New car!

[13aceofspades13]

Don't listen to them Ace, Buicks are hot rods and were made to run, have at it buddy!

Hey now I speak as someone who once bought a set of x-drilled rotors (for my Toyota MR2). They did nothing. And actually they can be a potential safety hazard if you buy cheap ones.

http://www.ebcbrakes.com/cross_drilled_rotors/dangerous_cross_drilled_rotors.shtml

I wish I had saved my money and used it to buy more models instead! ;D

Yeah, I "do it yourself" set of cross drilled rotors....that is just dumb and asking for trouble.

Honestly...unless you have an open mag wheel that you just don't want an ugly normal rotor behind it, or you are going racing with your car, then cross drilled rotors have little effect on your braking.

The holes in them are better for cooling, and cosmetically look good, but just putting them for something to do is just a waste....I do have to agree with that

self drilling your own rotors is a dangerous thing to do, unless the rotor is designed that way, it greatly decreases the structural integrity, and can knock off the balance of the rotor.

slotting and cross drilling rotors does not just cool your brakes faster and add looks, it fights agents "Gas Fade" as the brakes get hot and as they start to spin fast, gasses are formed from the adhesives in the pads starting to get hot, with a smooth rotor this can cause a air pocket to form between the pads and the rotor, when you press on the brakes the pads float over the rotor over sort of a air film rather than coming in contact with the rotor, with slots and cross drilled holes this allows the gasses to escape effortlessly, eliminating gas fade.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

slotting and cross drilling rotors does not just cool your brakes faster and add looks, it fights agents "Gas Fade" as the brakes get hot and as they start to spin fast, gasses are formed from the adhesives in the pads starting to get hot, with a smooth rotor this can cause a air pocket to form between the pads and the rotor, when you press on the brakes the pads float over the rotor over sort of a air film rather than coming in contact with the rotor, with slots and cross drilled holes this allows the gasses to escape effortlessly, eliminating gas fade.

This is true, however unless you are taking the Buick to do some track day racing at your local speedway, then the expense of the slotting and cross drilling are lost on a normal everyday operating car. Have been driving many different vehicles for almost 30yrs, and with the exception of my RX-7 which I did some track racing with, there was never any need for those type of rotors on a regular street vehicle. It does look cool however, especially when you paint the caliper a stand out color.

 

[13aceofspades13]

slotting and cross drilling rotors does not just cool your brakes faster and add looks, it fights agents "Gas Fade" as the brakes get hot and as they start to spin fast, gasses are formed from the adhesives in the pads starting to get hot, with a smooth rotor this can cause a air pocket to form between the pads and the rotor, when you press on the brakes the pads float over the rotor over sort of a air film rather than coming in contact with the rotor, with slots and cross drilled holes this allows the gasses to escape effortlessly, eliminating gas fade.

This is true, however unless you are taking the Buick to do some track day racing at your local speedway, then the expense of the slotting and cross drilling are lost on a normal everyday operating car. Have been driving many different vehicles for almost 30yrs, and with the exception of my RX-7 which I did some track racing with, there was never any need for those type of rotors on a regular street vehicle. It does look cool however, especially when you paint the caliper a stand out color.

i may not get cross drilled rotors, i want too, the question is if i can afford them, i however do need new drums, the last time i machined them they where a hair line between still usable after machining and junk, the next time i do my brakes i'm going to need drums, and i want to get a nice set, and not a cheep set, you would be surprised how fast you will get screwed over trying to find a "bargain." on a set of drums or disks. for example, a nice set of rotors would cost me about $120 bucks for my car, but they have rotors also that are made really cheep, for about $90, i remember doing a parts comparison in class and the $90 set was made and machined cheaply out of what looked like garbage metal, but the more expensive set looked more precisely machined, was thicker and made of higher quality materials.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Yeah, my Dad was a mechanic since 1970, worked in various garages, and got on with the City as the sole caretaker of the police dept's vehicles (small city, but still looked after a fleet of probably 75-100 vehicles).

He since left there and went to work for the Canadian Military as a civilian mechanic (better hours, better pay and they provided the tools), but even before he left the city, the so called "cheap" parts were basically made out of recycled metal. Scrap metal that is taken, melted down and re-purposed. He always told me....don't buy the cheap generic parts, but the name brand or "good" parts, because the cheap parts were crap because they were recycled (brake rotors and drums were the worst of the offenders). The extra $20-$30 you would pay for a "good" set of brakes, would more than pay for themselves, as the cheap ones you would only get about 1/2 the wear out of them that you would normally with a good set. And all because of the recycled metal they used....it didn't have the durability of something that was made with new steel.

 

[13aceofspades13]

here is the intake manifold job



currently as you see the old gasket is in place, the old gasket was made of plastic with thin little rubber inlays that formed a "seal." in order to get the old gasket out it required me to first, drain the coolant, remove a series of wires and plug ins, throttle cables, intake hose and MAF sensor, heater core hoses, EGR Valve, and vacuum hoses, ignition coils and spark plug wires, i then needed to remove the upper intake manifold, then the fuel rails and fuel injectors, then i had to remove the alternator, and alternator mounting bracket, coolant resovwar, power steering pump, then the lower intake manifold, rockers, and pushrods. re install in reverse order. i also installed NGK V Power spark plugs, new spark plug wires, and a new thermostat.

this was a common procedure for the General motors V-6s the 3.1 and its slightly larger displaced sister 3.4 had issues with its intake manifold gasket leaking at about 100,000 miles or so beacuse the gasket would loose its seal and the intake manifold bolts could be loosened with a socket and my fingers! the first sign of leaking is the gasket area is damp and a brown slimy substance is found in your coolant resovwar and radiator, then a internal or external coolant leak will develop, most commonly external from the outer sides of the lower intake manifold coolant will begin to drip, if you do not assess the situation your engine will overheat or bolts holding the intake together will rust and seize too the cast iron block and issues will accrue, luckily i got too it as soon as there was a issue, and the procedure was finished in about 2 days, a professional mechanic can do it in 3 to 5 hours. the legendary 3.8 V-6 which is very well known, even more bulletproof also had issues with intake manifold coolant leaking beacuse its plastic intake manifold would crack and coolant would leak into the oil, i have seen this in a Pontiac grand prix that pulled into the shop!

the new gasket is made of sheet metal with thick oil resistant rubber seals, much more efficient and durable than the plastic ones, and commonly replace original GM lower intake manifold gaskets.