A picture any muscle car lover can appreciate...A '67 Baldwin Motion Chevelle in front of it's birthplace. I know the sign says 1968, but that's definitely a '67 and the stickers on the rear quarter weren't on new cars. Also check out those red line tires.
Thanks a ton guys, turns out the alternator indeed went, and took the battery with it. Took me five hours from start to finish, which included ghetto-patching my muffler. It was terribly rusted out, and I've attached an awful drawing of where it broke. Mid-way under the cab, where the two sections flare out and meet. The patch job didn't hold, any recommendations beyond taking it to a shop are greatly appreciated. In a different note, my mom's husband made me an offer. He has an 89 Mazda RX-7 convertible with 70k miles on it, the only things it needs are new windshield wipers and new struts, neither being a big deal. The only previous owner was a well-off doctor (redundant?). It has a new motor and tires, Blue Book is 4500 and he's offering me to have it for 1500 and keep the profit on selling it myself. Here's the problem: When it starts, it revs up to about 3k and holds there until it's put into gear, at which point it occasionally stalls but restarts cleanly. It's an automatic, and when it shifts up, it revs high, about 4k, for several seconds before dropping into the next gear with a bit of a pull. Other than this it is an incredibly smooth ride, albeit one with no safety features. I'm curious as to what you all think in concern to whether these are concerns, or small issues that won't affect pricing. They don't seem to think it's a big deal, and I don't want to look the gift horse in the mouth, but having my mom say she convinced him not to take less than 4500 for it, and dramatizing how this deal may not be there in a few months, then him telling me he's been offered 5k for it cash, kind of makes me wary. It's not that I want to distrust them, but I can't trust anyone other than random strangers on TIB. Makes sense, right? Anyway, I know I'm reaching the point of questions you all could be paid to answer, but I'll be very thankful for any help I can get. I'll be lucky to have six months left to take this truck to the scrapyard and pull $350 out of it.
Don't touch it. I owned one and had to take a crash course in rotary engines because no one, including Mazda, had a clue about working on them. They are an incredible little engine, but finicky as hell. There is a reason this car you're being offered has a new engine with only 70K showing and I can pretty much guarantee that unless the engine was install by a shop the specializes in rotary Mazdas they screwed something up. They're great fun to drive and I wouldn't mind another one for a toy, but never as an everyday driver.
I have to agree with Toytoy here. I've owned two RX7's in my life, an '86 and a '93. The '86 was the same style you're looking at and I had a ton of problems. I bought it for $5000 in '89, one owner used with about 40k miles on it. Within the first three months I owned it, it overheated regularly and I had to replace the tranny and the clutch. It was a blast to drive though...well, that is until I decided I needed to introduce it to three guard rails. I had much better luck with the '93. I only had to replace the clutch(it was going when I bought it so not a surprise), and a couple of little issues with the turbos but nothing major. In fact, I wish I still had that car. Finding one now that hasn't been raced or flat out abused is like looking for a pink unicorn.
Yup thanks to fast and the furious. I would love to own a 92-96(think this was the last year it was available in NA) RX-7.
Thanks for the responses guys. Not what I was hoping to hear, but I would rather be forwarned than stuck with a finicky car I can't drive or sell.
Vroom, vroom. It doesn't look to bad for 150K does it? I gave a neighbor a ride the other day and she asked me "This doesn't have the original engine does it?" I replied that yes, it was original. She then asked "Why does it sound so mean?" Heh. It's a secret. I may not win any stop light races, but I can pull a battleship out of the mud.
What do ya'll think a fair labor cost for a friend to put rotors on a 04 Trailblazer and to give it a tune up? Around here it seems to be around 45 bucks an hour labor at a shop. Normally I would just offer to help or buy beer, but he needs the money and I don't even know enough about cars to hand him the right tools.
Wow 45 bucks is shop labour cost? Where I live 45 bucks is under the table labour cost for automotive.
Hey guys, have a quick tire question here. My '11 Mustang GT still has the stock tires on it, which are Pirelli 255/40 ZR 19 P-Zero's. They're getting down to the end of their wear and I'm looking for replacements. Problem is, to replace them with the same exact tire is about $1600 for a full set of 4, and that's a bit more than I want to throw down. Guy at the shop said he can get me a set of 245/45 ZR 19 Pirelli p-zero nero's for a lot less. And I'm just wondering if I can get away with the smaller width tires.
Are you going through a dealer for that price? TireRack has your OEM P-Zero's for about $400 less than your quoted price... They also have the Nero's for about a grand in the 255/40/19 size, instead of a narrower tire with more sidewall (which may lead to wear issues down the road).
No dealer, just the local tire shop up by my folks. (Reason being, my brother has the same car as I do, only it's a '12, and he got a set of the 245/40/19 Nero's for $900. And that was including mounting, balancing, etc.) The guy that runs the shop said he could get me the same deal, just wasn't sure if it was something I should look into.
Can the TPMS be changed DIY? I've got one bad sensor. Two shop quotes I got were $145 - $175. The "exact fit" part on different websites varies from $30 - $90. There is a button-press procedure for resetting the TMPS on the vehicle. Once I change out the TMPS (friend has a mount/balance machine I can use to break bead and remove tire), can I just use the reset procedure? Or, do I have to do some fancy recalibration thing? Confused.
Re: Re: The Automotive Thread What kind of vehicle? The sensors are easy to change if you have access to a tire machine. The reset procedure varies
That's part of my problem - I keep getting mixed information on this. On some of Chevy's I've driven, the sensors report the actual pressure number in each tire. On this Highlander, the light is either on or off - it doesn't tell me which tire or what the pressure is. It would suit me to just remove the TPMS in the tire that's reporting a bad signal, if that would make the light go off. The shop where I had the oil changed are guys that told me which tire was reporting bad, so they obviously had a scan tool of some kind, since it doesn't display that. But, I don't know if the tool is require for calibration. I feel like it's not, because there's a specific button under the knee space and a procedure in the owner's manual for resetting it. Where I live the climate doesn't change that much, but the manual suggests that in areas where there's a drastic weather change, after reinflating a low tire, recalibrating may be necessary. And, that's what that button is for. So, I was thinking I might be able to change the sensor, then recalibrate with that.