jprevost

Hi, I'm new to the forum and would like to say that I'm not new to cars. I am very handy and will hopefully be able to recontribute back what I get from this forum. To start off, I was a member of SAE, recently decided it wasn't worth the membership considering I'm no longer in the industry as a car-eer .
Anywho, a little background on the car;
Unknown maintenance, said to have had intake gasket replaced and "everything" done to it before it was given to a college kid for a year. It hasn't been started in some time so I had to fill a flat (tires have all tread left), replace the radiator (was reason for car sitting and being sold), and replace the battery. It runs, and seems to run well. On 1st start and a long time to idle I noticed a little bit of white steam coming from the tail-pipe. I'm hoping it's just water vapor that's been sitting in the exhaust and not a gasket issue. Either way I paid j/k, actually $650 for this car because of the repairs needed and the fact that it has... get ready for this... 198k miles! lol
SO, long winded but here are some questions;
The headlights look dull, any good replacements or should I just do the polishing (I'm good at it).
Are there any good brake line upgrades to a stiffer stainless sleeved teflon?
Anybody think it worthwhile to upgrade the steel to alloy wheels?
Thanks, and I'll try and recontribute as I can.

maxwedge

Welcome to AF. There are lense polishing kits at most parts houses, why the brake line up grade what are you looking for here? Alloy wheels save rolling mass and look nice, might cool the brakes a little better also.

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jprevost

Thanks. I'll give the polishing a try 1st and post up the results with pictures.
The brake line upgrade is a thing I try and do with all of my vehicles. Having driven race cars and my own camaro (heavily moded), I just can't stand driving with the soft pedal. The throttle is still direct cable (as apposed to DBWire) so I figured I'd get the brake to feel the same way as the throttle.
I only ask about the Alloys because I've got a competition with a friend who has a 3.8L 2005 Buick with only 25k miles. The person that gets better mileage pays for a dinner! Very friendly and I have some tricks up my sleeve. Not that buying new wheels offsets the cost of a dinner, but if the tires are the same size I'd look into picking up a set of alloys for summer/winter tread.
I think ebay will be my friend when trying to get this car into respectable condition.

maxwedge

Tough competition on the mileage, my 2003 Lesabre gets about 30.5 on the h,way at 70 mph. The brake hose may give a slightly firmer pedal, maybe, but typically GM cars/trucks are not known for firm pedal feel.

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jprevost

The brake hose is typically soft on GM, hence my reason for looking for the stiffer aftermarket. I called up Earl's (plumbing division of Holley) and they got me in contact with an internal specialist that will make me some. Really it's not hard for them. I had a custom set made not long ago for my camaro because it has racing willwood calipers and I ran new hard-line!
Nothing upsets me more than having too soft of a brake pedal. One thing about this car that does impress me is the stock 16" steel wheels and disc's in the rear are standard. That's a fine base car.
Yesterday I changed the oil and noticed some leaks. No big deal but while I was under there I pulled things around and found that the half-shafts look to need replacing. Other than that the car seems pretty sturdy. I'm loving the fact that it uses an aluminum front sub-frame. That's rather exotic for a domestic built taxi