SAmadei

I wasn't in love with the G6, as most of them are awkward looking sedans... but compared to a lot of newer cars, even the sedan looks better and better to me.  I actually like the coupe and convertible versions... I just missed picking up a convertible... and now I'm looking at one that is "rear ended" but in actuality, the convertible mechanism is screwed up... but its too far away to act on.

As for the salvage project, I hope to have it driving around the yard next week... maybe wait another week to see if the right parts pop up.  If not, I'm starting to consider putting a mild body kit on it... as its about the same price as the correct 2010 parts.  I'm just not sure how the body kit will enhance or detract from its resale value.

I figure that the car is going to cost me $1600 to get done... and I was hoping to net about $1500~2000... but that might be tough to get considering the mileage (125K) on a base level car.  Depending on your source, book value is a tick under $5K, but the salvage brand cuts into that quite a bit... I'm hoping that documenting the repair will help convince any potential buyer that the car wasn't seriously damaged.  Who knows.

Stephen

So, I've figured out why this car was totaled out.  No way to return it economically to original specs using GM parts because most of the parts changed during the 2009.5 refresh are fairly hard to find.  Even the headlights assemblies are slightly different, as GM changed the amber turn signal lenses into clear ones.

Really sucks since I had a line on a complete parts car in the right color... but it sold before I could get there with cash in hand.

I have a feeling I'm about to use older parts.

Stephen

Wiki and GM seem to mark the last G6 as produced in early 2010.  I suspect that the penultimate G6 was produced and was featured on the newswire... and then later it turned out that some G3s were built in Mexico in Dec 2009.  Since GM didn't want the final Pontiac being built in Mexico, they cranked up the assembly line for one more car in 2010. 

My G6 is made with parts dated Sep-Nov 2009.

Stephen

Looking through the old sales tickers, I was unable to determine a breakout of 2010 vs 2009 G6s... I heard the only Pontiac G6 made in actual 2010 was the Final Pontiac... also there was news back then of holdover fleet sales and a reported 100 2010 G6s needed for a fleet order which were built in the tail end of 2009.

After all the smoke has cleared, do we have any idea how many 2010 G6s were actually made?

Why?  I just bought one.  Its salvage, but I'm rebuilding it... pretty easy fix... probably a flip as its too damn small for me to drive.  I suspect it may have been a rental.  Just curious of its curiosity value.

Stephen

I would convert to joules (1 foot pounds = 1.355 joules) and see if anything in this list is "lay-man" enough... though, I'll admit a lot of whats in the list is not really applicable... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(energy)

How much vacuum are you planning to pull.... and why are you using DOT3?  DOT4 is supposed to be much better. 

 

Minimum DOT4 boiling point is 446F (without a vacuum)

Minimum DOT3 boiling point is 401F (without a vacuum)

Amsoil DOT4 claims to be good to 580F

 

I can't imagine you would be able to pull enough cause it to boil off.  You just need to pull all the old fluid out first and then let the new stuff flow behind to clear out bubbles.

I drive with the gas, not the brake... I've never had a problem with brake temperatures and DOT3 is what the car had... and its cheaper.

Dexcool was supposedly better, too... but its been removed from most of my cars because it seems to be better at rotting the cooling system.

Anyway, I'd be pulling the same amount as if I was evacuating the AC system... they go surprisingly low.  Brake system has a smaller volume as the AC.

While you never get a perfect vacuum, even at near vacuum, a lot of liquids' boiling points drop real fast.  I wish I could find a phase diagram for brake fluid or polyethylene glycol... but most searches give me ethylene glycol.

Maybe I need to be a bit more clear.

Unless someone knows better, manufacturers "install" brake fluid by using a vacuum pump on the master cylinder... pull a vacuum, switch to brake fluid... vacuum pulls brake fluid into system, air-free.  No other part of the system is touched.

I could easily build such a tool, however, my brake system has brake fluid and, most likely, air behind some of that brake fluid.  In a vacuum, most liquids will boil off and get sucked out... but I don't know if DOT3 will.  If it does not, would a vacuum pull the air which is behind the brake fluid?  Does anyone know what would happen to brake fluid in a vacuum?

What I really need is some glassware that can withstand a vacuum... so I can see what happens.

What I like, though, is if the DOT3 _does_ boil off, it would be possible to use such a tool to flush the system by removing old fluid.

 

Yea old days of add brake fluid and craw under and bleed and then add more brake fluid and move to the next wheel are really out of date now.

 

Some pretty good brake bleeding products are out there now for DIY.

 

http://www.brakebleeder.com/product-category/brake-bleeders/

 

http://www.summitracing.com/search/department/tools-shop-equipment/part-type/brake-bleeder-kits/?autoview=SKU

 

Both these companies have a good assortment of systems for this.

I've used several of these and they never work perfectly right for me... usually leaking or the plastic parts wear out quickly.  Granted, I have not used the top end kits.  Also, reverse bleeding is reported to potentially damage seals and it seems to me that it would trap air in the master cylinder... which is why it needs bench bleeding in the first place. 

This is not what I had in mind... what I have in mind would not require touching anything but the master cylinder.

 

 

 

So Buick is the brand people don't recognize?  Probably not best for business.

 

Buick is the brand that is surprising people.

 

Not surprising me.

 

Really? It doesn't suprise you that they are "Not your father's Buick" anymore?

 

My father never bought a Buick... and never would have bought a modern one.  Dad liked RWD and would have had about the same problems getting into and driving a modern Buick as I do.

It doesn't surprise me that they are still the "Anonymous Brand Chasing Lexus". 

As far as the tagline "Not your father's Oldsmobile" goes... that was certainly and unfortunately true 15 years ago since my father installed the engine in the family Cutlass Supreme... and it left stripes on the pavement when you hit the faster pedal. 

So... I've been working on a lot of brake lines... basically, I have two cars which have required nearly complete brake line replacements.  Unfortunately, in order to adapt and fit new lines in a car without taking it completely apart, you use unions... and in retrospect, I seem to have gotten some unions that do not seal well... so I've had several cycles of bleed brakes - observe leak - take apart everything and tighten fitting - rinse and repeat.

In any case, I hate doing any work to the car that I cannot do solo... and the one man bleeding solutions out there just suck.

This got me to thinking... How do manufacturers "install" brake fluid?  Its obvious that GM is not bench bleeding master cylinders and then two-manning a full system bleeding.  After some research, it appears that manufacturers do something akin to how they "install" refridgerant... they pull a vacuum then switch over to a source of brake fluid... letting the brake fluid suck into the system without any air being introduced.

So I got to thinking about this and I figure this would not be difficult to implement at home... except for the fact that your system already has some old brake fluid in it.

In AC systems, when you pull a vacuum, all the refridgerant, oils, water, etc. boil off and is pumped out by the vacuum pump. 

My question is what would happen if you did this to a brake system?  Would the brake fluid boil off?  If the brake fluid did not boil off, would the air beyond the brake fluid get pumped out?  If the brake fluid boils off, would it condense once outside the vacuum pump?

Thoughts?

 

So Buick is the brand people don't recognize?  Probably not best for business.

 

Buick is the brand that is surprising people. 

 

Not surprising me.

The new front end isn't doing anything special for me... the old one was fine.

OTOH, I wish GM would have changed the ugly Tahoe/Suburban front end.  It would have looked so much better with the Silverado front. 

If I ever end up with a current Tahoe/Suburban, I'll have to have Leepu graft the Silverado nose on it.  ;-)

 

If I didn't say this before, a few summers ago I cut a bad tire off a rim I wanted to keep, MANUALLY. Using a collection of cutters, saws, pry bars and a Sawz-All, it still took me about 1.5 hrs (IIRC) to get the tire cut all the way thru. I'll never tackle that job the same way again.

 

Either way, I believe the mitigating factors (weight around 4000 lbs on 10 ply tires, bias ply construction and low-speed local operation (45 MPH max) minimizes my risk. If I were closer to it's original weight as a tanker truck (16000 lbs) it would be a much higher demand on the tires, also if I were running at 60 MPH they would develop a lot more heat than they will @ 40. Going to give them a whirl.

1.5hrs... not bad.  I did the same thing back in 1994ish... probably 2.5~3 hrs beforeI gave up... I got through most of the tire, but couldn't cut the steel going through the bead with the tools I had.

I would try the tires and just keep an eye on them.  I had some 20 year old bias tires tires I used a for a short time once and they held up pretty good... with no tubes, even.  I probably don't even want to think about the bias tires on the big trailer right now... they are probably over 20 years old.

I thought using tubes in tires was illegal in NJ... or are these designed for that?

Curious if anyone here has rebuilt a carburetor?

I myself have done a 1bbl, a couple 2bbls, a Carter AFB & Holly 4bbl.

Rebuilt a couple 2BBLs and a couple Quadrajets, and some small engine carbs, including several that really was too far gone.  I'm amazed how much one can do, as far as bushings and repairs go. 

This smells like an AMC innovation.  I'm going to say its an early to mid '60s Rambler.

 

BTW, Balty, you linked to the wrong truck catalog... the '73-'87 one is the one he needs...

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cc/full.aspx?Page=44

Problem is, the greyed out parts are simply not available right now.  Have to go OEM and hope they are made in the future.  Apparently, the earlier trucks were more popular to restore... but with those drying up, people will turn to the '80s ones.

Yeah, GM can license repros... I've heard that in some cases the tooling is purchased, and rights to repro are assigned, but never go into production.

In any case, this is why there can be a huge price difference in grills.  9/10ths of the grills begin sold just eliminate the problem, undercut the repro and still pocket a hefty profit.

 

Dodge builds cars people actually want.  Dealers and factories don't know what to do!

Just kidding.
 

I'm like Balthy... I like my iced tea... strong.  However, because keeping a stream of GOOD iced tea coming is a PITA, I tend to be a soda maven.  I don't LIKE cola, exactly, I treat it as a caffeine delivery system.  However, I'm loving the price war in energy drinks.  High caffeine without cola flavoring.  A couple of these and I can drink water the rest of the day.

I never drink coffee at any time.  Don't like the smell, how it makes the milk sourish, or the bitter flavor.

If you need a Lambo to enjoy driving, you should stop driving right now and wait for driverless cars.

The only time I dislike driving is when it causes physical discomfort... like when I'm all crammed up in some little tiny POS... which is pretty much 95% of modern sedans.  Give me a $750 comfortable cruiser, and I will have lots of fun looking for opportunities to get ahead of traffic (safely, of course)...

Why? If you're driving some s****y car like the vast majority of people do it's not like driving is bringing you some sort of joy. It's not a particularly pleasant activity for the most majority of time and I think if they (SD cars) were available and people wouldn't be affraid of the idea of letting the car drive itself they would soon become the majority.

^ People don't occupy lanes in traffic, cars do. Idiot-proof cars will still plug lanes and the programming merge logarithm will be much more conservative than the typical driver due to lawyer input, so expect collectively longer merge waits, not shorter.  

Yes and no.  Since driverless cars will communicate with each other about upcoming actions, the ability to pack more driverless cars in a 'train' will be possible... giving an aerodynamic boost to the fuel economy.

The question will be... will driven cars 'bully' the driverless cars or will the opposite happen? (such as when you need to fight a train of cars to get over to a off-ramp)

I imagine that due to the conservative programming, you will find a lot of drivers disrepectiing driverless cars... i.e., cutting them off, intruding in on buffer space, etc.  It will kind of be like when you are in a racing game with a bunch of AI driven competitors... I can bully them in the corners and they will yield, giving me a better line or making overtaking easier.  (At least in the GRiD series, I know some games' AI don't care about self-preservation and will just plow into you... Gran Turismo 4, I'm looking at you.)

As aways, I am up for wacky conversions, but I want to know what GM's going to do to help me get my LSA RWD Sunfire through NJ inspection.

I was a bit disappointed by the prices... I'm with Balthy... can do better for less and can keep my BOP car running a proper BOP engine.

Or, if I absolutely need to have a modern fuel injected, computerized powerplant, I can put one together using lightly used parts a LOT cheaper.
 

And yet, the Aztek looks better and better as small SUV/CUV styling races to the bottom.
 

...and paved.

Actually, there are some great places to get stuck... woods trails that run through 4" of swamp muck and sand tracks that are 30 inches deep... but I haven't been bothered with that since I had my Eagle.

Yeah, all the 4x4s in SoJo seem to be driven by soccer moms who wanna be on that mafia show... the Real Housewives of NJ.

Nice... I always liked that purplish color (I forget the name).  I'd still take my Toro black, though... with 'High Toned Son Of A Bitch" on the back... and 'Dark Half' vanity plates... ;-)