JohnCh

Randy, I've admired your work since I first saw pictures of the Blastolene Special several years ago. To call yourself a "metal shaper" is somewhat of an understatement! -John

Another vote for Emerald. BTW They’ve added some new capabilities including user defined sensor calibration that eliminates the old Ford sensor incompatibility. All you need is a freezer and a pot of boiling water. Their software does the rest. -John

I've found some other photos online and based on an interior shot, it's clear that this is based on an older car. Somewhere around 2000 Westfield changed the dash side of the scuttle; this car has the older design. -John

Sorry about that Hank, but I simply couldn't resist BTW I thought it was prety funny that SteveD made the comment about the MX5 given your history here with that model. I'm certain you would have written that response if he hadn't -John

Something about this thread seems vaguely familiar...:jester: -John

Someone on the WSCC forum noted that the rear bears a striking resemblance to another well known transportation device http://wheels.ebay.it/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/vespa-200-rally.jpg -John

Oh my, this is…interesting. Pictures and verbiage shamelessly stolen from this Autocar article on the Tokyo Auto Salon. http://media.autocar.co.uk//NonCar/1811010113830740234x155.jpg http://cdn.images.autocar.co.uk/612x408FFFFFFF/NonCar/1811010113831841600x1060.jpg -John

Don't forget that our president is in advertising. I think he may have gotten a little carried away when refreshing the member benefits list. -John

Thanks for joining! You should find that your teeth are now whiter, your breath is fresher, and you are more attractive to women. Oh and your lap times will be lower too! -John

Jim, thanks for thinking of this. To join the club, go to User CP in the upper left hand corner of this page, click on “Paid Subscriptions” at the bottom of the left hand navigation, and follow the steps from there. Jim F. I'll look to the officers to field your question. Cheers, John

After reading a lot of good things about the Fuzion ZRi on Rennlist, I went with them a couple of years ago for my 944 turbo. They work surprisingly well for the money. -John

Tom, the car look great! Now I understand why it's taken so long If you're interested in company during the west coast leg of your tip this summer, then let me know. I'm sure we could put together a small tour with folks participating on various legs. Provided you don't drive that thing like Vinnie, I'm interested in the southern Oregon to BC leg. -John

This CNN video reinforces my decision to only valet park rental cars. -John

I usually drive the Westfield in sub 30F weather several times each year, but to be fair, those are generally only 20 minute trips to the office. My wind deflectors do a good job of eliminating drafts from the lower part of the cockpit, so jeans, normal socks, and Speedcats are fine. To keep my head and torso warm, I wear baseball hat, ski jacket with the hood up, and zip up the collar so it covers my mouth. Works great. For my hands I have a pair of wind resistant insulated gloves that unfortunately only work well until the upper 30’s, so definitely the weak link in my setup. I think electric motorcycle gloves are probably the way to go for longer trips. -John

I like the reason given for why the second owner wanted out of the car: I'm not sure how anyone could ever confuse a car with no doors for one that is soft, quiet, or smooth. :jester: -John

I don't have any experience (yet) but here are two resources I came across a while ago: Richard's Carbon Fibre Pages Thread on building a bike tank -John

1067 lb with half a tank of fuel but no bio-ballast. -John

Skip, it's mentioned in the article Spaz linked to in his post. Terrible shame... -John

Count me in too. You know this thread might be shorter if we limit posts to just those folks who aren't willing to contribute. -John

In the early years, the Targa used a removable plastic rear window that came close to a true convertible experience. I'm pretty sure that option began with the '67 MY and was dropped when the 2.4L engine was introduced in '72. To complicate matters, I also seem to recall that Porsche offered the glass rear window option alongside the plastic window Targa towards the end of the run. No guarantees on the accuracy of my memory A couple of good forums for Porsche are Rennlist and Pelican. Edited to add a pic of a soft window Targa: http://www.porsport.com/images/silver911/main.jpg -John

Sorry, for some reason I kept reading config file as map (the old M3D map files ended in .fig). Sounds like that isn't consistent anymore either. I wonder if a sensor is acting up? The TPS is tougher to diagnose, but you could try messing with the values for the air and coolant sensors to see if that makes a difference. WSCC is a good suggestion. Lots of folks there use the Emerald. Same is true on BlatChat, but you need to join the UK Lotus 7 club in order to post. -John

Seems odd that a mapping error which results in a non-start event, could be rectified by reloading the same map and/or recalibrating the TPS. Are you sure nothing else is going on? When the engine is cold, have you tried reloading the map and recalibrating the TPS before you first try to start it? If you want to compare you settings to other maps, there is a library here. Scroll down to the Ford section for stock and modified zetecs. -John

When you run into that condition is the original map still in the ECU’s memory, or is it gone? Have you checked what the setting is in the TPS before you recalibrate? If the map is gone or the TPS is down to zero (pretty sure that is the default) after the car has sat for a while, then it sounds like a hardware problem. The ECU shouldn’t lose what’s in memory even if it is without power for a while. Someone here may have the answer, but in the interim, I'd email Emerald at EmeraldM3D@aol.com. It’s already Friday night in the UK, but Karl has a tendency to work nights and weekends, so you still might hear back before next week. -John

Was the K3 working fine before, or is this the first time you've used it? -John

Yep, here is the post from last year with pictures. I'm not sure on the status of the race series, but last I heard they were still moving ahead as planned. -John