Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #15 – September 23, 2007, 05:20:25 PM I wonder if you could rattle-can the bumper covers with a flat black or dark grey. It would at least cover up the swirly nature of the plastic, which, I assume, is from the manufacturing process.Did they look like that when they were new? I remember seeing the black plastic bumpers on the then-new 1995 Cavaliers. Some of them had that swirly finish, and I could never understand why GM would let something like that hit the dealerships.Quote from: Thunder Chicken;178049If I'm going to drive a shiznitbox it's going to be a shiznitbox with at least a modispooge of fun. The air, cruise, and power options are just gravy. Indeed. Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #16 – September 23, 2007, 05:41:56 PM The bumpers were actually evenly black/dark grey coloured when new (the twin-cam models and two-doors had body colour bumpers) - I think it's a sun thing hat brings out the swirls, kinda like the porno red interiors in T-Birds and Cougars, and kinda like all those late 80's puppiesanese cars you see that were once red but are now pink. I think I just may get a rattle can of flat black bumper paint and do 'em over - the rear one's gotta be replaced anyway. Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #17 – September 23, 2007, 07:27:31 PM My first NEW car was almost a Saturn. I had looked into purchasing a '98 SL-2 in November of '97. I found the Cougar and here I am. THey are great little cars. Enjoy! Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #18 – September 24, 2007, 09:36:04 AM *sniff*A moment of silence for the luxo-barge.So how well do you fit in a Saturn, Carm? Pix? Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #19 – September 24, 2007, 02:48:26 PM I actually fit in them (the four-doors, anyway, and the seat's gotta be all the way back, as you can tell in the above pics - the seats are visible through the rear windows) rather well, and in some rather strange and painful positions I'd rather forget about. And no, I'm not talking about dirty things, you perverts - I mean when I was working on 'em for a living and stuffing myself up under the dash to do things like install cruise control. The module mounts on the pedal bracket and is exactly as fun to get at as anything on the pedal bracket in our cars. Anyone remember the Simpsons episode where Mr Burns went to the Mayo clinic and got jammed in the MRI machine? I can relate...I did make it a better car today though - the horn wasn't working, so I installed one of the horns I salvaged out of my TC parts car. This involved adding a relay (Saturn horns are 3-wire, Ford horns are 1). Naturally I used a relay purloined from a Crown Vic cop car.That's right... the Saturn now has two Ford parts on it :hick: Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #20 – October 03, 2007, 09:39:16 PM So I've done a bit of work to the car, and yesterday I had the single most important part added: A valid safety inspection sticker. That little piece of plastic alone tripled (at least) the value of the car.The new quarter panel and tail light are on. Unfortunately the can of paint I had mixed up came out a bit too dark, but it still looks a helluva lot better than it did. Removing the old quarter panel was fun - since it was broken I didn't worry about silly things like nuts and bolts. I simply grabbed it and started tearing it off :hick:Total cost of the car to bring it up to completely legal and safe status:INITIAL COST OF CAR: $456 ($400 + 14% sales tax)TRANSFER LINCOLN'S PLATE OVER: $11.40 ($10 plus tax)NEW FRONT ROTORS: $22.80 ($10/apiece plus tax)NEW FRONT PADS: $17.10 ($15 plus tax)LEFT OUTER TIE ROD END: $17.10 ($15 plus tax)LEFT QUARTER PANEL AND TAIL LIGHT: $150 shipped (from eBay)PAINT FOR QUARTER PANEL: $22.80 ($20 plus tax to have a rattle can made up based on paint code)REPAIR EXHAUST: $0 (I made two new s out of 3/16" plate steel, and made a new ler strap/hanger out of galvanized metal)REPAIR HORN: $0 (repairs made with T-Bird horn and police car relay as mentioned above)OIL & FILTER CHANGE: ~$15 (had a coupon, free filter with purchase of 4l jug of Valvoline oil)RESTORE ENGINE OIL ADDITIVE (or as I call it, "Can o' Rings"): $5.70SAFETY INSPECTION: $28.50 ($25 plus tax)***********************************************GRAND TOTAL: $746.40Not too frickin' shabby, if I do say so myself :DPics of the car with the new quarter panel will come tomorrow. Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #21 – October 03, 2007, 09:51:09 PM That would be considered Saturnalia, lol. Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #22 – October 04, 2007, 11:12:07 AM As promised, and I can only imagine how much a bunch of T-Bird and Cougar guys were lookin' forward to seeing more pics of a mid 90's GM FWD econopoopster. The closeup photo makes the quarter panel look dented, but it isn't - that's just shadows. You can see the difference in both colour and texture of the new panel though - gotta colour sand it yet. Note the shiny new safety sticker in the windshield - did I mention that was the most important part? Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #23 – October 04, 2007, 12:35:14 PM that's a pretty decent car for the money, and you sure as hell can't argue with 40mpg.... but that patch job is nasty! lol. it's easily fixable though. nice score. Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #24 – October 04, 2007, 02:43:50 PM Looks good :D Thank god for plastic eh?;) Quote Selected
Out with the Lincoln... *pics added* Reply #25 – October 04, 2007, 04:09:49 PM My $650 Tempo got 36 mpg when I drove it to St. Louis, but I don't particularly enjoy driving it.Althought it is a rusty POS, it's been fairly reliable, but I've had to put about $75 in it to get it back up again (new rear brake shoes, new ler, fuel filter, possible master cylinder & oil change coming up soon) and I still don't know if it'll be completely ready to drive after all that. I'm starting to wonder how much longer it'll last because while it runs & drives good, it makes some weird engine noises sometimes.The car is white and the paint is pretty faded and dull. I've been contemplating a set of Sharpie flames for it but they don't last very long. Quote Selected