Got the Cavalier out today

[ZacFields]

Yes, it still exists and it runs just as good as it always has. Don't ever say American cars never last. If you take good care of them, they'll keep on kicking.

We bought Ashley's Ford Focus earlier this year, so for the last 6 months or so we've just been driving that around. Ashley and I work at the same place, so between the Focus and my motorcycle, we haven't had to take out the Cavalier in quite some time.

I got in the car, and it has that old musty smell that one would expect when a car has been sitting with the windows rolled up for a long time. Lots of muscle car guys love this smell, and I guess I have a bit of a love for it myself.

I turned the key... nothing. Should have started it at least once a week and maybe drove it around the block. Damn battery is dead. So I pulled out the charger and gave it a quick charge. About half an hour and I was able to squeeze enough juice out of it to get it started right up.

I drove it around my area a bit. Up Stoney Point road a little ways and in that area. It felt good to take my old friend out for a joy ride after it had been so long. That car and I have been through a lot of good times. It's the only car I've ever owned.... 6 years and counting and that starts back when I was 16, which makes it more impressive that it's still around 90,000 miles later (I'm at 140,000 total).

Now, I don't have the time or the desire right now to "fix it up" like I used to, but there are some pressing needs:

- For starters, one of the muffler harnesses broke off at some point, so the muffler doesn't sit right like it should and it bounces a bit.
- I noticed a few rusted holes around the welds behind the muffler. I'll take a wild guess and assume it would quiet down a bit if I patched those up.
- I've got a flex-fiber drift front bumper in my storage room that I've had for about a year and a half now. I need to put it on, because the old bumper is toast.
- Needs an oil change... not because of mileage but because of how much time has passed.
- There's a leak in my AC system somewhere. If I'm going to get any use out of this car, it should be in the summer time, so this is something that I need to find and fix.

Outside of that, everything is great with the car. I'd like to do some of the necessary repairs (the muffler harness, oil, and front bumper) ASAP because when school starts back up, there's going to be one day a week where I'll need to take it to work if it's raining (and can't take the bike). The rest of the stuff can wait until another time.

Anyhoo. that's my story. It felt really good to take her for a spin. The suspension felt a lot stiffer than I remember, but that could be due to having it sitting in my garage so long without moving.

[JacobS]

good to hear you still love it. i didnt know you lived off stoney point road...thats pretty darn close to where me and Justin (JustinS) live...interesting

[Drifte]

idk why that things still ticking. Id get on ebay and get a new oem front bumper, its cheap. Take it to midas or something and have them do the exhaust work and change your oil at the same time.

[RandomHero]

ever think of selling it? if so i know someone looking for a daily driver.

[DustinsDuster]

you can never get rid of that car Zac; i associate it with you. everytime i see a green one running around, i think of your car.

[ZacFields]

Ah I couldn't sell it because then I'd just have to buy a new one. I'm going to try to squeeze all the life out of this car, and then I'll probably tow her to the junkyard. That will be a sad day for me.

[ZacFields]

Mounted the drift front bumper today. It feels SO GOOD to have a bumper on the car that doesn't look/feel like it's about to fall off.

This bumper is flex-fiber, which is a really neat idea. It is fiberglass, but the mixture that it's composed of makes it flexible. You can bend it (within reason) and it won't break. I've seen video of people taking a flex-fiber front bumper and completely twisting it like a urethane bumper.

Anyways... this is the first time I've ever actually had to mount a bumper. It's not perfect, but I think it's damn good for my first one. I'm not too concerned with it being perfect, anyway. The picture was taken from my cell phone so sorry about the shoddy quality.

[ZacFields]

Upon further inspection, there are TWO muffler hangers that are broken. As it turns out, the muffler is bouncing off of the rear axle. So the muffler issue needs to be fixed ASAP.

I believe I will just get a regular muffler this time. I really no longer find a loud exhaust all that desirable. Plus I don't want to spend the money to get another flowmaster (that's the only "performance muffler" I'd use). When I was down there looking, there is a gaping hole in my muffler that I assume was caused by a mixture of the rust, and the hanger rubbing against it until it broke off.

So at this point, I need to change the oil and take the car out to denny's and have them replace my muffler. Since we're only really looking at maybe 2 more months of real warm weather, I'll probably leave the AC work to be done next spring.

As far as my bumper goes, I will probably just primer it black and make a decision on whether or not I want to paint it in the spring also. That's low priority.

And those drift bumpers are LOW LOW LOW. I'm glad I never gave in and got my car lowered because at this point, I think a speed bump would be a big problem in my car.

[Stutz]

I have a fart can you can have for FREE!!

[ZacFields]

Nope. right now the car is so loud I have to turn the radio up really loud just to hear the music. if I wanted it loud I'd just leave it like it is. lol. I'm going with a standard normal muffler.