steveeoaktree

I watched the video on their site, and did a bit of research and this does look like a great product as well. It also appears to be the only one that I can find locally (as of yet). Thanks a lot!

Honestly I didn't benchmark mom's rig, but the WEI scores were 7.2 7.8 7.7 7.9 7.9. When I have 2000 in a rig, I expect it to perform well, but with the (or one of the) lowest performing 1st gen APU's it far exceeded my expectations. My personal rig has the AMD 9590 with the Powercolor R9 290X and 16gb Radeon 2133 on an Asrock Fatality 990fx Professional mobo. Twin Samsung 840 EVo ssd's ... http://www.overclock.net/u/266654/oldcompgeek

Well I must admit that the AMD 2133 ram was free ( I had previously reviewed it as well as the Plextor SSD)

Hadn't heard of eastwood or por but both are great looking reccomendations! Thx JUSTA6

Well fellas, this the first review that I have posted on Forever Pontiac regarding Computers. I had previously reviewed items for an online computer hardware store, as well as building many custom systems over the years. When mom wanted to buy an "off the shelf" system, I couldn't hack that so we built one. Starting with a Cooler Master mini ITX case and a MSI a55 mobo, the decision was which APU to try? I then decided to build the lowest priced, quality system that I could. I found an A-4 3400 new and stuck it in there not expecting much. Mom basically surfs the web and not much else so I figured that it'd be OK for that... Well fellas, I was shocked at the performance of this little APU. I bought her a 24" 1080p monitor (a Dell swivel) and the graphics are utterly amazing! Paired with a Plextor sata 3 SSD the thing starts and runs very quick. I spent a total of $314 including the monitor, and it outperforms any value prebuilt system that I have ever used... by far. The case came with a small, compact 150w power supply which is ample for this system so it's very light on the energy bill as well. After building many rigs with dual 7870's, single 290x's and many others.. I wonder why I didn't try one of these little APU's before...? Just a few thoughts for anyone that could use them.

Hey guys, I am looking to treat and coat the interior steel in the GP before installing any new interior panels. There is some surface rust here and there, and I want to prevent any further damage and coat it with some sort of preventative coating. 20 years ago, I'd just sand it and use cheap bedliner coating but would like to do a much better job from here on out. I will be using the same coating to do the floors as well. I have the aluminum-backed rolls of insulation to install over the initial coating as well. Thank y'all for any direction!

Well, learning the cons of buying a car off the internet... The more I investigate, the more I find. On my last weekend off, I noticed some fire damage under the hood, probably caused by fuel line rot... Not too bad except for some melting of the wire connections to the fuse panel on the firewall side. After further investigation, ended up replacing the fuel pump and lines. This caused me to look closer elsewhere and it reminds me of a shoddy used car lot doing things to help the thing sell. Like painting the rally II's over the rust ( and the spokes with what looks like model paint and brush), red priming over the burned paint, and rigging a 1993 caddy sunroof glass into the hole that isn't close to the right size... I'm sure most of y'all have more experience than I at purchasing vehicles from afar, but for those that don't please look close and make sure to buy through e bay or somewhere that has buyer protection. None of the things are beyond repair, but would've been much easier if they were just left alone. (Takes twice as long to un fix then properly fix ha ha) On the bright side, I am getting stage 1 done on the exterior which includes sanding and priming the body to get her through winter while I get the interior done. I will upload some pictures later today after I get the priming finished! Thanks for all of the assistance y'all give on here.

I have researched several brands of cats, and the prices vary considerably. Which would you consider to have the best price to performance ratio? Living in Indiana, I don't really have to worry about any sort of emissions testing but then again, am not wanting to create a pollution machine either... (If it was the late 80's I may just weld up the exhaust having forgotten to install cats... ha ha) Already have the x-pipe and am planning to order the ram-air resto manifolds when the budget allows. Thanks

All great advice once again Frosty. The engine in the car now is the stock '76 400 which is going to remain that way, and is fine for unleaded fuel, although I did have to just rebuild the carb and change the fuel pump... (of course due to the dang methanol and 40 years old.. ha ha) The old oil smelled like 100 octane ethyl... No knocks or ticks after that and t5he tune up/oil change (knock on wood). With 66,000 on her that engine should last until next spring when the build will be ready (I hope). I'll be working on the body and interior this weekend, so I'll be sure to upload some progress, and hopefully the weather seal kit'll arrive too!

Thank you for the link! I was hesitant to buy without knowing where the quality is...

Thank you Frosty! I figgered that one of y'all Poncho guru's would know... I had found some online but without a recommendation it's hard to tell what will really fit (especially on e bay) Thanks again.

Hey fellow Pontiac enthusiasts, where would I look to get replacement door and trunk seals? When the car arrived, It was like completely rotted away and the h2o can just go straight into the doors. Also, isn't there a trim piece that should go where the top of the doors meet the windows?

Well, after an exhaustive period of research, (and reading Jim Hand's book) I have learned a lot about the Pontiac engine. The blocks and internals are mostly very sturdy for up to 400 HP/450 TQ with minimal changes. As long as there is not any abnormal wear inside, I can just hone, crosshatch, and re ring her along with a polishing of the crank and new Clevite bearings. I was going to modify the intake to remove the exhaust crossover, but decided not to as I would pay for it this winter... haha (Indiana sometimes has pretty rough winters) The number 068 cam equivalent is going to now be my choice, as it was either that or the comp XE262 instead of the mild summit cam. The wide LSA will keep the power band consistent from idle to 3000+ and that is what I need. Replacing the valve springs, exhaust valves, and going to ARP studs is all I really need to change from stock. shaving .020 off the heads, (and having the intake ports matched to this) and a good valve job along with getting the timing correct will put me in the 8:1 dynamic compression range which is fine for torque. I just wanted to let y'all know what I found out, and thanks again for the advice!