drunkenmaster

Is that it in primer in the rain you posted earlier? Primer in the rain could be an issue.

Thought I'd share a few pics from my recent trip to Tokyo Motor Show. There may or may not have been cars there, who am I to speculate. :cheeky:

you can PM him at www.performanceforums.com

Thanks Rick, I didnt think i experessed any comments that were contorversial I am just sick of reading theage.com.au every night and seeing more and more people being killed for what reason I do not know. I just thought that article was from a great and unique perspective, an Islamic melbourne lawyer. reading the paper tonight it seems in Melbourne now it has become popular to start shooting people over differences as well.

Sorry if people want this thread to die, I guess I just want an outlet for all my thoughts and concerns with the latest US offensive biled by the Pentagaon as one of the biggest since the Vietnam War. I really would hate to be in the shoes of the troops there to serve and die for their countries, and am the same time in awe of their courage. I also sometimes think that if your own country was occupied against your will, what would you consider as justified actions against invading troops in comparison to the acts we despise viewing on the news every night? I wonder if I will regret posting here, I have bitten my tongue several times. I have too much time on my hands in Japan

Sorry to bring this back up again, but i really enjoy reading this thread seeing foreign views on such things as on australian forums, political and religous threads are frowned upon. I have never really taken part in much political discussion but this thread has given me somewhat of an interest in it. I find in Australian people tend to vote for the most dependable appearing candidate (often the lesser of 2 evils), no longer having a deep seeded root in having to vote for the forgotten ideals of labour or liberal, or in the US, republican or democrat. A lot of what is said has made me think a lot about the global situation, as well as being in a foreign country. Tonight I was reading the an australian newspaper (online form japan) i found an article that really made me think, I wonder if here is the right place for it? i found Sergeant Scott's comment interesting in particular. How many dead innocent Iraqis is too many? November 9, 2004 Surely we have not been reduced to arguing that we are not as bad as terrorists, writes Waleed Aly. Too many innocent people are dying in Iraq. A recent report, in the medical journal The Lancet, estimates 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the beginning of the US-led invasion. Half of them are women and children. Almost all were killed by coalition air strikes. Take a minute to think about the enormity of this human cost. Think of it as September 11, 30 times over. Though it wildly exceeds all previous figures, The Lancet estimate is credible, and perhaps even conservative, according to independent statisticians who analysed the data and found the report's methodologically sound. But what if it is not? Even the lowest estimate, unsurprisingly that of the British Foreign Secretary, places the number of civilian deaths at 10,000. The popular website http://www.iraqbodycount.com puts the figure at a minimum of 14,000. We are still talking about four times the number of September 11 casualties. That's eight planes and eight towers. Surely now, the governments that took us to this war and we, as people who are happy to re-elect them, must face up to our culpability for this carnage. We claim to hold that the lives of civilians are sacrosanct. We assert that the fabric of humanity is torn with every death of every innocent civilian. Indeed, that is why terrorism sickens us. So why do we not think of these deaths as tragic in the same way we do those of September 11, Bali, Madrid or Beslan? For the Iraqis, we will hold no multi-faith services, no commemorative anniversary functions and we will give no human faces to them. Perhaps some innocent lives are more sacrosanct than others. We are talking about four times the number of September 11 casualties. Eight planes and eight towers.Of course, there is a crucial difference between the civilian deaths caused by terrorism, and those caused by the US-led coalition in Iraq. Coalition forces did not target the innocent as terrorists do. True, we should not lose sight of this. But we should also not abuse it to dehumanise those we have killed, and evade the responsibility we rightfully bear. We speak of Iraqi civilians, even 100,000 of them, not as victims, but as collateral damage. We did not murder them as terrorists murder their victims, because there was no intention to kill them. It is simply not good enough to hide our guilt in this way. Our actions were always destined to claim thousands of civilian lives. This was not merely probable; it was certain. We recognised that certainty and pressed on anyway. The fact that killing innocents was not the aim, but rather a guaranteed byproduct of our action, does not absolve us. Australian lawyers call this reckless murder, and once stripped of euphemism, that is what collateral damage is. We own the responsibility for the foreseen, likely consequences of our actions. Confronted with The Lancet's grotesque estimate, Defence Minister Robert Hill fell back on the standard defence that Iraqis would be better off without Saddam Hussein. This is the argument that killing is justified where it is necessary in defence of another. However, on the basis of The Lancet estimate, it is ridiculous to suggest that justification applies here. It took Saddam several decades to kill 300,000 people. We have managed a third of that in just 18 months. But whatever the death toll, if removing Saddam was really the goal, can we honestly say all this deadly "shock and awe" was necessary to achieve it? Sergeant Scott, a soldier in Iraq, clearly did not think so when he told Britain's Daily Telegraph: "You could have sent two men in to kill Saddam. Why did we have to kill so many people?" He was speaking less than a month after the invasion began. I cannot imagine what he would say now. This does not mean there is moral equivalence between al-Qaeda-style terrorism and our civilian killings in Iraq. But does there have to be? That our actions do not meet the depravity of terrorism does not justify them. Since when have terrorists provided the moral standard against which we judge ourselves? Are we really reduced to arguing that we are not as bad as them? Our concern, as people whose governments are waging war in our name, should be for the legitimacy of our own actions. When it comes to our actions in Iraq, that legitimacy has been fatally eroded. We have now run out of excuses. Waleed Aly is a Melbourne lawyer and a member of the executive of the Islamic Council of Victoria.

What is a new line setting you back? My chassis rail extensions foul with my fuel and brake lines, so i may need new ones made too.

Can someone attach a screen capture of the CAD drawings you plan to build from? I think I'd lose my job if I got caught posting and OEM harness drawing, but I can comment on yours if you wish.

Continiuity and crossed circuit checking is also an issue, personally i cant see any of us affording or willing to setup automated tables with mating checking fixtures and writing code to test each circuit from A to B, nor will we be sitting on the floor with a multimeter probing however many circuits one by one.

Well, I agree that contracting to an overseas company is far fetched for low volumes, or contracting to any company for that matter local or not for these volumes will be excessively expensive to say the least. As I said earlier, it is extremely labor intensive and if your paying more that 3rd world hourly rates for labor, forget it. The only reason i am interested is that I already know how to build a harness and I have access to tools and materials used in cars people will be buying new 3 years from now. So, lets tally up the info and see if there is enough to make this viable or not.

Actually with all this talk its making me think about doing this myself. My location and the side of the car our steering wheels are on maybe a problem though. Is it possible to pool or at least list what information has been compiled and what still needs to be done. I have access to an australian '77 harness and perhaps a '74, but I am sure i can borrow more. My guess is the most valuable information aside from routing is the mating connector part numbers and manufacturers/suppliers.

You can use the one lay up board to built many different harnesses with the same vehicle fitment. i.e. you could use the same board for the improved harness and the replacement harnesses. Here are some of my suggections to get started, i am not sure at what stage if any this is at, but feel free to use these or not: Creat a jig board based on the OEM harness using 2 pronged forks along the harness to keep it in shape and 3 (triangle) or 4 (square) pronged forks at the end of the branches where it splits into individual connector branches. Number all the connectors numerically. Name each circuit, suggestion would be 001A - 001B and so on, identifying each end as it may require different terminal crimp. You should create, if not already have done, a wire list which lists every circuit in the harness along with size, wire type, colour, connector number on each end and terminal part number for crimping. Add circuit length as well, I would simply use Excel for this as you can manipulate and search the data very easily. Include both the OEM and Improved circuits on the same wirelist, just have a column A and B with a "1" or "0" indicating which it belongs to. Most likely most will be common between them.

A wiring harness is highly labor intensive, perhaps you tell me then, where would be the best manufacturing country to build one? The engineering and automotive big names that are now in partnership with china is impressive, and the rate of growth there is amazing. These are multi million dollar companies and i dont think they have all got it wrong. All I am getting at is it is all a trade off between cost and quality, and from my experience and travel, China would be my choice if I was to set up shop somewhere and i think the statement that I replied to was a broad generalisation which is no longer, if ever, true. As for the Z wiring harness scheme, if someone could post exactly what the build and drawing process plan is, I would be happy to offer some advice if it is needed.

Personally I would giving more credit to the Russians and their force to end the war, you know the bad guys in every U.S movie from the 1980's But they were only looking out for their homelands best interests as was everyone else and as clearly everyone continues to do.

Nearly everything is made in China these days and if it isnt, companies are in negotiations to move there. There have been VW/Audi and Buick plants there for several years as well as a lot of other top engineering companies i know of. China has decades of manufacturing experience and there is no reason to say that nothing is made well in china when it is not the case if you look inside any of your electronic devices. The problem is the knockoffs and cheap copies are of poor design and quality but if you buy a fake rolex on a street corner for a fraction of the cost, you cant complain when it breaks. The funny thing about China is even these cheap low budget operations equivalent to the local guy selling fake watched down a local alley still export globally and have a market overseas. To stay remotely on topic, one of the most popular and reliable cars in the USA has its wiring harness manufactured in Mexico and I know first hand that the quality issues there have been huge over the last couple of years. This would not be the case in China. I work in this field but have kept quiet because even though it is my job, I dont think there is a whole lot I can offer to help given my location and the fact that it already seems to be fairly sorted, unless anyone has ideas.

I know, but I am just syaing that the engine was hardly new. I wouldnt worry about it if it fits in your suitcase.

I beleive you do. And my RB motor from NZ I got taxed like a b*tch so, I am pretty sure.

Gift wrapping wont work with customs, but it is fits in your suit case chances are they just wont care anyways if you dont declare it. I am in Japan at the moment and havent really seen any shops of interest but i havent really had much of a chance to look. Will be going to Tokyo motor show this weekend though.

Its not a huge deal, I did mine in about an hour or so. From memory it was just a matter of removing the centre console, steering column "clam shell" and heater control plate. the dash frame bolts are easily visible behind the centre console and unplug any relevant wiring you come across. I cant remember if the Haynes manual covers this but i beleive it does and i think I followed it. Once you get started it falles into place, its much harder to think about how to do it without being there. I beleive there is also a HOW TO posted in the techincal section of this forum.

Hmmm...photos? What is it made from?

Oops, I read Honda S800

looks real high quality fitment too...

Thats not funny, I havent had so little to drink since I have been in Japan since, well i cannot remember, probably early childhood.

Is the amount offered a secret ? Luke, is your grill or bumper not aligned? the slope of the ground isnt helping my eyes either :laugh:

If its going to be a modified car you could integrate some sort of difuser panel into this area. 1) It could be functional 2) It would conceal imperfections as opposed to a large smooth area 3) It could be made as a bolt on, I do not mind ABS plastic or fibreglass as add ons, but not moulded into the body itself. google showed me these: http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/diffuser/ http://www.topsecretjpn.com/products/jdiffuserpro.htm