SAmadei

Not really a current GM merchandise, as I picked this up a couple years ago as a goof. So, as I mentioned in another thread, I have a remote control 1973 Pontiac Bonneville coupe (for some reason I was thinking it was a Catalina before). I picked this up at either Target or Walmart because I would have considered the 1973 Bonneville to be about the LAST GM car ANYONE would make a toy out of. No offense to fans of the '73... its just not as iconic as, say, 50 or 70 other GM models. Unfortunately, it is a donked remote with a wired remote control. Cheesy. It also has a crazy dragon sticker on the sides. The poor thing was all by itself, and I felt bad. Since its actually a reasonably detailed casting of the '73 Bonneville, I figured I could always make it into a curbside model if I came across a 1/16th scale fullsize chassis. For now, it sits on my desk... right by my stuffed rat from Ikea. Its from a company called Planet Toys... © 2006. I've seen very little about this on the internet... and the website seems to be gone, so it seems more and more unique all the time.

Not only that, but someone recently built another one. I recently caught this sweet early '70s Camaro. With exception of the trunklid, the rest of the body and paint really popped. Unfortunately, it looks like the Camaro is being menaced but a gigantic binder clip. I really need to keep that stuff outta the car if I'm snapping photos. I couldn't get a good shot of the front. Also, OcnBlu, I have some (lousy, but passable) photos of the remote controlled '73 Pontiac... but I'll put them in the GM Merchandise Lookout forum...

1973 is not one of my favorite years for the big Ponchos... however, I have something you'll LOL at. I have a 1:16th scale (roughly) 1973 Pontiac Catalina Coupe... riding on 22s. I bought it because I was absolutely stunned that ANYBODY would make a toy in the shape of a '73. I'll take a few pictures for you.

I'm shocked. We've got three converts in the family. '67 GP, '68 Catalina and '98 Sunfire. I only drove the Catalina for an extended period, and even though it was a seriously hopeless car, its was FUN AS HELL. No sunroof or T-tops come close. Most of my cars I really want are various Pontiacs, of course... but most are interchangeable or I can settle for more basic versions. The car that's ALWAYS in the back of my mind... '71 or '72 Buick Riviera. I just HAVE to have one someday. Even my desire for the '66 Toronado has passed over the years.

1973. Actually reminds me of one of the cars from the Poncho mailing list. I seriously want a hearse... but I'd prefer a '67-'68 Pontiac Superior one.

Nowhere in the article does it talk about tracking drivers, though I could see it being misused for that later, but neither I, nor the article alluded to that. Current license plates "track" drivers. Tracking drivers is something already out of Pandora's box... and will get more prevalent, either through active tracking or license plate cameras. I'm not happy about it... but I know better to bring up the subject here, as their is little interest in it, and many seem to want more driver tracking. Absolutely agree.

Please explain. I'm not seeing the tinfoil hat connection.

415 hp. But I have to question the GXP's 13/20 fuel figures. The Camaro is 16/25... a 250lb difference is not going to translate into such a big difference. I wonder if in the rush to market for the GXP, if a less than optimum gear ratio or programming was used. Its also interesting to note that the GXP is not listed on fueleconomy.gov.

I'm stunned. While its quite an interesting idea... you could have stolen cars plates flash or what not... but, WOW, this is crazy from a technological view. I can't imagine how much this would cost per plate... its akin to bolting an IPad to your bumper. Even stripped down to a hardware minimum, I see this as a minimum of a $70 per license plate... not because its hard to make, but because it needs to be weatherproof. Plus it needs some sort of GPS (to detect motion) and communications (to change up the ads). Then there is the issue of powering it... not all rear harness lighting is live during the daytime... so you would have to run wiring pretty far in the car to get something hot. Good to see the lawmakers are busy doing serious work in Cali.

The whole article is HERE.

Assuming I can't buy 16 $1K cars or 8 2K cars (hey, you need spares), I'd have to say the late model GTO is the only way to go.

Interesting. Trouble is, as I've read and understood the whole robocar thing, is that most automatic features to create 'car trains' only require localized communication. 'Car Trains' would spontaneously be created and broken up by inter-car communications based on common paths. I don't see why this requires tracking outside of the group of localized cars... except perhaps for traffic stats (Uh, oh... big car train coming in, better reverse some lanes to Jersey). Of course, robocars are not required for tracking or control of your car... Between the law, law enforcement cameras, your cell phone and EZ Pass, you've got your control and tracking right there. In my last post, I was annoyed at the idea of robocars potentially having their own lane. I've been rethinking this idea... I've always viewed Robocars as having the lower hand in the game of traffic chicken, as the algorithms used are likely to be very conservative due to the lawyers. OTOH, it has occurred to me that in actuality, in an area of large 'car trains', the robocars might be able to take over a lane or two of traffic and block out human driven cars. Imagine... during NYC rushhour cartrains that form miles out in Jersey and Long Island and don't have more than 2 foot of open space until you get to where the head splits apart inside Manhattan. The only way in: a 802.11n TCPIP invitation from putting your car in robocar mode. Perhaps a robocar-only lane would protect the driven cars... *shutter*

'If I recall correctly'. I don't advocate letting it drag well beyond 100K mileage... but, for me, as long as there is not an immediate problem, things like changing the fluids are far more important. I do, however, advocate using quality parts when you do, as modern cars seem much more sensitive to misfire.

I would do them when they are over 100K or if you have a misfire problem going on. My plugs got replaced for the first time around 196K on my Series II, but the wires only lasted until 50K, and were replaced by the dealer selling me the car, trying to chase a misfire. When I replaced the plugs at 196K, they looked brand new... I imagine I could have ran them _much_ longer... I imagine the GP is a bit tighter than my Bonne, but reaching the rear plugs isn't too bad, if you have long arms. I would recommend standing on a 6" stool or block at the minimum, it gave me much a much better angle and reach. There will be a engine lift bracket held onto the rear exhaust manifold held on with two nuts... removing/loosening that can give you some room. Keeping in mind that the rear plugs are angled towards the passenger side, IIRC, which will help you grope around before you put the socket on... IIRC the one close to the PS pump is the worst to get to. On my car, the plug wires were pretty badly stuck to the plugs (a big part of why I need 95K extra miles to replace them... LOL)... so I had to cut and mutilate my plug boots to get access to the plugs. Make sure you use good wires with lube/antistick on the plug boots. Due to the odd angles, its easy to break a plug... so you need to ensure the socket is properly engaged on the plug. Sometimes I buy 7 plugs in case I break one... and take it back if successful... Speaking of breakage, the front plastic harness will likely be brittle, so be VERY careful removing/replacing the wires in it. IIRC, its only available at the dealer, and not really cheap. Good luck.

My biggest worry is that automated cars will become the next HOV or Bike lane. I'm fine with automated cars _IF_ they can run on standard roads with non-automated cars. But knowing that one of the tricks of automated cars is the ability to form car-trains running at high speed within inches of each other, I worry that this will lead to segregated traffic. Of course, segregated traffic is fine, IF the segregated lanes are new, not taking from the standard lanes. I'm tired of seeing 3 lane freeways turned into 2 lane + 1 HOV or 2 lanes turned into 1 lane + bike lane.

I'd have to see pictures, I haven't had a problem doing this on GM stuff, so I can't visualize the problem. But before you go too far with this, I'm assuming you know you have to prevent the valves from dropping into the cylinder, right? Are you using compressed air for this or are you filling the cylinder with rope? There is this , if it helps. Thinking the same thing. No offense meant towards your mechanical skill, DF, its a just hard job to do.

The design might not wow you... but the pictures of the construction will either make you LOL or cry... Link. This is an older article, but I've never seen it posted here...

Saw a Audi R8 in Staten Island recently. That car still doesn't really do it for me from most angles. Also saw a CLS55 AMG... at first I didn't think it was a real AMG, as I thought they were all 63's... and this one had seen some healthy customizations from the upmarket JC Whitney catalog. But at the next light, it took off like only an AMG could. Been seeing quite a few oldies during my time up in NYC... but my favorite so far is a '67 fastback full size Pontiac. Shorter wheelbase, probably a Catalina. Black and flat black, needing bodywork... but with red pinstriping and a square headlight conversion and the upper light spots filled in with a mesh grill, so the whole thing looked like the Batmobile. I always thought the '67s are the closest production car to the real Batmobile... Unfortunately, I didn't think to snap a photo. Maybe next time. I also need to get a photo for you guys of Brooklyn's Mad Max Minivan... its hilarious...

Already thinking this myself. EVERYTIME I've have a massive oil leak, its been transmission fluid cooler lines. But since you mention that you have a oil cooler and apparently have already decided its engine oil instead of tranny fluid, it would be my first suspect. Oil restriction + pressure + chafing = oil bath. Sounds like its going to be time to steam clean it. On the bright side, the oil coating helps discourage rust! ;-)

I liked this almost as much as the Clark and Dawes... but on a serious note, is it just me or does EVERY bit of BP humor I see result in just more outrage in regards to this whole episode?

Understandable... but I searched on a few distinct phrases and couldn't find/remember the thread.

Pretty funny. Just a technical question, I imagine you have to make up a fake thread, as I would've remembered such a thread telling someone to 'die in a fire'. It would be kinda cool to just pipe the threads though xtranormal or something similar... so you could have C&G read to you on the drive home. Of course, that may just inspire more road rage.

Turns out, she just got her Studio 17 delivered, and I was impressed. I like solid laptops (Years of Thinkpads) and I was pretty happy with it. Quick... screen is much bigger than I thought it would be. Only the 500G HD, but its 7200RPM, IIRC, I figured since it can hold a second drive, it can be expanded later... Plus its the i7 and 4G memory. Very impressed by the wireless network card/antenna... pulls in stuff from FAR away compared to my other computers. Heavyish laptop is not a problem for her... its a desktop replacement, she would rarely take it from the house. As far as software, yeah, iTunes required installing it twice. Otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised how well 64 bit Win7 works.

Yeah, 56%... as their sales near 0, there going to need 2000% growth to stay in this country...

Pizzeria Uno is a scam to try to discredit Chicago deep dish in the rest of the country. They may make good Long Island Ice Teas, but it ends there... Same here. It's too expensive and time consuming for me to get a good buzz on. I'll just have a bunch of soda and laugh at everyone else. I was disappointed to not see Bubblegum Schnapps in the list. ;-)