The switch-pitch 300 was pretty good and very reliable, but the lack of a compound 1st and 2nd made it sluggish.  The non-SP versions were worse.   I’ve had a 283 ‘glide combo and a 300 Buick ST300 combo in 64/65 A-bodies.  I liked the 300/ST300 much more.   ... View more

GM didn’t want to pay licensing fee for using the 3-speed gearset design.  I forget the name, but they had to lay to use it and didn’t want to.   ... View more

2-way street there.    ... View more

GM cars did.  Maybe that’s your issue.   ... View more

Had a Camry.  It was good, but didn’t do anything “great”.   Solid, predictable, certainly no less trouble free than any of our other vehicles on the long term.   ... View more

The entire V-program is what should have been Pontiac.  CTS-V with the LS6, manual trans, that was as foreign to Caddy as the Escalade, but they did it anyway.   Look at how hard they downplayed the GTO, G8 and later the SS.   Once it became clear Cadillac was the upscale performance brand, Pontiac had no hope and the SS was simply an afterthought of the defunct G8.    you don’t have to believe me about the performance hierarchy, but it is true.   I once asked a truck engineer why no reg-cab, short-bed, 5.3 Colorado/Canyons?  He said oh well, CAFE and take rate.   I asked-too much pressure on the new Camaro?   he said yes.   Remember the b-body Impala SS?  LT1, but due to “packaging” only 260 HP.   It had WAY better packaging than the Camaro or Corvette.   Can’t have a full-sized luxury performance car with more power than the front-drive North Star Caddy.    that is the way it is at GM.    ... View more

Camshaft theory is a complex understanding of the system, Ed was not just the Cam father, but a man that had a deep, innate understanding. A tip of the hat. ... View more

Skyrocketed… 7% to 21%?    ... View more

before you do anything, get an oil pressure gauge and make sure the pump isn’t worn out/low oil pressure.  If so, replace the cover and pump.   after that… Block the exhaust gas cross over, rebuild and tune the Q-jet, recurve the distributor and set the initial with way more timing. How much depends on your location, elevation, temps, and fuel.   Duals, 2.5” mufflers, tails can be 2.25 with little loss.   The old school b1b intake is good, unless you want to keep the intake stock.  72 ditch the points.   beyond that…in a heavy B-body, you need some 3.42s for the 9-3/8.   ... View more

I am sorry for your loss, Melissa. What a wonderful tribute! I vividly remember the day my Grandfather passed. A truly loving man who’s wish it was for me to have his classic Buick. It is more than just a car, rather a labor of love and memory! ... View more

I often agree with you, but must disagree in this case. Pontiac died for two reasons: 1) GM performance hierarchy 2) Restructuring. Buick was a popular brand in China - a major emerging market, and Oldsmobile buyers were the least brand-loyal of the BOP-3. Pontiac had developed a cutting edge performance image since the 80s, largely distancing itself from Chevrolet as a more upscale and performance oriented brand, while simultaneously setting apart from Buick and Olds as significantly more youth oriented. The problem came when GM had to trim the fat. There weren’t enough sales to support the BOP-3, Chevrolet and Cadillac. When Caddy was the front-drive, North Star powered land barges, aside from the Caddy that zigs, it was anything but a performance brand. As Cadillac moved to more cutting edge, more rear drive, and world-class cars, the front-drive platforms were woefully inadequate. So it came down in the collapse. Saturn-non Union, gone. Hummer - gas guzzler during a crisis, gone. Oldsmobile - least brand loyal, easiest to get into Buicks, gone. That left Pontiac. Loyal customers, solid sales, but it targeted a market where Cadillac was going and at GM there is a performance hierarchy. A) can’t out-perform a Corvette B) can’t jump the ranks. Pontiac was straight up in the Cadillac market. Chevy didn’t destroy Pontiac, Cadillac did. As to the GTP and SSEi, those didn’t impact Chevy sales, not many Impalas and Monte Carlos used the 3800, most used the disaster 3.1/3.4/3.5/3.9. Without question the Pontiac targeted a different customer. Chevrolet GM-10/W-bodies were awful, save the last few years; if that’s what you meant, I’d agree. But that’s a GM bean counter thing. They loved those 60 degree V6s, but the BOP-3 customers HATED THEM. For more fun stuff, check out the back room stuff about dropping LeSabre from the Buick lineup. It wasn’t just about a redesign, it was a marketing trick to get away from the older class market. GM knew they could milk the LeSabre for generations, think Avalon and ES3X0, but they wanted to steal from 40 somethings looking for Euro-brands. Again, the 2 rules, which ultimately relegated Buick’s to Chinese SUVs. GM is quite possibly the best performing company run by complete imbeciles. Don’t get me started on the pavement-princess trucks. ... View more

Here-Here, Bruce! ... View more

Bingo. If it has been restored once, drive it!! It can be restored again. ... View more

Who’s destroying it? ... View more

As I have experienced, those fuel injection bolt-on set ups don’t always work better than a carb. For whatever reason many intakes just don’t do well with them. I swapped from a Performer back to a GM tried and true TBI intake. That engine ran PERFECTLY. no other changes. It just didn’t like the performer and adapter plate. A properly tuned carb isn’t terrible either. In fact, I like my 401s with carbs, not EFI. With the factory intake, they just run better. ... View more

Your alderman owns a concrete company or a waste hauling outfit? I couldn’t wear my seat belt in the 1 ton truck, it would lock just driving down Main Street. ... View more

51s had a straight 8. The smell can easily be mitigated in your transport pod by selecting recirculate on your HVAC controls. A mask would help as well, along with a series of diffused scents should you happen to pass a diesel, an asphalt paving operation, any type of animal feed lot, or my favorite place-smell, the Oats mill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. ... View more

You hit it, twice. 1) why are we discouraging others? We can disagree, but we should still support one another. 2) it is THEIR classic. Theirs. It does not (yet) belong to the central committee. If someone wants to make their ‘vette into a wagon, so be it. ... View more

Meh, does it matter? I mean I guess from your employment standpoint, but car guys are a funny lot. Some are cranky old dudes that hate whatever doesn’t fit their tastes. Others are happy someone else digs the scene. If you’re in to post war Soviet V8s, or 3-wheel what’s-it’s, who cares? The tent should be bigger. ... View more

I did a dual circuit update, but haven’t done discs yet. The finned drums are killer. Big Buick brakes are 12x2.5 and 12x2, which is pretty comparable to the dinky disc/drum set up they put on A-bodies. The Buick brakes and dynaflow make mountain drives, challenging, but if one knows what to expect, they aren’t deadly. But pertronix, a little bigger alternator for the big 2-speed cooling fan, and proper carb tuning and brake adjustments, it’s a very enjoyable vehicle. ... View more

Not because of the Alternator. That’s corrosion and failing wire that has increased resistance, upgraded accessories, and the current draw that necessitated the charging upgrade. Power steering…curious. I had to show my wife how to drive like one didn’t have power steering. Most people are used to turning the wheel without movement, so yeah, that gets hard. I used to wheel in Scout with manual steering. Even with 33x12.50s it was doable. I was tired after an long trail ride, but certainly not incapable of driving it. It’s like folks who have never driven RWD, it is different, not impossible. ... View more

Alright, let’s send this guy some business. I’ve had several experiences like this and never forget to make them my first call, not my last. Including one shop where a broke, 19 year old me had to take my car because all but a basic set of tools were 1600 miles away in AZ. Hey, I’d love to tip you more, but this is all I got, if you can look the other way about what should be under there and what is NOT under there, I’d really appreciate it. I bought him a 12 pack and a pizza, he did the work after hours. People like that are increasingly rare. ... View more

Nothing worse than a beautiful GM engine bay marred by an Accel supercoil. If one wants to make their machine run worse, just set the initial timing to TDC. All the garbage performance without the top-end misfire. ... View more

Oil pump gears ate the aluminum timing cover and allowed the mains to get starved. ... View more

Must have been different where you were. I learned to drive on and drove a legit dynoed 425hp/500 lbs ft A-body in the upper Midwest snow from age 16-20. I also drove an ElCamino in the same area, but mostly the a-body. Those cars, in my opinion, were infinitely more predictable in snow than the GM-10 garbage pile, or really nose-heavy front-drive LeSabre. During my drivers test I had to transition from a plowed, paved Main Street on to an un-plowed side street with a decent amount of snow at the transition. I just burped the throttle and gently brought the tail around with a little correction. Never left my lane, never even hung the tail out. Tester asked how I learned to do that. I said “I built this car, I know it better than my siblings.” Only missed 2 pts on the test because the guy didn’t believe the car came stock without a right mirror. ... View more

Not the biggest fan of the big-main bearing journal 455s, but they were each really great in their own right. I’ve had both an Olds and a Buick 455, liked each. With the Olds - cylinder heads, intake manifold, and top-end oiling are problems. With the Buick - main oiling. The small-bore Olds was my favorite steady-state highway engine. Even with 3.42 gears, it cruised perfectly and got a relatively thrifty 17mpg with a flipped air cleaner lid, carb tune, timing curve adjustment, and good dual exhaust out the factory dual manifolds. The Buick? It was a beast. The more I beat on that thing, the better it ran. Same tuning tricks made it a freaking monster. It’s like Buick intentionally held it WAY back. Not as fuel efficient, but it revd better than the Olds and was generally more fun. That was in a bigger car, so performance and mileage comparisons aren’t valid, but with more weight and 2.93 gears, it still felt quicker and again - was way more fun. Pontiacs…a totally different world. But then to compare against a Stage 1 or Stage 2 455 is a totally different game as well. An LS6 and a legit Stage 2 are pretty well matched. A stage 1 may be a little down, but it did have more torque than the 454 and a little less weight. Sorry to the Cad 500 fans, but they really aren’t performance motors or set up to be them. They just have displacement. Low revs, poor valve train geometry, no really decent heads that are readily available, even the Edelbrock intake is just okay. They are neat, different, but why spend the money on one for “performance” when you can make way more power with a set of Chinese cast big valve vortecs and a decent roller cam in a 383 stroker? This from a nailhead guy, so if you’re going for nostalgia or uniqueness, that’s understandable. ... View more

Okay, you’re being overly sensitive and missed the intentionally obvious tongue-in-cheek humor.  More to that point, while life  experiences vary for many, women and vehicles have WAY more in common than you may realize.  Both are largely emotional attachments.   Sure, many guys could get a younger trophy wife, but if their wife is a great match and a loving dedicated partner, the thought of divorcing her is as foreign as trading in a beloved classic for a practical Camry.   Conversely, if one is the stone-cold logical type that fights the good fight to avoid emotional attachments with things, plenty of Toyotas and Kias at the dealer.   The Buick and my wife have a lot in common.  The biggest-both are for life.   your results may vary.   ... View more

Haters gonna hate. RoadKill definitively demonstrated that women like Rat Rods. 360 LA is good platform, but I’d probably swap in a 408 with a fat roller cam and single plane. Epic burnouts for distance. I repeat: haters gonna hate. ... View more

I can give a pretty fair comparison between a V10 F250, a diesel F250, and a EcoBoosted F150 because we have them in the extended family. Worst fuel economy, towing, highway, or city - V10. It is a deplorable fuel pig. HP/TQ wise it is pretty comparable to the EcoBoost, but even with the power loss at elevation, towing a trailer and off-road Bronco, the V10 beats the EcoBoost. It is just a more stable platform. Empty, that EB is a fuel economy champ. It is more peppy and feels more car like. The V10, more like a diesel, but quicker. The diesels are slow. PAINFULLY slow. But listen, those diesels hauling 12,000 lbs is still better than the F150 EB towing 7,000. That said, the Ford F-150 diesel wasn’t that good by comparison and I don’t see the point in getting one over a 2.7 EB, unless one has an all-diesel fleet and lives on some rural property. It is hard to make a diesel gas-engine like, unless it is paired with a hybrid system that boosts acceleration with the motor. Then maybe. ... View more

Or repair their existing vehicle and save their money until they can buy a reliable newer used vehicle. ... View more

“ according to fueleconomy.gov, the added expense of diesel fuel eliminates the savings” States and prices vary, but where I live Diesel is usually equal or nearly equal to low-grade 87 octane. Ford’s own literature indicates EcoBoost require 91 octane for towing in our desert climate. So, around town maybe 87 is okay, but the $0.50 difference between diesel and premium is significant. ... View more

So, you’re saying that EVs will overtake Hybrids without heavy incentives?   Based on?  Their performance, reliability, recharge time, weight, safety?  The only way that is possible is through heavy taxation upon gasoline and diesel fuels, combined with a major boost in power generation in a very short period of time.   It simply isn’t going to roll out that way.   If we had enough power there wouldn’t be threats of grid shut downs on very hot or very cold days.    Even with a new power plant every month, it would take over a decade to replace gasoline for the primary mover of motor vehicles.     Hybrids are the majority share for the next 40 years.  They will have plug in capability and all-electric modes for zero emissions zones.   Oh, that’s here now, in a variety of vehicles.    Hybrids make sense.  EVs only in a very specific subset and controlled situations.    ... View more

“ So, a great design will … make its owner feel good about purchasing it.” And that’s it in a nutshell. Emotional gratification. Buy something to make you feel good about yourself and impress others. Instead of-buy what you want, what works best for you and your situation, and enjoy it. In my head I could hear my Grandfather’s voice. Wise man. One of those wealthy folks that drove a Buick because a Cadillac was “pretentious”. ... View more

You gonna take it down black bear, or just to the slopes in January? It all depends on what you want. The opinions of others is nothing more than a cacophony from the disaffected self-indulgent. Drive what you want. ... View more

You’re talking wrangler here. Yup, lots of folks like to blast them for the design. I’d rather deal with wind noise and rock chips than drive some Tupperware Star Wars character. ... View more

“ It astounds me how many people here conflate design with engineering.” With all due respect, there is a reason - engineering often takes a back seat to design and accounting. So the engineering department is watered down by folks who’s passions are for anything else and see no elegance in fine engineering. ... View more

You should have seen it in the 76 Caprice. The 96 was pure craftsmanship in comparison. ... View more

3rd generation die-hard GM family. My HD IFS pickup failed miserably with very low miles, so I switched brands. 20 years later, haven’t bought a (new) GM product since. Sometimes all it takes is one. ... View more

Sure they do. You may not hear it. Beautiful women are a lot like beautiful automobiles. If they aren’t able to complete the most basic tasks, or worse yet are unreliable and expensive, their worth decreases and you will see folks trade them in for a newer model. Conversely, the really good, reliable ones age well, and with time the kinks and idiosyncrasies take on a uniquely lovable charm. ... View more

I really don’t care how much time the stylists spent trying to make theirs unique. Once I own it, it is mine. I’m the guy who removes excess badging. ... View more

Rush had a song about that… ... View more

Nah. Wouldn’t own one. A hodgepodge of other companies engineered products assembled into their own Tupperware aeropod. Think AMC, without style. Yeah, check it out…Tesla sourced their components or heavily borrowed the Engineering from others. ... View more

They’ve always picked winners and losers, and always to their benefit. Who wins if you can’t jump in your machine and drive to anywhere at anytime? I love the “range” thing. When I’m going to my ranch, I normally carry 12 gallons of extra “range” in the truck. That’s an extra 204 miles of dirt roads. No outlets tho’. On second thought, I fully support 100% EVs. Go for it. Country is scary. Don’t come out here, stay in your high-density urban jungle. More land and grass fed animals for me and mine. ... View more

I work in a subset industry, but have contacts deep in the supplier and engineering groups. Let me be painfully blunt: Pure EVs are halo cars for status and political mileage. Hybrids are far and beyond the future and the auto makers know it. Pure EVs will come, will arrive, but their subsidy can only last so long and their true deep board room projected sales are low. Hybrids, on the other hand, benefit from a well sorted engineering basis, well established infrastructure and offer a seem less transition to full EV … over time. Oh I know, range, and charging, and all these are improving. Not fast enough and the lithium as a material has significant problems. Once the battery tech is solved the next hurdle is power generation and the grid itself. This will be at least a 2 generation task to get 75% of the country to support widespread full EV. But we like big promises, grand ideas, and hate the truth of STEM and Physics. LG has made significant advances in multi-step transmissions and electric motors, they are closing the electric motor efficiency gap. But we still have a battery issue. And it’s a big one. Let me just end this comment with a couple facts to consider: 1) EVs pay no fuel taxes 2) EVs are getting substantial subsidies. 3) Employers that once adopted EV chargers are slowly turning away as employees charge their EV, not just top-off, every day at work vs home. 4) more Tesla owners trade their Tesla in for a ICE or Hybrid than buy another. Does it mean EVs aren’t coming? No, quite the contrary. But their full-scale impact is at least 40-50 years out. Until then, they will continue their low % sales and gradually get to 10% of the market, within 15 years is the prediction. 50% in 30 years. Remember, 50% is the fleet is 12 years old or older. Conversely, 50% of the light fleet could be PHEV in under 15 years. ... View more

Don’t worry, there will be a gasoline and diesel fuel available for a very long time. It is a by product of refining. The cost of gasoline may go up, but compare and contrast to a cup of coffee. I’ll spend $8-10 a gallon on race gas, who cares? Good fuel, stores well, much better than the pump trash. I don’t commute with it everyday, so meh. $0.5-.75/ mile? Meh. I’ll pay $100 for a weekend drive. ... View more

Solar efficiency is pretty low relative to the cost. The ROI is long and the efficiency decline over time is not friendly as well. The solar route is a plausible addition to the entire energy structure, but it far from the singular solution. It is far better suited to low demand steady state than stepped-up high V charging or other heavy loads. ... View more

What was considered a parts car 30 years ago is a prime resto candidate today. A sad commentary to the market. But FCA is still making a profit with the new Chargers and Challengers, so life isn’t all bad. ... View more

Fuel consumption? Most people complain about a small increase in fuel prices, but will idle in line at Dutch Bros or similar and over pay for mediocre coffee 5-6 times per week. Fuel economy is directly proportional to the level of enjoyment. It is like coffee, pay for it and enjoy. ... View more

Metric RPMs. Gotta use the conversion factor. ... View more

I don’t watch films with Matt Damon out of a principle disagreement. ... View more