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description: Audio advice and discussions with audiophiles and professionals. Free discussion forums, open to all and frequented by industry experts. Ask questions and get advice on stereos, speakers, hi-end amplifiers, pre-amps, home theater, tube hi-fi, turntables, vinyl, tweaks, music, films, video, DVDs and more.
items: Funny Life
items: Re: Funny Life
items: Olds 455
items: Re: Olds 455
items: Re:Be careful what you wish for
items: Re: points?

Funny Life
type: item
description: All this wonderfull new technology; lets see; my DVD palyer has been used about twenty times and now is broke. Will not read the disc. I joined Yahoo Groups for Eico's because I want to re-build my ST 40 and they do that there. Unfortunetaly; with Firefox you can't access Yahoo Groups. I bought a couple CD's from Amazon and they billed me twice. There is no info on how to contact them anywhere on their site. My friend told me of Gethuman.com and I had to access that site to get a phone number for Amazon; three or four days of nonsense. I can't get my pics to upload on any of the servers and all I want to do is show someone a pic of an amp so I can troubleshoot it. I went to Radio Schlock to get an IEC input for a chassis and the kid tells me they sell the cords and the chassis but they don't sell the IEC's. Then I have to look up all the parts on the internet in their store. My cable box failed and to re-tune the new one I had to spend three hours on the phone; then cancel all of my pay channels and then re-submitt them so I can get HBO for the Soprano's. My son can't get e-mail because of the router not functioning properly. Now the cable shuts down when I seek the info button to see whats on that channel. Verizon billed me twice for the same month. The phone can't record messages now we don't know why. Here's what I want, an RCA 25" dot matrix TV with 21 channels, 2-21 and all the old shows on. A rotary phone. All of the great old electronics shops that used to sell around here for fair prices. The old stereo shops back with used sections. The five newspapers that nused to sell here. All computors to self-destruct as of 12 am tonight. Everyone on the block to return to the old console magnavox stereo's everyone had and then actually played music on them; while they talked. Amazing that people used to talk. Record stores with new artists people actually want to hear. A 1964 Pontiac LeMans. With bucket seats and an FM radio playing Allison Steele or Steve Post. A ca…
creator: Manualblock
date: 2006-03-10T15:47:15-00:00

Re: Funny Life
type: item
description: You should move to Tulsa. -akhilesh
creator: akhilesh
date: 2006-03-10T16:13:13-00:00

Re: Funny Life
type: item
description: Totally. I'm with you. In the 70's and 80's, I loved new exciting technologies. Sometimes I still do, but more and more I have grown fond of "old school" stuff, for a lot of the same reasons you've described. Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe it's simplicity. But whatever it is, I sometimes yearn for an old phone that plugs into the wall and a car with breaker points. Who cares that I can't use them together.
creator: Wayne Parham
date: 2006-03-10T16:16:59-00:00

Re: Funny Life
type: item
description: I agree about going back. I realize you can't but it would be fun. I had a 65 Olds Cutlass that I put a balanced and blueprinted 455 W-30 engine in and had lots of fun. I picked up my MX-114 from a shop in Portland yesterday. They fixed it but gone is the tech who willingly explained what he did and so forth. I have Firefox and also use the Yahoo groups a lot. I have Yahoo mail for when I travel so maybe that's the difference between my Firefox setup and yours? I would send their tech people an e-mail explaining the problem and I'll bet they contact you with a fix. The other day I found a AR remote system that plugs into vintage equipment so you have a remote volume control. I'm hooking it up today to see if I can tell any difference in noise, sound etc.
creator: MWG
date: 2006-03-10T16:51:41-00:00

Re: Funny Life
type: item
description: Why is that? Because they like old technology? Or life is simpler? I may be rooted here now. I traveled a lot in my youth.
creator: Manualblock
date: 2006-03-10T17:15:04-00:00

Olds 455
type: item
description: Olds 455 Look familiar? If you look back, mounted on the firewall, you'll see a TO-3 transistor in a little aluminum box. That's fired by points. The engine is fed through a dual-plane intake with a Holley 830CFM annular discharge carburettor breathing through aluminum heads. Roller lifters ride on a 276 degree, 0.505" lift Comp cam. The exhaust is plumbed with ceramic coated Hooker Headers. Pretty good street performance but not the best on economy. 1983 Olds Cutlass I always liked the looks of this model car. I like the older ones too, they're true classics. But this one is pretty special to me. B&M transmission. Ford nine inch rear end with Moser Engineering axles and limited slip differential. Sway bars, front and rear, with large stiff springs and Bilstein shocks. Wilwood disc brakes on all four 16" Centerline wheels. All the good go fast stuff along with electric seats and windows, all the creature comforts I want. And no OnStar or other Big Brother contraptions anywhere. No cell phones, no dash computer, no DVD player, no BS. Just 500HP and a cassette player. Wouldn't want it any other way.
creator: Wayne Parham
date: 2006-03-10T17:15:09-00:00

Re: Olds 455
type: item
description: Nice; BWT; Before Wind Tunnel; so they had style, now they all look like some kind of cheese bun. Nice ride, hard to do that up here with all the salt on the roads.
creator: Manualblock
date: 2006-03-10T17:16:47-00:00

Re: Olds 455
type: item
description: Just the way a fun car should be. No frills or J. C. Whitney crap. I never found out how fast my Olds went. It had a 3.23 posi rearend and at 4000RPM the speedo needle was long since buried and it would do the half lane side shifts so I would back out of it. With that rearend ratio I could actually achieve almost 19 MPG on the freeway. It was turning 2700 RPM @ 70 MPH. Mostly I managed 4-6 MPG because of chronic right foot seizures. Very nice looking car Wayne. I was talking to a young man the otherday who was extolling the virtues of today's high tech ricers. While I can appreciate the reality of what they can do I told him "they are great but they still sound like Geese farts on a muggy day." Which is a line I stole from Leo Kottke the guitarist
creator: MWG
date: 2006-03-10T18:20:44-00:00

Re: Olds 455
type: item
description: I have a 65 Lemans convertible almost finished. End of this month. Rebuilt 326, Edlebrock 4bbl, 4spd overdrive tranny (for mileage), and a pile of bodywork and paint. Pretty much stock as it's my son's car and I didn't want it too hot. The duals make it sound like a 389 though. It takes 30 minutes to fill up with gas because every car guy pulls in and wants to talk. Wayne's car sounds as good as it looks. I was admiring it at the sub shootout.
creator: Leland Crooks
date: 2006-03-10T18:52:35-00:00

Re: Olds 455
type: item
description: Nice Wayne. A friend of mine in high school had a 1984 Hurst/Olds 14th ? Anniversary model that looked just like that only with the little hood scoop on it and the shopping cart handle on the trunk deck. It ran pretty well for stock and the lighting rod shifters were cool. My step-dad had a '64 nova, 350 with dual double pumpers that we used to drag. Not incredibly fast, but in the 1/4 it would pin you to the seat. He got ticked at me one time cuz I twisted up the driveshaft.
creator: Shane
date: 2006-03-10T19:47:35-00:00

Re: Funny Life
type: item
description: Thanks MWG as long as I know someone can get it I'll contact them.
creator: Manualblock
date: 2006-03-10T20:45:09-00:00

Re:Be careful what you wish for
type: item
description: We had a '64 Pontiac Tempest with a 'transaxle' which meant the engineers had their heads up the exhaust pipe and the 4 cyl. engine was the same one they use at the grocery to grind coffee. "Daddy's home" we would cry when he was still a good mile away. I learned to drive in that car. Nostalgic? Not a chance!
creator: Bill Epstein
date: 2006-03-10T22:32:18-00:00

Re:Be careful what you wish for
type: item
description: Well you don't say. That car would have been red with a white convertable top and black bucket seats? Slant four exactly half of a 389? Shift on the floor; called a Tempest? I didn't think anyone else ever owned one of those. Lot of fun that car.
creator: Manualblock
date: 2006-03-10T23:09:52-00:00

Re:Be careful what you wish for
type: item
description: That's true, when you drive these old cars you realize just how far autos have progressed. It is possible to make them drive like the new ones, if you have the bucks New a arms, disc brakes, complete suspension rework and more. I did change all the suspension and body bushings with modern composites. Made a huge difference. Disc brakes are next on the money list.
creator: Leland Crooks
date: 2006-03-10T23:35:24-00:00

Re:Be careful what you wish for
type: item
description: I thought 63 was the last year of the great transaxle experiment?
creator: MWG
date: 2006-03-10T23:59:22-00:00

Re:Be careful what you wish for
type: item
description: Coulda been, prolly was a '61? It was pretty beat by the time it was mine in '64. First year they were made, I think. I am certain, though, that it was red. It was red </ul(.*)
creator: Bill Epstein
date: 2006-03-11T01:27:15-00:00

Re: Funny Life
type: item
description: Well I moved all my equipment back on the bench as I picked up the MX-114 and wanted to use that AR remote I bought. As luck would have it I couldn't get the remote to work for the life of me. I tried one last ditch attempt by hooking everything back up again and low and behold it works. Now I can control the volume on any source and turn everything on & off with one switch. Almost like what the real folks have The tuner section in the 114 sounds pretty good. It's supossed to be essentially the same as the MR-74 tuner. It's nice to have everything working again. I just wish we would get a good FM station around or I could at least pickup NPR.
creator: MWG
date: 2006-03-11T06:04:27-00:00

Re:Be careful what you wish for
type: item
description: Close but mine was a '64 I guess the last year they made it. Lot of stories center around that car.
creator: Manualblock
date: 2006-03-11T12:00:20-00:00

Re:Be careful what you wish for
type: item
description: About three years ago I got the bright Idea to try one of the classics. This guy has a 1966 Chevy II standard shift with the 327? So I says let me try this one it's in great shape. He gives me the keys and tells me"Go ahead, take it for a spin." Pull out of the driveway, "Hey this is great!." Tooling along there is a big blind curve coming up. I'm doing maybe 40/45. exit the curve and there it is; a nice backup to a red light. I hit the brake; no problem. Not stopping so quick? Push harder and downshift; nothing but a little drag on the speed; ooh boy... now I'm literally standing up on the brake with cars approaching pretty quick. I finally get it slow enough that I can bail to the side over the curb. End up sitting on the grass on this surprised guys front lawn, I think; hmmm..maybe not. Forgot how lousy those old drum brakes were.
creator: Manualblock
date: 2006-03-11T12:12:09-00:00

Re: Funny Life
type: item
description: Thats right; you have the Mac stuff, correct?
creator: Manualblock
date: 2006-03-11T12:15:34-00:00

Re: Funny Life
type: item
description: Yes, I have some old Mac stuff I've had forever. The remote works just dandy. It makes it nice to have a remote volume control that controls every source.
creator: MWG
date: 2006-03-11T14:21:49-00:00

Re: points?
type: item
description: are you still clicking points? I have points in chrysler big blocks, I'm thinking of switching to electronic. why didnt you switch yet or why did you?
creator: Bill Martinelli
date: 2006-03-19T05:02:13-00:00

Re: points?
type: item
description: Yeah, I'm running a dual point Mallory distributor, mostly for nostalgia. I used to make little ignition system boxes that had a power transistor for people that had points, and I have one of those in the Olds. The transistorized circuit reduces breaker point current from several amps to milliamps, so the points don't pit. In fact, they develop a mirror-like finish and they never move so you don't have to ever fool with the points, it's tune-up free. This ignition works just fine for engines up to about 8,000 RPM.
creator: Wayne Parham
date: 2006-03-20T14:38:49-00:00

Re: points?
type: item
description: Do you think there is any advantage in performance in a system like this or just nastalgia? I have two Chrysler big blocks that have points distributors in them and I'm strongly considering replacing them with Mallory electronic units. I was thinking the electronic unit would give slightely better fuel efficiency, reliability and no more tune-ups. 8000 rpm is twice my max and 2800 is usually the limit!
creator: Bill Martinelli
date: 2006-03-20T19:52:16-00:00

Re: points?
type: item
description: If you're spinning the motor to high RPMs, then an electronic ignition will perform better. You won't experience point float up high with a sensor. But for use under 3000, there's no difference either way. Not in the triggering mechanism. Now, advance curves are a completely different story. If you have a computer running the show, it can be tailored to put the spark event exactly where you want it. Of course, that requires having something that knows exactly where you want it. You would have to get that information somewhere, either by tuning it yourself or obtaining information from someone that knows. Optimum spark timing is not really something that is a simple function of RPM and/or vacuum. It bounces around a bit, tracking things like volumetric efficiency, which is affected by port flow, overlap, cylinder fuel ratio, amount of unburned (not-expended) gasses, etc. It's really a pretty complex interaction of things that set the best time to fire the spark. So if you have a computer, appropriate sensors and the information to know when to hit the spark, you can do better than a simple centrifugal or vacuum advance curve could do. Otherwise, just dial in the best advance curve you can with the mechanical stuff, and use whatever you want to fire it with. Below 3000 RPM, the distributor itself is pretty much a non-issue.
creator: Wayne Parham
date: 2006-03-27T20:32:38-00:00