Flibbie

A feminist's view. Jim evolution.bmp

I understand the idea of a pressurized coolant system to raise the boiling point of water. What I don't understand is the reason/purpose of the thermostat. I kind of get the idea on cars in a cold climate with a carb. Can someone please explain why a thermostat is needed/desirable on a fuel injected warm climate car. My car is a Stalker with a supercharged 3800 Buick F.I. engine. In heavy traffic, my temp gets to 200F, on a cool night at 55-60mph temp is 135F. By comparision my '03 Silverado temp is always 205F whether idling in 100F traffic or 80mph in 40F weather. Jim

Rich, I'm out of commission for a few days. Will try to get some side views by next weekend. Jim

Sure would be nice to be able to do that. Due to no roof, I only go out early AM or near sunset. I don't notice engine heat so much as the sun beating down with high humidity. It is really nice driving after dark (and after rush hour is over). Jim

Sitting at traffic lights really warms up the engine pretty quickly. To aid in cooling I've installed some SS wire mesh to hopefully let some of the heat out. Jim

I have teased Jeffrey alot about his porky Elise ever since he bought it. He knows it is all in good fun. Now that I have my Stalker running he is giving it back. He said he KNEW I didn't really do what it looked like I had done to his car, but he said it sure looked convincing at first glance. Jim

I didn't DO this. I just set this up to show him a way to get a cup holder. The cup bottom is actually cut off. I had some black plastic shaving left over from parts I'd made. This was just a prank I pulled on my son. No harm,no foul. Jim

Ever since my son bought his '05 Elise, I kave teased him for spending that kind of money on a car with no cup holder. Recently he took his DD to work instead of the Elise. So, I thought of a way to have a cup holder. He was very surprised with my efforts!! Jim

My partner and I used to fly a 450hp Boeing Stearman in airshows. One evening after the show we were putting the a/c in the hangar when a spectator appproached us. He says "pretty big a/c you have, but I fly the world's largest bi-plane". He was a 747/Shuttle pilot. Very interesting to talk to. He had flown several trips from Edwards to Fla. with the Shuttle on top. Max gross take-off weight was over 1,000,000 lbs. Hard to believe something that big could ever get off the ground. Jim

My son and I are going to the ToTD in July. I will be going alone again in Sept. Just can't stay away. Jim

I agree. Jim

I have come up with a way to possibly help those driver/owners with crash protection concerns. Some LSiS driver/owners hope a rear spare and foam in the sidewalls help. For those I offer another aid. This was introduced at LOG to rave reviews. Enjoy . Jim

Brad, I agree with many points you make. However, I believe many sorry dealers survive on the growing population theory. There is a new graduating class every year of new drivers in the market. Just ripe for the picking. Those dealers don't need return business to stay active. Jim

I recently posted about being SO hot while driving my Stalker in trafic. Well... I got my pay back. When my son and I drove up to LOG on Wed. we got pretty sunburnt. So we decided to return at night to avoid the sun. We left LOG around 5:30 Sun. As it got dark we started getting chilly. We only had light weight wind-breakers and they only slowed the wind. By midnight it was getting down right cold. We had to stop every 1/2 hour or so to drink coffee and jump around to try to warm up. Jeffrey discovered the hot air hand dryer at McDonalds could blow hot air up our sleeves and down the front of our jackets and really sped up the warming process. Sadly we couldn't take one with us. About 2 AM I was getting sleepy until we spotted deer ON the highway!! 2 in a row. They looked to be the size of cows. Later on we spotted 5 more beside the highway. That really woke me up. Then there were 3 dead deer laying in the middle of the road. Sunrise came near Tampa and gradually we were warmed up. By the time we got home at 11am it was hot again. We decided on future trips we WILL be better prepared for cold. AND I will never complain of hot again. Hot doesn't hurt but cold does. Incidently, we drove 1832 miles, averaged 27 mpg and had an absolutely great time. Jim

As we (my son Jeffrey and I) got pretty sunburnt on our trip up to LOG on Wed. we decided to leave Sun eve and drive thru the night. We left around 5:30 PM and arrived home at 11:00 AM. Total trip, up and back, was 1832 miles, averaged 27.2 mpg. We had a great time. Met many really nice people. New to me was the fact that the Barber complex is owned by a Mr. George Barber. An ex-dairy farmer/owner. I always thought the complex was associated with Skip Barber. Jim

I also want to add my thank you to John for the work he has done for USA7s. I would also like to thank him for the hosiptality he extended to me and to my son Jeffrey. Jim

My son Jeffrey and I arrived from Fl. in my Stalker Thur. AM. Drove about 650 miles Wed. Spent Wed nite in Troy,Ala. (so. of Montgomery). Thur put the Stalker on a dyno for 3 pulls for $100. First pull was to ck a/f mixture. That looked good. 2nd pull showed spark plug gap too big. Reset plugs and pulled 240 at the rear wheels. I'm happy with that. Today went to Taladega race track for 4 laps. Great fun. Smoked a few Elises, only got up to 125 tho with a pace vehicle controlling our speed. My son is taking the pictures this trip. So, I won't be able to post any until after we get home. Really surprised there aren't more LSiS's here. I'm guessing over 100 Lotus and less than 10 LSiS. Jim

I'm seriously considering installing some grilles 'ala Allard, in the hood to try to let some heat out. I sure am dreading summer's 95F w/ 95% humidity. Has anyone ever put a/c in one of these Jim

After changing my engine oil I went for a short drive. In the shade it's 84F. While sitting at a traffic light I thought I was going to melt. Being surrounded by idling SUVs, no breeze and clear blue sky... it was FRIGGEN HOT!!! I guess I'll have to do my jaunts in the AM and PM. Jim

The problem I have with many sports is they allow arrogant 8astards to get away with crap. I could care less if a person is really good if they are worthless as a person. MacEnroe in tennis is a perfect example. Schumaker was allowed to bulldoze his way thru F-1 with no penalties. Earnhart is another. If he hadn't spent the last 3-4 laps trying to block so violently, he'd still be here. Jim

I had the chance to meet Prost at the Honda plant in Ohio some years ago when he was so hot. Impressed me as a very nice guy. Sorry to say it wasn't the same with Senna. Really arrogant. Just my impression. Jim

Just watched the Monaco GP race. This may be a historic, legendary track but with today's cars it makes for a VERY boring race to watch. Almost all passing was done when someone pitted. Indy lost my interest when they went with sole engine choice. Indy was where they always claimed "racing improves the cars and helps road cars". I guess all road cars need Honda engines. NASCAR (Not Any Stock Cars Are Racing) really blew it when they quit using STOCK cars. Then they really sucked when they designed their own cars. I think the majority of today's drivers don't have the cahones needed to drive cars from the 60's. My take on all of this is AERO. Get rid of AERO and get back to racing. Leave the AERO to the airplanes. Just my 2 cents. Jim

Rats... I always wanted a 7. Shucky durn. 1560#. Jim

Congratulations Hank, Looks good. Enjoy!!!! Jim

Thanks Bob, Sure brings back a lot of memories. I used to work on KC-135's, B-52's as well as F-106's and T-33's in my much younger days. The U-2 was operational when I was in Thailand. The SR-71 and the X-15 were always my favorite a/c. Jim