| My new long-term project | |
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+10sdstick 96Brougham GasTT Matt Trakker BoSStonsSS boojum V8Killer toomanytoyz mean ss bammax 14 posters |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:10 pm | |
| Well after driving my new tank around for a couple weeks I'm at the stage where I need to decide what direction to go with it. The body stuff is already decided right down to the color scheme. The interior is pretty much figured out. I'm still up in the air on some of the details like seats and such, but the basic theme and coloring is decided. The suspension has been decided since I already have it from the Caprice. Here's where I need opinions: The brakes are a sticking point right now because I need to decide which bolt pattern to run. I can swap the fronts over to '95 spec and then swap in an SS rear which will give me the '95 SS spec brakes and wheel options. It will also allow me the chance to add abs in the future. OR I can run 1le fronts and then track down an older 8.5 rear and keep the stock 5x4-3/4" bolt pattern. This would allow me a wider range of wheels but the 1le rotors cost a small fortune and the rear may be tricky to find. The second issue is the engine. I'm looking at either a turbo 3.8, a basic 350, or I can go all out for a 455. I'd have fun with the turbo but it'll end up being expensive to tune and maintain I'm thinking. The 455 will take the most work to install and will be a nightmare on gas, but the 350 may end up being a bit boring and may also be the hardest to find performance parts for. I'm totally lost on this point, especially since I can snag any of the 3 engines for under a grand. If anyone has any insight then let it out and don't hold back. Just remember that some of you guys may end up helping me with the install so don't get too crazy | |
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mean ss
Posts : 648 Join date : 2009-02-25 Age : 66 Location : Nashua NH.
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:18 pm | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:38 pm | |
| That's a mute point right now I'm keeping it a secret until the lunch next week. I'm trying to drive up attendence for the first group outing of the new year. Plus it's not photo worthy yet. I mean come on I had a Caprice that wasn't even photo worthy to the guy who bought it from me. What kind of shape is this car going to be in since I paid exactly half as much for it as I did the Caprice | |
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mean ss
Posts : 648 Join date : 2009-02-25 Age : 66 Location : Nashua NH.
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:00 pm | |
| as long as its not a fugly buick | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:10 pm | |
| Not all Buicks are fugly Just the white ones with the wagon part on the back from the mid-90's | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:15 pm | |
| Here's the type of car I almost had | |
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mean ss
Posts : 648 Join date : 2009-02-25 Age : 66 Location : Nashua NH.
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:26 pm | |
| The GNX is one of my dream cars | |
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toomanytoyz Club President
Posts : 6876 Join date : 2009-01-20 Age : 47 Location : East Hampstead, NH USA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:15 pm | |
| We need more information as to the the weight at least. And what your goals for the car are. Track warrior? Street warrior? Sleeper? Daily? Mileage requirements? Auto or manual? Overdrive?
We need more.
But... I'll go with... Swap in the later brakes and axle and an LT1 and 4L60. The car will be lighter (I assume) and the LT1 will scoot it along pretty good (maybe 13's?), still have a "wow" factor for the swap, and still have excellent drivability, reliability, and mileage. | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:38 pm | |
| It's going to be the same as the Caprice was. Anywhere from 500 to 1,500 miles a month. Almost never raced. Basically a car that's reliable and comfortable on the street, but with enough power to get up to speed fast on the highway. I'd say the little l99 was pretty good for my driving style but not quite enough fun on sunny days. So I guess something with 300 horses and 300ft-lbs or more would be the baseline to work from. Like I said all 3 engines fit the bill and are about the same price to shoehorn in. I'm just not sure which way to go with it.
It's going to be mated to a 200-4r since that's what I have and I like the idea of it being basic but with overdrive.
And no LT1's for me. I've had my fill of Gen2 | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:44 pm | |
| - bammax wrote:
- It's going to be the same as the Caprice was. Anywhere from 500 to 1,500 miles a month. Almost never raced. Basically a car that's reliable and comfortable on the street, but with enough power to get up to speed fast on the highway. I'd say the little l99 was pretty good for my driving style but not quite enough fun on sunny days. So I guess something with 300 horses and 300ft-lbs or more would be the baseline to work from. Like I said all 3 engines fit the bill and are about the same price to shoehorn in. I'm just not sure which way to go with it.
It's going to be mated to a 200-4r since that's what I have and I like the idea of it being basic but with overdrive.
And no LT1's for me. I've had my fill of Gen2 Just drop a 400 in it with a holley 750 dp. Or go big block. A nice 454 with a th350 or th400 should give plenty of power with a intake and 850 carb |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 21, 2010 11:32 pm | |
| Since everyone wants to jump the gun on what I bought.....I'll post up the original ad for anyone that wants to cut me a great deal on a pair of n97's | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:39 pm | |
| Is anyone up for helping me with my suspension swap in the spring? I'm swapping in new springs/shocks front and rear, new front spindles and lower control arms, along with new rotors and pads and such. Not going to open up the brakes at all so no need to worry about that mess.
I'm going in for surgery at some point in April or May (I'll find out the exact date at the end of March) and I'd like to have the car done before then if possible. Depending on how it goes and the recovery time I may not get a chance to do any work on it for a while and I'd rather not have the parts in my way for that much longer. My big issue is that I just don't have a place to do the work since my apartment complex frowns on that stuff, and I don't have the ability to do it all by myself.
Any help would be greatly appreciated | |
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V8Killer
Posts : 1691 Join date : 2009-03-12 Age : 52 Location : Southern, NH
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:18 pm | |
| I really need to get a pic of the spid label of this car. I've never seen one with so few codes. The engine is an option, and it has a/c. That's about it from what I can tell. The manual cloth bench seat doesn't even have a back adjustment. I'm pretty sure it's a truck seat that's upholstered to match the car interior. Sure is comfy though All told the spid has 2 full lines and a couple items on the third line. A far cry from the Caprice that had about 5 lines of code. I figure once you subtract the basic codes for drivetrain and trim that the actual option sheet for this car must have been damn near blank | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:39 pm | |
| So I'm guessing nobody is up for lending a hand with the suspension stuff right yet. Can anyone provide some good insight on the best way to do it. Basically it's swapping the spindle and lower control arms (5/8" bj upgrade) as well as a standard lowering shock/spring swap. I'd like to get it done as easily as possible since I don't have alot of energy to put into it. And no I won't just bring it to a shop since the ones around here charge a small fortune and won't let me supply my own parts. | |
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boojum
Posts : 2182 Join date : 2009-01-21 Age : 36 Location : NH
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:21 pm | |
| Maybe in May. April is a rough month for me with car inspection time. I could help with an alignment if you do the grunt work. | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:24 pm | |
| An alignment sounds nice. I'm hoping to get the stuff done in March since the car is already squeeling for new brakes. Plus I don't know when I'm going to be out of commision and don't want to put everything off until it's too late. | |
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boojum
Posts : 2182 Join date : 2009-01-21 Age : 36 Location : NH
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:25 pm | |
| I should have qualified that with "of course I will need to know what kind of car it is". | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:30 pm | |
| It's a b-body. Getting Caprice/Impala parts as a matter of fact. Hence needing to change the bolt pattern over to the 91+ style | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:33 pm | |
| Only Billy knows for sure Maybe that's why the lunch got cancelled? Everyone was going to find out and he wouldn't be in on the secret anymore | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:28 am | |
| You just need to swap in a 91+ rearend, and front rotors. |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:46 am | |
| - IMPALADAKID wrote:
- You just need to swap in a 91+ rearend, and front rotors.
That's the plan. The front is coming up very soon. Then I'll rock the stock hubcaps until I swap the rear so that it's not obvious that I'm running mismatched wheels. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:09 pm | |
| - bammax wrote:
- IMPALADAKID wrote:
- You just need to swap in a 91+ rearend, and front rotors.
That's the plan. The front is coming up very soon. Then I'll rock the stock hubcaps until I swap the rear so that it's not obvious that I'm running mismatched wheels. Or keep your 4.75, and get some gn wheels. |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:18 pm | |
| I was checkin those out, but they tend to be a bit out of my price range. Same with the gta wheels, even though Doug may have a set available soon.
I already have the lower control arms and spindles which may not be compatible with the stock disks since the caliper position is slightly different. So it's all or nothing and I don't want to sell off the parts I already have at a loss. Plus this way I can run SS wheels if I decide to get a big brake kit later. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:39 pm | |
| - bammax wrote:
- Same with the gta wheels, even though Doug may have a set available soon.
The rear wheels have a different offset, and the tires will rub the frame. You would need four front wheels. |
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toomanytoyz Club President
Posts : 6876 Join date : 2009-01-20 Age : 47 Location : East Hampstead, NH USA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:55 pm | |
| If it'll work, I may be persuaded out of the 2.93 rear from my wagon... It's getting an SS rear this spring. | |
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V8Killer
Posts : 1691 Join date : 2009-03-12 Age : 52 Location : Southern, NH
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:51 pm | |
| It's a lot easier to find wheels that are 5x4.75 that 5x5, then you would'nt have to swap the rear axle either. How bout chevy rallies? Those are usually easy to find. The vette ones are 15x8 with 4" backspace. | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:22 am | |
| The wheels aint the issue. I'm looking to swap in rear disks in an 8.5" housing and that's easier to do by swapping in the SS or 9c1 rear. Plus I already have the control arm and spindle set for the 12" brakes. I don't think I'd be able to use them with my stock 11" brakes since the caliper probably wount line up correctly. The 1LE brakes are hard to come by and are very expensive.
Looks like I'm pretty much forced into this way of doing things just to avoid spending more money and time trying to fit certain wheels. | |
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BoSStonsSS
Posts : 770 Join date : 2009-01-22 Age : 36 Location : BOSTON,MA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:37 am | |
| i selll you the rims i have on the impala now. the ones i bought off of fisha. just need a good powdercoating | |
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Matt Trakker
Posts : 5093 Join date : 2009-07-30 Age : 42 Location : Reading, MA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Mar 03, 2010 1:21 pm | |
| - V8Killer wrote:
- It's a lot easier to find wheels that are 5x4.75 that 5x5, then you would'nt have to swap the rear axle either. How bout chevy rallies? Those are usually easy to find. The vette ones are 15x8 with 4" backspace.
Agreed. I wouldn't bother. There are plenty of nice aftermarket wheels in that size too...with the 5x5, you can find cool wheels, but most of the time it's factory 94-6 SS wheels or truck and van Rally wheels. Original style 15" rally wheels look excellent on the 77-90 cars, with blackwalls or whitewalls. | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:46 pm | |
| If I can snag a set of 1le rotors for the same ballpark price that I paid for the Caprice ones then I'm going to put off the great wheel pattern swap for a bit. I really need to stay on a tight budget with this car I'm thinking. So if anyone has some 1le's laying around or can get some cheap let me know. The parts places want over $100 each and the dealers in this area are worse. I know I can snag em cheaper online but shipping makes it pointless since they weight 30lbs each. | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:51 pm | |
| So I discovered yesterday why I have so much body lean. Turns out the passenger side sway bar mounting bolt rotted to the point of the end snapping off. I assume the other side is in the same situation. So basically the end of the rod is sitting about 1/2" above the bolt that it's supposed to be attatched to. All I could think when I saw it was "good thing I'm swapping out control arms because that bolt aint going to come out of the old arm anytime soon"
On a side note my new brakes are here and I need to go out when it stops raining and make sure they fit in the old wheels. If so then I can take my time looking for new wheels and try to snag a good deal. If they don't clear then I need to grab a set of wheels before mod-day.
My new long-term plan is to make this into a sleeper drag car that also serves street duty. It'll be easier then making it a really nice road car considering the amount of work the body/interior needs and the difficulty in finding parts. | |
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GasTT
Posts : 2675 Join date : 2009-01-19 Age : 36 Location : Treasure Coast, FL
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:33 pm | |
| dude seriously, post the f***ing car already. What's the 'secret' all about? is it a super ultra rare model we've never seen before or something??
WORTHLESS THREAD WITHOUT PICS..... | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:41 am | |
| dude seriously, there is no secret. Everyone who bothered to has already seen it and a few have ridden in it. I just don't bother with pics since I don't like dealing with cameras. I get confused by cameras that don't have the little plastic clicky wheel that spins between pics | |
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Matt Trakker
Posts : 5093 Join date : 2009-07-30 Age : 42 Location : Reading, MA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:58 pm | |
| I've seen the mystery car...I also meant to talk to Brad aboUt hIs mystery Car at the meet because I have a soft spot for such mystery cars, but by the time I realized I was going to asK him about his mystery car and faiLEd to do So, I wAs heading down Route 108 in my non-mystery car psyched about my tires I Bought from Doug and Rolled past Brad's mystEry car to get them to my non-mystery car. However I'm sure I will see the aforementioned mystery car again in the future at another mystery meet. | |
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boojum
Posts : 2182 Join date : 2009-01-21 Age : 36 Location : NH
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Mar 31, 2010 9:17 pm | |
| Maybe someone that knoWs How to use A camera can Take pictures for You and post thEm AfteR mod day at Dougs. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Mar 31, 2010 9:26 pm | |
| wHy aRe we taLking LikE thIs? iS thiS dRunk typiNg? |
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96Brougham
Posts : 819 Join date : 2009-02-02 Age : 36 Location : Easton MA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:58 pm | |
| "knoWs How to use A camera can Take pictures for You and post thEm AfteR mod day"
W H A T Y E A R
?? | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:14 pm | |
| Billy can bring a camera and take pictures of all the "not my" cars like he did last fall. Then when he wants to buy it he'll lay on the ground in the dirt taking pics. He's funny like that By the way Billy, you need a new sig since that car is no longer with us | |
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sdstick
Posts : 4292 Join date : 2009-03-20 Location : Revere, MA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Fri Apr 02, 2010 6:10 am | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Fri Apr 02, 2010 6:32 am | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Fri Apr 02, 2010 11:28 am | |
| You mean your daughters almost mint quarter panel or my current rotten one? | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:30 pm | |
| Okay so today I go out to the car and the windshield has a nice 6+ inch v-shaped crack in the corner. The suprising part is it was the only corner that didn't already have a small crack or chip in it Guess the body twist from the worn suspension, along with the slightly caved in roof over the windshield frame is going to make for a few replacements before I'm done with this car. I'm tempted to go with Lexan but I hear that will make this car no longer windshield wiper compatible Anyone know a good, fairly cheap, glass place that will do free replacements when it cracks again in a few months? | |
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bammax
Posts : 2301 Join date : 2009-02-22 Age : 42 Location : Mansfield, Ma
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:39 pm | |
| Safelite says $196 plus $5 for disposal fee and $8 for trim/misc and then tax. For $5 more I can get the glass with the built in antenna. I've heard some bad reviews about them though so I'm not sure if I should look at another company. Any input would be appreciated. | |
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Matt Trakker
Posts : 5093 Join date : 2009-07-30 Age : 42 Location : Reading, MA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Tue Apr 06, 2010 11:08 pm | |
| I doubt you'd get one with a warranty- if there are any existing problems like rust, damage, etc. in the window channel, oftentimes the glass place will void the warranty on the job because they can't guarantee the glass won't fail after a while because of it not fitting right, the urethane getting popped off from surface rust, and so on.
I have comprehensive on my car ins. policy so all my glass replacements are free. In MA, the repair deductible basically does not apply to glass replacement. I just had to get a new windshield for the 93 yesterday as a chip appeared under one of my wipers last week and caused a crack to start coming up and across the windshield. I was glad it happened, because my windshield was completely swirled to hell, I couldn't see where I was going at night when headlights came at me, and the wipers would barely clear the water off. Anyway, the seal at the bottom where the old glue was exhibited a lot of surface rust. I think it was replaced before and the prev. installer might have scraped up the paint so bad getting the old sealant off (and then didn't paint it) that it rusted. They gave me this spiel about "you should take this to have it sandblasted at a body shop for it to be done right, might be 500 bucks" and all that crap, but I just had them grind down and paint the area instead since I'm not going to pay half of what I paid for the car for something like that. Because of this, the install isn't guaranteed, but who cares, if it presents a problem and my glass should wind up chipped again (cough cough) I can just get another one for nothing.
Glass places make very little per install from what I hear and make most of the money on the actual windshield, so I'm guessing they want to find every avenue they can to not have to guarantee the job.
I've heard bad things about Giant, I've always just gone to JN Phillips, but have heard good things about New Angle Glass Co. | |
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Cadet57
Posts : 4481 Join date : 2010-03-14 Age : 36 Location : Chicopee, MA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Tue Apr 06, 2010 11:53 pm | |
| I need to get a chip fixed. I keep putting it off. I'm going to call JN Phillips or Safelite. Its smaller than a dime so i'm pretty sure its fixable. | |
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Matt Trakker
Posts : 5093 Join date : 2009-07-30 Age : 42 Location : Reading, MA
| Subject: Re: My new long-term project Wed Apr 07, 2010 12:48 am | |
| - Cadet57 wrote:
- I need to get a chip fixed. I keep putting it off. I'm going to call JN Phillips or Safelite. Its smaller than a dime so i'm pretty sure its fixable.
If it's on the driver's side of the windshield, you have to get a new one. Another reason why I just have comprehensive fire and theft on my policy, I've even had a power rear window on my 88 Suburban replaced before. lol | |
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