I was reading a blog entry by Abra on eGullet covering her life as a personal chef on Bainbridge Island when it reminded me about Cuizam. Mary and I have passed by the Cuizam store in Kirkland on the way to work everyday and always wondered what it was. Ended up ordering around a weeks worth of gourmet meals to try it out since Mary is still in Europe and I'm all by myself. Look forward to seeing how it works out!

Dug around and also found the Personal Chefs Network which listed another service,
Chef to Go which might be interesting to also try if Cuizam works out.

Posted by ryans at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Rennlist discussion forums from NJ-GT:

One thing I don't like on the E-gas Porsches is the engine response to the throttle, it is way slow. When you drive a 993 you know what I'm talking about. The RS flywheel took care of that specific issue, and it reduced my car weight. I installed the Euro GT3RS flywheel for weight reduction purpose (20 lbs) and rotating mass reduction.

Idle sounds like I have a bag of marbles jumping in the engine compartment, but you get used to that. The car stalls easier, but you get to used to apply more throttle on take off.

You also need the GT3RS clutch disc, bearing and flywheel bolts (shorter).

The factory flywheel on the US GT3 is the heaviest flywheel I have seen in my life: 30lbs.

6-10 hours labor depending on the shop working on this plus $1600 on parts.

GT3 RS Conversion Bill of Materials:

QTY FR-NUMBER DESCRIPTION UNIT PRICE TOTAL
20 999-507-427-40 PLASTIC R 0 $0.57 $11.40
1 964-102-239-31 FLYWHEEL 0 $494.45 $494.45
1 964-114-143-31 RING GEAR 0 $170.59 $170.59
9 928-102-151-01 SOCKET SC 0 $6.63 $59.67
1 996-116-015-32 AS CLUTCH 0 $463.78 $463.78
9 N-014-715-3 SCKT SCRE 0 $1.31 $11.79
1 931-102-111-00 BALL BEAR 1 $34.32 $34.32
1 950-116-813-30 CLUTCH GU 0 $80.06 $80.06
1 944-116-080-01 RELEASE B 0 $252.71 $252.71
1 000-043-203-33 ORMD-PENT 6 $26.18 $26.18

TOTAL $1,604.95

Posted by ryans at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A while back I stumbled across garage "clubs" where several enthusiasts got together to share garage and shop space. Bridgehampton Motoring Club is a great example (for camera user=visitor, pw=bmc). Their facility is one shared open space as opposed to individual units like the others I've looked at. A basic summary is:

* 24 hour key code access for all members via highly secure gated entrance
* Temperature and humidity controlled environment
* year-round Individual access to power for battery trickle charging
* Member access to full suite of Pan/Tilt/Zoom cameras at the facility which may be viewed over the internet
* Bi-weekly mechanical integrity routines
* Selected facility areas, lounge and picnic area available to members for personal events

Apparently it took about $1.2 million in capital to build the facility and seed the business. Fees start around $300/month. I just looked at storage spaces yesterday at Infineon Raceway (cost was $.75 per sq.ft., 1300 sq.ft. was smallest unit).

Another useful set of resources is the Storage & Transportation site list.

Posted by ryans at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Originally spotted this on a T-shirt at one of the shops at Tivoli in Copenhagen:

Posted by ryans at 04:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)