit - if you can swing it.

I agree, you should work on the resume. For the types of jobs you seek, what is most important to the hiring manager? Sort from the top down. For instance - put your most recent degree obtained or worked towards at the top - and include GPA if its unfinished. For experience - this is what most people care about. My company generally hires on experience, and we sort candidates or break ties by education. List your most recent at the top and work down. People read resumes from the top down. Got anything like military ROTC, church group, volunteer this or that? They're good items to put at the very bottom. I personally circle "Eagle Scout" right away, and instantly connect with the type of person I'm talking to. My last bit of advice - if you can't find "the job" you want don't be ashamed to take "a job" - you can change it later. The economy is cyclic, and never stop looking.

I would have spazz'ed. Especially a few years ago those things were expensive, nevermind the personal photos you might have had stored. I think we're long overdue for an entertainment industry revolution.

Wow, great work. I'm impressed! Are high-beams a requirement or could you just get by without them (state inspection wise)? Subscribing so I can watch how this turns out...

Very good job explaining the situation. The pics are definitely a plus - way to preempt the "we need pics!" people. You both are young, and it doesn't sound like you've been in this relationship a while. Even though she appears to be a redhead (which is certainly worth something), I'm going to disagree with folks who tell you to compromise or even make changes to your car. While noble, it doesn't make sense this early in the game. You're embarrassed to be in her car and /more importantly/ she doesn't like yours - I'd toss her.

That looks great, Clive! Very cool shots of the distinguishing features too...

I bought this JET bandsaw a year ago, locally, for around $300. I love it!! http://www.amazon.com/Jet-414458-HVBS-56M-Horizontal-Vertical/dp/B00004T9KU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_11?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1230642086&sr=8-11

She's a classy girl for sure... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Escort-2-0-Lowering-Springs-ZX2-97-01_W0QQitemZ140291140444QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item140291140444&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A64%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

I built a 2" exhaust for myself, and more recently a 2.5" downpipe to the cat on my zx. I bought my bends from JC Whitney - wait for a free shipping promotion or a discount coupon - they're always running a deal. Good luck (just realized this was old - how did it turn out?)

You're asking us for advice here? Clive, you're the expert on parts and cars - if anyone knows the market its YOU! (let us know when you get it home)

How would you integrate this display driver to generate the sequence he wants? It takes an analog reference voltage and chooses the display based on the level. Are you thinking of using the 0_/---12v transition from the flasher? A (dis)charging circuit? Anyway, according to Google you can supply a 555 timer with between +3 and +15v. Same for the 4017 decade counter. That means you don't need the 7805 regulator. There's a traffic light sequencer at the bottom of the decade counter link. That shows the diodes forming a "dotted" OR gate. That should help you devise the output circuit. I'm sorta leaning towards the microcontroller here, because you can solve a bunch of problems with code. For instance you want to make sure it always starts at the 0th light and always ends at the last light, you don't want half-sequences - it would look stupid. You can also use the controller to dial in the right frequency. I need to think about it some more.

Scott - here's a quick reply! You caught me on my lunch break. Didn't mean to call you simple - I meant the circuit only needs like 4 other things. Its not a monster. Your idea should work. Good thinkin'. You might want to put a diode on the outputs to keep the output of "0" from becoming the input of "1". I'll google up a data sheet on these parts and see if it would even matter if you want. The other methods (Gray code, microcontroller) wouldn't require the diode. So how would you power this thing? I'm not too familiar with using LEDs for tail lights. Are they +12v? These circuits are TTL and operate at +5v. You'd need to factor in a 7805 regulator as well. You can use +12v transistors to drive your LEDs as long as +5v (-0.7v if you use a diode on the output of the counter IC) is over the Vt of the transistor. Simple right? Let me know if you need some more help. I can draw up a little somethin' for you if needed. Enjoy the stew...