Stewy

20 hours ago, Wrongway said:

There is a reason you never see a motorcycle outside of a psychiatrist office!

LOL! . Love it!

16 hours ago, Frosty said:

Um this is good stuff boys, but aren't we a tad off topic? This thread is called "What did you do to your Car today?",not how much I admire your motorcycle!!!!  Sheesh!   

Yes, mom 😁 😉  (kidding - I feel I can since we have, albeit a small as of now, rapport IRL 🙂)

16 hours ago, Frosty said:

"What did you do to your Car today?"

Lets see, as of this morning - more detailing (I'm feeling like a broken record 🙃). However, there was an "incident" and I now need to rebuild the seat on my mechanic creeper / seat. Rebuild the cheap seat into something much more improved...

18 hours ago, Wrongway said:

Thanks bro. Yeah both my son and daughter ride with me. Well in town, still wont get on the big road with them lol. Your 550 is awesome man! Looks to be in amazing condition. Bet she's a blast around town, quick and nimble. Always loved the way quad pipes looked coming out the front of the frame and gave it a very unique sound. Just cool no matter how you look at it! Man she's beautiful, Thanks for showing her to me.

Thanks! 😀. I love your seat (as strange as that my sound). Friend of mine has a similar bike and, again without sounding too weird, I really like how comfortable my butt is in it.

Guy I know who works on bikes out of his garage one day showed me a GS750 (next step up from my bike) that was a six cylinder - made me laugh how far on each side of the frame the engine hung over. If you banked too far on that bike, you were likely to scrape the crank cover, forget scraping the frame / exhaust! 😄.

It's therapeutic, especially in the evenings (at least for me), to get out and just ride. Going no where in particular - just out burning gas 😊

17 hours ago, Wrongway said:

Man that's cool! Love to see a few pics that aren't in a reflection lol. Yes sir I do, that's my baby in Commerce Township a couple of years ago while visiting my sister.

She's pretty! 😍

I'll dig up some pictures of my 550 and get them up soon (actually, just this morning, I started the fall detail on the bike getting it prepped for winter storage). The 550 has been an awesome bike - love riding it around town and even take it for relatively short (< 1 hr.) trips on the expressway (passing semis is fine... so long as I'm prepared for it 😉).

I was planning on, beginning this past spring, starting to look for a second bike but... well, this whole year has been, for met at least, (nearly) complete "reactive" mode so getting a second bike has taken a far back burner for the time being.

I've been riding the 550 for the past eight or so years so I'm ready for an upgrade (not replacing the 550, just adding to the fleet). I would like to get certain amenities - like a windshield, cruise, bags, back rest for driver & passenger, an engine that's water cooled, around double the engine displacement and a few other miscellaneous things (make the ride, for my wife and I, much for inviting when taking the bike on a weekend trip).

I'm actually really looking forward to when my daughter is old enough to start riding - she's only two but has already expressed a huge interest in riding it #ProudDad 😁

Ok, got to the pictures a little quicker than I thought (don't mind how the front wheel looks like a polygon, the sun / heat was messing w/ the camera) -

46 minutes ago, Wrongway said:

Hey Stewy, the bike in the reflection, an old Honda? Super sport maybe?

Suzuski, actually. 1980 GS550E. You ride?

18 hours ago, JUSTA6 said:

Thankz for the add, but I'm JUSTA hot rodder as well.  The Sunbird has only been on a track one time.  Popular Hot Rodding magazine car show @ Norwalk dragstrip in Ohio.   Timed only, nobody on the other lane.   12.3 @ 108.   Not alot of Drag racers pull this off unless it's Hot Rods drag week LOL  C Pic..... My daughter's used to throw candy during parades, Dream Cruise.   That'sa 4:71 blower on a 231 V6.  Worked with BDS to put the package together.  I had the 1st one and BDS got all the spec's to sell the package. Have only seen 1 other since 1984.  1st thing everybody ask....... 350???? Nope......Justa 6.  And that's how the whole JUSTA thing started.   Justa6 Sunbird, Justa66 GTO, Justa 6-2 was my old trailer plate, then Justa G6 was added to the tribe.

BEAUTIFUL! 😍

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

I remember it was an AHRA event

Just curious but was wondering if someone could help me understand (a "quick-and-dirty" explanation would be totally fine) the differences between the "American Hot Road Association" (AHRA) and the "National Hod Road Association" (NHRA). Generally speaking, my understanding is that the NHRA sets the rules and  guidelines (e.g. 5 pt. harness, flame-resistant driver suit, etc.) that everyone on / at the strip must adhere to while the AHRA somehow represents the individuals who use the track - like a union almost... ? Again, my understanding of, especially, the AHRA is pretty weak (although Wikipedia says the AHRA disbanded and the, fairly recently, has resurfaced) - just looking for some insight. Thanks!

I'm, apparently, easily entertained at this hour of the morning as this image made me chuckle - as if it's peeking around the corner 😄

On 9/27/2020 at 9:33 PM, Frosty said:

Bolted to the side of semi trailers that left the factory, one per side. JUSTA will remember them.

 

When I started at the former GLTC building, post bankruptcy, there was still signage sitting against the wall on the floor from when GM occupied the building including the above (not the Pontiac one but a Chevrolet one) along with the "GM" square. Would have LOVED to take one (or both) home!

15 hours ago, Last Indian said:

TRUST ME! I don’t give a flying fig if you run a cooler or not! Nor what extensive research you may or may not have done! If you have 8 patents in the field of fluid mechanics and the apparatuses that go with them, and 4 patent pending and all the hundreds of hour of testing them as I have than I’ll listen! But a story of some idiot that can’t install one right and then blames the cooler manufacturer for his incompetence isn’t research. 

The conversation was as much for information for other folks whom might be interested in understanding certain issues with relevance to the transmission issues that occur as anything! It wasn’t all about you, or me!

🤦‍♂️Calm down, geeze. I was never calling you out - only relating my experience. My conversations with those who have installed them. My visual inspections of installations. My readings of technical documents relating to them. Guess I can't do that? I do not think less of you for installing one. As I noted previously, I'm happy you have one and that it's working out for you and wish you nothing but continued success. Also as noted, I have no idea what brand you have, how it's specifically installed and so on. For all I know you know the secrete to picking a reputable unit and installing it such that it's issue-free.

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Do you trust the connections of the hoses, and the fittings for tranny lines at the radiator?

Only to an extent such that I just (~ a month ago) replaced two OEM trans coolant line fittings because they were weeping. Even the factory connections / lines / etc. will weep (or worse) over time.

Quote

But a story of some idiot that can’t install one right and then blames the cooler manufacturer for his incompetence isn’t research

I see... so first hand inspections of units with issues doesn't count... ?

11 hours ago, Jamarshall21 said:

She’s a little rough but for banging around she’s the balls

😂

18 hours ago, Last Indian said:

Again I’m just trying to give you a feel for what it could be. 

Trust me when I say, I have done more research into the topic than you may, or may not, realize. To each their own. Your car. My car. We each have our desired setup. What works for you may, or may not, work for me and vice versa.

14 hours ago, Last Indian said:

The other impact of heat on the fluid is oxidation! In 1981 Ford requested Lubrizol, the company I worked for, to start running a test called the ABOT test. Fords test was an Albatross! One huge machine with one arm that drove a half quart size aluminum cup filled with some tranny fluid! The cup of fluid was heated to high temperature while being stirred, a little more complex than that, but it’s not relevant here. Inside hung 4 strips of metal, copper, lead, zinc and aluminum. All this was to mimic oxidation in a transmission, which destroys chemistry, causes corrosion and wear. This became one of my first projects! Ford had not just requested us to run it they wanted a redesign, a better mousetrap. This sat for almost 6 months and nobody knew what to do to build a better mousetrap! They had 6 months left and then Ford was going to visit to see the new test that they had been told was no problem! Guess who the buck got past to! You know what happens when you are at the bottom of the hill! Long story short we met the deadline! The ABOT test was now relatively small, about a 2x2x2 and each test unit ran 4 aluminum test beaker not one! So I dare say I understand the inside life of a automatic transmission fairly well!

That's pretty interesting 🙂 (well, not necessarily the lackadaisical portion but otherwise interesting!). The lab I send engine, trans and differential fluids to for analysis - Blackstone Labs out of Fort Wayne - it would be a blast to be a fly-on-the-wall to visit their facility and watch as they do their various tests (especially the flash-point tests *pulls box of matches from pocket* 😁).

14 hours ago, Last Indian said:

The other way to effect applied pressure is temperature! The hotter the fluid the thinner, lower viscosity, which translates into lower PSI. If you reduce the heat the whole tranny will thank you! That is why I put in the cooler this past winter! I had procrastinated for years because I don’t drive it that many miles in a year. But this year when I finally did take it out; wow what a difference! It shifts better, especially after it’s been running a while. That is when the heat would normal have started to impact the shifts to the point I could really tell it just wasn’t quite the same! 

For close to 19 years (since my 6th generation GP) I have occasionally been thinking about putting an external trans cooler in. I know there are many brands of external coolers - Desert Fox is one that jumps immediately to mind - however I continually come back to the many "pain-in-the-butt" (or the occasional horror) stories of the aftermarket external coolers (regarding leaking and, if left unchecked long enough, trans fluid starvation). Now I have zero idea what make / model of external cooler you run and it very well may be the Rolls Royce of coolers and has / will serve you very well - I'm speaking from my experience only. That said, I am in full agreement that when they are working they provide additional (potentially considerable) air volume movement as well as more efficient cooling of the fluid. On a side note, I would love to get cooling differential covers for both of my truck axles... but for the amount I drive the truck, coupled with how hard I drive it, I would have a very hard time justifying a $400+ investment cost to my wife (who is not a big car / truck person) 😉.

15 hours ago, Last Indian said:

There is an aftermarket company called Intense Racing that sells a performance shift pack that will change the clutch plate lockup to a firmer shift and it gives you three choices as to the firmness you want.

Oh yeah, I'm well versed with Intense and not only their offering of the three shift-kit stages but also other aftermarket companies offering the different stages. For a while I was very much considering putting in a stage 2 or 3 in my 6th generation but, and I don't recall why now, decided against it. While I have also considered installing it in my 7th generation, I really don't know how firm the shifts would be with a shift kit AND reprogramming the PCM's BIN file (even if a stage 1 or 2 were to be installed versus a 3). Installation of the kits isn't bad - taking your time, maybe 30 mins (including lifting the front up) providing no issues were encountered.

15 hours ago, Last Indian said:

Of all the automatics FWDs as I said are the worst for heat because they must reduce the heat from both the transmission & the transaxle!

For sure. Heat, total double edge sword. Keeps you comfy in the winter but wreaks havoc on your powertrain.  Makes me cringe when I see and auto manufacturers (especially GM, it seems, but I know Ford does it also - maybe not so much FCA... ?) dumping four cylinders in most of their vehicles and then making up for the loss of displacement by tossing on a turbo. Very compact engine space. Very hot turbo. IMO, poor engine bay cooling WITH the turbo. Hrmm... what could go wrong? 🤔

👋🙂

19 hours ago, Last Indian said:

Well, not to hijack the calendar thread, but I’ll add my two cents worth, for what it’s worth! Way back in the beginning! Horse & buggy days, when I started delving into automatics, I learned some important things that, no matter what anyone tells you hasn’t changed! An automatic transmission has to be as clean inside as the plate you would eat off of!! That most definitely includes the fluid! The next thing was shift lockup! If you can’t feel it; that’s bad for the tranny! GM always liked a soft shift! And GM of the big three has always had the most automatic transmission problems! The first thing I do with every single GM automatic I’ve ever owned is put in a different tranny fluid! Then I make changes to the tranny itself and I Change the fluid every 15000 miles which requires 3 complete fill and flush. That was to rear wheel drive trannys, FWDs are even worse since their share the fluid with the rear end differential! If you think it’s easy to have a fluid do two opposite things at the same time; I can tell you it’s not! FWD tranny fluids need to have very good properties of adhesion for the tranny while having very good lubricity and high EP characteristics for the differential! 
I’m not boosting, but I have never had a tranny go bad on me, knock wood!

Good stuff. Totally agree on keeping ALL the internals of the trans clean! Transmissions in general (and especially automatic FWD transmissions) really do have a very demanding and all around tough job! It seems that the auto manufacturers want to put a transmission in their various vehicles that "just meets" the requirements of the vehicle. Personally, I would love to have a truck transmission in a car - if it can handle moving a 4000+ lb truck that's loaded down and / or hauling, then it'll have a nice, easy life moving a 2500 lb car!

For all my vehicles, I'm, quite frankly, anal retentive on keeping great maintenance on, among other vehicle-related components, the transmission fluid and filter (and, from what I read, I know you are as well!).

That being said, on my wife's and my previous daily driver ('05 Grand Prix GT2 / 3800 Series 3 with the 4T65-E trans), I had the trans fluid, filter and pan gasket (GM says the gaskets are "lifetime" - I personally don't buy it from first-hand experience) changed very 18k-20k miles (which was annual based on our driving) with whatever the current version of Dexron is out (currently I think it's Dex-VI). As a side note, I have the dealership do the trans fluid service because, in one service iteration, the "trans machine" is hooked up to the trans, the trans' pump pushes the old fluid out and brings the new fluid in all the while flushing the torque converter (which, for me, is high on the importance scale).

Coupled with that, we (especially me) baby our vehicles - no WOT runs / hard accelerations, hard braking (as much as can be avoided), picky about driving over road bumps, etc.. Several years of taking car of the car like this (granted, the car was bought used with, IIRC, around 25k miles), the 4T65-E 1st-2nd clutch pack started slipping.

That's a good point you make about the softness (and duration) of each up / down shift. I drove a, at the time, new 2001 Mercury Sable for a few days and that car REALLY stood out to me on soft (and long) shifts! Wowzers! One of multiple steps I've taken for Ren, specifically, to help with the longevity of the trans is to programmatically change the shift parameters - shift points (RPMs) based on my driving style, shift duration and line pressure (shift firmness).

Transmissions - yay 🙃

11 hours ago, Last Indian said:

Montgomery Wards brand shocks!

.

18 hours ago, Last Indian said:

(The last Indian) an F.1 GTX Grand Prix, highly modified from the bottom up.

😍

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My 1993 Bonneville SSEI bought for $100 with a crank, no start issue and saved it from being scrapped. 3800 series 1 L67 Supercharged, rebuilt motor, over 200k miles on the body. Gen 3 m92 swap coming soon with other mods. Currently a daily driver but its too nice to stay that way...😁

Ryan - what was the root-cause for the crank-no start? Just curious. The Bonnie's are what stole my heart back in the day to make me a Pontiac guy (had an '89 LE, myself). The 3800's, albeit they have had their issues over the generations, are on a pedestal as being GM's greatest (passenger car) engine.

7 hours ago, Frosty said:

"Yeah I need rear brake shoes for a 72 Pontiac Lemans.  Nope - have to special order them - they can be here in 3 days. Grrr......do you have rear brake shoes for a 72 Chevelle? Oh yeah, here you go!" WTF?

I don't know whether to invoke the "LOL" or "face palm" face...

So yesterday both of T.C.'s front sway bar links were replaced with parts I got off of Amazon (AC Delco's). I was hesitant about getting the parts from Amazon but I couldn't beat the price. I called multiple locations and the stupid things are nearly $100 a PIECE! 🤯 whereas on Amazon I got two for less than half the cost of one. I was concerned that they wouldn't be the correct part (even though Amazon said the part fit a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu LS) however they went on without issue. Time will tell how long they last. Even at Rock Auto, the two AC Delco links with shipping were going to be nearly $80 (which, in hindsight, appears to be a comparatively decent price).

This weekend I'm planning on replacing the front passenger door speaker in B.T.. I looked for a replacement speaker (OEM) from Rock Auto but not only did they not have any OEM speakers listed, they didn't have ANY speakers listed for a 2014 F-250 (which kind of surprised me). Wasn't too bad, though, as an OEM speaker from the Ford dealership was less than $32 new.

13 hours ago, ekt8750 said:

I had a V6 '08 that I absolutely loved even though it grenaded its trans halfway through its life. It would make for a nice stablemate with my G8 had I kept it.

Yeah... the 4T65-E/4T65-EHD's have a "history"... 😐. The 65's were improved over the 60's (and even the 65's had improvements over their production run) but still... Unfortunately, in both my '99 and one of my '05's, I too was subject to such a "history". On the bright side (maybe), the 65 in the one '05 didn't puke nearly as hard as the 65 did in my '99 (I was actually impressed I made it home when the 65 in the '99 decided to part ways with me - something about doing 20mph in 4th gear...).

So, needless to say, I've taken extra precautions in my show '05 to give the transmission a gentler life.

22 hours ago, redneck276 said:

Old Pontiac Trans Sport

 

At first glance, I was all "that's an Oldsmobile Silhouette, not a Pontiac..." however I stand corrected! 😃 I did some digging and, in the end, I'm just shaking my head at GM and how they, in the United States for example, call a vehicle by a certain name. Take the same exact vehicle, put it in another country and it's now a totally different name. GM, GM, GM.... I'm not surprised and this is something the automakers, not just GM, have been doing for long before I started walking the planet.

So the gist of what I found out was, in the picture above, in the States that IS an Oldsmobile Silhouette however the exact same vehicle, in another market, is, in fact, a Pontiac Trans Sport. The one that REALLY got me was the "Chevrolet Trans Sport" for the European market. I love the distinctly Pontiac hood with the Chevrolet bow-tie - it's like GM isn't even trying! 🤦‍♂️. Another thing, regarding the below image, I found interesting was that the hood is from a 2003ish-2005ish Montana (can tell  based on the grill, specifically) however the name on the passenger front door is "Trans Sport". In the States, the "Trans Sport" name was dropped with the (slight) redesign in / around 2003 (when the grill was slightly redesigned). The old(er) name with the new(er) body style.

One day, while waiting for the bus to leave the Mexico City airport, I saw the below drive by. I have to admit, I had a "WTH?" moment. A Silverado front-end with the body of a Suburban / Tahoe... ? Anyway, I could cite more and more examples however I digress 🙃

11 hours ago, Sandy said:

My 2001 pace car

10 hours ago, Vinbags44 said:

1997 Grand Prix GTP...Dark teal with rare matching interior...

Shout out to the GP-er's in FP land! 😁. The 6th & 7th gens will forever hold a special place in my heart (past was a red '99 sedan L32, current is a '05 burgundy L26).

Love Rock Auto's magnets. Have a bunch of them on my tool chest. My most recent (~ a month ago), to a little bit of my pleasant surprise, was a 6th generation Grand Prix.