Late model muscle....?

we charged that price, because it was 34.98 without coupon for standard oil, up to 5 qts. but we did a whole lot more to your car while changing the oil. we inspected and advised the customer on their pcv if accessable, air filter, cabin air filter if they had one, windshield wipers, trans fluid, power steering fluid, rad fluid, condition of rad cap, topped off their wiper solvent and tires for free, washed their windshields.... you got a bunch of stuff done to your car for the price of 34.98. It was a 'full service' oil change. but what there was an extra charge for, was if their oil filter was a special order item, how many more quarts over 5 their cars took, and there was a 7.50 charge for removing the skid plate. cuz those cars just NEED skidplates... a lot of these over engineered foreign cars, have 7 or more qts of oil, unecessary skid plates, the special order cannister filters, and the requirement of mobile one synthetic. add it up. its nowhere NEAR 34.98 by the time its all said and done. All for what. a car that heats its backseats? Have fun... my more simple american car works just fine. :)
 
That is also what we do, minus cleaning the windshield. "inspect adn top off all fluids" short and sweet for $24.99. We do not charge to remove skid plates, and we do not charge for special order oil filters. We have an entire room full of filters...if it's not there (rare) the shop gets NAPA to deliver it in about 30 mins for no extra charge. For a while we didn't charge to inspect brakes (now we do thank god).

I've never run into a foreign car (4 or 6 cylinder) that took more than 5 quarts of oil. It is also very rare to have to remove the skid plate unless it is a truck. Honestly it is harder to change the battery in most foreign cars than it is to do the oil. Especially VW (new or old). You practically have to rip apart the car to change the battery on a Jetta I hate it...and we don't charge extra, and I don't get payed any extra. The customer definetly benefits. Probably why all the people I work with are so unhappy haha.
 
If you decide to stay with the Nova you could always drop something like this in. http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+115+309919&D=309919

You'd probably want to improve the chassis, suspension and brakes (if only for saftey's sake) to match the 435 HP & 435 ft.-lb. It'd be easy enough to do.

Personally, I'd probably weld in a 6 or 8 point rollcage too. Mainly because I think that's a very cool look for cars in the 435 HP range. :D
 
How about keeping your American muscle? Update the suspension, brakes, and add a new fuel injected/electronic ignitioned power plant to it? Best of both worlds IMHO. They don't make em anymore ya know.
Edit: I see that while I was typing and thinking, someone else had the same idea. Great minds you know
 
Either way, with an import or a domestic, with the right cash spent on the right parts you will have a nice car. As long as you start with a decent model that has potential and pick the aftermarket parts carefully so they fit together, you'll have a fast car.

Let us know what you end up doing!
 
WRC fan said:
and pick the aftermarket parts carefully so they fit together, you'll have a fast car.
Click to expand...

It's like LEGO's.

REALLY REALLY REALLY expensive LEGO's! :mad:

But youre right, as long as you are happy with what you buy that is all that matters. You may enjoy American muscle cars, or you may fancy import models. I'd never dream to say one is better than the other in any one category...it all comes down to how you build it up and what your goal is. Some people have incredible goals and they make incredible cars...other people just want a fun weekend cruiser they can enjoy. Comparing modified cars is VERY hard, because no two cars are usually built for the exact same goals, with the exact same expectations etc.
 
REALLY REALLY REALLY expensive LEGO's!

Yea, if theyre foriegn. Typical 5 or 5.7 litre parts arent expensive. :)
 
Buddiiee said:
ever felt how a buick turbo 6 pulls?
Click to expand...

a buick is a V6 FWIW, i am talking about a long 6 like in a supra, and yes my bro-in-law has a grand national (or he used to until a lady ran into it and totaled it a few yrs ago) and the supra i am talking about was wayyyy faster than a GN, i do like GN's though.

also it cracks me up when folks compare todays acuras/hondas/toyotas to old muscle cars ie they can outrun or run with them, sure today they can, anybody remember what jap cars looked/ran like back in the '60s and '70s?? i can describe them in one word "crap" and thats being nice. they sure wouldnt run with 'em back in the day let me tell ya. oh, and they looked really cool too lol.
 
in the older asian cars defense... (80's) their parts are a little hard to come by but, they were easy to work on, and dam reliable. theyre all but extinct on my side of town.. its unfortunate that our salt eats everything.
As in all cars, i think the asian models have decreased in reliability as well.
 
Buddiiee said:
grandnational.jpg
[/IMG]
Click to expand...


Dude that car Is pharking UGLY !!!!! DAMN :barf: :barf: :barf:


But thats just my opinion .
 
Buddiiee said:
REALLY REALLY REALLY expensive LEGO's!

Yea, if theyre foriegn. Typical 5 or 5.7 litre parts arent expensive. :)
Click to expand...

I'm calling bullshit here, they are an arm and a leg; however up until the early 1990s you would be correct Buddiiee, now the starter for my 2000 Tahoe is over $265.00 as it is a reduction gear starter oposed to the $100.00 for the performance starter I put in my old 1980 Blazer. Also Radiator $250.00 and you can't repair the new aluminum/plastic radiators, but the old copper/brass radiators you could repair cheap (usually). also since the mid 1990s the basic ignition parts are way more expensive due to having to deal with higher temps (plug wires/cap/ rotor and distributor and coil).
 
are you kidding me??? over on the turbo regal side of the house, we have it a little harder. even though were happy with our cars, and love what we got, we still sorta look over at the ford fox, and gm F body guys like "dam, i wish our parts were that cheap, or easy to find..."
a set of performance wires for our cars, 65 bucks. a new rad upgrad? 105 bucks. new fuel pump with hot wire kit? 135 out the door. a new manual boost controller? 15-30 dollars. a new air filter, 40 bucks. an exhaust cutout, 25 dollars.
Its even better for the 'other' guys for their bolt ons.
I didnt make that statement up man. Its an industry standard. Sure, theres heads out there for the f bodies that cost 2500, and radiators from be cool that are upwards of 700, but thats not the norm man. EVERYONE knows the cheapest and easiest modded 'toys' are the mustangs and camaros. There IS no better u.s. production toy around that beats em.
The only car that is cheaper to go fast, is our cars, but our cars and parts are a touch rarer, and theyre a little harder to work on than the fox bodies but theyre still ok. As far as just the lb/ft. of torque vs dollars spent, our cars are it. but thats about it. the other guys have it covered in every other aspect. If I wasnt such a buick nut, id be all over an early 90's black notchback mustang. It doesnt get any easier or simpler than that, plus the support they have is unmatched.
 
Maybe you could get that Riviera/Regal/Gutless/Toranado/Grand National to handle like a sports car. But it wouldn't be like replacing lego blocks - it's be more like major surgery that would be very difficult and cost more than buying a new car.

Here's what I think the Grand National would need to not handle like a boat:

- Shave off about 800lbs.
Start by gutting the interior. Replace heavy body panels with thinner metal or carbon-fiber. Replace heavy steel mounts, suspension parts, wheels, and engine components with lightweight alloy parts.

- Relocate the wheels closer to the outside corners of the vehicle.

- Replace work-truck coils and leaf springs with something modern, like 4-wheel independant double wishbone suspension.

- Rebalance the car.
Not as difficult as it sounds. Lincoln came very close to properly balancing their LS sedan. They did it by moving the engine farther back and relocating certain components, like the battery, to the trunk.

- Lower the center of gravity. Not difficult, but how to achieve the engineering without making the car look like a ghetto low-rider?

- All-wheel-drive would improve handling, like the WRX and Audi TT. But how to do this without increasing the overall weight or making the poor front-rear weight balance even worse?

-Bob
 
i was talking about f bodies and mustangs.. where did the handling of my buick come into play at? lol. if you must know, its a very very easy process, to make any g body handle great. replace the body bushings with new ones, yank the control arms and just replace them with the umi's in the rear, and the gbodyparts in the front. all of them already have their bushings pressed into place. its a mindless swap. put the thicker atr sway bars on the front and rear, with the new bushings and end links up front, bilstein shocks all the way around, eibach coil springs on all 4 corners, and bfg g-force t/a KD tires. the car would handle like any camaro. hands down. its easy, and most grand nationals already have those mods done. after the shocks springs and control arms are done, its easy. the cars handle great with just 2000 dollars in parts. youd be amazed actually.

if thats major surgery, then i cant imagine what yankin an engine and trans would mean in your eyes lol.
 
Cheap muscle
87 to 93 fox 5.0 Mustang preferably with a trunk not a hatch
Late 80's to early 90's vette preferably with independent rear.
Trans am or camaro with LS1 and 6 speed I street raced a built one on my bike and it almost got me.
Jap cars lighter, is better than horsepower my 91 Nissan SE-R at 110HP was as fast as my 03 Civic SIR at 170HP.
The tuner trend has made all the good jap cars worth to much money it is
cheaper and easier to make an US car handle than it is to make a jap car fast.

Get rid off all the weight you can back seat ,stereo carpet everything it's free and like adding HP.


If you want to go fast get a sport bike and ditch the car my Honda 919 is faster
zero to 60 than a ferrari.
 
Hey Unsub, all Corvettes from 1963 through present model are independent rear ends, as in from my differential I have yokes that go to 1/2 shafts that go to the drive tires. The exception is if someone has put a solid axle conversion in the Corvette for drag racing aplications (yes people do it).

The original solid axle Corvettes are the 1953-1962 models.

Dave
 
Unsub said:
Cheap muscle
87 to 93 fox 5.0 Mustang preferably with a trunk not a hatch
Late 80's to early 90's vette preferably with independent rear.
Trans am or camaro with LS1 and 6 speed I street raced a built one on my bike and it almost got me.
Jap cars lighter, is better than horsepower my 91 Nissan SE-R at 110HP was as fast as my 03 Civic SIR at 170HP.
The tuner trend has made all the good jap cars worth to much money it is
cheaper and easier to make an US car handle than it is to make a jap car fast.

Get rid off all the weight you can back seat ,stereo carpet everything it's free and like adding HP.


If you want to go fast get a sport bike and ditch the car my Honda 919 is faster
zero to 60 than a ferrari.
Click to expand...

You are exactly right. Especially the cheaper and easier to make an US car handle than it is to make a jap car fast line.

though the' Get rid off all the weight you can back seat ,stereo carpet everything it's free and like adding HP.' is true, the good thing is with buicks is, ya dont have to remove all that stuff. theyre fast with it in. thats why people lke the turbo regals. ya can go fast, and keep all the luxury in em. And true, while sport bikes are the fastest thing on the road, the new ZO6 corvette is actually faster than alot of the bikes out there. Better watch out for those on your bike. Ive already seen two pull on a bike already.
 
Buddiiee said:
REALLY REALLY REALLY expensive LEGO's!

Yea, if theyre foriegn. Typical 5 or 5.7 litre parts arent expensive. :)
Click to expand...

I meant in comparison to lego's period, not between foreign and domestic cars. Why must everyone insist on drawing out that battle? I can go to autozone or NAPA and find jsut about any part for my Nissan, you make it sound like foreign car parts are hard to obtain over here in the US. Maybe a rare foreign car, like an MR2 or a Skyline. But I would wager parts for Civic's, Accord's, Altima's, Camry's are going to be cheaper and more available than most Chevy or Ford cars especially these days.

Maybe you are meaning more luxury class cars, like BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Audi, etc.? For that I would agree but you have to remember you can't really compared an Audi TT to a Honda Civic EX, in price, performance, or class. I'm not going to find most parts for my Mercedes CLK320 at Autozone, that's jsut a given.
 
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