Howdy from the ATX
09-12-2015, 12:33 PM
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Howdy from the ATX I'm here in support of the '02 Firebird coupe in my driveway, largely inert since this past May. It is/was my youngest daughter's first car; it fit her rather lofty standards for sportiness/cuteness, and at $3500 seemed to be the right fit for my wallet. She and her mother bought it and brought it home while I was out of town on business; I didn't have a chance to inspect it but we were all pretty tired of looking at cars and wanted to get it done. And so...
After two weeks, the car went crazy on her on her drive home from school in a rainstorm one day; I looked under the hood and found that the alternator mount bolt had stripped itself free from the block, thus throwing the serpentine belt. As an inexperienced driver it's a wonder she was able to get it home, period, with no power anything, including radiator fans... it overheated and scared the wits out of her, but she made it. I was able to address the alternator mount problem with a longer bolt that would reach the deeper, still intact threads, but that was just the beginning of our woes.
Among his many other vices, the seller of the car hollowed out the cat while in his home state of LA; TX law mandates that it be in place. So I took it to a garage to get the exhaust system re-done; on the 10 minute drive over, the vehicle once again overheated and spit antifreeze all over the engine bay. At that point it became more than just an exhaust issue; we asked the mechanics to run it through their engine diagnostics; they reported back a bad pressure check, bad tranny, bad radiator/cooling system... in effect, everything under the hood was blown. The process of re-titling/registering the car in TX immediately ceased, consideration was then given to acquiring a salvage title, but nothing has happened since late May... and the car continues to sit while my daughter still mourns it, occasionally, between instances of looking at much more expensive cars as a replacement.
This week I found her crying over it again, but this time was willing to discuss restoring the car to operation once again- this is a BIG step for her, as she was initially scared of having anything to do with the car after what happened to her that day after school. I figured we already spent the money, the rest of the car is in pretty sound shape, and it's ridiculous to look at it as a financial investment since there's little chance of recouping any resale value out of what should be my kid's daily driver for a few years.
So now... I'm in the process of pricing out a replacement engine/drivetrain, exhaust, cooling system, tires/wheels... the list goes on and on.
And since I plan on checking LS1TECH regularly for advice/tips, I figured I'd do the friendly thing and sign in. Hope to meet some really smart 'Poncho' types in here (is that phrase still used?) HEH - yes, I'm kind of old-school.
After two weeks, the car went crazy on her on her drive home from school in a rainstorm one day; I looked under the hood and found that the alternator mount bolt had stripped itself free from the block, thus throwing the serpentine belt. As an inexperienced driver it's a wonder she was able to get it home, period, with no power anything, including radiator fans... it overheated and scared the wits out of her, but she made it. I was able to address the alternator mount problem with a longer bolt that would reach the deeper, still intact threads, but that was just the beginning of our woes.
Among his many other vices, the seller of the car hollowed out the cat while in his home state of LA; TX law mandates that it be in place. So I took it to a garage to get the exhaust system re-done; on the 10 minute drive over, the vehicle once again overheated and spit antifreeze all over the engine bay. At that point it became more than just an exhaust issue; we asked the mechanics to run it through their engine diagnostics; they reported back a bad pressure check, bad tranny, bad radiator/cooling system... in effect, everything under the hood was blown. The process of re-titling/registering the car in TX immediately ceased, consideration was then given to acquiring a salvage title, but nothing has happened since late May... and the car continues to sit while my daughter still mourns it, occasionally, between instances of looking at much more expensive cars as a replacement.
This week I found her crying over it again, but this time was willing to discuss restoring the car to operation once again- this is a BIG step for her, as she was initially scared of having anything to do with the car after what happened to her that day after school. I figured we already spent the money, the rest of the car is in pretty sound shape, and it's ridiculous to look at it as a financial investment since there's little chance of recouping any resale value out of what should be my kid's daily driver for a few years.
So now... I'm in the process of pricing out a replacement engine/drivetrain, exhaust, cooling system, tires/wheels... the list goes on and on.
And since I plan on checking LS1TECH regularly for advice/tips, I figured I'd do the friendly thing and sign in. Hope to meet some really smart 'Poncho' types in here (is that phrase still used?) HEH - yes, I'm kind of old-school.
