Grand Am off topic thread

Ride,

Thanks for the kind words, I don't think of myself as an asset {maybe if you drop the last 2 letters it would fit me better LOL.}, I am out here doing something I love to do, I love talking cars and it gets even better when you can talk with a bunch of people that have the same car. As for my know how it has just come from good old fashion experience. I only know abotu the stuff that I've been through, when it comes to mods and new technology I'm limited to my 96 GT. You youger guys are the technomods [NEW WORD I THINK, i kind of like it...]
TECHNOMOD: Tek-no-mod-...One who knows the techincal aspects of the upgrade and after market parts required to increase and inhance the horsepower and performance of the Pontiac Grand Am SE and GT models, but not limited to the Quad 4 and/or the V6 (with or with out the Ram Air option).

Sorry, way off track, any way like I was saying, I just do this for the fun of it the part about helping people is a great benefit to the fun. But just the same than you for the kind words.

Tam: the same goes for you, thanks for the kind words, this would not be as enjoyable if not for your wit and humor that you send my way. [ example: your intended sarcasm in the PM from the other day.]

To any others that are becoming regulars on the GA Forum: I'm glad to help with any problems you may have to the best of my abilities.

SUBJECT CHANGE: My little girl passed her Drivers Learners Permit Test, she is however a little hesitant about getting behind the wheel. But Thank you to all who have wished her the best, she thought it was great, that people we don't even know wished her good luck. I explained to her that the group of people on the GA forum are a great group that get a lot of enjoyment from helping others.

Thanks you guys,
Dan

That sounds great. It's cool that you can feel that way about other people that you dont really know that are helpping you in anyway they can. And that is cool that your daughter permit. When i got my permit all i thought about and wanted to do was drive, now im just looking forward to getting my license in july so i can power around in the time of my summer vacation with my friends.

Grandam, that sounds like a great plan, When I got my permit at 16 (A LONG TIME AGO), in Pa you only had to wait 30 days before taking your test. My dad used to be a driver training instructer and taught me how to drive in about two weeks, it helpped that I used to take mom's car around the neighborhood when I was only 15 yrs. old, I think the old man knew about it but he never said anything about it.
It was great getting the liscence in the summer, being able to cruise around with out having to worry about slick roads made it a lot easier to handle the bad weather when it finally came.

Talking about people you don't really know...please do me one favor...when you get out by yourself in July, just be cool for a while, I really hate it when a young person gets in an accident shortly after getting their liscence. You will be driving for a long time so don't rush into anything. [ Sorry, fatherly instinct kicked in].

Well, I gotta run, I'll post at you tomarrow,
Dan

How long ago, Dan????????? :p Glad the daughter got her permit, now get ready for the insurance, sigh :2cents: :banghead:

But, I sure with your guidance, she'll be a good driver. And, it is always my opinion, start them with an auto-trans first, so they get the bugs of new-driver stuff worked out, then put their hands on a standard. Everyone should know how to run a standard. [And, my opinion, they not only more fun, they allow ya to stay "in-tune" with the ride, though they sem impractical for start-stop daily-daily inner city driving, sigh]

Brings memory of last ex~~~~~~~~ I bought a Jeep, 5-speed standard, thought I'd treat myself to some 4wd capability, and surprise the ex. She looked at the shift lever and knob shift-pattern, then at the clutch, like they were alien creatures come to spirit her away from earth. Priceless!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, after a clutch replace, she was hopeless, and I divorced her, LMFAO. J/K, guys, J/K, though not about the clutch. :banghead:

Anyhoo, the Jeep lasted longer than she did :lol2:

At least my current Lady knows how to run a stick, no, [well, maybe so, hehe] pun intended. :tongue: Take that, Ride, you ain't the only buck in the woods, LOL, buddy.

Hoo boy, I shouldn't come in here on no sleep, sigh.

New meaning to Grinding Gears !!!!

Hey, Ride's not the only ladies man around here... I'm not one I've been with my sweetie for 21 years, August marks the 18th annaversary.

She too can run a stick...The damn GAGT gets more hand shaking than I do. I think I gave up too much when she took over the car. Maybe that's why it's running so freaking good!

Tam, I too need some sleep, going on about 1 &1/2 hours last night, (foot kept me up...it really sucks at times.), but I am getting used to sleeping 1 to 2 hours a night, sometimes 3 to 4 if I'm lucky.

See things have changed so much...I think I'm getting lucky if I get 3 to 4 hours of sleep. Man am I twisted?

Nah, Dan, I emphathize with your physical hassle. Understood.

I had a chance to drive the GAGT today, the wife took the XL-7 because she messed up her shoulder and was having trouble shifting gears. I forgot how quick that car can be. It has given me an urge to make some modifications to squeeze out some more performance, but I then realize that with the boy wanting the car when he turns 16 I do not want to unleash too much performance on a new driver. That's OK it is still a bunch of fun to drive.

JEEZ what happened? I go away for 2 days, and now it's two pages later? Now i have to play catch up and read all the posts!!!

haha, yea. i got the car takin away from me cause i got a bad grade in one of my classes but im bringing it up but either way i lost it till sometime in june...it suck cause i cant work on it.

Ride,

Thanks for the kind words, I don't think of myself as an asset {maybe if you drop the last 2 letters it would fit me better LOL.}, I am out here doing something I love to do, I love talking cars and it gets even better when you can talk with a bunch of people that have the same car. As for my know how it has just come from good old fashion experience. I only know abotu the stuff that I've been through, when it comes to mods and new technology I'm limited to my 96 GT. You youger guys are the technomods [NEW WORD I THINK, i kind of like it...]
TECHNOMOD: Tek-no-mod-...One who knows the techincal aspects of the upgrade and after market parts required to increase and inhance the horsepower and performance of the Pontiac Grand Am SE and GT models, but not limited to the Quad 4 and/or the V6 (with or with out the Ram Air option).

LoL - right on Dan! :) Haha I love your deffinition of Technomod - great word to use from now on.

At least my current Lady knows how to run a stick, no, [well, maybe so, hehe] pun intended. Take that, Ride, you ain't the only buck in the woods, LOL, buddy.

Hoo boy, I shouldn't come in here on no sleep, sigh.

LoL! :biggrin: - Ohh.... It's ON Tam!! LoL - that reminds me of a thing actually I saw somewhere on AF a long time ago. Some dude was talking about how his girlfriend "beat a stick the other night" LoL and then some guy said "Yeh,... it was mine." :icon16: LoL that cracks me up.

New meaning to Grinding Gears !!!!

Hey, Ride's not the only ladies man around here... I'm not one I've been with my sweetie for 21 years, August marks the 18th annaversary.

She too can run a stick...The damn GAGT gets more hand shaking than I do. I think I gave up too much when she took over the car. Maybe that's why it's running so freaking good!

LoL - oh my gosh you guys crack me up :) :lol: - hey congratulations on your long marriage, Dan. In today's world of divorcing and shit like that, It's great to here about relationships that have held that long. I'm very lucky also - (not married obviously) - but I have parents that have been married 27 years.... or oh shit, maybe it was 28?? I don't remember o well LoL

Hey dan I wouldn't worry about getting too much horsepower into the GA for you son to handle. You can have the power be there, but take him out and teach him how to control it. I mean, you probably won't get huge amounts of uncontrollable power, it's not like it's enough or rear wheel drive or anything where he could loose control just by getting on it (unless you were to consider wicked torque-steer on gravel) - he will still be able to go fast in the car, yes - but the main thing is being able to control the vehicle. Take him out on a skid-pad if you can find one (wet parking lot works) and teach him skid recovery, stuff like that. Snowy / icy parking lots are a great way for him to practice winter driving reaction also. I've learned so much shit bombing around in parking lots, it's saved me a couple times on my 60-70 mile daily drive. He'll go from being a white-knuckled "oh-shit, I'm gonna crash if I hit a sliver of ice" to being a relaxed, alert, responsive, confident driver who knows that he knows how to control his car if something happens. Obviously you don't want him to get a big head thinking he's a badass driver or anything, but I think you get my point :) - good luck with the young-un.

Grandamdriver - that kind of stinks. Just hang in there though pal, it's part of their parently thinking. They want you to associate the absence of your cool car with bad grades = your mind wants better grades to get car back. Just hang in there, do better, don't worry about your gone car, and you'll get it back eventually. Shit like this happens when you're in high school - in a few years, they won't be able to do a damn thing to you. And someday you can pull up in your fully-modded GTO (much like myself in 3 years :smokin: ) and be like "yehh... what now parents? Go ahead and try to take away / stop me from moddin that!! LoL good luck to you man

Oh hey, on a side-not, I just finished my last day of my Senior year yesterday! Whoopy!!! :) I still have LAMP (that GM class you guys have probably heard me talk about before) until early June, however. Blagh. It's worth it though. Good luck to you all, I should be able to increase my forum time now that schools over... for good :evillol: Bwahahghgh!!! .... well, until July 1st that is :( LoL. Talk to you all later.

Ride: Congrads on finishing up your senior year, it's a great feeling to know that your are done with the required education, from now on your education is optional.

As for the Car-Woman thing I have a feeling it could get pretty ugly. I just hope that we can refrain from from using the real nasty stuff.

Grandam: that's too bad about the car...Good luck getting that grade up. June's coming quick and with any luck your mom and dad will let up on you.

Well, I gotta run, I'll catch you guys tomarrow.

Just a gggrrrrrrrr, I don't care if flatrater gets ticked, I will not mention a "certain" FREE site that can be of immeasurable help to drivers anymore. But it is OKAY that so many pay-to-get-information sites get listed here. Just scroll down, see what is FREE!!!!!!!!!! Not knocking those sites, if I had the bucks, I might entertain the idea of $30 for a subscription. Sadly, $30 for a site that gives essentially the same as a certain site I offerred to members for free, was chastised.

That's cool, but I can use those $30 to fill my tank, or buy a part to install myself, not a labor fee for a certified master mechanic to work on the ride or giving someone I really don't know money for "hopefully" good repair information. I in no way disparage the person, it is a tremendous accomplishment, and a damn good living, but some of us can't fork over the $$ if we can avoid it , by doing our own repairs. And while that may threaten the livelihood of mechanics in dealerships, don't fret, you have enough people who will bring their rides in to be repaired no matter what. GM has seen to that. I know, I have buddies behind the counters, and ASE mech.'s who have stated to me so.

my rant, I do apologize, I mean no offense to anyone, just my practical view of things, so I will shut up now.

For $30.00, you are not even going to get a full hour's worth of work from a certified machanic. I know for a fact that the dealership's in my area are getting $60.00 to $75.00 per hour.

Unfortunatly, you are right about GM seeing that there are " DEALER ONLY" parts and repairs. Heaven forbid if I run into one of these repairs, I just can't afford it. Someone ripped off my winshield washer nozzle, probably because it's a dealer only item, who wants to go through the hastle and expense,

Dan, much as I'd like to respond, I said I'd shut up, buddy, and I try to be a man of my word, NET or otherwise. I think you will understand.

U still da MAN!!!!!!!!!

That's cool ! As far as I'm concerned YOU ARE THE MAN. Any way...Subject dropped!!!

the dealership i work in gets $78 an hr :eek:

the dealership i work in gets $78 an hr :eek:

I'm definetly in the wrong profession.....:banghead:

hey guys, still waitin to get my car back, but im getting new rims. Me and the old man talked about it becuase mine are getting bad but he wants them stock...as well as me too. I was wondering, i found some that i liked, 16"x6.5" and om pretty sure they will fit becuase that is the same size as my other ones. i was lookin at them and they said from 01-04 rims. will they work even though they say its for a 01 and newer?

Yeah they'll work. You should have any problem with them fitting your car. Hopefully your getting the chrome one, cause with your car being black, if would really set the rims off.

haha, not black, but dark green

yea, it will be awsome when i get my gto, im already saving for a month or two and have made over $900 and i get more hours in the summer so i will get a big increase of money, i just want it really bad because i love driving a stick. my dad has a 95 S-10 with a 2.2l and i love driving that and thats a little thing!

haha, not black, but dark green


sorry in the picture you have it looks black. My bad

yea, i know, its too dark to see. yea, im gettin chrome and it will cost me 450. it is a major steal because each are like 150 but they are selling a set of 4 for 450. it will take me a bit to get them tho. somewhere in the months range. will have to show you pics when i get them.

is any one else ticked off about the g6 replacing the grand am i heard about it awile ago and now that i am seeing more and more of them driving around i cant belive how plain they look, granted the retracting roof might be cool but havent seen one of those yet, my feelings anyway i might be bias being my 99 grand am is the second car ive owned i love the looks of the 99 and later as well as the power in them, correct me if i am wrong but i read an mag that was raving about the g6 and how it was faster than the grand ams they replaced but if i remember right it only beats the grand am by like .1 sec in 0-60 and i think .2 sec in the 1/4. i just had to let off a little. maybe i get a chance to race one some day

Well Mcbeefer, all I can say is give it a chance. I have grown up around Pontiacs, ever since I was little I have been into the new Pontiacs. I can rember the days when GM would kep the new models hidden untill " New Car Announcement" it used to be a celebration. The biggest drawback to that was you never had a chance to see the replacements until that day. My point being, you never had a chance to get any info before the car came out, unlike today where you get all the secrets before the car hits the ground. I liked the old days, even then you had to " let the car grow on you". I think one of the models that was hardest to get used to was the 1980 Firebirds/Camaros, going from Burt Reynolds and the black/gold bird to the Night Rider, I took a long timefor me to get used to that change. As for the G6, I want to wait to pass judgement.

I'm glad some one finally asked the question.

I do agree with McBeefer, the G6's are very plain looking... I have seen them with the pano-roof, very hot looking with dark tints. I keep going back and forth on them, sometimes they look great others, it looks very plain. I'm waiting on the G6 coupe gtp to see on how it looks, the only thing is they are too pricey... I'm getting discourage with these price tags constantly going up.... Not to bash American cars or anything but they are starting to out price themselves, over the foreign competitors which you can get more for less.

I am sad to see the G/a leave the line up, as most can tell I'm a G/A fan just by looking at my signature...

SUBJECT CHANGE: Continuation from a different thread...Up Date for other members who are interested...Forklift guy and I were talking about crotch rockets (CR) and the high speeds they can obtain. Forklift guy was telling me about a TV show that was telling how a certian CR was reaching street speeds of 190 MPH, I said that that is nuts, it all started by a speed war by the manufacturers.

Forklifts last comment was to the effect that even the speeds that they reach now the newbies cant handle the power they put out.

New comment: I personally know of one young guy ( 19 years old ) ended up in a box because he lost control of the thing and over reacted with all of the power he had. What really gets me is these guys that are out on the highways putting on their own stunt show for their own enjoyment, at some point a front wheel stant is going to go wrong and some one is going to get butt slammed and end up as road pollution.

SUBJECT CHANGE: Continuation from a different thread...Up Date for other members who are interested...Forklift guy and I were talking about crotch rockets (CR) and the high speeds they can obtain. Forklift guy was telling me about a TV show that was telling how a certian CR was reaching street speeds of 190 MPH, I said that that is nuts, it all started by a speed war by the manufacturers.

Forklifts last comment was to the effect that even the speeds that they reach now the newbies cant handle the power they put out.

New comment: I personally know of one young guy ( 19 years old ) ended up in a box because he lost control of the thing and over reacted with all of the power he had. What really gets me is these guys that are out on the highways putting on their own stunt show for their own enjoyment, at some point a front wheel stant is going to go wrong and some one is going to get butt slammed and end up as road pollution.

i guess yoiu guys are right, the g6 might turn into somthing after all, guess i didnt think of that if we look back at what the grand am has done, i guess i am just too much of a new driver. ive just seen cars like the astek that putter themselves out.

As far as the crotch rockets i dot see the need for that much speed, for a while i wanted to remove the speed limiter on my ga but after a while i relized there is no place in the US other than race tracks that you can legally go over 75 i belive so whats the point of being able to go 120+ unless some world crisis requires us to do so.

i dont wanna see THAT world crisis! The fastest ive gone is about 105 in my '95 GA SE on the interstate at 3AM...as i was being smoked by a Lancer i might add haha. Thats the only time ive ever come close to that speed and i dont care to go that fast in a street car ever again. Id love to get into stock car racing tho.

Unfortunetly even during crisis, you can't go fast either due to traffic or the fact there are more cops out then ever before, I tried during 9/11 to get home, not knowing what was gonna happen next, in NYC. Moving off that subect...

I would love to get into Nascar or race my G/a once ( legally ) ... and just once i would love to do a Demo Derby... nothing like beating the crap out of a car!!!! HAHAHAHHA

My wheels locked up and my 95 grand am gt shut down. somebody help me

blue beast, you will be better off starting a "New Thread" in the main body of the forum. Alos try to list a few more details about what the car was doing at the time it locked up and died. Just click on the New Thread button and follow the steps. This thread is mainly a BS thread to talk about other subjects that come up in other threads or for general conversation. More members will look at a thread in the main body with a title that refers to your problem. By the way Welcome to the Forum.
Like I said give as much detail as you can, it will help us to help you.

Ok you guys, I too would love to drive fast in my 96 GT but I have found myself turning into my father...I have been listening to AM radio to get news and listen to talk radio. I'm getting old! But I am not going to go quietly, I still love to ride the dirt bike and I will wind up the GT on the Interstate, average speed on the interstate is about 80-85mph, I just like to get to where I'm going. I do not recomend that you guys follow my driving habits. Especially you younger guys...the cops love to pick on you guys.

As for the demo derby...I would do it in a heart beat, after driving on the defense most of the time it would be a blast to go full tilt, balls to the walls on the offense and slam all of those drivers that have cut me off or have gotten in the fast lane and slowed down, or even the old fart that has left the left turn signal on for the last 7 miles.

You know I think I may need professional help!

Just Kidding!!

Be Cool.

Your'e only as old as she feels.

Knife,
What would you say if I told you that the condition I have is deteriorating the nerves in my arms as well and I am loosing the feelings in my hands?

Then fake it, hehe.

Point well taken!!

Another sleepless night over here.
I should change my screen name to Insomno :sleep: -maniac.

wow....well, i really want to see how fast mine goes. im not sure where tho. there are some dead roads but still, im just nervous of doing cause i think that there is always a possibility that there could be a cop somewhere near. i will just have to take it to a long strip....legaly though.

That's your best bet, Public roads aren't made for racing. Who knows what you could encounter. Take it to the track, I think that would be more fun any way.

Be Careful.

http://www.kalecoauto.com/

Found this in the off-topic forum, might put a grin on your face, just hope no one takes any of this stuff seriously!!!!!

Knife, That's some good stuff, I can imagine where that is going to lead to. Thanks for the link, I knew that there could be some fun to this car stuff.

Have a nice Holiday Weekend.
Dan

hey guys, i did some better wireing on my car yesterday (just hooked it up with wire to wire for temporary uses til i got the real deal). i got a connector and snapped it on, i still had to do some wire cutting and wiring tape to it and now it works again, but while i was back there i added a mp3, cd, dvd hookup. it will work for anything now, so like i can go out and buy any sound source i want and hook it up to my receiver in my car and i got sound!. im buyin a seprate mp3 player than the one thats in it already cause thats just mp3 cds. this one, has a little card the size of my thumb nail and i can save over 400 songs on it. its really cool. have a safe weekend guys.

Holy shit - I've been slacking off around here. I've missed alot! :(. THat's a funny link Tam - I've seen it before. There's some great knee-slappers in there :) it had me crackin up. Grandamdriver, it's good to here that your car's comin along good. Keep up the good work. I've been having a kickass memorial day weekend so far, and I hope that everyone else has the same. Everyone have a good time of what's left of it, and be safe.

Oh almost forgot to mention - The Grand Ma is finally having some exhaust done this Wednesday. I'm having a custom downpipe installed (the stock one is restrictive as hell), as well as my resonator removed. The great thing is, it will only cost 80 $, and should be good for a 8-10 hp gain at the crank, I figuire. And it won't sound or look drastically different, which is something I still deal with on the parent front. :)

yea, thats sweet ride. there is a guy in town who has a grand am like mine (four door, white, no spoiler, "hubs" not rims, and in very tough shape. he has an exust tip on it and he put it on wrong (he dosnt know it) but it is suppoed to face town cause the tip is a sorta down exuast tip on it....meaning it is supposed to curv down at the end but he put it so it blows exuast up onto his bumper and now that area is all chared and black from the exuast. we see hi drive buy once in a while and my dad, every time he goes by, says "that guy is a "e-fen" dork (said it like that cause im not going to swear on the forum). thats like the only time my dad uses the f word. but to me, yes that guy is a dork to. i sorta know him too and he talks about hi car all the time and its like.....ok shut up!...haha, i dont get these people who think that they have an outstanding lookin and fast car because of "homemade parts" they put on. hhahaha, it reminded me of this ride when you said down pipe, so i was like....that sounds like this guy but i know that they are totaly different. its just the name. thats really sweet tho of what you did ride, im doing well on mine also.

forgot to add....my car isnt in bad shape...it has rims and a spoiler...the way i said it, it sounds like i was sayin mine was as bad too.

LOL! :) - Oh yeh I gotcha grandamdriver. I see how "downpipe" could bring that to mind - that guy is, in fact, a "e-fen dork". LoL. Oh and we know yours isn't in bad shape, either. We've seen the pics. I'm curious, how's that guys exhaust sound? I always heard that for exhaust tips:

down = lower / rumble
straight = poppier / mid-pitch
up = whine / high pitch.

Does his sound whiny and high pitch?

um....its up but it sounds like a rumble...sorta...well it sounds like my car would sound if you cut the very end of the stock tip of my car off...it gives it a sorta little rumble, very little tho

Having your exhaust tip go up towards your bumper seems to be a common trend among VW Jettas I always see them around here like that... there's a problem with that though, your bumper gets so much dirtier with it. Honestly though, I like the dual exhaust look coming straight out of the back.

Grandam, I have to tell you about my nephew, he had a Ford Ranger pick up when he first started driving. He has always been into computers, so he built one from a bunch of spare parts and mounted it in the pick up, he put in wireless internet and had access to all of the net for tunes and had the capability to store over 600 songs on the hard drive as well as full net access. He did it as a class project and needless to say, he got an "A". The only broplem was the 5" monitor it was a bit hard to see. But it was Cool.

>cough< Why not Sirius or the other one, or just an mp3 patch in?

However, kudos to the nephew for his creativity!!!!!!!!!

That's awesome! :) That kid's a genius. So he can just drive around and get into other people's wireless hot-spots, right? That'd be awesome to be able to drive around and get free internet.

wow, yes, it would. i need to get like an ipod, serius, or XM portable radio but why do the XM if i have XM ready on my CD player?...hell i dont know. i will just have to see whats the best and what i can buy for a good price. i probably get some type of mp3 player, thats really good.

wow, yes, it would. i need to get like an ipod, serius, or XM portable radio but why do the XM if i have XM ready on my CD player?...hell i dont know. i will just have to see whats the best and what i can buy for a good price. i probably get some type of mp3 player, thats really good.

If you go with the Ipod deal you should check out Alpine decks. They have a device that hooks right up to the deck that has a cradle where you sit the IPOD in and it allows you to control the IPOD through the deck. It is pretty need. One of my friends have it for his bug.

He did this about 5 years ago...prior to Ipods and the satallite radio. Kid was ahead of his time. That is when Napster was a No-NO.

I hope everyone had a safe holiday?

Well I got some good news. First of all, my weekend was awesome. Second of all, I took my car to the shop. They were unable to fabricate a down-pipe due to the damn flex pipe at the top - if I bring them an old stock one (from a junkyard) they can make one off of that one's flange, but I don't think I'll mess around with it right now. But they did, however, remove / pipe my resonator. (pretty restrictive, I'd guess that the resonator squeezed the air flow into a space about 1/3 of the size the rest of the pipe. And they only wanted 10 $!!! :) I refused. I paid them 20 - ten bucks was way to cheap for what they did, this shop was the best place I've ever been to - they left me as one hell of a satisfied customer. I haven't really gotten to try it out yet. Any gains will be in the upper RPMs, and on the way home it was like 85-90 out, and my car was dogging it / I had on the A/C, so I sure as hell wasn't going to womp on it. I'll try it out tommorow when it's cool out. I also had tweaked my ever-changing intake a little more about a week ago, and never let it re-map, so when I got home today, I unplugged the battery to let it learn the new air flow maps. I'll let you know how it runs tommorow.

Ride,

It sounds like you found the pot of automotive gold at the end of the rainbow, as garages go!!! The fact that you have been one lucky son of a b*tch lately, free hood, pipe work for $20, what else can possibly go your way? How about sending some of that luck my way.

I hope it continues for you! I love to see a young guy get some breakes once in a while, especially when it is someone who has a total appreciation for what they have received.

Be good, I'll try to spend some more time on the forum tomarrow.
Dan