SAmadei

The Taxi of Tomorrow NV200s remind me of the GM Dustbuster minivans. Seems like a lot of hood and little fare space.

The question of rental cars always come up and I don't see what rentals are so bad. GM is hardly the only company who's cars are rented... yet nobody is complaining about other makes. OTOH, GM is building quasi-junk cars SPECIFICALLY as rentals (Captiva, Impala Limited (rumored until 2016))... so to someone renting cars, it seems that GM is still running 10 years behind. IMHO, GM should be getting their BEST into rentals to change people's minds. Next, IF Pontiac was to come back, you know damn well that a G3 would not be forthcoming. The G3 and G5 were both due to the BPG dealership structuring wanting to go toe to toe with Chevy. Now that GM dealers have been realigned better, this should not be an issue. (Either that or stand alone Buick-GMC dealers are losing wads of sales for GM). IMHO, If GM brought back a limited Pontiac with the Firebird, Grand Prix/Bonneville and the G8 ST, I'd be very happy. It would even nicer to see the Solstice reborn. But I know it ain't happening. And I will continue to not buy from GM.

Honestly, I don't see it as a basket case. Sure, its not an Arizona refuge, like you see on all the TV shows, but for this area, this is what a nearly 60 year old truck looks like in unrestored, ungaraged condition. Most restos are a lot of work and take time. If you don't think you can do it, you need to save up for something less of a challenge. Personally, this truck looks like a disaster, but I think trucks are easier than cars due there being less body to work on and the tremendous amount of patches available. This truck needs to be completely disassembled and either blasted or dipped. The doors look the worst, and replacements can be found. After being blasted or dipped, then you will likely find a few trouble spots... but you can likely MIG in a few small patches or get replacements from LMC Truck for bigger things. Best thing is that since you would be doing the building, you can build it like you want... you could always find a standard chassis and bed and convert it to standard truck. However, there are no cheap shortcuts... this truck will cost money and effort to bring together. Get out the wirebrush and the PB Blaster.

That would make an awesome rollback.

In the last days before I went off to college, I was in a situation where I was not going to become a legal adult until away at college. My parents were trying to get me set up with all the (inexpensive) things I would need. I was rebuffed by the bank and life insurance company for not being an adult yet. However, I titled, registered and insured my car completely in my name... but in the process (back then), I don't recall signing any legal documents. Signing the title (when selling) however, could have been a problem, as that is a legal document. Many of my friends had cars in their names for a couple years (farm tags) as minors. Its an issue I never thought of until now. Yeah, the '74 Nova had problems by '83. The tranny was always a leaker and reverse was pretty much gone. Then it got parked for 18 months because it got jammed in park (Dad and mom could not get it out, but later one of our employees had no problem moving it out of park). By the time I got it, it was clogged with bad gas and had some rust issues... I started fixing it, but between working for my parents and school, I didn't have it ready for college. Its sat since. It needs much more work now... I'm not sure it can be saved. Same goes for the Tempest. It was in sweet shape when I bought it. Since I was not as good at avoiding other people's driving mistakes back then, it was in three accidents, each totaled the car and I put it back together. So in the end, it was 14 different colors and the salt air at the beach had created some rust issues. Its disassembled right now. At one point in the '90s, someone working next to my apartment was parking his '70 Tempest near it. It was like twins separated at birth. Both Pepper Green post coupes with green vinyl roofs. Besides condition, the only difference between the two was that my redone vinyl roof had the vinyl tucked around the trim. First time I saw it I thought someone was playing a cruel joke. In any case, I'm not sure I have any good photos of it in its prime.

Most driven would probably go to my '70 Tempest... put about 200+K on it in 13 or so years, before it got parked. '99 Bonne would be the second most... about 170K. Right now both the '99 and '04 are laid up... so the Sunfire is getting the biggest workout. Depending on how we are counting, my oldest is the '74 Nova. Bought by my parents new and given to me in 1983... but the title was never signed over (and has not been located yet). I didn't quote this because I only drove it once before buying the Tempest and priorities changed. So that is either 30 years or 0 years. ;-) Actually, I'm not sure how minors and titles would work, as a minor's signature holds no legal weight... You only sign the title when you sell, so I guess you can buy a car (as I did with the Tempest when I was 17), but not sell it. Odd gray area that never came up.

I think it is BS that companies can remove so many names from the pool. Trademarks are supposed to be USED. Sure, I understand that a company might get a trademark beforehand, but IMHO, if there is not a car on a dealer's lot a year later, it should be removed from trademark. Maybe give 2 years after a name plate disappears from the dealer floor.

I won't quote all of my cars, but they range... '70 Tempest - 24 years '81 Eagle - 22 years '86 Le Sabre Wagon - 19 years '88 Safari "Speed" Wagon - 14 years '81 Bonneville Coupe - 11 years '99 Bonneville - 9.5 years '04 Grand Prix GTP - 6 years '95 Caprice Wagon - 5 years Buying Embargo - 4 years and still active... but a Pickup is likely in my future.

Swapping in these LED bulbs requires some research. In some cases, the bulbs are not as bright in RL as the specs claim. In other cases, the load is so low that the flasher relays (or other components) will not detect the lights and will malfunction... requiring resisters to be hacked into the wiring. The resisters, in some cases, get hot and are another problem entirely. I bought a few of these bulbs a few years ago in popular sizes... 184, 1157, 1156, etc... I did not like the light pattern or brightness and they got tossed. No doubt they have gotten better... but sorting out the garbage from the good is a PITA.

That's cute. Because vehicles carrying a payload of highly flammable fluids never catch fire. The issue is due to the fact that a high number of fires are happening to a type of car that makes up a small percentage of the number of cars on the road. Also, for the record, gasoline is only highly flammable when its a vapor.

Nevermind... its the former. I know the answer, but I suppose I cheated to find it.

I'm confused... this particular Dodge Stealth appeared in four movies or a Dodge Stealth appeared in four movies?

I've been using Androids since the G1 Dream... on beta versions, stable versions and Cyanogen versions... freezing, crashing, etc. have been very rare. That said, I have only used Android on good phones... there are a lot of Androids out there that are designed to be bargain specials... and I steer clear of them. My G1 still lives actually... Ran Froyo with it for a bit... then rolled back to 1.6.

Still rocking my Thinkpad Z61p. Batteries are going bad, so I might get a new battery and try to get another year from it.

Sucks. Five years past the G8GT and four past the BK and management shake up and GM still stalls and trips out of the gate on something that Tesla makes look easy.

Funny, I was thinking the Honda Crosstour and BMW 5 Series GT were awful homages to the '78 Century humpbacks... ;-)

I hated these when they started making them... but they have grown on me. It just might be that coupes are so rare nowadays... if you made a car that looked like a shoe, it would look good to me if it was a coupe. My only gripe is the amber blinkers in the rear... so I prefer the '79 442. I think these could have been much more successful had GM just tweaked the design here and there.

"Front" engine mount is somewhat misleading on a transverse engine FWD car... the "front" of the car is the bumper... but the "front" of the engine is towards the passenger side. In any case, you seem to have four mounts going on... 3 on the tranny, 1 on the engine... there is essentially a front, left, right and rear mount... looking at the engine from the drivers' seat. The mount on the "front" of the car carries GM part numbers 25731375, 25694601 and 25706433 (These are what the lists have, you probably want the highest number, as the low numbers where superseded). GM lists this at $126.64. DEA has this as part number A2897... $27.99 on Rock Auto. The rear mount is triangular shaped and has the GM part numbers 25705787 and 25715771... $81.21. Rock Auto lists a DEA part number A2898 at $20.99. The left and right ("front" of engine) mounts have the same GM part numbers... 25695932, 25662258, 25689177, 25691733, 25698042, and 25713700... at $137.30. DEA lists this part as A2896 for the left side, but lists no right side... I would guess it would work for both sides, as GM lists the same parts for both sides. Rock Auto has this at $32.79. When on the Rock Auto site, there are options for solid vs. hydraulic and also they list a HD version of one mount... this is up to you, I don't know what Aurora options trigger these parts. You can find a sweet exploded view of the mounting system here: http://www.tonkinonlineparts.com/showAssembly.aspx?ukey_assembly=819730&ukey_make=1091&ukey_model=15694&modelYear=2001&ukey_category=22488&ukey_driveLine=8669&ukey_trimLevel=19253 Hope this helps sort out your mount trouble.

A hood ("engine cover") is required in NJ... but why are door needed? Jeeps don't have doors. Stepvans and some garbage trucks are designed to drive with the doors tucked/folded out of the way. As for lights, during the day, you don't need them... (older cars didn't have a full array of lighting) just make sure to use your hand signals. Vehicle non-compliance are something for the police to enforce. In the three years since NJ did away with inspections, I don't see any more rolling wrecks than before. Not that inspection stops people... tinted windows and blacked out lighting are not legal in NJ... yet I used to see hundreds of cars blacked out with fresh inspection stickers. If you have a connection taking a big enough bribe, you had a sticker back then. Glad to see the system gone.

I'm impressed, considering this is Tesla's first body they've designed. They must've gotten some top engineers and they worked well together.

I think its fine for GM to introduce a small eurovan, which competes with the Transit... to act as a replacement for the Astro and those awful minivans. However, its my opinion that GM would be served well to update the old Express to match the pickups (like Ford did with the E-series) and sit back and sell trucks to the traditionalists that Ford loses. When I showed the Ford van guys I know the T-series and its powertrain options, they figured they were going to be forced into a GM van or a Ford box truck (The E-series is supposed to stick around a few more years for cut-aways). I'm starting to think Nissan was pretty smart to join the traditional van market... soon they will have it all to themselves, Crown Vic-style.

The batteries I've bought through Pep Boys have lasted me a long time... which is shocking considering that they have changed brands/names over the years. The last few years, I really like the Optima batteries. I get the 34/78 so I have both side and top posts. So far the 34/78 fits in every GM car I've tried putting it in, so I can swap it about as needed... though I don't think it would fit the Sunfire. Pricy? A bit, but I wait until they have specials and buy them. Online, they are going for $150. Even a cheap comparable battery is $111... but I know that cheap batteries only last a short time. I'd rather pay more and have the CCAs and longer life.

I love it. I lament that we live in the "future" in so many ways... but cars pretty much do not look all that futuristic anymore... I would love to see construction photos to see how it was built, just to be sure it wasn't just made with spray foam and duct tape.

I think a lot of the current mileage claims are hard to believe... or you need to hypermile.

The problem is that MS will attempt the DRM and control in the future... but they will phase it in slowly, so people are less likely to notice.