New Member in South Carolina (Upstate)

[OrcaSnack]

Hello all. I am new to the site and to my car; I have a 1999 Olds Alero GL with the 3400 under the hood. I am here to learn about my engine and the car, share experiences, offer and receive suggestions, and so on.

I have no experience with this particular engine so please bear with me as I learn. This site seems to be the place to get all that info. I am looking forward to being a part of this forum.

As for my car, I got it from a good friend of mine whose mother passed away. It is quite literally the much fabled "old lady's car that she only drove to church;" I bought it in December 2012 and it had 38,650 miles on it. I am the second owner and I know it was well and properly maintained.

I had the opportunity to visit the fellas at WOT-Tech down in Pompano around Christmas time 2012 and Ben did a OBD2 tune for me while I was there. The car runs great and will hopefully last me a long while.

[Purple pit]

Damn talk about getting lucky. No worrys for a long time.

[OrcaSnack]

So far I have:
Flushed the radiator and added the new, yellow coolant. No more DexCool.
Switched to synthetic oil.
Installed an eBay CAI.
Mounted a ScanGaugeII.
Made custom fog light grilles along with a "radiator air scoop" grille. I made them out of aluminium gutter guard material. This stuff is cheap from Lowe's or Home Depot. I used 2 sheets total costing me $5. I primed them and painted them black.

My future plans include:
Window tint.
Sound deadening.
Maybe a custom stereo system.
Maybe a full performance exhaust system.

I have driven from South Carolina to South Florida 2 times and the car has given a fantastic ride each time; no issues whatsoever.

[Purple pit]

Do you have any photos of these mods?

[OrcaSnack]

I do. I was planning on posting them to the garage when it gets fixed...

In the meantime:










The car needs a wash and the grilles are dirty from rain/road dirt, but you get the idea.

[Purple pit]

Nice work there. I'm shocked that your CAI didn't come with a coupler that goes from the MAF to the TB.

[OrcaSnack]

Thanks!
As for the CAI, it did come with a very short tube with the 2 necessary holes in it. It was a bit too short to get a solid fit. That, and the rubber seals on the tube were pretty hard and didn't accomodate at all. Still has that deeper growl though!

[Purple pit]

Where did you get it? MP Racing?

[OrcaSnack]

Intake-spot

[Purple pit]

I guess you could still contact them. That stock accordion tube really slows the air flow.

[OrcaSnack]

No luck. It just won't fit. What I have is what I get. Oh well, $35 from eBay is better than nothing. Im surprised no big name company made a CAI.

[Purple pit]

mailto:Stylusskid@msn.com
Try him, his name is Ryan and he makes WAI's and CAI's for Berettas. Just ask him if he can make a coupler for you. Tell him Money pit Beretta from Bnet sent you.
Don't forget to tell him the length you need and that you have a 3400 with a MAF.

[OrcaSnack]

Thank you so much for the contact. I will email him right away.

[Purple pit]

Tell me how it turns out!

[OrcaSnack]

Ryan and I are ironing out details. He has his plate full at the moment but will be helping me soon. Thanks again for the referral.