bchaffin72

Nothing to the car itself, but I have been working on building a secondary power distribution block for the computer and a couple other things I may want to put in. And I tore down a PC tower for the motherboard, hard drive, and a few accessories. I'm going to build a more compact and car friendly enclosure for it soon.

I was also noticing that the company that was GM Daewoo, in South Korea was renamed to GM Korea and the brands changed to Chevrolet. Technically, I suppose, those cars could count as re-branded Daewoos and still coming out of the same factories. Only the names have been changed to protect the incompetent.

You mean this:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/11/junkyard-find-1988-pontiac-lemans/

Yeah, that version of the Tempest was Canadian only, but the one I saw was in North Idaho years ago, so it was either some visiting Canadians or a car someone bought in Canada and imported into the US. Either way, apart from the grill and taillights, it was just about a dead ringer for my mother's Corsica.

And I drove one of the Citations, as well as the Phoenix. Don't miss either one.

I mean, other companies platform shared models, but you'd never know with most of them. GM made it painfully obvious.

My grandparents had a couple of Chevrolet Citations and a Pontiac Phoenix. Practically the same car. Swap the grills, taillight assemblies, couple trim pieces and, from the outside, you'd never know which had been the Pontiac and which a Chevy.

The Chevrolet Corsica and revived Pontiac Tempest was the same deal. Same car, different grill and tail lights.

Last few days I've been refreshing my memory on installing a secondary power distribution block inside the car, studying the wiring diagram for appropriate tie in points, and doing some mods to an older, but still adequate, PC tower. Come spring, I intend to install the car adapted computer and a touchscreen monitor into the Montana, powered directly off the car's system. Sometimes I am too much of a geek for my own good.

Despite being a car guy, I can't say I watch any races very often. At one point, I would have been more interested in driving race cars than watching from the sidelines, but the condition of my spine the last few years would make that an uncomfortable task. Even if I could afford to race locally, I doubt I have the endurance for it now. I've maintained an old PS2 with Nascar Thunder 2004, Gran Turismo 1 and 2, and Need for Speed Underground for when I really need to get that urge out of my system in some form.

Just felt good to listen to some music and have the road to yourself.

I always loved late night road trips for just that reason. Especially long, empty straight stretches where you reasonably put your foot in it a bit and just hear music, engine, and the tires on the road.

Hello. Very nice car! Still relatively new here myself. Nevertheless, welcome.

My wife is pretty cool. She generally is not into what many women are, and has generally hated what other people(including me) will try to guess that she wants. So, after we make sure our daughter is taken care of, we buy our own stuff. I let her have whatever she might want(and do as she will with the house), she does the same for me, and leaves playing around with the car in my arena.

I managed a few small things today. Couple of bumper stickers, rear side window decor, and my favorite steering wheel cover, which had still been on the Caravan.

Well I must admit, the two seat EXP was definitely a "single guy" car of my sometimes misspent youth.

I've lived primarily in the US and Canada, and the one thing I did like about the older cars(aside from the fact I could do every job myself) was exemption from modern emissions standards. It brings a certain amount of freedom to mod up a bit, without violating laws or accounting for ECMs. Prior to the '02 Caravan, the newest cars I had ever owned were a couple of '85s.

Being sold as I got married, moved around a lot and just couldn't keep up with them all was the way my old '60s cars went. I never had the high dollar, more desirable one's. No classic muscle cars. A 62 Dodge Lancer(push button automatic), 65 Impala wagon, a 67 Plymouth Fury II, and a 62 Corvair(purely a project car, sadly never finished).

Not sure if there are unused ports in the heads, the manual doesn't have that info. I may have to physically look under the hood in the morning. The manual DOES show that the stock sending unit is next to the oil filter on the block.

I don't know about the Montana yet. I'm looking through the manual now. My old 73 Audi had two, one in the filter housing and one at the end of the head, so I was able to keep the wire at the block for the light and run a whole new line for the gauge off the head.

I guess my advantage was this: I didn't have a wife back then.

I once went one further and had a little Ford EXP with not only two doors, but only two seats. Which meant if I really didn't like you, start walking.

Thanks. That one looks pretty good too. I've been to the falls area, once. And yeah, I van it. We live a bit outside of town and haul a lot at a time, plus, my wife is disabled and I have a spine issue, so getting into and out of a van is much easier than a car these days. Even the last actual car we had was a station wagon. An '85 Nissan Maxima, with the 3.0 V6.

Thanks. If I do decide to do so, it would be electrical. I was never a big fan of piping an oil line into the interior myself, even on the old ones. I may, in the end, very well decide not to, but it's a thought right now, so I figured some outside opinions certainly wouldn't hurt.

Thanks guys. Why do it? I like having an actual oil pressure gauge, not just a light Personal preference. And the Montana inspires me to do some of these things again. The Caravan didn't, for whatever reason.

I do have a shop manual, but I only bought it yesterday, so I haven't had much time to peruse it yet. Messing up the ECU by changing things was exactly my concern. If I can find a spare port, some way to do it old school, that may very well be the easiest, most risk free way to go.

I will say there are some things I would like to do. Some exterior graphics, if I find some I feel suit the lines and compliment the current color. Maybe new tires and rims, come summer. I would like to make a few interior changes. I went shopping around, looking at seat covers, steering wheel accessories, and such. And I will likely do a little bit of under the hood cosmetic stuff. Funny, as much as the Caravan was a decent vehicle for us, and I never neglected its maintenance, it never inspired me to do anything extra to it. The Montana does.

Holy moly this is old! haha

If you refer to revival of the thread itself, it's not too terribly old. And I do have guidelines for reviving things that interest me. Generally, no more than 2-3 years old and I like to make sure the topic starter, or at least a few people involved, are still active. I have seen the revival of 10-12 year old zombie threads, where no one ever date checked and are talking to people who are long, long gone as if it happened only yesterday.

While I am an old hand at installing aftermarket mechanical gauges in classic cars, I am not sure on later model stuff. Is it possible to install an aftermarket oil pressure gauge in addition to(or instead of) the standard oil can dash light on a 2005 3.5L V6? Does anyone know what's involved?

I took one of my wife viewed "unnecessary trips", as after three days of being indoors, I was about going bat**** crazy for a drive. ANY drive. So I drove three miles down over the snow covered, barely plowed roads to the local 7-11, just to get a coffee I could have made at home.