Nitrousbird

I'd like to go the turbo route. My wallet doesn't agree with that plan. I'll be going either a 383 or 396 route most likely. CR would be somewhere in the 11-11.5:1 ratio, and probably a 200-225 shot of giggle gas. That should put the car well in the 10's without doing anything else. Might lighten it up a bit as well if funds allow (tubular K-member and skinnies would knock almost 100lbs off the front of the car).

122, first try. The game takes too long to get challenging.

That's no mid 14 to low 15, lol. Are you sure that thing is running right; even without powershifting (I never do that anyway), and shifting at 5500 (which is probably peak power for that motor anyway), it should trap higher than that.

Fixed. Maybe one day you'll have one too.

I normally don't make it a habit of agreeing with Eli, but I have to agree 100% here. FDR was a great man. He saved the nation from the great depression, and a lot of his programs really helped us become a much more modern society and world dominating force.

Yeah, I can't thank Mike enough for helping me out! 9's is probably stretching it a bit on my car. You saw what a pig it was on the scales! I'd like to see 10.50's w/ the car next year on a 200-225 shot. She'll have the MPH, but launching a stick car on spray is tricky.

Blown head gasket; ran a 11.39 that run, but doesn't really count for much as I wasn't at full power the whole pass. It was nice getting to finally talk to a couple of you in person. Today was the first time I've gotten to talk to Matt for more than a sentence or two; really cool hanging out with you for a bit. Got to talk to Mike and rl more than I normally have too, which was cool.

I will if I can't get any help. I've had the motor out before to do all the gaskets, so it's something I'm familar with. It won't be too bad of a project (unlike project Jimmy).

Ugh, what a freaking day. Me and some Cols Racing guys drove down to Norwalk. On the way there, my car starts getting this vibration that keeps getting worse. I end up pulling over, pulling out the jack/tools. Thanks to Shawn (Tsi guy), Dave Schot (non-member here), and the Intense guys, we quickly found that my a few of my front right lug nuts backed off, and I broke a wheel studd. Tightened down the remaining 4, and was good to go. No good reason that should have happened; same lugs/studds/wheels have been on there for years, and I haven't had that wheel off since spring and a couple thousand miles ago. If only that was the begining. Get to Norwalk, swap on the ET Streets. Make two crappy N/A passes to just get the tires warm/make sure the car was running good N/A. Kick on the spray. Same jets I've always used, straight 94 w/ 9 degrees of retard, identical setup motor/nitrous/PCM/ignition/fuel wise as I ran at Trails a few months ago when I ran an 11.29, and the car ran perfectly there. Car launched decently (I wasn't agressive enough; not used to a track that hooks), sputtered a bit on the 1-2 shift, good through 2nd, good thru 3rd, started breaking up BADLY in 4th. Knew then it was running on 7 cylinders. Only pulled a 11.39 (blah), and drove back to the pits. Opened the hood....yup, blew a head gasket. Same thing happened early last year (that time I was running 93/94 mix and only pulling 3 degrees of timing), most likely lifted the gasket on the #1 cylinder, overpressurized the cooling system causing coolant to shoot out the puke tank. Sadly, I live 117 miles from Norwalk. AAA only good for 100 miles. After that, it's $3/mile PLUS the cost of fuel. That would have been a good $75 to get it home! But a HUGE thanks to Mike (copperhead), as he offered to tow my car home from the Flying J in Delaware after he dropped Matts car off. So all I did was throw in some $$ for gas, and saved a bundle of money. That was awesome of him to take the time to do that for me. I wasn't the only breakage, though. Ray (COFBA member w/ low 10 second T/A) destroyed his tranny 1st pass. Matt toasted his clutch first pass. Another COFBA member damaged his clutch (another POS SPEC clutch bites the dust on a near-stock car). So I'm done w/ the car for the year. Screw this stock shortblock crap; time to pull the motor and get a little more serious with it. I have a feeling something around the #1 cyllinder might have issues anyway, so it's probably a good idea to just go over all of it. Had the head gasket held, the car probably had really high 10's in it today, but things didn't work that way. She'll definately be in the 10's w/ a stroker motor, more spray, and a bigger cam next year.

Norwalk tomorrow. Better be running better than an 11.8 though.........

Uber fag mobile. VW in general has the biggest lineup of homosexual cars. #1 has always been the VW Cabriolet (both Rabbit and Golf flavors) Now either tied, or nearly tied, would be the New Beetle Convertiable. After that, the New Beetle gets its honors. I seriously chuckle any time I see a guy behind the wheel of one of those (and even hot chicks loose a ton of points driving one as well). I'd rather walk than drive one.

Sadly, I doubt anyone in gov't will be able to make the connection between any of this.

I already posted this a month ago in the Senior Member's forum for those that are Senior Members. This does affect more than just pirated software. There are some legit people that are affected as well. I'm no Window's fan, but when my alternatives are a MAC (yuck), or other Unix based OS's that don't have the software support due to everything being written for Windows, you don't have much of a choice.

Yes, his 93 has a swap (and not the 3800 Series II kind). But the 95 could have either a 3.4L or 3.8L stock.

I'd take that over his old Mustang. Probably take that over my Mustang. I can't wait until I can have a post with the same title (except I'll only replace the Moostang w/ a faster, non-Moostang, V8 car).

Off season is the best time to go. Basically before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. House boats are typically 50-75% cheaper than peak season....that's a hefty discount, especially on something that expensive! We went last year in late September, and had a blast. Slightly chilly at night, but needed nothing more than a simple sweatshirt to keep warm (or enough booze, or the hot tub). Water was very warm, and still plenty warm during the day. We had my buddy's ski boat docked to the house boat. Would have went this year, but said buddy is getting married in a couple of weeks, and my boat is still dead.

Discuss

Lake Cumberland. I've had a blast both times I've taken week trips there (once w/ a sweet lodge, one with a huge houseboat). The skiing is perfect there. Florida. Friend lives down in Vero Beach; always have a great time when I go visit. Vegas. Went for the first time this year, and had a blast. That place will suck your money dry, though!

#1: Comparing used cars to brand new cars just doesn't work. #2: MSRP for base Solstice = $19,995. MSRP for base S2K = $33,150. That's a huge chunk of change in price difference. #3: For shits and giggles, I looked up S2K's on autotrader. Searched any year, under 30,000 miles, within 100 miles of here. The cheapest 04 I found was $25,900. Heck, about the only ones in the 20k range were 00-02 models. These cars compete in two completely different price classes. The Miata and MR2 are the comparble cars. I'm waiting to see the Saturn version of it in person; looks a lot better than the Solstice from the pics I've seen.

I'm a GM fan, and the HHR is a GM mistake. Yuck. Definately not the worst looking of SUV type vehicles (Element, Asstek, xB, etc.), but not a looker either.

The color seems too dark to me. I'm not a big fan of bronze wheels to begin with, though.

Have her call Calltech. They are always hiring, and that would meet all your requirements.

The car baked the tires in 1st when launching, but that's to be expected. I don't know who makes his front mount. I know he also has a reprogrammed ECU, dunno by who. I don't think the car has seen any dyno time. That said, driveability was very stock like, and he says it gets decent mileage out of the boost. Those seats were considered the "Viper" seats (which is such a stretch, as if you actually compare the 2 side-by-side, they aren't all that similar). My car has Corbeau Targa RS seats in it, so I'm used to tons of side bolstering. But it just seemed so narrow in the ass. My roomate is about my weight and a couple inches shorter, and complains of the same thing. My Formula's seats are just about perfect for me width wise; any narrower and I'd hate them. Car was definately an LSD car. Overall, it was a neat experience. But I couldn't imagine trading a V8 for one.

A buddy from out of town came to visit. Is back from Iraq, and has a modded 04 Neon SRT-4. I got to take it for a little spin. I've never drove a quick FWD car before, so here's my impressions: - Any idiot that says it's an SRT-4, and not a Neon SRT-4, needs their head checked. It's most definately a Neon w/ some added parts - Torque steer. All out off the line, 1st and 2nd gears are a bit of a handful. - Lag. This car has a stock exhaust/turbo, boost cranked to 20-something. 3rd gear punch at 4000RPM took a second before you got moving. That said, it did move nicely once the boost kicked in. - Handling seemed pretty decent, but I wasn't thrashing it around corners or anything. - Pedal feel was good, shifter (aftermarket) was decent enough. Leg room was excellent; seemed better than my ex-g/f's 00 Neon auto, but could be in my head. - The turbo sounds were pretty fun (fairly quiet BOV installed). The fact it didn't have some ricey fart can on it definately made the experience better. - Seats were a hit and miss. The upper parts of the seats were comfortable w/ decent lateral support. The bottom of the seat was too damn narrow at the back of it. If it were a daily driver, I'd probably have to opt for different seats. A bigger guy would definately not enjoy those seats. - Stock rear spoiler was annoying looking out the rear view. Overall, a fun car. Had injectors, rail, pump, boost controller, big front mount, rims, shifter, couple other small things. I don't think I'd like to have one as my "fast" car, but would definately make a nice daily driver. Way different than driving the usual V8's I'm used to; doesn't have the low-end power and linear power band. But definately a fun car to toy around it.

During the summer (house at 74), my utilities are per month: Electric: $100-$135 Gas: $10-15 Water: $30 (this includes trash/sewage as well). In the winter (keep the house at 68): Electric: $70-90 Gas: $100-$130 (I am dreading this winter's bill!) Water: $25-30 3 bed, 2 bath house, tri-level, insulation could be better. When I can keep the heat/AC off, my bill goes down a TON. As for other costs, I choose to have no landline phone as I only use my cell. I get free cable/internet (I get everything, but doubtful you have a need for $150/month in services). You'll have renters insurance, which is cheap, but my house insurance is around $40/month. And of course that lovely house payment and property taxes. But if there are 2 of you, have to considered renting a house. For the cost of apartments lately, it seems you are better off doing that. More space, have your own yard, don't have to share walls w/ neighbors. I'd go nuts living in an apartment. But then again, I'm not into hearing a 400lb guy plowing his 280lb wife at 2am and shaking the whole damn place in the process.