On the Lexus SC430 a few years back they had a dark purple metallic that looked GREAT.

Another colour, tho not purple, was "Brickyard" used on the 350Z a couple years back. It was a one year special.

The purple C4s used was nice, the darker colour, I am thinking, is Black Rose, which is rather dark.

Good Morning Gurus!

Remember back when I was thinking about getting my Amigo painted like an old BRE Racing Datsun 510?

Well my wife decided I needed to have my daughter's car painted more than I needed a cool paint job on my truck.

So, today I will be dropping off my daughter's burgundy Suzuki Esteem off at the painters shop.

She wants purple. I actually don't mind that at all. I'm going to see about a fairly dark purple with a good amount of flake to it. I've been trying to keep an eye out for purple cars, so I could tell the guy a make, model and year range of vehicle to get pointed in the right direction, but I haven't seen anything I liked yet.

I wish I could get a close look at the purple they were putting on the C4 in the mid 90s. I think that is too dark, though.

My original thought was to go with the new Dodge purple they are putting on the Charger. I am guessing they are calling it Plumb Crazy, like they did during the days of the Barracuda, but I don't know for sure. Turns out that is way too bright though. I saw a new Charger in person, and it looks like a good color for an easter egg, but not a car...

I guess I should take some before pix of the embarrassingly bad paint that is on there now. It was in an accident before I bought it, and the paint started falling off it a couple months after I bought the car. Nice...

Anyway, have a great day, and I'll try and get some pix up of the little monster.

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Good thing that one of me was the last one taken, the camera hasn't been the same since!

The pics turned out great mate!

Here are a few the Gurus might enjoy.

Casey and me at dinner



The Aussie legend and his white rocket



A C6 ragtop after conversion, Casey's ride visible through showroom window



And that manta I mentioned, I won't bore you with more dive shots.

What is the battery voltage when read from the terminals using a digital volt meter?

Using the same digital volt meter, spear the cables and see what the voltage is further down.

I see a Corvette i could spend alot of time on there and spend very little to make it look alot better. Whatever you may have to buy, use only quality, or youll regret it later when it looks tacky.

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And JL Audio smoked the pair of them hands down even with all its fingers cut off.

Maybe un-related, but I have a friend that had a '91 RS. Went through the same things as you. AT times would be able to start it and drive it, but then later couldn't get it to start. Replaced many parts with no luck.
He even replaced the Computer witha used one, no luck. Finally sold it to another friend of mine who replced the computer with a re-man one. It has been fine ever since.

Soldering irons are like any other tools, you simply dont buy cheap rubish and expect a top notch result. If you take pride in doing a job right, money is no object, and the end result much be something you can show to people and be proud to say "i did that".

I use a Royel adjustable temp feedback soldering iron, although in my experience, Weller are also good.

Practice and know-how are important, but they are only part of the job, you must use quality tools.

Depending on what youre soldering, you dont want it too hot or itll burn the wire and/or the item youre trying to solder. (especially quality OFC speaker cable, its got very fine strands and will burn easy if its too hot, which will result in slag filling the join, and then causing resistance in the flow)

You dont ever want it too cold, and you dont ever want to rush the process, cause this will cause a poor result, and what ever solder you use, be sure it has a flux core so it will adhere to the job. (this is mainly important for passive type soldering equipment, if youre using an industrial type soldering iron, which is heated usually by resting over a gas flame in what looks like a very small oven, you would use a clean solder, and apply the flux to the job.)

Dont strip back too much insulation when youre soldering, only as much as you need, and dont twist the wire up too tight or the solder will not be able to absorb into the wire.

70/30 is a good solder for this sort of job, 80/20 may be getting abit hot, and 60/40 or less is not something i would use on a high current application. The numbers relate to the make up of the solder, usually tin/lead. The more tin content, the higher the melting point.

I am curious... a new part works for a while, then you lose it.

hm... what happens to the fuel pressure over time? I am wondering if there is a leaky injector... that much advanced timing makes me wonder what is up inside that engine... I mean, was the cam properly degreed when installed?

First of all, Thanks for the replies! It's an 89. Fuel pressure stays at 40# as soon as the pump kicks. The car is an autocross E-street prepped race car. Trying to civilize it for the street. It did have about 30 degrees of advance on it when I got it. It idled, well, like a race car. And it was a hard starter, But it started. I yanked the cap and rotor and they looked horrible. Replaced them. The wires didn't click on the way I liked, replaced them. Dropped the timing back to stock. Wouldn't start. Cleaned all grounds and battery connections and it fired right up! Shut it down packed the tools up, cracked a brew, reached in through the window to show the GF my automotive prowess, cranked fine, no start. Damn. Figured module right? Got a new distributor. Dropped her in and she fired right up. 1 hour later, no start. It seems to start fine when it's being jumped by my Z71, so I thought bad ground. Bogus, I have 24# accells in the Vette and I love 'em. Any ideas are appreciatted, Sorry for the run ons but it's the season and I'm a little tuned! Thanks again.

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R-F was, for a while, an audiophile option, as was Kicker. But in recent years, they have become bump factories, and the audiophile aspect has been put out to pasture.

Such a shame, the old m series R-F amps were killer stout... I had a 500m that was tested at over 650 watts - 150w more than the offical rating! Or the old Punch 45... 2 channels, 22.5 per... yea right. There is reason why, 15+ years later, they are still selling on eBay for $100! They were $275 new, then. Impressive little amps. About the size of a medium sized bible.

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The conveyors will leave marks on boxes. It's perfectly normal.

I am going to put together some tech stuff for you.

Start reading. Get a copy of Car Audio and Electronics magazine. I think there are some books are car stereo install. Check Amazon.com. the car doesn't matter, you need to learn the terms, the science, the brands, the techniques. You see, audio trancends the car. It matters to know the limitations of the install, sure, but at the same time, what you learn on a Civic will help you everywhere. It's also the art of learning, being able to learn in one environment and applying it in others.

You will need a soldering iron. I advise the Weller SP80. Get some .070 solder tin based solder. then practice. Do you have a good electronics supply shop? Find it. Check the yellow pages. I think you can get the Weller at Home Depot. Don't let anyone talk you out of it (I have run into "experts" who say it's too hot... yada yada yada, they don't know the advantage of hot).

I have been meaning to do a tech tip on how to solder. Stay tuned.

Finally - TAKE YOUR TIME. Don't rush this. You may drive around with a stripped interior for a few days... only a drivers seat... but you will learn a ton about your car, the stereo and yourself.

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I am not getting any of your photos to work?

Kicker is a brand of amps and subs ...one of the best on the market holding along side of Rockford Fosgate. The subs I was refering to were the square subs. Kicker was the first to think outside the box by inventing a sub that was not a circle.

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How about an update on this , please. I am interested in buying a set

It reminds me of an experience I had with front wheel bearings and half shafts. The torque of the half shaft nut gave the proper bearing preload . I had bought 2 and thought one was bad due to play. Went back to the parts store and most had play. Installed the bearing and have put over 25K on them in my suv

Thanks
Kevin

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If I work on my system, can you walk me thru it? System I got now cost about a grand. I got the box and wires before hand though so a little more.

There is a reason why I have a $3000 system in my Vette - I DID IT MYSELF!!! I hate the idea of paying hacks to do what I can, better.

Then again, it has to be cold in CO now.

I have been busy... watching too much football in all reality. I will be freed up now that college ball is over until Jan.

Can't wait to see pics of the new bass!

Oh, well... off to work!!!!

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Yep. The reason I have a pioneer cd player now is because they just changed it out to see if that would make it stop skipping and I don't like it. It has one big knob in the center and then 4 buttons around the corners. They installed the box back there. I was aiming for them to come out of the corners but I take what I can get because it was already hooked up...Imagine in your mind where the sunshade comes out. That is where my wires are showing thru the carpet because they didnt tuck it back in and it wont fit right. I have a pic of it to as well. The computer I am on now wont let me upload the pics from my disk....They didnt even bolt down teh box when I first got it so I got two shelf holders and bolted it down but I painted them black to make it blend in. It's going to a mechanic to track down the problem. i know it has to be a ground issue. That is all thats left unless the wires are broken somewhere. I can't find where they tucked them though. They run from the box/amp under the back carpet BUT. I searched the front area and cant find where they could be tucked at. They then pop out of the fire wall and connect to the battery. Has to be somewhere under the car. There is not alot of stereo shops around here and I thought they had a good rep but apparently they are not interested in my car anymore. The CD player before worked fine until they installed the speakers.....

Edit: I am going to add that on the amp where the wires attach to it for power are screwed down because they spliced the ends. I just thought of how are the big speakers getting power if the power wires are connected to the amp and then dissapear behind the carpet unless they drilled a hole underneath the carpet and wired it which I wouldn't think but dunno. When you take the CD player out, they did not change out the bose wires though and my first CD player from Midamerica requested if it was Bose or not. Maybe since they didn't change out the wires for the bose that is causing the interference and it's not compatible. When it runs off accessories though without the motor, it plays fine. They did agree that since the body is made of fiberglass, that it would be hard to find a ground for it. The chassis is metal though. If a hole was drilled into it and the wire was screwed into the whole, then that should be a grounding point right? There is not a fuse where the battery is though and I would have thought like bogus said there should be. It has a plastic "cup" up there though.

your stereo install shop is the laziest bunch.... damn...

These are the speakers in the doors

These are the subs again. Hope they show up.

Good Morning Gurus!

Well, this week is starting off like last week.

Super busy....

The price I pay for being good at what I do, I guess.

Hopefully everyone had a great weekend. Mine was expensive...

$330 in tires for my daughter's car, and about $800 in stereo gear for my Amigo. ($300 for the installation. Yeah, my butt hurts)

Gonna spend about $700 on tires for that little truck too.

I did end up getting that Fender bass guitar I had been chatting about just before Thanksgiving. Pix soon. And I will be picking up a used amp for it this week. Thinking about a set of electronic drums for my son and I to mess with. He already has an "analog" set. I want something that is a little quieter. You can run the electronic ones through headphones. Ahhh.....


Enjoy your day!

Thanks Case. I got the two twelves with the amp. Then in the wheel well area where the stock speakers were I got 4X9s I believe. Ill take a pic of those to. In the door, I have 4s. They were originally 6s but they would not fit without taking out the bose holder in there "according" to the stereo shop...Im at school now so I can't post anymore but when I get home I will. Cd player was a pioneer then kenwood and now its another pioneer but I am going to switch back to the kenwood because it allowed me to control the base level and the new one doesn't. Strange... My interior is taken apart so it looks really messy. I have a picture of the brused aluminum kit though. 5 spoke chrome ZR1 rims. Calipers and rotor hats are painted blue. Under the hood its dirty becaue I have not cleaned it in a while. Cheapo edlebrock valve covers to. The passenger neon is busted so they wont light up. I got a pic of the neon transformer as well. I think that about covers it. The front end looks like crap because of water restrictions. The side halo on the outside have C6R stickers on there. Reflective tint on the side. Limo tint on the back hatch. Mustang chrome exaust tips but they did not show up in the picture well and they look rusty in the picture. Exaust is true duals with cats on now. No mufflers either. I think the giant streetglow sticker on the front windshield is going to go. I was playing around with it and am debating on keeping it or not. Probably make me stand out to the law a little more and get pulled.

What did you mean kicker and the subs? I havent heard that before. Forgot to mention subs are sony explodes.

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No worries mate, hope after all youve heard about the car it lived up to your expectations!!

Interesting subs there, kinda going off the concept subs from kicker. Do they sound pretty good? You got any mid-bass speakers and tweets?

Allow me:








The woofer pic simply wont auto load.

Hang on. Im trying to load them up so if there is only one pic up for a while its because I am working on it.




Ok. I got 3 up so far. First one is my subwoofers in the back. Second one is the front. It's really dirty becaues it hasnt been washed in month and a half. and the third is a pic of the underbody neon. These pics really suck and I am going to try to take more later this week.....

The pleasure was all mine Casey, thanks again. Mike, I do have plenty of pictures but will need some time to sort them out, I promise to post some once I do.

Im truly glad you enjoyed the stay mate, it really meant alot to me to have you here.

Joe was also very happy to have met you and your wife and thought it was great to have you both there for a BBQ.

It was great to get to take you for a ride in my Corvette too

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Depends on the game, and depends what you mean by faster. The wont run any faster then they are meant to, in some cases some games have extra things that are not able to be achieved with the x86 32 bit operating instruction set.

cool!

I took some pics on a regular cam and had them develped on a disc instead of hard copy ones. I needed it for a project and am going to try to upload them to photoshop tomorrow......stay tuned!

anytime, Red!

Dual boot rocks for situations like this. Do the games run significantly faster?

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Got any pics to show us?????????????

Sounds like you had a heck of a good time

Ahhhh, thanks Bogus and Case for the insight

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It was a great trip Andy, highly recommended as mentioned all except for the plane ride. With all his high tech computer knowledge I think Casey should spend some time inventing Hyperspace, it would sure make visiting easier!

While it was certainly warm during our visit, so help me it seems hotter back here in Florida. We got lucky on zoo day with Casey, it was pleasantly overcast and cool which was nice for that portion.

Casey took me to visit the largest Corvette dealer in Australia one day to view the right hand drive conversion process, a hell of a lot of work. You must be a dedicated Vette lover to pay the price of driving one of our toys in OZ, trust me on that one.

Incredibly everyone we met in Australia is just as friendly as Case, fantastic country, diving was even better than anticipated and understand the GBR is probably every scuba nuts dream vacation. I have an image of a huge manta ray that will be with me the rest of my life. Don't miss the chance to go if you can.

No worries mate, it was my pleasure. And i thank you and your wife for everything while you were here too mate

Yep, dual boot was my plan all along, cause i didnt want to be stuck and not able to do alot of little things i can do in x86 Windows.

11 fans wouldve made it hover if it wasnt so heavy!!
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Youll be right Johnny, you know im always happy to help out mate, so if you ever have a question, ask me and if i can help you, i will

there is no rubber in the DM. It's springs and ball bearings.

But I prefer the idea of the single mass, regardless. However, the issue is the balance.

Without a baseline, I have nothing to work with.

I can't wait to visit Oz! it's been on my list for 20+ years!

Sounds like a great trip! I bet it was HOT, too!!!

11 fans? I am surprised the damn thing didn't hover.

I work with a great guy named Bob. He is an older fellow, but a brilliant computer scientist and great analyst. Back in the day (30+ years ago) he worked in the defense industry. A friend of his worked on the hardware/software of the HUD used in the F16 jet fighter. The computer that ran the HUD was about the size of a large microwave oven, and simply packed with cards. During testing, they would cool it with liquid nitrogen... the computer was so overclocked that the air coming out was still hot enough to dry your hair with.

I like the dual boot concept. I was concerned you would be handicapped with x64, because it requires special versions of many things... and many companies don't make 64 bit versions of their apps, either.

Red - the x64 was a precursor to Vista... I am not a huge fan of Vista, pretty, yes, but slow as hell.

Oh, I thought I knew a bit about computers but the more I talk with you the more I understand that I dont

Just returned from two weeks in beautiful Australia. Week one was a live aboard trip diving on Spirit of Freedom out of Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef, and Osprey and Bouganville Reefs in the Coral Sea.
The second week was spent visiting Casey on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane as well as a couple of dives to the wreck HMAS Brisbane out of Mooloolaba, Karen and I also got to see Steve Irwins' zoo with Casey while there.
Thanks for your hospitality and the chauffeur service mate, no doubt saved this old man from a wreck attempting to drive a rental car on the "wrong" side of the road! Hope you get over here one day for a visit but don't envy you the plane ride. Our return trip was a nightmare, over 40 hours travel counting layovers and flight delays, barf.

This is XP Pro Johnny, it comes in 2 flavours, one is x86, and other is x64. x86 is the 32 bit operating system, and x64 is the 64 bit operating system to take advantage of the 64 bit cpus.

I got windows vista...never heard of the X thingys.