Mikelly

Sounds like you got your answers here... Drop the gas tank and have it checked... A rusting tank is only going to continue to RUST unless you have it flushed and sealed. There is no other way to fix this. Mike

Uh, No. Some of us have Rot free Zs on the east coast too... Some of us also have other things going on in life, like running a business, keeping houses in order, dealing with family matters, and working on every other car in their fleet besides their dusty Zcar door stop. Patience Grasshopper. Or better yet... Mike

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/car/132889609.html Someone needs to jump on this one! It looks identicle to mine, except mine doesn't have the tire rack! Mike

Oh, and I DO listen when you guys make comments to me... We fixed some of the website stuff over the last few days, as well as updated our everchanging benefits... Mike

Gotcha!

This goes back to the basics... My stepson was 15 and working a lube pit at the local chevy dealer. FIFTEEN. And his friend was YOUNGER! You get some good and some bad. Some guys who are in a rush because they are on commission and some who just don't care. Bottom line is anytime you let someone else do the work for you, your control of the situation is lost. Do it yourself or risk failure and being let down by someone else. Mike

The Z8 headlights would be a decent alternative, but pricey I'm sure. I've got the headlights in the picture on my wife's car. They are long and flat with no arch to them. I don't see how you'd make them work at all... Mike

Dude, I don't know what your Credit score is but 7.39% on that loan 6 months ago was highway robbery. That is HIGH! Two recommendations for you here... Reduce the length to 36 months if you can swing it AND get that interest rate down. Go to a reputable credit union if at all possible to get that rate down to at least 5.5-6.0%. I haven't shopped for a rate in a while, but I know within the last two+ years we've bought three cars and the highest rate was 4.5%. I've seen rates as low as 2.5% on USED car loans through my wifes credit union (And this wasn't just an employee special, this was for all members). My credit union rates are: http://www.nwfcu.com/auto/rates.htm Can't find the link to my wife's CU, but when I do, I'll post them. Just use these as examples and shop the rates if you can. And just an FYI, I'd never finance something like this for 6 years. If you do a depreciation of minimal use on that car over 6 years, it's still not gonna keep pace with the paydown on the loan. You'd be upside down rather quickly on this loan. Mike

$4000??? SUCKER!!!! Feel better now? Brian, You'll get another... Just a matter of time... We're addicted... I hate rolling my car around the garage... But I do it... Some day... It'll move under its own power... Someday... Mike

Yup, that's about the going rate. I'd expect you'll get some traffic with some nice pics posted in the forsale section. You'll sell it. It'll just take a little time for the right guy/gal to hear about it and come see it. Mike

C5R castings won't bolt up and are stupid expensive. The AFRs are, well AFRs and do well, but at a serious cost. Couple of guys over on LS1Tech and CorvetteForum recently reported LOW numbers using Patriot stage 1 and stage2 heads. Some guys have had GREAT results with those heads. What that tells me is that they don't have their porting process nailed down such that it is measurable and repeatable. Not a good thing to have with such a product. The latest kid on the block is the new DART LS1 head. It is getting good reviews and is almost HALF the price of AFRs. However, I'll be searching for either bare 243 casting LS6 heads to send to North Carolina with my car, or a set of heads from one of the members on the boards mentioned above with PROVEN power numbers. Jeff Creech posted within a week of my last Dyno tune down in Durham that he had tuned a 2004 GTO with the SAME cam, some headers, a catback, and no other changes (Guy has the LS6 heads on it I believe, or the LS2 heads, whatever came in the 2004 GTO) and the car hit 420 on the dyno with a safe and solid tune. Same exact cam. Same intake. Same injectors. Worse flowing headers/ exhaust and a smaller throttlebody. He's making 34HP and about 20# ft. more than me... It has to be the heads. Mike

Oh man, You guys were right... I spent today busting arse, and it looks like I'm going to have FOUR new contracts, and possibly SIX to staff withing the next two months. We've been selected BY three additional companies this week, and after the discussions today with one of the owners, we're looking at some serious work ahead of us. I'm gonna be busy for a long time! Mike

Norm, that's true. The only concern would be if he was doing a home refinance or something like a new home purchase. It'll take about 6 months for him to regain the points lost. But if he's able to lower the interest and shorten the duration of the loan by going somewhere else, It's all a wash in the long run anyway, because he'll be out from under the note that much sooner. Mike

Looks like my personal vacation is over. I got a call last night and I've got to go meet a "customer" tomorrow who wants me to go to work on a project for them. On the plus side, I'll be doing my own hours and the work is much closer to home (About 30 minute commute). This'll give me enough time in the afternoon to keep the company steering in the right direction. I could use the extra revenue so I can actually pay myself a salary, so I'm gonna take it for now and see what happens... This will be the third contract offer in three weeks, and number four since we started this little venture... Feast of famine... Feast or famine! Mike

THat's actually a decent find dude... The shop that did the work on my buddy Jim's car jacked the headers up so bad, I might have to buy a set just to replace the one with the colapsed tube... Mike

According to my wife's best friend, who is a loan officer at the Credit Union my wife works for, It'll have a negative impact on your loan score two fold: It is another loan that will go against you. It will be rated second tier since the loan pays off a previous loan, which is extending the length of the secured credit on the car, which is depreciating rapidly. Unless you can seriously reduce the interest, I'd not do it. If your loan is at say 9% and you can get a better rate refinancing it at say 4.5% (Which some credit unions are doing) then I'd do it only if the interest reduction is the goal. If you're stretching it out longer to reduce the monthly payment, I'd just sell it and get out from under it all together, because it will look on your credit score like you might be spread to thin. You state that you can afford to pay more, so If you do refinance it, Refinance it for something like 36-42 months. The reason you're seeing such a high payoff is that the initial two years on a higher interest loan eat up a significant amoung of the payment in the interest charges. They get their money FIRST. If you can reduce the rate and shorten the terms, then do that and don't worry about the credit score. This info is good advice passed on through me... I have NO banking or lending experience, so take it for what it is, Third tier advice... But Sandy has never steered me wrong, so there you have it. Mike

Bastaad, You're going about this the correct way. My wife didn't get the "car" thing until I bought her the 95 Mustang SVT. Then she got it. She understood the feeling that she got from hearing the flowmasters, shifting the gears and chirping tires. She loved that car. Made her feel like a teenager again! Now, with her 328 BMW, she still feels the peppy feeling of a sporty car, and it's adult enough to fit her 42 years... Even if she still looks 25. But more importantly, she "gets" it. She understands how the right car can make you feel complete, and how it is a reflection of you and your personality. When she had the Mustang, it was a direct reflection of who she wanted to be in her mind at the time... Now the BMW is that as well, for where she is professionally, personally and mentally. It's all in the way you present it... You're going down the right path! Mike

Alex, that's the first I've heard of those issues you mentioned... My stepson's 2004 model has been bullet proof and he's pretty hard on it. Mike

Happy Bday HYbridZ!!!!! WOOOOHOOOOO BABY! Mike

Actually. I know a guy who owns a 360 and a 430 and according to him it is very hard to get those cars to go straight and do a burnout like this guy was trying to. The guys might know how to drive a conventional car, and might have just gotten in over his head with a much more sophisticated machine! Gonna be costly regardless... It isn't totalled, but will be at least $35K to fix. Mike

We see that kinda stuff every weekend around here... Except it's normally some idiot in a clapped out Acura or Civic... Doesn't take money to be an idiot, just some idiot friends talking you into doing stupid things behind the wheel... Mike

My oldest stepson has the Sentra SE-R and stepped down to it from a 93 RX7TT. It is a VERY nice and well equipped daily driver that will scratch all the appropriate boxes. He's even autoX'ed it and loves it... Fun car and well equipped for the money. I personally think that Nissan is the unsung hero in automaking right now. They've done more to turn that company around in the last decade than any other company in recent memory, except maybe Dodge. Mike

Brad, Right now I'll take 25%! Thanks guys for all the well wishes! Mike

We're stuck with it, and since our logo artwork has BKA in it (For Brickner, Kelly & Associates), we're not likely to change it anytime soon... This is actually pretty standard for small IT firms in the Intelligence Arena. Mike

So since Oct.14th of last year we've been sustaining on one billable slot with our little fledgeling company. We've solicited a bunch of Prime contractors for work as subcontractors in the federal government cleared business sector and were wondering when things would break... Finally last month we were given the chance to staff over 20 vacanices on the one contract we were currently on. Great, now to find the candidates, so we spent the money and joined http://www.clearancejobs.com as employers and we're now interviewing candidates for the slots. In the mean time, we were also working towards other contracts with other POCs. Last week we were told we'll have the opportunity to staff and manage a new contract for a small prime contractor who doesn't want the work they won, and today I got a call from a General Dynamics poc with a request to staff some slots for them. If we're lucky enough to staff 50% of the vacancies we've been offered, we'll have 10 employees by the end of March. That basically means we'll have gotten over that big "hump" and I'll actually be able to pay myself a salary for the first time since October! Crazy times for sure! You guys can check out our corporate website at http://www.bka2005.com. Keep in mind that we're using this more as a recruiting tool, since we can't exactly pitch a product or service, due to the type of work we do. Mike