balthazar

blackviper8891= Let's read my comment again: "Retro is in the same boat as bland. You can have your Camry." Do you have any idea as to what I possibly meant by that? Guess not... well, looks like I have to explain it to you. I was saying that retro is just as bad as bland since both styling trends dabble in unoriginallity. Maybe you need to work on your 'explainations' more, hmmm? We were talking about retro and you bring up bland and the poster child for bland, the camry. As you yourself are so fond of admonishing others to do: stay on topic. But since you brought it up unbidden; what does 'bland' have to do with retro? Nothing. Bland design has no neccessary predisposition toward being unoriginal whatsoever. Bland adj: dull, insipid. Insipid adj: lacking in qualities that interest, stimulate or challenge. Dull, flat. Loads of fresh dullness rolling off assembly lines all over the world. I didn't change my stance and I certainly didn't say Retro is bland. However, I did say it was as bad as bland, being that they are both pointlessly copied. Do you understand anything I just said, or do I have to further evaluate my statement? I don't believe further 'evaluation' will clear the mud, no. See definitions above; bland has nothing to do with being copied. Also, evolutionary design isn't the same thing as retro. So no, E36s aren't retro, just evolutionary. coughhorse$h!cough. bmw has a long history of churning out the same reguritated design over and over and over with ZERO originality. I know- you're waiting to trip me up when I call it 'bland'. HA, I'm on to you! It's not bland because it's retro, it's bland because its stale! What the hell is an e36? Jesus- you haven't even gotten the pig and already you are elbowing your way into the secret handshake club of mystical bmw internal code references. Its pathetic. If you're so head-over-heels you should be proud to say "1997 318ti", because guess what; that's what bmw calls it. I simply didn't want people to continue blabbering on about a mute point. Not much different than being told to call the responsible parties and ask them directly to get accurate info yet being answered with blabbering about 'seeing proof' like someone is going to scan & post personal loan papers & legalese phamlets. And that you guys were no better than the import humpers who try to dissuade anybody from buying Domestic because of reliability. Same thing. There's a big difference between erroneous, outmoded perception and reality. Not the same thing at all. Try again. Because you asked, I did. Happy?

The cars pictured above are obviously & clearly the same car. The Aura cleans up some of the fussy, messy details of the vectra and - perhaps merely because the Opel is "German-engineered" and therefore above reproach, I dunno - the domestic version is a "dumbed down" train wreck.You guys who obsess and agonize over these miniscule details to this obsessive degree must go into a complete meltdown over the Pepsi/Coke issue.

While I empathize with you, 04Monte, truth be told Impalas are still a dime a dozen. I was at a car show this weekend and the place was lousy with Imps. If one guy want to build his car his way, that's his perogative. And yes- it makes sense from a budgetary standpoint to start with the best example you can get... tho that's (a budget) undoubtedly not a concern for Coddington customers. What I want to know is: where do all the nice usable stock parts go- the dumpster??

I know where there's a '35 Chevy truck and a Hudson pickup are sitting.You're welcome to come over & take pics of my '40 Ford COE, too.

I've been itching to get to that I-81 Scranton yard for years.....

I have a '98 Intrique promo we got from the dealer when my wife got her '98. I have a promo for my '64 GP, tho it's grey w/ a black roof and my GP is all black. I had a promo for my '59 Invicta coupe but I sold it to put the money into the actual car. I try and avoid buying 'dustcatchers' as much as possible.

Mustang is "bland"? HAHAHAHAHA. Don't change your stance; you were all about retro=bad. Bland is another pointless discussion. PSST- that bmw we can't talk about IS retro. Wanna shift ground again?

"originality" is overrated. The Aztek & element are "original". You can have them.

Say 'no' to bad design- no one wants another maxima.

International Motor Company was rejected, United Motor Company was too close to the New Jersey-based United Motors Car Company, so General Motors Company was chosen (changed in the mid-teens to General Motors Corporation). I would love to learn any further detail on this.

Try the chain auto part stores (Pep Boys, etc). 104+ is one brand, there are others.

Saw gas today at $7.50/gal. I suppose I should mention it was 116-octane race fuel.

Lead additives every once in a while (2 or 3 times a year) are fine. But, I never hear of people using them once the car has over 20-25K- hobbyist experience has shown the initial hubbub back when lead was banned from gas has turned out to be for nothing. It seems cars drank enough lead over that mileage to lube the exh valves for the rest of it's days. If lead additives were a real neccessity- there would be a good 6-10 products on the market and there aren't. Know that when lead was banned, it was only at about 10% of what it was before the long slow reduction process started years earlier- practically nothing. I never used a lead additive in my '64 over the 25K I drove it, but it had 69K when I started. I haven't pulled the heads but valve recession doesn't seem to be a problem anywhere except in very rare instances. However, this 225 has some real low miles: I would research and find what any other vintage owners are using for a lead additive product (there are a few legal, good quality additives available) and toss in a bottle every 10K miles until it reaches 50K (or whatever the product recommends). >>"I wouldnt dare be heavy on the pedal...I wouldnt want t destroy the car. "<< LOL- that Buick is far more over-engineered than modern cars: flooring it daily is something it's literally built for. Unless you have giant sticky tires out back getting real traction, you'll just spin and relieve drivetrain stresses out as rubber smoke. The only concern for hammering on it is the gas quality/detonation issue because of it's high compression- not component engineering. Of course- the car is 40 years old; things can still break. You should use octane booster before you worry about lead additive. Check it: http://www.buickstreet.com/my66electra.html

1-8-9-14-3-6-11-2-15-10-7-4-13-12-5-16 '30-37 Cadillac V-16.

There's one called 'Friendship' on Rt 206 in the southern half of NJ- haven't been there but people have told me it's pretty good. Other than that I'm more familiar with central Jersey yards than south. Looking for anything in particular?

$5K for 140,000 miles??? A-HAHAH...oops!; we're not allowed to talk about the car itself. Sorry; forgot.

Quite the fine tuning on the pro-car chassis'. I wonder if Cadillac is 'getting back into' promoting these vehicles; I only knew about them last year after doing some pointed research. Nice to see pro-cars back in the 'literature' where they belong.

305 doesn't need the inherant brute strength the TH400 offers; won't develop nearly enough HP/TRQ. TH400 takes another 18 HP to spin over a TH350- which is an upgrade over the TH250 your 305 likely is bolted to. Same applies to the rear/driveshaft: if you keep the 305- there just isn't much in the way of 'gonzo' parts out there to require a beefed drivetrain. I agree with rkmdogs: swap in a 350 then we can talk trans/rear upgrades.

My local mitsu dealer made the horrific busines decision to expand his dealership about 3 years ago. It's positively huge- must have 400 vehicles. Lately it has employeed the practice of putting used, non-mitsus on the front line (on an extremely busy interstate), and it's seemingly only these that sell; the rest of the endless rows always look the same. Also, tho I cannot swear to it, I believe the building used to have standard 'Mitsubishi' lettering on the fascade, but recently those large red letters were removed and replaced by a separate signboard that's much smaller. If true, I don't kow if it's an effort to up-play the co-owned hyundai dealership next door or a facilitation of a 'cut-n-run' gameplan when mitsu pulls the NA plug.

To each his own: I prefer the 4-dr over the coupe. The 2-dr looks too stylistically stretched to me, the 4-dr looks more tightly wrapped and solid. It also stands out to my eye as more distinctive and modern than -say- the altima.

right and like I said- you should run 94 octane, 93 if you're not heavy on the pedal. I wouldn't settle for 92, tho.

Anyone think these no-reason-for-it segregated tests only promote the subconscious opinion that domestic product "can't compete" with foreign models? I do.

I really liked the G6 interior I sat in, thought it looked (and felt ) great. Flintstone is like the origial Beetle- about 10 years past its prime... except in JF's case it's more like 25.

As for the cars- sure: plenty of potential- lots of great project starts. Lots of horribly rotted stuff, too. As for the yard- from what I was told the owner got sick & died in '96 and the widow wanted nothing to do with running a junkyard. She still lives there but instead of an old truck door with "Manchurs Truck & Auto Parts" on it (actually the door is still there- painted over with the address), a hand-painted sign advertisies 'chickens for sale'. No improvement, IMO. Folks, old time junkyards are disappearing rapidly, esp with the chinese demand for steel. Go now while you still have the chance- you will not regret an afternoon peeking into ghost lives gone by. Get to see some awesome automotive detailing up close, too. I have a cool glass-covered Art Deco Pontiac Indian Head from the dash of a circa '46 on my dresser from there. A thousand stories....

My wife had a '93 GA and the seats were world's better: the friend's bmw's were thinly-upholstered plywood- absolutely awful. Maybe he built them himself (he didn't). C&G can "come first" but you are not asking for opinion but specific, legal procedures and allowances. I would always go to the source creating these procedures first rather than ask a message board, but hey; that's me. I pay far less for insurance & maintenance than anyone else here... from doing research thru proper channels, not asking cyberspace. That said; I don't know why you ask for advice then unilaterally reject every suggestion, but it's your dime.