Thanks to one Matt Walker, my Saab's newest case of the no-go has been diagnosed. The car's tantrum is a bad slave cylinder. So into the transmission housing I guess. And, again with knowledgeable advice, I figure it'll be best to replace many of the clutch's brothers and sisters while I'm in there.

But it's dangerous to go alone as I've never set foot in transmission housing before and would really like to not wreck it.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.jus.liitin.net/9000_clutch_replacement.pdf">http://www.jus.liitin.net/9000_clutch_replacement.pdf</a><!-- m -->

My Carolina steel toes have finally given up the ghost after 12 years, so I'm looking for an all purpouse replacement. I don't think steel toe is a requirement, as I only needed them for visiting ship yards when I was with Lockheed, but they have come in handy more than once.

I've heard good things about Red Wings, and <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.redwingheritage.com/us/USD/product/mens-footwear/6-copper-1907-01907">http://www.redwingheritage.com/us/USD/p ... 1907-01907</a><!-- m --> are the front runners right now, but curious if anyone has experience with them, or any other buy-it-for-life type of boot.

Trying to talk the wife into getting them as a birthday/christmas/next years birthday present, and if they last another 10+ years, that's only like $30/year.

Hello all,

We've been messing around with the idea of collecting some money and buying a club project car to use in some kind of "cheap" racing series. I'm very open to getting this under way and getting the project started before I graduate, so we need to figure out the logistics.

We would need:

-The money to buy the car and get it running. <$1000, which can be reached quickly with everyone throwing in some money. I'm not opposed to using some of the money we've raised over the last couple years to help, but not primarily fund.

- Someone to actually own the car, again, I'm not against having it in my name but I know it's not that simple.

- Somewhere to store it. We have people in North 38 with garages for now, but we'd need to set some rules in place as to how storage is handled.

- Who gets to drive it? - Needs to be discussed

- How to get it to the track? - Needs to be discussed. Can you tow with a JMU Van? Seems like the best option to keep it regulated over years to come and get everyone to the track.

- What kind of races to do with it? I think the most simple would be SCCA-Rally or autocross. Chump Car seems most probable.

- What else needs to be figured out?

I figure we can get it all started for cheaper than usual because we'd have the entirety of the club's resources working on it. Parts donated from alums, 30 pairs of eyes looking for deals, etc. This may be a pipe dream, but we should definitely give it some thought. I have some changes to make to the constitution and get ratified, so if we did get this hashed out well, we could add an article in there to set these guidelines in place.

Sold.

They're like race karts but sillier!



<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://petrolicious.com/cheap-fun-and-fast-you-re-going-to-want-a-cyclekart">http://petrolicious.com/cheap-fun-and-f ... -cyclekart</a><!-- m -->

decent on-board video starts around 1:00
[youtube]rPnMXRlD4nI[/youtube]

The witching hour is coming for the e30, so I figured I'd better try to turn parts into currency. Here's a dump of random stuff I had in the corner, if anyone in MM need anything let me know, I'll be hitting forums with it between meetings at work.


325e cluster
Coarse spline hub for 2002/e21/etc

The problem:
"Which spoiler design and angle will create the most downforce?"

Hypothesis:
"The spoiler with wickerbill at 45° will create the most downforce."

Project:
Build model car
Build two spoilers with adjustable attachment
Put car on scale and blow air over the car
Measure the difference in mass at different angles on the spoilers.

Background:
My son Michael is in 7th grade and all 7th and 8th graders have to do a science fair project. Idea, hypothesis, test, results, etc. He's into that stuff so he's been looking forward to doing it.

Last August we went to the Friday practice day for the IMSA race at VIR. His interest in cars really goes beyond "that's cool" to how things work, tires, aero (loves big wings), engines. We often hit up the NASA events too where MMers are running so he gets pretty close-up with the cars. At the IMSA race, he asked a lot about tires, besides the other huge differences between a NASA and IMSA event is the number of tire mfr's there with huge trailers constantly mounting tires. We talked about compounds, rain vs dry, "who makes the best tire", and "who buys the tires". That last one is a tough question when you everything from major factory teams to Joe Blow running his Miata in a support race and the "professional amateur" support races in between.

On the way home he asked if he could do something tire related for his project. His idea: "Next time DJ has a race, he can try out different tires and we'll see which one is best." Pride swelled that my son just proposed a legit tire testing session for his project but ultimately had to explain how that was probably a bit much to ask. We threw around a few other ideas to test tires and he also mentioned testing wing styles.

Fast forward a few months and he needs to settle on an idea and we start talking about spoilers. He wants to determine which spoiler design makes the most downforce. I asked how he thought we could test it, I was pretty sure he was going to come back with renting the Corvette Racing wind tunnel, but his little brain was working that day and he said "We can put them on a scale and blow air over it". *tear* We talked a little more and I mentioned testing different angles too. So we had a rough plan, he proposed it to his teacher and got it accepted.

We threw around some ideas and settled on building a model out of a pinewood derby car. We talked about the spoiler designs to build and I guess he had some pretty intricate designs in his head. Especially the one where there is a "bump" in the middle, flat, attached from the top (Lamborghini GT3). I explained that building those would be a bit much and suggested something like with and without wickerbill. So off to Lowes we went for supplies, time to build a racin car!


Materials


Rough cut out of model


Measuring end plate length to get the spoiler higher than the roof


Snipping the end plates piece. He was juuuuuust barely strong enough!


Smoothing out the rough edges.


Spoiler number 1 marked for hole drilling and where to bend it so it fits inside the end plates / mounts.


Non-wickerbill spoiler and finished end plate mounts. The bottom hole is to mount to the car and the two top holes were intended to mount the spoiler at different heights.Ultimately didn't need spoiler mount holes since it ended up being an "inteference fit".


Second spoiler and wickerbill ready to be glued on. I guided him through the first spoiler but made sure he did all the "work". When it came to making the second one I left him alone to refer to his measurements and what he learned on how to cut, center punch, drill, bend etc. and it turned out great!


Drilling the end plate mounting holes.


Installing the end plates




"Track test" ready!


Board in progress. Space was a little tight so DJ ultimately got bumped by Senna.(He loves the Senna documentary)

From there we went to Lowes to get some paint in his favorite color orange and we walked out with metallic gold and an "M" sticker. So yeah, it's a gold M car.

Testing videos filmed at poor angle:

First test of spoiler without the wickerbill:
[youtube]7xAPUXuRPVg[/youtube]

Second test, with wickerbill:
[youtube]r6ZuxIvGjuw[/youtube]

This was an incredibly fun project to do with him and and I couldn't be more proud of how much thought, effort and desire he put into it. Seeing the look on his face when it worked was priceless!

The judging was a couple days ago so we should know the results today. I think top 5 or top 10 move on to have a chance at presenting at JMU fair. Hopefully, this is to be continued...

Hey guys, time has come to start looking for some new summer tires. From the limited research I've done, the best size to go for with my stock wheels is 205/55, and I'm looking to spend under $100 per tire.

Tires will serve mainly as my daily-driven summer set, with hopefully a good number of autocrosses per year. Might see some limited track time eventually, but not a priority.

I've found a few in the range, but I'd like to see what you guys have to say before mentioning anything.
Thanks!

Gauging consensus on possible vehicles. I need a daily and the s2k isn't cutting it and I don't like putting 60 miles a day on it either. I'm not really I interested in anything used at the moment that's in my price range and gives me something super reliable u see warranty that I can just drive and not worry about anything except fluid changes for awhile.

So just toying with possible ideas and seems several manufacturers have 0% financing options so I'm just browsing a few new car options although I will probably not end up doing it unless it's a great deal.

But what's everyone think of the Veloster turbo rally or spec r? I'm not crazy about 3 doors but it seems like it could be a good little commuter with a nice warranty on a turbo car from early looks. Focus st crossed my mind but Jake hated his and no 0% financing right now (maybe ever on fords)

I'm not even sure if the offer applies to the higher end Veloster's but Id have to see what the dealer or fine print says.

(Yes I know I'm talking about buying houses but sounds like renting for awhile is better and I need a car and can't find any decent 94 Nissan Sentras for $900 right now).

This is just a feeler mostly to piss everyone off and open the door for criticism from the bestest friends anyone can ask for.

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