Sandy crushed our '96 RMW

As I posted in the "Introductions" forum, my brother had his '96 Roadmaster Wagon for less than 2 weeks when it was hit by a maple tree during the Sandy "Tropical Cyclone" event. Insurance won't cover the damage. Rather than junk it, we're going to see if we can fix it.

Immediate needs are:
- Windshield
- Vista roof
- LH exterior mirror (power, defog)

We also need:
- Hood
- Rad support
- LH fender
- Grille

We're in Northern NJ...

Thanks!

I have a radiator support, fender and maybe a grille. There are a few wagons in local junk yards around me that you should be able to get most of the parts. Also you can try Harry's U-Pull-It in West Hazelton. I am sure they would have most everything if you can make a trip.

http://www.wegotused.com/#link1

PM me if you are interested in my parts.

You should buy J Lachapelle's nice 94 DCM RMW.

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

I have a radiator support, fender and maybe a grille. There are a few wagons in local junk yards around me that you should be able to get most of the parts. Also you can try Harry's U-Pull-It in West Hazelton. I am sure they would have most everything if you can make a trip.

http://www.wegotused.com/#link1

PM me if you are interested in my parts.

Thanks. We just got back from the body shop. They say it's an easy fix. I came across a '96 parts car locally with everything we need for less than $1k. Body guy says this is the way to go. I'll keep you updated on that prospect. I really appreciate your offer.

jayoldschool wrote:

You should buy J Lachapelle's nice 94 DCM RMW.

Yeah, that would be really nice. The problem is my bro isn't getting a dime in insurance money. He doesn't want to lose his entire investment by junking it so we need to repair it on the cheap.

i might be parting my '92 roadmaster. i'll let you know. if i can i'll try to get my vista glass to you. no idea how well it'll ship.

turbojimmy wrote:

Thanks. We just got back from the body shop. They say it's an easy fix. I came across a '96 parts car locally with everything we need for less than $1k. Body guy says this is the way to go. I'll keep you updated on that prospect. I really appreciate your offer.

Keep the rest of the parts you don't need, you may be able to sell them off to help recover costs of the rebuild.
Interior bits, tailgates, extra side glass, etc etc. They ain't making anymore of them so conservation is key.

I have a vista glass if you still need one. I have a hood or two as well. PM me if Tim doesn't have what you need.

Thanks all! We're picking up a '94 parts car Friday morning. Body is decent, which is what we need. Not running - says the distributor died. Interior sounds questionable, but the price is right. It has a hitch on it in the pics. Fingers crossed for a true tow-package car.

Hitch doesn't always mean tow pack as they never came with one. Does it have a mechanical fan in the pics? Will you be parting this one out? If so let us know...

Ah. I was hoping the hitch meant it had a tow package. There are no pics of the engine, but I was hoping for a mechanical fan and/or a G80 rear. The guy bought it from the original owner and used it to transport his auto shop customers around. He parked it when the distributor quit, he said. It's in a crappy area by the Newark airport, so I don't know what we'll find. According to the pics, it has what we need.

We'll be parting out the rest....

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ptd/3295761292.html $999

81X11 wrote:

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ptd/3295761292.html $999

That's the one! We're picking it up tomorrow.

why wont Ins. pay to fix it?

Acme Racer wrote:

why wont Ins. pay to fix it?

He didn't have comprehensive on it. It's an old car, not worth that much and comprehensive coverage is expensive in NJ. Plus, what are the chances a tree would fall on it? Pretty good, evidently.

It was at my parents' house at the time, and their property insurance won't cover it. Their insurance company doesn't even want to pay for any of the 20 trees that fell on their property nor for the roof where one of the trees smashed through. They said it's due to the "type of wind" that cause the damage. Scumbags.

Ugh.

So we rented a trailer and went to get this car. The guy wasn't there, and wasn't answering his cell phone (we later realized we were dialing the wrong number - opps). Good thing, too, because the car is nearly completely worthless. With the possible exception of the hood, there wasn't a single good body panel on it. He's using it as a shed, so the interior is completely shot too. Even if it were free, it didn't make any sense to drag the car out of there. There's quite literally nothing else of value on the thing. So we left.

But....the guy called on the way home and asked where we were. I told him we were there and gone. My brother eventually negotiated the purchase of the hood (has a Caprice grille), vista roof and windshield which all appeared to be usable (the glass was in particularly good shape). We're going back out on Monday to snag that stuff.

Ironically, BigBlackBeaSSt, that leaves the rad support, fender and grille. I'll PM you about that.

FYI, I checked the vin. It IS a tow pack car. It has a 2.93 posi rear.

Gastt wrote:

FYI, I checked the vin. It IS a tow pack car. It has a 2.93 posi rear.

The plot thickens. What's the tow pack stuff worth? The posi? Maybe we'll drag it out of there after all....

Man I feel stupid for not checking that out beforehand, but I looked at CompNine and it's got some good stuff on it. We're going to trailer it home Monday. At least it's not too far away.

Thanks Gastt for checking that out!

We got the donor wagon home. There really isn't much on it of value beyond the posi rear and the stuff we needed (hood, glass, fender). It's amazing that someone was still driving the thing around. Evidently the guy was a plumber and a jack-of-all-trades handyman. It shows in what was done to the car over the years to keep it roadworthy (and I use the term loosely).

We verified that the VIN was as-advertised and the RPO sticker shows the correct options (posi, tow package, etc.). There's a mechanical fan, extra oil cooler (for the trans?) and the limited-slip tag on the rear.

One good thing that's worth its weight in gold is that the rear 1/4 windows are still adhered to the hinges with the factory adhesive. Mike's are trashed, so we'll swap those over.

Also, Mike's car has an inoperative HVAC system in that it just blows air out the center vents. We won't trash the donor car until we resolve that issue.

I really appreciate everyone's offers with parts. All we really need now is the grille....anyone?

Pics:

take your time with the vista glass. I broke one trying to get it out.....but I was hurrying.

I'm sure once you get it fully parted out you'll do okay with the money part.

Sprocket wrote:

take your time with the vista glass. I broke one trying to get it out.....but I was hurrying.

I'm sure once you get it fully parted out you'll do okay with the money part.

Thanks. We were more worried about the windshield. We'll have to be careful with the vista, too!