Happy Independence Day!  Calicab wrote this great howto on fabricating a gauge cluster in a DIN slot.  Enjoy!

(edited by Mad Scientist)

I did this on a 1991 CRX but this writeup applies to any vehicle with a standard DIN slot.
these are cyberdyne volts and air/fuel ratio gauges

Shopping List:

a large piece of plexiglass( you will make mistakes)
a scoring tool
tape measure
sharpie marker
flat black paint
gauges
and drill and hole saw

this is plexi

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Hybrids get a lot of press.

They’re touted as being incredibly fuel-efficient, getting between 30-45mpg in some cases. Wow. What most of these green fanatics don’t realize is that they’re hurting the environment more than the creepy hippie in his VW bus.

It takes roughly 50,000 miles of fuel savings to recover the cost of manufacturing for the average hybrid car, and that number comes closer to 80,000 for hybrid SUVs (they require more materials to manufacture and weigh more, decreasing fuel economy). That’s a huge carbon debt to pay off, especially if the car ends up in an accident or has mechanical failure resulting in its salvage. Older cars have already paid their carbon debts, so we should do everything we can to maximize their life after the debt is paid off. Every time a new car is purchased, an old (often working) car is crushed. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m just republishing news from Autoblog today, but this particular article really bothered me. Essentially, some Lithuanian guy really wanted to drive around in a concept car, so he made his own body:

You can find the full article here. Unfortunately, I disagree with everything he’s done with this except the polyurethane. Polyurethane is a great material to work with, and is phenominal for skim-coating over a car because, as urethane, it absorbs impact extremely well. If someone bumps into your car with a shopping cart, the worst case scenario is that your paint will chip. While this gives me some ideas of my own, I see no benefit to this approach, especially with a design as over-the-top as the one he chose. It could have been at least mildly aerodynamic.
Think you can do better? Send me an email and I’ll write a post about you!

If you’re still asking yourself why to upgrade your brakes, you can roll right on past this article. I upgraded mine simply because I had the brakes lying around and needed to change out my rotors. The upgrade cost me less than fixing the stock brakes. The rear CRX Si disk brakes from 90-91 are the exact same as the Integra brakes, so you can leave them be unless you’re doing a rear-disk conversion anyway. That’s beyond the scope of this article, so we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty on swapping the front brake system. This article is pretty long, though, so sit back with some tea, coffee, or vodka and enjoy the ride.

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Hans Reiser recently went on trial (in Oakland, where I work, coincidentally) and apparantly converted his ‘88 CRX into a driving futon, where he had been living. It’s actually an interesting project, but I think I’m okay with having not seen it before.

New Eee

I just received my new computer that I ordered specifically for ProjectCRX, and I have to say it’s quite breathtakingly utilitarian. It’s smaller than most external DVD players, has precious little storage space, and runs linux right out of the box. My hope is that I’ll be able to use this thing more efficiently on the bus and (to a lesser extent) BART (train) during my daily work commute).

For those who’re interested in the Eee, check out:

• The unofficial eeeuser.com is the most comprehensive online resource for the eee.
• The official site also has a bunch of good info.
• You can purchase the eeepc right now on Newegg (subject to change).
  
• There’s also an interesting article on the EEE upgrade options that people have hacked in.
  

RX7 Donor

I got an offering price on the two RX7s (one salvage but running, the other streetable as-is) of $5000 for the pair. It’s more than I’m really comfortable spending, especially with the fast-growing tool budget I have laid out (just the oxy-cetaline torch and tanks get expensive, not to mention a jack, hoist, and miscellaneous wrenches that I’m missing).

I’m going to head over and get some more pictures, and hopefully hear them both run. I’m hoping to make a counter-offer with cash in hand and get something closer to what I want to spend in the end. After all, cash talks. So does the owner’s wife, who just wants them off the lawn. By then, I’ll have either sold the truck or junked it. I’ll have to see which will yield more money.

Until next time, good luck, and take lots of pictures!