slomove

Yeah it is unusually cold here in SoCal. August should be high 90s and sometimes well above 100. But it is only mid to high 80s Probably it will be total scorcher when we do the NorCal trip next week..... Gert

Yes, hello, I am here and I know I won ....but what am I supposed to do? Did I win a prize? Do I need to call the Megamillions Lottery? Anyway, we will surely have some pics of the Northern California Tour by the 17th and possibly a short write-up. I will talk with the guys who can contribute. Gert

Well, from McMaster-Carr.... www.mcmaster.com This is esay for me because only a few miles from work. They ship Internet orders all the time but it is pretty common stuff that you should find at a local industrial/HVAC distributor. You get it in slitted tubes to slip over pipes or like the stuff I got in sheets to wrap bigger equipment. Just make sure it is the better quality pliable material. I used it to cover the inside aluminum surfaces of the tunnel (front to rear). For the FRP footwell caps I used 2" wide durable weatherstrip tape, just stuck on side by side. There may be better stuff for this purpose but it works for me. For the firewall and the footwell "roof" I used the silvery bubble wrap material from the hardware store, just cut into suitable pieces and held in place with aluminum duct tape. This way I can quickly remove it when needed, e.g. scuttle off. Like mentioned in the other post, the biggest difference was the side air intake that flushes a continuous stream of outside air through the footwell and does not allow for heat buildup. If you don't have any air flow down there, the insulation does not help much and the heat will just soak in over a little longer time. That said, when summer strikes and outside temperatures go well above 100 degrees nothing really helps anymore.... Gert

Lots of info in some older threads like this one. Recently I used the opportunity when I had engine and gearbox out to completely insulate the tunnel from the inside with 1/2" closed cell dense foam rubber (McMaster Carr # 93265K46, normally used for pipe insulation). I cut tightly fitting patches and stuck them on to the free areas between the chassis tubes with PL Caulk/Adhesive. Maybe not as good as the space stuff but very cheap. First drive today and it helps quite a bit. Gert

Well, the connectors of the Racerwholesale/G-Force harness were some triangular metal tabs with slots for the belt and a hole to bolt it down. The harness came already with the belt buckles to adjust. I only had to loosen/unthread the buckles, pull the belts out of the tabs/connectors, loop them around that rod and thread back into the buckles. Maybe your harness is just of another style.... Gert

That is what I had but I just tossed the metal connectors and looped the belt around a similar rod behind the seats. However, I have the shoulder belts coming through holes in the seat back. If they are too far apart I would be concerned to slip out right between them. Actually, in that case there are H-type shoulder belts with a webbing in between to keep them close to the neck. If your belts just don't fit, Racerwholesale has some decent 6 and seven point harnesses for very reasonable money (about $140 each). They have very good cam locks but maybe not just as soft webbing as the more pricey ones. Gerthttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/832791225_harnessbar.jpg

Jeez, kids are really pampered nowadays. I thought I was kind of generous that I gave our 14 year old Escort wagon to my son until it falls apart. He is not excited about that car but he keeps it in some working order because a lousy drive may be still better that a good walk. Anyway, if he wants to have a nice ride he better makes some money on his own. I am paying already for his college, i.e. 4 years at the UCSB resort..... Gert

Similarly here...the pilot claimed wind shear or other turbulence got him off track when approaching the air strip but probably he just screwed up. It is just amazing that the landing gear caught it and held up. Normally the guy and his wife would just have become part of the sad statistics. I am not exactly religious but that makes you think about guardian angels. Gert

They used a 130 ton truck crane to get it down. Said they did not want to use a helicopter because the turbulence might have knocked it off the cable.

Sorry, voice only in German. But it said the pilot and passenger got out unhurt after 3 hours upside down in their harnesses. Gert

Kind of bad timing.....as Stan mentioned on 9/5 I will be in NorCal, too. But we can probably meet up the 22nd in the evening. I have to look up my office calendar but I might be able to sneak out earlier. I am in Pasadena, about an hour drive from LAX. You got a car? If it is not too late we could blat out to the mountains Gert

What, who said that? Anyway, I am beginning to view the Olympics reporting with disgust. If any given competition does not have a US team or if the US won't have a medal chance there is no reporting because the rednecks won't care. On the other hand, I have to watch boring family stories of any f*cking star athlete. We are missing a whole bunch of really interesting events. Tried to get some Internet video feed from European sources but it seems they are all locked down to the US due to contractual bullshit. Does somebody know how to get the big picture? Gert

That is what I did when I had the engine out lately. But I am envious about your really spiffy looking box lid. I welded a 1/2" fine thread hex nut to the stock lid (because the lid is a bit thin for direct threading) and used an off the shelf drain plug. Plastic stick with notches as dipstick. Oh well, in the dark cave of the tranny tunnel you can't see it, anyway Gerthttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/943447125_P1000760.JPG

I see.....you have internalized the Prisoner concept of the Village But this gadget is even better. Then you always know where she is at any given time. Does not have a camera yet see with whom and what they talk about but that is just a matter of time..... I find all that extremely scary. Gert

Picked up in Germany last week. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1354398155_BestHammer.jpg

Plastic, what??? Obviously the ZX1 oil pump is different from the ZX3 and SVT pumps. The pump that I removed had some pretty good looking ground steel gears. No Plastic whatsoever. And probably no wonder that it is more than 2x the price of the ZX3 pump? Gert

I am in the process of re-assembling my refreshed ZX1 engine. The oil pump may still be O.K. but the gears are a bit scuffed and while I am at it I can just as well replace it. Looking up the usual places I find following brands: Kragen: - AE Clevite $ 280 - Sealed Power $229 - Melling $214 Autozone: - Hi-Tech $172 - Melling $140 Summitracing: - Melling $143 NAPA: - Unknown brand $240 So, any reason not to use the Melling pump from the auto store? In another post Gary Slutz mentioned an HP oil pump but I am not sure what that is. I understand that Quicksilver had a billet pump at one time but maybe not for the ZX1. BTW, I am going to use ACL Aluglide aluminum-silicone bearings as recommended by the engine builder. Thanks, Gert

You guys....and I thought I am doing crazy things to get rid of the heat. some of my experiments: - using the aluminized "bubble wrap" Mazda mentioned to insulate the firewall and accessible footwell surfaces: helps a bit, is cheap and easy to remove. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/814818760_Battery2.jpg - wrapping the exhaust headers with glass fabric tape and then aluminum foil duct tape: helps a bit but the first hour of driving and burning off the aluminum duct tape adhesive is not healthy. Fortunately the wrap is holding up for 3 years now. - sealing all the cracks, holes and crevices between the engine and the cockpit with silicone and duct tape: quite efficient. If that is not done properly all the other measures will fail. Just a 3/8" hole or equivalent will pass a LOT of hot air. - Duct the nosecone into the footwell (picture below): I was disppointed. No significant change.http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/300708814_ventfunnel.jpg - Footwell bottom louver: Disppointing. May have some effect but not worthwhile: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1412907654_footventlouver.jpg - By far the best improvement so far was a fresh air vent from the bonnet side with a reversed boat louver. The air flow can be felt and it flushes the stagnant hot air from the footwells: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/391741_AirVent2.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1342358358_AirBox2.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1177971570_AirBox1.jpg The high intake position of this louver prevents it from sucking in hot air from the exhaust. Also, I have been driving in pouring rain for hours (PNW 2007) but for some strange reason there was no water dripping into footwells. Gert

$500.....that is cheap. I had a perfectly working zx1 with carbs in my car.... - added $ 2500 for head porting, valve job, new cams, followers, springs, sprockets and related goodies. - added about another $2500 for throttle bodies, injectors, ECU upgrade., fuel pump and related goodies - now the the engine needs a rebuild and I am going to spend another $1000+ on machining, new pistons, bearings, ARP hardware and related goodies. So, what is that complaint about $500? Ah...I get it ...you still need to spend the other $6000 :jester: Gert

$500.....that is cheap. I had a perfectly working zx1 with carbs in my car.... - added $ 2500 for head porting, valve job, new cams, followers, springs, sprockets and related goodies. - added about another $2500 for throttle bodies, injectors, ECU upgrade., fuel pump and related goodies - now the the engine needs a rebuild and I am going to spend another $1000+ on machining, new pistons, bearings, ARP hardware and related goodies. So, what is that complaint about $500? Ah...I get it ...you still need to spend the other $6000 :jester: Gert

Not sure if to reply here for a name proposal....but sent an email to John anyway. Ins7nity

Sounds GOOD :thumbs: If the short day is deemed too short we could use Platina Road and Wildwood Road and then up to Weaverville. On the other hand, Whiskeytown is quite nice (if a little touristy and busy) and the second half of 299 looks great. Too many choices...... Gert P.S.: Took my engine to the machine shop today and had them talk me into a complete refresh, boring, valve lapping, new pistons, crank grinding, new bearing shells.....I only hope this is a reliable and fast machine shop :skep:

IIRC in the latest Hagerty Policy (in California, that is...) they specifically excluded ANYTHING happening on a racetrack including the paddock. Only if parked in the spectator lot the car is covered.

Well, I guess then we are all English. I think this was a well balanced and civilized discussion for a car forum in spite of a minor trolling attempt. Given the snobbishness on some other Se7ens related groups we are so well-behaved, it is scary. No flaming, no name calling....are we all just too old? :jester: Gert

Thanks Gary, that is the plan. Just need to shop for that GOOD engine rebuilder in the area but have some leads already. As for the bearings....should I just get some aftermarket shells for the Ford Contour or are there better ones around?