It's amusing to me that the title of this thread still makes reference to the Sears flood earlier in the year.

Because now the Hancock building is flooding.

No solid data yet, just some rather urgent-sounding emails from the building engineer, giving all of the broadcast tenants updates on which evacuation routes are still accessible. The elevators we normally use are all down, apparently there's a hidden freight elevator which you can take from 98 down to 44 (44 is another mechanical-service floor), and then from there "follow the instructions of building security personnel.

We still have power up on 98, but apparently the water level is nearing that of the generator.

This year, man... It just keeps on giving.

Fortunately, our main transmitter at Sears is running happily, Hancock is just the backup. We do, however, have a bunch of cameras and ENG dishes and whatnot up there.

 

heated driver's seat + navy surplus peacoat for winter topdown driving. the peacoat has a big collar that can be flipped up for protecting the back of my neck. all that and a hat, and i'm good.

 

Regarding the somewhat awkward position, how about retrofitting OEM heaters on OEM seats then? I have found mine more than adequate, but on the other hand, it never gets really cold here.

 

That would be a lot of work.

I'm tremendously lazy.

 

I fix OEM seat heater elements more often than you would think, When they age they get HOTTER!
It's common to have burn marks in the foam that the elements sit in.
My vote is to "be lazy" and keep the elements in a seat cover that you can easily remove and toss in the trash...

 

Does anybody know the clamping force / load of the stock (or any other aftermarket) 1.8 pressure plate?
I searched high and low, came up empty.

 

The degree to which I am curious as to your reasons for asking this is non-quantifiable.

In other news, the flooding at the Hancock building appears to have been contained before it reached the backup generator. It's now being pumped out, and they can nearly see the main basement floor. We have not (as of yet) lost connectivity with our gear on the 98th floor or the roof. Several of the elevator pits are still until ~20 feet of water, so access to the building remains restricted.

Unlike the Sears flood, this one looks to have been attributable to our 100+ year old civil infrastructure. A water main broke on the street outside the building, which flooded the street, and that water then decided that "down the ramp into the underground loading dock beneath Hancock which connects directly to its basement" seemed like the way to go.

Two of these events in one year made me consider the following: If you are a building employee, who happens to be stationed at / located in one of the deeper underground recesses of these buildings when one of these flooding events happens, that's gotta be scary as hell.

During my time in NYC, I spent plenty of time underground in the catacombs beneath Empire, WTC, and the News Building. And, quite frankly, if flood waters had started pouring in while I was down there, I don't think I'd have had any reasonable chance of escaping to the surface. That's like disaster-movie levels of scary **** to think about.

 

Praying mantises don’t all follow the same religion.




They’re in sects.

 

I am mulling over the idea of converting my current (and somewhat tired) FM Level 1 clutch to a twin disc setup.
Seems like 18 psi at ungodly low rpm levels has its own way of testing a clutch to its limits.

A local clutch manufacturer gave me the idea, and told me he can convert my clutch to a twin plate setup for all the torques I want.
They mostly work on Bimmers, Audis and MBs, but after seeing the specs and looking at exploded part diagrams they are confident it can be done.

Here's an example:







Same pedal feel as my FM Level 1. The standoffs or bosses (or whatever they are called) on my flywheel (and possibly my slave cylinder) will be modified.


And, the price is ridiculous.

 

This is a good idea. I know a lot of BMW and VW people doing multi-disc conversions (the ones that do not do DSG/DCT conversions). You can check RTMG, I believe they already have a flywheel/clutch combo available since last year. They are located in Greece, but I am sure they have a reseller in Instabul as well.

 

I am sure I remember someone of my acquaintance putting a twin-disc clutch in his Miata. Can't recall just where he bought it, maybe 949 or the like. Unfortunately the system I am on while sitting in the middle of the ocean precludes my searching for this (ten minutes to log on and post this, gov't system that's slow, go figure) so I can't give you any more info. Maybe it will help you search for an answer to your question though.

Edit: just had a look at the SuperMiata site, and they have a couple of twin-disc choices available. I didn't look past the main clutch page since it's painfully slow loading for me, but they usually have some specific information on their parts.

 

The twin plate setup in the pictures in my post above are way less than half the cost of the RTMG units.
Also, since replacing a clutch is no big deal for me (heated garage, lift, trans jack, compressor, tea, etc), we will be experimenting with different ideas and materials. Yay!

 

I'm searching Digikey right now for a compact alarm to use in a power supply.

Under "type," they have useless things like "continuous, warbling, two-tone, etc."

I need this sound to be instantly recognizable, in a room full of things that beep. What I want is a search option for "makes a noise like a dying giraffe," or "sounds like a leopard with its tail caught in a bicycle chain."

 

Try the sound of a screaming/crying infant. Seriously. Put an mp3 on a programmable horn or similar.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...and-car-alarms

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/directe...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

I thought about something like a pi, but this is a critical alarm. I need something dead-simple reliable, that will function for years with zero maintenance. (I'd also prefer it to be cheap, as I need four of them.)

 

Something like this, but maybe with better pedigree?

https://m-alibaba-com.cdn.ampproject...546571503.html

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Fire-Alar...bf87be878eacb1

 

https://m.ebay.com/itm/SPERTI-FARADA...1-713452416419

 

80's GM car horn?

 

^ hahaha. Maybe a little overkill for this application.

Of course, I could go the other way, and steal the Blackhawks' goal horn from the United Center arena. It is a maritime horn, like from a ship. "There are no louder horns on earth used in any sort of commercial service," according to the manufacturer, Kahlenberg Air Horns.

It is noticeable.