How to jazz up a pile of poo

[AdrenaLyn]

So my sunfire has been deemed unsavable by my husband. Ive already out more into the car money wise than I ever spent on it, and it has been lounging for the last 6 months with a fucked up head gasket. It used to start but now it won't even do that...plus it needed a new front end, a new front quarter panel, new headlight, it needs a buttload of dents taken out and basically we're pretty sure its going to take another couple grand to save it.

My dream of the Pink Stink is dead.

So last night he bought a 92 carolla. I know its in good condition because Ive driven it quite a few times, and the previous owner kept it pretty well. Always changed the oil, always got it tune ups ect.

Anyway....my issue with this car is the rims. it has those funky ass rims with the skinny tires? If I get the car over 60, it starts sliding on the pavement, which scares the bejesus out of me. How hard is it to get normal tires back on the sumbitch? This is Texas, and I drive in Houston traffic alot. Houston traffic is terrifying if you can't get your go buggy up to about 80. Plus there are patches of super slippery road there anyway, never mind with the skinny tires.

Any thoughts on this?

Also from what Ive heard those skinny tires are super expensive to replace if all I need are new tires then how much would that run?

[assassinhold]

fuck your husband, and tell him you ain't gonna give him any until he fixes it. period.

[53V3N]

fuck your husband, and tell him you ain't gonna give him any until he fixes it. period.

The sad part is, you weren't trying to make a pun.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee97/0053V3N/stupid.jpg

[steelasp]

Actually Lyn, low profile tires improve the handling of the car, and increase feedback from the road to the steering wheel. If you have problems with the car losing traction at high speed, you're probably safer with the tires you have. they are a bit expensive though, The 50 series tires on my car cost about 100 bucks each.

[AdrenaLyn]

Actually Lyn, low profile tires improve the handling of the car, and increase feedback from the road to the steering wheel. If you have problems with the car losing traction at high speed, you're probably safer with the tires you have. they are a bit expensive though, The 50 series tires on my car cost about 100 bucks each.

Yeah we actually replaced two of the tires the other day. set us back about 260. But the cars handling improved drastically. I doubt we even need an alignment now. I need to get the suspension checked next month but Im pretty sure thats the end of what needs to be done mechanically.

[Icarus]

Steelasp is correct, but I am unsure if those are the type of tires Lyn is talking about.

What steelasp is referring to are tires with small sidewalls, which flex less and as such give a more stiff, responsive ride.

You may be reffering to tires with a low width from side to side, or a small footprint. If this is the case, you will need to purchase new rims in order to change the tire size.

I have performance tires. Forget "100 bucks each," the cheapest tires I can find for my car run $150 each.

Edit: Also, what mechanical knowledge does your husband have? A car not starting is actually not usually a big problem if you owned the car while it was running and know its history. The head gasket, while not an "easy fix", is not something to scrap the car over.

[BrIONwoshMunky]

Depending on the year, the sunfire could be a deathtrap anyways. If it's one of the late 90's early 2000's

[Icarus]

Yeah, it was the cheapest car on the market when it was new.

[steelasp]

I have performance tires. Forget "100 bucks each," the cheapest tires I can find for my car run $150 each.



Ok, I should have said at least 100 bucks each. I can only get the lowest quality tires for my car on this island, that is if I can find the right size at all. apparently 205/50/16s aren't common around here. I could get better tires on the big island, but that adds extra expense and hassle to go over there, and get them back here.

[Phrosty]

...the skinny tires?

Get rid of them. I had some on my old Honda, and the first time I hit a pothole one of my rims got cracked.

[AdrenaLyn]

I guess theyre low profile tires. but yeah we got em replaced.

The pontiac was a 96 and to be honest it was a piece of junk. Besides the headgasket, it needed a new battery, front end, and side panel. It was easier to just get a new car and my husband wanted to make sure I didnt have any breakdowns while he was gone. If we kept the sunfire I would probably have broken down in Houston traffic or something equally scary. It also had about 200,000 miles on it and because of military and visiting family we tend to put ALOT of milage on cars.

In the corolla though we looked under the hood and for a 98 to only have about 109,000 miles was pretty good. Oh and we discovered some sort of high performence air filter dealy? Its all big shiney and chrome. D knew about it but when I saw it and didn't recognise it ("wtf is hat big ass thing???") he explained.

I did find a really awesome decal fo rthe back window. Its a retro looking pin up spacegirl riding a big pink rocket. Im thinking in a few months I may have to get the car painted since I *hate* gold cars. It doesnt technically need new paint but since D made sure to let me know that this car is MINE, and he will be buying a new truck when he gets home Im pretty sure he won't mind me painting it. And it will probably be pink. I figure since it already has rims (theyre not chrome or anything but look kinda plastic) and they are super scratched up anyway, I might get bored down the line and glue pink rhinestones to them in the future. I can't say for sure I will mostly because THAT might cross the line and it sounds labor intensive. But that would look effing sweet.

The car is growing on me now. I need to make it nifty.

[Repth]

Just Bedazzle it. Viola, good as new.