TomoHawk

I'm not using the OEM mirror (broken.) I mounted a newer one. I have Gumball rally on my VCR right now. the line is, "And now, my friend, the first rule of Italian driving: What's behind me, is not important." About that Z-bracket: How about a bracket to hook in the back edge of the square hole, and a sliding part to hook into the front edge (or vice-versa)? A bolt to hold it. I could make that in an hour or two, but I only have .100 aluminum. It's better than cutting up the OEM mirror arm.

That is an idea. I don't use the mirror any way. Maybe even take the clip off the bracket & screw that to a metal arm.

I'm going to try a mount made from a rearview mirror mount. I can stick the metal bracket behind the rearview mirror, and mount the camera to the stalk somehow. The whole thing could be hidden behind the rearview mirror, and the USB wire runs along the sunvisor to the door pillar, then to the laptop. I'll probably need an extension, but USB is good to at least 15 feet ( or c. 5m) which is probably longer than I will need. the only problem is that when you go the JY, they aways want to know 'what car you have,' and I just want a rearview mirror with a pillips screw clamp. Another idea I had today was to mount the camera to the door pillar. Some kind of clamp with fingers on it? Also, too bad there's no software to do all this with my Palm PDA (no hard drive, minimal power consumption & fits in the centre console!)

OK, I've had this pet rock for a couple years. The pedigree papers, cardboard home with the wood shavings nest & all. I just haven't named it yet. How about some names? There are some rules though. You gotta have a First & Last name. Middle initial or name is optional. Example: Rocco depumice, Oliver Stone. Have sum fun.

They are calling it "traffic survival school" now.

They are calling it "traffic survival school" now. It's recommended for teens (people 16-21)

That stuff looks god, Chine. Thanks. I think is you ask about "Street Survival" then you might be going in the right direction. Anything else will prtobably get you pointed to HPDE. So I think we at least know what to call it...

zbane- Through my Googling (verb) I found the same kind of thing: that some driver's courses are what you'd call 'traffic school' for people who may have one too many citations, and both the legal system and insurance companies want them to "learn" about the right way to drive before being let back onto the streets. But you're right in that I'm looking for something to develop already good driving habits. Personally, I could just go on with the way I drive and be satisfied, but if I'm driving the Z at (maybe a little faster than ) the speed limit or in traffic in some strange city ( I wanna go touring when my car is done) then I'd like to be a little better prepared to keep the bugger in great shape. thx

There's plenty already on this..... do a search of the site!

Get me a set, mate! Are they bolt-on or what? Can you put up a link sp we can outbid you? (just kidding) BTW- make sure you're looking at a compatible bolt pattern (4 x 114mm) IIRC MG and older Mustang 4-bolt Also, I believe the GTOs had 70-spoke wheels thx

NASA has courses in street driving and defensive street driving?

Tom, I Googled "Executive Driving Courses" and got nothing but one web mpage about a Limo servic that had drivers that the courses to prove the drivers are better than others. Who put on those Executive Driving Courses? private companies? This subject came up on another web site I was looking at, soon My car will be in storage and I will have lots of time to plan things for next Spring & Summer. thx

Ever heard of the "Tail of the Dragon" course?

These were good suggestions to improve the idea, mates. I think I'll give a go soon. I'll be driving to the school or somewhere ( like a club meeting) and recording the instructions. Having landmarks to coordinate your playback will be included, because I think I'll do part of the run on the highway. So if you aren't with the playback, you could be a minute (or two!) off the pace. It's a lot like you were just driving to wherever (" It takes me 10 minutes to get to the theatre exit, then 20 to get to the county line...") if you were off the pace, you 'd get to the airport insted of the theatre.:devious: The GPS idea would be what I call the 'high-tech version of a co-driver" because instead of your navigator calling out instructions at every intersection, the software would do it. This may be compatible with some standard GPS directions software, but you must create the file with the nav data (map coordinates & directions.) but might only work with certain brands of GPS map/directions software. thx

Pinto... Bob Glidden once said the Pinto would drive better ( and more aerodynamically) if it were going backward. The Scandinavian flick is the same stuff we practiced in shopping mall parking lots during the winter. I used it once to get around a corner getting out of Church. I could only wonder what all the old ladies around me were thinking as I pulled the break handle, then steered furiously to get the back to flick around the back of the school....:eek: All at slow speeds, of course. We never thought of this technique as a racing maneuvre, nor knew the name- more of a thing to show off, or scare your date, in the winter. BTW, the same technique is used (sort of) when you ride a bicycle. You steer away from the turn, which makes you lean into & turn into the turn, but it happens so fast you can't tell.

I was referring to an SCCA- approved training course at Mid-Ohio race course using Acura cars, with classes, coaches etc., so it's not going to be cheap. I'm sure that there probably are some cheaper, 1-day driving schools put on by auto-insurance companies or somebody in a parking lot at some mall.

I'm getting some vacuum from the valve cover. Is that related to the valve seals? I need to get a compresion gauge & see what the compression is like.

I wouldn't call a High performance school something that you can get at arelatively loe cost, at about $400 or $500 for a day ( using your car), unless you know of something else?

I tried to do some of that wire straightening before, but the space is confining, and it's a mess. Maybe I can get the whole radio console out, so I can better see what kind of mess is back there. Right now, some of the wiring & connectors ( hazard lights connector & something else) is under the carpet. And the carpet under the blower fan, covering the trans tunnel, is pulled away from the firewall. I tried to get it to slip under the one heater hose to hold it down. I'll get ya a photo of the mess in the morning. thx.

Thanks, Stephen, I was always a little nervous about this subject.

I'm going to take the seats out of my 280Z over the winter and fix up the carpeting. I don't think the carpet was put in right because it goes up the side & is tucked under the sill plates, and it's just stuffed up behind the heater/radio and looks really bad. Also, there isn't anything under the seats. Does anybody have a picture of how the carpet is supposed to look under the seats or around the back of the radio? I think I will also cut the carpets along the rockers, and add the vinyl side pieces & whatever goes under the seats. How do you think it would look if I left out the carpet from in front of the driver's seat and instead put in a rubber floor mat (or something like that)? As for what's behind the radio & heater, is all the wiring just jumbled up, or should it be sort of straightened out, like all the rest of the wiring? Maybe a pic of what's behind the radio console will help too... I'll go look again what the FSM has. thx

My 78 has the speakers behind the seats and nothing in the back.

I agree with boyblunda, that having ABS, traction control, etc., only teaches OR reinforcess bad driving skills, because you are relying on the technology to make up for lack of skill. BUT, once you have good skills, ABS and traction control and all could save your butt (or somebody else's) in a pinch, or make you that much more competitive (in a proper comptition setting,) like the profesionals that use this stuff for racing. What good will ABS do if you don't know how to drive safely in the rain or snow to begin with? In rain or snow, you slow down, slow down your turn rate, accelerate carefully and expect longer stopping distances . What about fog? ABS won't help you there if you're speeding or can't see where you're going. etc., etc... Winter is coming in a few months ( or maybe sooner in your area,) so you might have a friend with an 'older' car that you can buddy up with and practice your winter/wet driving skills in an empty parking lot, and see what it's like.

The required driver is provided. No need to fire the camera's shutter. The camera is always on, and HandyAvi just captures the current image. From my experience, webcams are always on, and you deactivate them via the software.

HandyAvi is just for capturing the images, and it allows you to replay the 'movie.' It doesn't actually control the camera, although some webcam software that comes with certain webcams, can. (like Logitec Quick-cam.)