--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2Q00007 Date: 02/18/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 04:40pm \/To: ROY WITT (Read 0 times) Subj: Gordon?/Earnhardt! -=> Quoting Roy Witt to Alan Morrison <=- AM> Jeff Gordon robbed at Daytona - 2-8-98, by NASCAR in a big glass AM> building! RW> I had forgotten all about it and came in at the next to last yellow RW> flag. I don't know about the rest of the race, but it sure reaked from RW> the next green... They showed the Twin 125's on Saturday, and it appears it will be another close race between the makes this year. So CBS showed the Olympics, both these races, more Olympics, and the Daytona 500 all in two days. I'm impressed... RW> I had wondered what happened to DE...I didn't see him or any of the RW> standings that included his name. He's got some good standings now! Earnhardt has won it all... An impressive drive and win at the Daytona 500 finally puts him at the top of the heap. A good start towards an eight championship, which would put him a level above all other drivers in NASCAR history. It would taken Goldenboy quite a while to match that. RW> I'll have more experience with the SB2 on Sunday. So far, what I've RW> heard of them sounds pretty good. I sure do like the looks of those RW> fat valve covers...impressive. It seems it's got the guts to take on Ford at a superspeedway, now let's see how it does without restrictor plates. Sounded pretty awesome as Dale revved it to clear the path to victory lane! Speaking of victory lane, have you ever seen an entire infield empty to shake hands with the winner before? A truly impressive display of the respect and awe Earnhardt commands. Good for him... he deserves it! AM> So what is your take on that last restart? Did Jeffy make the AM> sacrifice for Chevy teams and let Ford win, or just screw-up? RW> Apparently he slowed to fool the Foad guys and blew it. By the time RW> he recovered Rusty and two Foads were out front and Cry-baby had blown RW> 4th gear... I think that may have been a cover... I mean saying 'We couldn't have won anyway' so his mistake was not a problem after all! Still they should have had a restart since Rusty clearly jumped the start. RW> ... My 2nd Chevy: 1955 Del Ray Tudor in Grey. (1962) My first Chevy was a '55 210 we painted black, with a '62 283 V8. Sneaking it out while Dad was at work was a blast at age 14, since we lived in the country. Our subdivision had an abandoned landing strip that became our drag strip on occasion. Although bought by my Dad, he told my brother and I it was ours, along with a '55 Dodge with the old Super Red Ram hemi engine. Never got to race them since one was driven to work by him... I believe the Chevy was faster though! ... Dale Earnhardt wins Daytona 500 in a Chevrolet - 1998 --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2Q00008 Date: 02/17/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:04pm \/To: ROY J. TELLASON (Read 0 times) Subj: Edmunds News -=> Quoting Roy J. Tellason to Alan Morrison <=- AM> 100-pound decrease in passenger-car weight boosts the fatal AM> crash rate by 1.1 percent, and the injury crash rate by 1.6% RJT> This is why I've always preferred larger vehicles. RJT> What really stinks about this is that they're trying to use it as an RJT> excuse to raise insurance rates for the bigger vehicles. Supposedly RJT> it's got something to do with them causing more damage in an accident. OK, when they raise the heavy car rates they should reduce the poor motorcyclists rates since he's such a target of those teenyboppers in Civics. It shows how much control the import lobbyists have over the entire automotive industry. Give us a break... Safer vehicles get lower rates, period, like it's always been. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2Q00009 Date: 02/17/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:09pm \/To: ROY WITT (Read 0 times) Subj: Brakes -=> Quoting Roy Witt to Alan Morrison <=- RW>> ... My 4th Chevy: 1968 Camaro RS/SS 396, in Black/Tourqois. AM> Hmm... in addition to my slightly older 85 Z28, which I believe you AM> have an 89, I also had a '69 Camaro RS/SS 350 in metallic green. RW> 88 IROC-Z...BTW, Chevy didn't make a Z28 in 88. My 68 was Turquoise A rose by any other name... RW> with a Black vinyl top. 325hp, 396 w/muncie 4spd, no air... I enjoyed Yeah... had the vinyl top. Built the motor, paint, wheels, finished it and drove it for a couple months before some girl smacked it. Insurance man wanted to give me book for it... Told him to replace it with another of the same in perfect condition with fresh engine and new paint... He started to back-peddle a bit after that. RW> it for about a year, and when the 'aerospace' industry took a crap, I RW> had to get rid of one of two things. My house or my car. A wife and RW> two kids wouldn't have enjoyed living in the Camaro, so it had to go. If only the seats would recline... :-) I suppose you made the right choice. Cars come and go but wives, well uh, children are a joy forever. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2Q00010 Date: 02/17/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 10:47pm \/To: MICHAEL SHARON (Read 0 times) Subj: 225 hp Neon? -=> Quoting MICHAEL SHARON to ALAN MORRISON <=- AM> As for the Prowler, I don't know how much power the concept AM> vehicle delivered, but it has the same mild V6 supplied in AM> other Chrysler passenger vehicles. MS> Are you serious?! The Prowler has a 3.5-liter high-output SOHC MS> 24-valve V6 and delivers *253 horsepower* at 6,400 RPM. With 255 MS> pound-feet of torque at 3,950 RPM. Really? Where did you read that?? According to PM Car Buyers Guide it comes with the same 214 HP V6 as the old Dodge Intrepid. While not exactly puny, on sight I thought it might be a lightweight, high horsepower hot-rod on par with a Viper but smaller. Instead it is a fully functional sporty car with a ho-hum 14:1 power/weight ratio. This still makes it infinitely more desirable than say, a Miata, so it may find a niche market. Let us know if you have some performance numbers for it, as I can't find much info on them. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2Q00011 Date: 02/20/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 04:41pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Feature-RL The third generation Acura flagship, formerly known as the Legend, is now called the RL, which stands for "Road Luxury". The interior feels much less plasticky then the Legends, with tasteful wood inserts and leather. On the highway, the RL is quiet, so much so that cruising at legal highway speeds is completely boring. Zero to sixty MPH comes in at about 8 seconds. Initial step-off is impressive, and acceleration from any speed is sharp. Handling, however, is not so sharp. Light steering and a soft ride make the RL feel isolated and less entertaining. Acura 3.5RL: Base price $42,029 Vehicle type: Front engine, FWD, 4-door, 5 passenger sedan Wheelbase: 114.6" Curb weight: 3700 lbs. Powertrain: 3.5 liter DOHC 24v V6, 210 HP; 4 speed Auto. Suspension: F- ind. unequal length control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar R- ind. multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar Brakes F/R: vented disc/disc, ABS EPA Mileage: 19 city / 25 highway --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2Q00012 Date: 02/20/98 From: CHRISTOPHER TARANA Time: 10:57pm \/To: LORI HARVEY (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: Brakes -=> Quoting Lori Harvey to Christopher Tarana <=- LH> We replace the pads and the front rotor. "The caliper was separated LH> significantly," but once we bled both front brakes. Everything worked LH> fine. If you mean the caliper piston had seperated from the caliper itself, or the seal around the piston had ruptured, those are real good grounds for rebuilding/replacing the caliper. If you mean the piston was quite a ways outside the caliper when the old pads came off, that's normal. If you are doing your own brake work, its not neccesary to open the bleeder screws to replace the caliper pads. Assuming the system is free of air, then the best method I have found for working on front disk brake systems is using a 10 nch C-clamp made of heavy iron to "GENTLY" ease the piston back in the caliper. By doing this you will keep from having to open the bleeders and risk getting air in the system. We had to replace the front left (driver's side) pads, caliper, LH> rotor, hub, and CV joint about a year ago. When once again, the brakes LH> quit working. That was expensive. No doubt. Why such a large amount of work on one side? The hubs and CV's can be replaced individually, the right brakes should have been done. If they were fairly new and in spec, keeping them may have been alright if cost was a consideration. (Standard Caveats Apply). Your response, made it seem like LH> when one set of brakes quit working, the other 3 take over. It didn't LH> happen. I was halfway home, went to stop at a stop sign and kept on LH> going with the brake pedal to the floor. That's a scary situation to be in, and there's a good explanation for that. Each side of the master cylinder (look in it, you'll see.) controls two wheels. When one side loses pressure, enough remains in the good side to stop, but it does take longer and you always gets that first drop that's REALLY hair raising till you realize what is wrong. IF you have a "hydraulic failure", two of the brakes will stop working... if the vehicle is split forward/rear, then one set on either end of the vehicle will continue to work, (but that pedal will go down as the pressure in the ad side drops.), If the vehicle is split diagonally, then one front and the opposite rear will fail, and the other two wheels will continue to work. (again with a significant amount of pedal drop.) It is possible to have a strictly "mechanical" failure in which one or more wheels fails to work, and there is no loss of pedal height. Christopher ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] --- PCBoard (R) v15.22/M 2 * Origin: Ed's BBS * Holiday,Florida * 1:3619/45 (1:3619/45) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2Q00013 Date: 02/20/98 From: CHRISTOPHER TARANA Time: 10:57pm \/To: RON TAYLOR (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: Brakes -=> Quoting Ron Taylor to Christopher Tarana <=- RT> I suspect my warpage problem is due more to the trailer that any other RT> cause. Unfortunately it is one that I can't eliminate. Sometimes in life we're the windshield, sometimes we're the bug! RT> "Full" conversion including electronics and push button backseat/bed RT> on a standard utility van chassis. Sounds like a tad close to the usual 500 pound payload figure GM quotes for the full-size vans. RT> Both are factory originals. I'll look into having both replaced when RT> I do the ball joints in the near future. I'm hearing a slight ball RT> joint pop now... did the old crow bar test last weekend... about 1/2 RT> inch up/down movement, so repair time is imminent. Anything over a quarter inch is definately cause for concern. RT> Hmmmmm.... a possibility, although it isn't a chatter exactly. Its a RT> "thump, thump". Imagine running over those little square reflectors RT> in the middle of the road... thats what I thought it was the first time RT> I heard it. That sounds more like front stabilizer noise, not brake noise. hen's the last time you grabbed a flashlight and inspected the front stabilizer bar? If the bushings are bad/missing, that could cause noise as braking forces are distributed through the bar. When I determined that it was coming from the vehicle, I RT> thought, "wheel bearings", but then it went away. It will usually RT> appear after a hard stop like when someone stops in front of you with RT> no warning. The thumping will occur for a couple of stops, then go RT> away until next time. RT> Its probably cheaper to just pick up a set and replace them myself. RT> At $60/hr with a one hour minimum plus parts, it doesn't take long save RT> some real money doing it myself :). Nope, not if you are comfortable doing it. RT> Where is Holiday. I was born and raised up in the panhandle near RT> Panama City, but have never heard of Holiday. It's betwixt Tarpon Springs and New Port Richey on the penninsula, near Clearwater. Christopher ... Do what you will with this tagline, just don't bother me about it! ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] --- PCBoard (R) v15.22/M 2 * Origin: Ed's BBS * Holiday,Florida * 1:3619/45 (1:3619/45) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2Q00014 Date: 02/21/98 From: DON DELLMANN Time: 10:54am \/To: ROY J. TELLASON (Read 0 times) Subj: Vehicle Confiscation While tripping merrily through the mail, Roy J. Tellason was overheard RJT> Yeah. The idea of doing all that digging into a vehicle's wiring is RJT> not a pleasant prospect to me. DD> It seems to me that I recall the first detectors weren't even DD> electronic. I seem to recall Oldsmobile some years back running DD> fibre optics from all the bulbs back to the instrument panel. RJT> As much as I like electronics, I'm beginning to suspect that this RJT> might be an easier solution. Or at least run a bunch of that stuff up RJT> to a little sensor box under your dash, if LED Indicators are RJT> desired... After all is said & done, I guess the easiest way is still the old-fashioned way. Get in the car. Start the motor, and while it's warming up turn on the lights. Get out, tale a walk around the car, reach back in, flip on the high beams, walk around the front again, do the same for left turn ignal, right turn signal, and "4 ways" (many people don't realize that the "hazard flasher" in the rear does NOT blink the turn signals, but the brake lights in most cars). By this time the motor's warmed up enough to drive, shut everything off (unless it's night, or you're in one of those over-regulated states where you have to have your lights on during the day), and away you go. Don ... As I said before, I never repeat myself. --- * Origin: *YOPS ]I[* 8.4 GIG * RA/FD/FE * Milwaukee, WI (1:154/750) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2Q00015 Date: 02/21/98 From: DON DELLMANN Time: 11:04am \/To: ROY J. TELLASON (Read 0 times) Subj: Vehicle Confiscation While tripping merrily through the mail, Roy J. Tellason was overheard RJT> What I was considering when I first posted that was *something* in RJT> series with a bulb that would sense current and activate when that RJT> current wasn't there. RJT> But the actual wiring of it still puts me off of the idea more than RJT> anything else... DD> How about a coil and a magnetic reed switch? RJT> Where would you put the coil? between the feed for the switch and the monitored bulb? As long as the monitored bulb drew current, the reed would stay energized. It would be easiest to use 12VDC indicator lamps, in parallel, so whenever your main lamp was lit, the indicator also would be. If the main lamp burned out, the indicator would go out also. Let's see if I can sketch it........ +-----(headlight switch)---------------(coil)------------ |___________(reed)__ | | (head (Indicator Lamp) Lamp) | | | (Chassis Ground) Yes? No? Don ... :<) What does that wire do? =8