TomoHawk

By pressing other parts into the mold I mean that you can make many parts from the same mold. If it's big enough you can make a mold, say for all the parts needed for a project, like you get in a plastic car kit. I usually just do one at a time, because the plaster hardens quickly. I haven't tried this myself yet. I was just suggesting a quick way to make the rubber ring for the inspection lamp until a proper one can be located. I'm not even sure it'll come out right, because Plaster of Paris is porous, and the texture will probably show in the finished part. Another problem I think I will have is that I probably need some kind of release agent, as RTV silicone might stick to the plaster! Maybe a dusting of baby powder will work, or a thin coating of Vaseline. Maybe it should be sprayed with clear paint even, then some wax, grease or oil.

It's the same way they make gummi bears or worms. You pour Plaster of Paris into a shallow mold (about 10mm deep) and before it sets, you press your part (the old rubber ring or some kind of similar plastic ring, coated with some Vaseline) into the plaster. After the plaster hardens, you might modify the female mould, then flow some RTV stuff into it, and let that set up overnight. You could even make several copies of the part or press other parts in the same mould. But for the gummi bears they just use a bed of starch powder.

The engine inspection-work lamp has a round rubber ring under the white plastic bulb cover... It keeps the moisture out, and the bulbs last longer Where can you get new ones? I was thinking of making one using plaster-of-Paris and the usual black RTV silicone stuff. thxZ

The colour of the mirror depends on what it's made of. If it's a metal mirror, then it should be chrome/silver, obviously, unless it's made of stainless or aluminium, in which case it's polished. If it has a plastic body, them it should be either flat black (to prevent reflecting of sunlight) or the body colour. Other things like the wiper arms are done similarly, for safety, depending on the age; older vehicles had chrome or polished metal, and modern vehicles have black stuff.

For zeenubee, I'd suggest you get an owner's manual, either in hard-copy form or a digital copy here

Yeah, they'll have "information" about all kinds of stuff for all kinds of cars, but getting parts is a different story. It seems that auto parts stores don't carry parts for cars using distributors or the "old" coil ignitions.

Zedy-wan- I wouldn't even look twice at those overweight girls with the rats nest on the head. You should get some Ohio beauties in stead.

I think that after a few hours, you'd be a little more off target than that, especially with morethan one class going at the same time.

Actually, it's nothing like that, and road rally is sill popular in the U.S., but road high-speed racing like nasTcar gets all the attention. And having done road rallies as both driver and navigator, all you have to do is follow the instructions; there are no calculations are needed- that is left for the gimmicky rallies. This idea is more like a regularity rally, where you drive the SAME route a number of times, and your points depend on how much you are off each 'lap.' As for the 'track officials,' they won't be needed; a decent transponder system will work a lot better.

It sounds like taking the freeway to work, no? You gotta keep your speed at exactly 60 MPH (for the 'melicans) to avoid a speeding ticket, but get you to work on-time, yet you eventually get a group of vehicles bunched up & slow, which drags your average speed down, then you punch the throttle to get the average speed back up & get to work on-time. The GT class names makes it easy to figure the speed of your class. GT1 is the base speed plus (1x15) for example. GT2 adds (2x15) and so on. The original idea was to get people on a track safely and inexpensively, by either fixing the speed or creating a comfortable distance between vehicles. If you're going to have cars at different speeds then there will have to be passing. I think that by limiting passing to only on the straight sections, it could be done safely. You'll need a fairly wide track for safe passing, of course.

I've not heard of this done locally or anywhere in the U.S., but it may have been done somewhere: An endurance race of 4, 6, 8 or more hours where you go around the track at an average speed. It's like a road rally where cars leave the start at constant intervals, but you get to go faster in certain places to make up for braking in corners. You get points added or subtracted according to how far off you are on lap times, so the winner has zero points. Speedometers are covered to test the driver's seat-of-the-pants skill for speed. The average speed could be set to whatever you like, either a safe, slower speed to test the driver's ability to stay awake, say 40 MPH (if the track is not too challenging or fairly straight with long curves) or to be more exiting with some speed. That way, no additional safety equipment would be needed, besides the common stuff like helmet, safety belt, fire extinguisher so most any car could be used.

We've seen this one here before, but thanks for the mention. They must really like what they're doing, if they work on a car for up to two years, and then sell it for about 20,000 or so. OTOH, I wouldn't mind letting that guy do his thing to my car, with maybe a 'pinch' of the modern stuff to get things in-line with all the stories I keep hearing about how fast those S30 were. :classic:

We've seen this one here before, but thanks for the mention. They must really like what they're doing, if they work on a car for up to two years, and then sell it for about 20,000 or so. OTOH, I wouldn't mind that old guy working on my car, and maybe just a pinch of modern stuff to put it in-line with all the stories I keep hearing from people about how fast it was.

you go.... Add the Splash pan to the list of NLA items to "re-design" and fabricate- in Carbon fibre this time? Maybe aluminium...

Did anyone get to watch the conclusion to this project? What happened?

The '78 has the electronic points-less ignition, and so doesn't use a ballast resistor at all. As for the condensers, I have used the usual ones you buy at the AP store, but good luck finding them, as none (in my area) carry them, or many other parts for "old cars." I was told to buy condensers via eBay (?)

Some research by my friend Loy tells me that the ding-dong dingers were used even on the '94 Maximas, but I suspect that the more modern units are probably more than just a little box with a 2-pin connector. Is that correct? For example, the beeper/chime on my '97 Escort has 4 connectors with about 8 wires on each (or about 30 connections.)

The local dealer tells me it's 25065-32R00 but he wanted the VIN for the vehicle for an exact part. $60 (!!) for that little box?? I think maybe you get a whole bunch of stuff.

I just like the ding-dong of the older Maxima. It's not so 'mechanical-sounding.' Any light ding-dong chime will do, but be aware that many manufacturers are using the vehicle's stereo system for the chimes and buzzers, which I think is dumb. :disappoin

Higuys, Does anyone know the part #, or a source, (not a junkyard) for a 1994 Maxima door Chime/lights-on reminder unit? It's about the only "ding-dong" sound that you can get for under $1000. I'd like to use it as a lights-on reminder. Does anyone have any favourite chime sound units that you can actually buy? thxZ

Thanks Mike. My tail lamp panels already look like yours, so I am just cleaning them (and the tail lamps & wiring) well, and treating the metal behind them to some protection and flat black Rustoleum. I have a can of that Graphite-colored wheel trim paint someone mention a while ago, but I think I will use a flat black in stead. It will match all the other areas of flat black on the car, which is why I'm painting the tail in the first place (it was several different blacks!) BTW- It looks like the underneath of that little shelf was bare metal from the factory.

This is odd: When I was degreasing the tail lamp finisher panels for painting, I noticed they were a nice deep black color, and only needed to be cleaned well, so I will not paint them now, and will instead save that for winter- if I decide to do it at all. I did fill a couple small nicks though. Tomorrow I will paint the metal back panel with rustoleum flat black, and mask the rest to paint the metal extender panel to paint with Duplicolor DA103 (Semi-Gloss Black.) I'm not sure about the satin clearcoat, as has been mentioned before, because it seems to be unavailable at most AP stores.

Higuys, I have the entire rear tail lamp area apart to service it and paint as necessary. I noticed a few peculiar things and have some questions. Observations:-------------------- First, after wet-sanding the extender panel, I found that it was painted the body color, and not black. Second, the foam seal around the tail lamps seemed to be compressed, and glued or stuck to the body. Third, I didn't notice any really easy way for rain water to flow off the little shelf (under the hatch, the one that usually rusts.) Questions:----------------------- I will paint the back panel (the metal body part where the tail lamps mount) with something and maybe even use some clear or bedliner paint for extra protection. Should there be some kind of drain hole for water on the shelf? (here already is one small rust hole on the right end ) Otherwise the only way for water to drain is to go between the taillamp and the body. I ordered some new taillamp seals/gaskets from BD. Do those have adhesive on them, or do you need some spray glue, or what? thxZ

I put in $250. I'll dare anyone else to match that.

Man, I can't tell you how important an equipment log is on a car like that. Unless you have a very common car like a Honda for a Daily driver, you can be sure anything you do is 'special,' so keeping a log with the date and part#, specs, and supplier is very important, so you don't end up like this