What did you do to / with your XLR today?

[Vetter]

Vetter! Still sanding?

Gord

Yes, finished sanding the bad epoxy primer I did a few days ago. It actually wasn't so bad and as tough as that stuff is I could really define the sharp edges a little better. So I sprayed a coat of 2X primer Monday and started sanding it smooth these last few days, that stuff sands awesome with just a 3M scotch pad.
Will be ready for base clear next week, but may wait till the weather starts getting a little warmer.

 

[Vetter]

Finished sanding the car, smooth as silk right now. Also painted the grill and engine cover with gloss black, everything else will be Silver Metallic.

 

[Gord]

Looks awesome - dangling mirrors too!

I'm trying to visualize the painted engine cover through the hood vents you made...I think this might be really cool, especially with the silver metallic exterior!

 

[long Tall Sally]

I like the wheels. I had a set of factory scuffed up , I painted them hyper silver which is just a tad darker that what you show. The wheels looked great. The center caps not so much. I would like to find something else for the centers that would fit or be adapted.

 

[Gord]

I like the wheels. I had a set of factory scuffed up , I painted them hyper silver which is just a tad darker that what you show. The wheels looked great. The center caps not so much. I would like to find something else for the centers that would fit or be adapted.

Thanks kindly!
These are actually quite dark - one of those colors that changes lots depending on the ambient light it seems.

I completely agree regarding the stock wheels and the center caps especially too. Well say, you're savvy enough to mold a fiberglass headlight, any hope in making something to do center caps - perhaps without the big 'nut' and emblem? Actually, I guess being aluminum, one could hack out what you don't like and weld in something else?

It's just not in my DNA it seems, to leave well enough alone, so I always look to tweak a bit here and there. That's the fun part!

 

[Gord]

Sway it isn't so!

I wonder if it's only Vetter and myself actually doing anything on a quasi daily basis.

There was a thread in here the past week about sway bars so I figured while I had so much of the front off the car (cleaning / tidy-up), I might as well pull the front sway bar down and give it a good once-over.

Interesting (and this might be worthy for others to really take note). Underneath one of the rubber bushings, it was starting to rust and more than just a little. One pretty good pit in it and that of course prompted me to sand the whole thing clean and start a repaint process.

Take note because another car / brand I owned at a time, which also had hollow sway bars...well it must have gotten moisture inside and right around the time those bars became unobtanium, it snapped an end off.

Soooo for anyone whose sway bars might be showing a hint of rust near the rubber bushings, I'd say you might do well to either lube 'em up a bit to try to keep the rust at bay, or take the bar down and fix it right.

The end links were "pretty good" but not more than that so I'm changing those for new ones. I do understand early flavors had plastic bushings and later ones (anything you'd buy from GM now best as I've read), have steel. If for nothing else, it was mildly satisfying - it's always more fun when you do find a problem and are able to solve it without it burning a massive hole in your pocket.

 

[MGibson.MSO]

Got my 2007 out of the garage this week for another year of fun!

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[beaver_jd]

Got my 2007 out of the garage this week for another year of fun!

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MGibson, I live in Calgary about 7 hours north of you. No-one up there will be getting their toys out anytime soon as they are up to their ears in snow .
John F.

 

[MGibson.MSO]

MGibson, I live in Calgary about 7 hours north of you. No-one up there will be getting their toys out anytime soon as they are up to their ears in snow .
John F.

Well, winter’s predicted to make a return here over the weekend, so I’ll be back on the ski hill for a day or two. Speaking of which, I have Revelstoke high on my list of winter priorities!


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[beaver_jd]

Well, winter’s predicted to make a return here over the weekend, so I’ll be back on the ski hill for a day or two. Speaking of which, I have Revelstoke high on my list of winter priorities!


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Well if you're going to Revelstoke in the winter you must a skier.
John F.

 

[XLRATING]

I coronavirus-proofed mine today.

Actually I just plan to outrun the virus in my XLR.

 

[Gord]

Houston, can I stay here a bit longer?

I coronavirus-proofed mine today.

Actually I just plan to outrun the virus in my XLR.

Check this one out (regularly if time permits):

Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS

I'd say the only folks who might be able to say they're potentially out of harms way, would be those up on the ISS.

I wonder if they can see the same hideous big red blobs from their vantage point...

 

[Gord]

XLR? Today it was... Gaak! Suzuki repairs!

Hope everyone is handling our new world without too much disruption.

A friend of mine had the alternator quit in her weird little Suzuki SX4 and seeing as...I'm an idiot, I offered to fix it for her, as the garage price she was quoted was astronomical.

Lesson 1: Don't do it. Simply buy friend or colleague a new car at whatever cost. You'll thank me later.

Easiest to explain how I did it was to coarsely follow some YouTube instructions - I'll post said vid here if anyone wants to see just what a devil it was. Of course I kept glancing over at the XLR, and having not done an alternator on it, kept wondering if it could even be half as bad?

Tomorrow I'll get back to the XLR's suspension tidy-up. Nice and relaxing, no specific need for double-jointed wrists, elbows and fingers!

Gord

 

[Vetter]

Finally with everything going on was able to paint the XLR.
After suiting up and doing my shopping at Walmart first, I got home and painted the XLR. Base coat first, then clear coat! It's been a long day!
Everything looks good except some mottling on the hood, I cleared it anyway, but it will need to be re-done. I don't like the way it turned out. I don't mind re-doing the hood, the rest of the car looks good. I think I will do the hood in flat black first just to see how I like it for the summer.

 

[Gord]

COVID-19 ruins hood finish... film at 11.

Vetter!
Ah, I see you're all suited up for a trip to the Walmart!

Must have been nice to get home and rid of that thing to do some painting in the comfort of your spiffy paint booth!

More pictures perhaps? The black sounds like a plan for the hood 'cept it might make your hood vent disappear a bit?

Be safe!

 

[Vetter]

Here are some pics, can't really see the issues with the hood but it's bad, I am going to sand it all down and respray.
I was able to get all the masking off today and check things out, I will need to wet sand a few areas to get rid of some of the dust and German Shepherd hairs! This time of year they are everywhere, and that dog hasn't been in my pole barn in months they just appear out of thin air! Oh well, it's amazing what shows up in paint when you don't want it to. It was 50 degrees here yesterday and even the bugs were out crawling on the car! That home made paint booth wasn't doing as well as I hoped.
I will say, this is the hardest car I ever painted.

 

[LSNot]

****, I’m glad I still have my xLR & no one bought it

Pulled off the mega cannon mufflers & added turn downs - sounds way better than I expected

 

[XLRATING]

Took mine out for a long drive today. Stayed at least 6’ away from everyone. Used WOT to blow away and/or cook any viruses that got near. Affordable even with premium since coronavirus has dumped gas prices.

 

[GuitarSlinger]

Detailed under the hood and noticed that the rear nut and bolt that hold the coolant recovery tank in place were missing. Checked the front one, it was loose so tightened it.

Not quite a Boeing maintenance alert but you might want to check yours.

 

[graytoad]

Pretend I posted this Friday!

So I did not have a chance to post this Friday March 27th for obvious reasons which I explain. Steve & I 'winter' in Port Charlotte, Florida and usually stay until the end of April. However, being we are Canadians and the uncertain times with CV19 we decided to leave early. We intended to take two days for the drive but departed extra early Friday morning. We were driving my X home: some of you may remember me whimpering how I had to leave it south last spring as Steve's cataracts had advanced badly and he could not drive. We intended to drive it and the 61 Olds wagon home but as there was only one driver we had to leave a car behind. (and yes Steve's surgery went well and he is super pleased on how well he can see now!)

Anyway: I am wandering off the story line as I always do.
So the Obvious reasons I did not post Friday is we departed at 4:40 am and ended up driving straight through to our home in Canada. We reset the average mpg and trip meter when we left. Crazy but true - while driving thru the mountains, had passed through Tennessee and was partway thru Kentucky I decided to check the 'average mpg' it was over 30 mpg and I was averaging 80 - 83 mph the majority of the time.

Actually got it up to 31 MPG and I was not babying it: however I am mindful when approaching someone I will be passing and pulling out into the other lane before the cruise backs off and the car has to accelerate again. I also avoid hard accelerations except for when 'I have had enough of these pokey puppies'. It was also helpful that the highways are lightly traveled right now so we did not experience any traffic jams. Took I75 all the way to Detroit then turned right! I drove a good 2/3rds of the trip but Steve took over right around the time we decided to not hotel for the night and push on through the last 5 1/2 hours home.

So what did I do with my XLR today (well Friday) Final count: after Steve took over driving the mileage dropped.... ya, no kidding. 27.1 average mpg, 1,447 miles, 21 hours continuous flawless driving arriving at 1:30 am with me doing the last hour as Steve's 5 hour energy wore off but mine had not!

Pros: what a fabulous car to drive long distances. Cons: passenger cannot recline for a nap and a crazy small storage trunk - even with the top up.... but especially when you have your rebuilt Turbo for your Oldsmobile along with more restoration parts in the trunk! You know your trunk is full when you 'have to' use your 'parcel shelf' behind your head for stuff that won't fit in the trunk

Photos: Junk in the Trunk and more on the parcel shelf!


My Turbo for my super rare 1963 Oldsmobile Jetfire we are restoring. Did you know that the Jetfire was the first north American built factory turbo production car! They beat the Corvair to the streets by a few weeks and were built for 1962 & 1963 model years only and I have a even more rare manual 4 speed model!
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