codybirchem

I'll bring the minivan to see it haha... and maybe even cruise the '99 after the SSE conversion lol

I haven't posted anything of the 99 yet because we don't know what we're doing just yet. My mom's continuously arguing with me like she is a body shop genious and I'm just getting extremely frustrated. The core support is bent and also the sheet metal is straight up torn, so you CAN NOT bend that back. If we want to see the car on the road again, the core support will need to be replaced. The car's only got 130,xxx miles on it so I'm kind of excited to see it on the road. It's got beautiful interior, the body is immaculate (it was an old lady's car, got left to her granddaughter who crashed it after only a couple of months), and the motor and trans are mint. Just getting tired of trying to help a person who won't take information and facts from someone in the field of work.

The truck on the otherhand... off-roadin again tonight!! haha

nice man everyone needs a muddin truck lol

well it's kinda doubled as a daily/4x4 lol. we also just picked up another '99 bonneville. this one's an SSE, front end smashed in so we gotta replace EVERYTHING from the windshield forward. But we got it for $250, can't beat It haha

Haha that's funny... Yeah, best part about it is you got the backseat so it's like a roller coaster when you go off roading lol

cool beater/off roader truck for when your not driving the looks like its fun.

I don't know if I'll be using as a beater like I thought I would be.... It's a pretty sweet truck and it runs AMAZING with the exception of a small misfire due to a carbon covered rotor in my distributor. Like 10 bucks to replace that so after that it'll run like a brand new truck

Yeah the truck has done amazing, I've had it going through water up to the headlights with no problems running 31x10.5" Bridgestone Dueler Revo 2 A/T's. It's a lot of fun, had it going down a few trails too... Not so worried about the trail scratches, but a big part of a tree got caught up in the brush guard, and when I kept going it snapped back and I thought my windshield was gonna shatter lol... I love the truck so far though. Exhaust clips will come soon, along with some off road clips!!! Des been driving the van so it's getting used we got all it's problems fixed .

Oh, and we took the top off because who wouldn't want a convertible SUV that can go through 4 ft deep mud and water?? Haha

So I got some time to relax, yep, Easter morning. But, Figured I could start up a progression thread of my Bronco I just got. Just a few pictures, but it's my truck

Purchase day 3/11/11

New Tires:

Takin the top off:

Washed it up after mudding:

So far the only things I've done is take off the seat cover, the tailgate, and the top. Not going to have a tailgate for a while because it's too expensive to get a new one right now and it looks better without it haha. Been driving around the last 3 days getting rained on, awesome!! haha

ahh... The GA looks fabulous. Still in love with it. Hoping to be able to talk Des into buying one since we got rid of the GP. On a side note, I really wish I could participate in shows like that... man... that'd be fun.

I'M SUPER MEGA JEALOUS. and I don't talk like that. I want. Like, want. My gramps had an 84 Parisienne... beautiful car. It's virtually the "box chevy" Chev Caprice aka Cheviac. I want it (pending upon condition.) Remember my Grandpa's like yesterday, pretty light brown paint job and the most comfortable seats you ever sat in (aside from his 1991 Cadillac). Yep... I'm just plain and simple jealous... and

What're we thinking for the month of April here?

That's a different study, although it's very cool. If they can make guitars that small.. just wait until they have security cameras that you just stick to the wall while you lean against it, then nobody can see it, and you're straight up spying on legal meetings and confidential information. Talk about government infiltration!

INFIDEL!!

... sorry, I just had to go there, haha

That's one way to get away with it I guess.. nice "simulation" looks pretty realistic haha

On a side note.... nice leg you're showing off there lol

Well, considering (not saying you're stupid) but you seem to have about my intelligence level when it comes to working on cars. Seems like you know a little bit, got the basics, could do a few things yourself. For better top end power your best bet for exhaust would be a resonator delete, and a flowmaster 80 series all 2.25". Then, pull your junk stock air box off, and throw a K&N Filter on the end of that intake tube. That's the wicked cheap way to go because you wouldn't pay for a new intake tube. You can pick up cheap kits for Cold air/short ram intake on ebay if you want, otherwise www.siliconeintakes.com has all the parts for you to throw together your own set up. All in all these cheap and easy mods should put you up appx. 10-15 HP, and will probably run you (depending on exhaust install) $200-250ish.

My van has Cold Air on it is you can see and when I installed that, noticed a huge difference in the 30-45 MPH, and 55-70 MPH range. Just put a K&N on my gf's grand prix and hers sounds a lot better, and also has much better acceleration. I'm waiting to do an 80 series on the van, it's got a dynomax crossflow right now which is good enough (but I want louder.) I replaced my resonator with a glasspack, sounds pretty good and it did help with top end power a quite a bit.

That's the cheapest "bolt-on" you're gonna get my friend. Good luck on the performance and work!

hope to see pics soon. I'm only a couple hours away from you guys (valid, Ron) in Maplewood, MN. Good to see more people from this area joining!

and I LOVE the '68... Pontiacs have been in my family since long before I was even imagined... my Grandpa has owned them since 1950 and family has owned them since they hit manufacturing... LOVE IT!

Like the G6 too, but the '68 stuck out to me

Well the parts on the Bronco are really no big deal, it's all the parts for the van that I'm going to have to pick up that are going to set me back haha. But yeah I dropped 3k in parts in my regal in 1 year before I finally got my mom to let me buy a new car, so I know how old cars are

Alright, I've been taking on a lot this last couple weeks and I was cool with that, but today it just pushed me over the edge. Bought the Bronco right? Mistake. 3rd day the torque converter jumped, blew the TC seal, trans fluid leaked all out while driving down the road and burnt up trans. Just so happened to be the same day I spent 800 in tires for it so I could go off roading. BAH! so, look up the parts, it's an e4od, found a couple around here for 450 or so-ish. Figured I'd go with that and just plan on buying in a couple weeks when I save up the money. Well today I got a slap in the face.

Took the van to Tires Plus to get a set of tires mounted because I've been staring at them for 3 months in the garage waiting for Spring to get here so I can have my sporty tires. Got a buddy that works there so he did a FULL inspection on it for me. Well, I found out that I've got a grocery list of things wrong with it today, and if I took it into a dealership, they would almost literally tell me to buy a new vehicle and say forget it. So the list begins, been hearing a noise lately so I knew I had a wheel bearing/hub assembly going out. Was cool with that, just needed to wait to have the moneys, well, come to find out, I have FOUR, yes, ALL FOUR wheel bearings not only "going out" but completely shot. My outer tie rod ends are junk, so those needs replacin. That's just the start.

My rear brakes aren't quite making noise yet or metal on metal, but they're as close as they can get without actually being there. Got the air suspension which works just fine and Brandon told me I'd be fine but the air shocks each have a SLOWWWWWW leak, emphasis on the slow. Front shock absorbers are also leaky. I kept getting text after text after text telling me "broke _____" blah blah blah. After the text came saying rear shocks are leaky I about started to cry.

Then we get down to business. Get a text "you've got a bent rim." I'm like OMF'IN-G! Was ready to freak out. Not even the worst, get another one.... "make that two." "oh, and there's 3." Yep, 3 bent rims. FML WTF? I walked out of Kohl's up the road pretty much speechless. Got in the van and had to rub the steering wheel and apolize that I've let so much stuff go wrong.

So, now, the Bronco will probably be sitting until the end of May, because I can't afford to run either of my vehicles for a period of time. Des and I will have been together 2 years on April 10th, so we're taking a Sun-Tues vacation to Duluth, gotta get out of the house for a few days, enjoy each other and the world. Due to the importance of the anniversary I refuse to cancel the trip to Duluth to "save money," it's important to me and I need my time out to cool down. I put in an application at Tires Plus today, they have a morning shift guy quitting, hope to get a 7-130 shift there and change Cub Foods to 230-10 every night.

Things go so smooth for so long, and then everything just crashes and is right in front of you like holy wow. So, the quote for the work without replacing the 3 rims is a little higher than $1800, then new rims are like $280 a piece IIRC. So, that speeds up my getting new wheels but I'm going aftermarket. The other parts, Well, you'll be hearing from me haha.

Well it was enjoyable, but now it's just another old toy that I got. I get bored quick that's why I'm so broke haha!

So caught my eyes on this little article this morning, looks like they're making a new line of 4 cyl. Malibus... and in my opinion looks kinda like they're using a mixture of styiling between the Chev Cruze, and the rear end of a Camaro (in my opinion... the bootys on those things are purrty nice!) Well, anyways, for the article:

All-New Chevrolet Malibu Set for Global Premiere

Next-Generation midsize car to be sold in nearly 100 Countries on Six Continents

2011-03-31

DETROIT/SHANGHAI – The all-new Malibu will transcend time zones and embrace the diversity of cultures around the world when Chevrolet simultaneously unveils it live at the Shanghai Auto Show and on Chevrolet’s Facebook page.

Chevrolet provided a sneak peak glimpse today of its Malibu show car. Chevrolet will unveil the new Malibu live starting at 8:30 p.m. EDT on April 18 at http://www.facebook.com/chevrolet. The Web reveal will also be streamed live on iPad and iPhone mobile devices.

Consumers are encouraged to post questions during the reveal on Twitter using #MalibuReveal or on Chevrolet’s Facebook page in the Malibu tab. Members of the Chevrolet team will be on hand to answer questions during a live moderated question-and-answer session following the web reveal.

The timing of the Web reveal coincides with the April 19 auto show debut of the new Malibu in Shanghai. The Malibu show car will also be shown at the New York International Auto Show, which is open to the public April 23 through May 1.

“This Malibu takes Chevrolet’s established and award-winning nameplate to new places and introduces it to new audiences around the world,” said Rick Scheidt, vice president of Chevrolet. “Whether the Malibu is sold in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, or Australia, it has been engineered from the ground up to meet the needs of customers around the world.”

The Malibu will feature a global family of fuel-efficient and powerful four-cylinder engines, along with six-speed transmissions that also contribute to efficient performance. The Malibu was designed to stand out in all markets around the globe, while its European-inspired driving characteristics were engineered to challenge the best in its class. The new Malibu is Chevrolet’s first midsize car to be sold globally. It will be sold in nearly 100 countries on six continents and built in multiple locations, including China and two facilities in the United States.

“We look forward to offering the new Malibu to our customers across China," said Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group. “The Malibu fully embodies Chevrolet's tradition of dynamic styling, superior handling and outstanding fuel efficiency. It will address growing domestic demand in the upper-medium segment, especially among younger car buyers."

The Malibu was Chevrolet’s – and GM’s – best-selling car in the United States in 2010, with sales of nearly 200,000 vehicles. It is among Chevrolet’s most-decorated vehicles in the United States, earning more than 40 industry awards since 2008. The Malibu was the only midsize car in the industry to win the Consumers Digest Automotive “Best Buy” award the last three years – 2011, 2010 and 2009. The Malibu has also been named a “Top Safety Pick” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety the last two years.

With the new Malibu, Chevrolet continues to position itself for worldwide growth. GM’s largest brand is in the midst of introducing a global family of fuel-efficient cars including the Cruze, Volt, Sonic/Aveo, Spark and Malibu. These new cars compete in the four largest vehicle segments in the world, which accounted for 54 percent of all non-luxury sales in 2010. The global segment that Malibu will compete in represented 9 percent – more than 5.7 million vehicles – of global sales in 2010.

Last year, Chevrolet sold 4.26 million vehicles globally, or an average of one vehicle every 7.4 seconds. Eight of the top 10–selling markets for Chevrolet in 2010 were emerging markets – Brazil, China, Uzbekistan, Mexico, Russia, India, Argentina and Colombia. Emerging Markets are expected to account for more than 50 percent of Chevrolet global sales by 2012.

More than 600,000 Malibu cars have been sold globally since 2008, when it was named the North American Car of the Year. The 2013 Malibu represents the eighth generation of the nameplate, which was introduced in 1964.

-- http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/ne...Mar/0331_malibu

OHMG.

I think Des and I will be waiting a few years before the purchase of a new car, unless I can actually talk her into a Regal next Spring

2011 Buick LaCrosse = win.

2010 Buick Enclave = win.

2011 Buick Regal = win.

Agreed Pontiac should live again but my first car was a Buick Regal, one of my favorite rides, so I must defend the Buick passion. To me, being the poor man, it's a poor man's Cadillac. 20 years ago when cars turned over almost 100% from RWD to FWD when they forgot how to make a car, the Buicks pulled through with TONS of options. Many wheel choices, appearance packages, velour/leather seats more comfy than your COUCH! I drool over the 2011 Regal... but, when my first impression of my first car was like this

... it just felt amazing. And considering those gauges were designed 21 years ago, they're pretty impressive. Mine had 94k compared to that ones 127k shown on the dash. Pontiac is amazing and also has my heart now, but the Regal... it'll always have me a soft spot

Hey there man. I noticed there hadn't been many posts from you. Yeah, drugs can sit you in a mess. I had a LOT of friends way back in the day, high school wasn't actually that long ago for me (only my first year graduated right now) but since sophomore year, I've lost a TON of friends to drugs and alcohol. For the most part, I'm generally against drinking, and I'm fully against drug use. Although in that setting, I still believe that the gov't should legalize and TAX marijuana, there are these stronger drugs (meth, crack, heroine) that should remain illegal, I just find it as a good way for SERIOUS income and probably would straighten out our financial problems out quickly. Back on point here, I have to say I'm VERY happy for you making it over your mess. My girlfriend's parents were addicted to meth for many years. Her mom was a drug addict on and off from the age of 18 up until about the age of 34 or so. Her step dad was a heavy meth user for over 16 years also, and they've both made a huge turn-around. He now leads group meetings at the Treatment Center and is 4 years clean. My family is a long runner of alcohol which is also messy, but I have seen through others' pain the trouble drug use can cause.

In the end I just gotta say I feel for ya man. I am definitely glad you recovered and I am expecting to continue to hear from you, here on FP don't lose the 6 my friend! That car is yours!

That reminds me of this:

that's funny. My spare tire rack is taken off the spare is in the back with the leather cover over it, god I'm excited to get working on it!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...atchlink:top:en

this is what I'd like to do for a grille for it, but because of the location of the hood latch I'd either have to fab up a whole new handle or I'd switch over to hood pins. Hood pins are cool... if you're Vin Diesel in an old Charger haha

If I did ever get one I would get a white one and nickname it OJ though

haha I was kidding, I like Ford trucks. Look at what it says under my profile pic

I'm sure you'll have some fun with it.

Okay good, and thank you I know you're a supporter that's why I was like... eh? haha. Yeah it should be fun, we'll see. Insurance goes on I think next Friday, then it comes home to see a little bit of "action," if you will.

Current plans... I'd like the top to be white but probably won't happen. Dual exhaust out both sides in front of rear tires, new air cleaner, going to put on a new tailgate and new fenders, new fog lights, not sure what else just yet. Still kinda awestruck that I actually bought it haha. and Mark, why gay? don't hate

So I went for a whole $1200 today and got myself a '94 Bronco. 176,000 miles and it's got the 5.8 351 Windsor in it and it runs GREAT. SES light's on every once in a while but I think it's just a lame little misfire. Runs like a top though. OK interior, the doors interior color doesn't match the dash and trim, but everything else is good. It's already got a Kenwood HU in it!! Pretty excited to get it back to my place from my friend's place where I'm storing it for now and going to do a little work on it

btw... notice the ninja in the backround (not sure who noticed him sliding into the back seat of the GP when I posted the first picture of it haha)