New car woohoo!

[SeymourDuncan]

I've been driving the same 99 cutlass for 5 years. It finally pooped out along with my other car I've had for 3.

So.
2 cars down...had to find one to replace them both. I was shooting for an SUV but my mom pointed out a killer deal on a pristine 2004 white Pontiac Grand Prix GT...pristine condition and from a dealer. The cost to repair both my cars was $9000...yeah they were bad. Hybrids are not cheap to fix. That was $8000 of the quote!!
So...there's smart money and stupid money. I ended up dropping $5000 on the Pontiac. Its got a 3800 in it. I think that's one of the most reliable motors out there isn't it?

I plan on upgrading stuff on it to performance parts. Any ideas!?
Air filters, hood scoop, suspension, whatever makes it last longer and perform more efficiently than 29mpg. The Honda got 48 on a bad day. I feel like I will be driving a dodge ram in comparison lol

 

[jonny]

I've been driving the same 99 cutlass for 5 years. It finally pooped out along with my other car I've had for 3.

So.
2 cars down...had to find one to replace them both. I was shooting for an SUV but my mom pointed out a killer deal on a pristine 2004 white Pontiac Grand Prix GT...pristine condition and from a dealer. The cost to repair both my cars was $9000...yeah they were bad. Hybrids are not cheap to fix. That was $8000 of the quote!!
So...there's smart money and stupid money. I ended up dropping $5000 on the Pontiac. Its got a 3800 in it. I think that's one of the most reliable motors out there isn't it?

I plan on upgrading stuff on it to performance parts. Any ideas!?
Air filters, hood scoop, suspension, whatever makes it last longer and perform more efficiently than 29mpg. The Honda got 48 on a bad day. I feel like I will be driving a dodge ram in comparison lol

Yea the 3800 is up there with the 350 as far as reliability..honestly there isn't much you can do to help fuel mileage other than maybe a k&n air filter for the stock air box..don't bother with cold air or anything like that..and a better flowing exhaust...but for the money you will spend on that it will take years to make up for it in fuel mileage lol...you could always just strip the interior for weight reduction LOL

 

[jonny]

But if you want just plain old go fast performance they made buttloads of those cars in supercharged variations..you can normally find them on ebay or scrapyards for next to nothing..

 

[SeymourDuncan]

That's great news. I guess all I will do is upgrade the aesthetic parts :)
I'm glad this car is that nice off the bat!

My buddy does custom body kits..I may see if he'll make me some carbon fiber panels for frags since he's into reefs like me, or even show me how to do it. I'm an artist..can't be too hard :)

I have never been into cars, but I think I might start appreciating them more now that I have something that isn't a granny mobile!

Plus the trunk is the size of Texas. It looks like I could fit about 8 of those large styrofoam fish boxes which is great because I do a lot of trading with pet stores all over.

 

[jonny]

Carbon fiber hood would for sure drop a few lbs lol..and yea those trunks could fir at least 4 bodies..i mean styrafoam coolers lol

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I just found out my neighbor has a cherry picker after I traded my other car in. Crap! I bet he would have fixed my cutlass for cheap. Oh well. Haha. Guess I should have brought them some pie when we moved in. Or are we the ones who should have been brought the pie??

 

[jonny]

I'm no help there..i just look at my neighbors like "yea..I'm watching you..." So there was never any pie lol

 

[SeymourDuncan]

They are pretty umm...there's a lot of people In that house. Like 15

 

[jonny]

....that's too much pie....I think you're better off taking my approach LOL

 

[SeymourDuncan]

They get the downwind from my grill. I'm surprised they haven't brought pie actually.

 

[jonny]

Lol ^^^

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Well I just met the neighbors this morning. (No pie). His wife says he's stupid and shouldn't be fixing cars?!
Every single day since I've lived here he has been fiddling with his Saturn...that makes sense considering I moved here on Halloween! Thank goodness I didn't ask him to fix my cutlass. It could be years before he learns what a motor mount even is! The only reason I know what they are is first hand experience with them breaking while driving lol. Talk about confusing. I opened the hood to see a crooked motor. Hey that was on my 89 Grand Prix now that I think of it. We did the motor mounts with a crow bar and a fat guy. Lol

 

[revsgirl]

Nice! Congrats!


Chasing the Dream Giver, not the dream! Tonya

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Thanks! My tank feels like I've been neglecting it. Dirty glass...no new critters...oh how I hope the pet store is open when I get my car today! I need a frag or something to show them I still love them.

 

[tidus10]

nice car, honestly there isnt much you can do to get better MPG out of the car, make sure you have appropriate tire pressure, new plugs, plug wires, air filter.. the normal stuff.. and dont eat breakfast that will help as well.. nice cars for sure, you have to tint those windows though!

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Window tint is at the top of the list for sure. I want to get a paint job some day. Not huge on white. Only 2hrs until my ride takes me to get it!

It would have been sooner but I went ahead and had them just replace all the gaskets to prevent any leakage down the road.

I also was recommended not to clean the oil off of the engine if it does spill or get leaks. Not sure what good that would do leaving it there? I've just been a bad car owner in the past...my friends were fixing cars while I was stringing guitars so I never gave a crap.

 

[jonny]

It would have been sooner but I went ahead and had them just replace all the gaskets to prevent any leakage down the road.

One of the best things you could have done..this is pretty much the only common point of major failure on these engines..

I also was recommended not to clean the oil off of the engine if it does spill or get leaks. Not sure what good that would do leaving it there?

If the oil cakes up, it can slow or even stop small leaks..if you pressure wash this off, it will open the leak, and can actually pull out small pieces of the gasket though you probably wont have issue with that since you just had them replaced.

3 characters out of the quote lol

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Aaaahhhhh that makes sense

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Ok, so the car is finally all mine!
Looks nearly spotless under the hood.

There is a bit of grime on this plug right here though. Should i clean it?

And why the heck don't all headlights change out this easy?

I saw some low profile lights I might get.
Or maybe throw on my old metal halides and park infront of a public aquarium bwaaahahahahahahaha

 

[SeymourDuncan]

One thing that I will be doing today is learning how to use the computer.
Tire gauge built right in!? That's classy!
And you can program every single light in the car according to the manual? Ugh. And I thought programming aquarium lights was annoying! Not that any of the lighting does anything special, I guess for example I can choose to have the lights flash or not when it's locked and stuff. Not sure yet.

Its the 3 button not the 5. But it does look like it has a spot for a nitro switch and exhaust on/off? I don't know for sure. Was just scrolling through a custom parts website.