scannon

Air actuated valves, 30% increase in HP, torque and fuel mileage and 50% reduction in emissions. http://www.autoblog.com/2013/02/25/take-a-look-inside-koenigseggs-headquarters-and-peek-at-their-f/?a_dgi=aolshare_email

Is that in case we get eaten by a grizzly bear???

The Miata 5 speed trans weighs around 85 lb. It fits in my SV's tunnel after the mods shown in my earlier post. It has handled 300 HP and 265 torque with much abuse for 15k miles in my Caterham with no problems although I do not do off the line burnouts but I do speed shift it when running up the gears at WOT. The trans in my Miata has handled 280 HP and 260 torque in a car that weighs 1,100 lb more than the Caterham with no problems for close to 80k miles. The Miata transmission is one of the sweetest, shortest shifting transmissions on the planet. (I might be just a bit biased)

Mike, The MSM manifold will shave about 2+" off the driver side and using an engine from '95 thru '97 will shave a bit off the pass side as its intake manifold is smaller than the one on the '00 engine in my car. I had plenty of room to mount the intercooler in front of the radiator. It is actually mounted to the radiator's side flanges close to where the bobbins mount the radiator to the chassis. The fan is mounted on the back of the radiator and just barely fits between the radiator and sway bar. The tight fit is between the upper corners of the radiator and the nose cone where the plumbing goes through. Those 90* silicone hoses actually touch the underside of the nosecone. I sanded the nosecone smooth under there and there has been just a slight dulling of the shiny surface of the silicone. If/when they start to wear I will just replace them, I consider them a consumable item. Using a air/water intercooler puts a much thinner heat exchanger in front of the radiator and smaller hoses to supply it. The intercooler can be mounted anywhere convenient for air flow between the compressor outlet and the throttle body. I would not use the 6 speed transmission as it is wider than the 5 speed and may not fit in the tunnel. I had to remove the power plant frame (PPF) mounting boss and shave some excess material off the sides of the transmission to get it to fit. Besides that, a 5 speed is much better suited to a turbo engine than the very close ratio Miata 6 speed trans. Many Miata turbo owners have swapped out their 6 speeders for 5 speeds. This page near the bottom shows the stock, sacrificial tailshaft and the finished tailshaft which has a mount added that drops it right into the Caterham transmission mount. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/636168/1992-mazda-miata-mx-5/page-12/ This picture shows the intercooler and plumbing under the nose cone. It was not actually mounted to the radiator at that time but that is where it ended up. http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/2545/3361/6361680220_large.jpg

You might also explore using a '94 - '05 1,800 cc Miata engine and a turbo. The factory turbo engine from the Mazdaspeed Miata (MSM) has a turbo manifold that tucks the turbo right in tight to the block and this might fit in your narrow chassis. Flyin' Miata has a bunch of these manifolds and turbos taken off the MSM cars and sells them relatively cheap. You will get around 220 - 25 HP with this smaller turbo. You can get 300 HP rather easily with a stock engine plus a larger turbo and Hydra ECU. I think this could be done for about $5 - 6k if you do the work yourself. Buy a low mileage wrecked Miata, keep the engine and transmission and sell off the rest and you should have a free engine and transmission and some money left over towards the turbo and related items. This is what I did when building my Caterham. Getting the charge air plumbing to fit past the radiator for a front mounted intercooler may be a problem in the narrower chassis but you could use an air/water intercooler mounted in the engine compartment with the water heat exchanger in front of the radiator which would mean much smaller water hoses going past the radiator. http://www.britishv8.org/Other/SkipCannon/SkipCannon-BA.jpg

Since you have a truck and trailer chasing you, you could always trailer the car across the really hot desert parts of the trip in air conditioned comfort.

Al, Plan on a few days in the Denver area before heading to LA and we will give Bessy a proper twisty mountain road shake down along with a group of the Colorado Sevens. You and your party are welcome at my home, I can easily accommodate four people, two more if an air bed on the floor is acceptable.

And at my house while in the Denver area.

Al, Congratulations!!! Is Bessie still in Denver with Ben? If you are coming out to get her let me know and we will arrange a gathering of the Colorado Sevens to send her off to her new home.

http://www.varietyvideosllc.com/about2.html

Hey, it has clams and cycle fenders, it sort of looks like a Se7en. Some of his other creations.

This video is of commercial fishing boats coming back from fishing out off the coast of Washington & Oregon. They are crossing the Columbia Bar, which is where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. http://www.youtube.com/embed/ByGSMmenPDM?rel=0 This is where the Columbia River meets up with the Pacific Ocean. This is designated as one of the most dangerous ports of entry anywhere in the world. There are at least 8 to 10 deaths per year with dumb ass people trying to get in or out in boats that are not made for this kind of severe beating that you see these boats going through. These boats are self-righting, super low center of gravity, sealed engine compartments, basically bullet proof glass windows, double steel hulls. Well, you get the idea. They are commercial shrimp and fishing boats. I have actually seen it so bad that the Coast Guard has closed it due to waves of 35 to 45 foot. It is quite a sight to see. Watch the U-tube video and tell me if you would like to have been a crew member on either of these 2 boats.

How far away can direct brain implants of computers be??? http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/22/4017148/a-day-in-google-glass-video?fb_action_ids=10152578746135720&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210152578746135720%22%3A162195443933741%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210152578746135720%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D#ooid=djNXhqOTogtsKczrDZ3kXtOLNEUV1Uby

Early in my career in aerospace it was determined that the paper to build and operate a spacecraft roughly equaled the weight of the spacecraft. From what I saw I have no reason to doubt that figure. The last few years we finally went digital and eliminated much of that paper. Didn't eliminate much of the labor cost to produce the drawings and documents, just the cost of printing and reproduction of the paper. I understand why hammers cost $600 when the government buys them and I know that companies I worked for lost money even at that kind of figure. It all comes down to the government's way of doing business.

http://www.launchphotography.com/Endeavour_Flight_Deck.html

Siamese twins walk into a bar in Toronto. They place two bar stools side by side and park themselves on the stools. One of them says to the bartender, "Don't mind us; as you can see, we're joined side by side at the hip. I'm John, he's Jim. Two Molson Canadian beers, draft please." The bartender, feeling slightly awkward, tries to make polite conversation while pouring the beers. "Been on holiday yet, boys?” "Off to England next month," says John. "We go to England every year, rent a car and drive for miles. Don't we, Jim?" Jim nods his head in agreement. "Ah, England!" says the bartender. "Wonderful country...the history, the culture..." "Nah, we don't like that British crap," says John. "Hamburgers and Molson's beer, that's us, eh Jim? And we can't stand the English – they're so arrogant and rude." "So why keep going to England?" asks the bartender. "It's the only chance Jim gets to drive."

It was one of the three factory pre-production cars driven by a company engineer doing a "tuning" of the suspension. I doubt he had to pay for it other than the razzing he got from his coworkers.

Sonic boom caused by meteorite hurtling above Russian town at 33,000mph smashes buildings and injures 1,000 people before the space rock crashes into frozen lake http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279020/Russian-meteor-shower-Sonic-boom-caused-meteorite-hurtling-Chebarkul-injures-1-000-people.html

OMG, it IS bigger than my house and shop combined. Now I really starting to turn green with shop envy not to mention the fine stable of cars in the shop.:drool:

Very nice. I think my house AND my shop would easily fit inside your shop.

With latches and a strap you are in a classic "belt and suspenders" mode.

You might not like the fact that it is not a clear coat application. It will turn your polished aluminum to a dull white color. Take a look at the boots he jumps into the mud puddle with. The treated one is white. Other colors are available with a large batch order but they haven't yet been able to produce it in clear.

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/1eMiuXXORMeNoJAs63BJOQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYxMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/motoramic/dcforumrck.jpg http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/first-corvette-stingray-wreck-already-history-books-011152790.html

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/cat-only-two-legs-inspires-185907909.html

http://cheezburger.com/47342081 Thanks Russ.