The Semi-Unofficial Pistol-Forum Car geek, gearhead, hot rodder, and vehicle thread

[JRB]

So of course I had to look on Craigslist yesterday. There's someone in town asking $900 for an E46 330ci that runs but leaks water. Hell, I've dealt with a water-leaking BMW in the middle of nowhere 2 1/2 hours from home before. I suspect it's the kind of deal where if you showed up with five Benjamins and a trailer, you'd leave with a BMW on said trailer.

Jack it up, slide Mustang-like drivetrain under it and go pound laps until you're tired of pounding laps.

So, what's the plan for the powertrain in your new-to-you E46?

[OlongJohnson]

You seem to have missed the part where I'm a responsible adult working to have my stuff together instead of building cars.

[RevolverRob]

You seem to have missed the part where I'm a responsible adult working to have my stuff together instead of building cars.

So...

What’s the plan for your new E46?

[OlongJohnson]

Having enough (a.k.a. "too many") existing projects and finally being old enough to actually care that I know better.

[Bucky]

I only bought one gun in all of 2019. However, in 2019 I bought two Corvettes. I feel my hobby interests may be shrinking shifting

So does two Vettes make me a car geek, gear head, hot rodder, or all of the above?

[Medusa]

I only bought one gun in all of 2019. However, in 2019 I bought two Corvettes. I feel my hobby interests may be shrinking.

So does two Vettes make me a car geek, gear head, hot rodder, or all of the above?

You don’t wanna know what two Vettes makes you 😉

[JRB]

I only bought one gun in all of 2019. However, in 2019 I bought two Corvettes. I feel my hobby interests may be shrinking shifting

So does two Vettes make me a car geek, gear head, hot rodder, or all of the above?

Do you wear white New Balance shoes or the warehouse store knockoffs, and buy the exact same shoes when you need new ones?
Do you wear Sam's Club or Costco jeans? Do you iron them?
Do you memorize myopic and pedantic details about unremarkable model years because Corvette?
Do you own a windbreaker with a Corvette logo? A hat? Do you wear them all the time or only when you 'take the car'?
Do you freak out at the idea of modifying your Vettes? Do you actually call a K&N intake a 'Filtercharger'?
Do you merge onto highways at the speed limit? Or is 20 under 'just fine'?
Do you call everyone driving even 5mph faster than you an 'Idiot' or 'Knucklehead' regardless of the situation?
Do you post on Corvette forum asking about improving MPG, Wal-mart oil changes, or tuning it for 86 octane?

The answers to these questions will guide you to the wisdom you seek, Sir.

[RevolverRob]

I assume the same kinds of people buy VW GTis and Corvettes. They are the same people who spend the extra $20k on walnut trim in their Porsche 911, but think carbon-ceramic brakes is a waste of cash.

Corvettes are cool, I guess, my wife like Corvettes. Well...sort of C2 and C3 Corvettes, preferably with somewhere around 500-hp and three pedals. She referred to the C7 and C8 as, “Old people sports-cars.”

Ever since she drove my buddy’s ‘65 with a fuel injected 383 and Tremec - she’s talked about getting a Corvette. One of these days, I’ll find a clean C3 coupe for her. She’ll want to daily it. I figure a crate 350 and TKO would be ideal. Though, there is something so tempting about an LSx and T56. I think it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

[JRB]

I assume the same kinds of people buy VW GTis and Corvettes. They are the same people who spend the extra $20k on walnut trim in their Porsche 911, but think carbon-ceramic brakes is a waste of cash.

Corvettes are cool, I guess, my wife like Corvettes. Well...sort of C2 and C3 Corvettes, preferably with somewhere around 500-hp and three pedals. She referred to the C7 and C8 as, “Old people sports-cars.”

Ever since she drove my buddy’s ‘65 with a fuel injected 383 and Tremec - she’s talked about getting a Corvette. One of these days, I’ll find a clean C3 coupe for her. She’ll want to daily it. I figure a crate 350 and TKO would be ideal. Though, there is something so tempting about an LSx and T56. I think it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

Eh, having worked on lots of Vettes and my prior employer having been the APR dealer for my home state, I worked on lots of VW's too. Obsessive about detailing and paint condition was about the only correlation between classic, jean-short C5 dudes and GTI guys. GTI guys tend to actually drive their cars whereas most 'Corvette guys' fart around in it on Sundays and they'd never know the difference between a 250hp or 450hp engine under their hoods.

That said, C6's and C7's are fucking fantastic cars to build, and it's almost guaranteed the C8 will be phenomenal to build as well.
A Z51 package LS3 powered C6 is a great canvas for a monster build. A C6 Z06 is a fantastic start to building an properly insane street car, and the C7 Z06 is even better because ~725+whp is available for the asking with basic mods.
I don't care much for the cliche jean-shorts Corvette guys, but Corvettes are awesome cars to build up or just enjoy if you actually *drive* the things. 6MT three-pedal trans required, of course. Though I will say this - the C7 Z06 is the first sports car I've ever driven that impressed me with an automatic trans, and basically the only one at this point. It shifts quickly and works very well and it's FAST. I'd still prefer a 6MT though.

On Carbon-ceramic brakes: They're wonderful until you need to replace them. On a customer's C7 Z07 package car that had the carbon brakes, they were torched at 10k miles and the replacement cost for pads and rotors broke into the 5 digit range. Prices on those parts have softened up a little bit, but a front carbon rotor and pad replacement on a Z07 is still over $7k. That's a complete 8-pot/6-pot Brembo BBK for *BOTH* axles!
By the time you're truly exceeding what iron rotors and sound brake pad selection can offer, you're in a spec racing class not in a street car.
Carbon brakes are one of the few 'race car' options I'd skip on any car with a license plate.

Meanwhile, C2's and C3's look great and are just pure M14's and apple pie Americana, especially with a big cam and long tube headers. But they're best enjoyed doing all those looking-and-sounding-good sorts of things, some stoplight races, and not much else.

[Bucky]

Do you wear white New Balance shoes or the warehouse store knockoffs, and buy the exact same shoes when you need new ones?
Do you wear Sam's Club or Costco jeans? Do you iron them?
Do you memorize myopic and pedantic details about unremarkable model years because Corvette?
Do you own a windbreaker with a Corvette logo? A hat? Do you wear them all the time or only when you 'take the car'?
Do you freak out at the idea of modifying your Vettes? Do you actually call a K&N intake a 'Filtercharger'?
Do you merge onto highways at the speed limit? Or is 20 under 'just fine'?
Do you call everyone driving even 5mph faster than you an 'Idiot' or 'Knucklehead' regardless of the situation?
Do you post on Corvette forum asking about improving MPG, Wal-mart oil changes, or tuning it for 86 octane?

The answers to these questions will guide you to the wisdom you seek, Sir.

No to all..?

I actually just really like the cars. I don’t like driving much, but I like driving these.