Lister Engine Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Grael on February 02, 2008, 04:55:26 AM
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Ok, I'm bored, and I was inspired by a thread in another forum I cruise. :P So, what are your other obsessions/hobbies?
For me it would be old air cooled Volkswagens, cars in general, woodworking and just generally fixing things that break instead of just buying a new one. ;D
Whats yours?
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Cool, I'm restoring a 74 Kombi Westphalia (new 2.0L dual carbs), previously have done a 72 westfakia, 72 beatle, 67 beatle, 61 and 59 also. Carve, both bark carvings and west coast native stuff and dabble in ham radio.
Stan
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Cool, I'm restoring a 74 Kombi Westphalia (new 2.0L dual carbs), previously have done a 72 westfakia, 72 beatle, 67 beatle, 61 and 59 also. Carve, both bark carvings and west coast native stuff and dabble in ham radio.
Stan
Are you on thesamba.com?(VW site) Oh, and by the way its spelled "Westfalia" and "Beetle" ;)
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Sadly, I have to say It's been a while since I had a true passion or obsession. When I was younger I had an incredible passion for riding and racing motorcycles. When I look back it was a true addiction. (riding bikes was my crack) I sold my last 3 bikes (an Honda St 1100, a Honda shadow 1100 and a Honda XR600 with a dual sport lighting kit) so as to put the money towards a property I was developing. My one good buddy has always had a bike since I sold mine and has kept riding. He tells me stories of adventure rides he and some of his friends have gone on around Vancouver Island. This same buddy and I went on a street bike tour from lethbridge to Northern California in 1987 and still laugh our arses off at all the things that happen on that trip. Stuff like showing up in Courdelane Idaho at 11:30PM on a long weekend with no chance of getting a hotel or camp spot so you sneak into the local yacht club and set up camp. just when you put your head to the pillow and say good night John boy and maryellen the sprinkler system comes on turning our tent into a life raft. As an act of survival we scrambled out of our sleeping bags to jam sprinkler heads with twigs and whatever else we can find. Must have been quite a sight - two grown men scrambling around in their wet undies! The next morning of course we are greeted by the Yacht club security guard but he sees we have cleaned up the sight and to our disbelief he says come back any time! My buddy has been saying we should go for another bike tour this coming summer so I have been looking at bikes the last few days. When I look at bikes like the KTM 950sm my left eye starts to twitch and my heart begins to beat again. I should say here that Listeroids are kind of like a pacemaker for me these last few years! If this summer you happen to see a 950sm backing it into corners or with the front end climbing for the stars on route to the painted dessert you may have just witnessed a man who has re found his long lost true love.
Troy
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Like many others on this forum I take pleasure in making something out of what might otherwise have been cast off as junk. In addition to the Lister and other generating plants, I am restoring a '52 Fargo pickup, rebuilding a Chrysler six for someone else's restoration and helping my son in law restore a Formula S Barracuda. I have just about finished overhauling the Hay Baler and will be planting tomato seeds later today, Groundhog Day. It is a variety that my grandfather got from Louisiana in 1926 and does well in greenhouses around here. (49th parallel of latitude). I was just about to go to the OFC (old fart's club at the local A&W ) but it is snowing ....again.
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OK midle, yuv got mee, but in mi defence, I've spent 29 yers corectting speling in mi students asignments and I desided when I retird I wasnt goin to give a dam about speling eny mor. ;)
Satn
Yup, I'm a lurker on Samba for a few years now , I'm "Magikbus"
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High powered rocketry, YouTube slow speed Diesel Porn and AK47's
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I used to be a biker. The black one's a '73 Eldorado, the white one's a '69 Ambassador. Both gone to BC.
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e251/noisynova/Seasonal/8e0cece7.jpg)
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Gardening, food, landscape management, old equipment, beer making, wood working/construction, biking, canoeing, x-co skiing, low impact living. Am finally parting with my '65 VW bug, tired of being greasy and working outside in the dirt. Trying to learn how to play an upright bass. Being a pain in the ass to local politicians has been a vocation for decades. ;)
I do all of these things, none of them well.
Ray
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This is the Noisy Nova, a 1969 Nova Marine.
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e251/noisynova/DSCF0394.jpg)
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Here's where the noise comes from. ;)
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e251/noisynova/Mydigitalphotos030.jpg)
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Stan,
Your spelling of `Westphalia` was certainly clever and seemed appropriate after you described dual carbs. Also thought `Westfakia` likewise clever. Our friend M.O.N. clearly is not using an adaptive filter on his language computer or may not have enough fiber in his diet. ;)
All,
As some of you are aware I spent time operating a high energy, high voltage lab in my recent past and produced some neat artificial lightning generators for science centers as well as commercial insulation breakdown testing machines, etc. When I was a child I was taking stuff apart with my father`s tools trying to figure out how all this amazing stuff worked. That trait has stuck with me for my entire life. I am self taught in most of what I know including SETI radio astronomy for which I actually collected a paycheck from NASA for a while. That was probably my most significant hobby to which I devoted my most life energy. It involved the largest toys (huge dish antennas) and cutting edge state of the art microwave radio receivers, cryogenics and other neat forms of technology that I found a real joy to play with and exciting to learn. I enjoyed antenna design and have taken what I learned and found it helpful in my recent hobby work designing very excellent, ultra low distortion, high efficiency loudspeakers for home hi-fi use. As a generalization in life I have found that the best results can usually be obtained when one tries not to defy the laws of physics. ;D
My speaker building led to setting up a bit of a woodshop here and I do enjoy making stuff with wood as well as my metal creations.
I had begun to experiment with vacuum tube circuits and audio amps before I was ten and by mid late teens had found something else to feed my curiosity. Motorcycles! Had about five into my early twenties then came an interest in four wheel gas guzzlers like mouse and rat motor powered Chevrolets. My list of money sink holes includes 1957 Bel Air 283 with 4 on the floor (my very first car!), 1964 Biscayne 283 turned 350, 1967 Impala SS396, 69 Camaro 396, 67 Chevelle 283 turned 350. My last and the one I did the most to by fabricating the speed equipment myself (no chrome on this car) was a 70 Chevelle that got a freshly rebuilt 350 mouse motor and a 6-71 GMC blower. I made the blower drive from the big cam belt pulleys, stacked to accept 2 inch gimler belt, from taking these parts out of four Vega engines at the wreckers. 1:1 drive ratio. Manifold was a cast iron Q-jet with the carb box hogged out and a flat 3/8 inch thick steel plate brazed onto the top. This car went 0-60mph- 0 in 300 feet, and it only had manual drum brakes! That means it spent most of that 300 feet trying to slow down. 8) 0-60 mph time was 4.2 seconds on street tires. Fun! Sounded like you were at the airport all the time with the turbine like whistle from the blower drive. The mechanical education was expensive but the good news is so here I was all prepped and ready to fool with stationary diesel engines when the opportunity recently arose! 8)
My priorities have changed and now I consider MPG the measure of performance, not 0-60 times. I am using what I have learned to try to make my estate energy self-sufficient. I built a battery powered bicycle last summer but have not got it on the road yet. The PWM controller for an army surplus 28 volt generator used as a drive motor was a DIY challenge that took me past the riding season to fully sort out. I had no previous experience in such motor control electronics so as often is the case, I chose in part to make the project for the learnin` I knew it would give me. This is not your average E-bicycle. It weighs as much as a Harley (~850 lbs with rider). The AGM battery bank weighs 400 lbs alone. It began as a Honda 360 twin and the frame where the engine sat got stretched 12 inches to accomodate the batteries.
I am also trying to make my own large wind turbine as part of the path to firing Ontario Hydro. A ground source heat-pump all DIY with salvaged refrigeration equipment is also on the front of the important large DIY projects list. I need to find some money to hire a backhoe and to purchase the collection piping.
I am in the process of finishing a recently crafted generating plant to charge my home battery bank that uses a tiny JD 175A diesel and have just purchased a Changfa 1115 to make a backup for my mission critical VW diesel genset which now powers my machine shop.
If I was ever talked into going on a vacation I would surely have to take my tools and a project with me or I`d certainly not enjoy myself! :D
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Mis spent youth trying to make things that common sence tell you are slow go fast ( lawn tractors are a good example ) and compact car pole vaulting ( have the scares to prove cars don't fly ).
Now I enjoy collecting old lawn mowers and gardening ( a mixture of the flowers and things to eat kind ). I do a little wood working of the crude hand tool kind and make functional things like oak tables stands and cabnets for woring on rather than admiring. The wood bit is more about trying to make things that are functional and not unpleasing to look at but nothing meant for wife. I also like to tinker with wood gasifiers and alternative energy stuff of the low tech kind.
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Mis spent youth trying to make things that common sence tell you are slow go fast ( lawn tractors are a good example ) and compact car pole vaulting ( have the scares to prove cars don't fly ).
Doug,
I pole vaulted my `70 Nova in a moment of stupidity when I drove too fast showing off what it could do in first gear on an unknown road and was uinaware of a sharp 90 degree turn ahead. Pointed at and hit the smaller of two poles, the concrete lifted out of the ground under the car launching me and two passengers into the air in a hollywood stunt type airborne roll landing on the roof. Fortunately no-one was hurt except me. The car was a total write off. It even caught on fire while I was he last one trapped inside. Man when I think of the near misses I`ve had I marvel at how I am still here!
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Ha, you're not the only one. ;D
Dave
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I have quite a few other hobbies. Number one is nose picking #2 seat picking #3 Odiferous gaseous emanation production, couch relaxation specialist but my wife calls it Lazy good for nothing waste of space specialist.
First is my model trains in Standard gauge and O gauge. Next is restoring and using my 1950 40' Matthews custom sedan yacht, 1959 21' Chris Craft Cobra speedboat, 1947 18' Lyman Islander. Then come the cars, a Factory ordered 1969 Impala 427ci 390hp 4 speed .It now has a 572ci big block fuel injected with a progressive two stage Nitrous system and a titanium Lenco four speed with a blow proof bell housing and a slipper clutch. It’s a real sleeper on the street and really not eco friendly at 6 MPG at 55 MPH. The only thing that stands out or gives it away is the four-inch stainless exhaust pipes , mufflers and the Vanity tag that says I WON. Yes I have all the number matching original parts. I also have a 1969 SS Chevelle 396 4 speed car that is a full on racecar. It now has a 496-inch Big Block with a nitrous set up also. At three thousand three hundred pounds it will still run an 8.20 168mph 1/4 mile pass. Hell if it had a good driver in it, it probably would go a lot faster. I enjoy the shooting sports, collecting Pennsylvania Rail road artifacts, collecting and building generators and Last but not least what takes the biggest amount of my time is, I work/ed as the crew chief on a professional NHRA drag race team. The SUBARU/ESX factory Drag race team for the last 5 years. We have 18 national wins in the last two years and 2 national titals.20 NHRA WALLEYS, and hold the NHRA MPH and ET records in our class, 6 NOPI wins, 3 IDRC wins, 12 number one qualifier times and all of this out of a little four cylinder SUBARU WRX STi. (3260lbs car with a 156ci 4cyl engine ran 9.01seconds at 165mph 1/4 mile passes on street tires and factory 90decible exhaust system). I almost forgot my wife and I collect rare Turkeys. We have 2 Blue Slate and 2 Royal palm turkeys. Whooo that was close I almost forgot to mention them; boy I never would have heard the end of it. ;D ;) Well I have spouted off enough so I i will let someone else have the stage.
Bluecometk
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Anything with a piston/turbine engine and wings. Spent 10 years as an aircraft mechanic.
Snowmobilles, motorcycles. Radio-control aircraft, eletcric and gas. Did I mention engines? And recently when I started working for a rental company, Diesel engines and
Bio-Diesel. Deepcycle batteries and solar panels.
A hot little latin woman ;) (I don't think she ever has ever been on this website anyway :P)
Coffee!!!!!!!!!!
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hmmmmm, not in any particular order
thinking,,,, best done with my eyes closed
reading,,,, mostly done on the throne
sleeping,,, anywhere i stop movin
argueing,,,, with anyone up for it
griping,,,,, best done on the can good isle at the grocery store
dreaming,,,, try not to,,, too scary
groaning,,, everytime i try to get up, roll over or move an appreciable amount
scheming,,,, when i ain't doing the any of the above :)
in all seriousness, i like discussing theory, working through idea's, researching, and digging for information anywhere and anytime i can find it.
collecting technical books, primarily late 1800's electrical, mechanical, blacksmithing, etc
doing stuff that isn't commonly done, like welding holes in pistons, replaceing gear teeth, making tools, cutters, drill bits, etc.
building engine's out of scrap/discarded parts
that perform as well or better than the next guy using all new parts :)
thats always alot of fun, and has made me alot of money over the years.
oh yes
lest i forget!
collecting iron!
bob g
ps: lately/mostly it would seem "COLLECTING OLD IRON" :)
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Like mobilebob, I also collect old technical books and have some beauties from National Correspondence schools and similar publishers. They cover electrical, mechanical, hydraulic and other engineering. If you ever get the feeling that you joined the race too late, these texts put you back on the ground floor and are very understandable as they were written for working men looking for advancement in what were then relatively new fields. I also have a pretty complete collection of Popular Science Monthly from the 30s to the 70s. Saved them all because I liked the Gus Wilson's Model Garage stories. All you need to do now is Google Gus Wilson and a fellow named Mike Hammerberg has published on line all the stories from 1925 to the last one in the 70s. If you like troubleshooting machinery,( in these stories, automobiles,) they are, for the most part, very entertaining.
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Kawasaki Triples, Hit and Miss engines, Guns, Hunting, Guns, Fishing (carp esp), Vintage Winchester Lever guns, British centerpin and closed face spinning reels,ATV'n,Campfires, Bacardis Limon and Brown eyed chicks.Oh and guns.
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ummm
Like driving Tanks, BFT types
I am a Lesbian.... I love women, all shapes, sizes, colours and creeds.... like fingerprints they are similar but always unique
Love my 78 Z28, my Yamaha Venture Royal
Love politics,,,, a real blood sport
Love my guns... symbols of human advancement
My kids... daughter is my princess,,, my son is mini me
oh, I love a good fart... better out than in I always say :D
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suzuki DR 350 dual sport.
Arctic cat zrt 600
honda 250 big red 3 wheel atv
magellan color mapping GPS for showing me where i was on above machines
glock 40 cal with crimson trace laser
camp in the UP built mostly from salvaged materials powered by 6-1
formula 1 racing, the highest form of motorsport engineering
2 beautiful teenage daughters
wood fired hot tub at camp
selling and installing earthlinked geothermal systems,nothing cheaper to operate
gardening
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Other sources of large cast iron engines such as my collection in International Harvesters.
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I like to fix mechanical and electrical things of all kinds. I've been that way since I was a child. In fact if you give me some tools and put me in a room with something that doesn't work right I'm just a big kid with a gray beard! I get a lot of satisfaction and feel good when something starts up and works after I fix it. Fortuneatly my employer doesn't know how much I like fixing things, I would rather do my job for free instead of sitting in front of the TV! I do have a TV and a stereo in my shop though, and I find myself dancing around a bit when I'm "working" on something and listening to some clasic rock music! In general it seems that some people break things and a few people fix things right, I'm a "fixer". Observing things and trying to understand exactly how things work has seemed to have led me to spiritual matters and I spend a lot of time trying to understand the nature of existance, so I spend a lot of time meditating. I divide my free time about 50/50 between fixing things and spiritual pursuits. Leland
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Wow, I get spiritual too, listening to Pink Floyd in my shop! I guess we all have our own definition for spiritualism, as it should be. :)
Stan
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Yay Stan, Pink Floyd is my favorite too! I think it was a Who song that me dancing the other night though. When I suddenly realized what I was doing I was glad no one was likely to be looking in the windows. And it does seem that everybody is having their own experience of reality. When the Beatles and the first other bands of "the english invasion" first came to America I remember hearing them on AM radio while reading the stories about Gus at his Model Garage. I'm sure Gus and John Lennon both helped to get me where I am today! The music of the late 60's and early 70's was some of the best ever and I found it inspirational. I'm sorry to say that a lot of the new stuff I hear on the radio today is crap. Hey, everybody is entilted to an opinion! Leland
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Well from the looks of my place my first obsesion is hording. I can't throw things away.
Secondly used to be booze but I managed to put that down.
Hot Rods - 1st car-65 Chevelle, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Chevelle with 69 Corvette engine/tranny and wheels, 66 Ford Fairlane, 59 Impala
Motorcycles - have had a bunch, Kaw KE 100- 1st bike (12 yo kid screaming down rural roads at 90 mph), Honda V-65 Magna, Harley Sporster, Harley FXSTS, Honda Gold Wing, Yamaha SR 500, Yamaha RD 400, 68 Triumph Bobber, 63 BSA Pre Unit.
Self taught musician - I dabble with harmonica, guitar, bass guitar.
Metal Fabricating/Ornamental Ironwork
Flywheel engines - Saw one at an aution 8 years ago and have been glued to them since, particularly diesels.
Dodge Cummins - Seems to have replaced my motorcycle/hot rod obsession.
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Used to be into fishing, sailing, alternative housing, alternative living, alternative energy, alternative sex, working in my shop and traveling. Now that I am retired, I am thinking about taking up an ocupation.
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Bob
Congrats
...a well rounded man at last!
David
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Wow, I get spiritual too, listening to Pink Floyd in my shop! I guess we all have our own definition for spiritualism, as it should be. :)
Stan
I like listening to Classical music....
Shostakovic is my favorite, follow by Holst and then the greats.
I find it relaxes me and improves my driving ( prevents road rage and the desire to throttle people who ask me stupid questions and or make stupid statements )
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Right now I've got a mix of ACDC, Metallica Aerosmith, Def Lepard and GNFNR on a CD in the car. Road rage wtf is that? You want to pull over and chat about it?
Stan
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Naw I don't need to pull over I just push it all down into an angery dark little ball deap down inside. Its only through calm words, cool heads and undersanding that we can lul our enimies into a false sence of security and wait untill that teriable day when I smite my enemies and whipe them from the face of the earth
Muh ha ha ha....