Bought Car In: 2000
Bought Saftied?: NO
Bought Emission Passed?: NO
Well, even though I still owned the 1992 Grand Prix, I was still looking for my "Perfect Car". This perfect car, was a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am, with T-Tops, a 350, or 305 Engine, Tan Interior, Black Exterios, PMD Seat's, Turbo Fined Rims with Bowling Ball Style HubCaps, Power Windows, and Locks, and an Automatic Trans...This car had been my dream car, ever since I was a child.
My sister knew this, (as did the rest of my family, and friends) and she was driving around one day, and she went up a street near to where I live. She saw a Red, Trans Am for sale. She came home, and told me about it, and since it was really close to where I live, we went and looked at it. She had told me that the sign on the car said "1300 O.B.O." so I did not expect too much...
FORtunatley, I was wrong...
I came up to the car, it was a REALLY FADED Red, Black interior, PMD Seat's, Turbo Fined Rims (NO Caps), Manual Transmission, and was in MINT shape, both inside and out. It was NOT everything I had wanted, no Automatic Transission, and the colors were wrong, but she was WELL taken care of...
She was not running, due to what the owner said was a starter problem. We offered the owner $1000 for her, and he excepted. In fact, he almost went nuts, because he had sold the car in like under 3 days...lol
We got her home (Pushed her all the way with the good 'ol Grand Prix) and began working on it.
TO GET THE CAR RUNNING:
First thing was the battery was dead. We tried to charge it, but it would not take a charge. I took the battery up to a local Canadian Tire, and they tested it. All the cells were shot.
"Great" I thought...So, I purchased a brand new battery...We went home, and put it in, and I thought to give her a try, just to see what she would do...
Well, she fired RIGHT up...Shocked the hell right out of us. NO new starter was needed. Just needed a new battery...
TO GET THE CAR RUNNING GOOD:
The car had been sitting in a barn for about 2 years, so as you can imangine, she did not run too well...Actually, the engine ran fine, but she would only get about 15 KM's to a $40 tank of gas...This was NOT good...Also, every time you put the clutch down, she would stall, so I had the Carburator cranked up...
But, the first thing we did, after that, was take the car into a Local Mechanic to tell us what she would need to saftey. If she need too much, I would sell her.
TO GET THE CAR CERTIFIED:
FIRST SAFTEY TEST:
As you might have guessed, she failed her first Saftey Test...She needed the following:
New Windshield: - Had a crack down the passanger side (We already knew this): $180.00 (Morris Auto Glass)
Passenger Side Mirror: - Mirror had fallen off, and broke: $14.99 - (Canadian Tire)
Drivers Side Window Motor - Motor was blown: $54.00 (Dom's Auto Wreakers)
Right Back Turn Signal - Bulb was so covered in greese, it did not work till I cleaned it.
Transmission Mount: - It had fallen off. $34.99 (Canadian Tire)
Both Lower Ball Joints - They were bad: $80.00 (Auto Shop)
So, all in all, it only took around $200 to Certify this car. Since my uncle was a mechanic...Not bad for a 20 year old car...
SECOND SAFTEY TEST:
She also failed her second saftey test, due to the fact that the Brand New Lower Ball Joints were out to far...This was fixed on Wednesday June 28, 2000, and that is when she went in for her
Third Saftey Test:
This she PASSED with flying colors!!!!
The next thing we did was to have her all tuned up...Plugs, Wires, Cap...Everything...We also had the Choke replaced (this is what was stalling the engine, when ever yopu put the clutch down)...This went fine...The next step was the Emission Test...This she failed...
TO GET THE CAR TO PASS IT'S EMISSION TEST:
FIRST EMISSION TEST:
Emission's Test Date: Monday June 19, 2000 (My younger Sister's Birthday)
As I said, she failed the Emission Test. Although, not by much.So, we took the carburator into a place in Toronto that completley re-built it ($180.00) , and we also removed the Intake Manifold, and had it professionally cleaned ($30,00) It was REALLY dirty and clogged.
Second Emission Test:
This she also failed. So, the only thing lift to do was to replace the EGR valve...This was done, but when the mechanic put her back on the Computer, it told him that only 6 out of the 8 Cylinders were working...Numbers 2 and 6 were not working properly.
JULY 2, 2000:
I took the car back to my mechanic uncle again, and he performed a Copmpression Test on the engine to see what was wrong with those two Cylinders.
Compression Test was done...ALL Cylinders were working perfetclly.
THIRD EMISSION TEST. (JULY 12, 2000):
After hearing MANY bad things about the place I was taking my car, (I talked to a bunch of people who had there car tested there, and it failed too), and also the fact that there customer support was TERRIBLE, and they did not treat me with a single bit of respect, that a paying customer deserves, I decided to take the car elsewhere for another Emission Test...(There was also the fact that there Emission Testing machine kept breaking down)
So, we took it to Canadian Tire, and she failed the Test again!!!!
NOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH IT???
We were out of options...Mu uncle looked at the car, through and through, as did the (Complete Utter Idiot's) Grease Monkey's (That is who was doing the Emission Test's before Canadian Tire)...So, we were left with one option...Put the car onto the "Emission Test Diagnostic" Computer at Canidian Tire.
JULY 12, 2000:
The Emission Test from Canadian Tire, said that there were problems with the Spark Plug Wires. The mechanic checked, and discovered that the Grease Monkey's had not installed the Spark Plug Wires INcorrectlly. This caused a couple of the wires to rest on the Engine Manifold, and we all know the manifold get's VERY HOT. This burnt through 2 of the Wires...Once this was fixed, and all the Wires replaced, the car ran PERFECTLLY...AND, she passed the Emission Test with FLYING COLORS!!!!!
MORE INFO ON THIS CAR, CAN BE FOUND ON THE "INFORMATION" PAGE. GET THERE BY FOLLOWING THE LINKS BELOW: