Scott's TurboCoupe Homepage
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Past Updates
12/28/00 I hope everyone had a merry Christmas. Hopefully your stockings were stuffed with bigger turbos and EEC tuners. Sadly, mine wasn't, but mine did have some money in it, so that'll be directed at the car. The exhaust is going to be done very soon, but I can't figure out what to do. It's between the ATR system or a local shop. The local shop will use aluminized pipe, Rhino mufflers, crush bends, and 2 1/4" pipe. Price: $240. The ATR sytem is stainless steel, mandel bent, 2 1/2" pipe, and their own mufflers. Price: $490. That's a big difference in price, but there is also a lot of differences between the two setups. I'm not sure of what I should do. 12/4/00 My car is getting a lot of attention at school. I keep getting questions like, "What size V8 is that?" The other I get a lot is, "Is that thing fast or is that just show?" The wheels are mostly the cause of it. Oh well, let them think whatever they want. I picked up my back seat on Sunday. I had it recovered because there was a shit load of burn marks in it. The guy I had do it, Jack Fishel, did a nice job on it. It looks good and the new upholstery matches perfectly. I'm happy that I finally got it done. The gauge pod isn't done yet. I have the paint so it will match up with the rest of the trim. It should look really nice. By the way, after the power steering pump gets replaced, the exhaust is finally going to get done. I can't wait because the car needs to be a little louder to match the image that the wheels have going. Even though the cops are looking at me way too much, the exhaust needs done. 11/26/00 Everybody look out, I now have my drivers license. I got it on Wednesday. The test went great, seemed like it was over before we got back to the test center. The instructor started asking me what school I went to and how the football team was doing. I figured if I didn't hit anything, I was set. Anyway, on to more important things. I put a new cap, rotor, spark plug wires, spark plugs in the car yesterday. The cap and rotor looked kind of crappy so I figured it was worth it. Power doesn't seem to have changed at all. I do think it cured a stumble that the car had when cold though so it was worth it. The gauge pod will be getting installed finally. It should be done by the end of next weekend hopefully. I'm not sure though because I need to put a new power steering pump on the car. It has a slight whine to it and it really annoys the hell out of me. Speaking of noises, I think the fuel pump is getting louder these days. Sounds like it's time to upgrade. I think that 255lph should easily support anything that I want to do. Maybe that will be my Christmas present to the car. 11/11/00 The car is back together now and running. The difference is unbelievable. The old bearing retainer was worn which made the clutch push hard and also the clutch was so far gone that it was over pushing the diaphragm which also made the clutch push hard. Combine the two of those and it basically felt like a racing clutch with very high spring pressure. I was used to it though and it didn't bother me. Now though, it's got a new bearing retainer and the clutch pedal simply falls to the floor. I have to relearn how to drive the car. As long as it doesn't slip, I don't care what it feels like. If it does, it's got a really good warranty behind it. Time will tell. 11/7/00 The flywheel is at East End Speed right now getting resurfaced. I should be able to pick it up tonight. Too bad I have to work Wednesday night or I'd put it back together then, but I have to go make a couple of bucks. While I was out last night I stopped off at the Ford dealer and picked up a set of spark plug wires, a cap, and rotor. I need to pick up a set of plugs yet and then it'll get it's winter tune up. I'm also going to change the oil this weekend. Check out the links section and the picture page. I updated them today and added some good pictures. 11/6/00 Well, the transmission is laying on the ground as of yesterday at about 11a.m. Picked up the new clutch on Saturday and I have to go pick up a new bearing retainer today. I also have to drop the flywheel off to have it resurfaced. Overall, everything looks good. The transmission doesn't have any leaks, the flywheel looks great (could probably get away with not surfacing it, but why would you?), and the clutch looks good. The rivets were close to hitting the flywheel, but it looks like none of them did. Should have the car back together by Thursday. 11/2/00 Picture time. Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.
10/29/00 Well, shit. I thought I was going to be able to nurse the clutch through the winter and then change it come spring time. WRONG. Driving to work yesterday there was some one in a Turbo Diesel pickup truck that was tailgating me. I figured, hey, there's nothing wrong with him that 15 pounds of boost won't fix. So, I stepped on it and it went to 5 psi, but when the computer let it go to 15 psi, the motor revved from 3 grand right to 4 grand so I let off. Shit, I knew what was going on, but just to be sure I tried it again. Same thing, I stepped down on it in fourth gear right around 3 grand grand and when the boost came up, it went to 4 grand, grabbed for a second and then went straight to 5. I guess I know what I'm going to be ordering on Monday. I really didn't feel like changing this thing, but I guess I have to. 10/24/00 The car is looking great. The ride is a little better now. The bigger sidewall helps that. You don't feel blackstripes in the road like you used too. The wider and slightly taller 245/60/15's on the back can't hold down even the stock 2.3 turbo power. I can get it rolling a little bit and hit it and it will spin them quite nicely. I makes me want more power even more. I'm trying to map out and see where I want to be with the car come spring. The exhaust is top of the list. The wheels give the car a certain look that would go great with dual 2 1/2" tailpipes hanging out the back. After that, I want a T3 turbo because the IHI isn't going to cut it with what I'm looking to do. Also, a Tiny Avenger blow off valve and Ric Gillis Boost controller will go on at the same time. While the turbo is off, I'll port the E6 too. Then I'll install my gutted upper intake and port the lower. Drag radial's will be added in there too to hold it down at the track. That's where I want to be with the car around mid spring, early summer. I also feel that I'll probably need a clutch by then too. I've also been entertaining the idea of a gear swap. Either 3.73's or 4.10's. Probably 3.73's because they'd be a little bit better for the driving I have to do. By this time next year though, I hope to have a ported, big valve head on there with a Ranger roller cam making the valves dance. I might just start on a new motor come early summer to simply swap in. Something simple, with just fresh rings and bearings, new rod bolts, a windage tray, and some other small things. Then I'll take my motor that's in the car and stuff it full of Crower rods, Wiseco or J&E pistons, and a 10 pound bottle of juice in the trunk. I'll just have to see how things are going money wise. By the way, I hope I don't get shunned for this, but if anyone is in to Mopars, pick up the December issue of Mopar Muscle. Flip to page 84 and observe the truck pictured. That's my dad's. Also, it ran a 13.45 at 101mph down at Cecil County dragstrip two weeks ago. I'll scan the timeslip and post it before too long. 10/21/00 My loving father did me a favor yesterday and took the wheels over and got the tires mounted. When I got home from school it was sitting in the driveway. Overall, it looks really good. The 5 1/2" backspacing in the rear is perfect, no way in the world would I use a 4 1/2" backspacing. I wish that I could have gotten a 5" backspacing instead of the 4 1/2" that I had to use. The front wheels come up just slightly inside the wheel lip. Like I said, it looks good. I'm going snap some pictures either today or tomorrow. 10/19/00 My Draglite's came yesterday. Summit Racing got them to me in no time flat. They look really good. I can't wait until tomorrow when I get the new tires mounted and balanced. With any luck I'll have time to get the tires mounted and get the wheels on the car before I have to go to work. I'm going with a big and little look with the tires which is going to kill my tread wear since I can't rotate them then, but oh well. Tires aren't that expensive. I'm going with a 245/60/15 in the rear and a 205/70/15 in the front. The rear tires will be just barely over a 1/2 taller than the front. Also, these tires should have the same sidewall appreance because they fall right in the middle of the recommended tire size for my wheels. Anyway, I also bought the Weld lugnuts which are heavy duty and nice pieces. I figured what the hell and bought the chrome plugs that Weld sells too. Damned if I can get them to go in though. I'm sure there's a trick to it. As I said below, there's some work that I really should get done to the car since it's been on the jackstands since Sunday with no wheels. I ordered a set of swaybar endlinks, but they came in too short. Apparently, Prothane measures their endlinks a different way than Energy Suspension. Oh well, I need to send them back. I bought a dual gauge pod for a '95-newer Mustang and it doesn't fit too bad. I think I can heat it a little bit and shape it just the way I want it. For some god unknown reason I ordered an Autometer Phantom air/fuel gauge too. As some of you may know, I had already bought a Cyberdyne air/fuel gauge. I guess I have too much money and I need to get rid of some. Actually, I just love the looks of the Autometer gauge. I was checking it out today and with the gauge pod, I think I need a boost gauge for that top hole. At the height it would be at, I would just be perfect. Also, if anyone wants a Cyberdyne air/fuel gauge, I have one for sale. Pictures to come very soon. 10/15/00 My Draglites will be here on Wednesday. I should really get some stuff done to the car while it's up on jackstands until then. I need to order a gauge pod and some swaybar endlinks. Of course there's always those Kenny Brown subframe connectors, new upper and lower control arm bushings, that nice big, blue nitrous bottle.... 10/9/00 As usual it has been a long time since I last updated. School is back in and I'm working more now than what I was during the summer. Hey, I'm employee of the month though. Wow, big deal. What do I get, a good swift kick in the ass for working there long enough to get employee of the month? Anyway, on to more important things. The wheels and tires on the car are sold. A set of Weld Draglites are on order and I'm very excited. I think the wheels are really going to make the car look nice. As soon as they get here, I'm off to CJ's Tire for a set of new skins. These guys have always treated us right and they have good prices. Pictures will follow shortly after, I promise. After the wheels I'm not really sure what I want to do. I'm looking at a used motor to rebuild and I'd like to have the trans rebuilt by Hanlon Motorsports because it's making a grinding noise, but I'd also like to upgrade the exhaust system. The motor in the car desn't have anything wrong with it, but I'd prefer to have a fresh motor in the car because of the mileage and the performance level I hope to hit. Plus, I've found it's quite fun to push to car and I don't want the motor to come apart nce I have my license. I could have the motor ready to go by Christmas time and that would give me plenty of time to swap it in. The trans will be fine through the winter and spring months. Come early summer, I'll pull it out and ship it off. The exhaust I'd like to get done sometime between the a fresh motor and a rebuilt transmission. I'll have to hang loose and see what happens. I'll keep everyone posted though. By the way, check out the picture page. I posted a couple new nes including two interesting driveshaft pictures. Enjoy 8/18/00 I'm back to working on the stereo again. I can't help it, it sounds really good now, but I want more. I installed a new set of rear speakers. They're Infinity Reference 6"x9" 3-way speakers. These are high quality, nice looking, great sounding speakers. Plus, for the money, you can't go wrong. I recommend them to anyone. They have a true rubber surround, a big magnet, and a strong steel frame. They are a huge improvement over the paper cone Pioneers that I had in there before. The only problem is, now the front doesn't sound as good. I've decided to go with a set of 6 1/2" component speakers. It will more than likely be Infinity Reference's since I'm so impressed with their 6x9's. So, I will have a nice pair of Pioneer 6 1/2" 3-way speakers for sale soon. 8/1/00 Well, I'm still enjoying the Pro 5.0 shifter. Either I'm easily impressed or that is a damn nice product. I think it's a damn nice product personally. Anyway, I got the VPA keyless entry system from Summit and got a surprise when I opened the box. It's a lot different than what the other two that we had bought are like. The clickers are much more rounded and stylish, but the system also has a lot more features. Some are pointless, but some aren't bad. I'm not trying to stray anyone away from this system, but allow yourself a lot of time to hook it up. It took my dad the butt end of 6 hours to install it and he had installed two previously. If you're wondering why my dad hooked it up for me, I'll tell you. I was in Pittsburgh Thursday through Sunday helping my sister move into her new apartment. I guess as a way of saying thanks for having me do it and not my dad he hooked it up. I really wish that he wouldn't have though, since he has enough of his own projects to do in his limited amount of free time that he doesn't need to be working on any of mine. Anyway, that was very nice of him. Pittsburgh was fun too. What can I say, I love Mike's Hard Lemonade:) The keyless entry system is pretty cool though. Five seconds after the ignition is turned on, the doors lock and as soon as you turn the ignition off, they unlock. You can also set it up so that it automatically locks the doors after 60 seconds, but I disarmed that feature because it would be a pain when I was trying to work on it. I can also open the trunk with the clickers. I'm very pleased with the system and for 60 bucks it's a steal. Also, my Pioneer DEH-4100 headunit came this past Monday, but I didn't get a chance to install it until Tuesday because I had to work. I did get it hooked up though and it was a simple install. I did change the wiring though so now the dash speakers and the door speakers are powered directed from the headunit and the rear speakers are powered by the amplifier. It took me about two hours to install which isn't bad considering I had to take the passenger side seat out so I could fish the wires from the amp up to the headunit. All and all, everything went very smoothly. It's hard to describe the difference between the Sony and the Pioneer. All I can say is WOW. What a difference. The Pioneer kicks the Sony's ass. There really isn't any comparsion. The highs, the lows, the mids, everything just sounds clearer, chrisper, and deeper. If I want a lot of bass I simply click the equalizer over to Super Bass and fade to the back speakers a little bit and I sound like those annoying little turds in their Honda Civic's, but I don't keep it like that. I change it every now and then to annoy my mom or make fun of rice rockets. Another thing that I really like is the remote. Originally, I thought that I wouldn't use the remote and I'd just give it to whoever was in the backseat and let them have control of the radio, but I was wrong. I love the little thing. I can change from cd to radio and back, anything under the audio and functions buttons, the volume. There isn't much that you can't do with the remote. I really like it a lot. The car has changed quite a bit in the past few days. The shifter and stereo make for fun driving, while the keyless entry makes it easy to get into the car if it's raining or even if it's not. All and all, money well spent. 7/19/00 P.M. I started working on installing the shifter at around 3 o'clock today. I was done by five. Not bad, but I would have been done a lot sooner if it wouldn't have been for that damn stubborn inner shifter boot. Getting that thing on and off is a pain in the a$$. Anyway, the install went smoothly other than for that. Now the big question, how does it shift? All I can really say is, "How did I ever live without one?" The shifter is great. If you push forward with just the slightest pressure to the right, bam, you just hit third gear. I really see no way in the world how you could miss third. At first, I wasn't sure whether or not I'd like the short handle, but as it turns out, I love it. At the position I have the seat in right now, my arm is fully extended for first. If I nudge the seat up just a little bit, it'll perfect. So, for anyone considering an aftermarket shifter, I can say that the Pro 5.0 Power Tower is a top of the line product. You won't be dissapointed. 7/19/00 A.M. Once again, I've let this site fall behind as far as updates. Oh well, not that much has happened anyway. The UPS man showed up at my door this morning with a present for me though. It was the Pro 5.0 shifter that I had ordered from BB&T Racing last week. I ordered it last Thursday and it got here on Wednesday. I was surprised to see it get here already. Once I got the shifter out of the box, it was obvious why so many people use these shifters. It's almost a shame to hide it under a shifter boot! It really is a quality piece. The only problem that I might have with it is the short handle. If I decide that it's too short though, I can easily go back to my stock handle. I have to go for a hair cut later today around 2 o'clock, but as soon as I get home I'm going to install it. I can't wait to go grab a gear with confidence. I also ordered a VPA keyless entry system from Summit yesterday. These are really nice. We have the setup on two of our cars and they have worked flawlessly. With any luck, I'll have that installed by the end of the weekend. Then after that, I'll have something else to install. That something is a new headunit. I ordered a Pioneer DEH-4100. The Sony headunit that I have is pretty much a piece of shit. The volume spikes up when you try to turn it down and sometimes the volume won't come up. I've just flat had trouble with it, so I'm going to get it repaired under it's warranty and sell it. The Pioneer that I'm getting should be a great radio. It has a remote control (I doubt if I'll use it much), two sets of pre-outs for my amp, and many other neat features. I think it'll sound quite a bit better than my Sony too. That will complete my stereo and make for a good sounding system. Notice that I said, good sounding stereo and not big thumping stereo. That will have to complete my mods for now because my car insurance is quickly coming due. Damn insurance:) 6/30/00 Well, I worked on the site today for awhile. I added a lot of links and put up a few pictures on the picture page. It's interesting to note that Tiny Avenger now has a website that you can order parts off of. The address is listed in the links section, so check it out. I went over to Maple Grove this past Friday to the Ford Nationals. I didn't know that the flea market wasn't open until Saturday. So, I didn't get any wheels. Also, I didn't order the exhaust because I still might be getting a set of Draglites soon. I'll just have to sit back and see what happens. Maybe, that should say, sit back and see what comes to my front door. If I don't get those wheels though, I think I will just buy the exhaust system. It's tough when you want so much stuff, but you still have to pay car insurance when it comes due. I need to get a second job or put in more hours at work. I'm knocking down about $425 a month where I work now, which isn't to bad for a kid my age and I only work about 20 hours a week. I wouldn't mind working about 40 hours a week, but they can't schedule me that much and have anyone else get any hours. That's why a second job is so appealing, but if I get a second job, when will I work on my TC? That's just the way things go I guess. 6/21/00 There isn't really much to report. I've just been driving the TC and enjoying it. The car really is a blast to drive and I got a chance last night to go through the gears at full throttle last night. My sister who is 21, a friend of hers and mine, Nate, who is 22, and I went in the TC to the local Dairy Queen to grab some ice cream. Our friend Todd and his girlfriend went along, but they took his Probe. It was just one one those nights where it was so nice you just had to have the windows down and make some noise, so on our way back from Dairy Queen, todd was following me and I was going a little fast so I started streching the gap between us. I knew I was going to stand on it so I let off some and after a stop sign and a righthand turn onto my road it was close behind. As I turned onto my road I downshifted to second (Should have gone for first, but then it would have been obvious of what I was about to do) and I didn't even let the clutch out until I saw Todd's headlights in my mirror. I let the clutch out and let him get close and then I just went down on it. I watched as the boost came up and the tach started whipping around. I hit second at 5000 rpms and stayed in it until around 4500 rpms in third and then I kicked it into fourth and let it coast. Of course that was about an 80 mph coast. Todd didn't even try to keep up. I haven't talked to him yet, I want to hear what he says about it. While the car was hauling some ass, you could tell that it was dragging with three people in it. Weight seems to really effect this car. I guess since it's a four cylinder and it doesn't have that much torque. I'm more used to V8's, but I really like my little four. On Friday, I'll be at the Ford Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. I'm looking to get a set of Draglites. If I don't find any wheels though, I'm going to order the ATR 2 1/2" exhaust system on Monday. Just think, that exhaust with a 3" downpipe, the gutted upper intake and ported lower, maybe a Ric Gillis boost controller set to about 17 pounds with a bypassed BCS, the car should really move then, plus it would sound really good. After those mods and a set of Draglites, it'll get a Tiny Avenger blow off valve, Ranger roller cam, ported, big valve head, probably a new clutch, and a set of drag radials for the track. Also, to take full advantage of those parts, a Shiftmaster computer controller might be best for getting every last bit of power out of it, but I'll have to wait until he comes out with for that will work with my computer. I will hit a mid 13 at the track, I don't care what I have to do to get it there. If it takes nitrous, a front mounted intercooler, a new short block with Crower rods and J&E pistons to get me there, I'm up for it. With those parts though, maybe I should be going for 12's, not 13's:) If I have all these plans for my daily driver, what would I do if I actually got a second car? 6/16/00 I got my Cyberdyne water temperature gauge hooked up a little over two weeks ago. I like it and it has a dimmer for night time driving which will be nice once I get it mounted where I want it. For right now it's just sitting in the ashtray until I get the plate ready for the water temp and the air/fuel gauge. I'm going to end up mounting them above the radio where the factory equalizer came. I don't have a factory equalizer so I'm not losing anything by putting them in there. So far the car hasn't tried to get hot at all. The fan comes on at about 206 degrees and running down the road the temperature is right around 175 degrees. Before, just one of my fans were working, the upper one on the right side of the radiator, but this past weekend my dad and I wired it to make both fans run. For some reason the lower would never come on. It didn't matter if the A/C was on or not, it simply wouldn't run. That's ok though because I came up with a way for both fans to run at the same time. I figured I'd run a line off the battery to the fan that didn't run because it seemed like it had a good ground, but it wasn't getting any power. Before I ran it to the fan though, I ran it through a relay. That way the fan wouldn't run none stop. After that, I simply took apart the plug on the fan that was working and connected a trigger wire to the power side of the plug. So now when the upper fan comes on, it triggers the relay and the lower fan comes on too. What made this simple and relatively cheap was the fact that I bought a fan kit up and the York street rod show when it was in town two weeks ago. It's a Ron Francis kit and it is top notch. Big heavy wire, a relay that has a circuit breaker built into it, and a nice plug for all the wires to plug into the relay. It was $27 which seems a little steep at first for a relay, but I couldn't have bought a relay, the wires, and have it be as good of quality and as easy as the Ron Francis kit. It was money well spent. 6/14/00 It has been a really long time since I last updated this site. I guess I'm getting lazy. Anyway, since the last update I turned 16 years old, more importantly, I got my permit, I got a job, and now school is over for the year. I'm kind of bored during the day so I will be updating the site a lot more. I'll also be working on the TC a lot more since I have more free time and some more money. As some of you may remember I had stated before that I had a Pro 5.0 shifter on the way. Well, I got screwed on that deal. DO NOT try to buy anything from Rex Brown or Stephanie Hunter on the Corral. They took $400 from a guy for a set of heads, a $130 from another guy for a Pro 5.0 shifter, and $130 of my money for the same Pro 5.0 shifter. That was the first time that I ever tried to buy anything off of the Corral and I'll never try again. I get pissed off everytime I think about it so I'll move on to better news. I bought a gutted upper intake from Forrest Nearing for the TC. He actually sent me what I gave him money for (unlike some other piece of s**t) and I'm happy with it. I'm going to clean up the inside of it a little more and then I'll put it on and try it. I painted it today so now I need to get the gaskets to install it next. I'm going to put it on and try it first. If I like the horsepower gain and it doesn't kill off too much torque, I'll take it back off and port the lower intake. After that is done, I plan on porting the exhaust manifold. I really need to do something to the exhaust in terms of performance. I'd like to go with a 3" downpipe and split that into 2 1/2" duals, but I have something else I'm looking to put my money towards. By the way, after I get the gutted upper intake installed my original upper intake will be up for sale if anybody wants it. The more I look at the TC the more I think it needs a set of wheels. I'm having trouble deciding what wheels I want though. I'm considering Weld Draglites, ROH Snypers, a couple of different types of Centerline wheels, and 16" Cobra R wheels. It's tough to decide what would look best on it because there aren't a lot of pictures of TC's with aftermarket wheels on them. I'll probably end up buying 15" wheels. That means that the factory wheels that are on my car will be up for sale. They have Goodyear Eagles on them that have about 75% of there life left on them. These wheels would be great for a set of winter wheels or an upgrade on a 4cyl Mustang or something. I'm willing to ship them, but I'm not willing to split them up into pairs unless I have two people that each want a pair. The price will be very reasonable, so if you're interested in them let me know. I need the money to put towards tires for the new wheels :) I've been tossing the idea of a second car around for awhile now. I'm thinking about possibly getting an early Pinto or a '79-'93 Mustang. I should be able to find a Pinto cheap and the same goes for like, an '84 4cyl Mustang. No matter what I buy, it will be a play toy that I can have fun with and buy for less then 800 bucks. If I get a Pinto, I'll buy an early one so it doesn't have to pass emissions. Then I'll put a n/a 2.3 in it with a ported head, Racer Walsh header, Racer Walsh stage 2 hydralic lifter cam, 500 cfm Holley 2 barrel, some serious compession, (11:1-12:1) a T5 transmission, around 4.30 gears, and maybe a little spray. The compression ratio will force me to use a mix of race gas and 93 octane, but it will also give me that wonderful high compression crackle that I love. The great thing about using a n/a 2.3 and nitrous is that I could juice the thing to it broke, go to the junkyard and get another one for 50 bucks, swap over the upper half of the motor, and go right back to playing with the rice boys. Cheap fun is what I'm after. If I got a Mustang though, I would have to pass emissions, so I wouldn't want a high compression race gas requiring motor. Instead I'd put a turbo 2.3 in it. With the boost turned up, the intakes and exhaust manifold ported, a nice single 3" exhaust (with a converter), a T5 trans, and 4.10 gears that would be a lot of fun. It would also keep the imports in the rear view mirror. This setup would probably be cheaper than the Pinto I described above, but the electronics would be a pain. I'll have to hang loose and see what I can find for cheap. So, if you have a cheap Pinto or a cheap fox body Mustang that you want to get rid of, let me know. I live in Pennsylvania, about a half hour from York. I don't care if it runs or not since I'll be swapping the motor. I'd give it a good home. For now though, I have to stop typing because my fingers are worn out. Sorry for the long overdo update. I won't let it get like that again. 5/7/00 Notice anything different? If you didn't you might want to go see an eye doctor. I really needed to redo the site some. I also added a page just for wiring diagrams, got my picture page going, and I put up a few more links. Enjoy. |
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