She Followed Me Home, Honest
12-24-14, 06:42 AM
#1577
Wow, we share a lot of design cues...same wheels, same airdam and similar paint.
Great minds and all of that.
This morning I meet up with Sigfrid for the first time since Thanksgiving and I hope to get an idea of what is going to happen.
We shall see.
Great minds and all of that.
This morning I meet up with Sigfrid for the first time since Thanksgiving and I hope to get an idea of what is going to happen.
We shall see.
01-05-15, 09:43 PM
#1579
"Bird" is the word, just as "Miata" is always the answer.
That is as lucid as the Z's current status, i.e., not very.
Basically, we decided that the fastest way to mobility (if not legality) was to install a set of carbs, my preference being round top SUs from a 240Z. This eliminates all the electronics and gets us back to pure basics. I'm quite familiar with them and never had issues getting them to run.
They may work eccentrically, but they do work.
On the 26th, they all left for California and I moved over to housesit the menagerie ( one dog, three cats, two turtles). In theory, I was going to piddle around on the car while Sigfrid tracked down the parts but Denver just went through a nasty spell of sub-zero temps and snow, which put the kibosh on that.
Sorry, but I ain't working on a car in -10° weather unless I absolutely have to.
Besides, the Z's doors were frozen shut and I couldn't muster the energy to really care.
(It was so cold in the garage that a jar of Purple Power a pipe was soaking in -works great btw!- froze solid. It hurt to pick up tools barehanded. I'm too old for this ****.)
I'm betting he's gonna sell her.
Or try, at least.
That is as lucid as the Z's current status, i.e., not very.
Basically, we decided that the fastest way to mobility (if not legality) was to install a set of carbs, my preference being round top SUs from a 240Z. This eliminates all the electronics and gets us back to pure basics. I'm quite familiar with them and never had issues getting them to run.
They may work eccentrically, but they do work.
On the 26th, they all left for California and I moved over to housesit the menagerie ( one dog, three cats, two turtles). In theory, I was going to piddle around on the car while Sigfrid tracked down the parts but Denver just went through a nasty spell of sub-zero temps and snow, which put the kibosh on that.
Sorry, but I ain't working on a car in -10° weather unless I absolutely have to.
Besides, the Z's doors were frozen shut and I couldn't muster the energy to really care.
(It was so cold in the garage that a jar of Purple Power a pipe was soaking in -works great btw!- froze solid. It hurt to pick up tools barehanded. I'm too old for this ****.)
I'm betting he's gonna sell her.
Or try, at least.
01-06-15, 05:26 PM
#1580
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yeah -10 is too cold for cars...
01-06-15, 05:39 PM
#1581
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I am thankful for a heated garage, although I am not planning on any work to my car till springish anyhow.
Sad to hear about the Z, but you got to have some good adventures and met a new friend. That surely counts for something.
Sad to hear about the Z, but you got to have some good adventures and met a new friend. That surely counts for something.
01-07-15, 11:29 AM
#1582
MECP Certified Installer
Yeah, trying to hold a wrench in cold weather is incredibly painful. Mechanic gloves work but they tend to make your hands sweaty, which can be just as bad.
01-08-15, 10:00 AM
#1583
I've gotten antsy after sitting weatherbound for so long that I began searching for indoor projects.
With the Z project mired in indecision, I guess we'll just go back to my boring FC, which needs some attention.
The long term project is to prepare for the upcoming emissions test in March.
As there don't seem to be any low(ish) mileage NA engines available around Denver, I guess I'll have to see if I can trick this one through one last time.
She'll need a new cat/plugs/oil and by retarding timing, always dumping air to the exhaust ports and a hefty dollop of denatured alcohol, might just squeak by.
Even assuming the best, I have to seriously consider what's going to happen when this keg goes.
Meanwhile she continues to run perfectly, even in the frigid weather.
This makes it hard to take her demise seriously...I suspect she'll hum right along till the very moment she...doesn't.
A smaller (and more immediately manageable) problem is the gauges.
The gauges are fine, I just can't see 'em sometimes.
I have a black face/white marking Miata cluster and under certain daylight conditions, the binnacle is just a visual black hole.
The easiest fix is to swap a wire and run the lighting all the time.
I also have a white face cluster (from the Miata dash we put in the Z) and that might work with no extra light but I always thought white faced dials were kinda ricey looking and I'm irrationally averse to this option.
We ran a similar cluster in the FD though and the visibility was excellent, so there's that.
As a long time confirmed glutton for punishment, my preferred choice would be to adapt the Mazda6 cluster I snagged several months ago, but it's a CANBUS unit and I don't think I can get ANY of it working without extensive modification.
I'd probably end up having to meld the Miata gauges to the Mazda6 face plate and then cobble all that into the FC binnacle.
Yup, probably the way I'll go.
On a more productive note (albeit even further afield than normal), I finally got off my *** and minorly upgraded my decrepit computer.
Installed a 120GB SSD as the boot drive, reinstalled Win 7 (installing from a thumb drive to a solid state drive takes about 10-15 minutes!) and put in an Asus Xonar soundcard to drive Sennheiser headphones.
It's much nicer and everything worked right out of the gate, so that was a pleasant change from the way the car projects have been going.
With the Z project mired in indecision, I guess we'll just go back to my boring FC, which needs some attention.
The long term project is to prepare for the upcoming emissions test in March.
As there don't seem to be any low(ish) mileage NA engines available around Denver, I guess I'll have to see if I can trick this one through one last time.
She'll need a new cat/plugs/oil and by retarding timing, always dumping air to the exhaust ports and a hefty dollop of denatured alcohol, might just squeak by.
Even assuming the best, I have to seriously consider what's going to happen when this keg goes.
Meanwhile she continues to run perfectly, even in the frigid weather.
This makes it hard to take her demise seriously...I suspect she'll hum right along till the very moment she...doesn't.
A smaller (and more immediately manageable) problem is the gauges.
The gauges are fine, I just can't see 'em sometimes.
I have a black face/white marking Miata cluster and under certain daylight conditions, the binnacle is just a visual black hole.
The easiest fix is to swap a wire and run the lighting all the time.
I also have a white face cluster (from the Miata dash we put in the Z) and that might work with no extra light but I always thought white faced dials were kinda ricey looking and I'm irrationally averse to this option.
We ran a similar cluster in the FD though and the visibility was excellent, so there's that.
As a long time confirmed glutton for punishment, my preferred choice would be to adapt the Mazda6 cluster I snagged several months ago, but it's a CANBUS unit and I don't think I can get ANY of it working without extensive modification.
I'd probably end up having to meld the Miata gauges to the Mazda6 face plate and then cobble all that into the FC binnacle.
Yup, probably the way I'll go.
On a more productive note (albeit even further afield than normal), I finally got off my *** and minorly upgraded my decrepit computer.
Installed a 120GB SSD as the boot drive, reinstalled Win 7 (installing from a thumb drive to a solid state drive takes about 10-15 minutes!) and put in an Asus Xonar soundcard to drive Sennheiser headphones.
It's much nicer and everything worked right out of the gate, so that was a pleasant change from the way the car projects have been going.
01-08-15, 11:04 AM
#1584
MECP Certified Installer
There is no way, even if hell froze over, that you can get a CANBUS cluster to work in an FC.
That sucks you still have to do the sniffer test. My car finally became exempt last year and they just do a safety inspection.
Fun Fact: In Texas it is state law for you to be able to pass safety inspection, you are required to have windshield wipers EVEN IF the vehicle is not equipped with a windshield.
That sucks you still have to do the sniffer test. My car finally became exempt last year and they just do a safety inspection.
Fun Fact: In Texas it is state law for you to be able to pass safety inspection, you are required to have windshield wipers EVEN IF the vehicle is not equipped with a windshield.
01-09-15, 12:47 PM
#1585
Thanks to the EPA, in several highly populated / industrialized Ohio counties any OBD I vehicle below a certain GVW that has regular license plates, also has to also pass the dyno sniffer emissions test every other year until it is 25 years old. With the 1996 and newer OBD II vehicles they just plug in a scan tool and look for codes every other year.
Well in 2014 my 1990 GXL was due for its last required emission certification. Unfortunately I had sort of jumped the gun and had already pulled the heavy factory; exhaust manifold, pre-cat and main cat assembly off the car and had installed a CorkSport short header and a Catco replacement main cat the year before. Even though I still have the air pump hooked up and a functional rats nest, I still did not think it would pass the dyno sniffer test - plus I didn't need the associated headaches with a failed test either.
Well here in Ohio we also have what is called a Collectors plate. A vehicle with these plates is not required to pass any emissions test. Plus there were no driving or use restrictions or mileage allowance on a vehicle with Collectors plate as there are with a vehicle with Historic plates (which also do not require emission tests). There is one catch with the Collectors plate - the vehicle has to be recognized as a Collector car, which lucky for me the RX7 is on the list that Ohio uses to make the determination. You also have to sign a waive saying that you are not getting the Collectors plates to avoid any vehicle emissions testing issues - okay, yeah right!
So the Collectors plate was the only real viable option that I had - the stock exhaust system pieces/parts were long gone. It costs me $5 more per year for the Collectors plate, but it sure is a lot less hassle. Not sure if you have a similar option for registration and plates in Colorado, but it may be worth looking into.
Well in 2014 my 1990 GXL was due for its last required emission certification. Unfortunately I had sort of jumped the gun and had already pulled the heavy factory; exhaust manifold, pre-cat and main cat assembly off the car and had installed a CorkSport short header and a Catco replacement main cat the year before. Even though I still have the air pump hooked up and a functional rats nest, I still did not think it would pass the dyno sniffer test - plus I didn't need the associated headaches with a failed test either.
Well here in Ohio we also have what is called a Collectors plate. A vehicle with these plates is not required to pass any emissions test. Plus there were no driving or use restrictions or mileage allowance on a vehicle with Collectors plate as there are with a vehicle with Historic plates (which also do not require emission tests). There is one catch with the Collectors plate - the vehicle has to be recognized as a Collector car, which lucky for me the RX7 is on the list that Ohio uses to make the determination. You also have to sign a waive saying that you are not getting the Collectors plates to avoid any vehicle emissions testing issues - okay, yeah right!
So the Collectors plate was the only real viable option that I had - the stock exhaust system pieces/parts were long gone. It costs me $5 more per year for the Collectors plate, but it sure is a lot less hassle. Not sure if you have a similar option for registration and plates in Colorado, but it may be worth looking into.
01-10-15, 08:13 AM
#1586
CO used to have a similar arrangement but it changed.
Now, only cars built before 1976 qualify for "collector" tags and they are subject to a 4500 mile/year restriction.
When I bought my FC in 2007, I fully expected to ultimately join the "collector" exemption (which I would have qualified for this year) but alas, not gonna happen.
Now, only cars built before 1976 qualify for "collector" tags and they are subject to a 4500 mile/year restriction.
When I bought my FC in 2007, I fully expected to ultimately join the "collector" exemption (which I would have qualified for this year) but alas, not gonna happen.
01-10-15, 10:41 AM
#1587
NA-BOOSTIN
Sucks they changed the laws . I've was waiting for my 7 to hit antique age (24 or older ) here in Texas . So here in Texas they have classic plates (age 24 or older also ) which still has to have a safety inspection but no mileage restrictions or emissions . Antique has no safety or emissions inspection , does have mileage restrictions ( repairs, maintenance, car shows,etc) wel just got my antique tags on Tuesday !!!! No more emissions inspection or safety inspection from here on out for me . I work in a shop so repairs will always be being done or for tuning ( which laptop never leaves the car . Been awhile since I checked up on this thread good to see you got it where it is at this point Edit: Texas antique plates are made every 5 yrs . So I bought into the 5 yrs with 3 yrs left .and for the tags it's only 50 bucks or so for the 5 yrs
01-10-15, 10:51 AM
#1588
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CO used to have a similar arrangement but it changed.
Now, only cars built before 1976 qualify for "collector" tags and they are subject to a 4500 mile/year restriction.
When I bought my FC in 2007, I fully expected to ultimately join the "collector" exemption (which I would have qualified for this year) but alas, not gonna happen.
Now, only cars built before 1976 qualify for "collector" tags and they are subject to a 4500 mile/year restriction.
When I bought my FC in 2007, I fully expected to ultimately join the "collector" exemption (which I would have qualified for this year) but alas, not gonna happen.
01-10-15, 02:07 PM
#1589
CO used to have a similar arrangement but it changed.
Now, only cars built before 1976 qualify for "collector" tags and they are subject to a 4500 mile/year restriction.
When I bought my FC in 2007, I fully expected to ultimately join the "collector" exemption (which I would have qualified for this year) but alas, not gonna happen.
Now, only cars built before 1976 qualify for "collector" tags and they are subject to a 4500 mile/year restriction.
When I bought my FC in 2007, I fully expected to ultimately join the "collector" exemption (which I would have qualified for this year) but alas, not gonna happen.
01-16-15, 08:45 AM
#1592
Join the club.
Weather and finances have driven me from car work back into the arms of an old hobby- computer modding.
For a couple of years my computer was a neverending art project, I spent enormous amounts of money and time upgrading a computer way beyond any practical use.
As a hardware freak I was ultimately drawn to the complexity of watercooling (back when a Bonneville heater core was considered "state of the art" in PC radiator tech) and my computer became a steampunk nightmare.
Back then (think AMD Athlon), processors were mini volcanos and needed extreme cooling measures...nowadays the CPU runs cooler and it's vid cards that need attention.
Anyway, all this extra hardware required a big case and over the years I've acquired several high end examples (2 Lian-li, 2 Silverstone and 2 Apple G5), that have just been sitting.
Cold weather and boredom drove me to the pile and I'm back in the game.
In a small way.
I should note that as a chunk of hardware to be worked on, computers are total crap.
Fasteners are a weird legacy mix of US (mostly 6-32) and metric (mostly 3mm), arbitrarily swapped between one component and another.
The electrical connectors are weird and fragile, usually placed as inconveniently as possible.
And of course, let's not forget the enforced obsolescence...my state of the art LGA775 system is now not only "ancient" in terms of performance (in theory) but parts are no longer even available...specifically motherboards.
My perfectly functional 16gb of RAM and super expensive processor (listed for $900 in 2008) are now instantly useless because new boards for them are gone.
Fortunately, I know some dedicated gamers whose quest for framerates involves constant upgrades, and their detritus ultimately makes it's way down the karma road and ends up with me.
So, with some parts to work with, I'm back in biz.
I picked (rather arbitrarily) the Lian-li PC-2100 v.2 case to build into and it's hilariously big. There's provision for 12 hard drives and six opticals.
Must have been from around the time when a 250gb drive was GIANT and people burned from disk to disk. And had floppy drives.
The new build will have 2 HDDs (120gb SSD + 2tb storage drive) and no optical drives at all...that's what USB is for now.
And a shitton of empty space.
It keeps me occupied and off the streets at least.
Weather and finances have driven me from car work back into the arms of an old hobby- computer modding.
For a couple of years my computer was a neverending art project, I spent enormous amounts of money and time upgrading a computer way beyond any practical use.
As a hardware freak I was ultimately drawn to the complexity of watercooling (back when a Bonneville heater core was considered "state of the art" in PC radiator tech) and my computer became a steampunk nightmare.
Back then (think AMD Athlon), processors were mini volcanos and needed extreme cooling measures...nowadays the CPU runs cooler and it's vid cards that need attention.
Anyway, all this extra hardware required a big case and over the years I've acquired several high end examples (2 Lian-li, 2 Silverstone and 2 Apple G5), that have just been sitting.
Cold weather and boredom drove me to the pile and I'm back in the game.
In a small way.
I should note that as a chunk of hardware to be worked on, computers are total crap.
Fasteners are a weird legacy mix of US (mostly 6-32) and metric (mostly 3mm), arbitrarily swapped between one component and another.
The electrical connectors are weird and fragile, usually placed as inconveniently as possible.
And of course, let's not forget the enforced obsolescence...my state of the art LGA775 system is now not only "ancient" in terms of performance (in theory) but parts are no longer even available...specifically motherboards.
My perfectly functional 16gb of RAM and super expensive processor (listed for $900 in 2008) are now instantly useless because new boards for them are gone.
Fortunately, I know some dedicated gamers whose quest for framerates involves constant upgrades, and their detritus ultimately makes it's way down the karma road and ends up with me.
So, with some parts to work with, I'm back in biz.
I picked (rather arbitrarily) the Lian-li PC-2100 v.2 case to build into and it's hilariously big. There's provision for 12 hard drives and six opticals.
Must have been from around the time when a 250gb drive was GIANT and people burned from disk to disk. And had floppy drives.
The new build will have 2 HDDs (120gb SSD + 2tb storage drive) and no optical drives at all...that's what USB is for now.
And a shitton of empty space.
It keeps me occupied and off the streets at least.
01-16-15, 09:07 AM
#1593
I too did the PC deal until the car came along and sucked all of my fun money away. I'm still on an intel Q6600 and X48 board. I've had this thing overclocked from 2.4GHz to 3.6GHz for the last 5 years nearly. I even tried to blow it up giving it the max amount of voltage the motherboard would allow (Remember DFI LANparty boards??? lol!) Most of the world records were on LN2...I got in the top 50 with watercooling while sitting outside in 2*F weather. It was so cold we had to wrap a hot blanket around the monitor to keep it from flaking.
I picked up a 4790K/Z97 combo....It's sat for months cause I keep procrastinating a reformat.
I picked up a 4790K/Z97 combo....It's sat for months cause I keep procrastinating a reformat.
01-16-15, 09:29 AM
#1595
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I should note that as a chunk of hardware to be worked on, computers are total crap.
Fasteners are a weird legacy mix of US (mostly 6-32) and metric (mostly 3mm), arbitrarily swapped between one component and another.
The electrical connectors are weird and fragile, usually placed as inconveniently as possible.
And of course, let's not forget the enforced obsolescence...my state of the art LGA775 system is now not only "ancient" in terms of performance (in theory) but parts are no longer even available...specifically motherboards.
My perfectly functional 16gb of RAM and super expensive processor (listed for $900 in 2008) are now instantly useless because new boards for them are gone.
Fortunately, I know some dedicated gamers whose quest for framerates involves constant upgrades, and their detritus ultimately makes it's way down the karma road and ends up with me.
So, with some parts to work with, I'm back in biz.
Fasteners are a weird legacy mix of US (mostly 6-32) and metric (mostly 3mm), arbitrarily swapped between one component and another.
The electrical connectors are weird and fragile, usually placed as inconveniently as possible.
And of course, let's not forget the enforced obsolescence...my state of the art LGA775 system is now not only "ancient" in terms of performance (in theory) but parts are no longer even available...specifically motherboards.
My perfectly functional 16gb of RAM and super expensive processor (listed for $900 in 2008) are now instantly useless because new boards for them are gone.
Fortunately, I know some dedicated gamers whose quest for framerates involves constant upgrades, and their detritus ultimately makes it's way down the karma road and ends up with me.
So, with some parts to work with, I'm back in biz.
anyways, i quite agree, with the rest of your philosophy, i don't pay for computers. the pace of the technology moves so fast that its pointless.
01-16-15, 02:14 PM
#1596
I kinda miss the old Socket A days. Back then I ran the XP-M cpus for their unlocked multipliers and it was great.
01-16-15, 07:18 PM
#1598
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01-17-15, 10:34 AM
#1599
Oh geez, what have I gotten myself into?
And yes, drift, I DO remember the Lanparty boards...I had two.
They ushered in the insane color combos that inflict us today and exposed an absurd amount of BIOS control...dozens of adjustments that no one knew what to do with.
Having determined the case and that it would be aircooled, I went through my hardware, picked what I thought would be the best combo and put it together.
Installed Windows and started figuring out a cooling solution.
Ever seen ads for computer cases where they show the (purported) airflow through the case? They like blue arrows for cold incoming air, which transition to red as they (supposedly) "pick up heat" and waft it out of the case.
Yeah?
Complete and utter bullshit.
Indeed, it IS possible to create a flow pattern through a case...just not with a computer fan.
PC fans must balance noise against efficiency and unless you don't mind a helicopter sitting on your desk, the tradeoff usually favors silence.
My experience shows that unless a fan is positioned right on the object to be cooled, it doesn't get any air...there is no coherent flow path much further than 3-4" beyond the fan.
Certainly no jet stream as the ads would suggest.
Also, deciding on the desired temps is completely arbitrary.
Who knows how hot is too hot?
Not to mention, the sensors involved are crap and easily tricked.
Try this...
GPU temp is typically measured at the GPU diode, usually found on the underside of the card somewhere in the mass of **** around the main processor. Take a fan (of whatever size laying around) and direct it at the bottom of the vid card and see if the reported temp doesn't drop.
This works on CPUs and hard drives as well.
You haven't really done anything for the overall card but instead have targeted the sensor and end up with a "better" result.
HA!
Anyway, within 24 hours the Gigabyte board decided to lose all USB functionality.
Which is a problem and resulted in a hours long search for a PS2 keyboard/mouse, just to get back into BIOS.
No luck though, so out it comes.
In goes a XFX board (my first ever) but it's a poor substitute, mainly because it uses a Nvidia chipset instead of the superior Intel parts.
Although it's a crap benchmark, the Windows Experience Index IS easily repeatable and the difference in chipsets (with the same ancillary hardware) is remarkable.
On the Intel setup I got CPU:7.3, Video: 7.1 & 7.1 and HDD:7.7.
With Nvidia, I got CPU:7.1, Video: 7.0 & 7.0 and HDD: 7.0.
Although the old, competitive me cringes at the performance loss, the new, realistic me knows that as long as I can get a browser on the screen, I'm a happy boy.
I no longer Fold at Home or obsessively benchmark...basically, my dick swinging days are over.
So far I've gotten normal running temps @ 25°C (CPU) and 45°C (GPU) and after a 1 hour stress test, it stabilized about 15-20° higher.
The point was not the actual temps- because what's a "good" temp anyway?- the point was to see how quickly it recovered back to normal, because that's what really tells you how good the cooling is.
It's an ongoing process, made more difficult and interesting because I am only using stuff on hand, no new parts.
Why pump money into an obsolete system after all?
And yes, drift, I DO remember the Lanparty boards...I had two.
They ushered in the insane color combos that inflict us today and exposed an absurd amount of BIOS control...dozens of adjustments that no one knew what to do with.
Having determined the case and that it would be aircooled, I went through my hardware, picked what I thought would be the best combo and put it together.
Installed Windows and started figuring out a cooling solution.
Ever seen ads for computer cases where they show the (purported) airflow through the case? They like blue arrows for cold incoming air, which transition to red as they (supposedly) "pick up heat" and waft it out of the case.
Yeah?
Complete and utter bullshit.
Indeed, it IS possible to create a flow pattern through a case...just not with a computer fan.
PC fans must balance noise against efficiency and unless you don't mind a helicopter sitting on your desk, the tradeoff usually favors silence.
My experience shows that unless a fan is positioned right on the object to be cooled, it doesn't get any air...there is no coherent flow path much further than 3-4" beyond the fan.
Certainly no jet stream as the ads would suggest.
Also, deciding on the desired temps is completely arbitrary.
Who knows how hot is too hot?
Not to mention, the sensors involved are crap and easily tricked.
Try this...
GPU temp is typically measured at the GPU diode, usually found on the underside of the card somewhere in the mass of **** around the main processor. Take a fan (of whatever size laying around) and direct it at the bottom of the vid card and see if the reported temp doesn't drop.
This works on CPUs and hard drives as well.
You haven't really done anything for the overall card but instead have targeted the sensor and end up with a "better" result.
HA!
Anyway, within 24 hours the Gigabyte board decided to lose all USB functionality.
Which is a problem and resulted in a hours long search for a PS2 keyboard/mouse, just to get back into BIOS.
No luck though, so out it comes.
In goes a XFX board (my first ever) but it's a poor substitute, mainly because it uses a Nvidia chipset instead of the superior Intel parts.
Although it's a crap benchmark, the Windows Experience Index IS easily repeatable and the difference in chipsets (with the same ancillary hardware) is remarkable.
On the Intel setup I got CPU:7.3, Video: 7.1 & 7.1 and HDD:7.7.
With Nvidia, I got CPU:7.1, Video: 7.0 & 7.0 and HDD: 7.0.
Although the old, competitive me cringes at the performance loss, the new, realistic me knows that as long as I can get a browser on the screen, I'm a happy boy.
I no longer Fold at Home or obsessively benchmark...basically, my dick swinging days are over.
So far I've gotten normal running temps @ 25°C (CPU) and 45°C (GPU) and after a 1 hour stress test, it stabilized about 15-20° higher.
The point was not the actual temps- because what's a "good" temp anyway?- the point was to see how quickly it recovered back to normal, because that's what really tells you how good the cooling is.
It's an ongoing process, made more difficult and interesting because I am only using stuff on hand, no new parts.
Why pump money into an obsolete system after all?