10/29/10

Well, I believe we’re going to get Lil' Wiggly up and going tomorrow. I'm kind of excited about that. I really like that car. Now, as for its future engine transplant, I'm beginning to think L-16 rather than L-20b. Either one will be much faster than the tired old A-14 in there now so I think I'll be happy in that regard, but I think I'd prefer to be able to rev the piss out of it when I feel the need. An L-20b does not like to rev like an L-16 does. Of course, having said all of that, I usually don't rev past where an L-20b runs out of steam even when I am “revving the piss out of it.” Hmm, I may be talking myself into an L-20b again. OK, I guess it is going to come down to which one is going to be the easier rebuild. And by “easier” I do mean “cheaper.” But see, the thing is, I feel like the bigger engine ort to go in a heavier car. Not to mention I kind of like the idea of doing more with less. Of course if the L-20b went in Lil' Wiggly, we could put the L-16 in the Spitfire. Hmm. Interestinge. We may need to take a few measurements to see how feasible that idea is. This is, of course, assuming both of those engines are available for me to use as I see fit. All that stuff at the shop has been swapped around, shared, gifted, bought, sold, stolen, and whatnot so many times I don't know who owns what any more. No, I think the A-14 from Lil' Wiggly, once freshened up, will provide plenty of beans for the Spitfire. Hell, I'm such an A-series guy I'm beginning to think that the hot rod A-14 ort to go in Lil' Wiggly so all my stuff is A-powered. No, Super Karate-Monkey Death Car needs the hot rod A-14 as a track daze car. Oh, did I mention we are planning to swap the 200SX front suspension into Super Karate-Monkey Death Car along with the disc brake rear axle? That way we’ll have a factory balanced four wheel disc brake system and a wider track under the car. Yes, I know that means swapping in the 200SX proportioning valve. Actually, I'll probably ditch that in favor of that one left over from the Cobra. Oh, we’re also thinking about the dual-master brake pedal from the Cobra as well. I need to decide if I'm going to under-hang it or floor mount it though. I've already “bent” the clutch pedal for under-hang but I'm thinking of moving the seating position back and mounting the pedals to the floor. I'll lie and say it is for better weight distribution, but it’ll be to use floor mounted pedals. I can re-straighten the clutch pedal, I believe. Oh, floor mounting will free up a ton of room for the dual side draft carburetors in the engine bay as well. John assures me that just switching to GEICO could save me hun... wait, no that’s not it. John assures me that just switching to dual master cylinders will provide plenty of carburetor space. We'll just have to take some measurements and see. I don't have a problem with “bending” the brake pedal so if it does look like under-hung duals will clear, we’ll go that route. I'm easy. Of course that car is behind Nadine, the Spitfire, and Lil' Wiggly. It ort to be behind finishing up George as well but we’ll see. Did I mention we think we may have a name for the Spitfire? We were looking at it the other day and noticing how crusty and clown-car like it is. So we decided it is “Herschel Krustovski, AKA Krusty the Klown Kar,” or Herschel for short. And we may go a totally different route with the name, I don't know. Well, I think I'm just about out of stuff to talk about today. I guess we’ll talk again in November.