Pezhead

Oh yeah, you were there too Duncan. This was like "Homecoming" Texi - so many original members there. Made me nostalgic!

For those who don't know Chewbacca Head - it's Steve, A.K.A. DrDoof! You should all pay tribute to him because he and N1GTR (also Steve) and our very own Goldzilla that started the Texi's at Nirimba oh so many years ago. Before they got us into Nirimba we had to go way down to Sutton Rd to do skidpan stuff.

I heard it it silent but deadly...

Nice one Owen! Love the use of the slow motion and the angle from outside shooting in through the passenger window.

FYP. You have no way of knowing how the incident occurred and that is EXACTLY the speculation that is the core issue. That is exactly why the Police and News put the type of car whenever it is a high performance vehicle. To get you to speculate and the public to view them as a danger. We cannot force you to follow our requests, but by not doing so you risk further damage for the entire car enthusiast community. We all wish well for the family and friends in this time of grief and express our sorry for the poor person that lost their life. This is the core message that needs to be the focus here.

Tell her I absolutely love this "Godzillas in the Mist" photo!

We're trying but a lot harder than just saying we want to do it. Was in the plan for last year but lack of time and work force pushed it.

Geezbus, no wonder I'm so tired. How many times do I cross back and forth in that vid!

Thanks for doing it Doof. We were a little short handed on helpers. I brought all my camera equipment too and it never came out of the car At least lots of others took photos and video.

What a fantastic day! Thanks to all the exec for your hard work and long hours today. These days simply wouldn't happen without all the volunteers. And thanks to all the participants! People really took the driver briefing items to heart and you all did such a great job! Thanks!

yeah, more the merrier.

Well, I've driven home from EVERY texi. Aggro has driven home every time too. You guys just have no mechanical sympathy.

I've been chasing issues on my Autronic SMC wasted spark set up since the day I bought the car. I've added a 500R about two years ago and that didn't sort it. Mine was generally fine until the engine got hot then spark would break down. I've finally solved (I hope) my issue by going to individual coils. My setup had bosch duel fire coils for the wasted spark set up. There were only three coils that each had two spark leads. I didn't like that at all. So I went to 6 individual Bosch HEI coils. Seems to have sorted my issue, but have to wait to finish the tune until I have a job and save some coin to do it. I find spark related issues so tricky. People with the same set-ups get different results. Always the way with electrical components unfortunately. One weak link and the whole system suffers.

If you think you might spill petrol out (old gas cap/old gasket) then 3/4 tank. Just to be sure. We've seen cars gushing fuel out and have to ask them to sort it out. Stock & Mild mod'd cars would go through 1/4 - 1/2 tank. You'd only go through more if you have a VERY serious car (e.g. 1000+ cc injectors, e85 tune, etc).

Was full on shiz back in the day.. oh that's right you're too young to remember the 80's.

oh yeah, one other secret. On the other end of the cable - the straight end. So the bike cable will have a ball or lead cylinder at one end. I went to a fishing shop and got a lead leader join. Kind of like a piece of lead with two Siamese 1mm holes. This allows you to join ends to make a loop. Then squish the lead. You can make the lead go around anything you like - even a large fishing ball swivel that has a nice snap ring on it. Pretty smick solution for a D.I.Y. I think.

Measure the cable diameter. Then use Pythagorean equation to figure it out. V is a 90 degree right angle cut with an end mill and the bar stock at 45 degrees. Give yourself about 0.5 -1mm of "squish". K.I.S.S. at its best.

Dang! Just realised I'll be out of town. Strike me out, dang Dang DANG!

Naw, only really the ones I posted. Why? Pretty simple V-Clamp style piece. I used the mill to cut a "V" down the thick metal block. That bolts against the "L" bracket sandwiching the cable without causing it to collapse.

Yup! You guessed it spot on. My dad made that when I did my first motokhana in the car.. oh... around 1993/4. Was with NWDE - Northwest Datsun Enthusiast Club in the Auburn Boeing Parking lot! That was with the original L26 Motor.

Yes, going to restore it but not to original specs. I like doing things my own way and as much as possible my own work rather than dropping it off to a shop and just paying a big bill. And for power, the general goal is about 300hp at the wheels. These old chassis are really made of tinfoil so unless you do some serious reinforcement it's more than the frame can handle. Not like our skylines that can take 1000hp and still come back for more. Back to the story.... One day to go and I fly out the day after. I was so excited I woke up at 5 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. How much can I really get done in one day? Coffee shop wasn't even open at that hour so out the the shed to tinker until things open. I spent a couple of hours tracing wires with the voltmeter, labeling them and marking them in my notes. Today I had to get the alternator/water pump belt sized and fitted and finish a bit of wiring for the fuel pumps and see where the wiring was left all those years ago. I used some string to measure the size of the belt I needed. I must really suck at it cause it took three trips to get the right size but the new belt fits perfectly and has plenty of travel for wear. When my brother and I owned it I did the mechanical work and he did the electrics to get things working. Well, we'll just say that he definitely wasn't an electrician. And remember, this car was originally gutted as a full race car. The wiring looms were taken out and only the bare essentials were left in. It's a bit of a nightmare of wiring. Cut off leads to nowhere, spices that are just wound together and taped. I'm going to have to go through it eventually and do a lot of re-wiring. I made sure the ground straps were put on the motor then decided to "go for broke" and connect up the battery. First up doing a quick touch of the positive to see if it was going to arc showing that I had a short somewhere. It only made the smallest spark so things seem ok. Gave it a quick second to see if I could smell anything burning..... ok. Now, no power to anything. Everything is dead. Being a race car it had a master cut off on the cowl but we bypassed that. I found one master 75A breaker switch installed near the fuse box. That did it and the electrics came to life... well sort of. Headlights didn't work but tail lights did, no dash lights either. Now to try the starter (crossed fingers). Yup kicked up. Yay! Also power going into the fuse box so at least we're in business. Brother and I then decided before we get into that we should get the clutch and brake fluids sorted. They've sat for 20 years and I don't want to let them sit clogged/dry for another year. This ended up being a real ordeal! We first tried a vacuum pump and it just sat there at about 15-20 psi of vacuum not drawing anything. The old fashioned pump the pedal method was only a little better. Since the whole system was full of air and clogged, we could only generate very minute amounts of fluid movement initially. When we did get the fluid out it was horrible brown sludge! We were able to get the entire system done by doing every line twice until new clean fluid was flowing. I started at 5 am. Guess what time it is now? 10 pm! I fly out tomorrow and we haven't tried to wire up and start it yet! I figure I'll give it one good attempt for an hour. I'm exhausted at this point but determined to at least try to start it. The next hour I'm wiring and patching into the loom based on some wiring diagrams I've found from the service manual and Hybridz forum. Last step is to wire in the new fuel system and the power to the ECU. That done we give it our first attempt... or try to. As soon as the key hits "on" the fuel pumps kick to life and a spray of fuel comes bursting from the old SS braided lines. At least being in the spare tyre well, the fuel didn't get in the rest of the car. But we aren't going to replace those lines tonight. So I figure unplug the fuel pump relay and at least see if we're getting any spark. Then I know I'm close. We then lose another 1/2 hour fiddling trying to get the ECU to kick to life and spark. No go.... It's now 11:30 pm and I have to drive back to my sister's place (where I'm staying) and then fly out in the morning. Sadly I concede victory. But while disappointed, I look at how far the car has come in the last two weeks. All of the necessary systems are fitted and plumbed and I can actually visualize myself driving it now. It doesn't look like an abandoned project anymore (at least to me it doesn't). So we put the bonnet back on and put away the tools. This is where I've left it for now. So, you're wondering where this story goes now? Well, I plan to be back in Seattle July 2014. I plan to ship the car back then. I would prefer if it were running. I also have a small side story. The interviewing I did in Seattle was with a company based there but for a Sydney based position. They are working on securing a Sydney client. If that goes forward and they hire me then one of the first things would be to come back to Seattle for training. Let's hope! A year is a long time. So there I warned you about the cliff hanger. I miss the Z already!

This is a very sad bit of news indeed. Please keep speculations to a minimum. The police and Current Affair do look on this site when news items of this nature occur. I would hate for speculative views to be reported as facts in the news with affiliation to SAU. Thanks for your support and condolences to the family and friends.

Well, if you do make it in be sure to keep it off the green/brown stuff, K

Just curious if the insurance has appraised the damage? They probably won't do a write off, but be sure you have yourself covered for all the expenses. Don't settle early or you may run into stuff that wasn't in the original appraisal.

Yup I did mine from underneath and managed to get a flex ratchet spanner in there. but it is blind and tries your patience.