View Full Version : The Real Shakedown & Evaluation
Ok, we got all the lights working, trans, everything.
I'm not sugar coating any of it.
This is the real deal on how this car came out.
Technically it's not supposed to be out on the road yet so I'm not going to beat the living shit out of it because if I get pulled over by the cops- that will be very bad.
Not worth the risk.
But this is the true evaluation of the car.
I'm starting a series of videos and this is the first one. If I can't get a cool job, I'll just make one. Kind of like my builds...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MQL9KUEePs&feature=youtu.be
This is the only forum I am posting this with as of now and it's unlisted at the moment.
No fluff, no bullshit. Honest talk about the build.
Dude are you sure you got all your gears selecting. You should have 4 gears on that auto box if not it would be a bit slow potentially.
I think a classic car like that is all about the noise and experience, they all rattle it being Italian and all!
Yeah, it's shifting into all four. It's better with that "A" plug, pin 4 connected to 12V. I'll run it around a few more days to get it to learn. Maybe it'll somehow develop another 150HP because that's what it needs...
It is probably a lot quicker than you think, speed can be deceiving on a v8 auto with no speedometer :-)
That's entirely possible, but I'm basing it off that seat of your pants "pull" feeling. It just seems to gently get louder but not pull hard at all.
Tomorrow I'll run the GPS speedometer. It's also acting like a Lexus, even though I dressed it up like a slutty drag racer.
The heart of a relaxation therapist but wearing whore's clothing lol
Paul Woods
29-06-2015, 07:32
Great video, really, that was very professionally done.
I still think your performance issues are auto box related, they destroy decent attempts to put the power down, the engine is a slave to the auto box...... on a manual it will be much more free revving, you control the shift point, those 1uzs like to rev!
My 944 will be really quick despite weighing more than the Mazzer, it's all down to that gearbox for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLLwe6CDEIc
a lot of those guys run 1uz's all carb's(rules say so) with an off the shelf manifold. 430-470BHP at up to 9k rpm is the normal sorts of numbers
running a quickchange diff(worm and wheel) and usually something like a zf trans.they are nothing like slow...the are pulling 150km/hr at the end of each straight(whole track is 401m round the pole line, that grass area inside the track is a full size rugby ground). weigh 1400-1500Kg(rules again, and they are weighed pre meeting, and after race's sometimes too)
Paul Woods
29-06-2015, 13:00
Someone also mentioned rear diff gearing, it could be long as shit now going through the auto box and could possibly have a ridiculous top end speed...... eventually!
Thanks, I see complete morons with you tube channels that make money, so I decided that I would start doing a video series. If it earns any money or even gets any views, I'll buy real cameras and microphones and take more than 3 hours to write, shoot and edit a clip! My son and I did that film in literally about 20 minutes in the back of our neighborhood. I just made some notes before we set off. Editing takes the longest.
Anyway, on to the car and it's engine:
I have it for sale all over the USA right now. I'm asking about 5500 USD. That's like $3300 quid. Ish.
If it sells, great. If it doesn't, I am going to have to fix the suspension. If that happens, I will use a rear diff that will actually have gears that can be changed out. Better suspension would be awesome on this car and I've driven Automatic cars with tons of power so gears would really help.
After all that, if It's good enough and I want to keep it, I can look at ITB's and or a Manual box. Sounds to me like a money pit.
When it comes to the selling of custom cars, modified cars or even daily drivers, the buyers want you to lose many thousands. That goes for me too. I buy low and sell high. Putting more expensive mods into this car, makes no sense at all. Why would I do it?
Just to prove that I can? Right now, I might actually make a small profit from selling it. Not really if you consider all the labor hours, but I consider that classroom time and well worth the effort to gain the experience.
I have a plan for the next thing, and it doesn't involve this car. If nobody wants it, I'll have to keep going on it with more power, modern suspension etc because I'm not one to give up that easily.
Either way, no matter how it turns out, the cameras will be rolling, let's just hope my videos are better than my car builds hahahahaha
Someone also mentioned rear diff gearing, it could be long as shit now going through the auto box and could possibly have a ridiculous top end speed...... eventually!
I've driven a lexis ls400 and they pull like a train even with the autobox it shifts a 2 ton limo effortlessly I should imagine it would be brutal in a stripped out maserati made of tin foil
geoffmunt
29-06-2015, 19:03
I've driven a lexis ls400 and they pull like a train even with the autobox it shifts a 2 ton limo effortlessly I should imagine it would be brutal in a stripped out maserati made of tin foil
Exactly this...my mate's one was hauling hard at 100mph 5-up with a bootfull of beer. I suspect the final drive ratio is totally inappropriate...if it wasn't that then the car would at least pull hard in 1st gear surely?
Yeah, I also have never mashed the pedal to the floor, it's not really taxed and MOT'd if you catch my drift. I almost want to trailer it out to the country where I can give a run. I really should go handle some paperwork rather than playing with cameras and computers.. I know my truck is way faster than this thing.
Paul Woods
29-06-2015, 21:54
If it were me i would have mashed the pedal way before now...... it's like a big red "do not press" button.
But yeah, probably the rear diff is totally mismatched.
geoffmunt
29-06-2015, 22:04
I do feel autoboxes get a bit of a bad press on here. I stopped driving manuals on a day-to-day basis when I sold my MR2 about 8 years ago.
Can't really say I've missed it. Can't argue with the weight and probably they sap a bit more power. But a modern-ish autobox mated to an engine with a decent bit of torque is absolutely fine in my book. I've rarely felt in the wrong gear in either of my last couple of cars (Merc C320 & Qashqai 2.0 DCi) and not much wrong with the step-off performance on either of those.
I believe the latest 911 GT3 is quicker round the 'Ring in full auto than when using the paddles - even in the hands of Porsche's test drivers. OK that's a long way forward from the technology most of us have access to but really, I think they are nowhere near as bad as they are made out.
Just one further thing to add to the mix - are you definitely getting full throttle? Sounds stupid I know but when my mate Jim took his V8 Spitfire on the rollers they found about another 20bhp just by bending his throttle cable bracket a bit (wasn't letting the other 2 barrels open on his carb). Always worth double checking dumb stuff like that!
Your Maserati final drive ratio appears to be 3.73:
http://www.automobile-catalog.com/auta_details1.php
LS400 final drive ratio 3.62 according to this:
http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=25773
You can do the sums here adjusting for tyre size:
http://www.apexgarage.com/tech/gear_ratios.shtml
....but seems that on the face of it, the gearbox and the final drive are a fairly good match, so may not be the culprit?
At first, I wasn't getting full throttle. My pedal was hitting the carpet and the stop bolt was too far out. I had my boy mash the pedal and I checked at the throttle body and after adjusting it again I ended getting about another 10mm out of it. That's a lot. As of the test drive video, it was hitting wide open throttle position if you push hard down.
I'm not against auto boxes, I would never own a manual shift car as my daily driver. Getting stuck in traffic every day with a heavy clutch pedal can kiss my ass. I don't want to "work" on the way home from work. For a play car, manual is the way to go. More fun, more connected to the driving experience. Nobody would want an automatic motorcycle, right?
I've been in plenty of hot rod cars that go like hell with auto boxes, but we're talking 400BHP and up. My truck shifts like a champ and it's auto, although I have always wanted second and third to wind out another 1500 RPM before shifting. Sure I could get a programmer and change that, but why, really it's a tow vehicle, not a race truck.
Back to the point: I was thinking the same thing- I wonder if something else is wrong with this set up? Thanks Geoff for checking on the ratios. Fine, they're not too far out, so it had me thinking.
Dig this: The exhaust is stock log headers that turn down under the car. On the down bend, they increase to 2&1/2" and make the 90 degree turn. Both sides go straight "ish" back until they pass the transmission pan. After the trans pan, they turn into each other and come together in a non restrictive "Y" merge. Fully open on the inside, I made extra sure the merge was full bore and clean inside. Then the pipe, still 2&1/2" goes all the way back to the muffler. It's a Magnaflow single inlet, dual outlet. The two outlets both 2&1/2", came out right underneath the bumper cover, but not high enough so if I cut holes in the bumper cover, I could exit through the bumper, that would have looked cool. They ran right into the bottom edge.
So I had the two tips. The are 1&1/4" small tubing on the back side. They open up on the ovals, but I had to offset them down on the muffler themselves so I did something that looks like this, so they would clear and exit under the bumper:
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2015/06/267.jpg
I am thinking it's acting like a plugged exhaust and choking off power. Now that you mention the ratios are not too bad, then I'm going to cut off those tips and dump them straight down with no reduction in size to the pipes.
Maybe that has something to do with it?
geoffmunt
29-06-2015, 22:52
Are you still using the catalytic converters? If not then I find it hard to believe anything you've done much can be any more restrictive than leaving the cats in. And I know from personal experience these engines can pull a big heavy car just fine with all the emission gear in place.
But, leave no stone unturned and all that...
No cats. we don't have emissions on something this old and I could power it with a 1957 airplane engine and still be road legal with no inspections.
But- the tiny tips, made it sound different straight away.
I have already cut them off and I have full bore replacements. Putting them on right now.
Your tyre/wheel size could make a difference as well, how does the wheel/tyre combo you have fitted compare with the original ? I think the Maserati was originally on 190/60/14, if you have a 16" combo fitted then it could mean less acceleration -> higher top speed
I have 225/50/16's on it. Can't go any smaller, couldn't bear to look at it with those tiny wheels it had.
It might have something to do with tires, one thing's for sure- it wasn't the exhaust tips. It sounds better than it did and the ECU is making everything smoother as it learns. It only has maybe 10 miles on it, Pshhh maybe only 5 miles.
Also, I pressed the big red "do not press" button and MASHED it so hard I tried to push the pedal through the floor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfUtt8YUU7A
Video link if not viewable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfUtt8YUU7A
Oh, I don't know....
Needs something. A flamethrower, 5 gallons of gas and and about 100 incendiary rounds.
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2015/06/268.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2015/06/269.jpg
cdwood2010
30-06-2015, 07:55
Nice shirt sir. ;)
It sounds like half throttle. I bet it would make a great tourer as it is. The LS400 I broke for my engine had no cats on it, open exhaust downpipes, and it was like a raging bull. I only drove it from the trailer up the driveway but it was twitchy as hell, if I had stamped on that pedal it would have launched.
Plug in the the Bluetooth dongle jobber, let's see some live data. I reckon its waiting for something, possibly in some sort of limp home mode.
I think it's very close, but I suspect when you find this gremlin, its going to be a little scary.
C.
Paul Woods
30-06-2015, 08:02
Yes i agree, on reflection perhaps it is not rear diff or auto box related, it should still be pulling like a train..... perhaps it is in safe mode etc...
snowtigger
30-06-2015, 10:31
I bet there's some thing missing ecu side and its defaulted to safe mode, could that be why the original car ended up in a pickapart.
cdwood2010
30-06-2015, 10:51
It just sounds very muted. Either there's a restriction physically, timing out, exhaust blocked (it is pretty quiet) or there is an electronic constraint of some sort.
But it should be mental.
Chris.
cdwood2010
30-06-2015, 12:42
Few things to try here.
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400/554154-93-ls400-acceleration-problems-help.html
Did you try the other ECU (the one you didnt toast?) Might be worth doing the coil tests too.
Also PLUG THE BLUETOOTH JOBBER IN and see if theres any codes.
Come on, get out of bed, you could get an hour in the garage before work...
:)
Yawn.....
Scratch scratch Erm...
Rubs eyes..
The exhaust isn't plugged. It's louder now that I took those tips off. I was thinking that I should connect that dingleberry thing again while driving it.
There's a whole group of guys jackhammering floors in a school building today waiting for me to tell them how deep to dig...
I'll be back in about 6-9 hours....
cdwood2010
30-06-2015, 14:20
Oh my god, now you're famous chico! It even made the homepage (http://bringatrailer.com/)
http://bringatrailer.com/2015/06/29/lexus-v8-swapped-1985-maserati-biturbo/
:)
"Even if you don’t care for the car it is hard not to respect the builders abilities. Just imagine what they could do with a bigger budget."
"even Carroll Shelby had to start somewhere."
geoffmunt
30-06-2015, 15:52
Shame they can't count to 6 (re the wheels)...
thomp1983
30-06-2015, 18:10
The bluetooth dongle won't read fault codes it just logs live data. He needs to bridge te1/e1 for and have a check light for fault codes
gavsdavs
30-06-2015, 18:54
Your dash is 'kin awesome. It does sound like the auto box is getting in the way of the engine.
Really good video :)
Some of the comments on that site are awesome.
Lots of people talk about doing stuff, we actually do it. I don't mind the negative ones because out of 51 comments- some people really get it. As far as the engine is concerned I have to see if there's any codes again. There weren't any before, maybe some popped up.
They're linking to the retro rides thread and mentioning the you tube channel and talking about it on Twitter. I consider it a major win. I'll figure out the running aspect over the next few days, it's just so much fun, I could almost walk away from it and be satisfied.
I won't though. It's still going to shred. If you guys think that there's more in there, I'll keep digging.
Oh, the ebay Views jumped up from around 800 to 3,200+ views and 109 watchers in less than 18 hours.
HA! I know it doesn't mean anything as far as sales are concerned, but holyshit that car is certainly on THE MAP.
Maybe something really good will come from all this.
But if you think about it, the way we all got it running and the way you guys all cheered me on from the beginning, something already has.
snowtigger
01-07-2015, 12:57
That's the idea to give club members a hand or a kick in the happy sack if they don't pull there finger out of there arse.
And it works. I'll get back into that car hopefully by the end of the week, damn work...
But if you think about it, the way we all got it running and the way you guys all cheered me on from the beginning....
Well all of us and the beer thread, you mean. :hidesbehi:
Beer and Beer for all!
I've got the DTC Engine codes on the Mazzerusty, Lexeratti or whatever we're calling it these days.
We have a Code 12 which points to an RPM Signal #1 and we have a #42 VSS vehicle speed sensor signal which points to sensor #1. I ASSUME.
I've only just started reading up on these things.
Can the masters of Toyota's and all that study around here add any info to this quest before I have to start spending money on shit I don't need?
I'll bet that's why she's sluggish...
Ok- now that I know it's in Limp Mode, I don't want to sell it anymore! lol Screw it, nobody's biting on it anyway. Besides, If I work out these two DTC's, I bet you she pulls like I was hoping it would. Then it's time for the suspension upgrades...
I still owe major smoking videos.
thomp1983
02-07-2015, 01:14
The 42 won't cause issues, normally there's a signal from the gearbox speed sensor to the speedo and then from the speedo back to the ecu, iirc at the dawn of time when people first put v6's in mr2's this hadn't been discovered so a lot had this fault code but it doesn't affect the running, having said that they were all manuals. If your using the lexus speedo you can fix it, if you can remember wiring your v6 mr2 it was the puple and purple/white wires in the wiring guide.
The rpm signal id guess is something similar if your not using the lexus tacho the ecu won't be getting a signal it expects
OK, cool, that's a place to start. I was reading on several of the Lexus sites and they say that both of those codes will send it into limp mode. I want to ohms test both sensors and then make sure the signal is getting to the ECU. I knew something was wrong with this thing. Oh and by the way, PM me and I'll send your blue tooth thing back. It helped. I will do a live data capture with it after I get these codes sorted and then save the file and send you the dingleberry thing, I appreciate it.
thomp1983
02-07-2015, 02:15
Hang onto it till your completely done paul there's no rush
jon.sole
02-07-2015, 16:42
The SPD pin on the ECU takes a 5v signal whereas Speed Sensor No. 1 generates a 12v signal. They shouldn't be connected together without converting the 12v signal down to 5v. Normally the Combination Meter (i.e dial cluster) does this.
Without the SPD signal the ECU won't be shifting the transmission at the optimal shift points, it's fail safe strategy is probably to shift into top gear as soon as possible.
The SPD pin on the ECU takes a 5v signal whereas Speed Sensor No. 1 generates a 12v signal. They shouldn't be connected together without converting the 12v signal down to 5v. Normally the Combination Meter (i.e dial cluster) does this.
Without the SPD signal the ECU won't be shifting the transmission at the optimal shift points, it's fail safe strategy is probably to shift into top gear as soon as possible.
Valuable knowledge. Thank you, I will look at that tonight.
jon.sole
02-07-2015, 17:04
Have you got the STA pin on the ECU wired up? Without that the ECU with throw error code 12.
I do have the STA connected to something, I thought it was done per the diagram, but I have also had that STA code since the beginning. I really have to see how I did that circuit. It's been so many weeks I can't remember how it was done.
I'm going out to give it a once over. The Lextreme guys are pointing somewhere near that STA wire too. Jeez, how many functions does that one wire achieve?
I have some notes. I'll go check this shit out.
My STA wire goes to the ECU. It has 11V (not 12) as soon as you turn on the main power. I ran it through a relay, but as I understand it, it should only get 12V when cranking. Let me see what happens when I connect it to the start button like that.
OK, now the STA wire gets 12V when cranking. I took it from the starter button. I checked codes and now I get the same #42 and now I get a #43 which is the starter signal. Something's Effed up somewhere. Doesn't make sense.
You have code 42 because your speed signal has been wired direct from the gearbox to ecu and should be taken from the lexis dash cluster.
jon.sole
02-07-2015, 21:56
Has code 12 gone?
If STA is wired up to main power (as you had) the ECU thinks that the starter motor is turning the engine as soon as main power is turned on but as it isn't seeing the expected crankshaft or camshaft signals it throws error code 12.
Yes, thankfully code #12 is gone. I have code 42 and 43. Swapped ECU's and no change. When I connect the blue tooth Device, it shows open loop, I run engine to 3200RPM and it comes out of open loop as it should. Code 42 is because of the dash cluster, OK, no problem there. The blue tooth device shows no starter circuit data. I suppose I'll drive it and see what if anything has changed. Code #43 is the only unknown code at the moment. Looking at the diagram, the starter circuit code 43 could be because there is a resister on the circuit and I might not be giving it the correct voltage?
geoffmunt
02-07-2015, 22:33
Can't remember if you already checked the capacitors but this was interesting:
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400/656360-all-my-crazy-lexus-issues-solved-ecu-leaking-capacitor.html
Although if you have two functioning ECUs it would be a bit of a coincidence for them both to have the same issues...
I visually inspected the capacitors, they seem OK, but this is certainly in the back of my mind. It'll be around for a while, nobody wants it anyway so I'll try and make it more fun to play with.
I just discovered the code 43 could in fact mean there is a traction control fault and I don't have any of that stuff on the car anyway. Some charts show 43 as a starter circuit and another shows it as a TRAC code. I'm going to drive the thing and see.
The sta should get signal whist cranking only if you have it wired perm to 12v this would give an error?
The sta should get signal whist cranking only if you have it wired perm to 12v this would give an error?
Correct. Apparently the ECU won't see the crank sensor if it thinks the starter is spinning. No problem, that's gone. It's just the #43 but hey- if it's not in limp mode, who cares, it should now haul ass. I have to go do a little job so I can't drive it until tomorrow, there's beer involved.
thomp1983
02-07-2015, 23:30
Yes, thankfully code #12 is gone. I have code 42 and 43. Swapped ECU's and no change. When I connect the blue tooth Device, it shows open loop, I run engine to 3200RPM and it comes out of open loop as it should. Code 42 is because of the dash cluster, OK, no problem there. The blue tooth device shows no starter circuit data. I suppose I'll drive it and see what if anything has changed. Code #43 is the only unknown code at the moment. Looking at the diagram, the starter circuit code 43 could be because there is a resister on the circuit and I might not be giving it the correct voltage?
The bit about open loop there im fairly sure is wrong. From cold o/l will show for 5-10 minutes then it should go out as the ecu decides the o2 sensors are warm enough and goes closed loop using there data.
If you then rev it over 3200rpm the car will go back to open loop and throw lots of fuel in. At idle tps should be zero or very close and the blue idl square displayed.
Im assuming the 1uz uses the standard 10btdc toyota ignition timing so at idle with idl square showing the timing will probably fluctuate between -8 and -19.
Once out of open loop you shoild see the ox readings regularly change, at idle mine tend to be around the 2.50v mark.
Does the dongle show your rpm? Presumably the pink speed indicator stays at 0 even when driving?
I might have that bit wrong, I saved the data in the app. The OL indicator went out and the 02 sensors started switching from L to R and IDL was in fact present when I returned it to idle. The device is accurate to my dash RPM, within about 50 and I attribute that to a cheap gauge. I'll post up the data when I get back later. I'm probably explaining it wrong.
Did not get a chance to run the car today. But I did wash it. Nothing leaks. Can you imagine that? I had all the door rubbers off and the windows apart and nothing leaks? The doors shut solid as does the boot. Oh boy- don't tell me I'm starting to grow attached to this thing... I should get up early and drive it. Just to see if the ECU likes turning off that #12 code.
widebodystarlet
09-07-2015, 14:22
YOU'RE ON JALOPNIK!!!
http://jalopnik.com/for-6-500-this-1985-maserati-biturbo-is-a-biturbo-no-1716475006
cdwood2010
09-07-2015, 16:59
Yay! What's jalopnik?
Hes so famous now he's infamous!!!
C.
widebodystarlet
09-07-2015, 21:42
Jalopnik is like a car news blog, it's just my one stop shop for auto news :)
They do a vote: Nice price or Crack pipe. It's in the crack pipe realm with 76% saying it's horrible hahahaha
I don't care, but one thing is for sure- People have seen it. They might want to gouge out their eyes, but they've seen it hahaha.
Love it or hate it, you'll sure remember it...
Imagine if I had a budget and a car lift what I could do. I did this with basically no money. Sure, it looks like that but the overall effect? People will remember it, that's for sure. My computer is freaking out, I have Trojans running in the background so if I disappear for a few days, it's this friggin' metal box giving me fits. Well, this OTHER metal box that I play with anyway.....
cant please everyone with what we are doing, Im almost curious what would be said about mine...bahahahahaha
Yours would get attention too, for sure. I'll plaster it all over the Net when it's done... :)
cdwood2010
10-07-2015, 01:21
Wheel that PC down to the nearest computer shop and pay some 12yr old $20 to exercise it. There's tools for cleaning Trojans, them what does it all day is the ones that are pretty good at it.
Stick to building awesome cars please.
:)
Hot dammit I can fix this thing!!!
(insert many long winded posts about PC's and lots of complaining)
hahaha
Yours would get attention too, for sure. I'll plaster it all over the Net when it's done... :)
don't think Ill need much help with that to be honest;)
Something tells me yours might be faster than mine hahaha
cant please everyone with what we are doing, Im almost curious what would be said about mine...bahahahahaha
When yours is finished we'll post it up and find out? I think you have the award for the craziest mr2 build I've ever seen :-)
Computer is fixed and it only took four hours. I probably should fix the Maserati next.
It's 7am, they keep making me go to work despite the protests.
And yes- Sketchy gets the craziest MR2 build award. I'll bet that would end up on Jalopnik too.
Ill accept that, even outside working on it today...doors up, sun streaming in...(if I open the side door of the shed, that breeze is not so warm....)
Interesting note, I tried another wiring configuration today. It did nothing. When Goldy's sorcery device arrives I will put it in the car and have a séance to summon the V8 spirits to eat the tires.
On another note, Somehow I found an email from Piston Heads that I had been saving and I sent them the Car Pool/ Shed of the week Q and A with pics. The Jalopnik article garnered about 30K views with almost 7,000 votes. 1800 people loved it and about 4800 didn't. HA! It's a win. 1800 people liked it! Screw everyone else. hahaha.
No idea what I'm trying to accomplish here, but I really do want to feel "completed" with this build and as of right now, I just don't. The attention is great, but it means nothing. Absolutely zero in terms of selling the car or being able to build the next thing.
I do know one thing, it sure is fun and standing next to the car as it idled in the garage, I don't hate it. It's a V8 Maserati that was surely bound for the crusher last autumn. Now people are talking about it all over the world. WIN.
Paul Woods
11-07-2015, 08:17
I have first hand experience of people hating what i do because they will never be able to do it themselves and can't afford it..... so their only option left is to hate.
Small minded idiots with no appreciation of the amount of work and effort a car like yours takes to build, ignore them.
I think with a couple of tweeks you could take this car from great to awesome if you put a set of ronal turbo wheels on the car and some decent seats you would sell it no bother :-)
Aww, that's so nice! See why I like you guys...
Thanks and yep- I was looking at it last night thinking I could get rid of these seats really easily and swap them out with something else. I could make that dash look better by covering it and adding a tablet. I bet it would sell. I am going to paint the wheels black though. That'll help the look a little I think. Good wheels are expensive and not worth the return, plus I'd have to find the exact combination of tire and wheel to get them to fit. Too much money, new wheels.
A couple black leather seats out of something else would be alright I suppose?
widebodystarlet
11-07-2015, 17:14
They do a vote: Nice price or Crack pipe. It's in the crack pipe realm with 76% saying it's horrible hahahaha
I don't care, but one thing is for sure- People have seen it. They might want to gouge out their eyes, but they've seen it hahaha.
Love it or hate it, you'll sure remember it...
Imagine if I had a budget and a car lift what I could do. I did this with basically no money. Sure, it looks like that but the overall effect? People will remember it, that's for sure. My computer is freaking out, I have Trojans running in the background so if I disappear for a few days, it's this friggin' metal box giving me fits. Well, this OTHER metal box that I play with anyway.....
Some great cars get "crack piped" on there. Paul is right, too many keyboard warriors that lack the skill to accomplish anything remotely close to this.
geoffmunt
11-07-2015, 23:44
I remember way back when this started we were trying to get you to put in some cheapo buckets. Now you quite rightly mentioned they are not actually that comfortable...but to be honest if you are planning to sell then who cares, I reckon it's pretty clear many people would probably go for a more 'full-on' race style interior (although the autobox seems not to be convincing people of the race/rally style thing).
I don't think it would take a lot for this to hit the right note with a lot more people, the fundamentals are sound.
This is a touch off topic, sorry about that but hey- it's got engines in it so it's alright.
I'm a little worn out today, but good.
We ran the night races at Delta last night.
It takes 2.5hrs to get there and the gates open at 5pm. Practice started at 7pm and racing started at 8pm. You usually get your first race completed when there's some daylight left, but then the lights come out and it's fast motocross racing at night. With the lights on, shadows are sort of everywhere and when you have a track that starts to deteriorate as the evening's program progresses, you quickly learn to see if the difference between a rut that you can throttle through and a shadow of a rut that you thought was there.
Then there's the jumps to contend with. The track is built safe enough but this year they pushed the jump faces up and the landings out further. The jump faces develop little "kickers" in them that if you get it wrong, they "bonk" your back tire into the air. Don't get it wrong late in the program. Stay on the gas, all the way off the face of the jump, lean back a little and focus.
When you're bench racing back in the pits, (hob knobbing in the paddock) you talk to some very fast racers. They talk you in to trying a jump for the first time or in my case, talk me in to entering in a faster class of racers. I always run two classes when I race.
I run the usual age classification of 45yrs and over, where I took a 2nd and a 3rd. But these fast young guys made me think I could run with the 20 year olds. Remind me to never hob knob in the paddock.
There I am, on the gate with the best of the big bike class and most of them young enough to be my kids. Engines revving loudly Ba-DA DA DA DA DA........BANG! the gate drops and we are off. Wouldn't you know it, I get the best start I've had in a year or two and now I'm side by side for the lead with the pack literally coming up between us, and FAST. Because I was up front, I had to keep pace or get run over. (did I mention I'm kinda fat and old?) Here comes the face of the big jump and we are hauling ass. Probably 50+MPH, at night on a 450cc monster dirtbike side by side with the fast kids.
I had not jumped this particular jump yet because it's big and I wasn't feeling brave enough, hell- I was tired when I left the house... lol
We are inches apart and there is a pack of way faster, way younger kids behind us and stopping, hitting the brakes or pulling off track is not an option. Handlebar to handlebar, elbow to elbow. Clicking into fourth gear and holding it 2/3rds open throttle... WHOOSH off the jump face and I instantly realize just how long that double actually is. Or I should say was, because we cleared it easily and then those dudes started to pull away. Little by little, they put bike lengths on me and by the second lap I was a couple turns back.
I finished 4th and in the second race of that class, another 4th.
Now get this bit:
At about 10PM in between races, one of the power lines sparked and they had to shut the lights off for repairs. This halted racing for an hour. With lights back on, I was running my last race of the night at 12:25PM. Imagine that? Dog tired and middle aged, I have to get BACK on my bike at 12:25 PM? I should have been home drinking beers working on a Maserati or sleeping by that time of night!
We pulled up in the driveway, (just the wife and I, we like to go racing with just the two of us, it's one of our little things) at 3:15AM.
The good news is, no injuries and we got the first race of the season under our belts. Now I have to get up to speed to run the National event in New York at the end of the season. It's only about 6weeks away. I will not, I repeat, I will not be racing with the fast kid class...
Well, maybe just one fast class.... :)
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2015/07/64.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2015/07/65.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2015/07/66.jpg
widebodystarlet
12-07-2015, 17:36
I love that tshirt!
Yeah, it's cool right?
Chris W sent it to me, we trade stuff all the time. They get car and MX stuff often. It's really cool because it's stuff you don't see locally.
Here's where the shirt came from:
http://ohsoretro.moonfruit.com/
I follow them on Twitter and there's even an #ohsoretro sticker on the Maserati.
Fun stuff!
widebodystarlet
12-07-2015, 22:29
That's pretty sweet, I like unique pieces like that. "cut. weld. drive." is nearly a twobrutal standard haha!
"standard", and "twobrutal", are mutually exclusive:P
big ups for not wussin out with them kids....
perfectly acceptable post too, contains motors, speed and stupidity. that and its your thread so you can take it where you want;)
This morning I need to take it back to bed... I'm sore and moving slow. Facing another busy work week though, so it's coffee and back at it.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.