Posted by jeepdave Sooooo I'm probably moving to Rapid City SD. Is this a thing I have to deal with or just a NE thing.

probably just a northeast thing.

Posted by Samurai probably just a northeast thing.

I hope so lol. I buy enough cars as it is.

got the car home today... it's definitely rough.
the gate for neutral/reverse is shot so when i knocked it forward into what I thought was neutral, the transaxle popped into reverse, at about 25 mph. Engine died immediately... took about 20 seconds of cranking to get it refired. The tires are fucked, suspension is pretty much shot, intermediate pipe is definitely on the way out, wheel bearings are making an ominous not-quite-shot-but-getting-there growl and the engine needs a pretty serious tune up. Other than that, it runs like a neglected 15 year old Cavalier with 121,000 miles on the clock.

The high points? the heater works well, engine runs just below the halfway point on the temp gauge (on a 2.2L OHV, that's a good thing), the engine does not knock on cold start (that too is a good thing with a 2.2L OHV), brakes are fair, e-brake works, no check engine lights, all the lights work, the glass is in one piece and the wipers work. yay. The 3-speed transmission shifts ok. It's not crisp, but it's not slippy either. Lockup converter still works. The engine feels like there is still some compression left in it, but i feel the plugs and wires are 1999 original and the air filter was last changed during the last Bush administration. The glovebox doesn't open, seats are scuzzy and the carpet is just shot.

But $400 for a beater with a heater? what do you expect, a Bentley?

Posted by Samurai e-brake works

All that matters in a winter beater!

This is for you, Sam.

I forgot about the wheels that used these centre caps!

Posted by bandi https://scontent-b...3_1116087566_n.jpg This is for you, Sam. I forgot about the wheels that used these centre caps!

1988-1990 Cavalier Z24 center caps... still got a couple in the basement.

I (yes, ME) have defended the styling of those wheels many times when people made fun of them. My grade 3 teacher had a '90ish Z24 with them. The wheels spoke to me.

had a really bad ice storm here over the weekend... went to chisel the ice off the car yesterday (christmas eve) so i could drive the car to work and I succeeded in smashing the windshield trying to get the 1/4" of ice off it.

Posted by Samurai had a really bad ice storm here over the weekend... went to chisel the ice off the car yesterday (christmas eve) so i could drive the car to work and I succeeded in smashing the windshield trying to get the 1/4" of ice off it.

I had to literally chisel out the doors on my jetta on monday.

Posted by Samurai had a really bad ice storm here over the weekend... went to chisel the ice off the car yesterday (christmas eve) so i could drive the car to work and I succeeded in smashing the windshield trying to get the 1/4" of ice off it.

Same here- it looks nice but ontario is in bad shape- my grandparents who live in suburban Toronto have been without power since Saturday night.

Posted by bandi Same here- it looks nice but ontario is in bad shape- my grandparents who live in suburban Toronto have been without power since Saturday night.

its too cold for that shit... are they ok?

Posted by Samurai its too cold for that shit... are they ok?

Thanks for asking- they're good. After they refused help, my aunt picked them up anyhow and they're living with her for now. Still something like 40,000 people without power in the city. Hopefully today's melting helps a bit.

The weather gods must love Cleveland. While I can't say the weather has been nice, it certainly hasn't been bad. We had a heavy dusting on Christmas, and that's it. It was in the 50s yesterday and sunny, today it's 40s and rainy, but it's getting colder.

But even when we get dumped on, no one loses power. All our disasters are man-made.

The power loss thing here was a first... 2" of ice in some areas so the power lines/transformers/trees took a pounding. The same thing happened in Quebec about 15 years ago.

Sure looked nice though...

Posted by bandi The same thing happened in Quebec about 15 years ago.

ice storm of 1998... we got piss-pounded by that same storm here. Nothing moved for almost three days.

as a follow-up to the Winter Beater entry, I sold the Cavalier yesterday (Sunday). I got $225 for it, selling it to a friend who was in kind of dire straits, needing an economical car. I took a loss on it, but what the hell. It's only money. I still am looking for the 'right' second hand car and can't seem to find one. A small pickup would be nice, a Cavalier in decent shape would be swell, I'd even take a Legacy Baja if I could find one that wasn't stupidly priced. Do people actually think these things are going to be collectible? Even an old Impreza AWD wagon would be perfect... as long as the rust was in check.

Bajas are cool they bring stupid money not sure why.

Posted by sleeperspirit Bajas are cool they bring stupid money not sure why.

they sold like poo when they were new... that's why they were only made a year or so.
Personally, it's a nice compromise for what I am looking for. What would be ideal for me would be a Subaru Loyale/DL, but they are about as often seen here as Bigfoot. Corrosion was a concern in the northeast.

Posted by Samurai What would be ideal for me would be a Subaru Loyale/DL, but they are about as often seen here as Bigfoot.

Those totally vanished here about 8 years ago. Really suddenly, too. Such a fun little car, especially the super rare turbo ones.

They also sucked ass for e-brake slides, but there was a reason for that.

Posted by bandi Those totally vanished here about 8 years ago. Really suddenly, too. Such a fun little car, especially the super rare turbo ones. They also sucked ass for e-brake slides, but there was a reason for that.

if i remember right, the ebrake was one of the front wheels.