Recent content by eljefino

I'd do about an hour and a half, though I've done more. I shop a different kind of seller-- I don't like dealers that offer "as-is" because it means a professional already looked the car over and decided it was a hopeless case. Plus they want to get more money from the public than they could...

In 1975 or so Soichiro Honda met wtih GM engineers to discuss licensing his CVCC technology to let GM cars run great on leaded gas without catalytic converters. GM said yeah it works with your toy cars but it won't work with our V8s. So Honda helped themselves to a GM engine and reengineered...

Part numbers aren't trademarks/ copyrights/ intellectual property. Just because something cross references doesn't mean it's the same manufacturer. Look at a generic brake rotor box, it'll have about four different part numbers.

You can get an air powered undercoating gun for around $15. I recommend a skullcap, KN95 mask, and glasses if you go under the car as it gets misty. And put newspaper on your garage floor.

So does anyone get a better deal if they give one vendor 90%+ of their business? I picked up on this vibe just watching when it wasn't on my dime, LOL. My takeaway is that brakes and batteries are overpriced so they can give "discounts", LOL. I figured that out already.

Butane is cheap (or its removal/ replacement is expensive) and they can only use it in the winter.

In my state a salvage title requires an inspection to turn into a rebuilt one. Dealers have to provide a negotiable title, one which you can get a registration with, but it can be "dirty" and I'm not aware of a duty to volunteer this info. However a prospective customer has the right to demand...

What if your cat has its honeycomb coated with tarry oily soot? Then it won't matter that the zinc (or whatever) "poisoned" the cat, and you can pull a Scotty Kilmer and wash it out with laundry detergent. IDK if you have flanges on both sides and if it's easy to remove, wash, and reinstall...

What a wonderful, awful car. Reminds me of the Ford Aspire. OP change the oil for cryin' out loud. Get whatever's on sale that meets spec.

Well both examples are legitimate gripes-- it'd be nice to buy a car with a stick shift, roll 'em windows, port fuel injection just like it'd be nice to find a "starter ranch" house so people can start building equity and get out of paying rent faster. There's a presumption of choice but you...

When I started DIY in the late 90s the 12 packs of quart bottles were where it's at. They had 5 qt jugs but they weren't as prevalent. I got lots of Superflo and Havoline for 69 cents after rebate from Ames or Rite-Aid, now both out of business in my area, LOL. 5 quarts of M1 "Tri-Synthetic"...

Be careful working on this car, if you get air in the MC/ABS you'll need a darn good scan tool to bleed it. Not Forscan. Better.

They sure do. Off the top of my head, rear drum backing plates are unobtainable. Front control arms are still out there, IDK about rear dog-legs. I spliced universal flexpipes into the front exhaust, which sucked because they were 1-7/8 in, 2" out or something like that. Sprayed a lot of...

I had a HF 4x4 trailer during the "untrucked" part of my life when I was trying to simplify. It was so light I could grab its tongue and flip it upright for parking. Maine trailer plates were $11 a year and here's the secret, we'll give them to anyone, LOL.

Typically pump E0 is the base fuel for high octane before they put the 10% ETOH in at the terminal. So it'll be around 90 octane, a couple points less than what you get for high-test. If you like it, buy it, try to get some economy of scale going. As a niche product it's occupying a tank, and...