slomove

Good for you! I apologize if my comments sounded a bit harsh and I did not even intend to demean the poor folks who are forced to work for next to nothing and generally without much training. But it is anyway annoying for a customer to deal with them like Mazda started the thread. Similar situation in other areas of technology sales (computer and electronics). Few people want to pay for the services of a professional sales force and so we probably should not complain about the result. Gert

You will need to provide more info on the type of brake light you bought. I should have come with some kind of manual?

Not really. I got one of the Champion Trailer kits . Costs a little more than electric brakes but then, no controller and no wiring. http://www.championtrailers.com/DRUM%20BRAKE%20KIT%205%20LUG%201ST%20WITH%20COUPLER.jpg These surge brakes do have some disadvantages. They are supposed to be stored with master cylinder extended to avoid corrosion and obviously need occasional bleeding. Gert

All relative.....I heard some of the Formula 2000 folks here spend up to $15,000 per race weekend. Big rig truck, spare cars, a handful mechanics and umbrella girls included. So, what's your problem? ;-) Gert

I have seen this over and over. There are a *few* somewhat competent folks who know what they talk about but they are just, well, *few*. Otherwise this profession seems to attract a bunch of losers who are too dumb to even flip a burger or sweep a warehouse floor. Or maybe the turnover is so high that they never learn to tell the alternator from a spark plug. I have had one surprisingly good experience when I bought a Honda Accord last year. I requested a quote through one of the Internet car sites, got offers from 4 local Honda dealers with one of them way better than the others (and everybody we visited and haggled with). We went there, were not bothered by the morons, signed the contract left a check and were out in an hour. Gert

Come on....I just had a big Pizza. Don't spoil the fun!

Jeez, was that car contaminated with the upgrade bug already when you got it? You know that this disease robs you of any reasoning power? Gert

Yes I know....but the point is in Germany they spec it differently. May have to do with the tougher product liability risk here. But over there (means Europe in general) people try to tow some astinishing rigs with tiny carsYouTube - Renault 5. Gert

The Jetta Wagon is spec'd at 2000 # which may be a bit tight, even with a lightweight trailer. In Germany is is good for up to 2500 # with brakes but that does not really help you here ;-) I would not go over that for insurance reasons.

Already posted in another thread...I built an enclosed trailer based on a tilt-bed motorcycle trailer. The torsion axle was strong enough with 3500 pounds but I had to upgrade from 14" C-grade tires to 15" tires to have some margin on the 2900 pounds total (1300 # car, 1600# trailer, spare wheels and stuff). Fortunately I found low-profile 15" tires that fit the 14" wheel wells of the trailer. I tow with my wimpy 2.7 l V6 Hyundai Santa Fe. No problems at all and I can do extended grades (like the Grapevine in SoCal for the folks who know) at at pretty good clip. Towing burn rate is about 18 mpg. BTW, I installed a surge brake.....I know some folks consider it obsolete technology but I have been using such brakes for the last 30 years without problems. Being an Electrical Engineer I just don't trust electric brakes ;-) Also no special wiring and no clunky box in the car. Gert

Guys, thanks for the tips....that was the feedback I was looking for. as for Powderbrake's suggestions: The single sided linear bar-graph is actually the "industrial" version I mentioned earlier. That can of course be used as a shiftlight as well. The symmetrical version in my pictures is actually not my idea. This is on the market already but with fewer LEDs and without the programming feature. I liked it because it shows immediately the redline condition when the lights meet in the middle. If you have only a one-sided bargraph you don't know immediately where it ends, except for the color and blinking of course. The low rpm lights in the video are showing only for demonstration purposes (programmed from 0 to 3000 rpm). When I am going to install it for real I will probably program the range from 5500 to 7200 rpm or so. The device has already a magnet sensor built in as a replacement for a push button. This is at the time only used to cycle through the 6 brightness settings when you wave a magnet at it in operation and to switch the input type immediately after power on. I would have to think about an intuitive way to use it for switching the rpm range but this is a good idea. I may also replace the magnet sensor with a regular button because the activating magnet will be easy to lose. Gert

I could maybe live with the looks....but glueing a car together from prefabricated sandwich panels is probably easier to propose than to do. At the end you will have to laminate the joints over and then you still don't have all the attachment points for engine, suspension etc. They will need some hefty load distribution features to not rip out the sandwich faces. I don't think it will work. If you go that far a fully laminated monocoque may be better. Gert

There has been tons of advice on the various mailing lists. At the end it boils down to: - plug all holes and crevices in the bulkhead, tunnel and footwells (there are many more than you would believe). Even small ones pass a lot of hot air - insulate all the separating surfaces with foam, bubble stuff or fancy airplane material. - wrapping the headers helps a little, ceramic coating is also rumored to help. - get some fresh air into the footwell. I installed gills that lead air from the side into the footwell. However, once the temperatures pass the 100 degree mark even that won't really help anymore. - turn off the engine. That is surprisingly effective.

Still with provisional wiring but so far pretty good (see attached). Here an update clip running in the car but full scale set to 3000 rpm to avoid a neighborhood riot.

Cool....I think they sold a bunch of the IRS model in Japan and Australia but that would probably the second only in the US. I want one.....

Hello Arya, that is an interesting idea. Not even finished yet and already new applications... Actually this gadget does already have an analog voltage input, too (you can switch between frequency and voltage inputs). The LED are extremely bright and suitable for a 3rd brake light but you would probably want to have them mono-chrome red. The tricky (and expensive) part would be to find a suitable brake pressure sensor. Gert

Thanks guys! Well, about possible general availability, the scheme here is that I developed two renditions of this gadget: one as shown in the pics for automotive use and another one as multi-color linear bargraph for industrial instrumentation use (flowmeters, pressure and the like). If I can convince the marketing folks in my company to make it part of our product line I will have a source for it. Since it is surface mount electronics you need a production run of several hundred or more to be cost-effective. Doing that by hand is not practical. But I would still need some distributor to sell it because my company is not in the consumer market. Anyway, if I can make it work I will let you guys know. Start and end are programmable via serial or USB port. That means you can set it to be a tach from 0 rpm to redline or you can make it a shift light that starts at 9000 and ends at 12000 (or anything in between). It has 3 wires for power and tach signal. The tach input also doubles as serial communication port for changing the parameters (the 8-pin connector in the picture is only for development purposes and will be clipped off). Gert P.S.: edited to say that "my company" is not my company, just the company I work for..... ;-)

I found it interesting when the LED shift light discussion came here up a few weeks ago since I have been recently working on one. Mainly because I needed a new project and I found the ones available on the market a bit clunky. I finally got it to work and will install in the car tomorrow (still needs a voltage regulator). But so far pretty good: - size of a big pencil - PC-programmable range anywhere within 0 to 20,000 rpm (e.g. 0 - 6500 or 5500 - 7500) - 6 brightness steps (each adjusting to environmental light) - max. brightness enough to use the windscreen as Head-Up display - 3-wire hookup, - will be clip mounted to the edge on top of the scuttle Anyway, I like it. Maybe I should find somebody to sell it. See pics attached and a short clip (the funny flicker pattern when the whole thing is blinking is an artifact of the video processing) Gert

Hmm. Not sure how to assess that without tricky analysis....but do you think the steering arm will be O.K. with the torque of that rather long lever? Would be rather embarrassing to twist it off on the track. But then, it appears to be of a much heavier car.

Another one in a small (but very nice) museum at March Airfield near Riverside, CA.

Hm, doesn't that belong in the linguistic section? Wings=fenders=guards

I kept a running list of expenses for the first 2 or 3 years of ownership. But after some major upgrades (EFI/Emerald/cams/head work/tranny, LSD, wheels/tires/tons of small parts and material etc.) I noticed the scary bottom line number just diminished the fun. Nowadays I just buy what I think I need and can afford, throw the receipts away (if not warranty) and am much happier. Gert

Darn, I did not see that on you last weekend. I was considering similar protective equipment: http://images7.cafepress.com/product/78824877v6_350x350_Front.jpg But this isn't bad, either (note: this is not me in the picture. I am older...) http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s229/ardydelrosario/john-mayer-borat-thong-07.jpg

You are right I missed the most important event of the week....breaks my heart. Well, not really ;-)

1002 members and nobody mentions?