| Photography rocks, Costco somewhat less so |
[Sep. 14th, 2004|03:09 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sick | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Initial D - 100 | ] |
Most of the Chicago pictures are online. Costco screwed up on two of the ten discs, with one being entirely someone's family trip to Italy (an ugly family, at that...), and another being a duplicate CD. So, no Field Museum shots, and no waterfront park shots.
Still have the negatives, gonna take them in and scream at the photo desk until they fix it. Until then, enjoy what I've got so far:
(Until I get the other two discs, the "Street" album is one of my favorites, hands-down.)
http://komsomol.net/galleries/chicago/art/
http://komsomol.net/galleries/chicago/views/
http://komsomol.net/galleries/chicago/street/
In the street album, there's an interesting difference between the Fuji, and the Kodak films. The Fuji was definitely a "cold" film, much stronger blues and greens, Kodak's yellows/reds came out much stronger. Makes the Board of Trade look like two different buildings (used both types, to see which colors I liked more...I liked both).
Bot1 through Bot5 are Kodak, Bot6 through Bot9 are Fuji (granted, I did tweak the colors a bit myself on all these, but not to that extent) (Postal and Sirius are both Fuji as well, all the other pics in all other albums are Kodak unless otherwise noted).
In the art album, Greek, redbird1, tail2, and tweaktheater are my favorites (the last being heavily tweaked in colors to strengthen the blues above, and the reds below). Already had three requests to make Greek a background. Can be found at 1280, 1024, or 800 pixel width.
And last, but not least, the pan2 and pan3 in the Views album came out fantastic.
I have the master files for ALL these pictures, which are at 1500x1024 resolution, so I can make a desktop of any part of any image at any size you'd need, just ask. |
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| Turbos, Tools, and Tim |
[Aug. 28th, 2004|05:36 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | creative | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Atomship - Pencil Fight | ] |
Well, went and saw a turbo car today. Owner's asking $700. Looks like there was an engine fire, lots of rust inside, leaky t-tops, ruined seats, a small bit of rust outside. New CPU though, and 115k miles.
Going to replace the fuel injectors for free (or for cost of parts, if I have to do it myself).
Talked to Tim.
Shouldn't have.
He's convinced me that if it's just surface rust, we can completely sand off the rust, sand off all the outside paint, and repaint the car for the cost of the paint alone ($100-$200). He has a compression tester, so we'll know if the engine is shot or not. The guts of the engine are filthy, but it's possible they'll clean right off with some ATF in the oil for a minute or two.
We'll park it at Tim's place, and go to town on the car itself. Even fitting a roll cage into the car (or even just a roll bar).
If it's possible to use the car as is, that would be fantastic. Electronically-adjustable suspension (three settings, Soft, Neutral, and Firm), digital dash (might have to swap that out...), hood scoop (woo!), and turbo good for 15psi of boost if I can get the octane to 95 or so, or add an intercooler. Granted, that'll mean bigger injectors than stock, but if I'm doing those myself, might as well put solid ones in.
Gears for the timing belt are covered in rust. If they haven't slipped and let the timing off (which we can test with compression), we're OK on that count.
No A/C though, and you can't really move that from car to car.
Oh well, I'll just take the tops off and drive faster.
So yeah, be driving the current beast for a few weeks, while we built a monstrous vehicle (i.e. 300+hp on a 2700lb car with awesome suspension, rims, and turbo).
Getting $1100 for the scratch on my car, so we're looking at $400 to spend on paint and other repairs (new belts, hoses, oil and such).
This could be seriously fun.
Also, the rims on the turbo cars are hugely wide. My thinner rims with Yoko's will bolt right up to the turbo car, however. So I'm thinking thinner yoko's for the street, and farther down the road, $600 race tires for autocross on the wider turbo rims.
Painting the car black would be the most difficult color, as it is unforgiving for any un-even textures on the car. So I'm thinking midnight blue, or maybe even matte black (all David's fault). Also be putting in a high-flow muffler, and replacing all the pipe (leaving out a catylitic, of course).
Also, Http://komsomol.net/blog/ is now up!
so is http://komsomol.net for that matter, but there's just a placeholder page there for now, until I get a main page up (maybe with some Flash? We'll see).
So what remains is to call Nissan monday, drop the check at the bank, call the owner of the car, and try to get everything lined up for Tim to tow the car before I leave for Chicago.
In the meantime, I get to try to fix my tail-lights which won't light. |
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| My luck |
[Aug. 4th, 2004|10:20 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  tired | ] |
Someone backed their goddamn truck onto the front of my car yesterday. Cracked the right headlight guard, That's fiberglass, not cheap at all to replace.
So I'm pissed.
Then I was called in to work midnight-4AM throwing tags, because the new guy wasn't cutting it.
Followed by a 1PM meeting for two hours which consisted mostly of monologues and slideshows.
Then was asked to work eight hours after that, (it's worth mentioning last night was my first day off, and it's gone, today was my second and last day off).
On four hours of sleep, that just wasn't happening. Went home, slept for four hours, and I'll probably crash again in three or four, after I get the speakers installed.
Speaking of which.
UPS showed up while I was at the meeting today. Dropped off my speakers with my neighbor.
The box was squashed so badly it was shaped like an "L."
I don't know how in hell UPS felt that was an acceptable package to deliver.
The speakers seem to work OK, tested them with wires in my home stereo. Will bolt into the car and see.
And I'm going to have to choose between bolting the new speakers in the doors, and letting the rears be the older, less-capable ones, meaning the whole setup will peak earlier (as the rears will need to be louder to balance with the fronts). Or yanking the rears, moving them into the doors, putting the NEW speakers in the rear, and trying to fix the loose mounting plate on one of them.
That's probably what I'll end up doing, and just buy a very large washer and a bolt, to hold the plate up.
Fit kit not here yet (but I haven't checked my mailbox either, though it should have shipped UPS as well).
Update: Stereo is IN! All four speakers, and it is loud as sin.
I've got one HELL of a migraine now, and I'm loving it (it rattles the interior panels of the car now, gonna have to bolt those suckers down). The loose mounting plate on the left rear is pretty noticable, gonna have to grab two bolts, some washers and some nuts tomorrow. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 3rd, 2004|04:05 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  calm | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Monster Garage - Monster Garage | ] |
How in the world did the NYT get from this, to "9/11 Commission: No Iraq ties to Al-Qaeda"?
This is excerpts from the Commission's report, word for word, no commentary needed.
Notable entry:
"In March 1998, after Bin Ladin's public fatwa against the United States, two al Qaeda members reportedly went to Iraq to meet with Iraqi intelligence. In July, an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with Bin Ladin." |
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| My bitch. |
[Aug. 3rd, 2004|04:01 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | productive | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger | ] |
So this new stereo and the car have been having issues with each other since day one. The stereo's all ready to get in there and start thumping, but the car's all "I don't feel I know you well enough for that kind of a relationship, can't we just be friends?" The stereo's been getting blue balls, and cursing up a storm "You my bitch now, what's the hold-up? Get me a beer, and meet me in the bedroom."
Basically, 4 speakers, six wires = common ground = only good on obscure, Dolby-based early 1980's stereos. Sounds amazing for only 20 watts, sounds more like 150, but...it's time for it to go. And so comes the new deck. About 1/2" too small to fit properly in the over-sized cage in the dash ("Are you in yet?" "Shut up and take it."). So a fit kit is on the way. I've long since replaced the rear speakers with 100 watt (per pair) two-way 6.5" cones, but the fronts were still the 40W/pair. Ordered 160W/pair 6.5" 3-way JVC speakers, capable of 94db and with a 25khz-35Mhz sound range. Spent hours getting the old deck out, new deck in, and cursing automotive engineering design which resembles Japanese carpentry ("Is this the spot?" "No, no, a little lower and to the left."). Spent a fruitless number of hours tearing off the pass. door paneling, trying to run wires, and realizing that short of pulling the dash, it wasn't gonna happen. That, of course, got me all kinds of pissed, and I was ready to write it off as a loss.
This morning, I had an epiphany.
I only need to run wires to one pair of speakers.
The trim on the interior is very easy to remove, as opposed to the dashboard.
Bought 30 feet of 18 gauge speaker wire, and in the span of three hours, had both rear speakers re-wired and rocking. Car still looks completely stock, no wires, lumps, bulges, nothing. Managed to hide the wires up and behind the lower dash, behind the kick-panels on either side, under the flaps by the door runners, up the B-column trim, and back to the speakers behind the rear quarter panel trim. 25-feet of line, 8 zip-ties, and three hours later, and the car's ready to just pop in the new speakers, slap in the fit kit, and rock n roll.
Now I've got to clear out the 50 lbs of trash in the passenger seat area, wire trimmings, used butt connectors, tools, etc.
And I've got RADIO! Haven't had THAT since I bought the car. Gets amazing reception, and I'm going to try to get or make a "Y" to patch BOTH radio antenna inputs together (that's right, there's two! One's inside the C-column).
So yeah, I am inordinately pleased.
Also, my tires arrive tomorrow.
By this weekend, I'll be able to scare the crap out of passengers, while still drowning out their screams (and maybe pulsing their hearts with sound waves alone). |
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| Tires. |
[Aug. 3rd, 2004|11:23 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  energetic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Killdares - Cutting Bracken | ] |
Tires are here on wednesday at noon, I've been told.
Gonna drop my car off after the meeting, and go nuts that evening.
Also found the '87 Turbo 300ZX (Limited Slip differential, adjustable shocks, tokico racing springs, transmission capable of holding 500hp, clutch with same, engine/turbo combo good for 250bhp, ALL stock).
It's in Vegas. But it's free.
But it's in Vegas.
So it's gonna be a couple hundred in gas and hotel room to go down, get it, drive out of vegas to find a cheap motel, and finish the drive on day 2.
BUT, it's EVERYTHING I wanted, AND it's FREE!
Going to see if I can even use the truck, and we'll see. If not, I'll see if U-Haul rents anything close to what I need (capable of towing 3000 pounds at highway speeds, has square hitch mount).
*twitch*
Free.
Free.
God I hope that's true.
Best birthday present, ever. |
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| Fuck efficiency |
[Aug. 3rd, 2004|12:07 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  aggravated | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | E Nomine - Mitternacht (Extended Version With Mellow) | ] |
Nissan...
Not a single cubic inch of space wasted.
Nothing conviniently placed.
Rewiring the doors would mean yanking the whole dash just to get to the boots, as far as I can tell.
Pass. door put back together.
Center dash put back together, with deck sitting in open space. I now have radio stations as well as CD's, on rear speakers only.
Even though it's going to cost something around $200, I'm going to have to pay Car Toys to install the stereo when the new speakers come in.
There goes the last of what I had saved up towards getting either a turbo or a motorcycle.
This just sucks. |
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| Work |
[Aug. 2nd, 2004|09:24 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  crappy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Regenerator - Blink (Razed In Black mix) | ] |
Also turns out the whole "you'll be training next week, and even closing a few nights" was a lie as well. I'm checking EVERY SHIFT this week. EIGHT HOURS A DAY.
My back can't TAKE that for much longer. All the fargin checkstands are about waist height, which just doesn't work. Not to mention it being the one job I hate most in that store (with the exception of bagging, I suppose). Got a two-day weekend starting tomorrow, and I'm gonna use it all.
Was told the same thing about next week ("You start training next week, and are closing a few nights"). So we'll see. |
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| Cars are bitches |
[Aug. 2nd, 2004|09:12 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | aggravated | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | VNV Nation - Circling Overland | ] |
Well, every interior component of my passenger door is in the back of my car. Light, door handle cover, screws, screw covers (which were a BITCH to get out!), and, oh, the entire door panel.
That's right, you can't just remove the speaker panel, you have to take apart the door to get to the speaker.
Which I've now discovered is a 20W speaker.
In the dolby system, that was great. It cranked out some serious noise even 18 years after being installed. But with the new deck? It's gonna catch on fire. So I bought new speakers, which should arrive in a few days, along with a "fit kit", after screaming at my dashboard frame because it's about 1/2" too wideto bolt in a DIN sized stereo (standard size now).
Still have to run wires to the speakers in either door, which is going to be a serious bitch, because there's a very tall "S" rubber boot in either door hinge the wire has to get through, not including the fact that the wires run BEHIND the dashboard. So I'm on my own as to how to hide the wires (will try to zipcord them to any available wiring near the bottom of the dash.
In the meantime, I've got stereo sound (rear speakers only), a deck on the passenger seat (along with all the deck lighting, which looks really eerie when the headlights are on at night now), along with about 50 pieces of trim, 6 tools, 30 bolts/nuts, wiring, two DVD cases, and 3 8mm bolts I purchased to secure it to the frame which won't fit (one dropped UNDER a seat rail).
I'm gonna run the wires, re-attach the pass. door trim, maybe take off the driver's to fix the door lock, so I don't have to roll down the window to let myself out of the car, if I lock it when I'm inside. Ideally, everything after tonight will be at the point where when the new parts arrive, I can bolt in the new deck, re-attach the center of the dash and climate control panel, take off the door panels, pop in the speakers, put the panels back on, and crank the tunes.
And the turbo for the car has kind of taken the back burner for a bit. I'd like to have a little more room in my budget.
That, and maybe I'll get a motorcycle, as I've got all the gear already.
Time will tell. |
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| Tunes tunes tunes car parts and tunes |
[Jul. 31st, 2004|02:15 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | creative | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Mindless Self Indulgence - Harry Truman | ] |
Bit the bullet, and bought all the parts I need to install my car stereo deck (as opposed to the constant-skip-antiprotection discman I use now). Total cost? $15.
I really shoulda done that earlier.
Also found all the parts I need to convert the car to a turbo, $600, but it's $300 to ship them...
Gonna have to wait a few weeks on that then. Probably pick it up mid/late-august, and try to get it in before September 12th (my 22nd), as a birthday gift to myself.
Fixing the TPS made a huge difference, and now I'm not so sure the CHTS is shot after all. It's somewhat funny though...my car now feels slow to me. First time I drove it, I was convinced I'd be dead in 5 mins from just being way too damn fast. Now it's "Oh, come on, hit 100mph already." The 9:1 compression engine will handle 6psi boost no problem (almost 7, even). A 50/50 mix of 110 racing fuel and 92 octane gets you up to 15psi, which is the effective limit of the turbo anyways. Now I gotta find a place nearby that SELLS racing fuel for those Autocross days.
I'm OFF NIGHTS FOR GOOD NOW!
Last shift was Friday night/saturday morning, and I had a half shift (off at 2:30AM), so I'm on a day sleep schedule already. And it feels wonderful. Sunlight! I have to get used to that now, been so long it's actually painful. |
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| Lady Luck |
[Jul. 30th, 2004|11:01 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up | ] |
It looks like I might very well have found a wrecked '84 Turbo 300ZX, with everything but a distributor and a balancer under the hood (which is the only section I'm really concerned about). And it's in Sequim! Meaning I can TOW it here and work on it, no expensive shipping parts from east coast (buying/shipping all the parts is gonna be about $900, parts car should be closer to $700).
This also means I'll have a turbo MUCH sooner than I expected.
Found another one in Sequim which was originally ripped apart for just the conversion I'm doing, but the parts were returned as the guy forgot to purchase a driver's side mounting bracket (which is extremely easy to grab online). If all the parts check out, I could be one very, very happy man by the end of august.
(Turbo ahoy!) |
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| Assinine employers |
[Jul. 29th, 2004|10:51 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | C-Drone-Defect - Farewell | ] |
Asked the boss when I started work as PIC. Was told next week, and I was even closing a few nights with someone teaching me.
Then asked when the pay started. "...I wasn't aware of any pay increase." As he grins, shrugs, and pans his hands out to the side. "We'll probably be able to bump you a step on the scale, but since you don't have the skillset yet, we can't really pay you for the job."
Skillset my ass.
Someone goes from bagging groceries to stocking shelves, they get paid the higher rate the minute they clock on for that first stocking shift. "Skillset" or no.
Someone goes to being a checker, they get paid from the first moment they punch in on that first checking shift after training. No waiting for them to develop "skillsets" (hell, some of the new checkers are just ridiculous when it comes to being slow/bad, but they get PAID as checkers).
So when someone makes supervisor, even though in the past it's always meant Journeyman pay, now it's a matter of "acquiring skillsets." So he basically gives me a pay raise if/when he feels like it, really. No mention of a training period (I specifically asked him about a training period, dead on). Was told there was more of a "probationary period," with no real fixed end. More a state of being on probation, than a set period of time. This means instead of the after-tax pay raise of $200 per week, I'll be getting an after-tax pay raise of $30 a week. Maybe.
This is such bullshit, I can't even see straight. I'm spitting mad right now. This "probationary period" better be damn short (read one week).
On the flip side, while there are no wrecked '87 Z's (the one year they were PACKED with goodness, so they're always ripped apart as soon as they're broken), there are parts from wrecked Z's. More expensive that I was looking for, but it might work. Trying to find someone who will sell me EVERYTHING I need to convert to a turbo in one step, or someone who HAS the turbo engine within driving distance (maybe borrow my father's truck, if he'll let me). I'm pretty much looking at $500-$600 in parts (free installation, THANK YOU TIM). Also gonna try to track down a limited slip differential, and maaaybe a transmission (that can wait until I go over 300bhp, which is when I'd have to put in new injectors anyways, more worthwhile to upgrade to a newer 300ZX twin turbo straight six at 330bhp).
Heat makes a HUGE difference in power on this car right now, probably because of a shot cylinder head temperature sensor. Ordered one weeks ago, hasn't arrived yet. Either the postal worker tried to force it on the landlord (which is illegal) and stamped it "refused" when he told her to take it to the apartment itself (wouldn't be the first time), or it's not gonna arrive. Will order another at some point, probably about when I order the turbo parts, as I'll have to remove all the belts and make it one serpentine belt anyways.
Also gonna try to track down which of the 8 lines going into the intake plenum are the coolant lines which heat the plenum. Splice it around instead of through, and I've got a cold air intake, as the air filter is in its own compartment ahead of the engine anyways. Other things that aren't TOO difficult to do, that I will do in the near future, include removing the power steering (although I'm hearing nasty rumors about having to lift the engine to get it out), as the pump's getting noisy/dying anyways, and I'd prefer the feel of the road and power recovered from the power steering pulley. Also might replace the clutch-driven fan with an electric (more likely two electrics, a "pusher" and a "puller" on either side of the radiator), which gets me 12hp back (the clutch fan is HUGE...you can HEAR it rip the air when the engine gets hot and it engages).
If I get paid the amount I'm SUPPOSED to relatively soon, I'll probably get all the parts, and whatever tim's not comfortable with, I'll hand off to a shop (or damian's cousin's shop).
On the good news front, the tires will net me some extra torque (about 3%-5%), shorten the gear ratios (by about 8%), and make for quicker turn-ins, meaning it will be much closer to the roadster spirit of it's later models, and less like the "heavy car go fast in straight line, not so fast when sideways in corner." Can't even remember how many corners I've taken at a reasonable (read: slower than should have caused a loss of traction) speed, and found the back end getting very light indeed (particularly on an empty gas tank, as that throws the weight balance closer to 60-40 than the 55-45 it should be). |
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| Good News |
[Jul. 25th, 2004|06:02 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar | ] |
Well, it's official. Starting after this week, I'm off nights, and on to being a supervisor during the days (and hopefully later on, the evenings). However, I've ALREADY been picked to be the guy to keep out-of-stocks down. It's going to be a bit odd, going right bottom-of-the-night-crew-totem-pole, to "Make sure you order more of these, they keep getting missed."
That's OK, I've got not problems with the head of graveyard being angry at me (as I've demonstrated so wonderfully in the past), and hopefully the manager will back me up.
Basically flying in head-first into this PIC thing though, as a result.
However, once I get that first paycheck (sometimes more than TWICE what I'm making now), I'm sure I won't be complaining.
As a celebratory gift to myself, I went and bought myself a set of these bad boys. They should be installed in the next week. Best possible 60-0 times in the wet AND dry (as stopping is good when you hit an "oh shit!" moment), and just flat-out insane traction in dry (and wet, for that matter). V-rated for speed, meaning they're guaranteed to work up to 149MPH (if I hit that fast, I'm being much more stupid than I thought I would be).
Tim also agreed to help me perform an engine/transmission/differential swap with a wrecked Turbo '87 300ZX, which he expects to take a little over a day (plus time to knock down the 'gremlins'). Going to try to find one before I leave for Chicago in September, and work on it with him for the two days before I head out. Be so, so, sooo nice to come back to 5psi boost (factory is 3, but it'll do 5 without any mods whatsoever, and run 7 on 92 octane). That's ~180 rear wheel horsepower, compared to my current 140 or so (most cars lose 15% hp or so between the engine and the wheels), AND with a limited-slip differential.
So yes, things are looking very, very up. |
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| Holy Crap |
[Jul. 25th, 2004|05:35 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Mix)", Rammstein | ] |
The New York Times finally admits to itself (in public!) that it is a Liberal paper, and not a "mainstream" one. "Is The New York Times a Liberal Newspaper?...Of course it is."
On some major sticking points: "These are the social issues: gay rights, gun control, abortion and environmental regulation, among others. And if you think The Times plays it down the middle on any of them, you've been reading the paper with your eyes closed."
Go, read it all. Definitely something worth reading (hat tip Jason). |
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| Secondhand... |
[Jul. 21st, 2004|08:51 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  excited | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Corporate Slave", Snog | ] |
Heard something secondhand. If it's true (and they're not just messing with my head), something really, really big just happened. A really good thing. Don't want to say too much (don't want to jinx it), but it would mean I'm off of the graveyard shift.
It's gonna be insane trying to sleep tonight. |
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| Moore, or Pig? |
[Jul. 14th, 2004|09:11 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | energetic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Brown Sugar", Rolling Stones | ] |
By now, everyone's seen the website comparing pictures of George W. Bush to pictures of various monkeys. It's pretty much old hat. But for a new, wonderfully done spin on such a thing, is the new website: Moore, or Pig?
Some of them had me stumped, I gotta tell you. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 10th, 2004|07:59 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | frustrated | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Girls", Prodigy | ] |
Using this site as my political sounding board, as komsomol.net has proven completely unreliable. I've just given up on the provider ever getting their act together (it was supposed to have been put up over six months ago).
Lileks. Read it. Love it. Repeat.
Left-wingers be warned, you'll be crying and clutching your ass when you finish reading this (thanks to Damian for the phrase). |
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| There are no WMD's in Iraq. There are no WMD's in Iraq. There are no...oh. Whoops. |
[Jul. 10th, 2004|07:00 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  crazy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Another One Bites the Dust", Queen | ] |
Guess the Poles didn't get the memo.
Polish Troops Find Sarin Warheads, almost sounds like a bad joke.
So what do we do now? I mean, Bush can't possibly be right on this one, so what's the latest spin going to be?
Also, just as noteworthy, is the fact that the press haven't stated a single thing about this. No newspapers, no TV time, just this article on FoxNews.com, buried in the archives. |
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| CHTS and driving |
[Jul. 9th, 2004|09:01 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | energetic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "You Will Be Under My Wheels", Prodigy | ] |
Was not allowed to enter the race because I had no battery clamp. Got one now, and I'll have to do some drilling to install it, but i'll be good then (and I'd like to paint it red first, it's blue right now, and most other upgrades under the hood are red now).
It was cool enough out last night, that when I stopped pushing the engine it came close to the temp it thought it was. Granted, it never had its full power, but I managed to completely lose an Acura and a BMW 325i in turns (not the car's strong point). The new cylinder head temp sensor should arrive soon, and I'll recheck the throttle position sensor, which I think is misaligned, and i'll really be ready to rock. Last night there were points (mostly when racing uphill) that the engine's heat built up to the point that the sensor was way off, and the car bogged down big time (as it thought it was still cold, and was pumping an extremely rich mixture). So now I've determined the car now needs five things -after the CHTS- before I'll be truly happy with it (at leats for a short bit):
Driving lights $60 (will get sometime this month),
Polyurethane bushings $140
Yokohama tires $400
Install the stereo deck $100 (might do myself, if I can find out how to rewire the rear speakers without totally removing interior).
Check U-Joint and bearings for right rear tire, to stop clacking noise on bumps |
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| General repairs and prep |
[Jul. 3rd, 2004|07:19 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | grateful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Prelude 3.0", Slipknot | ] |
Well, the car's got a few problems, and some are fixed. First, the bad.
It appears that the cylinder head temp sensor is bad, meaning the ECU believes the engine to be at 0 degrees, causing it fo flood the engine with fuel. This leads to a loss of power (particularly when the engine is hot), and some serious hesistation. It's a $20 part, but takes hours to get to and replace. Tim has volunteered to help, so that should definitely help.
I'll just try to work in the morning race, and run in the afternoon, to give the engine a chance to cool down (and get closer to that 0 degrees, so it'll run better than when it's at 250 degrees).
Some of the vacuum lines appear to be leaking. This is a problem with cars this old, and at some point i'll have to replace them all. No serious negative side effects other than the A/C cutting out under heavy accel (which means driving fast and hard leads to a very warm cockpit indeed).
Second, the fuel gauge was reading incorrectly. When the gauge read "E", there were still 7 gallons in the tank (it took 12, and is a 19 gal tank). Removed the fuel level sensor, scrubbed the contacts with a pencil eraser, and replaced the sensor (with the float on backwards, to my embarassment). After seeing one gauge read normal, but the "low fuel" gauge hitting rock bottom, I realized what the problem was, removed the sensor again, switched the float around, replaced the gauge. It appears to read properly now. As a test I added 2 gal to the tank, and it went up by about a tenth.
Chilton's book arrived today ($10! Whoo! Cheaper than the Hayne's was!). List price of about $50, got it for $10. Anything I'll ever want to know is in here, and then some. So much better than the Hayne's, with the "If test fails, take car to dealership for repairs." This also has exploded views of the transmission, meaning I can have it rebuilt soon! No more grinding second, meaning much faster off-the line acceleration. It even has directions on how to remove crayon, butter, or tar stains from inside the car. I'm not going to ask what you're doing coloring butter with a tar-soaked crayon in the back seat of your Z.
Also just realized that all those sensors placed everywhere in the car actually serve a purpose, and you can see which ones are giving errors. Got an error code for the throttle position sensor, and when I can get a multimeter (probably tonight), I'll test the circuit.
Some of the noises I'm hearing with the car lead me to believe the right rear tire bearings need to be checked, and possibly the rotor in the same.
New sensor arrives in a few days, and when Tim can get it in, life should be much, much more dangerous. |
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revfd's journal