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Amazingly, the only thing I've seen of note in a while was a hot rod '32ish Chevy a couple weeks ago. People must be putting away the classics early this year.

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I've never understood why donked cars have advertising. It's not like they're getting paid to drive around looking like an idiot.

Meh...I'm thinking of switching to Imon anyway.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/29/...in5273636.shtml

Speakings of brakes, I saw this the other day... I don't know how old the brakes were when I bought the Lumina, but I drove it 30,000 miles before one of the rear rotors started sticking and warping, which forced me to replace both rotors and brakes on the rear. I think the LS's brakes were last replaced at around 50K and it's at 80K now, so we'll see how much longer they go.

Sorry to hear bout your car, Cspec. The infamous curse strikes again, it seems...

It has been raining or sprinkling nonstop for the last couple days as a storm system has stalled out over eastern Iowa. So far we have 8 inches of rain here in the city and streets and streams are starting to flood. We have these teaming rooms in our office we call the cubes (see pic below) and one spots leaks by the air handling unit. We put a 10 gallon trash can up there to catch the water drip, but today it filled up so fast that the weight caused the bucket to crash through the top layer of drywall and water starting spilling into the insulation and causing the lower drywall to bubble. The can was too heavy to lift out, and being the tall one I was volunteered to climb up a ladder and siphon the water out so we could get the trash can down from there. There was mucky $h! in the bottom of the can too, so who knows how long that water was in there. It was 3/4 full again by the end of the day. The parking lot outside Where one of my friends works It looks like floods are becoming an annual tradition here!

I did my own poking around the C4C lots this weekend, and it put me at ease overall. 95% of the vehicles there were older, high mileage minivans, SUVs, and trucks and nothing too special. The only vehicles I saw there that pulled my heartstrings were a black early 80s Caprice Coupe with some slight rust on the doors, a late 80s Plymouth Gran Fury, a third gen Camaro, Sedan DeVille, Crown Vic, and Caprice wagon. The Caprice Coupe really killed me...those are hard enough to find unmolested. It wouldn't have taken much to get it looking good again. This wasn't taken by me, but once again another pic that gets my blood boiling (looks to be a third gen Camaro, and of course they have to pick old Detroit iron and park it out front with a nasty epitaph)

Ive got me a whole months wages I havent seen that much in ages I might spend it in stages And move out to Las Vegas Stone cold sober and stone cold sweat Running down the back of my neck To lose means trouble, to win means double And I got me a heavy bet Cold, cold sweat!

And as long as the clay isn't too soiled, you can reuse it for a later time. I bet I can get at least a couple more times out of the used clay bar I have.

This is the video I watched before I did it...it will show you how it's done.

I think the Meguiar's Clay Kit was $39, so it's not too pricey, but it's not really that cheap either. The results are worth it though. And yes, it includes 2 synthetic clay bars, some spray-on detailer that you use to lubricate the clay, and a sample bottle of wax. Between all the washing, claying, and waxing, I spent about 6 hours. I'd say 3 1/2 hours of it was claying. I did mine in kind of a methodical order though...I started from the top and worked my way down, doing the areas along the rocker panel and wheel wells last since these have the most grit and you want to avoid getting all the crap in the clay early on. Also, you want the clay to stay free of specks when you're doing highly visible areas like the hood and trunk, since any little speck of grit could scratch the paint. So that's why it works better to start on top areas first and then do the sides, then do the bottom, and then wheel wells last. One last thing...I made a newbie mistake and dropped the clay when I was doing the sides. If you drop the clay on the ground, toss it. All the sand and stuff it picks up will scratch the paint. The best thing to do is use smaller, thinner chunks of clay (about 2" in diameter) in case you do drop it. I went through 3/4 of one of the clay bars for the LS, so I still have a whole extra one.

Yep, we always had a jar of Nutella when I was in Italy too. It's amazing how common that stuff is over in Europe, but here you hardly ever hear of it. I don't think Europeans really eat much peanut butter.

Google bot is giving Mother's some lovin. I agree, and the last sporting Lincoln, IMO. I went to the L-M dealership today just to drive around and when you see the new MKS & MKZ, they're nice, but they don't stir my blood as much as the LS. Between the big split grille, huge side badges, and some strange lines...it feels like Lincoln is trying a little too hard these days. Plus all the extra weight and FWD. The LS has taut and clean styling, more in line with past Lincolns, and I think that's why it succeeds so well.

I was behind a TDI today and noticed you can actually see the diesel exhaust a little bit. At first I thought it was burning a little oil until I noticed the TDI badge.

How are you guys able to post YouTube videos? Whenever I paste the embed link, I just get the whole HTML script on my post instead of the video.

It's the redneck Bobby Budnick! Congrats on the car.

Yesterday I woke up at 8 AM spent 6 hours washing, claying, and waxing with Turtle Wax Car Wash, Meguiar's Smooth Surface Clay Kit, and Meguiar's Next Tech 2.0 Wax. I'm sold and will swear by the stuff...my car was shiny before, but now the paint is like glass and when sunlight hits it, light bounces off in all directions. I didn't do any polish although it could use it in a few places, so I may do that in the spring. Anyway, take a gander.

Congrats Dodgefan! That performance based pay will be nice. I wish I got to use Photoshop more at my job...instead it's Autocad most of the time. I could spend all day creating images in Photoshop!

I think it's just clothing styles today. Most clothing fits tighter now. I remember back in the late 80s to late 90s when baggy & loose fitting clothing was in. But I was just a kid in the 80s so I don't really have a frame of reference to compare rack sizes vs. today.

Yep, 2003-2006 they looked like this. Personally I like the newer ones better too, but I got a better buy with the 2001.

I've talked with 3 other former LS owners and all of them gushed over their cars. One guy I saw at a Cadillac store looking over new CTS's and he said he would've had been looking at another LS if Lincoln was still making them. Did you ever have any major mechanical issues or repairs? All three I talked to said their cars were reliable, but I've read some user reviews that makes it seem like reliability can be hit or miss with these cars.

Review: 2001 Lincoln LS V8 The Lowdown *81,600 miles *3.9L Jaguar-derived V8 *DEW98 Platform shared with the Jaguar S-Type and the 2002-2005 Ford Thunderbird *5-speed automatic transmission (standard, not SelectShift equipped) *252 hp @ 6100 RPM / 267 lb*ft @ 4300 rpm *114.5" wheelbase / 193.5" long / 73.2" wide *3692 lb curb weight *Features: glove box 6 CD changer, power seats, power tilt & telescoping steering wheel, memory seating, heated mirrors, automatic headlights, instant fuel economy gauge, auto-dimming rearview mirror, folding rear seat, front valet key system *Safety features: traction control, rain-sensing wipers, front and side airbags, 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS ---------- This Lincoln LS was born at the height of the DotCom boom, a time when Ford was poised to become the largest automaker in the world and Lincoln had become the best-selling luxury marquee just two years earlier. Part of the Premier Auto Group, the swanky California studio brought car enthusiasts a credible American sport sedan after decades of retreat into ill-handling mediocrity. Originally to be named LS6 and LS8, Lexus threw a fit. Ford threw a fit back concerning Toyota's T-150 concept, so a mutual agreement was made that the new Lincoln would simply be called LS and Toyota agreed to call its new truck Tundra instead. The engine under the hood of my LS is a 3.9L V8 making 252 hp and 267 lb*ft of torque. When it first went on sale, reviews complained that the LS was underpowered compared to some of the competition at the time. Despite that, it still pulls 0-60 in 6.8 seconds with the standard 5-speed auto. My car is not equipped with the 5-speed SelectShift auto that allows you to manually choose your gear and may be able to squeak out a slightly better 0-60. This brings me to my first negative; the transmission is a little goofy at times. The first three gears have a narrow range and shifts happen at 15 mph, 28 mph, and 38 mph, which is somewhat annoying if you're just driving around town at low speeds. There is a TSB that came out in 2001 to reprogram the shift intervals which apparently helps this issue and I plan on having it done sometime in the near future, so I'll update at a later time. Also, the shifter is a little looser than I would like it to be. The engine is by no means loud. When you romp on it, the V8 is fairly muted but does emit enough of a growl to let you know there are eight cylinders firing under the hood. While the engine is quiet, one annoying nuance is that the classic Ford power steering whine is present. For fuel economy, hard city driving yields between 17.5 and 18.5 mpg, while gentler city driving can yield 19 or 20 mpg. On the highway with cruise set at 75, it will easily get 26-27 mpg with 28-29 possible at lower speeds. The best I have achieved so far is 29.6 mpg. The engine bay is very tight, which is why the Ford modular 4.6L was never used in this car. In fact, it's so tight that the battery is in the trunk and also helps with the near 50/50 weight balance ratio. The 2000-2002 Lincoln LS's had a hydraulic radiator fan which has its own reservoir that one fills with transmission fluid. It is a little on the loud side, which is why they went to an electric fan for the 2003-2006 models. The platform is the expensive but agile DEW98, shared with the Jaguar S-Type and Ford Thunderbird. What this car lacks in power, it makes up for in handling. The only other American car at the time that could touch the LS in handling would have been the Corvette and Viper. Cornering is tight with no body roll and the LS stays level and composed under hard acceleration or braking. Steering is crisp and the car is very composed under high speeds. It's really a shame Ford abandoned this platform for non-Jaguar cars, because this one one of the best handling sedans on the road at the time and helped inspire development of the Cadillac CTS. Inside the cabin, the materials are high quality considering what was being placed in American cars around the dawn of the new Millennium. The dash and door plastics are slightly spongy, with harder plastic being located on the underside of the dash. The glove box is fairly solid and heavy. The storage compartment and arm rest has real leather padding on top, and the seats are also a very high quality leather (nicer than most modern leather seats I have sat in such as the BMW 5-series and Lexus GS). The shifter and steering wheel have real burled walnut wood, while the rest of the trim is plood. The burled walnut shifter was an option. There are no rattles and squeaks after 80,000 miles, and the cabin is very quiet inside. The doors are heavy and close with a solid thud. The cheapness shines through with the instrument cluster and center console radio, both which feature old Ford tech and 80's era green lighting. But overall, the interior is solid and well put-together with decent quality materials. Front legroom is ample for a 6'-4" driver like myself. Rear passengers also have a decent amount of legroom due to the opera style seating that raises them up a few inches above passengers in the front seats. Headroom is also abundant, and at 73.5 wide, it is only four inches short of a Crown Victoria so there is plenty of room to wiggle about. The LS also has a folding rear seat that allows for transportation of longer objects. in the trunk. The trunk is also fairly large. The LS V8 has all standard power features, plus a power tilting and telescoping steering wheel, and 8-way power seats. When the door is opened, the steering wheel automatically tilts up to the highest position to allow easy entry. The front seats also have a memory seating function, which includes two settings that can be saved and activated via buttons on the door. The LS has automatic headlights, heated side mirrors, a power dimming rearview mirror, rain-sensing wipers, front and side airbags, and a valet key system that only works on the doors and ignition. The instrument cluster has a readout that displays instant fuel economy, miles left of fuel, and percentages for oil life, air filter life, and other statistics. The readout is activated with buttons located above the radio. In the glove box is a 6-disc CD changer that is about the size of a dual-album Led Zeppelin Greatest Hits CD case. It's easily removed with a push of a button and packs in six CD's (although it won't read CD-R's or MP3 CD's). The traction control button is located on the center console next to the cupholders, and is turned on automatically every time the car is started. The LS also has Ford's annoying "Belt-Minder" chime, but I always use a seat belt so this never a problem. One final downside is that storage is very limited in this car; the arm rest storage can only hold about 5 CD's, and there is not much space under the seats or in the glove box to store items. Top 5 Highs 1) Excellent handling; extremely composed and balanced 2) Bank vault quiet cabin 3) Solid construction inside and out with no rattles or squeaks 4) Peppy engine, if a little underpowered 5) Comfortable leather seats of high quality material Top 5 Lows 1) Annoying shift timing 2) Lack of storage space 3) Power steering whine 4) Bean counter radio and instrument cluster 5) Low stance that is not fond of curbs or speed bumps What has been replaced since purchase Front passenger door lock mechanism - $262 My CarDomain page with more pictures: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3350456

The worst car I have ever driven was an '83 Dodge Aries. It had something like 85 hp and could barely putt up hills. The dash vibrated at highway speeds, the headliner looked like a big parachute, and it had no noise insulation left. This was also the two-door sporty model with bucket seats, but it still looked like it belonged in a nursing home parking lot.