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Happy Fourth of July, C&G folks ... wherever you may be ... And, last but not least, C&G's headquarters: Have a great holiday weekend!

The old L03 305 is now out. Threw a cam and springs in the LS1 and it is now ready to go in. My torque converter finally arrived a couple of days ago after a 6 week wait. It will be interesting to see how long the trans and/or rear end last. My budget is already blown so no money for upgrades this year unless I can find a used 28 spline 3.42 rear out of a 1990-92 F-body.

Been a while since I've had a "toy" car. Decided to buy this 1988 Firebird Formula for my son and I to work on together. He is almost 13 and not at all mechanically inclined. Not so much because he can't be but because I am one of those picky people that would never let him help me because I wanted to make sure it was done right. It's a pretty clean and rust free all original driver but has more than enough flaws (starting with its anemic 305 V8) that I won't feel guilty doing an LS swap on it. I already sourced the engine and trans as well as a far amount of parts for the conversion but with COVID raging here in Michigan I would feel too guilty to order the rest of the parts I need to get the swap going so it is on hold for now. I don't have the time or equipment to do the engine swap so someone will be doing that for me. My son and I will fix up the interior, replace the little work and broken items and install all the suspension components, though. Should be a fun project once it gets going. I don't want to turn it into a race car. Just a fun, reliable street car. It will be a cam only LS1 with a small stall (2500 rpm) 4L60E. The goal will be something like a 375 RWHP car that will dip into the high 11's in the quarter. Perhaps more mods in future years but no plans to go faster than 11.5 as I already went the roll bar route with a different car and don't want to do that again.

I believe this is the actual C&G HQ building. Imposing structure, to say the least :

Thanks! ? I have been working the two jobs even after I really no longer had to- as I really wanted to build a good sized emergency fund in case something happened. I’ve been unlucky enough to be in an industry as it was on the way down- from the tech bubble to the decline in car sales. Looks like my gut turned out to be right this time..... I least I know my job is trying to keep me while working a plan the company back to work. The second job depends on if we have to close things up again. The good news in this is that my resume was just updated- and it is gandering some nice attention right now. While I am happy where I am at- I have started the search just in case. I am hoping everyone here is doing well, and get to enjoy some family and car time....... ?

2018 Chrysler Pacifica Touring L Plus And I am super excited about it. It almost makes me sad that it is my wife's vehicle. For the life of me I have no idea why these things have such a bad reputation amongst the general public. They do everything a CUV does but better, with the possible exception of towing and that even depends on which CUV you are comparing it to. I personally think this thing is kick ass. I just wish GM would rejoin the market and make a stylish minivan. A Buick minivan would be good. Maybe make a little more stylish version of the GL8 they sell in China?

Now I just need to sell a 2015 200S. ? If anyone knows someone who is interested, let me know! I picked up a 2018 Cadillac CTS Luxury 2.0T a couple of days ago. Here are my initial impressions: The suspension is not as stiff as I have heard other people say. It absorbs the bumps pretty well with no real harsh impacts but it does squirm around quite a bit on the heavily potholed Michigan roads The 2.0T is a bit unrefined but has plenty of power for the application The stop/start occasionally causes the car to shudder on the stop and almost always causes a shudder on the start. It is pretty quite though. Kind of the opposite of the stop/start on our Pacifica. On the Pacifica it is smooth but loud. The 2018 version of CUE is vastly improved over the version I drove a few years ago. It oddly enough is still slow on the Radio station changes using the steering wheel buttons, though. I've only had it for a couple of days and I still haven't explored all the features yet. I'll post more comments as I get more familiar with the car. If you guys have any questions, let me know!

The news came during dinner last Monday. My mother asked if I would be able to take any time off of work, and I said that I might be able to if the circumstances were considered important. She revealed that my grandfather, her dad passed away that afternoon. It wasn’t from COVID-19, but other complications that had put in him the hospital since early June. After dinner, I needed some time and space to begin processing the news. So I grabbed the keys to my car and went for a drive. The past few months have been difficult for all of us in varying degrees with COVID-19. Many places going on lockdown have caused massive disruptions to how we work, travel, and interact with the world. I have been hunkered down at home since mid-March when my employer announced our office would be closed for the time being, and we would be working from home. During the first month or so, I had put a moratorium on driving except for essential places such as the grocery store or pharmacy. Isolating to prevent catching and/or spreading the virus took priority over going for a drive. But after a month of just being in a house with family and doing the same things over and over, I was going stir crazy. I realized that I needed some space to not only prevent myself from losing it, but to give me some room to think about everything floating in my mind. Going for daily walks either by myself or with the dog helped a bit. But I still felt like I needed some more space, more time to myself. Back in 2015, I wrote an Afterthoughts column titled The Escape Machine. I talked about how the car for some of us was a way to escape the world for a time. You could go anywhere depending on how much fuel was in the tank and give the space needed to clear or process whatever was on the mind. I ended the piece with these two lines, That decision for me came in late April/early May. I would go for long drives, provided that I would wear a mask if I got out to go for a walk. Going for the first drive in over a month was a bit of revelation. Turing the steering wheel, pressing down on the accelerator and brake; and watching the world go past in blur made me realize how much I missed this. This seems like a trope, but you have a newfound appreciation for something you haven’t done in some time. This also gave me the space to begin piecing together various thoughts such as how do I keep myself from falling into the endless pit of despair, what can I do to keep myself from feeling bored, and do I dive back into automotive writing. I didn’t know how important this would become in the coming weeks as COVID-19 cases increased, the economy would come to a screeching halt; and the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing fallout. Whenever my mind would become overwhelmed or I just get too frustrated, I would hop into my vehicle and go somewhere. It didn’t matter where or how long, just as long as I had some space to think or to calm down, it would be enough. Back to last Monday night. As I drove, there was a lot I needed to process in terms of grief and wondering what would happen next: Would there be a funeral, what precautions should I take, will it be a long ceremony, and so on. I didn’t come up with any clear answers to these questions, but having that time to start putting things into perspective helped. It was on the way back that another thought popped into my head. At the moment, we’re all trying to find some sense of normal in a world that isn’t. For auto enthusiasts, that is to drive as it gives some sort of control. It may be a small thing, but they provide some much-needed comfort. Like many of us, I don’t what the rest of year holds if it continues to be a landfill fire or somehow begins to contain itself. But I do know that I’ll likely be taking more drives, whether that be my car or one that I’m reviewing. Having something that provides a sense of normal is welcomed. View full article