loki

it might be quite old... just thought it was kinda funny...maybe should be in the lounge, don't know.

http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/pontiac.shtml For the engineers among us who understand that the obvious is not always the solution, and that the facts, no matter how implausible, are still the facts ... A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors: "This is the second time I have written you, and I don't blame youfor not answering me, because I kind of sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of ice cream for dessert after dinner each night. But the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem. You see, every time I buy vanilla ice cream, when I start back from the store my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds: 'What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?'" The Pontiac President was understandably sceptical about the letter, but sent an engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well-educated man in a fine neighbourhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn't start. The engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, the man got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start. Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: he jotted down all sorts of data, time of day, type of gas used, time to drive back and forth, etc. In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavour. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavour, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavours were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to find the flavour and get checked out. Now the question for the engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time. Once time became the problem -- not the vanilla ice cream -- the engineer quickly came up with the answer: vapour lock. It was happening every night, but the extra time taken to get the other flavours allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapour lock to dissipate. Moral of the story: even insane-looking problems are sometimes real.

assume i still had my regal wagon. lol

the supply/demand view for the work... there certainly is the supply for the work, but obviously there are logistics involved that also prevent alot of people from being able to meet labor demands... immigrants have it much easier logistically. i do think the wall solution is just stupid. it didn't work for china, why would it work today. we do need immigration reform, maybe as radical as no quota and just have an easy process to make immigration possible... but in this post 9/11 mindset, i don't see productive reform happening.

in your case you're hurting someone trying to make a living, and providing for others trying to earn one. the laws for immigration need to be reformed, but in lieu of that, it's the federal's responsibility to control the border on a state/country line, there is no enforcement on state/state lines. if ....say 1/2 of our military wasn't around the world, there would be more than enough to patrol our nation's borders, and probably noone would be getting killed.

surely the 1 barrel would end up starving the outside cylinders...? would that be both air and fuel? i would vote the 3.8, but i don't know. it is slightly apples/oranges.

ewwww, OUCH!.... best of luck with the options....and such

http://www.xkcd.com/730/ awesome! hahah

well.. doubt anyone here will miss the grand pri, i mean galant. lol

isn't that kinda typical of all NA engines? why would the peak move lower just cause of DI... shouldn't the torque curve just move up, maybe flatten in the lower ranges...

just some things that come to mind.... that's a low redline for the V6. think the weight/cost issue would only come into play if it's pushed into another's price range too much. yo umake the 5.5L premium for the power or because it's a cadi so it doesn't matter?

prolly like my 83 regal... except it did raise made 4" for those maybe 5'4" or so.

03 buick lesabre, leather. flat, slide around... you know by comparison the best was the 91 camaro, side bolsters, cloth, the back had the neck bulge right where mine should be (i'm ~6'2)

good to see you back.... however long it lasts again.

why isn't it a buick.... i want. what a great car mine was.

hahahah. nice.

first point, the fact that Smart has done... decently? i guess... now of course it might just be how different the product is from others, so i'd have to say our "market" is open to new ideas, even european ones i agree otherwise. if you make vehicles that aren't good or people don't like for whatever reason, they won't sell and the manufacturer has to change or loose it's business.

ok, but if silver keeps going like it has ... towards $20 an ounce... that's still like .20 a gallon if we used silver dollars... that's not horribly that expensive. right now it's ~2.60/gal and $18 / ounce, that's like 14 cents per gallon...that's pretty damn cheap. but silver is prolly under valued right now because of probable fraud in the paper silver market. update: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/gas-prices-history.html 1950 - 1959 $0.19 to $0.26 http://inflation.us/coins/coin_details.php?coinID=20 $3.2782652989664 is the melt value for the 1932-1964 Washington Quarter on Apr 10, 2010. using the local price of ~2.65 ....price of gas would be 20.1 cents. on the low side of the 50's price, but not as low as it is right now.

where aren't they regulated? and the first part, obviously.. they're given monopoly status, they better be regulated.

cars have gotten very cheap over the last 10 years....but here's an example from before that too... model T first year "$825.00. Over ten thousand were sold in its first year, establishing a new record. Four years later the price dropped to $575.00" the first year was ~41 ounces of gold... the 4th year was ~29 huge inflation leading up to the 70's "Buick Le Sabre $3,337 1970 " that was ~95 ounces of gold, but obviously isn't a bare bones car like the model T "Ford Pinto $2,078 1972 " ~60 ounces. if it was $35/.. but looked up the high/low and it's average was 57.. so that'd be 36 ounces a new aveo? "MSRP1: Starting at $11,965 " that's ~ 11 ounces so even with all the regulations, prices for a car are practically rock bottom... until GM (and others) has to raise prices because of previous and most likely more future inflation so of course if prices increase substantially, very few people could afford it, so i don't see any positives from these "urgent regulations"...or it just shows how bad things are gonna get if it raises the $$ prices >10%...? ... if they have to keep raising prices, they'll corner themselves, except for exports.... i'll stop there.

an auto? oh the horrors!!!! lol

cause it could easily be the successor to the camino? lol could be a good wagon platform too!

the ssr was on the trailblazer frame GMT 360..?.... same idea, yes, but still different. vs a gmt 355, right?

saw my first crosstour... and a camaro that was green w/ black hood stripes.... the camaro looked kinda bad ass. lol

ham is overrated, Satty. hehe