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OK so this relates to our granddaughters first car a 2011 Chevy Cruze I'm resurrecting for her. I have been looking for the right first car for her knowing that she'll remember it forever and I wanted to help her out. The car has usual high miles and is a "5 footer" came with service records and good mechanicals,  no leaks and no rust.  I had the interior detailed yesterday but needs a hood and right headlight housing,  the result of the seller having vehicular intercourse with a large West Virginia deer. There was no visible way to get to the headlight mounting screws so I spend some quality time on You Tube were I found a Russian guy with a heavy accent who did a video  He spent  at least 3/4 hour removing the entire front bumper cover,  slash panels , grill etc. to get to one last screw. So my mind promptly switches gears and I think screw that, no pun intended) I thought I'll just remove one side of the bumper cover fasteners and wonder why the GM engineers didn't simply drill a 1/2"  access hole for that screw? I'm happy to say there is a hole there now and the disassembly of half of the bumper cover to remove the headlight took me 10 minutes. I still need to bump out the dent in the right front fender  with my hand and I'm picking up the new headlight housing and the new painted to match hood on Saturday ( Thanks Tom B. and son ) I should have this car ready to go and we'll have a very happy granddaughter too ~

 

 

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Last edited by Alan Merklin
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GM really has your best interest at heart.

An access hole would be bad for the economy.

If they'd drilled that hole, any dude with a screw driver could replace a headlight in ten minutes. Without the hole, Mr. and Mrs. North and South America have to take it to the dealer and get billed for an hour's labor.

This makes the dealer more prosperous and he goes out and spends his newfound wealth in ways that will benefit you and me.

It's really cynical to think that a car maker would purposely make a car more difficult to service just to enrich themselves and their dealer network.

Think of all the starving new car dealers who bust their butts just to make ends meet every month, and all so that you and I can be more comfortable in our daily lives.

 

 

 

Drove 5 1/2 hours round trip today to get the painted hood and headlight assembly. from Tom Bucannon .  ( A huge thanks to Tom's son Matt for quick 2 day service on the hood painting) .  Installed the headlight with minor tweaking on the mounting tabs, reattached the front bumper cover. Installed and aligned the hood insulation pad and various rubber pieces . Just 2 1/2  hours to do it all . We'll drive it over to our eager granddaughter's tomorrow ~ 

 

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Last edited by Alan Merklin

I have family-owned '96 Buick Regal I'm making road worth for grand-child --- so we don't continuously drive 40 miles one way to cart her around.  The gas gauge hasn't worked for the last few years - and it now has sat a couple of years with ethanol gas in it.  So decided to replace the complete fuel pump/gauge sensor unit - only $60.  Rather than a removable inspection plate in the trunk - the entire gas tank has to come down!

I know Buicks float down the road - but this one had a bad rear shock.  So the float was for a couple of miles! The shock's ramrod just went up and down with no resistance.  Got the bad one replaced - the other side's shock is still in the trunk.  Guess I'll tackle it while I'm under doing the gas tank. 

Hope she is an Auburn fan - the car is bright crimson burgundy/red!  It's a perfect Sherman tank for a young person to be driving!  Just need to build a faraday cage inside so she can't use her cell phone. 

 

Last edited by WOLFGANG
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