Frosty

As much as I agree whole heartedly with both Ringo and Last Indian on their principles and such, from a pure advertising perspective, this almost a sure thing. Lebron represents a leader, an athlete, a man who can literally afford what his heart desires and people know that. So making him a front man "must say something about this product or technology". Now that I've taken my marketing hat off, the technology (as Last Indian points out) could be total B.S., but someone might buy it anyway (hey some people bought Yugos didn't they?).

LeBron is still a popular public figure.

I think this is one of those cases with the uber-low miles, plus the car is a virtue time capsule for restorers since it has never been a part may justify the money. It bears all the original factory markings, tags, etc. It is a desirable 1979 Trans Am (albeit an Olds 403 vs. a Pontiac 400 - but now we are splitting hairs). I find it also interesting that he is a descendant of Henry Leland too.

Contact Ram Air Restoration Enterprises, Inc. http://www.ramairrestoration.com/rm-1-os-d-port-ram-air-style-factory-headers-oversized.html They are the only ones I know that make new, reproduction Pontiac performance exhaust manifolds. Otherwise you would probably need to consider buying headers or getting used manifolds out of a wrecking yard.

Got a call from the shop a few minutes ago. The hydraulics and electrical are fixed along with the brake lines. The motor mounts will be in tomorrow morning. So it should be fixed tomorrow after work. The high heel thing is something I hadn't thought about JUSTA. Good point. Of course Lucy's never had a prom queen in it either before. Trust me, this pains me a bit too. Of course the wife feels I can't leave work early for this - since she is certain I will loose my job over it. Sigh.

The brake line was leaking near the rear diff. It's fixed and the brake fluid has been bleed. They found another problem. Seems my motor mounts are shot. The oil pan is close to resting on the frame. One good bump and I could've rip open the oil pan... The hydraulics should be fixed today or tomorrow. Seems that one of the lines was not tightened enough or got cross threaded (my bad). They think they can fix it with the existing hose.

The problem is this is not a business but rather a federal government agency that is not even a cabinet post anymore. So a business may worry about customer feedback, attitude, etc., government agencies don't have to. They have to fulfill their mission, but that does mean they have to be nice or cheerful to you and me while doing it. I agree its not fair or right, but just think that they have fairly cut throat competition from virtually every commercial carrier and delivery service across the globe. So the worst thing that could happen to the USPS is for the fed's to privatize it.

I commend both of you, Last Indian and Ringo, for the content and direction of this material. As JUSTA said, it is amazing what is not taught these days in driver's education and basic auto mechanics.

Maybe this was Nana's car and she didn't drive it much period.

Lucy is in the shop this morning having the electric switch and the hydraulics looked at and repaired. I have to have it repaired and working reliably before Thursday night. A friend of my wife's is coming over to learn how to drive it on Thursday so it can be driven in my old high school's homecoming parade on Friday. My wife's girlfriend's daughter is in the homecoming court. Her dad will be driving her. So to add insult to injury, just as I pulled Lucy into the driveway last night, the brake light comes! Sigh. So that is being looked at too. I suspect it is low fluid (the reason why is low also weighing the back of my mind).

I suggest Black Rock Bar and Grill in Hartland then! The new one they are building by me is not complete or open yet.

And yet the car buying public wants more, more, more.

This is so awesome to watch. Two guys you've never met each other. helping one another out. I helped a good ol' boy today on the boulevard by loaning him a 3/8th drive extension so he could replace his wife's Cadillac's battery. I love to see automotive brotherhood in action. Well done gentlemen, well done! Pay it forward!

It gets up but it's all manual effort right now. You're buying lunch? GREEAAT ! Thanks Joe !!!!!

I am in love with the Tin Woody, the '59 Star Chief, and the 50s Chieftain convertible with the Continental Kit. I am up to my eyeballs in Corvettes here in Charleston, mostly new ones.

Excellent points.

AT&T is way hotter, from Uzbek USSR, and will soon be the new Squirrel Girl on Freeform! Da! Life is good. Door !

You might start by comparing the engine mounts of a tri-five Pontiac Safari or Chieftain to '57 Chevy. I think the frames are nearly identical. Next try getting a pair of Pontiac motor mounts. You probably can use the upper but you might have to fab the lower.

Do you call your agent dirty names, Mildred, or Sweet Pea?

I was very lucky indeed. This morning I unbolted the rams from the convertible top frame. It took all of 10 minutes. I then went to a buddy's house to wash the car (the rain got a lot of schmutz on the car) and then had lunch with him and his wife. I got to my "Michgan" parking spot (I will tell that story in the show post), and put the top down with no problems. Are you using power relays or solid state power relays? Different beasts (and reliability) but I don't know what the truck takes. The Envoy has power relays and one solid state power relay - just for the low beams. Yes we need to do lunch. Pity you can't make the fall color tour.

It's been no secret to notallthere, Indymanjoe, and JUSTA, that Lucy has been giving me more than my fair share of fits this car season. Last night before leaving for Charleston was another dandy. My wife invited her girlfriend and her daughter over to see Lucy (since I had it home to pack it up to come to Charleston). It seems the daugher has been elected to her homecoming court and each "princess" must find their own convertible to showcase them in the homecoming parade. So they came over to check out Lucy if she will do for the parade. So I put the top down and the windows down for the daughter to check out. Turns out Lucy will do just nicely. Great. I go to put the top up and it won't go (which I figured would happen based on what occurred at the Sellers show). I had the new top switch so I proceeded to remove it (not so gently I might add). I connected up the new switch before installing it in the car and it works fine but I had a real hard time with the connection plug that goes to the pump motor. I put the new switch in the dash and the damn motor connection fought me all the way. I suspect the new blades could be the wrong size, not sure totally. That is something I will have to look into when I get home. Next thing I hear what sounds like fluid leaking (again) from the rams! Aggg! I have no time to fix the hydraulics, so I mange to get the top up with a combination firm yet gentle manual effort and the use of a lacrosse stick to push the power top button. Now the top is up, I go to roll up the windows and she's a no go. No sound of any of the window motors, nothing - dead quiet. I think I have a blown fuse but I can't find one. Finally at 1 am, I had to put the car away and get some sleep so I can drive 7-8 hours to Charleston. Now let me give you some history about Lucy. I've owned her 22 years now (since 1995). In most of that time, its had the unique ability to power cycle the power top and power windows with the ignition off and keys out of the ignition. I just figured the previous owner jumpered something to do that. I know this is not the norm but hey it was very convienent. Well I ended up having to drive Lucy with the top up and windows down all the way to Charleston today. I didn't escape having to drive thru some rain along the way. Fortunately for me it was not gushing! Once I got to the cruise-in event tonight here in South Charleston, I asked one of my buddies if he had an 12V electrical guru that I could get in touch with to look at Lucy while I am here. Turns out he did and the guru was standing 10 feet away from us. His name is Kevin. Kevin teaches auto mechanics and works on British cars mostly. Kevin was kind enough to look at my car. He and I both learned something. He learned that GM A-body cars have power relays between the fuse block and the master window switch (I learned this last night surfing online before going to bed). The power relay (for cars built with power windows) is located behind the driver's side kick panel. He quickly determined with his voltmeter that the power relay was the problem. I was lucky enough to stop at National Parts Depot in Canton MI on my way down to Charleston and I had enough forethought to purchase a new master switch and power relay. So once he plugged the new relay in and he hit the master switch, nothing happened. Then he turned the key into the "on" position, and viola, the windows worked again. Kevin said that the power relay actually failed all those years ago and allowed direct battery current to let the top work and the windows roll up and down bypassing the ignition. It just took all these years for the relay to completely fail. Failed Power Relay