17 May 11 20:30, Mark Hofmann wrote to Roy Witt:   
      
      
      
    RW>> Even so, those mufflers and pipes will eventually fail from the   
    RW>> inside out. Moisture and combustion acids combine to eat even   
    RW>> stainless steel.   
      
    MH> True.  The mufflers have held out really well.  The CAT was replaced   
    MH> around 70k under the factory warranty.  Must have been a defect.   
      
   Just as well. Although those cats were better than their predecessors.   
      
    MH> Speaking of my Monte, it is back in the shop again.  Not to engine   
    MH> work, but this time the transmission.   
      
   Yeah, that figures.   
      
    MH> It turns out I had no 4th gear which was way more evident since I had   
    MH> the new engine installed.  I could coast down a hill at 60mph and my   
    MH> RPMs were at my idle of 600rpms.  It seemed to be more pronounced   
    MH> after the engine swap.  This isn't how I had planned things to go.   
      
   Is it no 4th gear or no torque converter lock up? If it's a no lock up   
   situation, I suspect that the mechanic didn't plug in the computer   
   harness. With no lock up, that allows your car to 'free-wheel' which means   
   that you have no engine braking. There isn't much engine braking to speak   
   of in 4th gear and locked to notice a big difference, but you will notice   
   it when it free wheels.   
      
    MH> The only thing I can say is you still can't buy a 85% new Monte Carlo   
    MH> for $6000.   
      
   You got it.   
      
                   R\%/itt   
      
      
    ..."We will not tire, we will not falter, we will not fail." - GWB   
      
      
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