I'll throw in my cheap change here...

I have both worlds, and what I mean by that is I have both a new car that I am making payments on AND the Bonneville project that I picked up for 500 and change, and put nearly twice that in parts alone. I agree that something reliable for work is needed, but the biggest reason why I wanted something new was...I wanted something new. My payments would make anyone cringe, but I can do it and live somewhat comfortably. BUT...between me and the other, we have 3 cars, and 2 are paid for. I like having paid-off vehicles just for the ability to throw only liability on them. For your situation, I would honestly keep the Bonnie. And as already stated, I would do the upper manifold just for the sake of doing it if it hasn't been done before. Tires...you will have that problem no matter if the car was old or new, and that is something that will just have to be dealt with. Considering how much money you sank into your car so far, you got it easy...I had to replace a whole engine, and possibly the whole transmission too. But once all that is done, it'll go for another 15ish years. With the equivalant cost of 4-6 car payments

And yes, crank sensor is easy enough to get to. But Boosty mentioned something at the meet...something about taking some brake cleaner and shooting it at the sensor to clear out some grease and dirt so it can get a better reading off the balancer wheels. Maybe you should try that if you have not already done so

It isn't nearly that bad a job. I've never done it before and did mine this past spring. Its alot of cleaning. You can disassemble the whole thing with only a little muscle needed and just one or two sockets. I did mine with a $10 - 1/4 drive socket set from walmart (Stanely)

You're not too far away (3.5 hrs?) from me. I'd be willing to come down and give ya a hand; parts are on you though I have this weekend off if you wanted to get the parts together. Lemme know.

i've been in your boat for a long time bump. never had the money for new and very limited in mechanical ability to do it myself. up until a couple of years ago i also was doing about a 100 mile a day commute to work and back.

my rule of thumb on when to replace was;

a) structural rust-frame, doorposts etc
b) major electricial problems- wiring harness, shorts etc
c) had to miss work more than a couple times a year due to car trouble
d) started eyeing spots on highway where i could leave it for a transport to run over...i hate it, i hate it, i hate it!

i always figured other than the above you know what you have and you know when you replace something, thats it verses buying another one and starting all over again.

as an side note.....turned over 300,000km today! changed my message and now(except for the above problems) am looking towards 400,000km!

oh yeah, final reason for keeping it.....ITS A BONNEVILLE!

good luck with whatever you decide!

I definitely think we are gona try to keep her, unless I find out there is even more wrong than I know of. The pros certainly outwiegh the cons at this point.
My wife finally gets it too. The other day we came in the Ddge Ram (we call it the redneck truck) and saw the Bonnie just sitting there and she was like "that really is a nice car."

I sincerely appreciate the offer...perhaps next weekend? I have to see about securing a garage to work in as the weather here is getting pretty nasty. Let me know how next weekend looks and I'll see what I can work out on my end. Again, the offer to help is greatly appreciated.

I have every other weekend off. 11/4 & 11/5 is next on that list

If you can't make it then, perhaps I'll go to the Long Island meet.
Erie still got good shopping for the wife while we work on the car? I haven't been thru there in 15 years...

Well, it'* going into the local Pontiac Dealer tommorrow. I'll see what they say and I'll let ya'll know. I'll take it form there.

I'll let you know after I hear form the garage. But I'd say go ahead and go to Long Island if you want. I don't know that I can get a garage to work in and you know how the weather can be. But thanks again for the offer. And by the way, yes Erie does have good shopping, getting better all the time actually. Many new plazas up near our mall and one new one going up right now. We'll definitely have to get together sometimes and the wives can go shopping. Hmmm....meet here next perhaps, plenty to do.

Well, the Dealer called....it'* a bad Elbow Fitting on the UIM...go figue. :o So we'll get that taken care of. About $250 parts and labor, including a coolant system flush and fill. Ouch. But it'* there already and they can have it done today.
Now to figure out why it'* stalling.
I'll keep you posted.

When does it stall? At idle? At a stoplight and low revs? Other?

Is it throwing a code?

It started only occurring at very low idle. But it has occured druing normal driving, once at about 40 m.p.h. and once at about 70 m.p.h. on the Interstate. (Perhaps I was just driving too slow).
Codes are EGR valve or crank sensor. The Dealer said it seemd to be running fine for them so they can't pinpoint it yet. Gonna take it to a different garage where I can get some very cheap, relaible service (my father-in-law works there part time) and see what I can figure out. This is where I got the codes from in the first place (for free by the way). Then we discover leaking fuel lines, so I got those taken care of. Then I found this leaking coolant.
So, now back to square 1. If it is the EGR valve I just gotta suck up the $170 for the part, my F-I-L can do it for me. Actually I'll do it but have him guide me. If it is the crank sensor I'll have to take it to the garage since I don't have the neccessary tools.

You can try to clean the pintle on the EGR valve. Sometimes they stick and can be cleaned up to work fine again. It'* something you could do and for no more than the cost of the cleaner and some time.