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Love this, makes me want to drive my car to St. Louis and get some photos at the city cemetery gate.

Yes, it's called a "Service Parts Label" and it will show the paint color (code) that was applied when your car was built. Look for a rectangular stick-on label in the trunk under the mat where the spare tire is stored. Go to PaintRef.com - Automotive Truck Fleet Paint Color Code Cross Reference for auto paint references.

Don’t forget you get a new rate for your Medicare too. I don’t remember exactly the figures last year but the Medicare up charge was 14.5%. Added together for the seven years I have been with that program, rates have increased 55%, which I guarantee is not matched by Social Security percentages. Several years ago when inflation was low, Medicare ate the entire SS dollar increase😕

The car got the second control arm done yesterday as well as the brake pads. All went well this time and the car drives very well. The photo is of the two brake reaction rods as they are called. The passengers side is the one that snapped. The drivers side is well worn as well to about 50% of diameter. It appears it isn’t only rust that is the issue but a certain amount is from simple friction with the rubber bushings. I am pretty sure rust really speeds up that process. This is at approximately 175k miles on a northern car, no doubt winter driven. On a sad note very loosely related is my sons hoopty 325k mile 03 Honda Civic hybrid is likely going to the junkyard. We worked on both the Buick and Honda yesterday and the attempted replacement of upper rear control arms on the Honda had all the captive nuts shear off inside the “frame”. Something’s are better left to rattle a bit 😕 No good way to repair so it will probably get the battery module removed and the rest scrapped. Typical of old Hondas and Toyotas where the drivetrain just keeps ticking while the car falls apart and disappears around it.

One reason I rarely leave my home anymore and wear a mask when I do. So far I liked the last century a whole lot better.