Ledphoot

Oh and dont forget. Your GF can also sue the lady herself seperately for injuries if all else fails..

Theres a place near here in Greenville NC that does that. You can get like $280 in the first 2 weeks if you follow through. I think they harvest platelettes too for Hemophiliacs and such.

Now we know whos overtime pay is causing gas prices to skyrocket!!! Welcome Welcome...

I've been fighting a workers comp Ins. battle since July of 2006. I am curently fighting with Ins. over hail damage 2 weeks ago. I ran a body shop for 10 yrs. All Ins is the same... you have to fight it out in most cases to get any fair settlement. It is their job I think to get the best deal for the company...

Rust scares people... Need to see some pics of the car to really judge..

The block may be decked too much. A ton of careful machining and measuring goes into building those big motors ! Well, any motor if you do it right. But big motors are less forgiving..

I didnt know you could do something like that at home??

Bleach or pool chlorine.. just a cup or 2. Might help. And it will help keep the mold away when it drains,,

I have to admit... although I hate too. I have been a tech for many years and have extensive training and I have always heard them called freeze plugs or occasionally expansion plugs... Maybe it is a term used in different parts of the US ? Oh well... it all sounds good to me!

OH! I thought you sold a kid or kidney or something.....

Hang in there. The slow progress is their way of wearing you down so you will settle for anything out of desperation. Be patient and direct but not rude..sounds like your doing well considering it is an insurance company. Get copies of you GF Dr receipts and such and send copies to the womans ins co saying you "just want it filed if it becomes an issue". Makes them think youve got your S*^T together and are in control..

When they get through tap dancing and make you an offer... No matter what it is refuse it. Start looking right now online and in all the car trader books around town at what it would cost to buy a comperable truck and stick to those numbers. They will try to wear you down but refuse to budge, Tell them you had kept that vehicle in top mechanical shape and spent money you know you can never recoup on upkeep and maintainence and you want a fair market price...not low dollar wholesale and not a penny less. Remember, you are not at fault and you have personal injury on behalf of your G-Friend so YOU are in control. I watch INS Companies push people around everyday and wear them down by not cooperating until you HAVE to settle because you need a car and feel like you just cant win.. Especially when you are not at fault that is simply not the case... And if your not satisfied there is always small claims court against the woman who hit you.. Keep a written record of every contact you make. Every name, time of day, what was said etc. It really solidifies your case when you can state detailed facts or be abke to quote specific individuals when your discussing settlements. Be cool, be patient and you can profit from all of this. get hotheaded and pushy and you'll be lucky to get more than scrap weight...

Handsome Croc their mates... Crikey!! Photog was handy with the camera eh? "Be careful mates, Crocs can be very dangerous"

Yeah 7.62 has gotten pricey.. I love to blow thru it with my MAC90 and it feels good to load up a 100rd drum and waste it on anything that splatters !!! But of course I never actually insert the drum into the rifle because that would be illegal... ....

NICE JOB and you get to take pride in the fact you did it yourself!

I added resonator tips (real ones with mesh and packing) to my first Z it was a SBC 2.5" pipes dualled straight out back. I had cherry bombs on it and added the resonators and it mellowed the tone quite a bit...took the BUZZZZ out of it. I just saw some mufflers on Ebay in an Ebay Store...I cant remember exactly what they were called, but they were oval and like 2.75 x 5 x 14 I think and were dual chamber so they would be pretty mild and not too restrictive.. I thought about a pair for my Cutlass since they would fit tight to the floor..

as easy as those parts are to find cheap and aftermarket... if it drives straight and you like the truck let them total it and buy it back. It won't bring squat at auction because everything a salvage yard wants is bent or high milage...you'd probably get it back for less than $1000 slap a bunch of sheetmetal on it and a quickie paint and drive it the rest of the way to death!... and have some play money left over if you can do most of it yourself..

well Davyz it kinda makes sense. I figure the initial torque needed to set the weight in motion is outweighed by the additional power created by the leverage of the rotating mass once set in motion. So once you get that balancer moving it perpetuates the force of rotation and makes it easier for all of those internal components to move.

Hey lets look at this from this perspective... With the poor quality crap paintjobs new cars in general ( especially the econo boxes ) it doesnt take much to have a nice paintjob as long as you do an adequate job on prep and body repair... But be realistic... SHOW quality means sits at SEMA and makes people say DAMN! and that comes from time, talent and the best quality materials. I personally wouldnt have it because I would be afraid to drive it.

Nothing is "American" anymore. sad, but true.... I have the 2000# job and 3 of the others. I have a 500 Caddy motor complete on the big one and it has been there for at least 3 yrs and moved to 3 buildings. I gave $59 for my big one on sale but it was 3-4 yrs ago. I gave $29 ea for the little ones at the same time. Toss the bolts! Buy 2 little ones and don't bother with the big one unless you want to build a car rotisserie out of them.

Watch Craigslist . com for the 96 up Vortecs. I bought a complete 97 truck motor with Vortec heads for $350 ( I had just bought it for the heads as it was supposedly knocking) When I tore it down I found 1 bad rod bearing and no wear to the cylinders. I've used the heads on my other motor and took the truck motor to the machine shop to start my 383 stroker with roller cam... Remember when you build mild you want to build for torque not HP. Vortec heads are the ticket for good torquey street motors, they respond well to the small tube (aka: cheap) headers and mild cams and small carbs... All of these + LOWBUCK!! You can build a great street toy that wont embarass itself at a local dragstrip all using parts others have thrown to the side and sell for CHEAP!! A stock 350 Gen 1 (non roller-cheapest to build) bottom end, Vortec heads with the necessary valve spring mods, a modest lift cam in the 470-490 lift range ( pleanty of buildups online to follow) headers, dual plenium high rise intake ( like the Crosswind or RPM AirGap) and you have a good solid pump gas daily driver that will fry tires all day long.....

Thanks getZ. I have heard the bigger balancer creates more torque but I'm not sure.

I have a ?? I should already know the answer too but don't! The harmonic balancer for a small block chevy ( exc. 400 of course) in this case a 71 350 4 bolt main. I want to buy a new harmonic balancer and I was wondering what the advantages/disadvantages were for using a smaller vs larger unit. I know 4 bolt main mtrs come with the large one but is it necessary? Does it effect torque, rpm , how fast engine revs..etc? I know my 350 is internally balanced to a zero balance damper is what I need but do I go big or little, steel, aluminium, ??

I guess I've been lucky. I've been a loyal buyer for 12+ yrs and have had little trouble with any of it. I recognize it as "economy" tools so I use them as such. Keep everything lubed and tightened and try not to over stress any of it. But in your case that was just poor quality control.. Probably some new guy that was trying to keep up with the assembly line and let something slide. Then quality control ( which is probably non existent on Chinese lines) didnt catch it. On first discovery I would have hauled it back to Harbor Freight for a replacement and seen if the other was any better.. If not, I'd take it back an get my $$...