Ace-Garageguy

"Home is where the heart is", so the saying goes, but my heart is still with the girl I lost in 1971.

Yup, nice detail enhancement.

Good observations. Bonded-on caps wouldn't be desirable for an internally-pressurized vessel, in particular. Pressure vessels are frequently wound over a metallic "liner" that forms the mandrel, which remains in place post-processing and becomes part of the structure. And there's more than one way to wind... When it's deemed necessary, one successful technique used for getting the mandrel out of a filament-wound structure is to make the mandrel out of styrofoam. Once the resin has reached its first cure state, the mandrel is simply dissolved with acetone...prior to post-curing. But there are so many apparent (this definition: Appearing as such but not necessarily so; seeming) deficiencies in the design, apparently flawed analysis of structural loads and pressure distribution, and the apparent lack of any initial NDT, or what should have been mandatory NDT after every dive...well, the bonded on end-caps are just one of many issues possibly contributing to the failure of the hull.

I can't answer your question, but that block sure is pretty.

Courageous men, horrible way to die. Good of you to remember them.

Missions to establish permanent colonies on the Moon and Mars could happen in my lifetime.

Impressive indeed. Thanks for the link.

You'll usually get much more competent techs working at a good independent shop...but of course, you'd have to have some technical knowledge of vehicle systems to make the call as to who's competent and who's a lying inept crook. And those are common in the industry...but they're in dealers too. So whatever works for you.

Most of the CIS flexible lines I've seen are made that way, relatively hard-but-flexible plastic tube, heat-crimped to the end fittings, with a soft polymer anti-chafe jacket. A SAFE temporary repair (or permanent if you're careful) can usually be accomplished by removing the hose assembly from the vehicle, carefully splitting the hard plastic hose on the ends where it's crimped over the fitting barbs (try not to scratch the barb area in the process, and some have one-use clamps, some don't), and replacing the hard line with HIGH PRESSURE FUEL INJECTION HOSE of the right diameter (available at auto parts stores), and appropriate worm-screw clamps. WARNING: It is IMPERATIVE that you use HIGH-PRESSURE HOSE RATED FOR FUEL INJECTION. Many parts-counter dorks don't know the difference, and will give you low-pressure fuel hose. I've seen more than one CIS-equipped vehicle burn because of that, including my own 450SL, acquired after an engine compartment fire shortly after the vehicle had left an MB dealership for injection hose replacement. NOTE: DO NOT LOSE THE COPPER SEAL WASHERS ON THE FITTINGS. They can be reused if you're careful, but should really be replaced every time a fitting is loosened...IF you can find them of CORRECT INSIDE DIAMETER.

Very rare parts shipment from England. International tracking showed it had reached the US port of ENTRY, then a distribution point, data included showing correspondence with my local zip PO. Then mysteriously, everything after it being at the port of ORIGIN in the UK just disappeared from the tracking stream. I'm impressed.

EXACTLY.

I always wondered if there were actually people in the world who took their cars to dealers for oil changes and tire work...

Next year some time, I ought to be able to make that decision; for now, I just tinker a little on ongoing projects when I get a minute or three.

I'M OFFENDED!!!

Go soak your head.

Got another free Ford 8 inch rear end, saved it just as it was going into the scrap dumpster. I will just never understand the "if it's not a nine inch, it's scrapola" mindset. These things are great for very light cars with up to around 350HP, with no idiot clutch dumping at 5 grand on slicks. Yeah, I'm looking at well over 400HP eventually, and slicks on an 1800 pound '32, and I'd like to be able to launch really hard, but the idea is to get the thing cruiseable as soon as possible, and with a little gentleness on the driveline, it'll be just fine. EDIT: The car is slated to get a QC in time, for the 'look' and the noise, and I sure as h. won't be dumping the clutch with 5 grand's worth of rear end back there anyway.