Jubilant Goblin

My first wedding shot on 7D

2009-12-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

There were two challenges I tried to overcome with the 7D for this event: follow focus and stabilization.

There is no auto-focus for shooting video with the 7D, so the user must use the LCD on the back of the camera to enable constant focus adjustments. I'm still learning proper technique, but most of the raw footage turned out to be useable.

As for stabilization, I developed and built a rile style shoulder support to cope with the cameras lightness and awkward form factor. It helped tremendously during the shoot.

http://www.vimeo.com/8309414

Kiddos

2009-09-09T12:13:00.001-07:00

(they grow up so fast)

My Youtube videos

2009-08-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

To help cope with the public outcry for more availability of my videos, I've decided to link to my Youtube page which has all three of my masterpieces. Yes the quality, driving and production values are pure crap, but I hope you enjoy them none-the-less.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jculpjr

Golf revelation (almost)

2009-07-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some thinking about my golf game.

I envy people who have not taken up golf, but for one reason or another decide to take up the game. These people represent a blank canvas for learning the "proper" swing technique. They have no bad habits ingrained into their brains and can theoretically start off without any nasty preconceived vices.

Now I realize that starting from scratch can be very frustrating. People who take up a new hobby usually expect to do well immediately, and when that doesn't happen frustration usually sets in. Some hang in there and continue to play, but most don't.

But for those that do hang in there I plead for you to seek instruction as early as possible. Practice good habits and seek out a professional to take a look at your growth periodically so that you don't start doing bad things with your swing.

So back to my revelation. My kids are starting to show interest in the game of golf. JD likes watching the pros play on TV. When he sees the telltale blimp shot at a tournament and all the bunkers and fairways, he points to the television screen and succinctly says "gof". He then looks at me trying to make sure that I share in his wonderment.

Both JD and Addie are showing signs of being southpaws. They eat with their left hands, throw lefty and seem to want to swing their plastic golf clubs in the "wrong" way. I don't have anything against lefties per se, but I must admit that watching Phil Mickelson or Mike Weir swing the club seems at best abnormal to me, and at worst, reflective of hearing fingernails meeting a chalkboard. Yet I have decided to embrace their natural tendencies and not try to encourage a swing type that might go against their God-given talents.

So I began to think of how I'm going to instruct two southpaws without any prior knowledge of the art of "swinging lefty".

Then it dawns on me. I can kill two birds with one stone. I can reinvent my own swing and teach the kids by learning to swing the golf club left-handed.

Eureka!

I decide to take a measurable step by taking the kids to "Play it Again Sports"- the store that sells "experienced" athletic equipment. While the kids destroyed the rest of the store, I went through the stores inventory of left handed clubs- both of them. They had a pitching wedge from the '50's era and a seemingly modern 3 iron- both with the club head facing West at address.

To say that the clubs and swing attempts felt awkward would not be giving the actual feeling it's true justice. It was awful. It felt totally unnatural. The road to a decent left handed swing suddenly felt unbelievably distant and I became disheartened.

Is this why no one tries "switch hitting" in golf? Had my dream of starting with a clean slate come to an abrupt end?

The short answer is "yes". After repeated attempts to not look like a uncoordinated girly-man, I determined that my revelation of a "clean sheet of paper" to design my new improved swing was not only an insurmountable goal, but a foolhardy one to boot.

I quickly picked up all the equipment that my children had strewn all over the aisles of the store and retreated back to the comfort of the Jeep to lick my wounds.

Maybe fixing my current (somewhat less horrific)swing is the better path afterall.

Sukhoi SU-37 show off it's Super-Manuverability

2009-07-17T05:25:00.000-07:00

The SU-37 is a derivative of the SU-27 which is Russia's current super-fighter. The SU-27 was conceived in the 1970's as a countermeasure to the United States F-14 and F-16. A derivative of the SU-27, the SU-37 is about the size of the F-14 (which is/was quite large) yet it has thrust vectoring capability combined with forward adjustable canards which contribute to the planes amazing maneuverability. It is the only current aircraft which the pilot can "force-stall" and enable the plane to actually fly backwards at times.

Enjoy.

2011 Jaguar XJ design analysis

2009-07-09T05:17:00.000-07:00

Official photos of the 2011 Jaguar XJ have been leaked on the internet. The XJ has not seen a major revamp to its basic architecture for many years and this redesign represents somewhat of a gamble for Jaguar. Have they pulled it off? Well yes and no...

Click images for larger versions

To my eye, the rear reveals the risks that Jaguar has taken more so than the front view.

A- The blacked out C-pillar section is both bold and surprising. The paint lines follow the rear light glass but the result comes off as gimmickry rather than style.

B- The running board treatment breaks up the slab-sided look, but adds a look of heaviness. Hopefully the heavy look will reflect a corresponding increase in interior room which the outgoing model sorely needed.

C- I think Jaguar missed on the rear fender treatment. Added muscularity around the wheel openings would have emphasized the rear-drive athletic nature of the car.

D- The two-tone roof treatment is interesting. Could this be a roof section that can be either transparent for letting light in, or dark with the flick of a switch when desired? From the looks of the roof line, there won't be much more headroom in the new model than the outgoing version.

E- I would have rather seen the Jaguar letters rather than the leaping cat- seems detached from the classic nature of the XJ.

F- Tail lights seem elegant but look Americanized rather than British. I would expect to see these on a Lincoln.

G- The rear valance looks like standard performance sedan fare. Split exhausts promote the sporty nature of the car, but break no new ground.

H- Hood bulge looks very nice and hints at the power beneath it.

I- Black roof section blends in nicely with the windshield resulting in a nice modern look.

J- The grill and headlight treatment reflect Jaguars new brand identity shared with it's XF sibling. I'm not a fan of the rectangular grill. I think it is a step backward from the last XJ's elegant look as it adds a degree of bluntness to an otherwise flowing shape. Jaguar seems to want to lean toward the sporty side of the sedan spectrum. The headlights again reflect the new family look- definitely a departure from the twin circular pieces on the last model.

K- Mirrors look okay, but a little on the chunky side. Should be more flowing.

L- Lower valance looks nice and purposeful- in stark contrast to the rear end of the car.

Overall I like the front view much better than the rear. With styling nods to BMW, Maserati and even Lincoln, the new XJ is definitely a bold styling statement. While the design leaves me scratching my head, it will definitely lead to more people talking about the brand, which might be exactly what Jaguar had in mind.

Alfa Romeo tries breakthrough marketing campaign

2009-07-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

Alfa Romeo Super Dance Show from ShowGirls on Vimeo.

A brief history of Austin-Healey

2009-06-30T05:46:00.000-07:00

Austin-Healey: sleek dream
Classics | British import hit our shores in different era for sports cars
November 12, 2007
BY DAN JEDLICKA Chicago Sun-Times Auto Editor

The fast, affordable 1953-68 Austin-Healey sports car was a dream come true for sports car lovers in the early 1950s. The $2,985 Austin-Healey cost less than a Jaguar, stood 49 inches high when other cars seemed twice as tall and was sleeker than exorbitantly priced Ferraris, which were rarely seen.

Sports cars in the early- to mid-1950s had the same cachet in America as good wine, classical architecture, fine cameras and fast imported bicycles. Your average Joe ignored all that and bought a Ford or Chevy and went bowling.

That was when white-collar executives drove their sports car to work and raced them on weekends in amateur events -- before sports car racing became costly and dominated by professional "amateur" drivers in cars too specialized for street use.

The Austin-Healey was a sensation when introduced at the 1952 London Motor Show and was named International Show Car of the Year at the 1953 New York Auto Show. It was created by Donald Healey, who was a top race-rally driver and builder of low-volume cars with his name.

The only U.S. influence came with the 1951-54 Nash-Healey sports car, built to boost the stolid image of America's faltering Nash car company. The Nash-Healey had a modified Nash engine and did well in racing, but only 506 were built because it was costly and Nash was known for family cars. Most Nash-Healeys were sold in America, but most Americans wanted a sports car with a "foreign engine."

Healey had expanded the small car-building facility he'd built in Warwick, England, in 1946, to help produce a lot more Nash-Healeys than were sold, and the car's low sales left him with little to do.

There wasn't much demand in war-torn Europe for sports cars, so Healey focused on the big, lucrative U.S. auto market. He bought parts from major automakers because he had little money for making new components such as engines.

Only 781 Healey models, excluding the Nash-Healey and Austin-Healey, reached America in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One was a "sports roadster" shown at the 1949 New York auto show. Called the world's fastest unmodified production car, it cost $7,500. A Cadillac convertible was $3,442.

Healey designed his own chassis and suspension. All his hand-built cars used a rugged chassis and short wheelbase. One of his best-known early cars was the rakish, race-winning Healey Silverstone roadster, but it was a low-volume model.

The Austin-Healey constituted Healey's first big break. He was in his 50s when that car was unveiled at the London show. The entrepreneurial Healey saw the need for a moderately priced, high-volume sports car for Americans, who were just waking up to sports cars. Healey saw it would fit nicely between the entry-level MG and Triumph and higher-line Jaguar.

Healey took his Nash venture profits and built a prototype sports car to fill that need. He gave young auto body engineer Gerry Coker an idea of how he wanted the car to look after seeing nifty tiny car models Coker created. Coker had never styled a production car and would never style another -- although he later designed the clever two-way station wagon tailgate for Ford.

Coker's sports car body was stunning. It had sweeping lines, an impossibly long hood, tiny cockpit, small "button" taillights and little chrome. It also had wire wheels and a rakish tilt-back windshield that made it look like it was doing 100 mph sitting at a curb.

Outside door handles were left off so they wouldn't disrupt the car's sleek lines. There were no roll-up windows, so doors were opened by reaching through a plastic side curtain opening and pulling a door release inside the car.

The first Austin-Healey looked so good that the last one sold here in 1967 had nearly the same styling. The car would have lasted longer, but British Motor Corp. (BMC) dropped it because it didn't want the expense of meeting new federal regulations.

The car was called the "Healey 100" at the London show because it had topped 100 mph (at 117 mph) before being unveiled there. Healey had hoped for more speed, but it was all he had time for.

Healey didn't much like the windshield, which could be folded down flat or tilted back from vertical to a rakish angle. But he knew it would attract American buyers. Meanwhile, he came up with a simple, strong box-section frame. He used the British Austin A90 sedan with its stout four-cylinder engine as a rough starting point.

Healey's sports car caught the eye at the show of Sir Leonard Lord, head of the Austin car company's parent, the recently formed giant BMC. Lord also saw a rich U.S. market for a rakish, affordable, reliable two-seater. He noted that the Healey 100 was simple, rugged and designed around the A90, which wasn't selling well. However, the A90's 2.7-liter, 90-horsepower engine had potential, and Lord saw it could be used in the new sports car.

Lord quickly made a deal with the elated Healey to have BMC make a mass-produced version of the "Healey 100" show car at its big Austin factory in Longbridge. The car was hardly changed from the show car. It was renamed the "Austin-Healey 100," although it also was called the "100/4" because of its four-cylinder engine.

Part of the deal was a fabulous, unprecedented 20-year contract to use Healey's name on the car and to make it on a royalty basis.

Besides the A90 engine, Healey borrowed parts from that Austin model to hold down costs. One was a four-speed manual transmission with first gear blanked off because it wasn't needed with the high-torque engine. Electric overdrive was put on second and third gears, effectively giving a driver five forward gear ratios. The rear axle, front suspension and smaller parts also came from the A90.

At $2,985, the rugged 1953 Austin-Healey 100 seemed like a steal. It did 0-60 mph in 10.3 seconds, which was fast for its day. Production began in the spring of 1953, and the car was an instant hit in America.

The first (1953-55) Austin-Healey 100 with the blanked-out first gear was factory coded the BN1. It found 10,688 buyers. There were 3,924 1955-56 "BN2" versions with a four-forward-gear manual transmission and overdrive.

Healey continued to love racing, which helped sell cars. With BMC producing the Austin-Healey 100, he had time to develop the 110-horsepower 100M and rarer 132-horsepower 100S (Sebring) competition models at his Warwick facility for racing and rallies.

Officially, 1,159 100Ms were produced, but the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust says only 640 were made. Only 55 100S models were built. These models, especially the 100S, did well in international racing with their extra horsepower and body and chassis modifications -- although they could be driven on the street.

The Austin-Healey 100/4 became the slightly larger Austin-Healey 100 Six -- or 100/6 -- in 1956, when it got a six-cylinder engine. But many find the four-cylinder models to be the most desirable. They're worth $46,500 in top condition, although a 100M in that shape is worth $71,125, the Collectible Vehicle Value Guide says. The few remaining 100S models are worth at least $150,000 in average shape. Donald Healey would be proud.

The Family that drinks together...

2009-06-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

Took mi familia down to St. Augustine for the day yesterday. I caught this sequence with JD reaching for my beer and thought it came out pretty well:)

Where does the time go?

2009-06-25T05:30:00.001-07:00

I hear different sayings all the time. I listen, but I don't actually hear what's been said until I experience the subject for myself.

I always heard people say "before you know it, they'll be all grown up". It's really true. Addie looks like a little girl now instead of a toddler. JD is walking really well and talking too. Time is flying by. It's really hard to capture the moment and appreciate each pie-piece of time to it's fullest.

2009 Amelia Island Concours de Elegance

2009-03-17T05:44:00.000-07:00

I took the family up to Amelia Island over the weekend to see the cars. I have attended this show for the past three years and attended sporadically in years leading up to that. After hearing Bill Warner talk about the difficulty in fielding a "complete" lineup of cars, I was expecting a substandard year at the show, but I came away highly impressed with the event as a whole.

Typically the entrance putting green is chock full of the latest offerings from GM, Ford and Chrysler among others, but this year the green was pretty sparce. There were two cars from Mercedes-Benz- a new SL Black Series and an AMG SL convertible- pretty ho-hum.

The field itself was quite robust. There were some duplicate cars from last year (and the year before actually), but there were plenty of fresh new cars to see and enjoy.

This years show honored the career and life of David Hobbs and some of his past mounts were on display including several BMW racers.

All in all it was another great year with fantastic weather.

Still trying to figure out a good HDR recipe

2009-01-05T05:33:00.000-08:00

Went with the wife and little ones to Hanna Park here in Jacksonville. I have never been to this State park before, and I'm sorry that I haven't. With it's towering palms and giant oaks, it's a very beautiful setting. The park is known for it's biking trails, and we saw many riders popping onto the main road off hidden trails. Anyway, I snapped a few HDR series. Here are two of the best.

Jubilant Goblin get's mention on major automotive message board

2008-12-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

Yes the famous "6000Miles" referenced Jubilant Goblin today on the "E46 Lounge" section of the popular message board "Roadfly". The reference is certain to garner a tremendous amount of hits and sponsorship for Jubilant Goblin. Please e-mail sponsorship inquiries to jdculpjr@gmail.com

Read the thread:

http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/bmw/bmw-e46-lounge/9153119-1.html

Cell phone thoughts

2008-12-09T04:57:00.000-08:00

9 times out of 10, whenever I see a driver weaving or impeding traffic they are talking on a cellphone when I pass them.

While I’m almost sure they are busy talking about solving world hunger and talking suicidal people down from bridges, I still get the nagging feeling that might only be talking to their friends about last night’s “Dancing With the Stars”.

BAN THE CELL PHONES!!

GT-R Spec-V to get no power increase

2008-12-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

Yes that's right- the much anticipated "hopped up" version of the car that has made auto journalist's hearts go all a'flutter will not have any additional power beyond the standard coupe's already prodigious 473 plus horsepower (which some feel may be somewhat underrated). The model will provide added thrust through "added lightness". No official numbers for the car's diet have been released as of yet.

-JD

Visited a nice car collection

2008-11-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

...belonging to Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours de Elegance Bill Warner. Bill recently (somewhat publicly) sold his Ford Roadster at the RM auction in Amelia to the tune of $1.5M. What did he do with the money? Well he bought more cars naturally.

The latest edition is a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 also known as "Daytona". Many of these coupes had their tops cut off in the '80's as the Spyder versions were trading for three times what the coupes sold for at the time. Bill's particular example was not savaged as many were and is quite beautiful in the flesh. The spyders are still selling for three to four times what the coupe's are selling for, but are much more appreciated for what they are today.

He has also recently completed a restoration of a gorgeous dark blue Maserati Ghibli.

Bill ran with Brock Yates in the original Cannonball Run and this is the 911 that he ran in the event:

The Pièce de résistance in my opinion is the ex-Paul Newman Triumph TR6. Newman had several SCCA wins in the car before famously switching into a Datsun mount:

Oh, he also has a nice Ford GT:)

Sorry for the photo quality- all I had on hand was a Kodak Easyshare whose flash has about 2.5 candlepower.

Speedfab finishes 930 intercooler

2008-11-11T09:40:00.000-08:00

I heard about Speedfab by calling a local tuning shop (Stage 6) to see if they could recommend someone to corner balance my 930. They recommended Speedfab to do the job, so I visited their shop in Orange Park, Florida and came away very impressed. Tracy runs the shop there and his fabrication work is really something to behold. He also happens to own a Porsche 911 SC that he has converted into a twin turbo, so he's no stranger to tuning turbo 911's.

So, after he finished the corner balance we got to talking about full-bay intercoolers and I "commissioned" Tracy to build a unit for the car. He sent me these photos of the semi-finished product. The next step after the intercooler is a bit of dyno tuning to smooth out the Air/Fuel ratios and maybe gain a bit of power.

Some photos I've taken

2008-11-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted, but so much has been happening, I thought I'd re-fire the blog and post some of what's going on.

I've become a regular reader of Chuck Goolsbee's blog http://chuck.goolsbee.org/ and his photos have gotten me to thinking more about photos I've taken in the past and which ones were considered "good".

"Good" is an amorphous term that's thrown around a lot. Maybe it's easier to say that these are some of the pictures that I've taken that I actually like. There are hopefully more than this, but they're scattered around on other computers. Speaking of which,I really need to consolidate all my photos and archive them somehow. Anyway, here are a few (click for full image):

I'm Published!

2008-02-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

Our local PCA club sent our an email requesting material for the Klatch, our monthly newsletter. I sent in the little blurb on page 16.

http://pcafcr.org/klatsch/2008/03-2008.pdf

I put together a video of my visit to Rennsport Reunion 3

2007-11-26T15:41:00.001-08:00

in Daytona. It was an amazing experience. The cars were amazing.

The Elise is Sold

2007-11-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

and I made a virtual test drive video to try to expedite the sale.

St. Johns County Sherrif's Officer caught up to me in the 930

2007-10-28T06:04:00.000-07:00

...and proceeded to ticket me. He said he clocked me at 75 in a 45 and that 30 mph over results in a mandatory court appearance, but that "he had discretion as to what the final number over is".

"Any reason your in such a hurry?" he asked.
"I'm late for a car show- no good reason" I quipped sheepishly.
And then he said the dreaded, "Okay you just sit tight, I'll be with you in a bit".
So he's definitely writing the ticket- at this point it's just a matter of how fast and how much. Minutes pass and the officer returns.
"I'm going to cut you a huge break here" he says. "I'm writing this for 51 in a 45 and it will be an $85 ticket instead of a $215 ticket."
"Oh well thank you very much sir"

Great experience at Florida Crown Drivers Education this weekend

2007-09-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

I was moved up to the White group (Intermediate) at my last DE event at Roebling in May. I guess after a few months time has passed between events, PCA deems it appropriate for anyone running their first full event in a higher run group to be signed off by an instructor again just to make sure the prior signer-offer wasn't smoking meth or was otherwise debilitated at the time that he or she found the student capable of a higher group. A bit of safeguarding makes all kinds of sense to me.

The listing of driver/instructor pairings released before the event said that Chris Lifka would be riding along with me. In an earlier conversation, he said that I would have the first 20 minute session of the DE to re-familiarize myself with the track and get warmed up. He would ride with me in the second session to (hopefully) sign me off. Chris is also the registrar for the event. Saturday morning I gave him my paperwork to finalize on the morning of the event at which time he informed me that he wouldn't be accompanying me that day.

"Hey Dave," Chris says to a barrel chested guy behind me "I've got my hands full with this stuff, do you have time to do a sign off today?"
Dave says, "No problem".
He walk over and shakes my hand.
"Nice to meet you." said I, "So I guess I'll have the first session to warm up and then..."
"No let's not do that. Let's see what you've got right away. We'll be going out in the first session. I'll meet you in the paddock when you get in line." he replies.

I thought "What the hell, let's just get this out of the way and be done with it.".

Dave is shown in the picture above. He's about 5'9 with a 44" chest and I wouldn't want to tangle with the gentleman. He speaks very quickly without ever stumbling, and you can tell that his mind is moving a mile a minute. If I could imagine what a Marine Corp drill instructor would be like- Dave would be the guy.

My time to drive arrives and I pull into line on the paddock. Along comes Dave right on time. He gets in and comments about the "intimacy" of the Elise. We're touching shoulders after we are both buckled in.

"Now I want you to just pretend that I'm not here. I want to observe your lines and how you drive them."
"OK" I said.
"Now after the first couple of laps, I'm going to give you some advice on lines is that OK?"
"Sure" I said.

So off we go.

I proceed to take my usual lines through the track. I'm going at a pretty brisk pace in my mind and coming pretty close to apexes and track-out points and everything is going along swimmingly until the end of lap two. That's when Dave turns into crazier-than-a-Mountain Dew-slurping-pit bull Dave.

"OK you need to get on the gas earlier here, EARLIER HERE!! SQUEEZE IT SQUEEZE IT!!"
I quickly realize that he's referring to the throttle.
"Wow you didn't even come close to that apex."he says.
"You missed that one by six feet." he further quips.
"C'mon now SQUEEZE IT!!" he's now tired of just telling me what to do and proceeds to assist me with my steering inputs.

The steering "help" is a little disconcerting at first. He (and I somewhat) is putting the car not OVER the rumble strips on the apexes, he's putting my inside wheel INSIDE and over the dirt on the other side of the apexes. To say that this guy is a bit aggressive is to say that Sandra Bernhard is a little butch. He's a madman.

As we're coming down to turn one at about 120 miles per hour along the main straight, he told me to "let it go" after the braking zone which meant to come off the brakes and turn into turn one.

"Let it go" he says.
Let it go I do, but I wasn't comfortable with the speed I was carrying, so I lifted a tad. The back end started to rotate and I quickly got back into the throttle and stabilized the car.
"What the hell was that?" he asked disappointedly.
"I don't know....brain far..." I started to say.
"Turn in here!! (grabbing the wheel) SQUEEZE now, when I say squeeze you gotta go full throttle." and we get through turn two in fourth gear carrying more speed than I ever have carried there. I'm not unwinding the wheel to track out, the cars momentum is creating the right position without steering inputs now.

Going into three, I had the tendency to drift out wide right on approach to set up for the sweeping 90mph left. Dave didn't like that.

"Stay in the middle....start your turn....squeeze....SQUEEZE!!"
So now I'm flat through three which means I really have to get on the brakes hard coming into 4 so that I don't go off. He's actually happy with how I am getting through four.

He's not so happy with 5 and 6. Nor is he happy with 7 and 8.

Near the end of the session, I'm flying up on the backs of other cars. Dave doesn't seem to care that other cars are required to give "point by's" for passing. We're passing without signals. The man is possessed. He seems angry with the track. He's definitely angry with me.

He's barking orders, grabbing the wheel, and making me feel all but uncomfortable, but then about three laps on, it all starts to make sense. He's making me get into the throttle MUCH earlier than I ever did. I'm braking later than I ever thought I could. I'm turning in earlier, but with the power application I'm hitting the apexes properly and tracking out naturally.

I thought I was hitting apexes before. I wasn't even close.
I thought I was near the limits of the cars adhesion to the track before. I wasn't even close.

Other instructors teach the DE line for their own and the students safety. Dave teaches the racing line.

Other instructors promote a "safe" speed through the track. Dave doesn't seem to care if he lives or dies, he's going to teach the RIGHT way. His 40 minutes of instruction were invaluable and I came away from the weekend feeling that I had accomplished a great deal.

Thanks Dave.

The dreaded "The car is dead again post"

2007-09-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yes the car is dead again. Seems that we had a major pressure leak in the front oil cooler fitting which resulted in oil starvation, which resulted in the engine seizing. The rod bearing disintegrated spreading it self all over the oil system and case.

The new crankshaft is on it's way from Porsche AG and should be here on September 18th. We have to clean everything in a ultrasonic cleaner and then put 'er back together again.

What's really a shame is that the case is apart and the thing had ZERO oil leaks prior to the great seize.

Here she is being towed back to it's old home:

We changed the configuration of the air intake assembly yesterday

2007-08-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

We tried to locate the air intake assembly in the "standard" location in the driver side rear of the engine compartment, but the wiring and location of the coils made it too difficult. So now we're going with one of the tech's original ideas of locating the intake in the drivers side wheel well with a shield similar to the ones Porsche used on the wheel well mounted oil coolers. We'll see how it holds up. This is obviously taken before installation of the shield.

The car MIGHT be ready for break in by this Friday.

More progress on the 930 today

2007-08-07T12:46:00.001-07:00

Luis managed to get the ECU and CDI boxes mounted on the floorpan- with Velcro no less which I thought was a pretty ingenious solution to vibration dampening and ease of service. The boost gauge is installed. The sound insulation on the inside of the firewall is put in and the vinyl cover is ready to go in. The seats are actually next to the car ready to go in. We have to install the boost control unit, the air intake system and a couple other minor things and she will be ready for break-in.

Some photos of the brake cooling system for the 930

2007-08-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

We installed Smart Racing's A-arm brackets so that the ducting does not hang too low. At the time I ordered the 4-3" silicone reducers, all they had were blue ones. Now that they have black in stock, I'm sending the blues back in exhange. Brakes are pretty much done. Progress at last.

Elton John wants Jubilant Goblin shut down

2007-08-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

That's right. "Sir" Elton John believes that the interwebs are ruining society and limiting people's creativity.

I'll get right on that Elton.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007350453,00.html

I finally found out why people keep calling Mike Vick "Ron Mexico"

2007-08-01T13:30:00.001-07:00

From Wikipedia: "In March 2005 a woman named Sonya Elliott filed a civil lawsuit against Vick alleging she contracted genital herpes from Vick and that he failed to inform her that he had the disease.^[14] Elliot further alleged that Vick had visited clinics under the alias "Ron Mexico" to get treatments and thus he knew of his condition. This led to a deluge of fans ordering customized #7 Atlanta Falcons jerseys on NFLShop.com with the name "Mexico" on the back.^[15] Due to the media interest surrounding the case, the National Football League disallowed the use of the jersey/name combination two days after the lawsuit. On April 24, 2006 Vick's attorney, Lawrence Woodward, revealed that the lawsuit had settled out of court with an undisclosed amount.

LOL.

It's alive again!

2007-07-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

We eliminated the Multiplexer from the setup per a suggestion from Geoffrey- a poster on Rennlist.com. Sure enough, the idea works like a charm. As a result of the setup, we are now running a wasted spark setup instead of a sequential setup, but the bottom line is that it's running on all six and it's running really smooth.

I can put my hand on the bumper when the car is running, and the car doesn't shake at all.

Now we're installing the new brake-cooling backing plates from NERP, finishing the install of the H4 headlights, and putting the seats back. I will probably have the car back early next week for the break-in.

Still no spark in cylinder 1

2007-07-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

We next-day aired the ECU back to Bob Payton at Speed Lab in Chicago, IL. We're hoping the ECU has a fault that can be fixed.

I posted this on the Pelican Parts site

2007-07-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

and I think it bears repeating:

The problem with EFI is the "while you're in there syndrome". As someone mentioned above- the entire setup is only as good as it's weakest link.

You can waste a lot of money in the process, so think everything through before you do it. I blew a bunch of money balancing and Extrude Hone-ing parts that I didn't even end up using.

Usually, people who convert to EFI want power in the higher end of the spectrum (500+hp). If this is the case with you, then you will have to beef up the internals of your engine (balance all reciprocating parts, upgrade the connecting rods, ARP studs, etc) that all costs a good chunk of money.

IMO if you don't want big power, I don't see the point in going EFI- there are lots of good components on the market that allow for darn good CIS engines. I have spent about $20K in just parts for my EFI build. Now that includes an upgraded turbo and I/C, headers and muffler and other things that aren't directly related to EFI per se, but like I said, if your going for big power, it's not just a matter of bolting stuff on and lighting the candle. It's a pretty complex process as I have come to find.

Measure twice and cut once kimosabe.

Took the brake cooling pieces over to Eurospec this morning

2007-07-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if adding more tasks to their list is a good idea- it will only add time to the completion of the project. Anyway I took over the 2.5" tubing and 4" to 2.5" pvc reducers that I bought online to the shop. The trunk is now full of parts. Will this ever end?

Here are a couple of shots of the car pre- modification

2007-07-06T12:15:00.001-07:00

It's running again!

2007-07-03T07:32:00.001-07:00

The car was down for three weeks after the engine bent three exhaust valves when one of the new timing chain tensioner's that we installed failed.

The engine is running rich, but it's running, which is a major step forward.

My Porsche woes continue

2007-06-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

I bought my 1986 Porsche 911 Turbo (known as a 930 internally at Porsche) in January of 2006. I really enjoyed the car. I say "enjoyed" in the past tense because I haven't actually had posession of the car since April of '06.

Around March, I had a problem with a broken head stud. The car started to make a funny sound, so I had the car towed to Eurospec here in Jacksonville Florida.

One thing led to another and the "while you're in there" malaise took over. I decided to convert the car over to Electronic Fuel Injection and electronic ignition control. The process seems simple enough: tear out all the factory Continuous Fuel Injection (CIS) system and install the new parts right? Well it hasn't turned out to be quite so simple.

I read a lot of posts on boards like Rennlist and Pelicanparts bemoaning the fact that the EFI conversion process was very complicated. I chose to ignore those posts and move on with the upgrades.