redbaron

Rob, you are correct on the purpose of the pin. The screen material I used is that "gutter guard" sort of stuff that you install on your house gutters to keep the leaves from clogging them up. It's expanded aluminum mesh. I spray painted it flat black. I bought it at Home Depot. The plastic NACA duct I ordered from Pegasus. My carving projects for both for the footwell vent system and the hood vents were all the more trickey because I did them AFTER the car was painted!

I started by cutting a 1 in dia hole with a hole saw and then, since I have an air system in my garage, cut out oval hole with an air powered nibbler and then cleaned things up with fine tooth files. I did the NACA opening in the cowl side for the footwell ventilation system in the same manner. &nbsp ; &nbsp ; &nbsp ; &nbsp ; &nbsp ; Red Baron

No louvers in my hood. I really don't like them from an appearance point of view. But to each his own. I also understand that for some situatuons they may be the only solution.I have an intercooler for the turbo charger but for that I have an air scoop below the radiator and the air flows in via the grille opening. Aside from the portholes the only other concession I had to make was a small blister on the left hand side of the hood http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-01-07_090614_IMG_1412.JPGin order to clear the throttle body. It is quite innocuous as the attached picture shows.

Rob, the plastic cap is merely the top of a typical spray can. As I said, not very sophisticated but it does the job. Yes, that is a speaker you see in the picture. I have a radio/cassett player with a 4 speaker stereo system. One speaker on each cowl side inner panel in the front and two speakers mounted on the hinged portion of the boot door in the rear. Frankly it was a big waste of effort 'cause with my Borla exhaust system the only time I can listen to it is when I am parked with the engine off. Oh well, we live and learn. The antenna, by the way, is a Honda replacement mast I bought at Radio Shack. OK, I will send some pictures of my IP layout in subsequent posts in the near future. Red Baron

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-01-07_052514_IMG_1402.JPG

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-01-07_052327_IMG_1401.JPG

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-01-07_052245_IMG_1400.JPG

The variety of powertrain applications in Rotus often presents unique situations relative to heat accumulation in the engine compartment. For me it was the proximity of the turbocharger to the battery on my 2.3 liter Ford. In the following photos I show that reltionship with a "hood off" shot of right side of the engine bay. Note that there is a heat shield arround the battery which provides the 1st line of defense. I took the further step of enhancing air flow in this area by installing three "portholes" on the side of the hood (bonnet). You older folks will probably recognize the trim rings as those used on the fender portholes of the 1950 Buick. Now that's what I would call judicious recycling!

To see pictures of my Rotus go to >http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/rotus7/ Click on the Photo section.

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-01-06_204536_IMG_1405.JPG

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-01-06_204436_IMG_1406.JPG

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-01-06_204327_IMG_1404.JPG

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-01-06_204233_112-1239_IMG.JPG

As all of you Rotus owners know, driving at low speed in heavy traffic during warm weather can be quite an unpleasant experience. Not wishing to clutter up the exterior of my Rotus with add on air scoops or deflectors I tried a NACA inlet opening on the driver side cowl area. What follows are a series of pictures showing the opening in the cowl side, the discharge snout under the instrument panel and the plastic duct I used. I have found this system to be quite effective in bringing in prodigious amounts of fresh air thus making warm weather driving much more comfortable. During cold weather I have a plastic cap that slips over the outlet snout that blocks any airflow. Not very sophisticated but it works. Red Baron

OK, I'll post some pictures shortly on the subject of "Footwell Ventilation" a subject near and dear to all of us who drive in warm weather. &nbs p; &nbs p; &nbs p; &nbs p; &nbs p; &nbs p; &nbs p; Red Baron

Oops, got the picture posted before I did the text. This is a picture of my on board fire extinguisher installed in my Rotus in the passenger side footwell area. It's certainly a good idea to have one of these for obvious safety reasons but you will find if you ever have your vehicle on static display at some indoor area, like an enclosed shopping mall, the local fire marshalls will probably insist that your vehicle be equipped with an on board fire extinguisher. Red Baron & nbsp;

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-01-06_190333_Rotus_Fire_Extinguisher.JPG redbaron38723.7973148148

Hi Neil, Paul Straub here. I know you sold your Rotus several years ago. Did you get another one or did you built that V8 repowered Miata you talked about? By the way, I still have my Rotus but have moved it from Michigan to our winter home in Florida.

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2005-12-26_084619_IMG_1391.JPGPicture of Toyota spindle modified to accomodate a '92 Mustang GT, 11 in dia rotor and a JFZ 4 piston caliper. &nbs p; &nbs p; &nbs p; http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2005-12-26_084423_IMG_1388.JPG

Go the Grant Products website at >www.grantproducts.com and all will be revealed to you.

Oops, when I pulled a front wheel to take a picture of the uprights it dawned on me that you are talking about something a bit different than what I have on my car. Dennis modified the Toyota spindles and welded on brackets that allowed mounting of the 11 in Mustang GT rotors and 4 piston JFZ calipers. The "fabricated uprights" were an idea that Dennis, Frank Nolfi and I kicked around as an alternative to reworking the Toyota spindles. I think Dennis found a source for them and actually built a few. Sorry about the mix up. I will, however, post pictures of my spindles for those who might be interested. Red Baron

No, but I will take and post some shortly.

Yes, I do. Dennis had to make up some custom uprights for my car because I wanted to use 11 in dia vented rotors from a 1991 Mustang GT in combination with JFZ 4 piston calipers. &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; Red Baron

Since Dennis installed a Grant steering wheel on my car I installed a Grant quick release system. I see it is still available from Grant for $193.51 plus $17.70 for a storage bag. See >http://www.grantproducts.com/default.html for details. It has functioned flawlessly for me for some 10 years. Regards, Red Baron