GMTruckGuy74

Oh, just so you know, if I hit the lottery any time in the near future I'm buying Mothertruck from you and then paying you to finish it for me

I understand. I'm a big fan of the 30/3500 crew cab trucks of the '70s through the early '90s. It's rare to find a 4WD version, and rarer to find one that is single rear wheel (SRW) / not a dually. I found this one (now relisted) the other day on eBay and that's what prompted my other email. I'd love to find an '89-'91 GMC V3500 SRW with the deluxe appearance package, similar to the gray one I already posted here a few posts back. One like this would be sweet:

You'll get it back though from someone wanting a really well-cared for 2-door GM full-size SUV. They will be getting one nice rig!!

I am a big fan of the Code 130 RS concept car. It has such a non-conforming design... too many jellybean cars already exist in the marketplace. I agree with Camino, the different frontend is a good thing. It's unique enough to establish the car but also relate it to being a "Chevy". Maybe we'll be surprised at one of the remaining "big" auto shows (Chicago or New York)?

If you have a tonneau cover, the roof-mounted cargo light in the CHMSL (Center High Mounted Stop Lamps) is ineffective completely. Hell, the cargo light on the '06 Ford F350 Crew Cab/utility box I drive at the fire station isn't that great because of the tall cones & barriers we have in the utility's bed.

So on a whim I decide to visit eBay yesterday, type "GMC" in the toys catergory, scroll down a bit and find this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/GMC-TRUCK-SIGN-MADE-OF-PLASTIC-PROMO-12-HIGH-/160953804718?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item25799827ae It was super cheap at the time, though it had some bids ($25-ish bucks). I bid and a little while later the bid went up; I counter-bidded and on and on... I'm getting my ass handed to me by another GMC fan I don't have much more cash on hand for this, so I will more than likely be losing out. Can't say I've seen a GMC Trucks sign on eBay before this auction.

2014 GMC/Chevrolet LED bed lighting: 2011 GMC Sierra All Terrain HD Concept LED light strip: 2013 Ford Atlas Concept Bed Lighting: So unless GM has something up their sleeve, their main competition will make their new "innovative bed lighting feature" look severely dated in a years time. Not good, GM, not good

I'm still holding out hope that GM will surprise us with more features for these new trucks. I'm disappointed with the LED bed lighting; it looks like something you'd buy in a late night, "As Seen on TV" commercial. The 2011 GMC Sierra HD All Terrain concept had an in-bed LED light strip, very similar to what the 2013 Ford Atlas has. Why was this not pushed further for production? GM/GMC showed this off two years ago, and nothing for the K2xxx trucks. I'm hoping there will be a composite bed, similar to what the '11 HD All Terrain concept had, that will be optional and include the LED light strip and bedside storage. I'm a fan of the GMT-900 styling, so while a little let down that GM did not go farther with the exterior styling I'm pretty happy with the look (still getting use to the GMC Sierra headlights; need to see this truck in person to settle this issue).

iron

I have nothing against white woman (my own race), but I have a preference for Hispanic/Spanish women (my wife is of Puerto Rican/Ecuadorian mix). I don't think it's racist to date/marry someone of your own race nor to date/marry outside of your own race. Preferences are preferences! Someome that does not accept your choices and makes comments against said choices can be deemed as being "racist".

syrup

So any updates on Mothertruck? I know you've been busy with Red and Green, but I'm more interested in Mothertruck

Do you remember the 2011 GMC Sierra All Terrain HD Concept truck? How much of that translated to the 2014 production truck? That truck was purely a stying exercise using many production GMT-900 parts (front end and bed were custom made for the concept; frame was from a 2500 HD and doors were from the Escalade). Not saying that the Atlas isn't pointing to the F150's future, but a production version of the Atlas in F150 form is still a year, year and a half away. I don't think it's smart to say that many people will forgo a 2014 GM truck product because of this Ford concept. Especially not when the RAM trucks are taking so many awards lately too

Chevrolet Astro RS/Sport, late '80s into early '90s:

My recent pet peeve is the world BLESH.... as in "God blesh you." I make it a point to say "bless" when someone sneezes. Too many people say the word "blesh" nowadays (is it even an official word?). It's like nails on a chalkboard to me

Hope your day was a great one!

fall

Nothing more on the 2014 GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado? I was hoping for expanded news and information following the December 13th reveal.

Did a drive through of a GM Auto Mall complex in Lawrenceville, NJ yesterday (Princeton Chevrolet, Coleman Buick-GMC-Cadillac) after stopping by the mother-in-law's for a visit. Won't bore you with too many pictures, but got my first sighting of all three new Lambda's in the wild: Front comparison of the 2012 and 2013 Acadia's: Surprisingly the wife liked this Sonic LTZ Sedan (not crazy about the hacthback): Was hoping to get our first official spotting of a '13 Buick Encore on a dealer's lot. My salesman at the dealership I buy from told me that while originally expected at the end of December, the Encore's are now expected at the end of January. I guess we'll have our first up-close & personal look at the Philadelphia Auto Show next week.

I saw a Tesla S in white when I was in Scottsdale on December 1st. I was impressed! I've seen a few Fiskers tooling on the NJ Turnpike, and a couple on a car carrier on same roadway traveling southbound.

Well, not so much a full-blown project as it is more like "getting ready to sell" project My step-son Antonio purchased a 1998 Buick Regal LS Sedan in September of 2011, his first car, with cash he saved from working a part-time job. He did this practically with just six or seven months of saving up! He worked the drive-thru of our local Boston Market and watched each car as it came through. He saw a maroon colored W-body Buick Regal one day and told me he really liked how the car looked. Our search brought us to my selling Buick-GMC dealership that had the '98 advertised for the Labor Day weekend sale. Fast forward to this week. Antonio graduated from high school last June and in July was at the USMC recruiter's office. He shipped out to Basic Training (Parris Island, SC) this past Monday. Originally we were going to keep his car around for when he graduates in April and comes home for 10 days. But seeing as how he'll ship back out for another two & a half months of training, then deployment to a base (East or West coasts or overseas), there is no financial sense to keep his car around (plus the money sitting in his savings account earning interest would be better). After I knockout some repairs I will try Craigslist. The car currently has 131,344 miles (I have to look back to see how many were on it when he bought it). It has been making a wierd noise from under the hood the past month, getting louder as time moved on. Tuesday I cleaned out the remenants of garbage he left behind and decided to start it up and look under the hood. A noise similar to what a toy car friction motor (10x louder!) came from the alternator: Is this a sign that it has gone bad? I don't want to spend a lot to replace it, so I may go the shade tree mechanic route here and find a junkyard part (there's a supposedly good auto parts yard not far from me called Tilghman's Auto Parts - I've heard he has good prices on things like this). No picture, but when we bought the car the driver's seat bottom cushion was "lacking". Of course with him driving it the past year (he's a very fit and healthy kid) the seat cushion and leather covering deteriorated fast (no picture, sorry). There's an auto upholstery repair shop next town over and took it for an estimate. Apparently the wire frame is broken (noticed it sitting toward the rear floor!) and needs replacement along with vinyl since the car is older and leather would be too expensive. Cost for this repair = $175 (going in on Tuesday). Passenger side front window goes down but gets stuck half-way; likely will sell without repair and inform the purchaser of this fact. Anyone with information about this fix otherwise? Need to find a new rearview mirror. It's the auto-dimming kind but was damaged when we bought the car (the dimming liquid spilled into the mirror and it was always funky; mirror fell off the windshield about 3-4 months ago). Once I find a cheap replacement (auto parts yard or eBay), I'll get a window repair kit and glue it back on. Plastic "wood" trim for around the shifter; this was loose when he bought it and one of his friends goofed around with it and it shattered into 4-5 pieces: Will look at auto parts yard for this; eBay has not been helpful. The consule storage lid has been qwirky; noticed the other day the screws are loose so I'll tighten to see if that fixes it. Otherwise I've found one on eBay and I'll check the auto parts yard: He has the upgraded factory CD/Cassette player radio. He bought one of those conversion tapes to hook up to his iPod and cell phone. The EJECT button does not want to spit out the cassette tape. Any recommendations to get this to work? Here's the real kicker.... and I'm clueless about this repair. About 5-6 months ago he told me there was a problem with the shifter button. Apparently the plastic inside broke and the spring & button became airborne! The white plunger broken but it still operates the shifter. This is something I don't know how involved it will be to repair but needs to be in order to sell: The interior will benefit from a really good cleaning too. I don't plan to go all crazy like I do with my Envoy & the wife's G6, but will work some magic after the seat repair is done. The exterior is not bad, some paint scrapes and minor dings. However, a girl he pissed off at his job last spring left some key scratches on the driver's side. The car is red and the scratches are lite and "white", leading me to believe they may be in the clearcoat. Do you think an exterior detail job by a professional detailer would resolve this issue? There are several places that offer this service even in the winter. It's a 15 year old car that I think will make another new driver a decent first car. He bought new Michelin tires in December '11 that are in great shape, at least 2-3 oil changes, and had the head gasket/intake manifold replaced with a tune-up at the end of summer (along with a new resonator installed in early summer), so it has quite a few new parts. Of course it has some good options too: Hopefully I can get a good amount to put away in his account for the future.

trees

Grapes

The person sitting across from me is from Beijing, China, here for a 6-month program (ending in March). We've become friendly and talk often, especially since we both went to Downtown Phoenix in early December. I can say I've seen many of your son's expressions on my colleague