Grand Am off topic thread

LOL I know it, Dan. I am one lucky dog! :). Thanks a lot for the wishes too - I can only hope that this kind of luck will come your way. However, sadly, I broke my streak today. See, 2 days ago, I had gotten a white AF t-shirt w/ pocket logo :) - I wore it, washed it, and it shrunk horribly. It is very tight. So I might be 16 bucks down the hole, but o well. If that's the worse thing that can happen to me, I can't complain! O hey, another story in automotive news, I got to try out the exhaust "tweak" today, and I actually think I might be just a little slower off the line (due to reduced backpressure) - but the top end gain outdoes it. My car already had good low end, but needed better top end - so all around it was a worthwhile mod. Better top end response, and it sounds great. If you put your ear right down by the exhaust, you can almost hear a little cam-like "wup-wup-wup-wup-wup" below the rumble. LoL sounds grrrrrrrreat!!

Oh, today, I made a revelation. I noticed that lots of us call each other by our first names. And then I realized... I don't think I've ever told you guys my first name! :( LoL sorry about that - It's Lee. I'm indifferent as to you calling me Lee, Ridenour, Ride, or in Dan's case, "Sir Ridenour" :evillol: :) LoL. So call me whatever you guys feel like calling me - I just thought I'd throw my first name out there so you guys can use it if you want. I don't have any preference.

Oh hey - almost forgot (just in case anyone actually cares :) ). I finally graduated from the LAMP program - which some of you may have heard me mention in the past. I graduated from high school on the 22nd, but I was in LAMP until today. It's great to be done - and was quite possibly one of the best experiences of my time. I learned an incredible amount about business, manufacturing, principles, teamwork, project coordination, production, and tons more great stuff. I also made tons of connections and got tons of in-plant experience - without LAMP I would've never been able to get that co-op Job. It was worth every minute of it. "Thanks LAMP!!!" :) LoL.

Yo, Ride {aka Lee} [U still rock, but I still the bad buck in the woods, LOL]

U and I should stir something up in the OT forum, hehehe. Let's drag Dan into it, he can use the fun, heehee. I such an instigator, sigh.

Seriously, though!!!!!!!!!!! Great Accomplishment!!!!!!!!!

:cheers: Well done and well deserved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Guys, has anyone looked into that new promo that GM put out for the employee discount?? it has some awesome deals going on....A brand new 05 G/A GT will only cost 19,000 instead of the 24,000 sticker, I'm keeping my options open now for a new car even though i said i wouldn't.......

Hey Ride, congrats on graduating...

Yeah i looked into for my girlfriend because she is looking at a new car. They are some really great deals. I'm lucky to because where is work gets another discount off on GM cars (i believe that program is called GMSC) i could be wrong on the name. But anyways i can use it on top of the discounts that are currently going on and it will save me a couple of thousand more on any vehicle

never knew about somethin like that. yea i got an mp3 player for my car and stuff and it works perfect...im not going to buy a mp3 holder for it cause i cant find one made for the LIRA mp3 players so im going to custom make one....it will be pretty easy cause its such a small machine. just wanted to throw that out there cause i havnt been on the forum for like a week (comp. monitor went out and have gotin back into Alundra game again....its so adicting.. ttyl guys.

I have the stock stereo in both cars. YES!!!!

Working again though, thank god. Still in management though, damn it. Need something new. Working on getting the Trans Am done, taking some time though. I need to hit bonuses. :lol:

Thanks Tam and Paul.
Mr. Lous - good luck with your work. Glad to here the TA is coming along. Wow - I checked out some of your videos the other day. They're incredibly badass. I've got 2 downloaded and watch em occasionally - nice work.

Ahhhh! :) Yet again more good new breaking news on Ridenour's Grand Am! Today, with the help of my friend, who is an electrical genius, I succesfully installed / hardwired 2 red neons into my car, with a badass switch in my cubby with a red LED on the end - the neons and switch work great / look awesome compared to my previous setup. I also replaced my stock bulbs with Sylvania Silverstars - they look damn good. My passenger bulb was fading, so it was a good time to replace them anyways. They look a hell of a lot better. A few weeks back, I had removed the metal thing that goes around the light to deaden it, and it made it about 20 % brighter. It compliments my new bulbs nicely. And to top it all off, I am finally getting my new rear fascia this weekend, should have it painted within a week (my brother-in-law has a gun, saves a shitload of money) and get that installed - I've also got some new overlays on the way. So within 2 weeks from now, I should be able to get some pics on here of the latest and greatest version of the Ridenour-Mobile. LOL. Everyone have a good night.

Oh, I almost forgot, sometime this week I'll be getting a high-flow cat installed, so I'll let you guys know how the gains feel. July 1-3 I'll be able to take my car back up to the Stanton Track to get some new times. My last 1/4 mile time was 15.5 - I'm guessing that the reduced weight of my SCT hood, the added air flow from the vent, my last intake tweak, the better top end of my resonator removal, and the gains from my high-flow cat should put me at about 15.2 or maybe even 15.1 if I'm really lucky :)

Ride you just helped me out with your post about the headlight, I was wondering about that metal piece.... I am in the process of making more aggressive looking headlights, but time and money the normal factors....

Oh yeh I thought it was deffinately a worthwhile mod, Paul. You just remove the bulbs, pull the headlight assembly, and then you have to try to remove the metal piece. On my passenger sides, I was able to cruch is flat in just the right spot to allow it to slide out, but on my driver's side, I crushed it into the wrong shape, and it wouldn't come out of the damn hole, so I ended up sticking a pair of tinsnips up through the hole, and cutting it apart, and letting all the pieces fall out through the bulb hole. It might be a pain in the ass, but it's worth it. A mod I would highly reccomend.

wow ride, you need to play the lottery some time soon. haha, ttyll guys.

Well, yesterday we on our way to jackpot junction (its a casino, hotel, restaurant.... you should have heard of it before.... hope u have anyways) but we went in my car and it was a good day to go so we went. My rents were sort of in a hurry and i was driving so i was doing about 62, 63 mph which is a bit over the speed the limit but they told me to slow down a tad bit to about 60. Well, we got behind people that were doing 40 mph and there were people that passed them and i was waiting till i could too and the no passing zone was coming and there was a car ways away and a few cars behind it too. So i had to really hurry up and pass them and my dad is like go faster.... Faster. FASTER!... cause at the point i was getting really close and i told him i had it punched. He was like.........ok.......um...just keep going and i made it.....After i got in front of the car about 2 and 1/2 seconds after that the car came so you know how close it was to me. I tell you this story cause at this point, i was very, very disappointed in my cars performance....I mean our trailblazer would have eating up that road, and my grand am. Even my dads 2.2l s-10 would have done the same thing...so what I’m saying is that i guess i really thought that those 3.1L had some balls to them but i kind of lost that feeling to them. I know one thing, if i don’t do that 3800 swap, i am for sure doing a 3.3L in it. We used to own a Buick century a while ago and my dad has hit that before and that was a frickin power rocket compared to what i found out of my car.... I really feel sorry for people that have the older grand prix with the 3.1L. I mean they are a great motor and stuff, nothing wrong with them i just don’t think they have the power.... Or the power to meet my standards

More snake oil?

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

Grandam: the 3.1 have decent power, but nothing crazy, i do agree... but try Driving a 2.5L and the 3.1L will feel like it'll eat the road or at least that's how i felt when i drove my friends 93 GT. I've also found it's a matter of finding the "power highs/lows" of the engine for higher output. BUT to put a 3800 in would give you the power. It's like the guys that put the 3800's or caddy engines in Fieros...

If anyone is dealing with the heat today like i am try to stay cool....another mindless day at work.... :bricks1:

yes, thats true. i really want to keep the 3800 in mind but im having my doubts now. it sounds like the after work of springs, bars, and other things will cost more than putting in the motor itself. i mean the trany (4t60E from my 3.1 fits with the 3.8) but it would be cheaper to put the 3.3L in them. they have more power and rap at such high RPMS its crazy. i will just have to see though.

Hey Guys, I have a Grand Am story for the day.

I just took a Infinity G35 off the line. HAHAH I was just coming home, when i got to the traffic light before my house, the light was red so i stopped, well this G35 decides that he doesn't want to sit behind me and rather try and get in front of me, so he goes around on the right to pass me at the light (which is illegal in NJ by the way not sure about other states.) So he pulls ahead by a good car length before the light even changes, So i just simply turn off the a/c since it's hot as hell here again. The light changes and i completely just take him. He tried to keep up/catch up but I got a good car length ahead over the considerable lead he had. I will not be passed at a red light. All i know it was some "youngin" probably in his parents infinity, definitly didn't know how to drive.

Enjoy your day guys

haha, wow. thats funny. yea, i know some kids here in town who think they got it all and dont know crap about their car...or how to drive it.

Hey Knife I've been dragged into all kind of stuff in the past so why mess with a good thing...Start dragging I'm up for it.

Ride... GREAT JOB!!!! Good luck in you future, It's nice to see a hard working young man go after a goal and actually achieve it. That doesn't happen much these days...so my hat's off to you.

I'll catch up to you guys later, I told knife (in a PM) that I hope to have some time later in the week to get back in to the swing of things.

Catch ya soon,
Dan

That was a nice kill Paul. And thanks alot Dan for the encouragement Dan :).

...now on a sadder not... :( I will not be frequenting this forum as much until June 30th. My 1/2 year old, top of the line's display adapter shit itself, and the display won't work, so I have to send it in for repair. It will be back on the 30th. I am having to use my dad's computer, which I will only be able to get on once a day, if that. On a good note though, I finally got my new fascia and all that other jazz. I had something interesting happen too the other day - while listening to an AM station and driving, I noticed that the higher my RPM's, the more static. Anyone have any ideas?

Electrical interference like that, Lee, isn't unusual on the AM band. Does it also show up on the FM stations?. Do you have some kind of radio power signal booster inline with the antenna? Does it show up when the station gets weak?

I've used a filter in the past, got it from radio shack, non-powered, plugs inline between antenna and radio in the antenna line, that helped. I also hear that some guys have used a capacitor/filter in the power source wires to help filter out the RF interference. Other than that, I haven't much idea.

Ride Knife is pretty much on track, The easiest thing to do is to go to radio shack and pick up a filter it will hook up to the acces. power wire.
In the past, on my older cars, IE: the old V8's I would begin to get static when the plug wires were getting weak, you could try to re-route the plug wires. Some times it can be directly related to the alternator, but that usually comes out as a whine rather than static ans gets worse the more you boost the radio output, you may also want to check to make sure that you still have solid grounds on any of your after market sound components. It may start to work its way to the FM side of things in the future. I hope this helps, it can be quite annoying after a while.

Sorry you are going to have to take a break from the amount of time on the forum, hopefully I will be able to pick up some of the slack later in the week, I'm almost done with my mother's deck and should be able to get back into the groove and help out on the other side. I really miss being out there every night but I wouldn't be able to give a reliable answer to some of the questions, tough to do when you are so tired that you can't think straight.

Any way, I'll catch up soon,
Dan

I've gotten major static on my radio on the FM stations... no ryhme or reason behind it, I may have to look into that filter at radioshack and see if that helps. Well hopefully some good luck has been passed myway.... i just bought a sc/t wing for $100! Already painted silver, OEM! NOW hopefully the person doesn't screw me on this...like i have had happend in the past...

I'm very happy to say that i did get my SC/T wing!! Looks great on the car...but my luck ran out very quick, just the other day got into an accident, in the driverside rear... Not too sure what's gonna happen now... the car is pretty banged up, back door doesn't work, and the trunk floor is crushed in and up, it could be a hell of a lot worse though....

That suck's i am sorry to hear that. But at least you are ok and it can be fixed

grfnkl, Man sorry to hear about the accident. Like the previous post...at least you are OK. And don't forget, these cars are made to crumple up like that, so it looks a lot worse than it is. That's the trade off for having a safer vehicle. The thing crumples to absorb the energy of the impact but it looks like hell after. I hope everything works out for you. Good luck and take care.
Dan

thanks guys,

I am very thankful it was the rear and not the driverside door, I think i would have gotten hurt if i got hit there.... I fully felt the impact on the side rear, down my leg, and had some whiplash on the side of my neck. If it had been the door, i more then likely would have gotten hurt. The current estimate is rapidly approaching $4,000. now this doesn't include any other hidden damages like the possibility of the door rail further damages of the trunk floor etc... In spots the back end was pushed in about 5 inches or more.... so hopefully it will all come out good in the end... and hopefully the guy had insurance...

I posted some pics on my cardomain page... pictures don't quite do it justice..

Actually i don't think that it looks that bad considering that you where rear ended by a Econoline van, i must say i am impressed that this all the damage that occured

dayum, grf, that sucks. Hope you are doing well, even if the car isn't.

Looks like the front drive-area of the ride is toast, huh?

Well I wasn't quite rear-ended, it was more of a t-bone, just more indirect in the rear....I would expect more also from a van though, but then again i don't think he could have gone more then 20-30 mph off a side street into me, from a stop.

Knife- yeah that front end accident was a nightmare, i broke everything wheel related in the front, and damaged the rear wheel too...

All i can say is ouch, and glad u okay.

I'M BACK!!!!! :) :) :) - God that sucked. I got my pc back 1 day ahead of schedule too, Woohoh!!!! - It really sucked not being able to be on here with you awesome guys. That was a long 2 weeks without AF. It's gonna be hard to get back in the groove. Grfnkl, sorry to here about your car - I totalled my 01 GT and spent 1/2 a year rebuilding it; I know how it goes. By the way, I speak from experienced as mine was rolled twice doing 70 mph - your's is very repairable.

S'up, ride aka Lee, long time no see buddy.

yeah i know.....havnt talk to you in a while...and what ever happened to hoags (dan)?

Thanks Guys

Welcome back Ride; I do realize the car is fixable, definetly compared to rolling it.... but hopefully those won't be the words coming from the insurance ( not my luck though!)

Grandam is right, where's dan? I haven't seen him on here much these past few weeks....

I'm still hear guys...my plates been pretty full lately. My mom had to go in for a hip replacement and between mom and my neighbor with lung cancer (I've been running them both to their appointments (Dr's & Tests/X-Rays)) I have been away from the computer and by time my day is done I'm too damn tired to try to help out on the Forum in an accurate way. I wouldn't want to throw out the wrong advice and end up setting someone back while they're trying to make a repair.
I am going to try to get back into the swing of things as soon as mom makes some more progress. right now she is starting PT 1 Day after the operation...She's kicking some big time recovery ass. Soon she'll be back to doing for herself, should give me more AF time.

Ride... I'm happy to see that you got the computer back. You are right in saying it is tough getting back into the swing, Every time I try to sit down and get on the forum somerhing always comes up, more so with the kids being home [I wish Sept. was closer] only for the reason of getting the kids out of my hair, but at the same time I am willing to bet they are wishing I was not at home all of the time (except cab service).

Well I'm rambling on here (Tired!) so I'm going to quit typing. But before I do...

HAPPY 4TH TO EVERYONE: HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY AND PLEASE BE SAFE.
Dan

HAPPY 4TH TO EVERYONE: HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY AND PLEASE BE SAFE.
Agreed.

Should be easy for me....just hanging out around the house for the most part. Grilling and enjoying the company of friends.

The Grand Am is doing alright....keyfob died on me, and the car needs brakes up front. But otherwise, she is doing me well. Mileage seems to still be where it should be for 69,000 miles.

Have a good 4th!! Blow some shit up for me!

Yes guys, Happy 4th...Havnt driven the GA much at all anymore (my mom hates riding in it) so i cant get out much till the 28th comes it....THEN I WILL BE FREE!.....so hope that the test goes well for me in three weeks.
Have a good 4th and a good week guys...
Cody

Well, I hope everyone is having a great 4th, I have been told that Pa. has leaglized some fireworks this year, and I can tell you that compared to last year there is more shit blowing up this year. I think everyone in the neighborhood is setting off something. It's pretty cool.

Be safe all, I'll try to do some catching up in the afternoon.

Hey Dan sorry to hear about your neighbor and mom - glad she's making a good recovery though. I hope everyone had a great 4th - I had an awesome time last night up at my sister/brother-in-law's cabin - totally worth the 2.5 hour drive :). Oh, and Mr. Lous, since when haven't brakes been an issue on grand ams?? LoL :)

Yeah no joke i went through 3 pairs in 2 years on mine when i had it

wow....what have you been doing?..hahaha

Hey, The brakes don't ware out if you don't use them! LOL. It is kind of nice having the manual tranny...helps save the brakes. I have mor trouble with the front rotors going out of round. They need to make a thicker rotor, You're lucky if you get one cut out of them.

Ride, Glad to hear that you had a great weekend. We usually go camping every weekend but we haven't this year...it's been geting to my foot, last year I would end up sitting on my butt because of the discomfort. But it is worth a 2.5 hour drive to get away.

Catch you later,
Dan

wow....what have you been doing?..hahaha

I never could say no to challenge

Wohoohhhh!!!! - :) I'm finally done moving into and getting settled into college. This is cool - just waiting for my massive 16 credit hour class load to start on Monday.

Congrats, don't party too much now :ylsuper:

Best of luck and, and stay with it, Lee!!!!!!!!!

Do Anyone Know Where The Fan Relay Located On A 1998 Grand Am

Wohoohhhh!!!! - :) I'm finally done moving into and getting settled into college. This is cool - just waiting for my massive 16 credit hour class load to start on Monday.

You're starting already?!!! WOW... i would have thought you wouldn't start until august.... Good Luck with everything!

Hey, Ride...glad to hear your moved in. I was doing the college thing about a year ago, (had to stop because of the foot thing). My best advice...Moderation...Do everything in moderation, with the exception of the school work...stay focused on that stuff. The moderation applies to the booze and the women. I told many people that it was a good thing that I didn't go to college right out of high school, (waited until I was 40 and married), If I would have gone at 19 or 20 I think I would have been lucky to get out fathering a small mumber of children. Those young ladies are too tempting. But I am a faithfull husband. Any way keep us updated on your progress {with the school work as well as the ladies}.

Good luck and Kick some Ass!!
Dan

With Hoags on the advice ^^^^

You generally only get one shot at it [higher education]. And my experience has been that it gets harder to learn from an academic or training standpoint as you get older.

Anyhoo, you will succeed, or Dan and I will be having words with you, LMAO!!!!!!!!

Best to ya

The attack Pig

Do Anyone Know Where The Fan Relay Located On A 1998 Grand Am

Welcome to the forum, I suggest post this into a new thread of your own, so that more people will see your question. This specific thread tends to bury specific questions.

If ya need some assist on how to start your own thread, let me know, either Pm off this board, or email.

Tam

Lee,
Tam is right... I may live 4+ hours from you...but I will travel up there to kick your butt If I have too.

Do good.

LoL!! :) :rofl: - thanks guys, that was inspirational! You've only furtherly added to my drive to not mess up, due to the fact that I now must worry about you guys coming over here and kicking my ass! :) LoL - thanks a lot guys, and Dan, I've been keeping things in moderation so far - I have fun when I know I"m fully able to, don't drink too much, and don't spend all my time on chicks. The great thing is, when I mess up with a chick (yes, I know, it actually happens :) ) I just remind myself I'm there for the school, and I just get furtherly driven and determined. I just got back from the bookstore after buying like a 1/4 of the books I'm gonna need - total spent this morning: 113 $. LoL talk to you all later.

Yeah buying the school books suck they charge you out the butt for then and hardly give you crap back when you sell them back to them. You should check some online places and ebay for the books you need. You can end up saving a great deal of money by going that route, and you can still either sale it back to the site or your school when you are done with them

If at all possible, buy the used books over the new!!!

1] Better price, less negative equity at sell-time, sort like a new car at trade-in as cfi so correctly alludes to!!.

2] If you look through the used books, carefully, you may find one highlighted or notated by a student that leads off the prof.'s exams, hehehe.

3] Don't get too hung up if the used book isn't the current edition being used in the course. Great date-bait, "Hey, baby can I look at your text, mine is the old one and I wanna check the new model", >chuckle
snort,giggle< :lol2:

I so amuse myself, hehe.

Tam you amuse me too! I do however like your line of thinking.
cficare: you are right on the nose with the out lay of $$ for even used books and the buy back sucks. I never sold any of mine back but some of the students were bitching about paying $113.00 for a new math book and buy back was $5.00. You would be lucky if you got more than a $1.00 for a used book.
Lee, the net is the way to go...Keep the books relating to your major but sell the liberal arts booke on e-bay or the like...the new freshmen will snatch them up. You can probably make back at least 50% of your inital book costs.

One more piece of advice...Make sure you put a helmet on that soldier.

Be cool guys...Gotta run.
Hey I forgot to mention I just picked up a 97 Mercury Tracer sedan 2.0L (I believe) with 121,000 miles. It has a few bruises but all in all it is in great shape...I got it for my daughter, she won't drive the GAGT because of the manual tranny, And the XL-7 scares her, so we'll see how it goes, the fun starts tomarrow.

a Tracer?????????? a Tracer???????? Dear God, life has ended as I know it. may I be blinded to V-8's and superchargers for life, it has all ended for me, I no longer have a purpose, LMFAO.

J/K U , Dan, >maybe not< chortles here.