slomove

This giant bottle was the first thing that I removed. I have been driving in rain quite often on our longer tours and never missed it. The wipers however were critical and these tiny things work surprisingly well. When I received the car, the bottle was here on the firewall: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=11896&stc=1

Sorry, for me that has nothing to do with PC but a complete loss of human decency. WTF is funny about that?

Well, to be clear, many of the back country roads had new pavement but there were a few very rough segments as well. Traffic means a farmers truck every five minutes and most people were considerate enough to get out of the way at the next opportunity. Only downside was the traffic around Lake Isabella and the Kern River on Sunday. That was a zoo with cars parked along the river at every available piece of the shoulder, parking lots full of cars and tents. Similarly at the "Trail of The 100 Giants". We wanted to stop there for a short walk along the redwoods but it would have meant to park somewhere a mile down the road and hike back so we skipped that. The foothills were much nicer.

Good trip. Weather was perfect, 75-80 degrees most of the time. The Sierra foothills have some stunning roads. No traffic and amazingly lot of new pavement. For that matter, our last leg on Angeles Forest/Crest Hwy was also devoid of any traffic. Somewhere HERE Oh yes...and there (Brewbakers in Visalia):

We are going on a 2-day trip from LA area to Visalia - Leaving Sunday morning 9/4 https://goo.gl/maps/E6ZC2611oEu - Angeles Crest/Forest Hwy - Hwy14 to Red Rock, then 178 to Lake Isabella - Kern River, Trail of Giants to Springville - Yokohl Dr. to Visalia (made reservation at the Convention C. Marriott) - About 280 miles - Returning Monday 9/5 https://goo.gl/maps/PKukdzCkzMy - Lake Success to Eagle Mountain Casino for breakfast (1 hour away) - White River to Wofford Heights (Lake Isabella) - Hwy 178 (or possibly Caliente Bodfish Road instead depending on traffic) - Hwy58 then Woodford-Tehachapi Rd. - Willow Springs, Elizabeth Lake, Bouquet Canyon - Sand Canyon back home - About 315 miles or 299 miles using Caliente-Bodfish Anybody interested to join? Might be kind of warm but probably not too hot and a lot of the distance is at altitude.

To expand on Blokko's recommendation: I bought my Birkin 2003 in Florida and toyed with the idea of driving it home to SoCal. Fortunately I did not. While the car was practically new with only 600 miles in five years, it overheated and there were more loose bolts and jiggly wires than I could count. I am sure I would not have made it home safely. But the car was still a very good deal, it just needed day or so of serious inspection and sorting. On the other hand, if the car is well built and maintained such a drive is a great idea.

Looking great. And I think the rubber hoses will work for a long time. The ones of my old engine were 18 years old and still looked good (with some ArmorAll silicone rubbing every other year). But when I installed the new engine last year I had to reconfigure that and did go for silicone coolant hoses. You can get any angle elbow in 45 degree increments and it worked well. Wasn't really that expensive. I even found a way to catch the water pump outlet which is at a really awkward angle, see pic. As for the hose clamps, I did not use the special lined clamps recommended for silicone, but a 3/4" wide adhesive backed stainless steel tape (I believe 2/1000" thick, from McMaster) and regular hose clamps over that. BTW, that fabricated aluminum cradle at the bottom is the holder for the coolant expansion tank

On Lotus Ave. in the Chapman Woods neighborhood (half a mile from my home). Unfortunately not named after Colin Chapman but Joseph Chapman but hey, who would know... Given there are mostly multimillion Dollar homes that is not going to happen, though.

The standard way of picking up the speed for live axle Birkins is a stock Ford Zetec crank position sensor that is mounted close to the 4 propshaft flange bolt heads near the diff (maybe 60/1000" gap). That works reliably with a normal VDO speedometer. Since it makes 4 pulses per revolution, the speedo must be calibrated accordingly.

You should also ask on the Birkinowners Yahoo forum. There have been years when front shocks were installed (I believe somebody Stateside) that were too short, bottomed out and bent the lower suspension arms. The guys can point you to the relevant documents. I forgot where to find them. FWIW, many years ago I ordered Protech shocks in the UK. Quality shocks, reasonable price, short delivery and they knew how long they had to make them. Holding up for 11 years and over 50,000 miles now.

Magnus' car is for sale (he started the California Caterham Club and forum). CSR with mostly Cosworth Duratec. $38k with trailer. Needs a paint job but technically a great car.

Since I grew up over there (in Germany, not Brazil), I got kind of used to the style of driving but honestly since I moved to the States I appreciate the more relaxed style here (yes, even in Los Angeles). The times when you can really open up and drive fast are nowadays very rare or on remote stretches, many Autobahn segments do have speed limits and when I am over there I am getting a bit tired of the aggressive attitude of many drivers. For that matter, while common, flying in from behind on the left lane flashing the lights wildly or tailgating is technically illegal as coercion and can be fined if they get you (I think a quick flash as a move-over reminder may be O.K.). The other problem that leads quite frequently to accidents is not the speed itself but the vast speed difference between the slowest folks and the fastest drivers (compared to everybody driving around 75mph her in LA). But passing on the right side is indeed not allowed and very unusual (which I find stupid as well). The only time you are allowed to pass on the right is when you have cars lined up in each lane and the right lane happens to go moderately faster.

Or a set of track tires. With shelf brackets, hose clamps and threaded rods...

Good recommendations! From the trips that I planned a few more: - Try to find old style budget motels where you can park the car in front of the room (I know, not always possible). This gives a much better feel for the car's safety than a big box business hotel where you park the car in a dark remote corner. A side benefit is the option of gathering at night around the cars with a beer and chat. - If you have a larger group (let's say >10), be prepared it will break up into several subgroups to accommodate different speed, starting time or whatever. But that is just fine. You will meet them during the day occasionally. - A downloadable GPS route is useful for many people. - At least somebody in the group should carry general spares like connectors, hose clamps, fuses, and an extensive set of key tools. I always do but was surprised that some people travel even without a screwdriver. - As organizer feel responsible for the group. If somebody is missing don't rely on catching up, go back and check.

Yes, I am ticked off myself. Instead of a nice weeklong tour I will be sitting in a few project planning meetings. Can't wait to retire.....

Sorry to say...but work is getting in the way of the important stuff. This trip is nixed but I will keep the route for a future trip. GB

In case you meant the black mirrors on my car, there was a thread about that as well (can't find it now). This is my own design, the stem is welded from stainless tubing and the shell is 3-d-printed, then painted with epoxy rattle can paint. There is a plastic sperical bearing held in an aluminum 2-part shaft collar. Below is an exploded image. The glass is nibbled and ground from a large convex aftermarket truck rear view mirror to fit the bezel. If somebody wants to make a copy and has access to a 3-d printer (or by Internet print service) you can PM me for the .stl files.

Ted, sure, give it a try. There is no magic recipe for such a project just some handiwork, i.e. trial and error. Make sure the steel tube is thin enough (IIRC it was 0.02 or 0.03 wall) or you may have a hard time bending by hand. Yes, the plans for Summer are getting more concrete and I will probably start picking the hotels sometimes soon. Still need to get approval for the PTO but that is probably more a formality. You may know Bill G. with a Superstalker from Glen Ellen who is also interested in the trip.

Thanks for the very nice words about my workmanship, guys I only wish my car would still look as spiffy as on the pictures. Oh well, it shows some good use. As for the question how this was done I must say I more or less winged it (I know, silly pun). The stainless tubing frame was bent by hand, partially with a tube bender or carefully drawing over the table edge and it took a while to get both sides symmetrical. I believe I screwed up a piece of tube before getting it right. I used a piece of cardboard frequently to make sure the frame became "devolvable" while shaping, i.e. capable of being covered at all points by a flexed sheet. After that it was rather easy to attach the "glass". First I used 1/16" lexan, a few years later I replaced this (after the Lexan was scratched and beat up) with 0.08" PETG sheet. Cheaper and easier to wrap around the frame. The plastic sheet was clamped to the frame in several places, marked about 1" oversize and cut out with a jig saw, clamped back on, slotted every inch or so with a cutoff disk. Then the protruding tabs heated with a hot air gun and wrapped around the frame tube one by one. That is pretty easy with a leather glove and/or a piece of aluminum bar. The softened plastic freezes in place immediately after touching the steel tube.

Well, I was not really thinking of Sonora, but rather Sonoma. I still need to ask around for truck/trailer parking but one of the members here, Bill G. is interested to come along and lives in Glen Ellen. I hope he has some recommendations for storage. It would be great to have you on this trip. That said for now it is about 95% sure we can go. I have not yet checked hotels or made reservations but will hopefully soon. I will post a list when I have that information. As for the moderate temperatures, that is what we thought last year when going to Montana and Idaho at that time, but ended up in that record 100+ degree heat wave. You never know...

I agree with you. And I despise this crook as well. I think the protesters did themselves not a favor. The people who hate Trump don't need the protest and the folks who adore him will only be confirmed in their belief (faith?). That said, while they are entitled to enforce rules for their rallies I think it is unwise for the Trump campaign as well to remove or manhandle individual peaceful demonstrators. After all, this guy strives the be "the government" and such an attitude does not bode well for the First Amendment if he should become the Man. He made some related comments already. The incident with the guy punching the face of somebody being led out by police also shows what kind of brain dead hater folks Trump attracts. Maybe not all but to speak with Trump "And some, I assume, are good people".

Write me your address sometimes. I may be up there next year again.

Jerry, sorry for being the Doubting Thomas here...this is my problem with the anecdotal evidence. I really believe you it "works", which practically means it does not make anything worse. But I am rather looking for evidence of actual "fouling" if such stabilizers are NOT added. I read reports of gumming , varnishing, oxidation etc. and I kind of suspect people are just citing each other. There is no doubt that water separation can happen with ethanol containing gas exposed to humidity or that injectors can clog with particles (ask MoPho about it :smash: )but that is a separate story.

I was concerned about such additives to degrade my fuel cell bladder or the foam inside (they are anyway overdue for replacement) and never used any of this stuff. But I have had the car sitting with California E10 for up to 5 months one time and (unfortunately) quite often 1-2 months. No problem. Car started every time. I did clean the injectors a while ago, just to be sure. Did not make any difference. I am wondering if these stabilizers are a bit over-rated. Is there any credible report of modern engine fuel systems that actually gummed up (not with simple dirt but some kind of polymerized fuel??) or is that only another urban myth or marketing plot?

Yes I replaced the harness with the Painless (the one with the small fuses, IIRC this one). I have the schematic, the wiring table and the fuse layout attached. This is my first version, still using the ignition key switch. Later I modified that for a starter button and a pluggable code key. But I did that maybe 12 years ago and forgot some details. Don't get scared if it looks like this for a while: When you are done it can be like that: HarnessTable.pdf SlomoveWiring.pdf FuseLayout.pdf