NTX5467

Most of us remember when most car dealers only had one franchise. In those earlier times (really NOT too distant), if you went looking for a Buick, you might be aiming for a LeSabre and end up with a Skylark, or lust after a Riviera and end up with an Electra Coupe. Key thing was that you owned a Buick regardless of which model of Buick it was, you still owned a Buick. In those days, you could replay that scenario for most any brand/make of American vehicle. In reality, Cadillac has been moving toward letter model designations for quite some time. First there was the more later version of Seville, which begat SLS=Seville Luxury Sedan and STS=Seville Touring Sedan. Then there was the upscale coupe called Eldorado Touring Coupe, quite a nice car, but then it became the "ETC". Still means Eldorado Touring Coupe, but those big "ETC" letters on the deck lid just made me laugh, yet it was a really nice car. It would be nice if we could make our buying decisions based on the intrinsic goodness of the product, but styling sells and styling needs a good name for the vehicle to be named. Every since I first knew about Mercedes in the early 1960s, their numeric model designations made sense as they were quite descriptive. Even in the later times, as they changed over to "class" models and then expanded those with their other traditional numbers, it still made some sense. As different as those various "class" cars were, they could easily have been named differently as each of the GM divisions are. But still, you have to understand how to decode them to make sense of it all. As for the new Cadillac names, there's probably some rhyme and reason to them too, just that we haven't seen all of the new models just yet. I suspect that when that happens, then it all might fall into place. There's one possible decoding of "CTS" that might be "Cadillac Touring Sedan" or another "C" model name instead of "Cadillac". SRX might turn out to be "Seville Recreational Crossover". As the XLR has some Corvette heritage in its platform, it might mean "Crossover Long Roadster". Just my suspicions at work here. Remember how those various model names seemed to expand exponentially in the 1950s and 1960s with the different models or roof style or number of doors? Riviera originally meant "hardtop", before it became a specific model in the middle 1960s. Newport was similar for Chryslers. So you ended up with a vehicle name that could string off the edge of the page by the time it was all over, especially in the GM lines. No wonder things became more simple in later decades. But I guess the key thing is that whatever model nomenclature is used should reflect the classiness, sportiness, and/or dignity of the vehicle itself, something which numbers and letters might not do as well as names can. But I still wonder who approved that Cadillac ETC. Enjoy! NTX5467

People have been "butchering" the spelling of car names for years, and not just Buicks. "LeSabre" can easily become "LeSaber" or "LaSabra", just as "Camaro" became "Camero", or "Cadillac" as "Caddillac". Most everyone knows that "Chevrolet" starts with a "C", but I saw it spelled with an "S" the other day. It was interesting to find out that many people did not know how to spell "Chevrolet" too. When they'd make out their check to pay for parts, they'd do real good with "Chev", but would then pause, somewhat perplexed looking, and then add a "y" quickly in an effort to not look bad as they suddenly didn't know how to spell "Chevrolet". Whether those spelling indiscretions are the result of ignorance about the car names or "spelling by phonics" remains to be seen. Enjoy! NTX5467

I suspect the SUV popularity might be due to several issues, one of which is government mandated fuel economy AND the advance of technology. In the 1980s, the trend was to smaller vehicles (cars) for better fuel economy numbers. That was the available cost effective technology back then. When younger people noticed that their more active lifestyle interfered with the automotive trends (like when they traded their older full size car in for something that would haul their camping gear or bikes), so Jeep Cherokee sales suddenly saw a new market. Similar fuel economy as the smaller cars but with space. That is one of my observations that seemed to fuel the younger people's influx to vehicles like the Cherokee. When I saw the first Chevy Tahoe we got in, I figured that it could serve the same demographics as the soon to be discontinued Caprice-type rwd cars. Seats four with room for luggage (with appropriate cover shade) for a weekend excursion with friends or family. Similar fuel economy as earlier cars of that type too. Then there were the people who still needed some type of "station wagon" vehicle and something to tow a travel trailer (that was not a pickup truck per se). So, the multi-purpose full sized family car of the '70s was still needed, but the only option for something similar in people and cargo capacity ended up being things like the Jeep Cherokee or Tahoe or Suburban. Then couple these space demands with the increasing raked A-pillar roof lines of modern vehicles and things naturally point toward the truck-based SUV vehicles that are popular in more current times. At least according to the EPA mileage ratings, similar fuel mileage as a '70s full size car too, but in a safer and more fuel efficient (for the weight) package, not to mention the increased luxury of those truck-based vehicles. As fuel efficiency technology has increased, so have the mileage ratings of these light truck vehicles. GM has some technology in the wings (other than cylinder deactivation) to help fuel efficiency along too. SUVs are not the ultimate vehicle for everyone. The new GMC Envoy has a model with a sliding rear roof section to effectively be a "mini-Avalanche". Similar to the Studebaker wagon of the 1960s, but probably much higher tech and more versatile. Smaller package than the full size trucks too. There is a reason for the popularity of the SUVs and the progression I mentioed makes the most sense to me. In the end, the current group of crossover SUVs, which are car-based, will be the next growth area in the vehicle population. Cars with more utility features are also in the offing. The 2004 Grand Prix touts that it can haul a 9' canoe, which it can, with the correct option group package that includes the forward folding front passenger's seat. In the previous models of that GM platform (which include the current Regal), with a split folding rear seat, putting the front passenger recliner laid back (with some towels over the fabric/leather), I've hauled 8' boards in them with no problems, just not a whole bunch of them, and closed the deck lid. So, there are gains in that area too--versatility for hauling things as you'd get in an SUV, but doing it with a car with a few equipment additions/enhancements. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

In some respects, one of the Olds miscues in the later '80s was to make everything a Cutlass model, in the hope of putting a little better name association with the cars they had (as good as they might have been). Add some build quality issues in the mix with the "real" rwd Cutlasses and Cutlass Supremes and the whole deal just went downhill from there, or at least it seemed that way to me. From the way they initially marketed "Intrigue", it seemed they were chasing the "X-Files" generation. I sent off for one of their information packets and it basically had an Intrigue sales brochure and a video of one of their commercials--NOT what I was expecting--and then wanted me to visit a dealer for more information. I found out more about the car in a Road & Track road test! "Aurora"? Probably not the best name either. Then, put some funny emblem on the front that no one knew what it was (kind of looked like a Toyota emblem!) and that just didn't seem to work either. You don't build a car and then make people HAVE to get right up on it to see what it is. Oh well . . . One reason I suspect "Wildcat" might be a good "new" name would be that it was previously a performance oriented Buick, in the same genre as the Chrysler 300 was. It's no secret that 300M has been one of the bright spots in the Chrysler line recently--PLUS those great heritage ads they did early on with the older 300 letter cars and such. If you checked the Pontiac website a year or so ago, they had performance figures posted for the SSEi Bonneville (240 horse 3800 supercharged V-6) against the Chrysler 300M (253 horsepower 3.5L V-6). If the Bonneville could lead the 300M, then a lighter Regal (or whatever name is used) should be able to do similar. From what I've read, the Chrysler transaxle takes a little too much power to run). But with Chrysler having their Hemi V-8 in their new rwd cars, the tables might turn. Where ever we end up with this name deal, given the "new" information, I would hope a great deal of consideration is given to it AND that nothing is done to mimic what happened during the Olds debacle. As for Celebrity, it was a pretty nice car AND better than the Citation/Citation II it replaced. Lumina? Never did figure out where that name came from, but it supposedly had good repsonse from the consumer clinics they did back then (a bow tie light at the end of the tunnel?) Now, if we could only figure out the attraction to the front end of a '53 Chevy pickup . . . which Toyota seems to have keyed on with their current Tundras, except with a different number of slats. Enjoy! NTX5467

As much as car companies research names and such, there have still been a few clunkers in the GM garage in that respect. "Nova" was found to mean "no run" (or similar) in the Spanish language countries. This was mentioned in a newspaper article I found on the Canadian deal, plus that Lutz was caught off guard by it, and he lived in France and speaks French. Quite amusing. Three is quite a bit of sentiment to have a new name for this particular Buick. It is perceived to be a reason for people to come into a Buick showroom to see what "the new Buick" is. Hence, more traffic for the dealers and hopefully a whole new bunch of people to see what Buicks are all about too. I concur that model names are something that should not be chunked around (or away) capriciously (how's that for a model name tie-in?), but sometimes when major changes are made, it can be a good thing. In the case of Olds, they did it ALL WRONG, and basically took themselves off of the radar screens of anyone except long time buyers (which they further alienated in other ways too). I think LaCrosse has a nice, upscale ring to it, myself, but if the French have other orientations about it, then not changing it down here too might make us look like a whole nation of ______________? Might be interesting to see how this situation transpires. As for other historic Buick names? There are many that have "modified" versions too. Roadmaster is one, for example. Wilcat might be a good change from LaCrosse, now that I think about it. It could have historic tie-ins and such with the powerful Wildcats of the '60s plus the Wildcat concept cars too. That might be a good fit. As for the Jaguar look? Roberta, you can't deny that that was also on the front end of a very popular car of the later 1970s -- The Chrysler Cordoba (with or without Fine Corinthian Leather). Enjoy! NTX5467

Did you check for Borg-Warner Select series magnetic suppression wire sets for OEM applications? Used to be the old KoolWire and KoolWireII nomenclature, I believe. Don't know why ACDelco might not have a wire set for that application either. Buick wires might not be in stock on the shelves, but they should be available for order if they weren't. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

When I raised the question of compression checks with a (now deceased) old-line mechanic, he pointed out that all a compression test would diagnose was the condition of the top (compression) ring of the piston ring set and the valve seats. It would have nothing to do with how well the oil control rings (the 2nd and 3rd rings from the top) were doing their job of removing the oil from the cylinder wall so it could return to the pan. It had not occured to me that this might be the case, with respect to oil consumption. Granted, all of the rings should wear at the same rate, but if the oil rings are gunked up and/or have lost their tension, or what oil they scrape from the cylinder walls can't return via the holes in the pistons, then the oil would still be there when the compression ring got there. If it didn't or couldn't scrape it off, it'd go into the combustion chamber. This oil that wasn't properly "controlled" would be what puts the washed area around the edge of the piston crown as it got past the oil and compression ring. Although the compression ring could scrape oil from the cylinder wall, that's not it's main purpose. One thing would need to be determined, though, and that's the color of the smoke you're seeing. Black, blue-gray, or white. First would be fuel issues, second one oil, third one vapor. If the rings are becoming marginal, the carb needs some attention, or the ignition system is weak, then you should be able to smell some hydrocarbons in the oil when the engine has been running at operating temperature for a good while. Just pull the dipstick and smell of it. Usually, it should be neutral or smell like fresh oil. Similarly, if you find some white gunk at the top, then you need to run it longer at a time to get all of the accumulated moisture out of the crankcase, followed possibly by a fresh oil/filter change. If the smoke is from engine oil, I suspect it should be putting some color into the spark plug electrodes. Similar if it's a too rich carb mixture/adjustment that's causing the smoke too. Valve seals might be doable without pulling the head off and could be an easier fix than pulling the head off, disassembling it for cleaning and valve guide repairs, with new seals. I say "might" as I'm not aware of how that particular cylinder head is configured or how easy it would be to do in the car. I suppose the main thing would be to make sure the ignition and carb are tweaked and tuned as well as they can be for efficient operation. If that doesn't somewhat fix the problem, then other areas would need to be investigated. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

I remember seeing some of the local windowtint guys use a pad of "white" Scotchbrite to prepare the inside glass surface prior to the windowtint film application process. It was used with just light pressure. I don't know if it was used to "clean" the surface or lightly "etch" the surface for better adhesion of the tint film's adhesive. I believe the "white" Scotchbrite is similar to 1000+ grit and used for polishing situations plus you can find it in the kitchen cleaning section of local grocery stores (just do NOT use the other side of the pad if it's paired with a more agressive and different colored surface scouring pad! use ONLY the white side if it is!!) What I discovered a few years ago on the outside of the glass is that using the "Polymer Formula" Rain-X Glass Cleaner (not the same as the yellow bottle Rain-X treatment, which would be put on after the cleaner is used), repeated applications made the outside glass surface noticeably slicker, more shiney, and clearer with each application. Not sure what's in it, but it worked that way for me on a windshield that had seen many hundred thousands of miles of use. There seems to be enough grit in the atmosphere that it will put small pits (which can be seen in bright light) on the outside of the glass, especially when you figure in the car + wind speed. These repeated applications would not substitute for new glass or possibily the polishing process, but it was an inprovement. Following with a final polishing using a wrinkled up newspaper might help things too (a "secrets of the showcars" deal I picked up a good while back; the ink in the paper helps polish the glass, it seems). The new Windex wipes (or other similar cleaning wipes) usually have enough wetness in them that you could first use them and immediately follow up with the white Scotchbrite or the steel wool and use that combination strategy. If the film inside is from atmospheric sources, it should come off with a little work. If it's from nicotine, it might take longer but will probably yield a very well preserved surface of glass (from seeing what it does to preserve interior chrome pieces). The other thing might be that if the glass is laminated safety glass, the visible haze might be the plastic laminate itself hazing from age. Only fix for that would be some new glass with the correct/appropriate date codes applied to it. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

Roberta and Associates, according to GM press releases I found via Google, the 3.6L Cadillac CTX/SRX motor (option code LY7) is a completely new motor. One article mentioned it was the first of GM's new global engine plan. That article also mentioned the adaptability of oil pan configurations and such (which might explain the unusual oil filter location in some applications and the fact that different oil filters are used in different chassis configurations). I found an article from a European source that mentioned it was a 60 degree V. Then I found comprehensive explanation of the engine (via a compilation of GM press releases and other information) at www.vettes.com (click on "Cadillac CTS" at the bottom of the page). So far, cataloged applications for the 3.6L DOHC VVT V-6 are the two Cadillacs AND the Rendezvous (at some future date). AS GMPowertrain seems to be rather slow at updating their website, where this 3.6L DOHC VVT V-6 engine will be built (much less admitted to!) is not listed. If entry and egress are issues for your mother, then the Rainier would be better. From what I've read, the V-8 doesn't run very much faster than the I-6 does, but has more torque. I perceive that a tuner version of the Rainer V-8 would be NEAT! Plus challenge BMW with their high priced X5. I would hope that at this point in time, GM would have the orientation that anything that Powertrain produces would be totally bulletproof and raise the bar from what it previously might have been--especially with the aspirations that Cadillac has toward great vehicles. I'll stop there. Enjoy! NTX5467

Mike and Nancy, I hope y'all also put 12 volt wiring in the mix too when you did the 12 volt changeover or used one of the resistor blocks (used to see them in JC Whitney yearssss ago). Yahoo Groups is pretty easy to do, as far as the joining operation is concerned. What you might want to do is put the "Email Options" at "Digest" or "No email, I'll read . . . on the web". Otherwise, everytime someone makes a post, you get an email with it in it. In digest, you will get everything for one day in just one larger email. Using the "No email" option makes it just like coming in here, basically, where you have to see what the postings are to respond/reply or read them. With Yahoo Groups, if you decide you want to change those settings, you can do it as you desire too. If you're not already in Yahoo Groups, they'll issue you a password for your account too. Each different identity used will need to have their own password. After you get established, you can change the password to what you desire it to be (within their guidelines). Several years ago, I joined a mail list and ended up getting about 50 emails/day as there was no "digest" or "no email" option. YIKES! Enjoy! NTX5467

From the experience of dealing with and shopping trophy prices for our North Texas Chapter yearly shows and with another car club I'm in, it doesn't take much price shopping to determine that there can be large price swings for similar trophies of similar materials/configurations. In this case, once you know what you want, price shopping can be beneficial. Plus, having a trohpy shop that will work with you to design what you want is a huge advantage. Many clubs choose stand-up trophies for the visual impact they make, especially the taller ones. Usually, everyone typically grows tired of the stand-up trophies and plaques gain favor (for some of the reasons mentioned), provided they are good looking plaques. Cost wise, they are pretty close either way. Sometimes, using a mix of plaques and stand up trophies can make sense just as varying the size of the plaques for the level or award can work too. Using a real marble base is a good touch, as it gives the trohpy some weight and balance. From there on up, they are typically all plactic with steel rods and nuts holding it all together. Using a two post lower part, that can provide a place to put the plaque for the event information pretty nicely. Then you can use another marble piece to attach the upper sections to. As for class recognition on the trophy, we used to do that in the other car club I was more involved in previously. It got to be a pain to orchestrate as we usually tried to be accommodating and offer classes for anything that came onto the show field that day. Then, some miscommunications between our trophy operative (club member) and the vendor caused some major dissasters in this respect. I noticed that another similar club in Texas started using "Class Winner" and "Runner-Up" instead of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., listings. In one of our bigger classes, we were giving up to 6 places as there were lots of worthy vehicles in that class (dynamically, who would hang a 6th place trophy on their wall?). So, we started doing that and then all we had to worry about was how many of each ("Class Winner" or "Runner Up") we estimated we would need that year. This worked MUCH better plus gave us the flexibility to better deal with what showed up that show day. Of course, the event information was on a larger plate on the plaque too. In a smaller show where the classes are pretty much generalized, putting a class designation on them can be easily done. Typically, these class designations are general enough that lay people can understand them. When you are dealing with a larger show that has many different classes and a more intricate classification operation, as you know, things can get somewhat intense as you get ready to present the awards. From the perspective of the visitor to a person's house (who has their car trophy displayed), that visitor would be more impressed by a "Class Winner" or "Runner Up" award from a particular show than what class it was in. Or whether or not the friend's Skylark (for example) was in a stock class or a muscle car class. Key thing that is remembered is that an award of significance was received for the car at that particular show. Similarly, if you use "Runner Up" for non-first place awards, you can give as many as you like in a particular class without making anyone feel too bad about not getting a first place award. If you have a "Class Winner" and 4 other cars that score within a few points of each other past that, the "Runner Up" orientation makes sense instead of splitting the class, sometimes. From what I've seen, you never know who had the better cars in a split class of the same year and type of vehicle. In the moderately large to large classes, in judged shows you'll probably notice that there will be one car that has the highest point total, followed by others with lesser totals (naturally), but there will be a point where the point totals take larger increments between the cars. This point fall off could be after the 2nd highest point total or the 5th highest point total. Watching how these things historically develop might help you determine how deep you go with awards in various classes and resultantly allocate the trophies. Of course, how nice the awards are should follow the entry fee for the show. Down here, a weekly cruise at a local drive-in and a minimum of classes might garner a trophy that cost $5.00 to buy, but with a $5.00 entry fee, that's appropriate. The monthly cruises that some of the car clubs do that attract over 100 cars per show, their awards are much nicer. Dash plaques are a nice touch too and reasonably inexpensive to do. Simple engravings or a multi-colored screen printed plaque would depend on various factors, but cost is definitely a consideration. Computer controls and numeric controlled engraving machines and other similar advances in the screen printing area have expanded the options over the past decade or so. I guess what I'm getting to is for whoever's putting on the show to decide what general type of awards and award strategy for classes and such they desire to have. Then shop the area's trophy shops for the best quality/price mix (if you need a couple of club operatives to do this together, it can be beneficial). The orientation of doing business locally can be a good one, but if you can get the same quality or better at a lesser price if you drive a little ways, that's definitely worth considering too. If you see some awards at other shows you like, then ask the show operatives about where they got them and how much they cost. Most trophy shops put a sticker on their work too, with contact information. When you start getting the same place mentioned by several different car clubs, you'll probably find the best place in your area. As for BCA oriented shows, that are judged using the 400 point system, that specified award strategy would need to be followed (i.e., Gold, Silver, Bronze) as it is at the national meets. By the nature of this orientation, plus the fact that you never know what vehicles will receive what level of award until the point totals are fully processed, making this work can be somewhat tricky. Unfortunately, lay people would not understand why a vehicle scored highest in its class and did not receive the "Class Winner" award as a result. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

This is GREAT news and also somewhat interesting. Guess the upgraded for 2004 Chevy V-6 will find a home in the less expensive cars, the new DOHC V-6 will be more for the upper end CTS/SRX cars, and the Buick 3800 will hit that huge segment of family-sized GM cars that it has done so well in over the years. It still might use mundane pushrods, but that engine sure does work great anyway. Enjoy! NTX5467

I usually get mine during the week prior to the second Saturday of the month (which is our regular chapter meeting day). Got mine today, as normal. Also got the one addressed to our chapter too, both at the same time. I know it's hard to figure out the delivery schedule for these things, but I suspect they are trucked to centralized postal distribution points and then put into the system that way. Just my hunch. In any event, if the Standard of Service for the respective postal rates are being met, the Postal Service will probably admit things are going as they are supposed to be (as any service business entity might also state). But, it's worth the wait. Thanks for the great issue of our club magazine! NTX5467

At the Buick engine presentation that Denny Manner did at the Centennial meet in Flint, he mentioned that Buick was able to delay the use of hardened valve seats on their motors in the early 1970s (when unleaded fuel became the "norm") due to the fact that they did not use valve rotators and DID use nickel steel valves. Other GM divisions obviously didn't spec the nickel steel valves for their motors and others also used valve rotators too. As stated, light load uses aren't hard on valve seats anyway whereas max load, higher speed conditions will ruin a set of non-hardened heads in about 12,000 miles (from Chrysler research in the early 1970s). As Denny stated, we don't drive our vintage cars like that (and 12,000 miles would take many years to accumulate, typically). With that little mileage on the car, it could well be that there is some residual lead in the fuel tank anyway. There are different kinds of additives. One is sodium based and the other one is oil based. I found this in an RV magazine on the valve seat deal about 10 years ago. Sodium is better, of course, but the best long term fix is hardened inserts for that kind of use (high load, high speed, many miles at a time). In general, for the way we typically use the cars, there probably would be no real need for tearing something apart that is working fine as is. Quality fuel might be more of a concern (and maybe changing the rubber in the fuel lines to be more compatible with the newer fuels we have) to me for a vehicle of that age and miles. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

I went to a dealer training event for the SRX a little while back. It is a "kick ass" vehicle--period!! We were told that the "bogey" for it was the BMW X5 V-8 (which was not in that comparison test) and that the SRX would equal or best the BMW in most everything except perhaps the parking lot handling test (the BMW has a hair bigger tire under it). From what I saw (I also did a consumer ride and drive event for the X5 when it was introduced), Cadillac/GM did well. Price an X-5 V-8 and then price the Cadillac and the total package comes into perspective real quick. A few weeks ago, I did a BMW driving event to benefit the Susan G. Komen charity. I drove another X5 V-8 on that 10 mile street/freeway course. I didn't notice it previously, but that X5 felt very SUV-ish for some reason. When I stopped at a red light, it would seem to sway back and forth a little too. Still an incredible vehicle, but not something you would take to Home Depot or haul people with luggage in. Tony Swan had already used the Porsche in the One Lap race and discovered the Cayenne had terrible brakes when used hard. The VW would be similar, I suspect, but with a diffent pedigree. The vehicles are the SRX event were the Acura MDX (price leader in the class), Volvo wagon, Lexus RX300, and the X5 V-8. In that group, the SRX was at the top of the class in most areas and matched the BMW in others. Quite impressive. The MDX was the price/value leader, but was very plain. The Lexus was nice, but did not like to drive in other than a straight line. The Volvo was somewhere in between. When we went on the street drive portion of the event, the pace car was a metallic crimson red XLR roadster (with the top down). A VERY impressive sight in real life too! The driver of the pace car didn't hesitate to make us use the throttle either as we had to keep up with him. As they mentioned, the Porsche has the performance pedigree in the Cayenne (did you notice how much it weighed??) with the VW being similar, yet the only performance contender as such (in that particular test) was the Infiniti. Part of what makes the SRX so neat is the adaptation of the electronic technology from other GM vehicles and other Cadillacs. The V-8 has the Performance Algorithm Shifting for the automatic and the magnetic ride control is a neat asset too, not to mention StabiliTrak. Performance electronically! And then it has that BIG hole in the roof too with a smaller one optional, plus a power folding third seat. Lots of neat things at a good value price. Enough things that you'll need to read the owner's manual to figure it all out! I'll agree that it seems that if it doesn't have an "H" in the grille (not the italic "H", though), it just doesn't seem to be worthy of buyer consideration, according to them. Every now and then, they seem to come to their senses too. Seems like they rated the Neon SRT-4 pretty high too, in spite of its refinement shortcomings. There is an SRX Test Drive show (infomercial) on the SRX on Speed Channel. Tommy Kendall and a factory Corvette C5R driver take a pair of them around a road race track and another journalist takes one on an extended highway drive. Pretty neat! Cadillac's on a roll and I suspect you can see some of this momentum rub off on some of the other GM divisions. Most of them have some pretty neat products yet to come. You can do great things with the same money you can do mediocre things, and the payoffs usually are greater when you do the "great things" deal. Enjoy! NTX5467

Sometimes it's a great inside joke to lead the unknowing (who think they know something anyway) on about some things. When some of my Mopar associates started taking their Hemi cars to weekend cruise-in shows, people would walk up and ask what kind of motor it was (it said "426 HEMI" on the shaker bubble too!). As they obviously didn't know, we started telling them it was a "Canadian 318". They could see it had dual carbs and such, but had no idea it was a 426 Hemi. They'd still walk off saying "WOW! Neat!!" and go about their merry way. This was about 16 years ago. If we'd told them what it was, we'd have had to do more 'splaining to them anyway (and that would have taken a while, usually). Another guy I ran across at Mopar Nats had a '79 St. Regis that he'd upgraded to a 440 from the 360HO it came with (really a quite easy upgrade!). He put a 340 pie pan nameplate on the air cleaner. Fooled a majority of the Chevy guys too. It was a genuine police spec car to start with. As there are lots of stories of "experimental" this and that from the middle to late 1950s, I thought it would be neat to take a '58 Cadillac Eldorado 2x4bbl V-8 and put it in a '58 Impala (might need the HydraMatic too). The Cadillac motor looks similar to a what a larger Chevy 283 might look like and the 283s could be had with dual 4bbls too, but it would not be the 283. If anyone asked about it, it would be "An experimental engine built for a Chevy executive . . ." I know, it's not nice to fool those spectators, but sometimes it's great fun -- especially when they later find out they've been had. Sometimes it's more trouble to tell them the truth than something they want to hear (that doesn't seem to mess with their head nearly as much either). Enjoy! NTX5467

As far as "identity crisis" goes, what about the owner of one an Olds Intrigue? For the first couple years of production, the ONLY Olds "nameplate" was cast into the passenger side reverse light lens in the tail lamp assembly! Kind of like they wanted people to get closer to see what it was, and then hid the identity from them. Only the last couple of years of production had anything resembling a real Olds nameplate on it. Guess it was a victim of the brand management orientation that made the car the brand instead of the GM division that built it being the umbrella brand? If any of those cars are left in 20 years, people will probably ask it it's some oriental brand -- YIKES! Then you tell them "It's an Oldsmobile with a Buick motor" (the Northstar V-6 was in the later ones) and then watch their eyes roll back in their heads from the informational overload. Later . . . NTX5467

Tony, that steering column situation is pretty much "universal" from about the middle 1970s and up, cars and light trucks included. In some cases, customers have related that the upper part of the column turns AND moves around. From the way that pot metal housing breaks, it seems to be from people pulling the tilt level and letting the wheel pop up against the internal stop when they get out of the car. Most of them will get loose anyway and the popping situation seems to make it worse. If it is just starting to get loose, then you can usually tighten up the screws that hold things together, but you usually end up having to replace that particular casting as it will be cracked on the top. It's pretty thin anyway. To get to the four screws, you have to take the upper half of the column off at the tilt pivot point. That's definitely more involved than just taking a steering wheel off and changing a turn signal switch. Not to hard if you've been there before and have a few special tools for the tilt pivot mechanism. It's also an opportune time to replace the "rack kit and bearings" in the upper part of the column, plus maybe add a little wheel bearing grease to the bearings for a better feel. There are many variations (part numbers) for the various pot metal housings, but it appears there can be a lot of interchangeability with them (model and year). I'm not sure if some aftermarket source is supplying "universal" pieces as there are usually some ads in the local papers for "GM Steering Column Repair". Just some thoughts, NTX5467

When I was attending weekend cruises a lot about 10 years ago, it was very common for people to come up (to a Dodge Challenger, for example) and say "My Buddy had one just like that, except it was a 4-door" or "My Buddy's car was like that, but it had one of those 440 Six-Pack HEMIs in it." Similar things happened with other muscle cars too. Therefore, I don't think you could take people thinking a Buick was a Chevy as an identity crisis issue per se. I suspect what it amounts to is people presuming that all old cars are Chevys as they made so many of them, or similar. Their lack of exposure to non-Chevy or non-Ford old cars is more of an issue, I suspect, plus their apparent lack of reading and comprehension skills (and NO apparent desire to increase them!). Back in the late 1970s time frame, a customer brought in a 1961 Chevy Corvair sedan for some minor maintenance. It was a really nice 4-door sedan, but nothing special. One of our young techs-in-training looked at it and didn't know what it was (even though it had Chevrolet and Corvair nameplates on it). He finally commented that "They did a real good job of putting that Delco radio in there." He thought it was some kind of kit car or home-built vehicle. Our shop foreman laughed and said that Chevrolet built it that way. The young tech was shocked. Then it dawned on the shop foreman that this young guy was born about the time the car was built. By the time he got old enough to pay attention to the popular cars of the later 1960s, Corvairs were gone and were not on his short list of cars he knew about. That put things into a different persective. Keep the faith . . . some people CAN read "B U I C K". NTX5467

One of our customers recently acquired a 1959 Pontiac Catalina that was supposed to have been a companion to the Chevy ElCamino that year. Story goes, it was too expensive so GM cancelled that model after a few had been built. All it says anywhere on the body, other than Pontiac, is Catalina on the instrument panel. The "work" where the rear window from the ElCamino (I suspect) was grafted was on the rough side, even for "back then" standards. That might explain the padding in the rear window area on the pictured car. But that bowtie? Maybe a Tri-Shield was too complicated? Even just an oval (as long as it didn't have "Ford" in it) would have been better. I rather doubt anyone would doubt that vehicle was a Buick. If they did, they deserve what they "get". Enjoy! NTX5467

Thanks for that update! I know that many have seen The Blackhawk, but I also know that there are many that have not. If you're anywhere in the 5-state area, you need to come down and see it AND the other great Buicks on display! It will be a great show! NTX5467

I don't see how the column itself can shake without affecting the steering wheel too. Obviously, it's some sort of sympathetic resonance situation being set up, but if it was that, you should be able to drive through that particular vibration situation at higher speeds. What about tire inflation pressure changes due to recent temperature changes? Swapping the tires around would be a start, as would making sure the column is firmly bolted to the inner structure of the instrument panel. What about universal joints? Have they been checked OR greased lately? Does the steering wheel move around on the column any at all? If it does and it's a tilt wheel column, then it might be that the pot metal housing (internally) that's just below the tilt joint might be broken or loose (usually both) and needs some attention. Only people that have been that deep into a GM tilt steering column need to attempt that repair, from what I've seen. Just some thoughts . . . NTX5467

I concur, the alignment of the crankshaft sensor is very important. I wasn't aware that Kent-Moore/SPX had a tool for that, but it doesn't surprise me. If the alignment is NOT exactly right, it'll probably knock the sensor off of its mount and then there's more to fix. Earlier model sensors came with the mounting bracket as part of the package, but later model ones are just the sensor. Like the mass air flow sensors of the later '80s, most of the problems with the 3800 (few that there are) are reasonably easy to diagnose and fix. Enjoy! NTX5467

Might get it to a tech that has a GM Tech 2 (or similar) that can pull a data stream out of it (hopefully) to see what might have happened. If there was a check engine light, there should be some stored data about why it happened. The short trip driving should have nothing to do with it. About the only thing I can think of that would tell the ECM to stop the fuel pump would be if there was a loss of signal from one of the engine sensors (oil pressure, crank position, cam position) that would be reestablished when you restarted the vehicle. Might also be from lack of fuel pressure as it usually takes a certain amount of fuel pressure for the injectors to "fire". This issue could be the result of a clogging fuel filter or a fuel pump that was getting weak. If you hear a somewhat loud high-pitched whine from the fuel tank area, that can be an indication that some attention is needed too. Usually, a weak fuel pump/restricted fuel filter will result in an extended crank time when starting. Hope this might help, NTX5467

GM still catalogs manual steering gear lube in their Standard Parts Catalog. It's stated application is for Corvettes. Until the "integral" power steering systems were introduced, they typically used a hydraulic ram setup on the steering linkage for the assist, like Ford used up until the later 1960s on many of their cars (never did figure out how those dangling and oily power steering hoses never did get snagged on anything!), and used a manual gear box for the steering functions. The Corvettes used the linkage assist system all the way through the 1982 year model, if I remember correctly, as that basic platform dated to the prior decades. There might also be some similar lubes in the aftermarket in variations with "moly" in the mix. Might make steering a little easier with that friction fighter (also in disc brake, Ford-spec wheel bearing grease and some chassis lubes) in there. Just some thoughts, NTX5467