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johnc

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Everything posted by johnc

  1. Step back a bit and look at your goals. Running a shop and having a great reputation as an engine builder will take 10 to 15 years to develop. The main steps to getting there are: 1. Stay in school and get good grades. 2. Keep out of trouble. 3. Stay away from weed. Its not that its bad for you, it just kills motivation and critical thinking. 4. Take all the machining, welding, and automotive classes you can. 5. Join SAE. 6. Get involved in a the Forumla SAE program. 7. Get into a college that offers a good mechanical engineering program. 8. Do your best to get on as an engineer on a professional race team and try to focus on the powertrain. 9. Save all the money you can by living as cheaply as possible. 10. When you reach 30, write a good business plan and open your shop. 11. Work your ass off.
  2. There are industry references for all this. ASM 9 is the reference for welding and brazing.
  3. Real racers downplay how much horsepower their car makes. Internet racers exaggerate how much horsepower their car makes.
  4. Just like wrought aluminum, cast aluminum has weldable a none weldable forms. Typically 4043 filler is used for 300 and 400 series cast aluminum and 5356 for 500 and 700 series.
  5. All the procedures are right here: https://shop.sae.org/technical/standards/J2723_200708
  6. Get an air hammer. Cut a notch in the side of the gland nut. Hook up air hose to air hammer. Apply air hammer to gland nut via notch in the loosening direction. Squeeze hammer trigger.
  7. Read: http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/comistakes.asp AN fittings are typically 6061 because they are machined from extrusions.
  8. You can also mount the pressure pump even with or below the bottom of the fuel tank and it will feed via siphon.
  9. Place an order with Frank280ZX. He's here in the US right now loading up a shipping container with nice 240Zs and sending them back to The Netherlands.
  10. My ATI unit was supplied by Sunbelt with my engine purchase.
  11. 505 confirmed kills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4
  12. Porterfield can machine any shape pad out of any brake pad material they sell. You want PFC 03 on front PFC 01 on back of your 4x4 front caliper and 240SX rear caliper? Just send them two sample pads or make a tracing. For a pure track only pad I'm very, very impressed with Hawk DTC70. Its expensive and doesn't last as long as others but its got amazing bite and more importantly a really nice release. They lasted for two days (12 hours solid) of track time on my 3,217 lb. (empty) 350Z with no air getting to them at all.
  13. http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of
  14. To properly MIG weld aluminum you need to push enough heat to get into spray arc transfer. Short circuit transfer (typical 110V and low settings on 220V machines) won't get any penetration. I strongly recommend NOT using a 110V machine to do any aluminum welding that has to have some strength. Filling holes in an intake manifold and welding 1/16" sheet metal is fine, but 110V MIG welding an aluminum part that has to bear a load is a bad idea - even with preheat. You MIG weld aluminum with electrode negative polarity. You only need to switch polarity on your welder if you're going from flux core to aluminum. If you're welding with wire and gas there's no need to switch polarity. Use 100% Argon not the C25 mix. FYI... buy lots of extra contact tips and keep the cable and gun as straight as possible. Before welding, get in position and practice covering the entire length of you're intended weld to limit starts and stops. Once you start a bead, keep going as long as possible.
  15. Smog techs are trained to look for the proper cats. I just had my wife's Lexus ES300 smogged and the tech slid a mirror under the car and verified the cat on the car with what the callout was in the smog check book.
  16. And most everyone here keeps forgetting about the single most important component of a sniper team - the two big chunks of meat operating the weapon system. Carlos Hathcock is more dangerous with a Ruger 10/22 then any one of us with M107.
  17. There's the "lifetime warranty" thing that applies even if you race the car. That's worth something.
  18. In addition to the Chevette coils, you can buy the springs from the Tokico 280Z Advanced Handling Kit and cut them down to the height you need. But, if your shocks are worn, don't bother. Worn shocks and stiff springs are a bad combination.
  19. Great! We're now turning all Admin duties over to you. The servers are at SuperDan's place in San Diego, better get on the road...
  20. Check the gasket on your fuel cap. Its common for fuel to slosh in the tank and weep out the fuel filler. You'll use a lot more fuel then you think (probably 1/2 a tank) so keep that in mind. Pump up your street tires to 40 psi cold and make sure you have a way to add air, bleed off air, and accurately check tire pressures. Make sure you have lots of brake pad and shoe, manually adjust the rear drums, bleed the brakes, and bring extra brake fluid and your bleeder bottles. Bring a jack, jackstand, lug nut wrench, and a torque wrench. At lunch you may want to swap the tires front to back if the fronts are getting worn heavily. Bring a couple extra lug nuts. Clean all the crap out of the interior of your car and vacuum the carpets well. It really sucks to have potato chips crumbs blow up off the floor and into your eyes as you're going into a fast corner. Make sure the seats are well bolted down and remove all the floormats. Have some consideration for the instructor that's going to be riding in the passenger seat: Make sure his seatblelt works, is easy to get to, and isn't covered in grease. Get the dash wiring up out of the passenger seat footwell. Fix any in cabin fuel and exhaust smell issues. Make sure the passenger door closes and locks easily. Make sure the passenger and driver's seat sliders work easily and lock in place. Have coffee, donuts, and beer ready and give the instructor a footrub at the end of the day...
  21. Rod ends are used in bending all the time in race cars. Yes, as an Internet Engineering Masturbation Exercise its not a good idea, but no cars ever get built in the Internet. They are built in the real world where compromises have to be made for a whole assortment of reasons.
  22. I was thinking Cousin It from the Adams Family. They just need a little beret and some sunglasses.
  23. johnc

    Blueprints

    Go to http://www.classiczcars.com and look at Ron Carter's photo gallery.
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