Hello from Cape Cod

Greetings!

I just purchased a 96 Roadmaster Estate Collectors Edition (what does that mean anyway?)... it is one of the cars a have lusted over for more years then I want to admit. So far, it's temporary nickname is "The Land Titanic"... but during the next period of actual creativity I enter, I hope to come up with something better...

Anyway, I love this car...

A little about me, I am an avid poster and on the Board of Directors of the Lincolns of Distinction, www.mark8.org I currently own a 1998 (last year) Mark8 LSC in Midnight Metallic Grey (2nd most rare color) a 2006 Cadillac DTS, black, black, and black.. and now my green (Jadestone?) Buick with faux wood (oh yes).

I drive everywhere. I noticed the WagonFest post, I have driven to MK8 events from Mass, to Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Detroit, and many points closer. I can't wait until WagonFest 2011.

Anyway, with the exception of a heat issue, which this forum has been the most helpful in searching potential causes, and a dent in the rear door, my wagon is in excellent shape.

It's been so cold that I haven't taken any pictures yet of the wagon, but here are a few shots of the rest of the fleet...

The left car is mine, the red car on the right is my father's CE.



I made 44 back to back passes in the MK8 at Mason Dixon this past summer... best was 15.42 bone stock


And the DTS rocked a 15.83 at SSHS9 (Southern Super Heavyweight Shootout) which is why the Caddy had a racing number on it's back window in one of those pics.


BTW, Mass won't let me have BADSAX on a plate, it's too close to BADSEX (go Mass)... why anyone would want to have BADSEX on a plate, I dunno... but TENSAX it had to be... so that's why BadSaxillac has TENSAX plates... in case you noticed...

-Joe

Let me be the first to welcome you to our humble little corner of the web. Feel free to ask questions.

Are those numbers posted correct? The MK8 ran faster than the Caddy?

Krzdimond wrote:

Let me be the first to welcome you to our humble little corner of the web. Feel free to ask questions.

Are those numbers posted correct? The MK8 ran faster than the Caddy?

Thank you...

Yes, the MK8 only weighs like 3850, 1/2 the car is aluminum... it's 290HP. DTSax is like 4200lbs, 300HP.

I think they are both very light for the size. The MK8 now has a racing aluminum drive shaft and locker diff, so all you have to do is look at the gas pedal the wrong way to send it sideways, the Caddy will try to rip the steering wheel out of your hand when you floor it since it's the last FWD Cadillac makes...

Welcome! I've been to the Lincolns of Distinction area before, it's a nice site. A co-worker has a Continental, and we've looked in a lot of places for information.

A Roadmaster "Collectors Edition" means that you have 1996 Roadmaster. It was the last year they made them, so they were collectable, see?

Welcome aboard! I always liked those Mark 8's. Don't tell any of my friends though.

I've never seen a charcoal one before. I diggit.

Nick Danger wrote:

Welcome! I've been to the Lincolns of Distinction area before, it's a nice site. A co-worker has a Continental, and we've looked in a lot of places for information.

A Roadmaster "Collectors Edition" means that you have 1996 Roadmaster. It was the last year they made them, so they were collectable, see?

The funny part of this is, none where made in 1996. They were all made in 1995...............

Welcome.....................

toomanytoyz wrote:

Welcome aboard! I always liked those Mark 8's. Don't tell any of my friends though.

I've never seen a charcoal one before. I diggit.

Bill, you said that out loud!!! (a agree!) shush!!!

Ok, so all 96 cars that were actually made 95 in were CE's... got it

In the MK8 world the last 1200 MK8s produced were Collector's Editions, and came with a set of 8 .999 silver ingots, each stamped and a picture of each generation of the MK series, and VIN matched to the car they were sold with.



Yes, I like the Grey too... even most of the MK8 people had never seen one in person until I started showing up places with it. It was a 98 only color, with less the 300 painted.


Does the green on my wagon (and I'm sure a picture would help) have a name? I've heard it called Jadestone before, but I'm not sure that it correct. It's a nice medium metallic that kinda shifts between blue and green depending on the light.

Dark Green Grey Metallic (DGGM) is the term GM used for the Impala SS. Is it a woody or a wood delete car? Like this.......



I take ANY chance to show off my car!!

That's probably the same color, and yes it does have the wood.

Your headlights have clear outer lenses?

They are the conversion headlights you can buy on ebay or from Street Trends. The whole lense is clear.



Gives me a little better night vision........

Those look awesome...

I'm now wishing you had not showed me that web site... like I need another car with $1200 HID headlights...

The DTS lights are like $1100 a side, if you can even find headlights for a 97-98 MK8, just the housings can go for $500-600 used if they are in good shape...

Sigh...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1991-1996-CHEVY-CAPRICE-SMOKE-HEADLIGHTS-CORNER-91-96-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZModelQ3aCapriceQQhashZitem27afa760a9QQitemZ170450706601QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_4329wt_1175

You will be happy to know they are only $125 for the set. I had HID's but did not like them. They were cheapies though. $2,200 is 2/3 the price I paid for the car!!!

Do you have smoked lenses?

I was looking at this...

from that street trends site...

with HIDs and clear corner lights they would be over $1600 lol

Anyway, I think I'm going to worry about fixing the heat before I spend more on headlights then I spent on the car...

$150 from Ebay:

Greetings from W.Mass.

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

The funny part of this is, none where made in 1996. They were all made in 1995.

I don't believe that - You're going to have to prove that one.

BadSax wrote:

Does the green on my wagon (and I'm sure a picture would help) have a name? I've heard it called Jadestone before, but I'm not sure that it correct. It's a nice medium metallic that kinda shifts between blue and green depending on the light.

Buick - Dark Jadestone / Chevrolet - Dark Grey Green Metallic - same color code 18/WA5398 - different name.

- J

JaySS wrote:

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

The funny part of this is, none where made in 1996. They were all made in 1995.

I don't believe that - You're going to have to prove that one.

BadSax wrote:

Does the green on my wagon (and I'm sure a picture would help) have a name? I've heard it called Jadestone before, but I'm not sure that it correct. It's a nice medium metallic that kinda shifts between blue and green depending on the light.

Buick - Dark Jadestone / Chevrolet - Dark Grey Green Metallic - same color code 18/WA5398 - different name.

- J

No cannot prove it, but some one show me a truely 1996 wagon...... A good source, Fred, said he had never seen a 1996 production year. He has seen a LOT of cars. Not scientific, but a pretty good source.

I knew there we a buick name but could not come up with it. Thanks Jay........

Too bad they don't make the streetlights anymore (those you posted on Street Trends) as they were great lights.

I have the smoked eBay lights on mine with 5000K Apexicone HID's ($29 from ddmtuning.com) and have pretty kickass lights for less than 200 bucks.

Welcome,My wife has a DTS,and the above head lights I installed are brighter than hers. There is a picture on here somewhere.

On the 1996 build date topic,Mine says 1996.

The reason I remember is if it said 95 I would have been able to avoid the inspection process when it was imported. Canada doesn't require it for cars 15 years and older.

I seem to think it was built in April and I wasn't waiting that long.

welcome. my ex father=in-law had a Mk VIII in green and to date the fastest I ever drove on a public road 149 on I-95 with 4 people in the car (car had about 3000 miles on it). Awesome car, like everything about except the air bag suspension...

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

No cannot prove it, but some one show me a truely 1996 wagon...... A good source, Fred, said he had never seen a 1996 production year. He has seen a LOT of cars. Not scientific, but a pretty good source.

No CE's - which would be saying no RMW's, as all 1996's should have the CE hood ornament - being built during calendar year would seem almost impossible.

Especially since 1996 production was carried a full 11-1/2 months - until the end of the calendar year to maximize production totals before they had to be shut down to prevent running askew of the 1997 safety regulations - the B-bodies weren't going to meet the new for '97 side-impact standards without changes. (And also those legal and/or licensing policies regarding how far a model year may be carried.)

It certainly doesn't rate very high on the believability meter.

Just to be sure though, an eBay search turned this up:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1996-BUICK-ROADMASTER-ESTATE-WAGON-/170580085886?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item27b75d8c7e

VIN - 1G4BR82PXTR414986

Compnine shows:

Vehicle: ROADMASTER ESTATE STA WAG
Year: 1996
Build Date: 1996-05-23

AutoCheck shows the first reported mileage @ 202 on 07/25/1996 - which is in accordance with the published build date.

I think we're closer to putting that one to rest.

- J

We learn something new everyday......... Thanks Jay.........

Welcome aboard. Nice Mark VIII's!

Of course, being the wagon geek that I am, I had to go look. The Manufacture date on my 96 RMW is 1/96. Early, but still a calendar year 96 build. Tim, I think you're thinking Chevy. To my knowledge, no 96 Caprice wagons were made in 96.

As to "Collectors Edition". Buick was the only division to signify the end of B/D body production by putting special badging on their B-Body line. The hood ornament and occasionally fender badges were used.

Now that you mention it, we had this conversation with Fred standing around that 96 Caprice we pulled the engine on beside the garage. So I was was confused. I go through life that way!! I was never a History Buff.

Tim

BadSax wrote:

Those look awesome...

I'm now wishing you had not showed me that web site... like I need another car with $1200 HID headlights...

The DTS lights are like $1100 a side, if you can even find headlights for a 97-98 MK8, just the housings can go for $500-600 used if they are in good shape...

Sigh...

That's one thing that I've been particularly enjoying about the Roadmaster wagon. Most parts are super cheap! When I replaced the shocks, I noticed that all four Bilstein shocks on the Buick cost less than just two shocks on my Saab 9000.

[quote="BigBlackBeaSSt"]http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1991-1996-CHEVY-CAPRICE-SMOKE-HEADLIGHTS-CORNER-91-96-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZModelQ3aCapriceQQhashZitem27afa760a9QQitemZ170450706601QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_4329wt_1175

So even though the eBay listing says the do not fit the RMW, the actually do fit? Do they just bolt right in with no mods?

jeffracer wrote:

So even though the eBay listing says the do not fit the RMW, the actually do fit? Do they just bolt right in with no mods?

They don't fit the Roadmaster SEDAN. It has a completely different nose. It does fit the RMW because it's mostly Caprice sheetmetal.

DBeaSSt wrote:

Welcome aboard. Nice Mark VIII's!

Thank you!

Ok, so just to clarify the headlight situation...

There are the crazy $$$ projector HIDs sold by street trends...

There are the SStreetlights, which I guess aren't made any more? and were maybe also sold by street trends?

There are the clear euro lights that I've only found at street trends,

And then there are the smoked euro lights that are cheaper on ebay...

Did I miss any?

Also, I apparently can't see the pictures of these ones that were advertised on another forum...
http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=253607
can anyone repost? or just PM/e-mail them to me?

I seem to be having login issues at that other site...

The "crazy HID projectors" were optioned-up SStreetlights that are no longer made.

The SStreetlights projector lights are no longer made.

Street Trends does carry the euro clear and smoked lights for about $150. Those same ones can be found on eBay by various vendors for more or less the same money. Some of them have bulb diffusers in them, and some don't. (Seems the newer production runs DO have them - my early set of smoked do not). Some have amber reflectors in the corner lights, some do not. You have to pay attention to the ad for those.

HTH!

Welcome to the group! I spent a very memorable......wait...I can't remember....well I spent two wonderful weeks in a rented house a block off the beach in Hyannisport after graduating from high school back in 1992. Went with a group of friends...and I know we had fun....but I can't remember much in true "The Hangover" style. ; )

Really pretty area though!

I like those Lincoln's a lot. Love the neon tail lights on those.

Thanks for posting pics and looking forward to more!

-Mike

Sprocket wrote:

welcome. my ex father=in-law had a Mk VIII in green and to date the fastest I ever drove on a public road 149 on I-95 with 4 people in the car (car had about 3000 miles on it). Awesome car, like everything about except the air bag suspension...

The air suspension is one of the things that makes the car unique... From 55ish to 85ish the car will automatically lower about an inch, so when you're cranking down the road, it's like driving a well appointed bullet.

A little wire and a few switches, and you get this outta the factory suspension.

up...



down...