johnc

Well... Nissan/Infinity had a horrible time (and eventually gave up) trying to build a V8 that could compete in the Indy Racing League against the Chevy engines. Honda and Toyota showed up later and put Chevy on the trailer even after Chevy redabged a Cosworth. Toyota had a very difficult time and spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars developing their NASCAR V8 for the Craftsmas truck series. Engine development is not a slam dunk for any manufacturer. Toyota and Lexus 3.0L V6s are getting a pretty bad reputation for blowing head gaskets. Same issue Ford had with their 3.8L V6. Again, this discussion is pointless and no opinions will be changed.

Do a search. This was discussed at length buy a bunch of folks and no conclusion was reached. Its not a topic that has an obtainable objective result and will become just a mass of opinion with no one's being changed. Most folks already have an opinion and accord greater weight to the folks who reinforce their preference. Basically, HP per liter is just one of many ways of comparing engines and its not intrinsicly better then the others. Racers focus more on power per pound. OEMs focus on power per dollar. Big truck manufacturers focus on power per gallon of fuel burned.

So, between the post above on the 18th and today you've resolved your issues with the mechanic and the car is done? Any pictures of the engine installation? Do you have receipts for the $50K worth of work, your $13.5K purchase, and the $5k you just payed the mechanic? Is the title clean, free and clear of any liens, and in your name?

I would stay away from an older F150 based on a couple friend's experiences. They both have to replace brakes (pads and rotors) every 20K but they do tow about 7,000 lbs every few weeks. If you're buying used, stepping up to a F250SD or a Chevy/GMC 2500 HD or any of the real 3/4 ton trucks will get you a much stronger chassis with better brakes. The new Ford F150, Dodge 1500, and Chevy/GMC 1500s are supposed to have very good chassis and brakes.

Politics, politics, politics. The FCC is a political organization (just like the EPA, FAA, etc.) and they know who controls their funding.

2000 Ford F350 V10 with 80,000+ miles and am very happy with the truck. With a camper on the back and a 26' enclosed race trailer I'm 18,500 lbs going down the road at least once every month since I've owned it. No problems with it at all. Some of the V10s and the 5.4L V8s have thrown spark plugs out the heads but I haven't experienced that problem. Ford auto transmissions last about 100K and I expect to replace mine around then. With a Banks Power Pack kit on the truck I get 16mpg highway and 12mpg around town empty and 10mpg highway and 9mpg around town with the cmaper and the race trailer on regualr gas.

Huh? I road raced and autocrossed for years and years on 240 and 280Z stub axles and only had two fail. As with ANY component on a car you track, they must be inspeced at least every six months for cracks and fatigue. There's no part built by anyone that doesn't require regular inspection if you race your car. FYI... Stub axles rarely (if ever) fail from engine torque when road racing. They fail from the lateral loads imposed by bigger wheels and stickier tires. The most common failure mode is separation of the wheel flange from the stub axle itself at the factory fusion weld.

Check the following areas for cracks: 1. Radiator core supports where they attach to the frame rails and front innner fenders. 2. Front anti-roll bar mounts. 3. TC rod mounts. 4. Front lower contorl arms where the TC rod mounts. 5. Front frame rails where the front crossmember bolts up. 6. Front frame rails at the firewall and under the floor pan. 7. Entire driveshaft tunnel. 8. Rear bulkhead/rear frame rail junction. 9. Rear crossmember mounting points. 10. Upper rear hatch area around C-pillar. 11. Seat belt mounts. 12. Transmission mounts in the trans tunnel.

I think that's the Inspector Clouseau spelling...

http://www.transterrestrial.com/archives/004711.html#004711

Taylor has nothing to do with Quaife America. Taylor works directly with Quaife in England.

Its not the thickness of the material that should concern you. Focus on the design of the structure. Boxes are stronger then channels and the floor pan can be one side of a box.

Still working on a cowl hood for the 240Z but its not as important right now. Seems the original person who wanted to do a group buy has vanished from the face of the earth. We've already pulled a splash from the Harwood Cobra R hood and have decided to make a complete cowl hood mold instead of trying to bond the cowl scoop onto my exiting 240Z hood. Still shooting for a retail price of undr $500 for a fiberglass cowl hood with a layer of CF and clear gel coat on top.

EDIT: What Afshin says below...

Spring spacers basically bind the coils they are inserted between. Its like taking a coil or two out of the spring which increases the rate. It also reduces spring travel and leads to bottoming.

Tokico Illumina part number BZ3015 (240Z Front) BZ3012 (280Z Front) BZ3099 (MR2 Supercharged Rear).

http://www.policyreview.org/JUN02/kagan.html

Motec, Motec, Motec. As an example, in most professional road racing series in the US (SCCA Speed GT and Touring, ALMS, GrandAm, TransAm) the sanctioning body won't even listen to any requests for horsepower upgrades or weight breaks until the racer has installed and optimized a full Motec EMS (where allowed by the rules). DTA Fast is a good second choice.

Write her a letter and apologize for what you did. Also say that you accept her decision and you'll move on. Wish her well and ask that you still be friends. Stay away from her for 6 months and see what happens. You'll most likely get over the pain and find someone else if you learn from your mistake. What might also happen is that you two see each other by accident 6 months from now. How you both feel then will really determine if its over.

I agreed with the statements of Zinni and Crowe, but what's funny, is that in Crowe's book "Every Man a Tiger" he promotes exactly the strategy that Franks and Rumsfeld went to war with. It was just a further evolution of RMA that started with the first Iraq. And it worked brilliantly. But after that initial success, everyone was left standing around asking, "What do we do now?"

I have, extensively, and comparing the feelings of patriotism in the US to the calculated and successful efforts of the Nazis in early 1933 to establish a dictartorship is silly and insulting. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Nazi_Germany_dictatorship.htm

That's a tough question... Do we count as "active" the support network (finance, logistics, safe houses, etc.)? Do we count as "active" new recruits who are in training but haven't been part of an operation? Do we count as "active" old terrorists that have retired (did people considered Yassir Arafat a terrorist during his last 10 years of life or was Bobby Seal ever considered a terrorist)? Do we count as "active" the mullahs, Islamic, or Cathloic clergy that preach jihad, issue fatwahs, or provide confession/communion as a religious basis for acts of terrorism? Do we count as "active" parents who send their children out to be suicide bombers and receive "restitition" from the PLO or the IRA? Persoanlly, I think all of the above can be considered "active" terrorists. But, even more fundamentally, which groups are considered "terrorist" organizations and by who's definition of the word are we relying on? (FYI... can't be the United Nations because they have been trying for 30+ years with hundreds of committees to come up with a definition of the word "terrorism.")

No. Pull the rear cover and check the tooth count numbers stamped in the ring gear. Do a little math and you've got your ratio.

Although I don't have any facts to back up my thinking, I'd be willing to bet that post 9/11 a lot of funding for the IRA that came from the US dried up. This could have been a result of the changed attitudes towards terrorism and/or the tightening of financial controls as part of the Patriot Act.

BTW... More good news from Afghanistan: http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=47050 http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1126/p01s04-almp.html http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20279607~menuPK:34457~pagePK:64003015~piPK:64003012~theSitePK:4607,00.html http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=585&e=4&u=/nm/20041117/sc_nm/afghanistan_treasures_dc And the best news of all! Bowling is coming back to Afghanistan! http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_4-12-2004_pg2_21 . Bowling movie trivial question: Who says the following in what movie that has bowling as an important theme: "You want a toe? I can get you a toe by 3:00, with nail polish. Getting a toe is easy."