Ontopic The new car-seching thread

I'd feel comfortable buying a car off you. A hair nutz but in a thoroughly good way.
I would love to buy a car off J it would just have to come with 346 pages in a 3-ring binder explaining how shit ain't like it was and why and a signed contract agreeing to accept my phone calls day or night for at least 6 months. 12 if I'm bringing it to a place that has all 4 seasons.
 
God. Damn.


I miss my '90 Brougham d'Elegance. Only difference between that one and mine were: 1) velour seats in mine, and 2) steel wheels (with hubcaps) instead of wire (which weren't stock, the towing package that got the 5.7L only came with steelies), and 3) that one was in WAY better condition than mine (after 27 years of Wisconsin winters, the rust was so bad the paint was structural).
 
Speaking of lurching from emergency to emergency, I was going to troubleshoot the AC in the GTO this weekend, but then the starter quit starting, and I found this bit of wiring (that I paid a guy to do). The black wires in the picture used to be red, and insulated:

184112580_10158991053779342_5920302740415993547_n.jpg

So now I have to go find some 8 gauge wire and reroute the starting/charging wires. I think I've got the starter sorted. It's a compact gear reduction unit that I was able to install inverted (so the solenoid is facing down, easier to access, farther from the exhaust).

Goddamn, I'm sick and tired of finding shit that should have burned me to death.
 
Speaking of lurching from emergency to emergency, I was going to troubleshoot the AC in the GTO this weekend, but then the starter quit starting, and I found this bit of wiring (that I paid a guy to do). The black wires in the picture used to be red, and insulated:

View attachment 14234

So now I have to go find some 8 gauge wire and reroute the starting/charging wires. I think I've got the starter sorted. It's a compact gear reduction unit that I was able to install inverted (so the solenoid is facing down, easier to access, farther from the exhaust).

Goddamn, I'm sick and tired of finding shit that should have burned me to death.
I'd like to see that starter, sounds aftermarket, nicey. I think nobody was terribly surprised when a starter died after 2-4 years back then. Crude pieces of crap.

Polished alternator :cool:
 
My mechanic is coming by now to replace all brake pads, flush brake lines, replace a valve cover gasket, and sparkplugs. I could do all of it, but it would take me 3x as long, so I think its worth it.
 
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I'd like to see that starter, sounds aftermarket, nicey. I think nobody was terribly surprised when a starter died after 2-4 years back then. Crude pieces of crap.

Polished alternator :cool:
This is the starter. I bought it based on the recommendation of the guy who did the finish work on the GTO, and he installed it. In the notes it says "may need to be inverted", which I did yesterday, but am not entirely happy with (it only has one securing bolt instead of two - I can drill and tap a new securing bolt hole, and that's probably what I'll do).


If I were doing it today, I'd have bought this one:

It keeps the power and solenoid wire down low away from the exhaust manifold by default, and has lots of clocking positions available to get the starter in the right spot, and it's still way smaller than the typical GM big body starter.

In the meantime, I'm making the alternator post the "power post" for the harness instead of the starter, so I'm running a 4 gauge wire from the battery over to that, then the several power lines that feed the car and the EFI will run to the alternator instead of the starter post.
 
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My mechanic is coming by now to replace all brake pads, flush brake lines, replace a valve cover gasket, and sparkplugs. I could do all of it, but it would take me 3x as long, so I think its worth it.
I paid a dude to do my brake lines too so I didnt have to buy the vacuum flush kit
 
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Yeah, I put a clear hose on the bleeder that goes into a pop bottle, and push the brake pedal manually until I get clear fluid without bubbles.
 
Depends on what plastic it's made out of, I can't really tell but most other sites I'm looking at say polyethylene.

Polyethylene melts around 120C, burns around 300C. So it won't start a fire all that easy, but I'd keep it clear of the exhaust.
 
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