SAmadei

It could have been a white, blue or gold car that was repainted. White w/ turquise interior seems to be have been a popular GM color combo in the '60s. In the Q&A section, the seller claims it has paint code 'r', 'Apple Red'. Considering a full interior swap is less likely than a repaint, if true, it is a very odd factory combo. Seller claims more photos are coming, hopefully one will be of the cowl tag.

Too close to the original, and not possessing enough space to be a van. I think it would have made more sense to start with the Countryman, make it a two door and "van" it. Even call it the "CountryVan".

Its basically thick indestructable industrial paint. It bonds with the rust and steel. Problem is that its not UV resistant and it does not create a mirror smooth surface that would look good for shiny exterior paint. However, for underbody or interior parts... which are the most likely to rust, of course, its good. It can be thinned, from what I hear, but I imagine that might weaken it. It also can be painted over, but you have to scuff it for good adhesion. Then there are other tricks that are not so obvious... first, its pricy... and many people use it sparingly, so saving it is important... however, it tends to bond containers closed. One of the tricks is to divide your POR15 up into small jars, place plastic wrap over the mouth and put the screw cap on. Then store it upside down. This way, you can get the container open again and the part that skims over will be on the bottom of the jar. I bought a small sample in a jar years ago at a car show and swap meet... and used it on a few parts. It certainly held up as advertised. If doing a full-on restoration, I would certainly invest in gallons of it. Obviously, Eastwood company has now expanded the POR15 line to include lots of specialized formulations... and there are several competitors out there... I can't comment on how they hold up. But after using plenty of spray on rust converters and seeing nothing but longterm failure, POR15 was the closest to permanent I've ever seen. Since its thick and brushes on, I don't think it would be difficult to apply under the car. Some thin it and spray it... but you need good ventilation equipment for that... as it contains some nasty stuff. Wear gloves and try to keep it off your skin. Yeah, many of the NJ hits didn't pan out for me in the past (I think I map'd for chrome, though.)... most of the hits actually sent the chrome jobs out... but I couldn't weasel out to who. Perfect Metal Polishing looks interesting... I'll have to give them a call.

My initial feeling is that Cubical is right... its likely the same, but the extension makes it appear bigger. During this era, GM was reusing sheetmetal whenever it could, and the rest of the roofline appears identical. IIRC, my Hollander interchange manual has a roof section... but I won't be able to check it for about 2 weeks.

If its not visible, POR15 it... then scuff it and topcoat it. It'll never think of rusting again. Since a few of you guys are looking at refinishing some wheels, I'm curious if anyone knows someplace in the northeast where one can get OEM alloy wheels rechromed. The '99 Bonne's wheels look fine and have good rubber, but the chrome job GM did on the Bonne "Torque Stars" is abysimal on the bead, inside and back of the wheels. The chrome flakes, the aluminum becomes chalky, then the wheels leak because you cannot seal the ever-cracking chrome. I've unmounted the tires, stripped off the bad chrome and repainted the insides, but it doesn't stop the chrome from flaking further... I bought a second cheap set of identical wheels, but they also need to be stripped and rechromed. Anyway, simply looking only for plating or chroming is not finding me anybody even slightly close to NJ/NY... and I'm sure there are companies out there. I'm also curious what the price range may be. I'm not interested in switching to aftermarket wheels... I really like the Pontiac factory wheels, and always have... the only aftermarket wheels I'd be remotely interested in putting on the Bonneville are the TorqueThrust-M wheels... but they are for late model Mustangs... and the bolt pattern is off by about 1mm... close enough that people use Mustang wheels on W/H-bodies, but not close enough for me to drop a grand on wheels that might not fit right enough for my peace of mind.

That's a neat piece of trivia, James.

That's just the covering... they all have foam, which you can see clearly at the front and rear as Dwight would point that GM is not even interested in tucking the ends of the headliners. Certainly, the foam has improved... but as I've seen bubbles forming in cars barely 10 years old, GM has not fixed the problem. Keep in mind, that since A/C is now virtually standard and A/C systems stay pressurized longer, on average, than they did in the '80s, you can account for some of the headliner durability by the fact that people running the A/C are not driving 65 with the windows down. The bubbles grow until the wind starts to make them flap, which eventually causes the whole thing to go.

According to Wiki, no Olds Diesel ever had an OEM fuel/water separator. That said, my father fixed diesels early on in his mechanical career... and him and his diesel cohorts felt the 1981 DX block improvements were enough to make for a suitable diesel... problem is, that even after 1981, the people buying them maintained them wrong, leading to more catastrophic failure. I would trust all 1981-1985 diesels about the same. I believe dad installed a separator on our car.

Demonstrating that after 30 years of sunbaking, the velour is coming off? Please. I've seen leather interiors splitting apart after less than a decade. I've sat in seats like this... Oldsmobile flavor, not Buick... and they offer all the luxuries and quality you need... a comfortable seat for a 6'4" guy... 3 across seating... good visibility... good leg and foot room. Sure, I preferred the fluffed pillow seats some Olds and Buicks had... but that something of a moot point, as BMW or Mercedes never had those. Of the '80s?!? You better check again. GM headliners fall in the '70s-'80s-'90s and '00s. Sure, GM's foam has gotten better at not instantly disintegrating, but it still fails in some cars. The old '60 headliners usually held up much better.

I don't know about you Balthy, but 98% of the police officers I have met in Jersey, both locals and troopers are pretty fit, and would have no problem doing a one-on-one unarmed take down on the Internet desk jockeys who's wittiest comments involve donuts. If they read the article, the previous vehicles were Zafiras... 15 inches shorter and 3 inches narrower... but 6 inches taller. The Zafira's fit the police fine. Sounds like the Insignias are severely ergonomically compromised. Of course, its typically a good thing to have beefy, tall police. It helps establish authority and helps them take down criminals. One dude I knew in a drug induced jumped off the 3rd floor casino garage, broke both legs, yet still ran another couple blocks and it still took about 15 AC police to finally stop him. He hurt a few of them in the process, too, IIUC. If the police are expected to shrink with the CAFE-required cars, about 2025 we're going to be hiring only 'little people' to be police officers and crime is going to skyrocket.

It has. Apparently GM used a rubber formulation that just didn't hold up, and without proper reinforcements. Ocnblu is right, they did start sagging early on, but they weren't this bad in 1986. The only solution I know is to get an aftermarket fiberglass nose. Unfortunately, then your originality goes out the window then...

Ironically, the nicer the paint job on my car, the less gung-ho I am about doing heavy duty work to it. Afraid to screw it up. LOL. I tend to do more on dying paint jobs, where I feel the risk/reward ratio is better. I feel the same way with body work. That's funny, as I've popped a lot of dents out of good paint without damaging it... I'd rather pop out a dent than accidentally put swirls in a paint job... but honestly, my bodywork has always come out nice, once I decide to tackle it.

Delaware, not Deleware. Troubling. I wonder how much rope the government will give them with the grants/loans before this becomes a SAAB-like situation.

I wish there was an easy way to correct the header droop over the headlights.

A German police force that spent €25 million on new sporty cars found that not only was the visibility rubbish for chases - the fancy seats were so narrow the cops could not get in while wearing their guns, truncheons and other equipment. The embarrassing mishap came to light in a poll conducted by police union GdP, which showed that many officers in the western German state of Hesse preferred their old wheels – the Opel Zafira. The Hesse Interior Ministry ordered 800 of the swish new models – Opel's Insignia Sports Tourer – in a long-term deal at the end of 2010. The ministry says that 200 of the cars have been delivered so far, but it is yet to be decided whether the order will be completed. Update...

Most of the well-off retirees I've known have dialed back the bling at retirement, but increase the travel. The not-so-well-off retirees become an oxymoron as they work until they die. Wiki used to have some good hard numbers, but no more. Its actually quite shocking the numbers, which vary somewhat depending on the boundary years used to separate the 'gens'... 1945-1964 9 years Boomers 80 million 1965-1979 14 years Gen X 49 million 1980-1999 19 years Gen Y 78 million (from http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html) Its especially crazy to compare the average births per year... 8.88 million births per year for Boomers to 3.2 million births per year for Gen X. I agree the Boomers will be influencing cars for a while, but I also wonder if more of their money goes towards longevity instead of new cars. The Boomers have a lot of money and WILL increase the average lifespan by dumping a lot of money into medical science concerning aging... which will keep them around even longer, but at what impact, financially?

Ironically, the nicer the paint job on my car, the less gung-ho I am about doing heavy duty work to it. Afraid to screw it up. LOL. I tend to do more on dying paint jobs, where I feel the risk/reward ratio is better.

It is the current average age of a new car buyer. So for the plenty of people you know buying cars, there are plenty of 60 year olds offsetting them. To negate BK's buying of the Challenger at 20 something, there is a 80 year old buyer... or two 65 year olds.

Use lubricant with the Claybar... at least water. And just like any abrasive, use it sparingly on sharp creases, which is where your paint is thinnest. Also, its only for getting rid of crud sitting on top of the paint, you can't expect to use it to smooth out scratches, unless its a scratch where the offending paint is floating above your clearcoat.

Agreed. In my experience, its not usually the input shaft. Pan is easy... output shaft is not too bad, assuming the tranny has a removable tail section... which, IIRC, most electronically controlled modern trannies do. It also depends on where you plan to park it and how bad the leak is. If the leak is slow and you have a place to park it where a stain doesn't bother you, you can ignore fixing it somewhat. I interpreted "rear seal" to be the rear seal on the engine, not the rear end. "Rear seal" on the engine can be fixed with the engine in the vehicle, but removing the tranny is required. Its definitely an advanced repair, but can be "done in your driveway". _IF_ you removed the tranny, and a non leaky replacement could be located, you could obviously kill two birds with one stone. Tranny swap can be done solo, but I highly recommend having a helper. Rear seals can also be ignored if they are slow and you don't mind a stain... but you can always moving to a slightly thicker oil or adding a stop-leak to see if that can help tame the problem. If they meant "rear" seal, then WMJ is pretty much spot on. However, the rear can also leak at the pinion, which is not a easy fix... to replace the pinion crush seal basically requires complete disassembly and setting up the rear from scratch. Sometimes swapping the third member is easier. Again, I agreed... but its also possible that somebody has munged up something badly, though very unlikely. I am surprised the dealership didn't just try to stop that leak by tightening the oil filter a 1/4 turn. Yeah... a bit more info. The problems aren't immediately indicators of major problems, but they sound like typical problems on a sub-$1500 vehicle that has seen deferred maintenance, as the owner planned on trading it in. If the truck is in good shape otherwise, doing these repairs yourself could reap you some profit in this brutal post-C4C used car market.

If they have no bread, let them eat cake. The "youfs" are currently 50... and every year that cars get more expensive compared to average income, the higher that number will go up. Soon all cars will be designed for 90 year olds... the numbers on the dashboard will be 6 inches tall, the controls will be like a Fisher Price activity center... good for arthritic hands will lousy motor control... and they will largely drive themselves... at 35 mph with the left turn signal on for miles... without the ability to turn off the self-drive feature. Have fun.

Should be called the CSNC... Concept Style Not Coupe.

Of the buying market... which are 50+ year olds. If cars could choke down the runaway pricing, so that we were living in the "golden years" of the '60s when people earning $1~2/hr... about double minimum wage could afford to buy NEW cars, younger people would buy... and many would want coupes, IF they were exposed to the benefits. Plus if a youth movement was spurned by the domestics, you would potentially help get the economic machinery moving in this country again... instead of a limited number of 50 year olds sending 50% of the car buying dollars overseas on beige foreign appliance cars. Incidentally, I don't mind 4 door SUVs nearly as much as sedans. They are like the wagons of the past... generally larger front and rear doors, so you aren't as likely to be sitting behind the B-pillar and adults can get into and remain in the rear seat without needing to remove their heads and legs first. They are simply not as much of a compromise. No, you still need two doors, because while there are a lot of sedan drivers driving solo, they do spend a decent percentage with 1 passenger. For the top 5 sedan drivers (myself included) that I can get a decent sampling of, I would guesstimate a breakdown something like... 65-70% solo, 29-35% 1 passenger, and less than 1% more than 2... which works out to be about 2-3 trips a year with a 3rd or 4th passenger. To me, I should not have to put up with the amount of discomfort I put up with for 99% of the trips in a sedan for the benefit of a handful of people who can climb into the rear of a coupe. Don't get me wrong, I hope... and I'm sure that other sedans' backseats are getting a better workout... but by spot checking the drivers around me, its not by much. Finally, your logic of equating doors to cylinders is simply not valid. I use, at least once, on 99% of my trips, the entire power of the engine. In any case, I'm sure any study, if done, would show that the average driver uses a higher percentage of their engine than the percentage of their doors.

Wow... that's a long way out there, considering that I'm sure its going to share a lot of parts with other VW SUVs... the Touareg, Q7 and Cayenne.

You're clearly mentally handicapped with your logic. Most of my friends driving sedans drive solo, almost always. First, as Balthy noted, not everybody has kids. Second, kids spend only about 20% of their childhood in car seats. I grew up in coupes. Period. Our family did not get a sedan in the 'family' until I bought my '99 Bonneville in 2003. Putting car seats in the rear of the car was not a problem. Getting in the backseat of the car in the rain was never a problem. As a 6'4" 300lb teenager, I had no problem jumping into the rear of the '74 Nova, '81 Cutlass, '69 Firebird, '70 Tempest... probably more, I can't recall. I don't question that some people use them, but I just don't see it. I can't get into most sedan backseats smaller than a W-body. My feet don't fit in the floorwell... or I have to side sideways. OTOH, I spent a day recently putting children in car seats in the back of the GF's Corolla (about the only time in 5 years, I have observed the rear seats used)... it was a PITA. The roofline is low, so removing the kids from the seats involved bending them so you didn't remove their heads... and trying to close the buckles was difficult, as I had to stoop, jammed near the door's hinges to see whats going on... don't want to get any child parts caught in those buckles. My parents had a good reasoning for putting us in the back seat of a coupe... we weren't likely to open the door and fall out. The children I had in the backseat were already reaching for the window switches and door handles while they were in the child seats. Sure, there are child locks... but they can be a hassle... so are window lockouts. Back in the days before everything had power locks, ensuring all the doors were locked was a PITA. Back in the '80s two people I knew with sedans had people jump into the backseat at traffic lights... thinking it was a taxi! That's not secure to me. Finally, you are comparing the blindspots created by the B-pillars to the blindspots created by the C-pillars. The problem with your logic is that I'm not sitting behind the C-pillars. The B-pillars are blocking my ability to look left and right at a intersection. And sitting behind the B-pillars is not unique to me... most of my taller friends and family end up sitting behind the B-pillar. I can only imagine in a T-bone accident how much of my skull will be ripped open by the B-pillar and seat belt harness. I know how to use my mirrors to see around the C-pillars fine... where do you suggest I install extra mirrors so I can see to my left? I stand by my words. Useless doors. Safety issues... added parts... and subpar functionality, even for loading stuff into the car. And still, a styling ugliness... but I leave styling out, as its too subjective.