SAmadei

Does it really matter if you bring the body in and use it as a basis for a homemade car, which you create a VIN for? The EPA only regulates imported cars, not ones built at home. I don't know PA law, but NJ homemade auto law generally only requires you to have receipts for major parts to demonstrate that they are not stolen. Then in order to inspect, you need to meet the basic NHTSA/NJ safety requirements (headlights, horn, windshield defogger).

You sound like a dream neighbor. You play the stereo at top volume at 2 am, as well? I assume you have your invasive trees in Delaware? It's my understanding that bringing them into the EU is a firing squad offense. ;-) Seriously, it depends on the Bamboo. There are two types, one that spreads insanely and one that doesn't. The insane version can be controlled by planting it in enclosures raised off the ground (the runners only try to go less than a foot deep. I like the impenetrable barrier bamboo makes, but I am reluctant to set another invasive tree free in my yard. I'm already fighting too many. Have you thought of adding some Empress Trees?

Triple AAA only goes so far. Literally. 100 miles, three times a year, IIRC. In the last 7 or 8 years, the only work others have done on my cars was to install tires and balance them. And since this is NJ, to install gasoline. I have taken my cars to mechanics only for a handful of things... and EVERYTIME I regret it. I'd rather work on the car in the freezing muck than get stuck paying several hundred dollars to have someone put the totally wrong rear end in my speed wagon. Without a POSI and with the highway gears, the car was never the same, and I suspect the rear is the wrong application, as the rear tires no longer fit right. I've even started doing my own front end alignments... because Bubba is unable to get the steering wheel straight with $5000 worth of lasers and computers, but I can with a few homemade tools, string and a tape measure. Plus, for giggles, Bubba decided that several of the relays on my firewall were too close to the suspension and moved them for me. WTF?!? I recently bought a tire mounter and I'm looking for a cheap way to balance tires... because, yep, you guessed it, the tire shop guys can't do their jobs right, either. It took a half dozen returns before the last tires sealed and then the weights keep falling off. Tire Rack FTW!

In my perfect yard, I'd have nothing but majestic Oaks. However, my yard is far from perfect, and to hide the imperfect parts, I let anything with cover grow. Thats the only thing keeping the Mimosas, Sassifras, Big Tooth Aspens, Wild Cherry and Ailanthus Altissima (Tree of Heaven, the tree that "A tree grows in Brooklyn" is about) from getting the Sawzall. Actually the Wild Cherrys are getting kinda large, so they might go off to a mill someday. I hate trees that collapse without warning. I have seen Oak trees stand for a decade after dying... it gives one plenty of time to move stuff out of the way... and I definately have a few things that will take a decade to figure out how to move. Anyone ever see the mini version of these Mimosas? It is a actual weed, but it grows with mini versions of the fold up leaves, and each leaf has a little purplish "sensor" that if you cover with your finger will cause the leaves to fold up in a few minutes. I prefer the mini version of the Mimosa as it doesn't squash your car when it falls over.

I think it looks too much like a G6 convertible... potentially worse... as it's smaller, yet crams more noise into the design. The overall shapes screams G6 convertible, and it was the basic shape the everyone seems to hate about the G6. (And the interior, but that is a different story).

Thanks funny, I was cutting one of those down today. Actually, I was cutting two in a cluster of seven... the two I cut where too low to drive the van under. They are interesting looking trees, but are real weeds. They make a pile of mess, grow saplings all over the place, suddenly die for no good reason, but the number one reason they are weedy is when they suddenly fall apart in a slight wind. That said, I have... uh... about five clusters in the yard. The one is quite tall. I'm afraid to park anything near it that I like. One day, I'm going to find it in the swimming pool. Oh, BTW, if you like it, don't let anyone climb it... that's a real recipe for a lawsuit.

You're lucky to have been able to enjoy purchasing a "real GM" before it's twenty year slide into crapdom.

I don't cold easy, either... but when you are laid out on asphalt or concrete, even with a layer or two of cardboard, it just wicks the heat right out of you. After about 30 minutes, you are running back indoors to store up some heat. Almost obvious tip for car repair in the rain/monsoon... limp along to the next overpass. I can't count the times friends would call for help, standing in a downpour, 50 feet from a overpass... which they could have coasted to.

Replaced the head gaskets and freeze plugs on a friends V6 '79 Firebird... in the freeze and snow. It was about 8 degrees out. Had to get the car out of the adjacent parking lot before the holiday ended. Actually, I also ended up changing the in-tank fuel pump in the van during a freeze, as well. At least it wasn't snowing. You know, I'm been pretty productive during the 40 days of rain... When cleaning up the yard... 5 acres of breyers, wild rose, honey suckle and wild raspberries covering rusting scrap metal and rotten wood, I'm going to be soaked with sweat, so the rain is a welcome change. Every day is a day closer to my giant garage.

+eleventy billion

Cantilever shaming overhangs? Back in the day when a trunk was longer than a foot and a half, a large overhang was necessary to balance the appearance of the car. Granted, I understand the packaging benefits of short overhangs on modern cars, but IMHO, the super short overhangs don't work on larger cars, without it looking weird, like a limo. IMHO, the only overkill overhangs where the F-bodies that were so long and low that you couldn't pull into a parking lot without ripping off the plastic air dam.

I have to move the '69 Firebird. It has a fairly worn Chevy 350. About six years ago I last attempted to start it and was unsuccessful. At that time it had sat for about 2 years. Now it hasn't been attempted to start in about 6 years. I checked my fluids, poured some gas in the carb and put a battery on it, and even with a good battery, I'm getting nowhere. The engine does turn over... slowly... but it sounds nasty... a deep, dry, grinding. Normally, I would panic, but I recall a different, worn, engine which sounded similar (father's worn 350 Chevy Cubevan) until I got enough juice into the starter... at which point it fired up and ran. Is this grinding the bearings rubbing while dry? I don't want to ruin the engine, but it would be a small loss... its so worn its time for a rebuild... for some other car... this Firebird is getting a Pontiac 400 with a cut down 455 crank that is sitting in the garage right now. Right now, I'd like to get it started... what else could be grinding? I've obviously gotten spoiled on fuel injection (even though I hate the throttle response on fuel injection), as I like the idea of something starting on the first crank after sitting for years. Both the Firebird and my '81 Bonneville need to move and are proving stubborn after sitting. BTW, I know I need to check for spark next, but these are at my other place and I didn't bring my timing light (to detect spark... I don't like doing the spark test where I purposely electricute myself), I'm just wondering if I should continue to turn the engine, causing more possible damage.

I'm approaching a couple milestones... The '99 Bonne is sitting at 198K. It would have blown by 200K, but at 195K, it was put on secondary duty. The '89 Van is sitting at x98K. I suspect its 198K. The Caprice wagon hit 200K a few miles after I bought it... its currently stalled at about 225K, as it sits, in pieces, in my garage. I think the Sunfire is also closing on 200K... most of the other cars are far away from milestones or aren't being driven much.

After picking up the Chickenfoot CD, its likely the best thing so far in 2009. (Marilyn Mansons new one isnt bad either, but thats kind of a different genre). Did anyone who picked up the Digipak CD notice that it is all heat sensitive? Cool but annoying... you need to hold you hands over the packaging to warm it up so you can read the track listings. Also, there are pictures of the band members on the cover, concealed by the heat sensitive black.

Its illegal to release freon (R12) willfully, but not R134a... I'm not saying I like the idea of venting R134a, but its a fact of life... its leaking all the time, from hundreds of thousands of cars anyway. Its also still perfectly legal to fix you own AC. There simply is no effective way to reclaim the R134a for a home mechanic. As for the original question, you can inject some dye... or just get a UV light... given the age of the car, you may already have dye in it... the dye never really leaves. Once you fix the leak, which, unless you caught a porcupine in the grill, always seems to be the compressor, since it is the biggest moving part, you can test the system by applying a vacuum over night... Harbor Freight has a $10 vacuum pump. This also rids the system of water vapor and other contaminates. Personally, I would put a can of R134a in, and see how long that gets you. If you get a season, that's a pretty slow leak. Most AC systems have a low pressure cutoff that saves the compressor if the pressure falls to low. A system with barely enough refrigerant actually works too well, giving you overly cold air, sometimes fogging the glass or freezing the core... then you drop just below the pressure threshold and the system suddenly stops... giving you the impression the system leaked quickly. In fact, the opposite is true. Anyway, if your can of R134a only gets you a couple weeks, you're going to have some work to do or some money to dish out. $700 for a marked up compressor, accumulator, assorted odds and ends and labor is likely not that far off. Compressors run just under $300. Thats why people with old cars fix them themselves or go without luxuries like AC. BTW, is the system always kicking out nothing but warm air? If the orifice tube is clogged, you will get a brief blast of AC... a minute or so, until the pressure builds up and the compressor is shutoff, so you get warm air. When the car sits (I dunno, a few hours), the pressure bleeds down and you get that sweet minute of cold air. Good luck... keep us posted.

Follow the brake lines. GM, to my knowledge, has used two ABS styles... add on systems (B-body, F-body) and intergrated into the master cylinder (J-body). Lucky for you, W-bodies have both. Early cars have the intergrated unit, which makes for a giagantic master cylinder add-on. Later models have a separate system, which is likely what you have, has a separate box on the strut housing. If you see the brake lines go from the master cylinder to the ABS box... you have ABS. In the lines dive down under the car, you don't.

That's funny. Seems like BMW, Porsche, and to a lesser degree Subaru and Mazda seem to make fun cars without depending exclusively on a boring car. I'm not holding my breathe that the Cruze and Spark are going to steal much from the imports, except for Corolla, Yaris and Sentra drivers.

This all makes me want to do door security for a new limited access Internet.

Reminds me of the Tarrlytons billboard in Idiocracy... "If you don't smoke Tarrlytons... F*ck you" I think GM needs a new name since its not the same old GM anymore... its tainted somehow... and GM's actions in the last year have drained me of so much positive energy, that I cannot come up with anything that not rudely derogatory.

Same here for me about 6 of my Pontiac cohorts. They're mixed between Ford and Chrysler... but I'm still likely looking at BMW. Sure, I may still buy a Camaro, but it'll be used.

I'm continuing my project to clear about 3 acres of the property so that I will have a decent place to put my 10K sqft "barn". It will house Birds, Goats and at least one Impala.

Top Gear also beat the Prius with a gas-powered 3 series... showing that its also how you drive. I drive closer to Top Gear than Ed Begley Jr.

Since we live in an era where we need 9 cupholders for 4 passengers, why not put a gas door on both sides of the car? I miss the old license plate hidden rear gas filler... yeah, yeah, I understand the safety issue, but that's why I had 6 foot of trunk.

In 1995, it got 20 MPG. Those are the revised EPA figures, from when they changed the recipe a couple years ago. I actually posed the question on which figures would be used in the other thread. In any case, using either EPA formula, there are few cars that will qualify... a few B-Bodies... which are likely owned by enthusiasts that know that GMNA 2009 builds nothing that can replace them.

The other thread mentioned that cars needed to be 1984 or later... not earlier. So it's 1984 to present. I wonder if this will be a rolling 25 year window... obviously, this is here to prevent raising the ire of collectors and SEMA who argue the cars older than 25 years make up a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the total miles driven. As in the other thread, you need to have a MPG of 18 or worse... even my '95 Caprice wagon was EPA combined rated at 20 MPG. The people who tossed together this bill are completely out of the loop on understanding that cars have gotten pretty good mileage for the past 25 years.