General Questions

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I've been thinking about what I want for my license plate and that brought up a question. Can you personalize an antique plate?

Also, are there any other requirements for an antique plate other than the car being at least 30 years old? I ask because my mom was talking about a mileage restriction, but the Florida dmv site only talks about the age requirement.
 
I've been thinking about what I want for my license plate and that brought up a question. Can you personalize an antique plate?

Also, are there any other requirements for an antique plate other than the car being at least 30 years old? I ask because my mom was talking about a mileage restriction, but the Florida dmv site only talks about the age requirement.

I would have thought you could personalise it. Antique or not it's still a number plate.
 
I'm guessing that this is what you have already found. From dmv.org/fl-florida/license-plate-faqs.php:
How can I get antique plates for my vehicle?

For starters, your vehicle must be at least 30 years old to qualify for antique plate status. If it is, then bring your current registration with you to a county tax collector's office to receive the plates.
Sounds to me like you're right - age only.

Definition: of or belonging to the past; not modern, dating from a period long ago, noting or pertaining to automobiles approximately 25 years old or more.

Nothing about mileage there either.
 
That's awesome then, I'm going to get an antique plate that says "BRCDA" (I have checked availability and there's nothing better)
 
What's midgrade gasoline/petrol used for regularly? I've only seen any of our familys' cars either use regular or premium? Just curious.
 
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned reproductive modifications as a basic tenant for life – if the progeny can’t mutate, then I’m not sure it’s life (obviously, fires are different from one another, but that’s a function of the fuel rather than any intrinsic characteristic of that particular fire).
 
What's midgrade gasoline/petrol used for regularly? I've only seen any of our familys' cars either use regular or premium? Just curious.

If your engine pings or knocks on regular, move up to the midgrade and see how it runs.

The octane rating is a measure of resistance to preignition. If the fuel air mixture ignites before the spark plug triggers it, you get a knocking sound from the engine, as the cylinder pressure goes up too early, the cylinder is still trying to compress. Fuel of higher octane resists this tendency.

The extra dime a gallon can save you a lot of money in the long run, compared to bearing damage from heavy knocking.

Every time I mention octane ratings, I have to remember to preach that octane is not a "power" rating for fuel. High-octane fuel is not more powerful than regular, nor is it more efficient (higher mpg); it simply resists preignition better.

That resistance to preignition is what makes it useful in engines with higher compression ratios. The compression ratio is where the power comes from, as there is a higher fuel/air density in the cylinder. Regular gas can't be compressed that hard or it will ignite early, so an engine built with high compression (or forced induction) will specifiy premium fuel. This specification leads users to assume that the fuel is more powerful, when it's just the engine that's more powerful, it just needs to be coddled by using fuel with higher knock resistance.

That said, some cars will produce more power with higher octane fuel, because they are smart enough to make other adjustments based on input from a knock sensor. They can advance timing or increase boost pressure. Usually you see those cars suggesting premium anyway, and again, it's not the fuel that's more powerful, it's the engine's ability to accomodate its higher octane to squeeze more fuel into the intake charge. More fuel = more power.
 
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Every time I mention octane ratings, I have to remember to preach that octane is not a "power" rating for fuel. High-octane fuel is not more powerful than regular, nor is it more efficient (higher mpg); it simply resists preignition better.
Invisible +rep.

In fact, higher-octane gas is actually less effective (less power per volume burned) than lower-octane gas. It is merely that engines can make better USE of it by running higher compression ratios, more spark advance, or more boost without the preignition that wfooshee describes. All these strategies increase the power output of the engine more than is lost by using the less-volatile high octane gas.

Virtually all modern cars have a knock sensor that retards the spark when it sense preignition, so you are less likely to damage your engine by running too-low octane. However, it will lower your power output. If you run higher octane, the ECU will advance spark if possible, making more power. BUT: there is almost always a limit to how far it will advance the spark, no matter what gas you run. So if your owner's manual says that your car is optimized for 89 octane, there is absolutely no reason to run 91 octane in it. All you are doing is wasting money because the ECU will never advance spark enough to take advantage of any higher octane.
 
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Well about the MP4 thing a few weeks earlier, I think me and my friend just settled on it. She says it was okay and I don't have to replace it, just asks me to burn an mp3 cd for her.... :)

Anyways, this has really been bugging me for awhile and I hope some of you could answer this for me. So here the question goes:

  • Why is the difference between air speed and land speed?
  • When your on an airplane and about to land on the runway, you know you would get to see the city below just before you land right? Why does the scenery looks so slow from the airplane window? The ships and cars are almost stationary when you look....
  • Relating to that, why does it feel very slow when you ride on an airplane even though your probably going at about ~700kp/h on air?
 
  • Why is the difference between air speed and land speed?
  • When your on an airplane and about to land on the runway, you know you would get to see the city below just before you land right? Why does the scenery looks so slow from the airplane window? The ships and cars are almost stationary when you look....
  • Relating to that, why does it feel very slow when you ride on an airplane even though your probably going at about ~700kp/h on air?

• Wiki knows all
• I guess it's a distance thing. The closer you get to the ground the quicker things will seem to pass you.
• Because there's nothing around you stationary to draw a comparison with.
 
Perspective. If you've ever been fortunate enough to see an airliner heading the opposite direction you'll be able to tell how fast you're going.

Look at it this way, too: how fast does that plane way up in the sky look as you watch him making his contrail up there? Does it look like 500+ MPH? Probably not.

The perspective comes into play because your eyes perceive objects within a viewing angle. Say you're perceiving a space about 90 degrees wide. (You see more than that, but let's use it as an example, since it makes easy math.) At ten feet away, that line across the far side of that angle is about 20 feet long. Something going across your field of vision crosses just 20 feet, and doesn't have to be very fast to do so quickly. Something 5 miles away, though, has to cross a space of ten miles to cross that 90-degree field of view. Even at 600 miles per hour it takes a full minute to get through that space. So what's faster, the guy jogging in front of you who crosses your field of view in a few seconds, or the airliner 5 miles away that takes a full minute to cross the same visual field?

As for airspeed and ground speed, the difference is what it's measured against, the air or the ground. Since air itself can be moving relative to the ground, having 400 knots of airspeed with a 20-knot wind means a ground speed of 380 to 420 knots, depending on the wind direction compared to your own direction. Aircraft velocity is measured in airspeed, because that's what affects the surfaces. The aircraft couldn't care less how fast it's moving against the ground, but how fast it is against the air is vital.

Which, um, brings us to the airplane on a conveyor belt. . . . . . . . :sly:
 
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How safe is Mercury if kept with a sealed plastic container?

We have a little tilting maze game which we've had aslong as I can remember, but only now really wondering about the health effects of keeping Mercury in the home.
 
If the seal is good then I think you should be fine, but if it isn't then you can drink it probably not so much.
 
Invisible +rep.

In fact, higher-octane gas is actually less effective (less power per volume burned) than lower-octane gas. It is merely that engines can make better USE of it by running higher compression ratios, more spark advance, or more boost without the preignition that wfooshee describes. All these strategies increase the power output of the engine more than is lost by using the less-volatile high octane gas.

Virtually all modern cars have a knock sensor that retards the spark when it sense preignition, so you are less likely to damage your engine by running too-low octane. However, it will lower your power output. If you run higher octane, the ECU will advance spark if possible, making more power. BUT: there is almost always a limit to how far it will advance the spark, no matter what gas you run. So if your owner's manual says that your car is optimized for 89 octane, there is absolutely no reason to run 91 octane in it. All you are doing is wasting money because the ECU will never advance spark enough to take advantage of any higher octane.

Quite right... the practical limit of spark advance means that to obtain more power out of higher octane nearly always requires more psi... whether from high compression pistons or from a turbocharger or supercharger.

My car is programmed to take advantage of high octane, but while it runs smoother on 110 octane Propane gas ( :D :D :D ), it makes a lot less power. About 10 hp. Still, in testing for Propane (LPG), we've managed to tweak the computer so that it makes the same amount of hp (140 whp) on Propane in tuned form as it does on gasoline in untuned form (140 whp), through adjustments to timing and air-fuel ratios.

And on the same maps, it makes 149.7 whp on 91 octane gas... but that's just a bonus. :lol:
 
  • Relating to that, why does it feel very slow when you ride on an airplane even though your probably going at about ~700kp/h on air?

Well if you think about, unless speed makes the object vibrate heavily (in this case plane) then why should it feel fast?

If you are on a train on a perfectly flat smooth track going 100 mph exactly with no windows, would you feel like your going fast? would you even be able to tell that your moving? the answer is no, you could be doing 0mph or 200mph you simply wouldn't know (assuming you can't see or hear), the only thing that makes it feel fast is the way a train jumps around on the tracks a little or you see tree's whizzing past is what tells you you are going fast.

Heres the thing, the earth is orbiting the sun at thousands of mph but we can't feel that obviously, why? because there isn't much in the way of acceleration. Thats the key. Acceleration makes you feel like your going fast, and on a plane you only have hard acceleration on the runway. whilst in the air you change speed a little bit, but its not that much to be noticable usually, which is why you wont feel like your going fast, and because your flying through air there is little vibration in comparison to that of a car on a road, or a train on tracks. Becuase of this the plane will not feel like its shuddering at speed because only the likes of turbulance will make the plane shudder noticabley.

SO, to summerise: if there is little acceleration, little shuddering, little noise, no objects nearby travelling past for visual references, then there is little going on to tell you that you are going fast other than your on flight monitor telling you your airspeed. Just think abiout what makes you feel like your going fast in a car and then try and compare it to a plane and it should all become pretty apparent.

I hope that all made sense, I am not terribly good at communicating these sort of explantations and always miss key things.
 
I say it's because the ground below you appears to be going very slow, like Muzzafar said, there's little in way of vibration or acceleration. If you were in a Bugatti Veyron, going 250, you would feel like you were going a hell of a lot faster.
 
Any tips on how to remove paint distemper?

We are currently using sugar soap, scrubbing pads and one hell of a lot of elbow grease.
 
Paint - thinners. But distemper? Isn't that an olde world disease?
 
Is the paint crazy? :lol: I know there's a sickness in dogs called distemper (I work at a kennel and shots for it are needed to be boarded) but as far as paint distemper...never heard of it.
 
It is indeed a disease for doggies. It's an old type of paint made up of glue and whiting.
 
So then basically midgrade gasoline is just an alternative to regular if a car knocks on regular fuel?
 
If your engine pings or knocks on regular, move up to the midgrade and see how it runs.

The octane rating is a measure of resistance to preignition. If the fuel air mixture ignites before the spark plug triggers it, you get a knocking sound from the engine, as the cylinder pressure goes up too early, the cylinder is still trying to compress. Fuel of higher octane resists this tendency.

The extra dime a gallon can save you a lot of money in the long run, compared to bearing damage from heavy knocking.

Every time I mention octane ratings, I have to remember to preach that octane is not a "power" rating for fuel. High-octane fuel is not more powerful than regular, nor is it more efficient (higher mpg); it simply resists preignition better.

That resistance to preignition is what makes it useful in engines with higher compression ratios. The compression ratio is where the power comes from, as there is a higher fuel/air density in the cylinder. Regular gas can't be compressed that hard or it will ignite early, so an engine built with high compression (or forced induction) will specifiy premium fuel. This specification leads users to assume that the fuel is more powerful, when it's just the engine that's more powerful, it just needs to be coddled by using fuel with higher knock resistance.

That said, some cars will produce more power with higher octane fuel, because they are smart enough to make other adjustments based on input from a knock sensor. They can advance timing or increase boost pressure. Usually you see those cars suggesting premium anyway, and again, it's not the fuel that's more powerful, it's the engine's ability to accomodate its higher octane to squeeze more fuel into the intake charge. More fuel = more power.

Although I'm not quite sure I understand resistance to pre-ignition, now you tell me this.:dunce:
 
The fuel/air mixture heats up as it's compressed, as any gas does. (Put your hand on the outlet of an air compressor if you don't believe me. that heat is not mechanical heat, it's the heat generated by compressing the air.) If the fuel/air mixture gets hot enough it can self-ignite before the spark plug fires. That's preignition, and it's bad. Higher octane means it won't ignite as readily from compression heat, and thus can be compressed further. Compression might be from a high compression ratio, or forced induction (turbo or supercharging).

So then basically midgrade gasoline is just an alternative to regular if a car knocks on regular fuel?

Yep. (I should add: assuming all other elements are correct, like timing, good plugs, etc.)
 
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Depending how old school you want to be, none. But a stiff breeze coming thorugh the window/door is always good.

I don't think I have enough circulation in the garage im going to work in and it is a pretty small space... One 12" exhaust fan or something and thats it.
 
The fuel/air mixture heats up as it's compressed, as any gas does. (Put your hand on the outlet of an air compressor if you don't believe me. that heat is not mechanical heat, it's the heat generated by compressing the air.) If the fuel/air mixture gets hot enough it can self-ignite before the spark plug fires. That's preignition, and it's bad. Higher octane means it won't ignite as readily from compression heat, and thus can be compressed further. Compression might be from a high compression ratio, or forced induction (turbo or supercharging).



Yep. (I should add: assuming all other elements are correct, like timing, good plugs, etc.)

I see. I always thought that air cooled down when compressed. Thanks for the explaination.👍
 
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