[cdd29]

I was part of a NASCAR West Series team in the early 1990's. The West Series runs the same cars as the top weird Cup cars, on tracks out West, with a couple joint events at Sears Point, Law Vegas, Phoenix, and California Speedway.

In addition to changing front tires during pit stops, I helped with car prep, between round nut and bolt checks, and being the only guy on the team with a CDL, I drove the semi.

We even got some TV coverage, and it was fun working alongside all the well known race teams. We had breakfast once with Ron Hornaday and his team, drank beer with Kenny Schrader, and chatted with Davey Allison at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington, aweek before he was killed in the helicopter accident at Talladega, Alabama.


Good times.

Mostly.

Racer X 69. You mentioned you race a Z. What model (can't quite tell by the photo)? I don't race(legally anyway) but have had a 280zx & currently have a 370z. Fun cars.

[wtlwdwgn]

Welcoming the K 24mm f/3.5 to the rest of my K collection. I try to shoot with at least one every day.

[SA Photo]

Got my hands on a Sigma 85 1.4 a few months ago but I'm not real happy with the images I get with it. I do mainly studio work and I'm shooting at f/8 1/100sec most of the time at a distance of about 8ft. Depth of field should not be an issue but the eyes seem really soft compared to my 70-200 2.8. Any suggestions?

[richard0170]

Got my hands on a Sigma 85 1.4 a few months ago but I'm not real happy with the images I get with it. I do mainly studio work and I'm shooting at f/8 1/100sec most of the time at a distance of about 8ft. Depth of field should not be an issue but the eyes seem really soft compared to my 70-200 2.8. Any suggestions?

AF issue?

[Racer X 69]

Racer X 69. You mentioned you race a Z. What model (can't quite tell by the photo)? I don't race(legally anyway) but have had a 280zx & currently have a 370z. Fun cars.

It is a 1971 Datsun 240Z. I bought it in 1989, for $3,000. It has been a race car since 1979, having an ICSCC logbook showing race entries dated 1979 to present. It had a bolt in roll bar when I got it, and a hideous lime green, bright blue and orange paint scheme. After running two novice races in 89, I stripped the car to a bare shell, built a full roll cage, fixed some rust issues and some poorly done crash repairs, then painted it. Built an engine and reworked the suspension, installed a fuel cell and fire supression system and went racing. I finished second in the season points in my first full season in 1990, and won the Northwest Regional championship in 1997.

Some pictures of before and after.

My car, before I owned it, behind the red, white and blue Z.




After six months of lots of work.




All done, next to my brown 72 Z.




Ontrack.

[trixtroll]

It is a 1971 Datsun 240Z. I bought it in 1989, for $3,000. It has been a race car since 1979, having an ICSCC logbook showing race entries dated 1979 to present. It had a bolt in roll bar when I got it, and a hideous lime green, bright blue and orange paint scheme. After running two novice races in 89, I stripped the car to a bare shell, built a full roll cage, fixed some rust issues and some poorly done crash repairs, then painted it. Built an engine and reworked the suspension, installed a fuel cell and fire supression system and went racing. I finished second in the season points in my first full season in 1990, and won the Northwest Regional championship in 1997.

Some pictures of before and after.

My car, before I owned it, behind the red, white and blue Z.




After six months of lots of work.




All done, next to my brown 72 Z.




Ontrack.

Beautiful Z cars! A couple parked next to my Miata at Cars and Coffee a few weeks ago and I’ve been admiring them online since. Too bad the prices are so high right now.

[cdd29]

Beautiful Z cars! A couple parked next to my Miata at Cars and Coffee a few weeks ago and I’ve been admiring them online since. Too bad the prices are so high right now.

Yeah, prices have skyrocketed. We've though of selling our 370z and getting one with lower miles but the price of my car is about $5000 higher than we paid for it not too long ago. Some going well over $30,000, the price of a new one (2020 last year for the 370z, 400z comes out next year). Can't justify the cost. Guess I will buy more camera gear instead.

[JimJohnson]

Those old IBM keyboards just keep going and going.
IIRC they could be cleaned by immersing them in water.
Good used Model M clicky keyboards still sell for high prices.

Chris

Yes they can be immersed. Back in the 80's I was the 1st line of defense for PC repairs, and often the last line. I had a co-worker dump almost an entire cup of coffee into his IBM keyboard - worse he heavily polluted his coffee with sugar and creamer (I drink mine black if you can't guess). Fortunately I was nearby and popped that keyboard off the PC before anything could short. All staff had been previously warned that drinks should not be placed adjacent to or in this case, above office equipment.

Ran over to a local electronics supply store and purchase a container of liquid (not spray) electronics part cleaner. Using the office janitor's closet with its utility sink, I thoroughly washed the keyboard with water and a small amount of dish detergent. flushed it well and let it drain as well as possible, but not dry. I then liberally doused the keyboard with the the cleaner (which is plastic safe by the way) to flush all the usual electrolytic contaminants found in tap water off the circuits.

Luckily it was a Friday and the office was not open on weekends. The keyboard was pretty potent and needed to air. My co-worker complained his keyboard still had a chemical odor for the following week, but nobody gave him any sympathy. So far as I know that keyboard was still in use when I left that job a couple years later - but that co-worker swapped it out at first chance when another co-worker left employment!

---------- Post added 06-12-21 at 09:09 AM ----------

A friend of mine told me that keyboard led to many businesses adopting IBM machines and the consequent monopoly of Microsoft!

IMO, yes and no. The keyboard was meant to emulate the feel of the IBM Selectric typewriter, which was fairly pervasive in many corporate offices. But the bigger reason is many corporate offices had IBM service contracts and overall IBM service was reasonably quick and reliable. Management thought the same would be true for PCs. Turns out that while also electronic, typewriter repair staff weren't all that sharp at PC repairs. I knew as much or more than the IBM people, which at the time wasn't saying a lot. But as they say, the die was cast and IBM branded PCs found their way into a lot more offices. It just so happened that Microsoft was along for the ride.

[steamloco76]

A $1627.10 repair bill for this minor hit to the lower rear impact bar cover on my 2018 Equinox. No damage to the sub structure or body either. Two all plastic parts and a half pint of paint. Modern vehicles stink when it comes to any type of body damage. Thank goodness I kept my deductible at $500. Worst part- I’d have never gotten it fixed, except the Equinox is leased and goes back to Chevy at the end of July. We bought a used 2017 to replace it. Never leasing or buying new again.

[timb64]

Cross posted from General Photography

ThinkTank TurnStyle 10 V2.0 Blue Indgo

I am very pleased with the bag. I've removed all but one of the dividers leaving ample room for my KP with either the 16-85 or PLM fitted and safe space for the other lens. A good sized front pocket for spare batteries, memory cards, etc and a rear pocket which easily houses an iPad mini.

It has an integral rain cover and waist strap which stow away neatly when not in use.

An added bonus is that it hangs from my left shoulder as I have arthritis in my right shoulder.

Materials and construction seem quite good for the price and I love the colour.

[Lord Lucan]

[.

Those old IBM keyboards just keep going and going.IIRC they could be cleaned by immersing them in water.Good used Model M clicky keyboards still sell for high prices.

Yes they can be immersed.

I take your word for it but won't try it. but they can be dismantled. I'm using a Model M now, and I take it to pieces once a year to clean it. When my company stopped using IBM PCs, everything went in the skip - I salvaged about six Model M keyboards and carried on using mine; it amazed me that everyone else accepted their new issued cheap trash keyboard in place of their Model M without a murmur - no taste. They said it was lighter, but who cares what it weighs (unless you are a desk) ? I have 5 at home now. I'd really like a Model F, they were serious.

the bigger reason is many corporate offices had IBM service contracts and overall IBM service was reasonably quick and reliable

I don't think they needed a reason; the IBM way was ingrained in most large corporations, just as Microsoft later became. There was a saying that no-one was ever fired for buying IBM.

[Marcus Rowland]

A couple of good days in the markets etc.

Yesterday in Portobello Road I picked up a Retinette IB and several lens caps for £10 - the camera's meter isn't working, but everything else seems OK so I ought to come out ahead
And today quite a good haul:
A Russian Chaika II half-frame camera (a weird thing with a removable 28mm M39 lens that unfortunately don't focus to infinity on a Leica - it was intended for enlarging the half-frame negatives) and a Prakticar 2.8/135 in PB mount for £15, both working well.
A Pentax P30 body with KA 2/50, also for £15 - lens is fine, haven't found batteries to check the camera yet.
And a Praktica TL3 body with Prinzflex 3.8/200mm M42 lens (and a couple of filters including a polarizer) for £12 - both working well.

More tomorrow hopefully.

[Racer X 69]

Beautiful Z cars!

Thanks!

Too bad the prices are so high right now.

Yeah, prices have skyrocketed. We've though of selling our 370z and getting one with lower miles but the price of my car is about $5000 higher than we paid for it not too long ago. Some going well over $30,000, the price of a new one (2020 last year for the 370z, 400z comes out next year). Can't justify the cost. Guess I will buy more camera gear instead.

I paid $2,000 for the brown 72 Z in 1992.

Today they are selling for $25,000 to $60,000 at auctions like Bring a trailer.

I own 14 Z cars, although most are parts cars that will likely never see road use again. A bunch of local car guys have heard about my collection, and I am overwhelmed with overtures from them, some even interested in the ones that are little more than rusty shells.

Mrs. Racer wants me to sell most of them, and I’m getting them ready to do just that. I figure I can use the proceeds to build some of the ones I want to keep.

[WPRESTO]

A $1627.10 repair bill for this minor hit to the lower rear impact bar cover on my 2018 Equinox. No damage to the sub structure or body either. Two all plastic parts and a half pint of paint. Modern vehicles stink when it comes to any type of body damage. Thank goodness I kept my deductible at $500. Worst part- I’d have never gotten it fixed, except the Equinox is leased and goes back to Chevy at the end of July. We bought a used 2017 to replace it. Never leasing or buying new again.

I busted one of red plastic covers over a rear brake light. On my first car that would have been $5 to NAPA and some time with three Phillips screws. This one required removal of an inner panel in the hatch that was attached how?? No way to tell where the clips were nor how to safely undo them without the full shop manual, and probably a special tool. So it went to the dealer. OVER $400 TO REPLACE A PLASTIC BRAKE LIGHT COVER!!!!! And I used to sneer at people who taped on colored cellophane rather than replace a "cheap" plastic tail-light cover.

[trixtroll]

Thanks!





I paid $2,000 for the brown 72 Z in 1992.

Today they are selling for $25,000 to $60,000 at auctions like Bring a trailer.

I own 14 Z cars, although most are parts cars that will likely never see road use again. A bunch of local car guys have heard about my collection, and I am overwhelmed with overtures from them, some even interested in the ones that are little more than rusty shells.

Mrs. Racer wants me to sell most of them, and I’m getting them ready to do just that. I figure I can use the proceeds to build some of the ones I want to keep.

Great cars, but I can’t see spending 60k when a modern Toyota 86 is a cheaper and faster 2+2.