[blindfold]

Wow, i read the first 40 pages or so but i just had to skip some... do forgive me. Anyways, good luck on this build, I know this will only make the reward sweeter, so keep your head high.

[JohnDoe1211]

Yea I really wanna know what is up with your car bruce. I remember a coupla months back I read this entire thread and its been SOOOOo long i figured your car'd be done by now.

UPDATE ME PLEASE

[Neanderthal Racing]

Originally Posted by JohnDoe1211

UPDATE ME PLEASE

update:

the motor was boxed by automaster and ready for pickup several weeks ago. i can only assume it was picked up by now. i've got an email in to jeremy to make sure he received it.

meanwhile, except for when i've been able to use hil's honda element, i've been without a car. i'm grabbing a dirt cheap beater vw golf until the military surplus camo diesel blazer i've got coming shows up. it's waiting for paperwork. the title situation with military vehicles is totally screwed up. it's probably not a bad idea for me to have an extra vehicle handy but, for the record, cutn edg is still my everyday driver. am i a hardhead or what.

and speaking of hardheads...now for the really big news; little ricky is back on the project.

[JJ18Sniper]

Moving on from Automaster, bruce?

[Chris05STi]

VW Golf?! STICK! Def take some pics! Those military vehicles are awesome.....got them all over here at work......they are the true beaters . Def post pics!!

[Neanderthal Racing]

Originally Posted by JJ18Sniper

Moving on from Automaster, bruce?

not at all, sniper and i should have made that clear when i posted.

automaster and i only discussed their involvement with the current issues with the motor. as the situation developed, it became clear that the fix was more complicated than we thought it would be and we determined that the motor would have to go back to jeremy at cobb. once the motor returns and is reinstalled, what will be left is the unfinished areas of the car that ricky started (like the cage, etc) and the usual routine maintenance for a race car/daily driver, which is never ending. given i have the advantage of having my own facility just 5 min from my house, it would be goofy to drive 100 miles to westchester every week.

automaster did a great job with what they were supposed to do. in fact, i just offered this testimonial for their website:

I brought my CUTN EDG project STi to Automaster because they have the experience needed to make a correct diagnosis on a difficult valve timing issue with our race motor. In the process, they were able identify another serious issue that took everyone by surprise and handled everything I needed to get the motor back to our sponsor.

Make no mistake, this is a serious and well-equipped shop with a very dedicated team of professionals led by AL and Rob. When you tour the shop and view their capabilities close-up , you will walk away knowing that your project, no matter how complicated, is in great hands.

Bruce Chapman, CUTN EDG Project STi<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[Neanderthal Racing]

Originally Posted by Chris05STi

VW Golf?! STICK! Def take some pics! Those military vehicles are awesome.....got them all over here at work......they are the true beaters . Def post pics!!

this is not the same truck, chris, but it's in the ballpark:

http://web.govliquidation.com/auctio...37&picNumber=1

[Chris05STi]

^Nice....any mods in mind

We have those, along with the diesel dually pickups, and the usual Humvees, along with every other military vehicle.....I sooo want one of the Humvees with the hardtop!! Ocasionally we get the nice Huey that flies in and out !

[Neanderthal Racing]

Originally Posted by Chris05STi

^Nice....any mods in mind

We have those, along with the diesel dually pickups, and the usual Humvees, along with every other military vehicle.....I sooo want one of the Humvees with the hardtop!! Ocasionally we get the nice Huey that flies in and out !

i have a great huey story to tell:

it is 4th of july 1986 (?) and the renovated statue of liberty is being officially opened. my skydiving teammate is chief pilot for an unnamed agency the northeast and is flying big shots and politicians into ny for the festivities. meanwhile, there is a 10 way speed star competition here at "the ranch" skydiving club and my buddy can't make it because he's working flying the huey. his wife is also on the team and she has it arranged with him that on his lunch hour, tommy is going to fly the huey from ny harbor up to the ranch (about 100 miles away). he's going to make one pass over the dz to let us know that he is here and then turn back to get us.

one of the skydivers is acting as a dj, hears him bringing the huey in low over the trees and grabs the theme music for "apocolypse now" - da da da da daaa da da da daaaa. we get our rigs on, he drops in as the music hit its crescendo and a couple hundred jumpers were treated to the sight of "the herd" (our team name) taking off from the center of the field in a blacked out miltary huey with no numbers - 13 thousand feet straight up to altitude like an elevator...the legend continues (isfh).

[meffie]

Originally Posted by BruceChapman

one of the skydivers is acting as a dj, hears tommy bringing the huey in low over the trees and grabs the theme music for "apocolypse now" - da da da da daaa da da da daaaa. we get our rigs on, he drops in as the music hit its crescendo and a couple hundred jumpers were treated to the sight of "the herd" (our team name) taking off from the center of the field in a blacked out miltary huey with no numbers - 13 thousand feet straight up to altitude like an elevator...the legend continues (isfh).

That would've been a site to see I'm sure.

[Chris05STi]

Nice...Hueys are freaking awesome. I took one from work here...out into the Sandy Hook area...and out into the ocean a little and then back to the pad here......it was sooo sweet...I was in the "rumble seat". Its the side seat where it only fits 1-2 people, and when the chopper makes its turn, you look out the window and just see the ground!!

[Neanderthal Racing]

update:

i have an e-mail out to jeremy to see if he spotted the motor yet but i have a feeling he's at sema.

meanwhile, i posted this video in the off topics video section. it's a video of a skydiver v plane near mid-air collision.
http://www.killsometime.com/Video/video.asp?ID=649

i have my own scary stories to tell on the subject which i posted today in the same thread but it won't really be read by many. it took a while to write and the story is worth telling so i'm reposting it here.

i had two close calls under canopy:

- the first was at the '96 nationals during the 20 way competition. just after breakoff, someone in a cessna flew through the entire field of 20 parachutes as they were opening at 2000 feet. i could actually see the look on the pilot's face as he frantically dodged my canopy - turn left - yikes, there's another - turn right... lol. it was way worse than what you saw on this video. he was on our exact level rather than below and he was picking his way through a minefield.

- the second was even scarier. the ranch landing area is a long but narrow lawn virtually alongside the entire length of the runway. the winds were blowing across the width of the field from the south. the rule is that you don't cross the runway under canopy, however, with the winds intersecting the runway everyone was crossing the runway because high performance parachutes are wings and need a runway (just like a plane).

as i said, the landing area is very narrow to begin with and i pilot a tiny hankerchief of a canopy for a high sweed "swoop" landing using what is called a "hook turn". in a hook turn, you are basically snap turning your canopy 180 degrees at a couple hundred feet above the ground; making it dive straight at the ground at a high rate of speed (60-80+ mph depending on conditions). as the wing hits the end of its recovery arc and it is back to level flight it soars across the lawn at 60+ mph. i time it so that my body is so close to the ground at this point, that i have to draw up my knees so they are only 1" above the lawn from - slowing from 60 mph to zero in about 75 to 100 yards. (i was once approached by someone after a landing and asked, "what is your margin of error with your knees only 1" above the ground and i repied, "oh, about one inch").

anyway, i do a hard left hand hook turn and the parachute is about halfway through its recovery arc at about 75 feet and crossing over the runway fast. just then, i hear a god awful rrrRRRRRRRWwww, which is one of our planes (a 20-place twin turbine dehaviland super otter) taking off at the exact moment i am crossing the runway and i look to see it coming right at me and my brain is screaming out, i am going to die.

i got as small as i could and let up the toggles to go faster and it looked like i was going to make it and i am thinking, i am going to live.

just then, he banks the plane to the left in my direction again - he has no idea i am in front of him and once again, he's coming right at me - rrrRRRRRRRWwww and now i am back to thinking - i AM going to die. right at that moment he see's me for the first time and we are looking at eachother dead in the eyes - his eyes get as big as dinner plates and he yanks the yoke as hard as he can to the right - rrrRRRRRRRWwww. now, i'm waiting to be either struck by the landing gear or snagged and snatched into a near certain fiery plane crash (did i mention ex-wife #3 is on the plane?). i am waiting...and waiting... and WAITING and NOTHING happens.

about a hundred people watched in horror thinking i was a goner. i was able to land the canopy safely if inartfully. i walked up to the pilot as soon as he landed the plane and asked him one thing - how close?

"6-8 feet."

[Majin]

did you **** yourself?

[Neanderthal Racing]

Originally Posted by Majin

did you **** yourself?

almost every time i've had to deal with a skydiving emergency type situation (and i've had 14 reserve rides to date, where my main chute opened badly or not at all) it's really very businesslike - pull one handle and pull the other. simple. it's like any close call youve ever had in your car; you swerve and hit the brakes without much thought...and then you get psych'd or scared when it's over.

that second close encounter with the otter was different because i could see it coming and it took about 3 -5 seconds from the first rrrRRRRRRRWwww to the last. that is a LONG time in skydiving time and it seemed even longer because when you face THAT level of threat, your perception of time really does slow down.

the only other time i've had time slow down worse than that was another skydiving situation when all 4 of us (including two golden knights) pulled low on a badass 4way jump. we were having so much fun we all lost track of time and tracked away very low. my automatic opener fired my reserve just as my main was coming off my back and i landed with both parachutes out. from the time i realized i was at 800 feet (4 sec from impact) until the time i tossed my main (1 second later),
t i m e s l o w e d d o o o o w w w w w n n n n n.

i will never forget that perception and i hope you never see it for yourself.

[Majin]

Originally Posted by BruceChapman

i will never forget that perception and i hope you never see it for yourself.

i hope that your hopes come true.