The Potter Project

RibbonVu 0.1.0 is now available

The inaugural version of RibbonVu for Windows 7 is now available.  Check it out here.

Woo hoo

Things are starting to look normal around here again.  All the zip files (such as the Arduino libraries, etc…) should be back up in the next few minutes.

D’oh

I’ve just moved servers within my host and things appear to have gone a bit pear shaped.  Things should be normal soon (I hope).

Jonathan

RibbonVu is coming

Wow, how the time flies.  A couple of months ago I decided to dust off some code I was working on many moons ago and see if I could turn it into something worthwhile.  The result is my latest creation – RibbonVu.

At the moment it will only run on Windows 7 as it uses the Ribbon Framework by Microsoft.  There are plan for a “compatibility mode” which will allow RibbonVu to run on Windows XP or Vista (although it won’t look as pretty).

I’m getting to the stage where the first beta version is almost ready for release.  The final version will be released as shareware, but the beta versions will be unrestricted and set to expire on a certain date (just like Windows 7).

The RibbonVu web site – ribbonvu.net – has more details so head on over there if you want to find out more or become a beta tester.

Sigma MkII

I decided to bite the bullet and go with the new shell option for Project Sigma.  I found a reasonably straight GK Super Saloon in Melbourne (and I’m in Canberra) on eBay.  There is a small amount of rust in a few places – which is typical for a Sigma that age – but I’ll just swap the rusty parts off the old car.

The guy said that the car hasn’t been registered in 5 years, but it should be drivable, so I decided to get a permit and drive it home.  We set off just after sunrise and got to north Tasmania..er..the Mornington Peninsula at about 2PM.  After leaving Melbourne a little later than anticipated we got home with half a hour left before the permit ran out without any major problems.  The engine ran quite smooth and everything did what it was supposed to do – although it could do with better headlights, but they did the job.

I was quite happy with the purchase as the “new” car has decent tyres, which I would have had to fork out more than half the price that I paid for new ones.  Now it’s just a matter of me transferring all the stuff I want off the old car onto the new one and getting it registered.  Later I’ll post some pics, but for now it’s time to go back to bed…

I'm back…

Well, I’m finally back after a long trip to France (at least it was work funded).  Had a nice relaxing Easter with the family and close friends and managed to catch up on some sleep, so now I can get back into the swing of things.

I have been discussing the situation of my GK Sigma with a number of people, both online and in “real life”, and am debating on whether or not to start afresh with a new shell or take the current shell I have to a smash repairer to get it straightened out.  I’m starting to lean more towards the new shell option as it will save me the trouble of converting the gearbox to manual and only a few other things will need to be changed over.

If I see something I like over the next couple of weeks, I’ll go ahead and buy it, otherwise I might have to stick with the straightening option.  Meanwhile here are a couple of pics that show the extent of the damage:

Passenger side bonnet "alignment"

Drivers side bonnet

Travelblog update…

Well, my trip is off to a wonderful start. My flight to Dubai has been canceled and the new flight is delayed until 2:30 this afternoon. The hotel experience hasn’t been the best (I get what I pay for I guess…) so I’ve posted a review here.

I'm back…for the next day or so

Just got back from a week off in Grafton, but tomorrow I’m off to France for a few weeks for work so I won’t be able to do anything with Project Sigma until after Easter (as mentioned earlier). I was hoping to have it registered (or at least roadworthy) by the time I left, but that didn’t end up happening. I did however manage to get hold of a spare engine, courtesy of one of the guys at http://www.sigma-galant.com, which should make it easier to re-mount the supercharger.

I also thought about putting in a supercharged V8 – namely a ford small block 289 or 308 – in the longer term (got the idea from a friend), but am not 100% sure at this point in time (not 100% sure about the legality either).

Sigma News

We made some progress with the Sigma last weekend, until we discovered that the bonnet was completely out of alignment and the whole front end was out of whack more than we thought. One step forward, two steps back, oh well. The other day I received the indicator/wiper switch after waiting a week for delivery (how hard can it be, seriously???), so now the car has a steering wheel again and indicators .

Hopefully I’ll be getting another engine that I can use outside of the car to allow me to redo the supercharger setup.  Despite this though I’ll be going away for the next few weeks so I won’t be able to do much until I get back after Easter.  Good news is that I’ll hopefully get a nice cash injection in the meantime which means I’ll be able to start doing a few more things upon my return (new tyres, exhaust and supercharger pulley).

I also need to come up with a name for the car.  I was thinking of the Bitsamissin Sigmate, or Sigmate for short.

Project Sigma update

Work is coming along nicely for the new beastie.  A couple of friends and I fixed up a lot of the front end last weekend, with just a little more to go this weekend.  I managed to get a replacement filter but I’m still waiting for the combination switch I sorta broke (in my defence, it was already kinda broken, I just made it worse).  Once that’s done I’ll give it the once over with a fine tooth comb and off to the rego inspector for a roadworthy certificate (I’ll end up getting it engineered eventually).

Next step is to start tinkering.  First cab off the rank is a 2.5″ exhaust to compliment the extractors, refit the supercharger, MSD 6AL-2 ignition (or 6BTM, haven’t decided yet), MSD Blaster SS coil, a couple of 10″ Davies Criag thermo fans, better disc rotors and suspension, and not to forget the conversion to manual.

Eventually I aim to get an Astron II head polished and ported and whatever else pops into my head in the distant future…

Getting there...slowly...

What's left of the steering column after I'd finished with the combination switch

Blow me (said the Astron)

My assistant

The manager, grrr