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FEBRUARY NEWS In the December 2007 issue, our lead picture showed a sprinkling of November snow on the ground at Lindsey Racing. Something we don't see all that often... maybe two or three times a year. This January, things got a little more serious with a major ice storm. For us, we saw the lights flicker on and off a few times. For many others, they were without electricity for up to two weeks. "Always Improve". Lindsey Racing produces many products. And because there are so many, we generally do production runs in the 25 to 50 piece range. It just means we need to plan ahead more and keep a close look at inventory levels to insure that we re-order or manufacture to always keep things on the shelf. It's very rare to see an empty bin or shelf here. What this allows us to do is make changes or improvements very often. Little changes. Big changes. Changes based on more experience, customer feedback, and further innovation. Several of our main staple products are being improved all the time. Many more are getting updated this very moment. We attended the PRI Show in Orlando, Florida this past December. We went down with a two page list of booths to visit. The list was organized by both booth number and vendor so we could cover the most ground efficiently. The list consisted of both companies we currently work with and companies we had an interest in doing business with. We visited with SPEC, J&E, MAHLE, WISECO, Marren, Canton, Cannon, Cometic, Fluid Control, Bilstein, Ohlins, EFI and a handful of others. It's always nice to put a face to the voice you deal with over the years. We also kindled a variety of new relationships. We found some new suppliers for things we have been missing. We came back from the show with a long list of ideas for both new products and ideas to take some of current products to the next level. As a result, we have over 15 new R&D projects in the works for 2008. Just today one of the new product's final design samples arrived for our test fit and approval. Since we were there only one day, we had to burn rubber (tennis shoes of course) the whole time. Next year we will spend a little more time there and we're sure we will come back with another list of new ideas. So for 2008, be sure to keep your eyes on our New Products page. The next 200 orders shipped from Lindsey Racing will include a FREE X-Large sample of our new "Black Lightning" hand protection gloves. We acquired a pair at a trade show and used them for a month without having to throw them away. Perfect for engine assembly, wheel bearing rebuilding, changing oil, or any messy job that you want to keep your hands clean. Please go to 'General Store/Tools' for information. FEBRUARY & MARCH SPECIALSFor the Month of February and March, we will be offering the following special pricing for our retail customers only. Specials may apply to one or both months. Other discounts and programs do not apply and cannot be combined. You must request the special pricing at time of ordering. The shopping cart does not recognize our specials and will NOT automatically give you the special pricing. You MUST either send us a follow up e-mail immediately after ordering through the shopping cart or International Order Form, or give us a telephone call and ask for your special pricing. If you order by phone, you MUST mention the special pricing at time of order. If you contact us after the order is shipped and request the special pricing, it will be too late to receive it.
For the Month of February, our Crank Case Breather Kits are on sale. Either the standard tank which mounts to your cam tower, or the Universal tank that mounts with a 3" saddle clamp. Not only do you get 10% off the price, we throw in free polishing.
We think every car needs a fuel pressure gauge. If you don't have one, now is a good time to get one. Our popular Fuel Rail Gauge Kit is 15% off in both February and March. It's a great way to make sure your fuel pressure actually is what it is supposed to be, and an invaluable aid when troubleshooting a no start car.
The most recent addition to our "already difficult to choose from so many" ignition wires is our exclusive High Performance Braided Wires. They just may be the final touch you have been looking for to dress up your engine bay. They utilize Beru connectors, braided covers and ground straps like the 930. Get your set today at 15% off regular price during February and March..
We had this MAF and Mafterburner special in December. We're still overstocked on both items and are going to sweeten the deal a little more. This February and March, we have our Stage II MAF Meter Kits on sale. Save $175 on this kit. You still need a Piggy Back Fuel Controller. When purchasing the Stage II MAF and our Mafterburner at the same time, take an additional $125 off the Mafterburner.
DECEMBER CUSTOMER CAR OF THE MONTHJames Fegaras '86 2.8L 951James purchased one of our 340 RWHP kits with a Super 75 , 4" exhaust and Intake Manifold upgrade. He contracted a shop near home to install the kit for him. James had called us when the shop had the car completed to discuss the many problems and issues it had. The shop had made a real mess out of the plumbing. After speaking with the mechanic at length and covering all the mistakes and how to correct them, they just moved the mistakes around. The next time we spoke, it was as if we never had the first conversation or someone was asleep while we had it. So we started all over again. And then a third time. We're told that shop has since closed it doors. As it turns out, we remember another customer in the same area last year having problems with his car who was taking it to the same shop. No wonder! After much frustration, James took his car home and we walked him through the corrections. By the time we were done, we were confident James knew more about how to setup his car than did the garage. James was able to, for the first time, put his foot on the throttle and snap the tires loose. But after all that time and hard work, the car still had issues which, upon a compression check, revealed an extremely weak cylinder. This cylinder was causing a massive crank case pressure blow-by issue with smoke and oil everywhere. James then made the decision to drive the car to Oklahoma and leave it with us to correct. James limped his 951 down here from Ontario Canada. Upon tear down of the engine, we found a broken piston ring on one of the cylinders. Couple that with a generally tired engine anyway, and you have problems you can never work around. James decided to go ahead while the motor was apart to convert it to a 2.8L along with a solid lifter conversion and a pile of other goodies as you will see in his proud build list below.
ENGINE MODS:
Lindsey Racing Built 2.8L SUSPENSION:
Cambermeister Strut Brace (Trimmed & Chromed by LR) BRAKES: Lindsey Racing Big Brake Kit SHOP TALKThe Lindsey Racing Billet Aluminum Fuel Rail now has more flexibility of usage. For those competing in a stock prepared 944 or 951 class where you must retain the stock fuel pressure regulator, we now have an option for our popular Billet Fuel Rail. We have produced an Adapter which allows you to run a stock Bosch Fuel Pressure Regulator on our rail. This will allow you to get rid of that prone to leaking factory rail while complying with the rules stating you must run the stock regulator.
The fuel line connection at the front of the rail is different than the stock set-up so you will require a replacement fuel line for that. This would be the inlet or high pressure line. We have a new Fuel Line Kit that allows you to purchase either just the inlet line, or if you like, a matching fuel return or outlet line. Otherwise, your factory hose will connect to your regulator just like it does now. Speaking of fuel lines... A salesman from our fuel line supply company recently dropped by and showed us some new fuel lines and fittings. We felt for many customers looking for something new and unique, or wanting to change the looks of things, this may be the ticket. All of our line kits, whether fuel or oil related, will soon be offering the same kits with black braided hose, and the option of black anodized or polished look (electroplated) fittings. More than likely, we will eventually be offering our stainless braided hoses with your choice of black or polished fittings as well. We will also carry the new fittings separately for those wanting to convert their current hose kits over to black or polished fittings without purchasing the new hose. Currently having 7 different kits on the shelf using braided hose, making them all available in the multiple color combinations will increase our inventory on those items several fold. By the time you read this, we will have many of them on the way and you will see them showing up on the web site's appropriate pages the next couple of months. We have found that not only can you make gobs of horsepower from the 944 turbo platform, but the engines can be quite impressive looking as well. We have seen it over and over again. People not only take great pride in the outside appearance of their cars with parts like wheels, spoilers and mirrors , but equally under the hood. These lines will give our customers even more options in their appearance upgrades. If you read last month's Horsepower Talk, you read about Bypass Valves. We have quite a few customers that have switched over to our stiffer spring. So far all the reports have been positive. One of our customers made the following comment on Turbo944.com: "THE ERRATIC A/F AT IDLE IS NOW FIXED, THE STUMBLE WHEN THE BY-PASS WOULD BE TRYING TO OPEN AND CLOSE AT CRUISE IS GONE. 2 PROBLEMS WHICH I THOUGHT WOULD JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH GONE!!" I hate to make such a big deal out of a simple spring, but this spring can make a much larger difference than you might think. And for under $10! Of course that assumes you already have an EVO or Champion (made by Forge) Bypass valve. 911 Chips! Lindsey Racing is proud to announce that they now have available from MAX HP (same place our 951 chips came from) chips for your '84-'89 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2L. Russell spent much time perfecting this chip moving forward with knowledge and experience gained from working with the 951, 944 and 944S2 chips. He is currently working on the 964 chips so those should be available in the coming months. Have a 3.2 Carrera in the garage? Know somebody that does? The first three people who contact Dave will get a free 911 chip. The only requirement is that the car currently has another aftermarket chip in it. And after you try your new chip, you get back to us with your impressions so we can share them with others. Lindsey Racing's advertised HP kits utilizing a turbocharger upgrade have been limited to their 340 kit to date. The kit is very popular because it includes everything you need to upgrade a completely stock car to an impressive 340 RWHP with nothing else required. Many of you don't know that this can be just a starting point. Time and time again, our customers want more power than that. So being flexible as we are, we just substitute in and out other parts to accommodate them. For example... we may upgrade the turbo from our standard Sport model to our Super 61 ($75 upgrade charge) and upgrade the exhaust from the standard 3" to a 4" system ($150 upgrade charge). We would switch out the injectors for larger flowing units (no extra charge) and supply the necessary chip set for that combination. We have seen that combination of parts produce 400 RWHP at 21 psi of boost with a completely stock cylinder head, cam and intake manifold. Make that Super 61 upgrade a "P" trim (no extra charge), add a Turbo Down Pipe ($399 upgrade charge) and that combination will now make that same 400 RWHP at less than 20 psi of boost. We have similar experiences with other combinations of parts so we feel it's time to offer more kits so it's more obvious to the buyer. So as the months move along, you will see new kits popping up with new numbers starting with a 400 RWHP kit. We just took one more step to make our Solid Camshaft kits easier to use and maintain. One of the areas that we had no control over was the paper gasket between the cylinder head and camshaft box. This gasket has varied in manufacturer, material and thickness. Being paper, it also compresses with torque from the bolts holding the cam box to the head. The more you tighten it, the closer the camshaft comes to the valves and this is where we set the important valve lash dimension. On set-up, we shoot for .003" cold. You could change that dimension by changing the torque on the bolts.
So even if we make all the dimensional math calculations and even do a pre-assembly of the head and cam box, if you use a different gasket or torque the two together at a different value, you could get a different lash thickness. This is why we always check the lash again once the engine has had the final top end assembly installed. So what we did to aid in this area is produce a new cam tower gasket. This new gasket is a .020" thick rubber coated steel. This gives us the same thickness every time with minimal compression with torque. Although this type of sealing is not new technology, and has been used for years on other applications, it's unique for sealing these two surfaces together. We already have a customer running one and reporting no leaks. We are trying to get one more either installed on an in-house project or another customer in the field to verify they're sealing correctly. You can also use the gasket on a stock head and cam set-up. They will be less prone (to say the least) to tearing or blowing out. They are even easier to install since they don't sag in the middle like the paper gasket does without the bolts in place. Look for them to be released in the next week or two. NEW PAGES, PRODUCTS & DRAWINGS @ LINDSEYRACING.COMWe are continually doing things to improve and grow www.lindseyracing.com, adding new pages of product as well as new and exciting information to current pages. Since the site is always growing, we thought it would be beneficial to share some of the "CHANGES" with you in this new section of our newsletter. Otherwise, who knows how long it may take to discover them.
Power Perfect Instructions New Page FINAL THOUGHTS When the storm was all said and done, the ice was too much for our Bradford Pear tree. If we had manufactured this tree, we would go back to the drawing board and try to improve it's strength for the next production run. A philosophy we have at Lindsey Racing is to "Always Improve". Until next issue, we wish you many safe and quick laps. - The Lindsey Racing Crew |
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