Saturn Forum - Saturn Enthusiasts Forums - New to forum, new (old) Saturn owner...

Hello all...

This is a rather lengthly introduction, but I have a lengthly history with these cars. Besides, introductions are what this section is about, right?

First, I must start by pointing out that it was only after I joined with my chosen user name "Asterixx" that I noticed that somebody else had recently joined with "Asterix". While our user names were undoubtedly inspired by the same Gaulish Warrior, mine was actually my old IRC user name from the mid 90's. We are different people - you can tell me by the two X's at the end of my name - I used two X's on IRC as well.

Anyway, I'm new to this forum and a new owner of an old Saturn (96 SL1), but I'm very familiar with the cars, having worked as a Saturn mechanic from 1993-1999 (and would likely still be there had injuries received in a car accident not ended my mechanic career). This is actually my second Saturn (my first being a '94 SC2).

About the car:</span>
<ul>[*]1996 Saturn SL-1[*]~290,000 km (approximately 180k miles)[*]5-speed[*]Air/PW/PM/PL/Cruise (all working)[*]Dark Green w/ trunk spoiler[/list]I have always been a lover of large RWD cars and 4WD trucks, however with gas prices at $1.04/liter I decided to relegate the F-150 to hunting/firewood gathering/hauling duty and the T-Bird to weekend racer/cruiser (the T-Bird is a very low mile, highly modified 1988 model, 5.0-soon-to-be-5.8, but you guys don't want to read about my Ford on a Saturn site) so I decided a small car for a daily driver was a MUST. Working on these cars for 6 years gave me a high opinion of them, so when I started looking for an econopoopster I'd pretty much decided it was gonna be a "Different kind of car". I stumbled across this one for $500 - the price was low because it had a bashed in quarter panel and tail light, and the high mileage. I talked the seller down to $400 and the rest, as they say, was history. I've since sunk about $300 into it for various repairs (including a quarter panel and tail light, plus front pads & rotors, a tie rod end, and a flange on the exhaust pipe) and now, for a grand total of $700, I've got a nice looking, excellent running, and fuel efficient daily driver that I can repair with my eyes closed.

My plans for the car:</span>
Because I bought it so cheap and because I had always preferred large cars my original intention was to use it as a simple daily driver until it fell apart (and honestly, for what I paid, I was expecting it to be a short relationship). However, having now driven it for three weeks I have gotten quite attached to it. Fuel economy has been excellent, but even better, the car is proving fun to drive on the back roads (there's a BIG difference between throwing a 2300-pound Saturn into a curve and a nose heavy 3500-pound Thunderbird). Best of all, my life partner, who does not share my enthusiasm for cars and generally gives me "the look" when I tell him I want to buy more tools or performance parts for the 'Bird, actually likes this car enough that he's already suggested that shiny wheels and a sunroof would be nice additions (I have a complete sunroof I removed from an old Thunderbird parts car).

Like most mid 90's, high mileage Saturns the car burns more than its share of oil. That is the ONLY thing wrong with the car, and it's hard to find a loaded 5-speed SL1 so I intend on finding another engine and re-ringing it, then dropping it into this car. I'm even thinking I might do the LLO twin-cam swap if I can find a suitable donor.

About me:</span> (this is where it gets boring)

As I mentioned above, I was a Saturn mechanic from 1993-1999. I worked at Saturn/Saab/Isuzu of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I was hired straight out of trade school and did my apprenticeship there (through the General Motors ASEP program), and was quite happy (even though I had to work on the odd Saab or Isuzu). When I graduated trade school I was presented with four job offers: A large Chev dealership, a large Dodge dealership, a large Ford dealership, and a small Saturn dealership. I didn't know much about Saturn back then, only what I had read in magazines, but I did know that working at Saturn would mean no K-Cars, Cavaliers or Tempos (I had failed to consider the Saabs and Isuzus). I took the Saturn offer and loved it. I loved the cars, I loved the customers, I loved the whole "different kind of company" thing. I even loved being pulled away from the cars I was working on to go out into the showroom to do the "I Say" things. I would have stayed there forever probably, but for the accident. On January 29, 1998 I was driving my Volvo 740 winter beater home from work. I was stopped at a light in the left turning lane and a guy came over the hill in his Mazda 626 yakking on his phone. He drifted into my lane without so much as touching the brakes and hit me in the arse at about 80 km/hr. The force of the impact broke the seat in the Volvo and I went headfirst into the back seat. I suffered several back/neck injuries (including compressing a few discs - I actually lost an inch in height). A full year of physiotherapy and on-the-job "work hardening" brought me to the unhappy conclusion that I was not going to get any better, so in January 1999 I had to leave my career behind. I could still work on cars, just not in my full capacity, and not 8 hours/day.

After Saturn I went on to work for the RCMP, installing equipment and modifying cars for them. I had specialized in vehicle electronics so I was a natural for the job, and I enjoyed it. I learned a lot about custom fabrication (trying to make ancient equipment fit new cars that were not designed for said equipment) and wiring. I took what I learned, combined it with what I knew, and started my own business in 2003. I now design and manufacture the very lights and flashers that I was installing in the cop cars.

Because this is "work at home" stuff I decided to bail out of the city. My life partner and I bought a century home in rural Nova Scotia and have spent the last year and a half renovating it (144 sheets of drywall so far). I fell in love with the place when I saw the 24X30 garage, and have also spent much of the past 18 months working on the T-Bird. This garage afforded me the first opportunity I'd ever had in my life to actually work on my cars at my leisure inside a building with honest-to-goodness TOOLS (including torches, welder, metal bender, drill press, etc)!

Anyway, that's me and my car. I hope y'all will have me and put up with my wordy posts...

...and here is the car itself:[img]uploads/Asterixx/96saturnnewquarter1.jpg[/img]