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GIRTHQUAKE
GIRTHQUAKE Dork
7/22/20 12:26 p.m.
Tom Suddard said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who do I throw money at to get these stickers?

FooBag (Forum Supporter)
FooBag (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand Reader
7/22/20 1:14 p.m.
GIRTHQUAKE said:

Who do I throw money at to get these stickers?

The E36 M3box one can be found here.  I can't link you directly to it as this board's filter changes the other word for poop in the link and breaks it.  I couldn't find the krispy one for you.

Snowdoggie
Snowdoggie HalfDork
9/1/20 5:30 p.m.

I keep reading this thread over and over again and having bad thoughts about building a raised Lumina. 

Miles Wilson
Miles Wilson Reader
9/1/20 5:41 p.m.

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

I'm the owner of that lifted Civic, and my tenant actually makes the stickers (he runs a little shop at: https://www.racekorstuff.com/)

Let me see if he would sell any more, it was a one-off for the event. yes

bmw88rider (Forum Supporter)
bmw88rider (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
9/1/20 11:19 p.m.

Bravo.....Bravo....Love this thing. 

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
3/8/21 12:20 p.m.

Bumping this back up: The Florida Gambler 500 is returning in mid-April! Anybody else planning on attending? 

Tom Suddard said:

Bumping this back up: The Florida Gambler 500 is returning in mid-April! Anybody else planning on attending? 

Not this year, I've got my sights set on the GRM Challenge, but ever since you wrote about it I've been interested.  
I'm looking forward to updates. 

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
3/14/21 6:02 a.m.

With the gambler right around the corner, I spent some quality time with the Buick. It's been sitting behind the shop for months, but luckily it started right up with just a jump start.

I never even washed it after the Gambler, nevermind cross any items off the post-event to-do list. Time to get started!

First up: The catalytic converter, which was stinky when we bought the car and now smelled so bad I knew that failure/total clogging was imminent.  Instead of properly diagnosing the car myself to figure out if maybe it was running a bit rich or something, I grabbed my universal catalytic converter smell remediation tool:


 

After mocking up some, uh, alternate emissions control solutions:


 

And fantasized about cutting the muffler off, too:
 

I ended up just welding a piece of straight pipe in place of the converter. I'll put a cheap universal one in place if this ever becomes a street car again. In the woods during fire season I prefer to not have one under the car. 

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
3/14/21 6:10 a.m.

Next up: The drivetrain mounts and an ignition system tune-up. The former because somebody broke both transmission mounts, and the latter to fix an issue where the Buick dies when it gets real hot out.

How cheap are off-brand parts for an '80s Buick? Hilariously cheap:


Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
3/14/21 6:17 a.m.

Let's change some drivetrain mounts!

The engine mounts weren't terrible, but had seen better days:


 

The transmission mounts, though.... Yikes!

Changing them all only took a few hours working at a lazy Saturday pace. 

These fresh drivetrain mounts should inject a fresh dose of luxury back into the Buick! And even more importantly, they'll prevent stupid secondary failures, like cut hoses and broken wires, that come from thrashing a car with worn-out mounts.
 

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
3/15/21 8:19 a.m.

I treated the Buick to an oil change yesterday. It's supposed to be pitch black, right?


 

Something tells me I'm a little bit beyond a normal '80s GM 3,000 mile/6 month interval....

I also replaced most of the ignition system, since it seemed prudent after some heat-related spark problems at last year's event. I would have taken the time to actually diagnose the issue, but parts are so cheap, I just couldn't justify my time to do so.

914Driver
914Driver MegaDork
3/15/21 8:55 a.m.

Tom:  When you cut out the Cat, did you just end the pipe there or did you install a straight through pipe to replace it?  Slogging around in the woods, I would be afraid of water entering.  Around here, we just remove the Cat's ceramic guts so the State Inspector sees a cat but it's hollow.

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
3/15/21 9:05 a.m.

I welded a scrap of straight pipe in place of it. Leaving it cut there was pretty loud, plus I'm always wary of exhaust gasses in something that's primarily driven at 20 mph. With the straight pipe, I'd call the sound "present but not overbearing." In stock form you could barely tell it was running, but now it sounds like the average ratty Camaro in a high school parking lot.

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
3/31/21 1:20 p.m.

Quickie update here: Chris and I are now just two weeks away from taking the Buick to its second Gambler 500!  I think it's ready to go, but the real test will be a thorough thrashing in the Florida swamp.

Which brings me to the question I'll be answering when we get home: What the heck should I do with the Buick? It's become more and more obivous in recent months that I need to sell some stuff and simplify my life, and after selling the Fox on eBay last week I'm thinking the Buick should meet a similar fate. It's not that I don't like it (I really, really do for some stupid reason). It's that I don't like it enough to justify storing it away from the weather 51 weeks out of the year in order to have one weekend of fun.

Anybody interested? Pickup on Saturday afternoon, April 17th, at the Gambler could be negotiated....

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter)
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) Dork
3/31/21 3:04 p.m.

I'm still waiting for an event in Texas and/or Oklahoma so I can drag the Lumina out. 

Somebody here really needs to buy this and run it. Or you could just store it in your backyard with a cheap car cover which is better than most rednecks treat their beaters. cheeky

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
3/31/21 3:32 p.m.

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

Ehhh, as much as I can respect that sentiment, I'm trying to avoid just letting it sit for another year. I'm thinking spreading my efforts across fewer cars will be more fun and let me spend more time enjoying them, whether that means in the woods or on track.

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter)
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
3/31/21 9:10 p.m.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Oh I'd love to have it too. But like you, I'd only drag it out once per year: for Cruisin' the Coast in my case - I think it would be hilarious to park it at one of the dozens of car shows, covered in mud, while the old guys go about dusting their cars off in the pre-dawn twilight. 

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
8/15/21 7:50 p.m.

Just wanted to bump this thread up for some EXCITING NEWS....

No money has changed hands yet, but I have a verbal agreement to sell the Buick to a $2000 Challenge team. Finally the Buick's glory will be on display for all to see!!

Stampie
Stampie GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
8/15/21 8:10 p.m.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Is it a verbal agreement if it was done with text?

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
8/16/21 8:43 a.m.

In reply to Stampie :

SMS-agreement? I read all your texts in your voice if that helps....

Stampie
Stampie GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
8/16/21 12:04 p.m.

Going to drop this here.

http://tlentz.oldsgmail.com/more_power.html

Funny that I don't see add all the nitious on the list.

TVR Scott
TVR Scott GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
8/16/21 1:13 p.m.

In reply to Stampie :

The processed-blondes in the school drop-off line will be so excited with your new ride.

slowbird
slowbird UltraDork
8/16/21 1:23 p.m.

They might win the autocross!

...if it rains...

...and the rain causes flooding...

and the flooding washes mud all over the course.

laugh

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
8/16/21 1:29 p.m.


Oh yeah, I just realized I never updated this thread with photos of the snorkel. Yes, it's functional!

Stampie
Stampie GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
8/16/21 3:57 p.m.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

I swore it had a snorkel but I couldn't find pictures to show Lil Stampie. 

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