SAmadei
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Everything posted by SAmadei
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On these last of the 2 door Tahoes, does the backseat fold down or easily remove? When I was looking at the truck today, it looked like anything I would do to the seat would require tools. Also, can these 2 door Tahoes store the spare tire under the body?
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So, I'm still on the verge of buying a '97 Tahoe. Its a little rougher than I thought... but I think a good cleaning and a little work will make it a decent ride. First, when I was looking at the truck, neglected to check out the SPID. Once I got home, I found out that GM used 3 different whites for 1997. Anyone know (or know a site that lists) what color availability the Tahoe's had in 1997? Next, what interior parts interchange between the 2-door and 4-door Tahoes? I assume the dash does... but it looks to me that the rear seat and front seats are special. I know I can get piecemeal replacement leather seat sections, but it gets kinda pricy. I also imagine that the door panels (and doors for that matter) don't interchange. Or do they? This truck has the tailgate setup, which I prefer. But the rear window is somewhat gouged. Do the rear lift glass parts interchange between the 2 door, 4 door Tahoe and Suburban interchange? I very seriously doubt I could fix the gouge. The body seems fairly rust-free, but has a few spots where the paint is starting to get rust stained... and one spot where the paint/primer failed. I hate white, but I figured I could try to save/blend the paint to make it presentable... Or I may just paint the thing black, as its not full of dents.
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Rumorpile: Holden To Transition Into Chevrolet After 2017
SAmadei replied to William Maley's topic in Heritage Marques
No. Oldsmobile may be older, but Buick was the first GM company, controlled by Durant to acquire Olds, Oakland, Cadillac, etc. Yes, I am. -
Never got to the wheel hubs... ONLY after I was on the verge of pulling the old hub did the strut demonstrate that something is severely amiss in the top of the strut. *everything* gets returned to Autozone, and a big order will be placed to RockAuto... I'll probably get the parts just in time to do struts and hubs (the car lost a lug stud and the existing hubs seem to have 173K on them) in more sub-30 degree temps. Yay!
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Rumorpile: Holden To Transition Into Chevrolet After 2017
SAmadei replied to William Maley's topic in Heritage Marques
First it will be a transition to Chevy. Then with Chevy's failure in Europe, and Buick's continued China success, all Chevy will transition to Buick. Afterwhich GMC and Cadillac lose their way, marketing versions of the Spark to replace the loss of the original Chevy Spark, they and Opel (Vauxhall is just a memory by then) are all folded into Buick. In the beginning it was Buick... in the end it will be all Buick! -
I agree... the nicest 200 ever... but it looks too much like a shrunken A7. Too much copying and emulating today. Give us with something bold and original. Lets start with an LED taillight that is distinct... maybe incorporates a Chrysler Pentastar or part of the Chrysler "Wing" on each side.
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Its 28 degrees outside... so I guess I'll install a front wheel hub in the Sunfire, assuming I don't freeze first. I have so much car work backed up... and working on the cold concrete outdoors is rough.
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To me, its too square to be a VW, Similarity ends at door shape, round headlights and taillights... all features the Chevy van had... but the Chevy vans were more squared off, had a one piece windshield and where available with a 3 window configuration. Look at this profile of a 1966 Chevy G10... Compare to a the only VW Bus profile I could find... ...and then the cartoon. Note the angles on the front and rear... Anyway, I rest my case. Note: I almost bought a '65 Chevy van painted like the Mystery Machine a few years back. Still regretting it. Also, my father owned a '66 G10 like the one pictured back in the '70s.
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I'm assuming your reference to appearances in the Scooby Doo show to mean the Mystery Machine. I don't recall any other vehicle ever being prominent in the show. While some VW Type 2s have been painted to look like Mystery Machines, the Mystery Machine is really an mixture of '60s vans. IMHO, its much closer to a '65 Chevy van than a VW Type 2.
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I always like Dwight's posts.
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Not only that, but would have been much cheaper. I don't see any reason why Impala-sized RWD car needs to more than, say, 10% more than the Impala. No thanks. GM has trouble nowadays building a "full size" car that is comfortable to a big guy, so an ATS test drive would likely end with the use of the jaws-of-life.
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Honestly, I didn't think I'd have a V6 either, but Wiki was listing the 4.3 V6 as an option during those years. I don't think I've ever seen a Tahoe/Blazer/Yukon/Jimmy with a V6... just the I-6 a LONG time ago. I only ever see 4.3 V6s used in big vans and 1500 level Silverado/Sierra... well, and little S10/Astro stuff. What always scares me more is a seller who can't remember if he had a 6 or 8. Since you guys know better.... the 350 in a '97 would it be an LT1 or do the trucks have the older 350?
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I wonder how hard it would be to install a wheel lift under a '95 Caprice wagon. ;-)
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Actually, I would think tow dollys need brakes in NJ, even if its only rarely enforced. I wouldn't run one without brakes, personally. Using a tow dolly with a speed dolly also makes me question... how many axles is that? Three on the trailer + the tow vehicle? Normally this would not be a big factor, but in NJ any long tow trip is going to encounter DRPA or PANYNJ bridges. Yeah, but its not a wagon (or wagon-like) vehicle... unless I find a hearse... which is only a two seater. Please they are somewhat hard to find anymore. In any case, I'd never have to tow more than 5500 lbs... which is a full size van. Adding 500 lbs for the dollys... 6000 lbs is close enough to the 5000 lbs the Caprice wagon's capacity... especially with a weight-distributing hitch... most tow options are all about engine and tranny cooling, anyway. Wagons are getting very hard to find cheap. I actually have a line on a cheap high mileage 2 door '97 Tahoe. I just hope it has a V8. Of course, that still does not get me a tow dolly or speed dollys. I'm thinking of building them... my speed dollies won't be as slick as the real things, but they'll cost only a quarter of what they do. I'm trying to think of how I can build a strong tow dolly that can be broken down into small pieces.
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Yeah, bring back Pontiac! Now would be a good time to restart G8 production (as a Grand Prix), unveil a new Trans Am and show off the new ATS-based "G6" selling for $20K. Oh, and bring out the G8 ST!
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*sigh* GTO sold 40,800 units in 3 years... in each year they were capped at 18K, so most Pontiac could have moved would have been 54,000. Considering that Pontiac shot themselves in the foot in 2004 by bragging about how much better the 2005 would be... and how dealers hoarded and priced up the cars, selling 40K of 54K is a resounding success. The G8 was NOT around for 2 full years. Cars arrived in March of 2008 and the last one was made in June 2009... giving two very truncated "sales years" of 15K and 23K... considering the level of advertising, selling 38K cars in ~16 months during a huge market downturn is doing pretty well. IIRC, it was April 2009 sales in which the G8 was the 6th best selling GM car. In any case, the G8 would also have been limited in production due to Holden's production capability if it was selling at 2007 Grand Prix levels. Tyran, the Marauder failed because is was 7 years too late version of the Impala SS and the 4.6 was underwhelming. It suffered from awful advertising (OTOH, the Impala SS was IMHO VERY well advertised) and it made more sense to just buy a used Impala SS.
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I already have a trailer for towing cars... however, it weighs a ton... at least... and its huge. So its a fine towing setup when its hooked up behind the F450HD dump truck or "Dad's" overbuilt work van. Unfortunately, the van and the F450HD are rarely registered, gets lousy MPG, are expensive to maintain and I cannot store either and the trailer at my primary or secondary residence. If something was to break down and _IF_ it was road-ready, I'd be doing an extra 60 mile round trip, at the least, to pick up the tow rig before retrieving a broken car. I really want to get back to using a smaller dual-purpose tow vehicle and a lighter trailer for emergency tows. I was going to use the Caprice wagon, but that is laid up... so I might pick up another wagon... or an GMC Envoy XUV, as they have 5000 and 6500 towing ratings respectfully... and I can get more if go weight-distributing. I don't have space for a trailer, but I could store a tow dolly. I'm not overly happy with tow dollies, but for emergency use on a FWD car, they should work fine with a Caprice or something. However, I tend to stock a few RWD cars... and I'm not disconnecting a driveshaft to tow them. So after some thought (and thinking back to the olden days of sling-back tow trucks), I thought that I could use some "Speed Dollies" on the rear wheels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpHP1-pBwDo I figure with the Tow Dolly and Speed Dolly weighing in at 500 lbs or less, I could still have 4500 lbs of capacity for the towed car. Anyone know if these can be used with a Tow Dolly? Legally? Assuming that the tow dolly has electric brakes, would these be legal without breaks? Thoughts?
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Actually, the superchargers don't really need oil changes too often, but do need the level topped off. Removing the supercharger oil requires suction and in the end, the oil was so clean after 100K miles, it was a waste of time. Supercharger failure at 79K is pretty odd... they tend to be very reliable parts. I would imagine that the the bearing/seal leaked slowly and then burned up when the SC oil was gone... the destroyed bearing may have lead to case damage, seizure and the pulley breaking off. But I am merely guessing without seeing it. I would visit a pick-a-part and get a replacement supercharger... or CL/eBay. As long as the unit spins freely, you should be good. Bonus points if you have the seals replaced before installing it. In any case, I don't see this being more than $500~600 to do. $300 for a used supercharger and $200~300 to install seals and the supercharger on the engine.
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There are some cars that I would argue that a three point belt restricts my movement to the point where its unsafe to wear. You ask a good question... aside from the fact that it is generally illegal to wear a helmet while driving, I have never thought about the pros/cons of 4~5 point belts. In general, its my understanding that to a certain degree both of these require some caging to anchor the over the shoulders belts, as its my understanding that they should not be anchored to the floor.
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Biggest one day stock drop due to auto Fire in Seattle Suburb
SAmadei replied to G. David Felt's topic in Tesla
Wouldn't the Elon method of fixing this be a radar system that detects debris and raises the car to avoid it? -
Looks good. Glad to read that you are still working on the taillights and some details. I was going to mention that you have a screw loose in the one photo. ;-)
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Only $219~$329 for a repro on LMCTruck, depending on your favorite vintage!
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Dodge News: Rumorpile: Dodge Dart Coming With A V6
SAmadei replied to William Maley's topic in Dodge
Yeah... Dodge will offer this great RWD lineup... then cut the music! Dodge is history... just because Fiat hates us almost as much as GM! ;-) -
I look at it this way, Balthy... since the surname Willys and Willis are forms of each other, Willys founder John Willys likely did not go around calling himself "John Willies", but likely used "John Willis". Of course, show that to a nation of people who can barely read, and I'm sure it was commonly called "Willies" by the public... especially if you consider that many people probably never heard the name spoken properly in radio or TV advertising (mostly because Willys best years really predate TV and common radio ownership). After all, I'm sure if you ask around enough, there are people who never heard of Chevrolet, but think Chevys are great cars. (If you ever doubt ignorance, just look for Howard Stern's bit "Do you want to be a hundredaire" in which the contestants suffered over trying to determine the number of minutes in an hour.) I had heard of the question of Willys pronunciation years before... but it was until Fast and Loud that it was pretty much confirmed for me. I'm shocked to have actually learned something from the show. I'm also shocked that Fast N' Loud seems to be the sole surviving car builder show.
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Biggest one day stock drop due to auto Fire in Seattle Suburb
SAmadei replied to G. David Felt's topic in Tesla
Actually, in my case, that's pretty close. My local CNG is generated by the landfill... as the trash sits out under the sun and slowly farts. And don't forget one of the rumored reasons we are mysteriously still in a war in Afghanistan... the greatest lithium deposit in the world... just waiting for us to strip mine it.
