TomoHawk

I've been using a chunk of wood sawn into a wedge shape for a few years, an I started thinking lately about making a few of the 1-pice design. Can anyone measure theirs and post the details (metal thickness, width, and overall length?

Another model they should've included is the Ford Escort. They were winning rallies since the mid-60s, and were some very cool-looking cars, albeit were a little small for a "family" 4-seater, so it went bye-bye too, for the bigger cars to take over until the gas crunch. IMO, the reason that the Zed and some similar others, like the Ford EXP (I almost bought one), are "forgotten" is because the younger crowd thinks that sportscars come from Honduh, or have a turbo, so anything with carbs is "old" because you can't 'tune' it, and anything that can't get a 'screen' doesn't merit distinction. In short, kids want bling and tuners lately.

I have PC board that is just plain epoxy resin. I will try to bend a sliver of it. I prefer to use a printed-circuit board because it is faster, neater, and more repeatable than point-to-point connections.

I think I will try to build a high-mount brake lamp with LEDs on a printed circuit board, but I want the circuit board to be curved to fit inside the lamp housing, which has a curved, chrome reflector for the bulb that was there before. Is it possible to bend the epoxy circuit board into a permanent curve? After etching the circuit on the back, I would use the heat gun to warm it until it will bend, then let it cool in that shape, then solder the parts to it, add some aluminum foil to reflectorize, and glue it into the housing.

I really think that if the domestic manufacturing of parts for things was really in a good pace, then the prices would be reasonable, if not competitive (the large supply=low price relationship)

I"Ll look into it. Duh- I have a spare festoon bulb in the drawer...

Please don't use the sandpaper in the way it says on the atlanticZ website. You make make a shiny metal surface that conducts well, but it will corrode that much sooner. Use the sandpaper and knife only to get the bulk of corrosion off the part, then use DEOXIT, and the dielectric grease appropriately and sparingly.

Ditto on putting the labels on the ventilation hoses. You might also make notes on the size and how long each is for the next time.

I think that motor vehicles will be going the same way soon too. General Motors is building manufacturing plants (11 of them so far) in China, and it really makes you wonder about the quality. A friend just bought a NEW GMC pickup because they couldn't get the engine to run on all 8 cylinders! It only had 4 cylinders working, and it was only a few years old. I wonder where that engine was made. I've been telling people for years to write your favorite automaker in Detroit, to insist they make every last part of them in the U.S. There is nothing consumers in the U.S. need that can't be made domestically. Think of how many more people would have jobs, how nice our economy would be...

My tablet PC has an application that can convert the sound to RPM. It's pretty close. OTOH, we used to build those little converter boards in school to convert stuff (like RPM, capacitance, etc.) to resistance, so you could use the volt meter. What would be REALLY nice would be to hook up an exhaust sniffer or something to tune the fuel mixture.

I agree. I saw a documentary about Porsche, and the commentator talked about how bad the 911 was in the turns (while driving mountain switchbacks) until they figured it out. And after seeing numerous Porsches at vintage shows and cruise-ins, I remember about all but a few looked as they went through 50 Cleveland winters. :eek: They were dirty and corroded- all but the expensive stereo system and aftermarket leather seats.

Cap'n O- Do you know the exact distance between the festoon clips? You can get the LED bulb/panel in several widths like 31mm, 37mm and 42mm. There are some similar bulbs available (with 6 LEDs) and it is less expensive, but the LED panel is going in the other direction. Do you think it would be about the same? I figure the light would be concentrated towards the center of the cabin. They might be the hyper-white kind tho. BTW- I think the cheap festoon type LED bulb with the inline LEDs would be great for a high-mount brake lamp. I just don't know where to get the clips, and you need the red one.

There's no need. We have "No fault returns" at Walmart, the Chinese arm of the retail market!

I can really see how those things will pressurize your intake system at 5,000RPM. OTOH, AUDI is fooling around with these...

That sounds like the $89.00 electric turbochargers you get on eBay.

Somebody should make a good writeup on this topic and send it in to ZCCM.

If you think the Chevies made in Detroit had problems, what if they made those in China!?

I see people buying stuff at the Dollar Tree like crazy. They don't care about "quality" stuff, and only care about cheap stuff. Nobody bothers reading the packaging these days. Almost everything there has "Made in China" on the packaging, but the paper goods (plates, tissue, towels) and food items, and a lot of that stuff is "imported" or "distributed" by an American company. The $1 pocket knife I bought at the Dollar Tree fell apart the first time I tried cutting a box, and I ended up cutting myself. You just have to be careful with whatever you buy. READ the packaging or the papers. LOOK at it all over for good design and good manufacturing. Also keep your receipts and warrantee cards for a year, and if you don't really like the product, tell the people who run store where you got it.You might even tell the BBB.

IMO, the only reason I would think that Law Enforcement might not like your LED lamps is if they were done very badly. New cars are "a dime a dozen," and usually adequately provisioned with bright lamps, so I would not even bother considering "upgrading" to LED lights. For the sake of an irreplaceable vintage vehicle, I thought of the LED lights because of the instantaneous illumination, and that they are usually brighter, for safety, especially for the brake lamps and rear turn signals. I'm inclined to build the LED panel as Dave has done, but the bulb exchange seemed to be much simpler. The panels would be a long-term winter project.

This quote is a few years old now, but why why would the officer pull you over (in 2010?) I've never heard of it happening lately, or back then even. Was it some kind of equipment violation, like not having "bulbs" in your lamps?

That engine looks like something from a Navy jet fighter.

I saw another discussion here that mentioned a Law Enforcement officer (LEO) might pull you over for having LED tail lamps. Why would they? Do some states have laws prohibiting the use of LEDs on older cars?

Because the exact mouldings couldn't be commonly found, the insurance company instructed the body shop to remove ALL the mouldings and put on new ones. They drilled out the rivets or something like that, so I hope I won't see little bubbles under the paint one day. The new ones look nice and don't stick out that far, so it looks nice.

Maybe MSA will figure out that this is a good product to carry, and get some.

Thanks. I don't think MSA will be happy with your discovery! They have that fancy LED board for the dome lamp. I like the warm colour better too- I grew up with all incandescent bulbs, so I'm used to the "warm" color in the car, even if it is a bit dull. I think if I had the rearview mirror with reading lamps installed, then I would use the cool white lights for illuminating "maps" (though I have a tablet with GPS navigation & maps.) but I do a road rally occasionally. I still have my clip-on map lamp with red LEDs tho. I've only seen the 4-LED festoon bulbs locally. LED headlamps are still scary to me. I'm used to the yellow of my halogens, so the blue light of new cars bothers me. Plus I don't like the idea of driving on a dark road or in the rain at night and have the LED headlamps suddenly go dark. I will keep using the halogens for a while.