WestTexasS2K

I just attended a meeting for 4 days last week for our pension board. There was a speaker their that talked about some manufacturing coming back to the USA because of low fuel cost like natural gas which is 1/4 the price compared to other nations. It hard to imagine fuel cost here is cheap but in comparison to Europe I guess that is true.

I'm not sure it can last forever. I wonder how the modernization of production process that eliminates the need for people in the last decade has done to the middle income famlies. I read an article where China is losing manufacturing jobs at a high rate due to the modernization at their factories.

I'm trying to stay out of the politics on this forum. I don't agree with the broad painting of all wealthy people as having gotten there by being crooks or with government help. I have a few millionaire friends and one billionaire acquaintance. My father in-law is a multimillionaire he built houses all his life working 100hrs a week for most of his life. He quite working in his late 30's when the government was taking 60+ percent of his money. He decided to just stay home and shut down his construction business. He started it back up 15 years later when taxes became more reasonable. He is wealthy because he paid cash for everything and lived well below his means and worked his ass off. He has lived in the same house for 35 years and often drives his cars to 200k miles before buying another base model car often a Toyota or Buick. My billionaire acquaintance is good friends with my cousin. He and his wife started oil well enhancement company in their garage about 20 years ago. They just were bought out by Halliburton for over a billion dollars. They got rich by developing a great product and apparently very good business model that hit the market at the right time. Now Halliburton is a company that probably fits into the earlier description. There are good hard working people doing everything they can to improve themselves. Some make it some don't. Some get it from silver spoons some don't. I just cant wrap my mind around why its ok for the government to take from the rich to give to the poor. I don't think that the government was set up to be Robin Hood for the country. I know there are people that need help out there. Im all for helping the needy, but there is so much abuse of the system and no willingness to address this.

Thanks ill look it up.

I understand

I'm in the process of buying a building from a guy that lives out of town. The property belonged to his dad and he inherited it from his dad after his passing. His dad was an interesting man. He was an engineer and was a motorcycle racer for years. According to his son his dad designed submarine drive systems for the Trident class subs. The son had a 56 Alfa Romeo convertible stored in the building. Part of the deal was I had to dig the Alfa out and deliver it to him in Dallas. He told me I could keep everything else in the building. He was thrilled that another car guy was getting the property. So when I gained access to the building I found this little treasure sitting in the corner. His dad built the car in the 60s for an SCCA class which was a 1.3L engine limit. So he put two triumph 650 engines in it with a chain drive. Its space frame construction like a lotus with a hand formed aluminum body. I dont think he ever got it on the track. I wont be able to move it out of the corner until I close on the 14th. It looks like it could be a fun project like I dont have enough of those in my shop already.

Is there a way to post picks using the I pad or I phone?

I dug up a old video of 7evins car on dyno with the Rotrex.

140 is easily doable. My Ultralite that i first supercharged car I did ran 9 psi on stock motor and it would do 140 on a few tracks like Road Atlanta. That car pulled 260 or so on the dyno. That was using a 4:11 diff with 26" tall 17" tire. Honda has a 9k rpm redline. The acceleration out of the corners is where you can really can shave the lap times.

Klasik I was under the impression that you need to run lower compression for all forced induction applications and found out that isnt always so. When we built 7evins car with the Rotrex we lowered compression ratio from 11:1 to 9:5 we found out later that really hurt the power. Oscar Jackson informed us that the way the pulse waves of the Rotrex supercharger likes the higher compression ratio. He sent us some tables and charts to prove the point. I cant say I completely understood the data, but when 7evin rebuilt his engine he reinstalled the 11:1 and got a good kick in the power band. He is running 23psi on 11:1 engine on E85. The Honda guys are running 10 psi on the stock 11:1 on pump gas motors with no real problems. Turbos will make more power for sure. With new turbo technolgy lag is virtually gone and you will make more torque overall in the powerband. Heat is the biggest issue in my opinion. The Rotrex just doesnt generate as much heat as the turbo.

Ive good things about the Ecotec. Im not sure how it can be configured to rwd. I guess the Saturn Sky and Soltice used them in RWD format. I think they both have been discontinued.

Yes we use Honda engine. We built our own bracket for the Rotrex. Kraftwerks is the importer for Rotrex in the USA. They have several kits for Honda models but were working on other systems too. I hadn't been to their website lately. TTS in the UK makes systems for more varieties makers. Since Ford is popular in Europe he might something that would work.

Klasiak we have been running Rotrex superchargers for nearly five years now. I love them.

You certainly want to looke at the brakes when you start adding power. Since everything is speeds up braking needs increase too. You will need to readjust your breaking points for sure. It may be as simple as adding a more aggressive pad or to larger rotors or calipers a combination of all 3. IMO you can never have to much brake.

That is a big ole fat torque curve. You cant beat a turbo for that.

If a screw strips you can use a pop rivet

I don't walk around in constant fear for my life. I live in a small town 88k where we all know our neighbors. We watch out for one another. People are for the most part are extremely friendly. Most people in our neighbor hood attend a bi annual block party where we get together BBQ and get to know each other better. We know all the kids, spouses where they work and so on. I'm sure the people that live in any of the areas where mass violence has happened felt safe in their surroundings too.

Jackal we don't have fully auto guns available to the public. These are semi auto guns that are causing the controversy. I can show you my Ruger mini 14 and it my AR15. My mini 14 one has a wooden stock and looks like a .22cal rifle. Yet it shoots the same rounds as my Ar15 and can shoot just as many rounds as my AR15. The average response time for police in my town is 6 min. if you live outside the city limits then it can take 30 min. for sheriff to respond. They will arrive in time to take photos and tape off the crime scene. I hope I never need to use my gun, but I will if I need to to protect my family. http://m.reporternews.com/news/2012/dec/26/man-fatally-shot-by-exgirlfriend/ People use the argument that the USA is this big military superpower. Yes for now that is the case. Can you guarantee that will be the case in 25 years or 50 years. Rome was a superpower, where are they now. Look at all the great countries in history. Most have gone away and I suspect the same will happen to the USA may not be in my lifetime, but it will be very likely to happen someday. The USA is slowly taking more rights away from the citizens thru things like the Patriot Act and NDAA. There is a perceived threat and they rush in to save the day and in the process take a few of your liberties away. The people happily hand them over to the government in exchange for a little security or the promise of security. They will eventually take a bite at a time until the whole thing is gone. I hope I never need my guns for more than target practice and deer hunting. Governments tend to cycle from Aristocracy to Timocracy to Oligarcy to Democracy to Tyranny. I think the founding fathers noticed this trend and wanted an arm citizenry to stand up to it. It has nothing to do with how many bullets can be fired from a gun. The government can typically out muscle the citizens with firepower. A good example of what small arms can do all you have to do is look at Afganastan. They have held off powerfull nations with rocks and small arms.

Sorry Ive been gone a few days. I will shoot some pics tomorrow for you.

I have some fiberglass ones that are light weight and are half a circle. It is very easy to trim with a air saw or bandsaw to the length you want. They fit the radius of a 25-26 tire.

No I haven't tried it yet.

Wow, so much for saying tires last a long time on a 7.

Is that a rapid prototype or the actual intake? That could cut a few pound. ITB cuts the weight too and wicked throttle response.

Kevin and I did the Texas Mile (standing mile run) a few years ago now. He did 167.4 was his best. This was with his supercharged S2000 make about 380 rwhp at the time. It had no fenders and we even tried a aero nose on it removed the headlights taped the grill mostly up, full belly pan and rear diffuser. It was much faster with no wings of course but more scary to drive at that speed. We needed a little lower gear or actually a closer ratio gear box. I think 200 is possible but not in a mile unless you have 750-800 hp. The first 140 comes pretty quick about 1/4 mile. The last 3/4 is a bitch without perfect gearing. I think 175 might have been attainable for that horsepower level. I wouldnt want to be driving. There is a thread on here just type in Texas Mile for our experience. It was fun and we talked of attempting again with his new power plant its up on power from that one.

I found you need to cure the Jet Hot. It usually holds up well. It has worked pretty well on 240hp Hondas. The black holds up a bit better. I don't think it will protect the alt if its that close