So gauge accuracy seem to be a hot topic with these cars.  I’ve always enjoyed the look of vintage aircraft instruments and I’ll eventually be purchasing some old instruments and will install stepper motors in them to make my own gauges for Zella’s cockpit.Microprocessors that are capable of this (like an Arduino for less than $30) are easi…[Read more]

MINI Takes the States hits Pittsburg July 12th. They have scheduled an evening at the Highmark Stadium, but I believe there is a giant car show down the road from the Station Square Sheraton we’ll be crashing at. Wednesday morning we gather at the Meadows before leaving for Detroit. If I see anyone, cool. If not, have a great time.

Vicenc, if you can get Ed’s experienced advice on removing the small leaves from your torsion beam assembly, you will be amazed at the result.  Your ride will be much smoother and more comfortable and controllable.  It’s the right fix. 

Thanks again my friends! The advice, here, is the best there is. Were really blessed to have so many Wise Guys with us

I lowered the pressure on my tires to 18 psi front and 24 psi rear and the handling and steering improved dramatically without the need for ballast.  In a couple of weeks, when I go to Ed’s Liftapalloza, I hope to remove the short torsion bars and see how that feels.

Hey Happy Jack!  Charlene and I are staying at the Ligonier Country Inn on Wednesday and Thursday night for the Countryside Tour.  We are coming back on Friday.  Hope we can see you there.  I still owe you an adult beverage, btw.

Hi all,

They are to keep the…[Read more]

So cool, Bryce, that you have all that paperwork. I have all mine too???or most of it???we should compare notes. My car’s builder still lives at the address I found in the build package, so I won’t be putting that up here…

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I double checked – it is a Chevette engine, BUT without alot of the pollution control crap that mine still has.  Funny thing is that yours does have a shroud over the pulley system (mine does not) so that you won’t catch your necktie whilst working on the beast!

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Thanks for that!  I work at a steel mill and am able to source some pretty hefty steel plate pieces for scrap price.  I should be able to hide them here and there if needed.  

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Are the ballasts used just to lower the stance of the front end or do they improve the driving performance of the car as well? If I dont need it, Id love to have the extra trunk storage space. Ill add drop spindles to lower the front end and loose the box of rocks.Thanks in advance for the advice!

The best is yet to come!

Step 1 done. Next will come the real work. Not sure yet if I will have time during the week or if it will have to wait for next weekend. Either way we are moving closer.And thanks for the thanks.

Seems to working just fine. Nice job!

You’ve earned a raise, another week of vacation, an extra personal day, and a corner office with your name on the door…:lol:seriously, THANKS FOR YOUR EFFORTS!

About front end ballast; I was talking to my VW mechanic and he said he used lead shot in bags for years, then one of them broke open and he wound up with lead BB’s everywhere. Bad for steering. I think s…[Read more]

The domain transfer happened overnight. “tdreplica.com” still points to the same server, it’s just who does the pointing that changed. There should be no side-effects, but, you never know. If you do see problems, try refreshing the page.I’m backing everything up (again) just in case.stephenhouser2016-06-04 07:17:58

I’m going to try to keep the clutter to a minimum in this thread, so I’ll quickly answer your questions with rhetorical question.  Why does it matter so much to you whether or not I masked a license plate in a picture?

So please, let’s keep the rest of this thread on track and get back to the car.  

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