Topic: What did you do to your non-motorcycle vehicle today?

[BenelliSEI]

... and we turned some very quick laps! We tested a set of “Westlake Sport” tires.

I've heard of Westlake tires, they sell 'em at WalMart down here. 
Curious what the difference in lap times would be?

On a 2:06.0 lap at Shannonville (long course) the Westlake easily matched the Firestone Indys. The Toyos are about 1 second a lap faster.

[grcamna2]

Purchased some battery terminals for the '69 Mach 1 that allow my large cables to be soldered to them. It really cleaned up the battery area and should help with the "hot engine-slow crank" issue I had.



Also installed some new horns, the PO [before my brother] painted them and it was peeling. I don't think they should be painted so I just sprung for some re-pops. 
Now ready for the annual Mustang car show in August!

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Those cables/horns look Good Stev-o.
I hope you enjoy the Mustang car show;will Shelbys be there also??

[Stev-o]

Those cables/horns look Good Stev-o.
I hope you enjoy the Mustang car show;will Shelbys be there also??

Thanks Bill.  Any vehicle with a Ford motor is welcome...

[grcamna2]

Those cables/horns look Good Stev-o.
I hope you enjoy the Mustang car show;will Shelbys be there also??

Thanks Bill.  Any vehicle with a Ford motor is welcome...

I'd love to see a hopped-up Shelby GT350 up close,in person.

[Don R]

 I backed up my race trailer and my wife noticed the back-up lights weren't on. While checking them at the track last week, the B-U lights were on with the taillights. They're yellow LED's (long story) but we got home before dark.
 All I can figure is when I wired the new plug-ins last year, I got a wire wrong. Except all of the other lights are correct and the truck is also correct.
  I replaced the rusty GM hitch with a heavier duty one from Curt and needed to change the truck side plug also, that was plug and play but I also swapped the pigtail so that must be where the error occurred.
  I bought much prettier Silverado taillights for the 2003 GMC, Dorman sells them with full harnesses so they will be plug and play also, the Chevy side markers alternate with the turn signal.

[Don R]

 I gave up on fitting the 3 chamber Magnaflow mufflers under my 69 firebird project, they are just too big for the space left in the Art Morrison frame. I'm measuring up some 15* elbows and straight through linear flow Flowmasters to see if they will fit the space available without making new problems.

[Stev-o]

Worked on the "Ol Chevy" yesterday, all jacked up and ready for suspension work...
Pulled the idler arm with ease with the help of my buddies fork tool, BFH and a special modified [broken!] Snap-on long handled combo wrench to reach the top bolt that goes through the frame.
 There are many different brands of idler arms out there, some at very cheap prices, I opted for the Moog, made in USA...
All other suspension parts look good other than years of grime, this should resolve the "shimmy at 60" issue. 
A good cleaning and road test will have to wait for another day.

Finally got around to a road test after the suspension work, all good. Still love this car...



PS. Celebrated the Corvette's "Birthday" yesterday, it was assembled 55 years ago in St Louis!

[BenelliSEI]

That Vette is an icon…..

[denward17]

That Vette is an icon…..

It is beautiful! don't see them anymore...

[Stev-o]

That Vette is an icon…..

It is beautiful! don't see them anymore...

Hey Guys...thanks.  The Corvette "C3" with chrome bumpers have become iconic and they are out there, I guess I see them as I know as least 3 guys that have 1. 

[Don R]

 During my last drag race trip we noticed that the trailers back-up lights were coming on with the taillights. Today I set out to test the wiring, I put 12V to the back up light terminal and both came on, I then put 12V to the taillight terminal and both came on.
 I decided to start at the front and pulled the cover off of the 7 pin plug. The screw holding the taillight/running lights wire was loose, I tightened it and now everything works as it should.  Neither turn signals or brake lights operated oddly even though all of the rear lights share a ground system. 
 That shows how oddly LED's can operate.

[BenelliSEI]

The ignition switch on the American Landmaster 650 was acting up, occasionally failing to hit the solenoid trigger, without some fiddling. A few days ago, it started smoking and I was glad I fitted a battery disconnect switch!

I had a new key switch in one of the bins, so thought I’d just swap it in…… Of course it turned into a four hour job! The one I had was longer and fouled the steering col. A slight relocate worked perfectly until I went to shut it off and it kept running! Turns out it also has a ground circuit that “makes” and kills the ignition when the original switch moved to the “OFF” position. Added a toggle switch next to the key switch, so now the procedure is: Key ON. Switch UP and start. To shut off, Key OFF, Switch down. Should probably order the correct switch, but probably won’t!

[Don R]

 I had a bike with toggle switches in a panel in the center of the handlebars once. That's when I learned to appreciate stock controls.

[BenelliSEI]

I had a bike with toggle switches in a panel in the center of the handlebars once. That's when I learned to appreciate stock controls.

Don….. You’re right. This “extra switch” is pretty hard to ignore. It has to be ON or the engine won’t start, and if you don’t flick it OFF, engine keeps running!

[BenelliSEI]

Corner weights and alignment on the LEXUS. Mosport  next weekend.e

[grcamna2]

Corner weights and alignment on the LEXUS. Mosport  next weekend.e

I think that's a Nice machine 

[BenelliSEI]

Corner weights and alignment on the LEXUS. Mosport  next weekend.e

I think that's a Nice machine 

Yes…. Tim has a completely computerized and wireless set up one bay of his business. Very handy!

[grcamna2]

Corner weights and alignment on the LEXUS. Mosport  next weekend.e

I think that's a Nice machine 

Yes…. Tim has a completely computerized and wireless set up one bay of his business. Very handy!

Must be quite a delicate set-up.

[BenelliSEI]

Corner weights and alignment on the LEXUS. Mosport  next weekend.e

I think that's a Nice machine 

Yes…. Tim has a completely computerized and wireless set up one bay of his business. Very handy!

Must be quite a delicate set-up.

It takes a surprising amount of abuse but the employees know to treat it with respect. The shop is a very busy place and not always that tidy. Last week they did a “clean up” and we dragged a 7’ X 16’ dump trailer to the scrap yard and got $1300 for the “leftovers”!

[BenelliSEI]

Insulated the fresh air intake pipe on the LEXUS. Probably won’t do much, but it’s right above the heat shield for the 6 pipe headers, so it can’t hurt. Running out of stuff to do!

[Don R]

 Since we removed the efi and dual fuel pumps from the dragster the alternator can keep up with the load. I noticed where we charged the batteries all day and didn't catch up, now the charger goes right to conditioning mode.
 It's also cooling better since the water pump and fan are running optimally. However, I made it to the track with no chips for the data recorder, so we missed out on tire spin, a/f ratio, and voltage data.

[BenelliSEI]

We’ve decided that in order to extend our time at the farm, we need to “work smarter”. Our 25 year old SEARS/Husky, 20 hp lawn tractor still works well, but it’s a rough ride and takes too much time. Hopefully this TORO Timecutter lives up to its name! The new pilot spent some time training today…..

Good news: she likes it!

[dave500]

I dont like zero turn machines,you can drive them with one hand and drink a beer!

[Don R]

 What to watch for with a zero turn is on a hill, if one drive wheel lifts or goes over a hole, that wheel and the front caster wheels will allow the unit to spin downhill until the second drive wheel gets traction again. I've nearly ended up in a pond a time or two.
 

[BenelliSEI]

Thanks for the advice, but I have no intention of learning to drive it. I’ll stick with the old Massey Ferguson 135!

Picked up just under 1000 litres of high octane (no ethanol) fuel for the race weekend today. Calculated I shifted over 1300 lbs. of gas in +40 jugs…… my daughter says our carbon footprint is “outrageous”……. Whoopee!