Random Thought Thread

[RockJustRock]

Bored.
So... can I post from a tablet and then edit from my laptop? Kinda. Cameras default to so many Megapixels it's tough to edit. Anyway here is the seed of my future Solar Farm. Bigger one was $8.29 at WalMart and claims to have a 300,000 mAh power bank. I doubt that. But in case of disaster I have a few calls worth of backup power. Smaller one somebody found in the trash and I adopted it. It has a logo silk screened on it for some tech company that does NOT do Solar or they'd know it is a piece of crap swag item nearly useless. Important thing it is overcast, the sun is on the other side of the building, but the green light is on BRIGHT meaning it is charging. It goes out if I cover it. So now I am bullish on solar.

[Loren]

And in other news...

Had to bury my dog Sunday. We only had her five years, but she was already kinda old when we got her from the pound. I'm a lot more bummed than usual, somehow. This was one of those where she chose me more than I picked her. Mutt, white w/ spots. Hated the heat, had to let her in the house during Summer but if it was freezing cold raining in the winter and flooding out front, she'd be out there swimming in it. Not much of a shop dog but sometimes she'd hang out w/ me unless there was any kind of noise. Good barker at strangers driving up.

Previously, on a lark we had decided to drive up to Lompoc on the central coast 5 hours away and watch Saturday evening's SpaceX launch from Vandenburg AFB, with the first stage returning to actual land for the first time. Twilight launches are great views with the land dark but the sun still shining up in the atmosphere. Then they re-scheduled for Sunday evening which made it impossible but it was a great view from the front yard or anywhere in So. Cal. Gail took video but hasn't uploaded it or anything, this YouTube one from South Gate is very close to what we saw and maybe how the conversation went as well, minus the funny accent: (Note first stage burn/return on right, the payload is headed south/left across our view into a polar orbit)

From where we were, the mach cone was much more pronounced, there was a point I thought it might hit us and we'd hear the sonic boom but by then it was far too high.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZperfa1fhs

[Deaf Bob]

Always sucks to bury furry shadows...

[RockJustRock]

Another stretch of me getting waaay more than my money's worth out of this place! Oh, it's free? Then uhhhh nevermind....

[Loren]

Well I just wasted two hours of a busy day going to pick up a '94 Corvette Grand Sport rear end. GS's, like any manual-trans car after '85 will have a Dana 44 rear end, not a weak-suck 36 like from an automatic. Yeah guess what, it was a 36 even while the CraigsList seller stood there insisting otherwise. Maybe it was like one of those (many, many) early Camaro Z-28s with the 327 and 10-bolt. Not so long ago I went to look at a rebuilt LT1 350 for two grand, that I insisted on taking a head off before purchase...utterly beat-to-crap 200K rusty cylinder walls, cleaned and spray-painted, with the seller standing there insisting it was rebuilt. 'Cause the guy he bought it from told him so! Jeez, don't ever go looking for anything that you don't know at-least more about than the seller does.

[RockJustRock]

Are you clowning me or something Loren? A Z with a 327 and a 10 bolt? I can see the 10 bolt because GM was SO stingy with the 12 bolts, but a 327 would violate the whole purpose of the early Zs , homologation with the SCCA where of course Chevrolet wasn't really racing anyways. Chevy did so much weird in the 60s. Like the 427 Corvettes with Powerglides. Tell me more, tell me more or quit clowning me.

Or was that sarcasm that I just missed? I just woke up from an "Old Man Nap". Quit kidding around or I'll need to clobber you with a 5 bolt on 4 inch axle from an early A body 8 3/4.

[Loren]

What I meant was, if that Corvette rear had come from a Grand Sport as the seller insisted, that Grand Sport was about as legit as the common "Z" we used to see (and still see) with the obviously no-way-it's-a-Z standard issue equipment such as the ten-bolt. Neither car would be legit.

Yeah, it was sarcasm basically.

I guess if I think you're coming by, I'll wear an 11" Chev aluminum bellhousing on my head that day for protection...

[RockJustRock]

OH, THAT kind of Z. The kind the kid puts the tunnel ram with vacuum secondary 600s on then tells you it runs low 10s. THEN when you point out the 10 bolt that just WILL NOT hide he says "but, but I have AWESOME top end". THAT kind of Z. Back in the Midwest that was just a cruise night phenomenon. Nobody was that crooked to actually try to get PAID for it.

Nap time. I keep having nightmares where dozens and dozens of late 70s Trans Ams roll across auction stages getting big money as collector cars. Wait, THAT is NOT a nightmare? Then the 80s where they were all owned by A-holes? Was THAT the nightmare?

[Loren]

I dunno, everybody wanted one, I knew a couple cool guys who stepped up, but moved on to other cars soon. Pontiac wrecked it at the end of the second gen though, nobody took those seriously.

I did manage to get a lifetime supply of these today, from a different individual. For my project that's kinda like SBG's but not a 'Vette and much slower going / pun unintended...



They'll get a some machining/modification to change the looks a little bit when I get around to it, but they're pretty close to what I have in mind. Everybody seems to have the spider-spoke wheels such as on Hellcats these days but I still like the ol' 5 spokes.

[RockJustRock]

I dunno, everybody wanted one, I knew a couple cool guys who stepped up, but moved on to other cars soon. Pontiac wrecked it at the end of the second gen though, nobody took those seriously.

I did manage to get a lifetime supply of these today, from a different individual. For my project that's kinda like SBG's but not a 'Vette and much slower going / pun unintended...



They'll get a some machining/modification to change the looks a little bit when I get around to it, but they're pretty close to what I have in mind. Everybody seems to have the spider-spoke wheels such as on Hellcats these days but I still like the ol' 5 spokes.

I'm sick. I like the look of 60s squooshed down on to a 6" rim. Factory offset the tire is automatically centered up well. Just watch the air pressure (or not). And blackwalls, letters in. Funny that way. If it doesn't say Goodyear or M&H who cares anyway?

[Loren]

I'm sick. I like the look of 60s squooshed down on to a 6" rim

One side of me enjoys and preserves the old. Another moves forward, albeit a bit back from the cutting edge.

[RockJustRock]

One side of me enjoys and preserves the old. Another moves forward, albeit a bit back from the cutting edge.

Well, ever since I read about MoPar F bodies being lighter than A bodies by a bunch my brain has been percolating with build ideas. Is the MoPar side of Loren ready for that? Gotta get somewhere with better smog laws though. F bodies.... HUGE fenderwells there. T-bars behind the front bumper. Hmmmm... Really liked the stock R/T graphics. Super Pack was a neat FU to the Trans Am. Only thing un-MoPar about the F was the rear axle. With the car light enough might not be an issue. Hmmm...

But then YOU just scored a stack of Chebby stuff. NICE Chebby stuff too! 3rd Gen, A body or something even more different?

Corvette parts everyone needs to be careful. I keep remembering it being said GM was getting very GVW specific with spring design. Or was that JUST a C4 thing? Not much into corners once I enjoyed a few spinouts. You aren't going fast unless you spinout, I think Elvis said that. No, I'll just stance, cruise and go straight fast, thank you.

[Loren]

I think F's are OK, it's hard to believe they're lighter than an A unless you mean a GM A. ? To me, it might be worth it to compromise though and stick with something pre-'75 and not have to smog it, wherever you live. Having to worry about smog-check stations is pain-in-the-ass best avoided if possible.

The Mopar side o' me has a built motorhome 440/727 that's going to need a home someday when a diesel replaces it, and I don't want to start any new car projects... Again with the question mark, I think somebody needs to give me 2500 obo for it and go have a good time.

I was looking to spend 3-4 K or more on 18x10/19x12 wheels, then realized that with a little work I could make used GM ones work for me. $750 and no one has to worry if some guy in China or wherever was paying attention when he was running the wheel making machines. Project is like a kit car, without the kit it has been said. Wife once called it the DeLoren. I've got a long way to go on that one.

I'm too old to like spinning out in cars now but I didn't used to mind it so much.

[RockJustRock]

The statement on the F Body weight was from all the celebration of the premier. M/T car of the year, first CAD designed new car platform. First safety designed front end structure, energy absorbing like a Volvo. Base F body lighter than Feather Duster/Dart Lite. My loaded '79 Aspen Sport Wagon went low 15s with JUST a mild desmog. DC ignition and jetting. Pissed off a few A body guys who couldn't dial their stuff in. A screaming 255 HP. Anyway there is a lot of alloy, plastic and thin steel in an F body. Plastic inner fender liners behind the steel that leaked, thus the rust recall. Then 1/3 of the steel inner fender is an aluminum pie pan access panel for alignments. They're STILL ugly mutts, but potentially shockingly quick ugly mutts. Actually later in a restless sleepy night I was thinking it would be fun to take on the smog Nazis by temporary fitting a later LA engine smog package with a computer for inspections then back to the Holley Double Pumper for fun, but that would take an ENGINEER type, hint, hint. Would make a great story to tell camping out in the 2030s. But anyway the project would work best with an LA motor stroked out with stockish 340 heads for torque. But if I ever NEED a 440.... Too bad it's not a 400, better geometry.

A ground up CAR is the ultimate test of a person's EYE for styling. You know you have one, it seems to me you have one. Will it be composite or banged on alloy? Duh, you SAID DeLoren. O.K. Any renders?

But yeah. An old Aspen that could run with a $50K+ new car for a lot less might not get noticed much, even compared to a Duster, but I WANT one! Kinda want to smoke DF's Crop Duster with a LOT less motor and money.11s were NOT a big deal to me. Plus I could change plugs and probably NOT have to flatten header tubes.

O.K., more than ANYONE wants to know about F Body MoPars, but no A body quote here. I just found I could back the T-Bars almost ALL the way off and still drive the thing.

The vehicle was wind-tunnel tested to be aerodynamically sound in its fuel conservation potential as the complete aerodynamics development program included a wide range studies from drag reduction to crosswind stability, wind noise and ventilation performance. The effects of this testing resulted in softened front end contours, removal of drip troughs and helped shaped internal air flow ducting.^[1] Body engineering in the Aspen was executed using computer technology; unit body engineering was conducted by use of clear plastic stress models that showed up stress points before any sheet metal was formed. Weight reduction to provide maximum fuel economy was achieved through use of thinner glass, lighter weight side door beams and HSLA brackets and reinforcements that were four times as strong as conventional mild steel. A reduced number of stampings resulted in better panel fits and fewer welds. The Aspen had improved visibility and compared with other Dodge compacts, the Aspen provided a total glass area increase of 25% on two-door models and 33% on sedans.^[2]

Wheel alignment adjustments such as caster and camber could be made by removing plates over the wheel housings. The new isolated transverse suspension system was a substantial departure from the longitudinal torsion bars Chrysler had introduced in 1957 and used on all models since that year, until the release of the F-bodies.^[1] The transverse (side-to-side) bars were not as geometrically favorable, but saved space and weight. ^[1] In addition, the new front suspension system was touted as giving a "big car ride" as the suspension had a low, or softer, fore and aft compliance which allowed the wheel to move rearward instead of straight up and down when the tire encountered an object, dampening the blow and rolling with the condition of the road.^[1] The two parallel torsion bars and an anti-sway bar were mounted forward of the front wheels, integrated into a spring-strut front suspension. These components were attached to a K-shaped structural crossmember. The K-shaped crossmember was isolated from the unitized car body by four rubber mounts. This transverse torsion bar suspension was also incorporated into the M- and J-body cars. The conventional leaf spring rear suspension was also rubber-isolated, so there was no metal-to-metal path through which road noise or vibration can be transmitted to the body; even the steering column was isolated.^[1]

[Loren]

O.K. Any renders?

Carved on a bandsaw from glued-together pallet wood on a boring rainy day when I was...23?...with no idea of how I'd ever build it. I had recently passed on a Fiberfab Jamaican body for $400 again with not much of an idea of how I would build a chassis, and then a Bill Thomas Cheetah shell for $100, thinking it was kinda ugly and trying to imagine how my parents would like having that in their yard (I lived either in a shop John McGann-style, or with a GF, or with them at the time). Anyhow I liked the model enough that I got on a lathe and made wheels for it. All those years it has sat on a shelf. I'm 57, at this point in life it's possible to actually do it if/when I can clear all the other crap in my life away, so... But I haven't touched the project since last spring, work kicked my ass all summer, but at-least I have a plasma table again which is a help. All steel and aluminum, Supra glass and door hardware, suspension from Corvette and various, T56 trans, who-knows what motor.

I don't know why I never finished shaping the front, maybe I wasn't sure what I wanted there. That's how it's sat. Being pretty basic in shape, it wouldn't be too hard to modernize it with a few detail tweaks.