demuire

I'll probably be either a "S" or "M"...

I probably won't use that photo of Pinky. Will find something of Hal. Hmm, maybe even the team shot with Haikal. Or something, dunno.

I will buy one. If it looks nice ;)

Actually, import duty... That's probably where the rest of it came from...

Still cheaper, but gosh I only factored in like 10% tax, that was a bit of a shock!

Wow, how much is motorsport equipment supposed to be taxed??? The stuff I bought came up to AUD725. Even with shipping (which shouldn't be taxed) it would have come up to be about AUD820. I got charged AUD260 in tax??? That's a good 35% tax!!!

Many many thanks to Rob for giving me a hand with this... The spring pads will still need a bit of work, but they were good enough for me to make all the measurements I needed, so tailshaft is going away tomorrow! Hope I measured everything right ;)

Tuned for length? Haha, I really doubt it...

Ouch U-bolts are not cheap. $60 for 4, and that's off the shelf. Would have cost me almost $200 to get them made!!! Still wondering what to do about the spring pad... I have a feeling I'm going to be bolting the old diff back on, I don't think I'll be able to get it all finished before next weekend... I'm supposed to get the measurements of the tailshaft to the guy tomorrow (so that he can modify my tailshaft in time), but since I have no spring plates, I can't make any measurements, so I have no guarantee that my tailshaft would be back in time... Oh well, will start filing away tonight, who knows I might be able to at least do 4 holes so that I can sort of bolt the diff in place... It's going to be a LOOOOOOONG night... ;)

Rang up a few places this morning, looks like will have to get custom U-bolts made - going to try to get that done today at Suspension Supplies at Northgate. None of the suspension places have any to suit, and none of the fastener places have anything long enough (longest I could find was 127mm which is too short, need something closer to 151mm) Top spring pad I should be able to modify using my angle grinder (make the slots bigger), bottom plate might be a bit more interesting as I think I'll have to slot each of the holes about 5mm each.

Right, as some of you know, I'm changing my diff. I was a bit slack today, the moment I got home I just crashed, was SO DARN TIRED, had to just about live on Red Bull for the drive home.... Anyway, eventually woke up and started actually doing some work on the car (note to self, washing car at night with no lights, you tend to miss lots of spots, and the bottom of the car and wheel arches are still covered in mud). Diff is almost out, all I have to do is unbolt the rear shackles and it should just fall out. Anyway - question. The T-series diff has a larger diameter housing, 65mm in fact. The U-series diff has a smaller housing, 57mm. Obviously this is a problem with the U-bolts, and yes I did try hammering the original U-bolts on, it doesn't work ;) So yes, spoke to Jamie, and tomorrow I'll get some new U-bolts. Problem is, the spring plates (both the top and bottom bits) are made for 57mm U-bolts, and are spaced 67mm apart. Do I just grind them bigger? And slot the holes on the bottom spring plates to suit? If so, Rob - could I borrow the services of your die grinder maybe?

Rob: Most people don't put them back on when they do an engine conversion (I'm just weird). I'm guessing your fuel tank vent probably just vents to atmosphere or something, which would just mean that your car (where ever it's venting to) may smell a bit like fuel on a hot day, but no biggie.

Maybe I should have tried that (higher pressures in front)? I've just found that on tarmac my car tends to understeer a lot more with higher pressures in the front, but it may be different on the dirt... Might try that next time maybe...

Monster truck is cool. Monster truck is SO COOL. How can a Landcruiser come out on a day like today, to a khanacross track, and then proceed to win outright 1st and 2nd place? It's just WRONG, SO WRONG... YET SO RIGHT!!! ;)

Heh, it wasn't just you, don't worry ;) I spoke to Peter S and Craig N as well and everyone was running lower pressures (26-32 generally) which made my 32-36 seem a bit high. Logically lower pressures should be better, maybe it's just harder to drive and I'm not quite that good yet? Dunno. Or maybe the track is hard enough to run higher pressures? Except for the muddy bits, most of the track was very hard, being rock and gravel, and I think the high pressure would have been alright. In the mud however... But yeah it was AMAZING how much of a difference it made dropping the pressure down to 29-32, the car was just so hard to drive after that...

Maybe it's got to do with the myth that "if it's got to do with emissions, it'll make the car slower.."?

Well, today was a fun day... Overall, I didn't do very well at all I don't think... In fact I'd almost say I absolutely sucked, but hey I had fun... I had my best runs in the morning, and then all my afternoon runs were really very crappy - not quite sure why. I let the air in my tyres down on my 3rd/4th run (down to 30/32) and I think that was a mistake because after that the car was just either understeering or constantly sideways, and a lot harder to control. Was a lot more predictable and manageable with higher tyre pressures (although I don't know if I had more/less grip cause the car was just entirely different to drive with lower pressure, and I was constantly fighting it). Also lost my passenger side mirror on that run when I understeered through the chicane, and took out a cone on the next, and possibly made me a lot more cautious for the rest of the day... My last run was heaps of fun, and I managed to flick the car into just about every corner which meant LOTS of sideways action - but as we all know - sideways is generally slower, and in my case sideways was definately SLOW. But anyways, it was fun... Next time I'll keep the higher pressures and hope I do a bit better!

Photos are still there. http://public.fotki.com/fookseung Just the rest of the website is well.... gone.

Taking it off isn't going to do anything as far as power goes. Blocking it may cause presurising problems with your fuel tank because the vapour has nowhere to go. Easiest to just leave it there. Toyota put it there for a reason, it doesn't use any power, it isn't heavy, why take it out?

Heh, I'd better be careful then shouldn't I? Especially with my history :)

But I can think of a lot of women who wear underwear of man-made materials (the one that looks like silk, but isn't quite silk...) *edit* is it called satin?

Heh, a friend of mine wrecked his Lancer GSR last time he was out there... Was too excited, went though a barb wire fence, wheeeeeeeee!

I really can't think of any "real" man who wears underwear of a man-made material... Unless they are boxer shorts...

I like any garage that isn't like mine. I can't open the doors of the car, when I want to work on the back of the car I have to push it forward, when I want to work on the front I have to push it back (so if it is on stands then i can only work on one end at a time). Not to mention when I push it forward to work on the back of the car I can't open or close the garage door, and when I push it back I can't walk behind the car... It isn't well lit enough because it's so narrow that the light never reaches the floor when the car is parked in it (I use a headtorch whenever I work on the car), and I can never find anything...

Holden Starfire engine, also known as Holden Missfire...