Questions and Answers

Some Cavalier Questions Q. Hey, I'm new to the cars, but am getting interested in them for maybe a side hobby. I am, by trade, a computer technician, so troubleshooting and diagnosing are two of my top traits. However, when I comes to cars, it's like speaking Greek to me.

I own a 1992 Chevy Cavalier and I just recently had some major repairs done to the car. Due to lack of money, and lack of public transportation in my area, I was forced to undergo these repairs to my car. I took it to the dealer because I felt that there were just too many problems, and I trust my dealer (know the family that runs it, and I have done computer work for them in the past), so I felt slightly confident in their ability to fix my car.

After all was said and done, between towings back and forth, I ended up paying $1600 to get it up and running again.

I had a the following work done on my car:

• DIS Module replaced
• Spark Plug replaced (look like crap, so I figured they were worth it)
• Spark Plug wires
• Air Filter
• Fuel Filter
• Starter

Now, I bought my car used, but it's body and interior are in top condition. There is a little rust on the bottom of the drivers side door, nothing serious.

Now, on to my questions, now that I have bored you with useless information.

1) I want to get rid of the rust on my car, but am not really willing to shell out the money to get the entire car repainted, as I have heard the best way to get it repainted is to have the car completely sanded/stripped down. So, is there a safe and easy way to get rid of the rust, and maybe get a can of touch up paint?

2) Because my car's body and interior are in such good shape, but I had all that work done under the hood, I'm wondering if it would be worth my while to get my engine rebuilt or rather remanufactured. I really like the car, but I'd like a car with slightly more pickup then it has, but since the body is in such good condition I was wondering if rebuilding/remanufacturing the engine and adding a few custom parts would cost me an arm and a leg (more than say ($2500.00). If I had the engine rebuilt or whatever, would the transmission need it as well, as I hear that is a bigger chore than the engine. Would it be worth it?

3) Last question is I park under a pine tree all the time, and all the time I end up with Sap on the trunk of my car. When it is still sticky I can remove it with WD-40, but when it dies it is almost impossible to get off with anything I have tried (that isn't much). It is also getting over my bumper, and it just looks messy. Is there a cleaning solution, or rubbing compound that will take this off?

Thank you for your time, I really appreciate this.

Later,
Mike

A. 1. Yes you can do this yourself by sanding all rust off until it's down to bare metal. The question here is are you going to want to look at something that you repaired knowing you can't make it look like it was never there by doing it in your driveway?

2. These are fairly reliable cars until you start hanging aftermarket parts on it. If you want reliable "cheap-to-keep" transportation, I would leave it alone and look into buying another car to "play" with.

3. Any good cleaner wax should get the sap off. Or you could try a solvent. If you use the solvent you will need to re-wax as it will remove wax to. How about a car cover?