cuisinartvette wrote:
Anyone else having issues with them?

Last month nothign but virus warnings if I try and get into my account or view links of others accounts/pics there.
Anyway cancelled the whole thing, pics and all. Little on the slow side as it was.

Noticed imageshack ridden with it too.

Any good free pic hosting sites to use?

I got kicked off tinypic.com

pr0zac wrote:
well i would hate to have the problem of being stuck in hawaii..

TommyT-Bone wrote:

CSS996 wrote:
I was just approached today to shoot a free PSA for a teen "Street Survival" driving course.

Looks like a very cool opportunity for new drivers to be safer and more confidant behind the wheel. Lord knows there's plenty of mouth-breathers on the roads these days.

Street Survival

I should be able to at least get some free track time at PPIR outta the deal. I'm going to see if they do any performance driving schools.

Could be fun...

Undercover Boss is a television series on CBS produced by Studio Lambert. It is based on the 2009 Channel 4 series of the same name after CBS acquired the American rights in the same year.[1]

The show's premise features a senior executive at a major corporation, who for one week works incognito in his/her own company as a newly-hired entry-level worker, to find out how the company really works (including the impact of "corporate policy") and identify some of the unsung heroes among the workers.

The first episode premiered on February 7, 2010 after Super Bowl XLIV and featured Larry O'Donnell, President and Chief Operating Officer of Waste Management, Inc..[2]

biggrizzly wrote:
Another friend of mine in the club has been fighting for his life after an episode of congestive heart failure. His wife emailed me yesterday and his "car barn" collapsed under the weight of the snow. He had about 20 antique cars and collectibles in there including a few classic Vettes. He is still in the hospital and his son's were going down to check out the damages, but first reports are that the cars are squashed!!!

shakedown067 wrote:

Yep, although they are 17x9.5 and 18x10.5. Looking to hook up a set of Nitto 555R II's (275/40/17-305/35/18) for autocross and an HPDE event or two a year.

Now see what Gen 3 engines are on this GM document. Hummm not just the '01 LS6. Interesting. But yet the LS6 is the infamous oil 'burner'.

It all started with the 5300 mid sized utility block that the Gen3 is based. The cylinders on the 5300 are siamesed with a small 20mm slot at the top of the cylinders so the coolant passes thru. As the engine temp rises ( generally on the C5 manual transmission models, where aggressive driving is the norm) this area of cooling has a history of distorting the diameter of the cylinder bores due to 'hot spots'. Cylinder bores did not have a consistant temperature.

Add to this that the machining tolerances were to great for both cylinder diameter and cylinder bore taper. The 1999 LS1 OEM rings are thin and ring tension is less than previous engines to reduce friction. The rings could not always seal off the cylinder ( particulary with the manual transmission when a high engine speed an low MAP (absolute manifold pressure) condition occured ( cruising in second gear thru town and not shift up to third, ect). Rings may not '"flutter " but its difficult to seal under those conditions.

The PCV system design contributed to the blow-by issue as the crankcase oil/moisture gases exited thru the valve cover and returned thru the throttle body.

But try as they may the GMPT engineers could not place the cause of this excess oil consumption .

Now come the 2001 LS6 in the Z06. A factory race car. Again with the 5300 block and now ith even more HP features including 1.5mm piston rings with 9 pounds of ring tension. Add the previous Gen 3 issues and Z06 aggressive style drivers and blow by was evident in a higher % ( greater % but less number of engines as the LS1) than GM was "comfortable" with. Even with the relocation of the PCV crankcase oil baffle/ separator under the manifold valley cover .

The LS6es extremes ( higher operating RPM) ,thin , low tension piston rings made it evident to the GMPT engineers at last what the causes of the GEN 3 blow by were. So with the LS6 as the model , GMPT did a band aid fix with the replacement of the second piston ring with an aggressive Napier scarper ring face and increased ring tension from 9 to 13 pounds. ( GMPT said that no hp was lost by the 'fix'). This what was done under #894549. GM handed the qualify of this band-aid to the dealers ( whole story in its self).

The new Napier ring pak did not go into production LS1 or LS6es till the next production year 2002 M/Y for the LS6 and a few weeks later into the 2002 M/Y production LS1 engines. NO REVISED RINGS WENT INTO ANY 2001 M/Y PRODUCTION LINE ENGINE. PERIOD !!!( John Juriga , Assistant Chief engineer for GEN 3 engines) This is all documented. The only revised rings went into owners cars under warranty that qualified as excessive oil consumption under dealer program.

FYI: in mid April 2001 a new piston was introduced to the production line engines ( both LS1 and LS6) under the issue of cold start piston slap complaints by previous year owners. This piston was larger in diameter so as to lessen the dimension between the piston and cylnder bore wall. The new piston also had a new polymer anti friction coating on the piston skirt ( a first for GM engines).

Since the GMPT engineers discovered the cause and the conditions that
'enhanced ' the oil blow by issue , GM told their C5 car owners to drive a little more conservatively i.e. shift sooner, drive not so aggressively and their oil issues would be greatly reduced . According to GM , that helped many owners bring oil blow by within reason. The C5 automatic transmission cars had the least complaints.

Look at the changes to the GEN 4 LS2 engine; coolant passages were changed, machining tolerances were tightened so as to produce a consistant cylinder diameter /taper and tmperature. The LS 2 piston rings use the same aggresive Napier scraper face but they are thinner (1.2mm) than the LS6es (1.5mm) and the combined piston ring tension on the LS2 is less than that of the '01 OEM LS6 (9 pounds).

The PCV system was again addressed on the GEN 4 LS2 with two redesigned crankcase oil baffles /oil separators . Plus two were incorporated, one on the inlet and one on the outlet. The location of the outlet oil separator is still under the valley cover as on the LS6.

Read anywhere , even the C6 Ls2 there are still complaints , granted far less about oil blow by.

Side note ; oil passing thru the combustion chambers is not good and over time and depending on just how much oil passes it will effect horse power as oil will mess up the air /fuel mixture ratio. Oil will foul O2 sensors, shorten the life of the Cats. Burned oil becomes carbon that builds on all surfaces of the piston , the ring lands, cylinder head, valves, ect.

FYI , my 2001 Z06 (prodcution date June 18th) 2001M/Y ended June 21st 2001

The information resources are Dave Hill , Chief Engineer . John Juriga Assistant Chief Engineer for GEN 3 passenger car engines, Jordan Lee GMPT engineer Gen 4 , Mark Damico GMPT Staff engineer.

Snow Collapses Dulles Jet Center


The huge snowstorm blanketing the mid-Atlantic has reportedly collapsed the roof of an FBO at Dulles and may have damaged or destroyed four aircraft, according to WTOP. It's also been reported that snow caused damage at Manassas Airport in Virginia. The roof of Dulles Jet Center collapsed about 8 a.m. Saturday after the D.C. area was buried under almost three feet of snow in some areas. Dulles Airport Manager Rob Yingling said there were five people in the building but no one was injured. He also confirmed four "private jets" were inside and that damage to the building was significant.

Photos and video on the NBC Washington Web site show the front of the building distorted under the weight of the snow.

SpectatorRacing wrote:

Too bad you can't wait til spring, I'm pulling the booster out of the '93 then. You could have it cheap.