New member from CT

[Moheganson]

New member here from Connecticut. My wife bought a 1994 Saturn SL2 on 2/26/99 with 57347 on the odometer. Timing chain blew in 2004 at 115K so she had a used engine put in for $1,300.00. The used engine supposedly had 48,000 on it and I do honestly believe that as I know the salvage yard it came from and the guy who did the swap. A year later, the transmission lost reverse so that needed to be done which cost twice as much as the engine swap. It's been garaged since 2008 and has been a pretty good car for us. It now has approximately 264,000 miles (odometer was broken for six months a few years ago) and since it was using lots of oil, I was keeping track of the approximate miles with each fill up. I've been checking in on this forum over the years and I think I actually did open an account here but it was probably closed due to my inactivity.

The car is burning oil, has a rotted K Frame and the transmission is starting to leak (after a rebuild fifteen years ago, I can't complain). Now most people think it's not worth fixing but I do. I'm lucky in that I have a fully equipped shop, lots of tools and lots of "consultants" when I need them. I've been working on cars for over 40 years and haven't taken on a major project like this in quite some time but they way I figure it, an adequate replacement would run between five and seven grand and I can probably get this SL2 back on the road for another ten to fifteen years by only spending around two grand.

I've pretty much been a General Motors fan all my life, and went to the "dark side" twenty years ago and got into Jaguars.

Cars I've owned over the years:

1971 Datsun 1200
1973 Datsun 1200
1974 Datsun B210
1963 Chevrolet Impala Convertible
1970 Cadillac DeVille Convertible
1970 Cadillac DeVille Convertible
1975 Toyota Celica
1972 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 8 passenger limousine (without divider glass)
1974 Chevrolet Impala coupe (burned a quart of oil every 50 miles, made a great demolition derby car, )
1979 Datsun 810 coupe
1979 BMW 733i (with a 5 speed manual from a 5 series)
1986 Buick Century Station Wagon
Jaguar XJ6 Series III (at least four different ones, mostly parts cars)
1994 Jaguar XJ6 (XJ40)
1987 Buick Park Avenue
1989 Buick Park Avenue
1994 Oldsmobile 98
1996 Oldsmobile 98

Currently own:
1986 Jaguar XJ6 Series III (restored, used to show in Jaguar shows until engine blew in 2005, car has been in the garage under cover since then and still looks great. Engine in parts car out in the back....someday....will do engine swap....)
1996 Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas (X300)
2008 Jaguar X-Type
2007 Volvo C70 Convertible
1994 Saturn SL2

When we bought the 2008 X-Type in 2017, my wife took that one over and the engine blew in my '96 Olds 98 so the Saturn became my daily driver. Even with the "fancy" cars I've owned and still have, this Saturn SL2 (gold, with a leather interior and power windows) might just be my favorite car.

Sorry for the ridiculously long intro......

[pierrot]

Originally Posted by Moheganson

Sorry for the ridiculously long intro......

No need for a "sorry" at all. I enjoyed the long intro! Welcome to SaturnFans, Moheganson!

[Charlie]

Welcome to SaturnFans!

Charlie

[00_SL1]

Welcome to the site Moheganson, sounds like you'll be a very nice addition to the knowledgebase here. It will be fun to follow along with the progress you make with the rebuild.

[Moheganson]

Wow, how could I forget my real "first" car, it was a 1963 Chevrolet Belair Station Wagon (light blue) that the original owner gave me in 1979 when I was 18 years old. Prior to that, the cars I drove were registered in my father's name but this one was the first car I actually owned myself. I didn't drive it much as it only got about 12 mpg and during the second "oil crisis" in those times, gas was relatively expensive so I was driving Datsun 1200s back then. I took the five speed out of my '74 B210 and put it in my '73 1200 (the model "1200" referred to the displacement in centimeters so it was a 1.2L with about 70 hp) and that car would get over 40 mpg. The '63 Belair (with a 283 ci V8) ended up breaking a rocker stud and I never put it back on the road. Some scumbags smashed all the windows out of it one night so I junked it sometime in the 90s.

I've never owned a new car nor have I ever driven a car on a regular basis that was built in the same decade of the year I was driving it so as you can see, I love old cars.