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Cables, Coffee, Cycles, and Cocktails


Tarheel

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It's 10:20... good morning! About ready to head out for an interview... Not for me but for my wife. Nothing headed my way except a possible IT job in Manila. :ohmy: Why haven't I learned Tagalog yet?

 

Bruce

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The Brits had some great looking cars in the '60's. I recall drooling over the Jags, MG's etc. but also bemoaning the fact that I was just a kid with a part-time grocery job and no funds.

 

Have a good week gang. Will check back.

Me too Chuck.  Part time at the A&P but scraped enough together to pay half on a Triumph TR-3.  Parents paid the balance.

 

Wow, that is a beautiful Triumph.  Love it.

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I had a Spitfire in my garage for few years... needed too much work, guy I got it from dismantled too many sections at once. I could never get past the "where do I start" phase. Now, my son-in-law has it stashed somewhere that I will never see it again.

Bruce

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Afternoon all...

Coffee long done.......

The BOSS and my daughter are meeting with a social worker at mom's house. Getting a plan for her care......

So I'm holding the fort down by myself....... The plans for the day........ work work and more work with a side order of music from the KP's ........ Got a Crown giving the power to KP's today ....... Giving the Carver a little rest.....

Check-in later...

MKP :-)

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Edited by MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE
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Good afternoon everyone........ Up here at Dartmouth College NH. with the boss tuning the chapel organ...

Hey there MPK, wow, that is lots of power ! How loud do you listen ? I can say this seriously, my little Dynaco MK III pair/ Khorn combo could easily damage hearing in short order with only a puny 50 watts! Highest reading ever recorded on the DB meter 'A' weighting that I could stand, was a short 15 second passage of Percy Grainger wind ensemble. 108 at my listening seat 16' back! Yeah, it was over the top, delivered clean and full ;0)

Ok, here is a photo from moments ago....no that is't me, but the maintenance crew member changing some lighting to LED floods for us so we could see up there.. We'll be here for a few more hours I gather... Enjoy your day my friends...image_53.jpeg

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Speaking of British cars, the car in my avatar is not British.  

 

It's a Rotus 8. I purchased the 1.0" square tube powder coated space frame from Dennis Hedges at Rotus (now defunct) in Hagerstown, MD.  The motor is a 3.5 liter aluminum V8 out of a '63 Buick Skylark.  Trans a B-W T-5 destined for a Camaro.  Rear a 3.90:1 LSD from a Toyota Supra.  Carrera coil-over shocks. Brakes are Wilwood discs.  Panasport 15" wheels with BFG rubber.  The engine is .030 over, with a Crower cam, 300 CFM Carter AFB, electronic ignition, tube headers and Super Trapp exhaust.  Approximately 220 HP kept cool by a Ron Davis Racing aluminum radiator.  At ~1,800 pounds wet, it was very quick (0 to 60 under 4), but the fastest I ever went in it was 85 mph merging onto an expressway.

 

Before I built the car I considered getting a TR6, or the like, but the dilemma with truly British vintage cars is whether to keep them original or make them dependable.  That led me to the Rotus.  At 10" longer and 4" wider than a Lotus/Caterham 7, there was room for my 6'1" body, barely.  Furthermore, a real Lotus/Caterham frame is like lawn furniture.  The torque of that V8 would have destroyed it.  The only genuine Caterham parts were the rear wings (fenders) and tail lamps.

 

It was great fun, but when Scott approached 16 the decision was made to sell it.  Insurance for a 16 year old driver would have been prohibitively expensive.  The alternative of keeping it but barring him from driving it was unacceptable.

 

Full disclosure, the photo of a Buick V8 in a Rotus is not my car.  Mine looked the same with the Offy valve covers, but the photo shows a Holley, rather than a Carter.  Also, my battery was behind the rear axle. The other photos are of my car. Scott , a veteran of Army deployment to Afghanistan, is now a cop in DC.  The car is gone and so is my hair.  The memories remain.

 

The site below shows several Routs and similar cars.  FYI the name "Rotus" was a reference to the fact that many were built with Mazda rotary engines.  Unfortunately, it was also a not politically correct reference to the pronunciation of the letter "L" by Japanese individuals.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=rotus+7&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=731&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwinn8C92JbNAhXM54MKHfe6ADkQsAQIKQ

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Edited by DizRotus
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Hey there MPK, wow, that is lots of power ! How loud do you listen ?

 

Well Gary, I do like to turn that volume knob to right quite a bit....lol lol

 

When I'm in the shop and I just want some nice background music I might have just a few watts going to the KP's.. But if the mood is there I'll pump that Carver to it's 375 watts :o ..... The bay is appx 30x30 so it's not a small room..... but at 300+ watts the KP's fill it with sound. Now if working in the back of a car next to a speaker I back it wayyyy off. I do want to keep my hearing...

 

I've been using the Crown for the last few days. I just picked up three of those. The BOSS said she liked em..... so who am I to say no to three Crowns :D

 

 

Very cool pic :emotion-21:  :emotion-21:

 

MKP :-)

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Evening gang...

Just got back from a nice dinner with our friends..... We went to The Honey Pig..... It's a Korean BBQ .............. It's the shitt :emotion-21::emotion-21:

These are two of our closest friends and there children .... we hang with these guys as much as we can....

Loading some pics..... give me a min.......

MKP :-)

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Edited by MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE
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Good late evening everyone........thanks for the reply AND photos MKP, looks like you had some good eats with friends.  :)

 

......and Diz for the lowdown on the 'full disclosure' with photos on the Rotus  ;)

 

All for now......................... -_-

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Full disclosure, the photo of a Buick V8 in a Rotus is not my car.


I still have a 4 barrel manifold off a '62 or '63. I also have a manifold for a 215 V8. Don't know why I kept them, since I have sold the engines I had long ago. Found a couple of 215's and a 300 in a salvage yard about 15 years ago and snatched them up since I was into MGB's and planned a couple of V8 conversions. Ended up selling a 215 to a guy to put in a Pantera, and the 300 went to a guy in the northeast that just wanted to crank timing gears and cover and heads to build a 215 stroker for a MGB. Wish I had kept the 300 since it was the only year they had aluminum heads. 

 

Still have a '86 Fiero in the back that is begging for a V8 conversion though.

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Still have a '86 Fiero in the back that is begging for a V8 conversion though.

Good morning all. The caffeine is flowing.

I know the feeling. It's a curse. Fortunately, age has cured me.

After I sold the Rotus, I bought a 97 Miata on a whim with every intention of installing another BOP/Rover 3.5 liter aluminum V8. I met a Ford engineer who had put a Buick 215 in a Miata. It was very cool. The aluminum V8 was barely any heavier than the 4 banger it replaced. Even with the resources he had at Ford, the conversion was very complicated and expensive.

Furthermore, that Miata was the most dependable car I ever owned. Whereas the motor was regularly pulled from the Rotus to address chronic issues with a Tilton hydraulic throwout bearing, I never once had to pull the motor in the MX5. :-)

I eventually sold the Miata un-bastardized. The attached photo of the Miata has been posted before.

Are you familiar with the following site? Dan LaGrou knows 215s.

http://www.aluminumv8.com/

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Edited by DizRotus
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God morning, troops! Took the wife to work so I can get her car in for a couple of new tires... I'm back at the house to finish my coffee before I go sit at the shop for a while.

 

Always loved the Miata, but never could justify owning one.

 

Bruce

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so who am I to say no to three Crowns

 

One for you.  One for her.  And one for Stoney.

 

 

Morning gang....

 

Hey OT Stoney doesn't like it when we put the music on. If he sees me turn the amps on him and his brother run down to the basement.... they want no parts of the Klipsch and Carvers lol lol....

 

Grandkids just got on the bus....... The BOSS and I are finishing our 2nd cup of DD..... coffee is a bit bitter this morning.... I think I ground the beans too long :wacko:

 

 

We just had a video chat with my daughter..... mom got out of bed and was able to walk to the potty... This is really a big deal.... She has been almost bed ridden since the UTI infection from weeks ago....  This has made our day  :D

 

I love the motor swap stuff...... Years ago back when Fast and Furious 1st came out I had bunches of kids wanting motor swaps in there Honda's...  I took on several swaps. Most of the kids had no money..... and if the kids had the money and were under 18 I would make there parents come in to sing a waver.... hey I'm taking out a 95hp engine and dropping in twice the hp, yea you got to sing a waver!

Some of the swaps I would not do.... like a H-22 Prelude engine in a CRX... yea it'll fit but the engine is really too big for the car... great for the drag strip but not for the street. 

There were some that would tell me my price was wayyyy to high for the swap.... My labor started at 5K + parts for a DOHC V-tech into a Civic/CRX... That would include me putting on a new timing belt H2O pump, clutch, lighten flywheel, fab shift linkage. and all wiring that looked factory... and before I dropped that power plant in I would wash the engine bay out... get it looking good.

Some took there cars to other "cheaper" places..... then a few months they rolled up on my shop.... hey my cars not right can you help me??? I remember a few, I pop the hood or looked under the dash and it was a rats nest of wiring :o I would say to them "take it back to who did the swapp"  and they would say " they want to charge me" I would just laugh.... like I'm gonna do it for free :lol:

Well I don't do swapps any longer I just don't want the head ache....... 

 

OK gang I gotta roll.... wishing all a great day....

 

MKP :-)

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Well the adventure at LF's new place is the master bath floor. Apparently someone remodeled it and poured a slab around the vanity  and tiled on top of that.  I wanted to see if a hammer would break it so I hit it about ten times with a 20 oz hammer.  It just snickered at me.  So tomorrow a former tile guy is going to try his hand with a hammer drill.  I'm not sure if that will be enough.  Any ideas other than a jackhammer?

 

Gave Jake a bath yesterday and this morning washed the porch where he hangs out.  Mop, hot water, TSP, rinse.  Hr doen't know what all the fuss is about :wacko:  :wacko:

 

LF off to the house to meet the A/V guys and move wires.  Taking the control center out of LR and moving it to her office/TV room.  No big screen in the LR :mellow:  Whole house wired for sound but will set up a 2 channel system at some point.  Maybe Earl will loan me his Bose 901s :o  

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