RON430

Hey Gene - So does that mean you would be a fan of the Accusump? It seems like a not bad idea but I have never tried one. Seems like the only way to get that pesky startup wear addressed.

Mean Gene

Ron - I actually had one of those Accusumps ( think it was called another name at that time ) that I tried to fit onto my 'Vette but there wasn't any room to be found. The largest ambulance company in town has them ( wired them into the door light switches so that they come on when the doors R open ) & they claim to get an extra year or so out of the engines! Never understood why the idea didn't take off - from a lubrication engineers standpoint I see very few downsides other than space constraints. It wasn't even that expensive - $125 back in the mid-80's when I got one for the Corvette. They understood the space problem & refunded every penny of the purchase price. Just kinda forgot about it - there's room for it on the GS, I'm sure!!

RON430

Hey Gene - I was a little worried about the name but I think that was it. Wonder if you can still get one. Like you said, hard to see any downside other than it probably doesn't hold pressure that long but for a reasonably used street driver it should be fine. Now that you mention it I do remember that it was on the large side but I know a couple of guys who did use them racing. I think there was a racing setup that also made up oil pressure if you had a big drop while running, don't know if the street unit did that. I'll take your word for the fact that the GS has room. I look at that engine compartment and shudder about doing very much. Another senior moment from the late twentieth century. Finally heard someone refer to the fifties as mid last century, ouch.

Mean Gene

Ron - Isn't the Accusump made by Moroso? If that's the case, I had some other product - I'm also familiar with the racing product that ensures ( save the Ensure DRINK comments to yourself!! , all U young guyz!! ) oil pressure in case of major engine trouble. The Moroso piece worked like that - siphoned crankcase oil into a reservoir which was pressurized by the oil pump & then stored it until/if needed then released it into the engine via the oil pressure sending unit area ( had to install a tee there to use it ). The lubrication device I'm thinking of tapped into the oil pan drain plug with a tee & did the same thing. Nice thing about it was that U could disconnect the discharge hose & use the device to drain your oil w/o getting under the car. I've seen an ad for a similar ( maybe the same? ) modification in the back pages of past issues of Car & Driver so I'll go thru my library & see if I can come up with.

RON430

Beats me, you could be right. But it doesn't seem like Moroso owned it, maybe they do now. I figured we were on the same wavelength. I thought Accusump stood for accumulator-sump because it would store pressurized oil. As I recall there were a couple of solenoids, one would release the oil when you got to the "on" position on the key switch so oil was flowing when you hit start. As I recall there was a fitting somewhere right in the discharge port of the oil pump which would match the oil sender as it usually is somewhere very close or in the path of the discharge port. After the engine was running, it would re fill up the sump ready for next time. May be in Car and Driver. May also be in Whitney (or if you are old enough Warshawsky). I really disliked Whitney until I ordered some things and found brand name parts just not identified as such in the catalog. Of course I also ordered junk. And you had to love those instructions - 1. Remove the old part, 2. Install the new part in the reverse order that you used to remove the old part. Great instructions for a cam.

Whatever it is called it just never caught on and I am glad you agree that it really is a good idea with no real downside other than packaging and the extra quart or two of oil. Guess I'll do a little looking as well. You hear anything about Centerline doing some ultra light street wheels? Figure they are not posh enough for this board but light, strong, and accurate get my nod. American wheels on a Lexus, might have to resign from the board.

Mean Gene

Ron - Well, I found it!! It's called the "Pre-Luber" & was originally designed & marketed by Lubrication Research, Inc. They also made a "Pre/Post-Luber" for those with turbos. The price has gone up considerably ( now $500 ) & U can find it ( along with some testimonials & pics ) at www.enginelube.com. There's also another similar device at www.prelube.com that's not as bulky but the LR model was the one I'm familiar with. BTW - Moroso's catalog just lists accumulators but I'm fairly certain that U've hit the nail on the head with the derived name of "Accusump". The Pre-Luber or Pre/Post-Luber would seem to be the ticket if U plan to keep the engine for awhile or especially if U have a turbo ( the post-shutdown lubrication would help cool the turbo bearings & reduce the chance of coking although most turbos today have some form of water cooling for their bearings ). Add Mobil 1 or Royal Purple to the mix & I'd feel that your lubrication system's fairly bulletproof. Of course, something I still do today that I learned from my turbocharged RX-7 days is to let the car run for a minute or so after parking ( after long trips or hard drives only ) just for a precautionary cooldown. I used an HKS Turbo Timer on the RX-7 ( programmable for 1-3-5 minutes of post-ignition run time ) for the same purpose. This was way before the invention of remote starter so I'd get lots of strange looks when I walked away from the Mazda which was still running & then it would shut itself down depending on the timer button I'd selected!:eek: It's tough going from "ahead of my time" to "behind the times!!"
I've always thought Centerline made extremely stong & lightweight wheels - now U say they may be offering some in the GS offset/bolt pattern? I had some on my 'Vette - custom rear widths to handle the power of the Lingenfelter motor. I think you're right - U & I might put function above form as most of the Members seem to like the flashier & larger wheels. Unfortunately, 2 friends have seriously bent their 20" wheels on the lousy roads here in Louisiana - guess I'll stay with my 18's.

RON430

Gene - Cool, you do research faster than I do. Seems like a no brainer for a turbo-they are tough on the whole lubrication system even with all the advances they have made. $500 is getting up there but I am a big believer that the single most critical factor for engine longevity (assuming you don't abuse it) is the lubrication system and that pre-oiler just seems like one of those rare "very limited downside" things. Modern lubrication systems are getting very good but that couple of seconds of startup are still dry. Plus, I actually like having more capacity. May have to think about it.

The rest of the story is that I have known for a while that there has been some development going on in a rotary forging technology. I had heard that Centerline and a couple of other US wheel manufacturers were spending the money to implement the technology. I am pretty sure it was developed for some govie applications. It produces very strong, very light, and very true running pieces for rotating applications. Got home last night and looked at the new Motor Trend and low and behold, there is an ad from Centerline with their new lightweight (and low cost)wheels. I have the stock 16s and think the car really needs a little more zip than the stockers. But as opposed to a lot of folks here, I have had a difficult time figuring out what looks good on the GS. I even thought about Panasports (sort of the Minilite look). If what I heard is right Centerline and a few other US wheel manufacturers should be introducing wheels using the rotary forging technology (American Racing?) but I don't know who or when. The technology, the rotary forging, is pretty interesting and would be hard to compete with for a one piece wheel. Don't know if it brings much to the multipiece wheels but it is supposed to be a very economical process for making a large wheel. Starting to get hard as an old fart to be too wound up in this but I am still more interested in performance than looks and I was thinking of staying with 16s but going up to 245/50-16 for a little more bite. The ad for the centerlines says that the 20s are $390 if I am reading correctly and that sounds attractive for the smaller sizes. Wish this stuff was available thirty years ago.