Recent content by Bill Brownlee

Hi All, It is with great sadness that I tell you of Bill Brownlee's passing this past November 2013. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2011. Despite all of our efforts to combat and control the disease we could never put a dent in the power of the disease. Bill said it was the only thing...

Jim, Fantastic work as always. If I only had .1% of the metal working skills you posess I would be ecstatic. You do need to keep this car in natural aluminum when you complete it. Even if there are a few bumps and scrapes, it would be a sin to cover this workmanship with paint. And your...

Bill, The typical variable reluctance probe is going to generate very low voltage pulses, especially at slow passing speeds. As the gap between the ferrous material you are sensing decreases and the relative passing speed increases the voltage will increase. With a DMM set to a DC milivolt...

Congratulations to Ryan and the team! Great design that was very well executed. Those design, fabrication, and welding skills that Ryan has acquired while working with you on the GT40, the other project cars, and this school project will serve him well. Too many graduating engineers have zero...

Robert, Beautiful car and nice video. I always thought it was "Knotts" Berry Farm? Bill

Justin, Fantastic video! Really captures the spirit of the event. I especially appreciate your choice of music, much better than the no-name, no-talent music that seems to accompany most car videos. Regards, Bill

Hi Michael, With my 302 and 016 combo I have the spacer installed. I believe that without it there will not be enough of the input shaft supported in the needle bearing. Put a straight edge across the mounting flange of the transaxle and measure where the bearing surface starts / ends in...

Hi Darrin, In my left hand drive RF40 I have an Audi 016 with the shifter on the left hand sill. Using a rod shifter that goes along the left sill and left hand side of the engine. Not sure about the 01E, but the 016 has the shifter on the left hand side. Pretty siimple linkage, but not...

There is a pretty well known failure mechanism for nickle cadmium (NiCad) batteries where metalic "hairs" grow within the cells creating shorts or partial shorts within individual cells. When this happens the charger will not see the expected voltage rise over time with a specific current input...

Thanks for the tips guys. Looking forward to attending.

I have a fair collection of snap ring pliers that I have accumulated over the years, cheapies, Craftsman, K&D, etc. I can pretty much say that none of them work very well. Have any of you found high quality snap ring pliers? Looking for tools that work on internal and external snap rings in...

Finally got around to digging up a few pictures of my car and one poor one of me. We had a nice day in December when the roads were dry so I took the car out for a short drive. Sorry for the marginal quality, they were taken with my phone. The pic of me was taken using the front camera in the...

For those that have attended in the past, any hints on good places to park for the Sunday Concours? Also, I assume you can park at the hotel (Ritz) for the Saturday GT40 forum / panel? Thanks for any advice, Bill

James, I am using an 016 so don't know if it would end up with the same orientation as an 01E. With a 302 using an Armando oil pan and the engine mounted so that the bottom of the pan is flush with the bottom paneling on the car, I have 15 degrees of half shaft angle at full bump. I am using 930...

Bling yes... But it is that special race car, F1, aerospace, aircraft, etc., kind of bling that appeals to us motorheads. It would take me twice the time and material to accomplish this (lack of patience would no doubt result in wrinkles, bad joints, etc). Great job! I think it looks "trick"...