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Check back in tomorrow, when we find out whether $12 worth of hardware, and some JB-Weld, is enough to make an American peg fit into a British hole, with 160 PSI of nitrogen behind it.
Or, put another way, the fact that Mazda inexplicably used a BSP-threaded sensor in the B-series engine block is the only reason I even had a clue as to how to try to solve this problem.
I thought all jap manufactures did this. I know the Toyota and Subaru I worked on recently did.
Also this stuff is better than any JB weld in my experience. For a multitude of reasons.
Feds fine Hyundai $47 million for violating emissions regs for construction equipment
Hyundai Construction Equipment has agreed to pay $47 million in civil fines for allegedly violating U.S. emissions standards on heavy construction equipment.
The company prepurchased engines between 2012 and 2015 “that met outdated emissions standards and then illegally imported, marketed and sold heavy construction equipment with these engines installed, in violation of the Clean Air Act,” according to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department.
A release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which worked with the Justice Department on the case, said Hyundai also exceeded its allowable limit of diesel engines meeting older standards under the Transition Program for Equipment Manufacturers. The program gave a temporary delay of implementing Tier 4 Final diesel standards. The EPA says the company “allegedly introduced into United States commerce at least 2,269 illegal diesel nonroad vehicles.”
The $47 million settlement follows a criminal fine of $1.95 million issued in November 2018 in federal court on charges of conspiring to defraud the federal government and violating the Clean Air Act. The violation was discovered by a whistleblower complaint in 2015 to the EPA. That resulted in both criminal and civil investigations, which are now resolved.
The EPA says the illegal equipment did not meet emissions standards governing nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. “EPA is holding Hyundai accountable for importing and selling diesel engines and heavy-duty construction vehicles that did not meet Clean Air Act emission standards,” said Susan P. Bodine, EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “By ignoring regulatory requirements, Hyundai not only gained a market advantage over their competitors, but they also introduced higher-polluting vehicles into the United States, undermining the protection of human health and the environment.”
In the consent decree filed September 19 and naming Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas and Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai does “not admit any liability to the United States.” The decree notes that in October 2017, Hyundai implemented an environmental compliance plan that was updated in September 2018 “with the intention to ensure their future compliance with environmental regulations governing nonroad equipment manufacturers and importers in the United States.”
This idea is not mature enough to warrant its own thread at this point, so here it goes:
I have been thinking about flat bottoms and rear diffusers lately. A way to clean up the airflow without adding anything visible on the car to maintain the stock/sleeper look.
Having a 360 Modena in my garage (pretty much restoring the thing) I am pretty impressed by the simplicity of the Italian approach to the underbody.
That got me thinking.
An arrangement of 3 tunnels (center tunnel is inverted) allows two nice venturis to be incorporated in the rear of the car.
These venturi tunnels expand in both X and Y axes, and produce the intended airflow acceleration / low pressure.
The inverted tunnel in the center houses the diff, and also provides the much needed airflow to cool it. Air would exit through a mesh/grill arrangement at the rear, between the two diffuser sections.
I will be using either forex or aluminum composite panels. Both are very light and durable.
Current muffler design would be chucked, and two custom mufflers will be installed behind the rear fenders.So, dual exit.
make a mock up out of plywood. smooth it, bondo it, etc.
create a mold out of chopped fiberglass
wax it good, spray it with PVA mold release. twice. hell, three times if you are scared.
then do a nice thin wet layup and make sure you squeegee out the excess resin. I like system3 but you can use whatever you want.
bonus points if you vacuum bag to get it super light. dont bother with carbon fiber. kevlar maybe?
make a mock up out of plywood. smooth it, bondo it, etc.
create a mold out of chopped fiberglass
wax it good, spray it with PVA mold release. twice. hell, three times if you are scared.
then do a nice thin wet layup and make sure you squeegee out the excess resin. I like system3 but you can use whatever you want.
bonus points if you vacuum bag to get it super light. dont bother with carbon fiber. kevlar maybe?
I was really thinking about doing a foamboard mock up, and then transfer the shape(s) to either forex or aluminum composite panel.
Aluminum composite panel is a cool material to use. Very light, pretty strong, withstands a lot of heat, you can bend it - either radius, or sharp bends, it can be cemented together, or bolted using washers.
It's basically recycled plastic sandwiched between two layers of .35 mm aluminum.
Comes in any color you like, and in varying thickness.
It is mainly used in building facades - cladding - but there are actually a million different uses for it.
I can also make the entire thing out of kevlar + carbon fiber for about $340 - 350, but I need to experiment a ton, and I would like to be able to repair / replace / improve it myself without needing help.
The nice thing about using fiberglass and the like is that you can cut and grind and repair it with more by just gluing it back together with epoxy. and you can form and shape it pretty readily.
Except kevlar, that stuff you better get right the first time. And good luck cutting it. Even with the special grippy scissors, it's a nightmare.
vacuum bagged boat hull... came in around 15 lbs (6.8 kg). it's kevlar and fiberglass.. i think 3 layers.
(it helps to work with a composites guy who had a "friend" working at Scaled Composites. Some guy named Burt or something. I believe he's built some famous planes/space ships.)
You could try truck scales at the dump or something but I don't think it would be that accurate. Best bet would be to find a friend who has corner weight scales and roll up on them. Or get an alignment with a corner balance and add up the corners.
How would you accurately weigh your car for cheap/free? Just for funsies. No corner weights required.
Go to the dump. I used to live in Seattle and they weigh you on the way in and out to charge you for how much trash you drop off. I'm sure their scale isn't calibrated super precisely, but I bet it'd get you within ten pounds. They generally don't tell you what your starting and ending weights are, just the difference, but you can just ask, they have the number displayed right in front of them.
Edit: a couple of you guys beat me to this suggestion - this is why I should refresh the page before replying.
How would you accurately weigh your car for cheap/free? Just for funsies. No corner weights required.
4 bathroom scales (they do not need to be identical)
4 lengths of 4x4 (or equivalent, need to be strong enough to support 500 lbs)
8 short sections of angled iron
4 blocks cut out of 2x4.
1 floor jack
You can weigh your car very accurately using the materials listed above.
Do not pull into a truck scale.
I did.
Damn thing did not even register my car.
Attendant laughed. I drove away.
Last edited by Godless Commie; Oct 10, 2019 at 05:30 PM.
How would you accurately weigh your car for cheap/free? Just for funsies. No corner weights required.
Another alternative is to find a landscape place that sells bulk stone and the like. They will have a scale you can just drive right over. I'm sure if you slip them a $10 or something they wouldn't mind letting you.
Similar to the dump solution, there's a paper/cardboard recycling plant near here that has a scale. It's built into the ground, accessible from the street without going through any gates, and they leave the display on all the time. Easy enough to go over there on the weekend and weigh something without getting in anyone's way. Gives a number to within 20 pounds and was consistent with the corner weighting scales when I put my FD on it.
Is it feasible to retrofit a ferrite magnet driven speaker with a neodymium magnet? The ND Bose system uses a 5.25" 1 ohm ferrite driven sub. I'm not annoyed enough to gut the stereo, but I wouldn't mind learning a thing or two and shedding a little weight.
Is it feasible to retrofit a ferrite magnet driven speaker with a neodymium magnet? The ND Bose system uses a 5.25" 1 ohm ferrite driven sub. I'm not annoyed enough to gut the stereo, but I wouldn't mind learning a thing or two and shedding a little weight.
Of course. How much money are you willing to spend on having a magnet custom-machined to your specs?
(Any reason you can't just replace the whole speaker assembly?)
Unrelated:
The Dodge Grand Caravan is a hell of a great touring car. Comfy as hell (8 hours in the driver's seat of that van is less fatiguing than 30 minutes in my own car) and the whole "All of the the seats quickly and easily collapse into the floor, individually, leaving a flat floor in which we were nice enough to install cargo tie-down points" is just amazingly convenient when you need to switch from transporting six passengers, to transporting three passengers and a wheelchair, to transporting a large dog crate, back to transporting six passenger all in the same day. All the while with rear A/C and powered sliders on both sides.
Also, 29 MPG while not being especially light on the throttle.
I don't even wanna know what the MSRP on this vehicle is, but if you need a "this vehicle can literally do everything short of towing a 5th wheel trailer, in comfort and style" vehicle, this is the one.
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