What vehicle do you drive?

The_Black_Log Foler

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I think what Foler means is less restomod, and maybe more backdate. Take a modern car with a good engine (LS, coyote, 392, whatever) and rip off all the electronic shit and put a carb system on it, for example. People have done that with LS engines (typically to put into old muscle cars), but it does cost you efficiency and power compared to modern EFI/Ignition. But it's more efficient and better power/weight than using old iron block engines due to weight and modern metallurgy being better. Alternatively you can add aftermarket versions of electronic fuel injection/ignition, such as megasquirt. That kind of thing can always be updated because something new that comes along is designed to be adapted in some way to existing systems.

As far as the abs module in your truck, just fucking bypass it why don't you? It doesn't brick your truck, just the brakes, right? Put in non-abs brakes. Find a used module on ebay or a junkyard or something. There's ways around all that kind of shit.


As far as simple sports cars, it's not a big list. Miatas, early 3.0 Z3's maybe, c5 corvettes might be relatively gadget free(not sure), S2000's. Anything past about 2005 or so is going to have more and more tech added. To get truly mechanical you have to go back to the 80's, and even then it's no guarantee. Early Porsche 928's for example are famous for being chock full of proprietary electrical relays that go bad and are basically unobtainium. Good luck figuring out what they all do and replacing them with something that will either last a long time, or just gutting the car of all of that stuff and still having it work in the way you would want. There's also the mechanical fuel injection (Bosch K/jetronic... I think) on all the Euro stuff from back then is pretty complicated and hard to find parts for now and requires a pretty knowledgeable mechanic to get working right.

Me, if I was building a simple mechanical sports car for non-mint amounts of money and I could fit in them, it would be a Miata built up to look like a light duty trackday weapon. A few years ago I would have said build up a fox body mustang for relatively cheap, but I think they've come up in price a lot. Maybe the late 90's (SN95) mustangs could do it, but finding a non-busted one is going to be tough. I've always kind of liked the 89-92 model Thunderbirds looks-wise, and under the skin they share most of their parts with fox bodies, apparently. Building up one of those might be a more unusual choice and cheaper than a same year mustang, but finding a manual one would be tough so you'd need to do a swap because fuck autotragics. Probably not too bad when you start out with something cheap, but eh, it would still be a pretty big project.
I guess what spurred my question was that researching my abs issue I found lots of early 2000s corvette folks in my same situation and thought “well that’s annoying as hell”. It’s not a situation I’d want to be in for a car I planned to keep indefinitely you know?

Bypass is probably an option. I need to get more clarity but I think I can use a module from a truck that didn’t have the optional trailer brake and just abandon the trailer brake. I’m fine with that and I can find that module used.

Used modules from my research require a GM tech 2 scanner to program. The dealer that diagnosed it won’t reprogram a used module, “liability” etc.

Found a diesel mechanic who will look at it Wednesday. Also this morning I think I found the module from salvage but again would require reprogramming. Hoping this mechanic can do that…
 
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Kais

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1987-buick-grand-national-regal-gnx-6.jpg
 
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Kais

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That's not my car, didn't want to misrepresent. I drive an 03 tundra and i'll probably have this thing for another 200k miles. It's just doesn't break. I've had my fair share of illegal fun in and against Buicks though. It fits the bill for what folder is looking for. Visceral driving experience, power, parts, cred. Also, it's big and very black. I know that's the key part here.
 
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Burren

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Grand Nationals and the GNX variant are not cheap and not common. By today's standards they would get walked by a $40,000 Hyundai. Super fucking badass looking though and ripe for an LS swap if you didn't care about keeping it original.
 

Lambourne

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I guess what spurred my question was that researching my abs issue I found lots of early 2000s corvette folks in my same situation and thought “well that’s annoying as hell”. It’s not a situation I’d want to be in for a car I planned to keep indefinitely you know?

Bypass is probably an option. I need to get more clarity but I think I can use a module from a truck that didn’t have the optional trailer brake and just abandon the trailer brake. I’m fine with that and I can find that module used.

Used modules from my research require a GM tech 2 scanner to program. The dealer that diagnosed it won’t reprogram a used module, “liability” etc.

Found a diesel mechanic who will look at it Wednesday. Also this morning I think I found the module from salvage but again would require reprogramming. Hoping this mechanic can do that…


The C5 ABS is a known issue with those cars, actually a fairly common problem across many brands in those years since there's really only a handful of suppliers of those pump modules.

I suggest you get away from the dealer network and find a place that deals mainly with older cars or better yet, a control module specialist. Dealers are for warranty work and they just replace a component, which is fine if you're not paying for it but not realistic over the long term when they want 2k for a new module that really only needs a minor repair.

Was it a 2005 F150 you had?



It's easy to get anxious about "what if X stops working" but the truth is that as long as you get a car with a substantial enthusiast following, there will be some cottage industry that pops up to fix these things. I've owned many older cars that already had substantial electronics in them and while some have certainly needed attention in that area, it's not actually all that common and barely a blip when it comes to the total cost of keeping a 25+ year old car running.
 
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The_Black_Log Foler

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The C5 ABS is a known issue with those cars, actually a fairly common problem across many brands in those years since there's really only a handful of suppliers of those pump modules.

I suggest you get away from the dealer network and find a place that deals mainly with older cars or better yet, a control module specialist. Dealers are for warranty work and they just replace a component, which is fine if you're not paying for it but not realistic over the long term when they want 2k for a new module that really only needs a minor repair.

Was it a 2005 F150 you had?



It's easy to get anxious about "what if X stops working" but the truth is that as long as you get a car with a substantial enthusiast following, there will be some cottage industry that pops up to fix these things. I've owned many older cars that already had substantial electronics in them and while some have certainly needed attention in that area, it's not actually all that common and barely a blip when it comes to the total cost of keeping a 25+ year old car running.
Trying an Indy diesel mechanic tomorrow that was recommended to me. Like I said I talked with absfixer. Haven’t talked with module masters yet. I may hit them up although I have a feeling buddy and I can fix it if it’s a fixable problem with PCB. I want this mechanic to double check it’s not something dumb like bad grounds on ebcm or ecu, wire connections etc.

I’ve come across a one or two posts on forums saying 09 abs was unique. Something GM had switched up. So maybe I’m just unlucky.

09 Silverado 2500 duramax. Only has 130k miles. I’ve kept really good care of it. If I get the abs module issue resolved I think i could get 20-24k selling it myself. This truck was super popular when I bought it but looking at forums now, the people who buy these trucks just seem to buy new ones every 4-6 years.
 
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The_Black_Log Foler

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MSRP on car makers website doesn’t usually include dealer rebates does it? Dealer just jacked up the MSRP price on me for my order because they “forgot this won’t include current rebates”
 
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Siliconemelons

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MSRP on car makers website doesn’t usually include dealer rebates does it? Dealer just jacked up the MSRP price on me for my order because they “forgot this won’t include current rebates”

lol no unless there is some * next to it- usually it does not include delivery fee and tax. They just forgot to add in their bs dealer fees and are adding that bull to it.

dealer incentives make it go below msrp, these guys
 

The_Black_Log Foler

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lol no unless there is some * next to it- usually it does not include delivery fee and tax. They just forgot to add in their bs dealer fees and are adding that bull to it.

dealer incentives make it go below msrp, these guys
Yeah. I told them to fuck off, either be transparent with me or I walk. They have allocation for the vehicle which saves me maybe a month of time on delivery but I fucking hate being misled. They initially tried to add a 1.5k “optional dealer accessories “ which I just said “ya no thanks”.

Two strikes. I’d rather wait an extra month than even be fucked by someone for $100.
 
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Lambourne

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Scumbag dealer model needs to die and thankfully it seems to be on the way out. Bought my last car online and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
 
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The_Black_Log Foler

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Scumbag dealer model needs to die and thankfully it seems to be on the way out. Bought my last car online and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
TBH I’m the type of person that would pay slightly more money for less hassle, more honesty and more quality. Not just for car sales or anything. If these dumb fucks came to me and said “Hey listen, we have allocation for this vehicle and it’s about to go into build process. As such we think we have an edge on dealers who don’t have allocation and thus our price is $600 higher. Your final price will be X”.

Id be like, fair enough, at they’re honest and $600 saves me a month or so finding allocation and I’d bite the bullet.

I just fucking hate people who lie, cheat, do shit work, etc in business. Fuck them.

Also it’s hilarious how dumb the average salesman is. You’d think they haven’t even graduated high school. Zero skills at selling. Minimal knowledge on product.

Recently bought a Kubota tractor and oh boy. That salesman knew absolutely nothing about tractors. In fact he lost his dealer $5k of revenue from me because he was too dumb to order the right part numbers for my tractor’s three rear remote setup.

Sales should be done via the internet. At most you need 1-2 very knowledgeable people to assist remotely to answer any questions. An onsite dealer should be for test driving and that’s it.
 
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Siliconemelons

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I have never been to a dealer that knows at least as much as I do about the car I am buying
 
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Palum

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I have never been to a dealer that knows at least as much as I do about the car I am buying
This is true. Best you can hope for is one that knows their place and wants to build relationships with the community so isn't looking to rip them off in the hopes that they'll use them for service and stuff. All that goes out the window in most circumstances these days though.
 

Siliconemelons

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The problem is laws about dealerships, how they became LAWS I don’t know - as right leaning I bet this all was republican crony capitalism at its worst.

Tesla won against their suits or they were dropped as not to overturn a precedent - I would have to look it up. Because the dealers sued Tesla to try and make them have traditional dealers - it’s as bad or worse than medallions in nyc - dealers are family dynasty’s
 

Burren

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The problem is laws about dealerships, how they became LAWS I don’t know - as right leaning I bet this all was republican crony capitalism at its worst.

Tesla won against their suits or they were dropped as not to overturn a precedent - I would have to look it up. Because the dealers sued Tesla to try and make them have traditional dealers - it’s as bad or worse than medallions in nyc - dealers are family dynasty’s
It was originally done to protect US automakers from foreign brands. Then, it got out of hand and it’s now as ingrained in law as annual income taxes.
 

Springbok

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Might not be a good spot for this video, but this is brilliantly done. Looooooooool

 
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Burren

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Might not be a good spot for this video, but this is brilliantly done. Looooooooool

Love Throttle House. Best car show on YT.

Cyber Truck as a design exercise is interesting. But, as a vehicle to live with, it’s fucking stupid.
 
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Springbok

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Love Throttle House. Best car show on YT.

Cyber Truck as a design exercise is interesting. But, as a vehicle to live with, it’s fucking stupid.
Yeah, this video essentially reinforces that - I feel the same way. In a world of amorphous white/black/grey blobs I love that a vehicle like that exists, really, but the execution is hilarious, and yeah those guys are (not quite at the same level) Top Gears heir apparents. Their GX550 video dropped today and it was also brilliantly reviewed.
 
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