fightingbee

Nice Lumina. My Mom had a silver '91 3.1L non-Euro Lumina for quite some time. It was a really great car and her W that replaced it ('99 Regal) has been superb as well. I've never even seen one of the rare 5spd. Z34's in person before but sure would love to drive one sometime.

I haven't had a set of Traction T/A's, but from what I have heard they are a pretty good tire. I don't know much about the Falkens.

Check them over for any abnormal cracks/bumps/bulges etc. and I would make sure they are not too much older than say 6-7 yrs old or they may have aging issues like the tires that came with my Achieva did causing a pull/shimmy despite proper balancing. The last 4 numbers of the DOT code (last 3 if made before 2000) of a tire tells the week/year it was made, i.e. 3204 would be 32nd week of 2004.

:wink: That reminded me of this old Kids in the Hall sketch:

When I owned my SL2, it seemed almost like an unwritten rule that other S-series would instantly gravitate together while parked.

Yeah, Uniroyal and BFGoodrich are both made by Michelin North America. UNI's made in the last 10 yrs. or so have been a much better tire than they are often given credit for IMO. BTW: If your Cav. uses 195/70-14's they are available in that size. I was set on replacing the 10 yr. old dry rotted junk on my '95 Achieva with them this past spring due to the good expierence from my SL2, but they would have to be special ordered locally and I got a real good price from my Saturn retailer for some Michelin Harmonys, so I ended up buying those instead.

If the Uni Tiger Paw Touring is available in your size i'd reccomend them. I had a set of 185/65-15 Touring TR's on my '96 SL2 and they were a good tire year round, (I was driving in Iowa winters then) and had a fair amount of tread left even after ~50K when I traded it.

'67 Cutlass Supreme coupe, met. blue with white vinyl top. I saw it at a u-pull junkyard here while looking for some Achieva parts, but it was in a "no parts" section of the yard so I am sure someone will buy it whole and save it.

No, it's just not usually shaped into a good looking car if GMDAT was the designer. :twocents: BTW: the Buick MILANAURA in the first post is quite spiffy.

I know the S-Series Saturns had factory KYB. I didn't know if many others did. The Cav prolly had Delphi units which I would say are still a bit Monroe-like softer by comparison, especially at the front. CarQuest pads are Raybestos product IIRC, so they would be a good choice also.

KYB (the GR2 dampers at least) are often just a tad firmer, but it will not instantly turn a base FE1 suspension into an FE3 ride or anything like that. NAPA is actually Tenneco/Monroe product and would be ~ a stock ride, their Sensatrac struts/shocks are quite good and even the cheaper ones will get the job done just fine.

The $15/ea. Chinese front rotors for the J,L, and N bodies actually seem to resist warpage better than the $100/ea. GM ones. The "Genuine GM" pads are good and very quiet but are also $$. You often do not even get these even during a customer pay dealer brake job, since ACDelco Durastop parts (by Raybestos) keep the price much more competitive. Good name brand aftermarkets (Raybestos/ACDelco, Akebono, EBC, Wagner, etc.) will be just as good for less $. KYB is probably the best upgrade for struts/shocks, but Monroe or NAPA's Sensa-Trac dampers aren't too bad either.

I did have some Honda Del Sol driving ricer kid once tell me my '96 Saturn was cool becuase they're really Japanese cars. I had to remind them that with only one small exception years ago Tennessee was indeed still part of the US and what "95% domestic content" means.

The comcept had a decent grille, apparently they were afraid to put their own logo on the grille.

When I lived in IA I once saw a '95-'99-style Cavalier 4dr. done like that including a snowplow.

This one is kinda that way.

Saturn had one in '94 and then again in '98, it was less pearly than some of the others IMO.

I bought my granny car/beater Achieva almost a year ago, convincing myself with the same rationale. My other car ('03 VUE) is nice still but no collector car either. Has it really saved any money? I don't think so. Am I still glad I did it? Absoultely. Having somthing a little older and a little easier to tinker with has been enjoyable for me. Plus it does spread my 80 mi/day mileage out between my two cars. Now if I did not work my own cars I don't know if I would be as likely to buy one as those repair costs can add up quite quickly, even on the low mile beaters simply due to age. My Achieva probably had $1,000-1,500 woth of work done to it if I had a shop fix all the things I have done to "restore" it. :wink:

My '95 Achieva S (Quad 4, 5-speed, only ~73K on the clock):

Yes, I was just there a few days ago (Mmm.)

I'm always up for Waffle House. The other patrons are sometimes "interesting" but I swear in my area (Pensacola) those "interesting" people all work at the MickeyD's, BK, etc. So the service at WH blows any other fast food joint away. One place I miss from living in IA is Culver's. Fast food quick, but great food and service and their restaurants were kept spotless.

In a related story, Southeast Toyota Distributors has already offered Mr. Heard a franchise opportunity due to his business practices and character being a perfect match for their needs.

Most likely controlled by the box known as the "multifunction alarm module" or "convenience center" which is basically the chime unit and a cluster of relays in one unit. I assume the door jamb switches work correctly, right?

They must be gentle on the equipment. During my stint as a Saturn parts guy it seemed like we replaced all our customers power door gizmos at least once and the imports are'nt any better from what I hear. Also I'd like to nominate PCChips to the $h! mobo list while I'm here again. I loved the US built pre-eMachines buyout Gateway boxes though.

Power sliding doors on minivans... 15 yrs. and I don't think anyone has made those **** things reliable yet.