Ok, I know that over the years a lot of ideas have floated in and out of this forum, allot of ideas which have been revisited over, and over and over again.
New owners of J-body cars are asking the same questions we asked about our cars 10 years ago..

There are an estimated 3.5million "half decent" j-bodys still out there on the road, and allot of them are right off the shelf and un-modified.
What happens to those cars when the owner gets sick of the same thing, sees an AcuraTL, and trades his j-body in for an import.
Meanwhile, a 'new' kid, sees the same j-body on a the dealers lot, buys it, and wants to make it "personalized" and "CANT FIND ANY MATERIAL".
Eventually, that same owner trys to find some more resource material because a "haynes" or "chilton" manual doesn't help him figure out weather
or not a N-body rear Suspension fits on a jbody, what needs to be modified, and what needs to be changed? Are the ebrake cables the
same length, do I need to buy longer ones? Can I do this myself?
The alternitave is of course is to get dirty. Its a good thing, but when they don't have the tools, or the know how, it can very easily
be turned into a daunting task. Allot of the time is spent on research, and eventually people just look at the Honda's and the Toyota's
with all the material out there and switch, because its "easier".

I don't think its any easier to modify anything, when theres enough information available.

Has anyone thought of taking the archives of this forum and compiling a giant "un-official" J-body book?

Of course permissions would have to be concidered, one could even get GM to endorse the product.. whatever, minor hurdles

The basic idea is, take all the tricks, hints, problem areas, and modification hazards in one resource. split it into 4 chapters
(Body, Suspension+Brake, Engine+Powertrain, Interior) and I understand that perhaps it might slow down this forum even
more, because now you wouldn't have newbies coming in and asking the same general questions. Also, it would take a bit of
time to cross-reference some of these topics (engine cam modifications, that n-body rear swap) to get the actual 'dirt' about the modifications.

Its just an idea, and to think, if a work group could compile it all, get it all figured out, then sell the idea.. $$$ and not just for j-body owners
like us, but the forum, GM (indirectly through the purchanse of parts. I could go on, and on..

The other idea is create a Domestic Modified Mag..
A magazine dedicated to small displacement domestic cars.

Im talking about the Chevy HHR (2.2L Ecotec), Aveo, Cobalt, Cobalt SS, Pontiac G5, G6, Solstice(which has a 2.4 twin cam in it, they just changed everything about the engine) Saturn Aura, Saturn Sky .. you know what I am talking about.

You can go ahead and look, Im pretty sure there isnt one out there.

Gimme your thoughts, because our j-bodys are going to be around for a while yet.

A book is probably a bad idea. It is quite common for ideas and methods to change from time to time. The internet is a much better medium for something like this, because it can be easily edited and modified, not to mention others can comment or ask questions about topics they might not clearly understand.

Your best bet is this...
http://www.j-body.org/faq/
It is slowly growing, and once I am able to complete my list of additions, I hope it will become an indispensable resource. The most significant update will be the ability to add comments to articles, just like you can reply to any forum post.

I know there is a massive amount of information that is in the forums and on other sites, that can and should be moved to the FAQ. If you want to make a difference, it would be *extremely* appreciated if people like you help with compiling and editing all the raw information from the forums. Once it is in the FAQ, not only will it be easier to locate by browsing, but also will be easy to search, without having to weed through tons of forum posts that are not helpful.




"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about
the former." - Albert Einstein

Quote:

A book is probably a bad idea. It is quite common for ideas and methods to change from time to time.

To a point, but things like suspension swaps, installing an intake, and some of the other time-tested mods really aren't going to change that much. Getting into the cross-platform mods (N-body IRS, Neon rear disks, 3400/3800 swaps) that is where the differing methods are going to take place, however a "starting point" guide would work, adding a disclaimer to the material saying something like "this section is not intended to be a step-by-step as there are various ways to install <insert part here>"

everyone will demand a book would be made
said book would take many months to make
when book is finally ready to be sold, no one will have the money
and book becomes a financial burden on the one who decides to make it
it happens with everything else here

Tracer Bullet wrote:everyone will demand a book would be made
said book would take many months to make
when book is finally ready to be sold, no one will have the money
and book becomes a financial burden on the one who decides to make it
it happens with everything else here

x2

Quote:

There are an estimated 3.5million "half decent" j-bodys still out there on the road, and allot of them are right off the shelf and un-modified.

in southern Ontario through Copart salvage auctions alone, 35 a day are declared total losses. now add IMPACT auction to that, then include the rest of Ontario. so probably a 1000 3rd gen J-bodys a week are written off in Ontario alone.

the number of "half decent" J-bodys drops pretty quick.

Quote:

everyone will demand a book would be made
said book would take many months to make
when book is finally ready to be sold, no one will have the money
and book becomes a financial burden on the one who decides to make it
it happens with everything else here

X3


http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/my2005cav/my%20car%20the%20bash.jpg

SUPERFASSSSTZ, wrote:

Quote:

There are an estimated 3.5million "half decent" j-bodys still out there on the road, and allot of them are right off the shelf and un-modified.

in southern Ontario through Copart salvage auctions alone, 35 a day are declared total losses. now add IMPACT auction to that, then include the rest of Ontario. so probably a 1000 3rd gen J-bodys a week are written off in Ontario alone.

I have a very hard time believing that figure.. 35 a day, just J-body cars? That's way high.

John Lenko wrote:

SUPERFASSSSTZ, wrote:

Quote:

There are an estimated 3.5million "half decent" j-bodys still out there on the road, and allot of them are right off the shelf and un-modified.

in southern Ontario through Copart salvage auctions alone, 35 a day are declared total losses. now add IMPACT auction to that, then include the rest of Ontario. so probably a 1000 3rd gen J-bodys a week are written off in Ontario alone.

I have a very hard time believing that figure.. 35 a day, just J-body cars? That's way high.

i myself cant wait for a few more years to go by... i see less and less j's running around all the time, even less that are modded. the way i see it is this... our cars arent worth jack now... but maybe 20-30 years from now they could be worth much more. not for the fact that their not a "muscle car" but for the fact that they'll just be an antique in general.

granted, they made much less older cars, but the more and more j's that get put out of commission, they better off we'll be down the line

so one day my car might be worth 2 grand? woo hoo.



dont see enough profite for someone to warrant making a book. heck its was hard enough to get aftermarket manufacturers to make actual parts for our cars. and now that they stopped production even that is going to die out. tracer bullet had it right in his post.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography

people can even search a forum for the answers what makes you think they are gonna take the time to find it in a book and read it

Quote:

what makes you think they are gonna take the time to find it in a book and read it

2 words: Ricer aisle.

Lord knows they need something quality down that aisle.