May 2022 Updates
This is the follow-up I said I’d be doing in my last Blog post. There isn’t any new content on the Redpants website and I only have a few new items in my Online Store. Behind the scenes, though… woooo busy.
Those of you that have emailed me the last couple weeks should have gotten an automated response that I was in the process of moving overseas because that has finally FINALLY happened. I’ve been over in Japan [getting started on] settling in and preparing my new life over there. It’ll be a while before we get our new apartment and move in, and even longer until I get back in the swing of things with my new setup, because we’ve got a very busy time the next several weeks.
I’m back in Idaho for a week for the first big thing on our list: putting my supercharged 2007 V8 Vantage back together. I’ve got new coilovers, new control arm bushings, a new infotainment system, did a bunch of maintenance and random upkeep repairs, and the new “Dry” supercharger kit from GMR.
That last item is a big one because I’m going to be doing some pretty hard testing to see what its limitations are - most of the questions I get from people interested in the supercharger kits is about the Dry kit being able to handle hard driving, given it’s neither intercooled nor cooled by water injection. The first part of my big test is driving my car 2700 miles from Idaho to New Jersey over the course of three days to pick my wife up from the airport when she flies in from Japan, and then from there to Lime Rock where we’ll be attending the 50th anniversary of the AMOC event there. The second part of my big test is the track day at Lime Rock.
After the AMOC event, we’ll be flying back to Japan to continue getting things going over there, and then back in Idaho again a couple weeks later for my brother’s wedding, then back to Japan again to move into our new place and get things “normalized”… You can probably see why I don’t have any new content on Redpants or my YouTube channel, and why I’m letting people know I’ll be rather busy through June.
Of course, I’ll still be getting through emails as quickly as I can. Most of the emails I got the last couple weeks were answered fairly quickly, including delays due to the huge difference in time zones. I expect the next several weeks to go about the same, so please don’t worry about not being able to contact me.
Redpants Online Store
I’ve teamed up with Deadweight Industries in the UK to offer super-lightweight lithium-ion batteries! These weigh drastically less than the OEM battery by using cutting-edge lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) rather than old-fashioned lead-acid. I’ll be stocking these in Washington state and my first shipment of the Touge 500 batteries is on its way. That shipment will be followed by the larger Touge MAX as well as Rapid Chargers designed specifically for lithium-ion batteries.
These batteries are a direct-fit to the factory battery mounts so an adapter is not needed. Lots of info is posted on the product listings so make sure you check those out if you’re interested.
I have the batteries listed at an introductory sale price and I’m already working with Deadweight to expand the product line.
Keep Current
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and turn on notifications so you know when I put out a new video.
I hate social media so I’m rarely on it. If you want to get in touch, email me or use my Contact page (they both go to the same email address). If you message me on a Redpants social media page, it should say to email me. If you try to message me on a personal page, it won’t be seen.
I notify people when I publish Monthly Updates by sending out a Newsletter. If you’re not subscribed to my Newsletter, you can do so here:
Okay, that’s it for this update. I’ll push out Blog Posts as needed in addition to my monthly ones, so make sure you check back if you want to see those.