Jim

On occasion I get PMs. I do prefer direct emails but when I do get a PM and respond I have no way of seeing what I have sent after I send the reply. Can someone tell me where in my User CP I can correct this so I can keep a copy of my sent PMs. Thanks, Jim

I keep telling myself "dont get caught up in Steve's crap, just ignore him" but then he say's something stupid and I fall into his trap of ongoing negativism. I sent Steve a personal email about a month ago along with some PM's saying lets all try and get along. He ignored every attempt to be civil and did not respond. I am going to ignore all of the negative things in this quote except where he says he has a problem with someone exploiting this forum for profit. I have been a member of this forum for 11 years and have over 1400 posts. This is a guess but I would say 75% of those posts have nothing to do with parts selling but were for the purpose of helping out forum members with questions about their cars. For 10 1/2 years I didn't even have a signature at the bottom mentioning that I have parts available. I added it last month only because Steve has two. If anyone is exploiting something it is Steve, using this forum to sell his parts. I could care less if Steve sells parts and anyone wanting to get parts from him or anywhere else is fine with me. LETS ALL GET ALONG AND QUIT THE NEGATIVISM. Lets all participate in this forum positively and if we have a problem with something, state your ideas and then let it go. Steve, we know you would prefer peer judging. Move on positively. I will credit Steve for making me aware that we can have a signature at the bottom and I also credit his friend for making me aware to always do a quote when replying. Once the quote is added to the new post, even if the original poster deletes his misleading of stupid post it will still be there for all to see in the quote portion of the new post. What I am referring to is in the past I have seen some posts that simply didn't make sense or were inflammatory but when looking for them later they were gone. Deleted by the original poster. They say once you put something on the internet it is there forever but not so in this forum. In this forum posts can be deleted. I think this is good and bad. Good because yesterday as part of this thread I posted something about someone and it was on for a couple of hours. I realized I should not be posting something like that and deleted it.

Oops, I should have caught that also. Whenever I pull a column from a car I tywrap the pass code box to the column so when I send it out the box can be installed with the new column so the vats works.

This year the BCA nationals are at Ames Iowa. July 28-31.

Definitely easier to replace the whole column. You need a special tool to remove the snap ring that holds the column up and you need the tool to hold the column up when you are putting it back together. Once inside, the wires for the directional lights and other items are in the way and tight.

I was 100% certain you would chip in and be critical of the BCA and Reatta division-------------and you did. 1. I stated "I" am not sure about the '91s. The manual say's all Reattas had gray wires. If you had ever been to a judging meet you would know that one judges does not make decisions. It is a team. 2. Barney and Stan have low mileage '91 that have never been modified. Again if you had ever been to a judging meet you would know original cars are used very often to set standards. Stan has two '91s he bought new with about 5000 actual miles. 3. I am also certain 100% of the folks entering a judging meet are not doing so, so their cars can be "degraded" but are having their cars judged so they can find out what they need to do to make them like new. 4. We never list all the things wrong when we find a car that has lots of things wrong. We take off some points and then the owner is sent the judging sheet if he wants it and also the team captain can talk to the owner and go over the sheets and also mention to him there are other things he can fix later if he wants. One of the things we are always told in the pre judging seminars is "dont kill the car". 5. The meets are for everyone. Those that want their cars judged against new standards, those that want to just participate for the fun of it and have their cars on display with the others and folks with modified cars to show their handiwork and be appreciated by all attending.

With the BCA meet coming up in about a month I thought I would mention to those folks having their cars judged for authenticity, the spark plug wires on the '88-90 Reattas were a gray wire with Packard imprinted on the wires in white along with white numbers for the particular cylinder. The copy of the Reatta judging manual I have says all Reattas had gray wires but for some reason I was thinking 91s had black wires. Barney and Stan Leslie confirmed their '91s have gray wires. Barney, do your wires say Packard on them or Delco? I do have some sets of the correct '88-90 wires available.

I just got a parts request from a Reatta owner in Estonia. Has anyone heard of this car? Jim

Tom, I signed up for an indoor swap space at Ames. I never have done that before but thought I would try it. You are welcome to add your items in my space and I can sell them for you. Jim

Walt, I sent you an email and the parts will go out today. From first email to shipping the parts in less than 21 hours. Jim

I mentioned in an earlier post that Kingsley's bellcranks are good and he also has the originals. I failed to mention that Barney also has a very good reproduction and I think what he meant when he said the rubber bumper is not needed he was referring the the fact that in changing the bellcranks on your car you can reuse your original. Kingsley, I am impressed with your knowledge of the French language. Chuck, I have sold several parts over the years to a fellow in Switzerland who has a black '90 convertible. I will be sending him more parts on Monday.

I would like to add to Ronnie's post that Kingsley, hkbjr@yahoo.com, also has original headlight motor crank arms that have been modified to add a steel sleeve so If a person wants an original ( looking ) crank arm he also has them available.

I offered you one a month or so ago but you didn't get back to me. It has since been sold.

Tom, That is kind of funny you mentioned the Stanley cup. I do like hockey but hate basketball. I was driving along the other day and someone on the radio was interviewing folks as to their opinion as to who they wanted to win the b-ball championship. Since I don't like b-ball any way I don't remember even who is playing but I think it is some east vs west teams. Anyway, my thought was neither hockey or basketball should be played in June. The seasons are too long. They should be over in April but money talks I guess. Jim

I am pretty sure you are right about the key not being in the right place as all the things that went wrong are not related. The problem with your window is most likely the plastic "T" that is bonded to the lower front of the window has broken off. This "T" cannot be glued back one but you must replace the window. That "T" holds the window into the track in the vent window frame. I would suggest you remove the door panel and look inside at the bottom of the window on both ends especially in the front. See if you can pull the bottom front of the window away from the vent window track. I mention looking at the bottom at both ends so if you do find the "T has broken off you can get a replacement window. The early '88s had a different arrangement for fastening the bottom rear. You can tell whomever you get a window from what sort of attachment arrangement you have of the bottom. Early '88 or late '88. I do have a window available.

It is pretty hard to siphon out the gas but there is an easier way. On the left front fender well between the air box and the firewall you will see a green single wire connector with nothing plugged into it. Remove the fuel line at the fuel rail, attach a hose to it and then put 12V on that connector and the pump will pump all the gas out of the tank. Recently I removed a gas tank from a parts car that I bought in Texas. The car had been sitting only about 6 years. The gas was a very yellow/brown color and stunk just terrible. I then removed the tank and sending unit so all the remaining gas would evaporate so I could ship the tank. The tank and sending unit are sitting in an open air shed and after 2 months it still smells as I walk by the shed.

Dave, I did deliver the parts to Geokirk in Chicago. I hate that place. 2 hours driving time to get through there. Not only that I came in from Rockford on US 20 because pulling an empty car dolly that only has one axle the toll roads charge me as much as a large truck. I dropped off the parts and then went towards downtown ( I wanted to go to the U Pull It near North Ave and Cicero Ave., which was a waste of time as I found nothing ) and then south to Hammond. 2 hours. I just hate going through Chicago. I went to Indianapolis, picked up a Reatta parts car and then wanted to go back to Hammond but instead of going through Chicago we took I 80 all the way over to I 39 and then north. A lot longer but we were moving the whole time. They still gouged me on the short toll on I 80 and then again near Rockford because even though I have two cars they charge more because I am towing something. I asked the one toll booth operator if the extra went directly to Rob Bogoyevitch and she laughed and said she hoped not. We did go to the Prelude to the Dream at Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway and that was a good time. Was glad to watch Jimmie Johnson beat that little @#$%&* Kyle Busch.

George, I received your email and replied. I also called your phones but got voice mail. I left a message on your cell phone. I will be coming through Chicago tomorrow and can deliver the parts. Jim

Just last night I was on an overpass on the freeway on my motorcycle and a kid came up the ramp just slowed down for the stop sign and turned right in front of me. He was taking on his cell phone and I nearly hit him. We had a state senator here for many years and I can say I never agreed with anything he said except he thought cell phones should be banned from use while driving. I totally agree. A month ago on the same freeway I passed a woman using both hands in the center of the steering wheel texting while driving. They are nuts out there. Be careful.

I will be going to Ft Wayne and Indianapolis on Wednesday and Thursday but will be back home by this weekend. Wish I could be there also. Jim

I pick up a lot of pump/motor/pressure switches/accumulators when I find them in junk yards and most to the time the pumps and pressure switches are good but rarely do I get a good accumulator. i put them on my own car to test them and most of them come out as one or two pumps to red. I then throw them away. About 50% of the time if the accumulator has the white "made in Belgium" sticker on it, it means it is not an original but a later issue and it is 4 pumps or better.

Dan, I do have a good one and replied the the email you sent me. Jim

I forgot to mention in my other post you cannot see any of the spring and spring holder because there is a boot that covers everything. To get the boot off you have to remove the unit from the firewall

I do have good used pumps and good used pressure switches available and can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

Wally, You sent me an email but I didn't get a chance to reply before seeing this thread. DO NOT TRY AND REMOVE THE TORX CAP ON TOP OF THE MASTER CYLINDER NEAR THE FIRE WALL. This what looks like a cap or plug is actually attached to the pivoting device Barney refers to. The cap can be taken out but the brake rod needs to be pushed in part or all the way. If you try and remove the cover/cap without pushing in the rod you will break off the pivoting piece. The holder that keeps the spring in place is pressed into the mounting assembly that holds the master cylinder to the firewall. Without looking I am guessing, since the spring cannot come out of its holder, that the holder has come loose. I doubt the spring would break either. The spring holder is the anodized part around the spring and it is pressed into the aluminum mounting. Unfortunately to fix the spring problem you will have to take the whole unit off the firewall removing the 4 # 15 bolts under the dash and disconnecting the brake pedal and then replace the mounting as pictured. You may be able to pull the ABS unit far enough forward in the engine compartment to change the mounting but you may also have to disconnect the three brake lines at the bottom of the valve body to get the unit far enough from the firewall. In this case you can change the mounting on the bench. I have the one pictured and can send it to you. A simpler way might be to try and add a spring under the dash somehow.