New member from Central FL

Hello Everybody!

I'm Joe and I just bought a '94 Buick Roadmaster Estate. I've wanted one for the longest time, ever since a buddy of mine had one that he lowered with hotchkiss suspension, corvette 6 speed swap, headers with cut outs, and painted it flat black.  I recently sold a pickup truck so I could find a better vehicle to haul stuff for a makerspace I help run and my wifes craft fair stuff and I figured  wagon would be a great idea.

I found one on facebook marketplace for $3500, it was repainted at some point and wood free (wasn't really my preference but I had a budget) and the owner did take care of a lot of common maintenance items so I think I did well.  Once I figure out picture hosting Ill toss a few up.

The car looks good from 20' for sure but once you get close you can see some issues. Theres a spot of rust on the top left by the windshield frame and some to the left of the rear glass hinge.  I hope I can find a parts car and sawzall out parts I need and have someone cut out the rust and weld in a replacement pieces. The other thing I like about the car is that it has the velour interior instead of leather.

I'm hoping to pickup a set of SS wheels and get them done in a matte black or gloss black since the entire car is white, which would go perfect with my stormtrooper theme. I'm also a storm trooper with the 501st legion (star wars costuming group).

I also stumbled upon something called Wagon Fest, I will probably have to go to that and see wagons that are in much better shape than mine so I can see what I need to do to make sure mine is up to snuff.

I am experienced in the world of cars, I cut my teeth on old mercedes diesels and a few select gas powered mercedes cars, as well as MINI coopers, and Honda Elements. My current daily driver is a Chevy Volt (gen2) and its my first GM product with the Buick being my second.

anyways nice to meet you all and I hope to learn some new stuff so I can keep this roadmaster on the road.

Welcome. Where are you at in FL? Quite a few of us here in the state. I'm in Belleview/Ocala.

Sprocket is currently tearing apart his wrecked wagon and may have some sheet metal available. I know he has a set of SS wheels perfect for painting.

I’m in the Winter Garden area. Very very close to Disney world.




This is the rust that is of most concern. I hope I haven’t wasted my money.

That can be fixed pretty easily. I saw you ask Sprocket about his car but I know it is rusted in that same general area. Common thing on these cars here in Florida. They stay clean underneath but the top is another story. Mine has a couple spots that I thankfully was able to take care of before they hit this point. There are a few b bodies on CL right now that are being parted out that may have that spot in good shape.

Did they say why the front bumper and grille were swapped for Chevy pieces?

I'm not far from WG and make regular trips to Orlando.

The March gathering in Daytona is pretty fun and a good way to see a lot of wagons in one spot.

He swapped it out for personal preference? It looks ok but I’d rather have the Buick grill.

I’m going to get my tickets for the event today and if I can’t park with the group at least in on the infield

Pretty sure they have more than enough pads for all of us.

Agreed, the best part of the Buick is its front clip.

Welcome to the group. I have seen the Stormtrooper look a few times with mixed results. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

I was poking around my car today and found some rust in the spare tire area and opposite side. Not rotted through but looks like water leaking from up top.

These cars aren’t exactly built to high standards were they?


Not too upset but just like..aww man.


Good news is all of the stuff I would haul in it for my wife’s craft fairs fits.

the spare tire well is a common issue on all the wagons, even the previous 80's body style fullsize gm wagons had that issue. But if it's water from up top you might have to reseal the roof rack.

best case I can think of concerning the rust by the top corner of the windshield is that it's not eaten through the steel all the way around and all you might have to really do is remove the windshield clean it up, maybe spot weld here and there, grind it smooth putty it and paint it.


but you want to talk about low standards don't buy dodge or Chrysler, I work at a lube shop and am in the pit most of the time, and the majority of them that have come in with a certain style front sub frame has that subframe rusting out at the main cross member under the transmission that also has both lower control arms attached too. the newest was a 2010 Jeep a vehicle that new with the sub frame rusted through where I could put my fingers through the hole is extremely poor standards.

I pulled the spare tire out and the locking box in the rear and found some rust. not much in spare tire well but some. I might get a small POR15 kit and clean it all up and seal it.

The roof I plan on getting taken care of hopefully this year before craft fair season takes off since the wagon is the main hauling vehicle.

me and my mother do Stained glass and for awhile I was using my 86 crew cab dually and the 89 3/4 ton crew cab I own but needed something better on fuel that could still haul the stuff which was when I got the Pontiac, but she turned out to have too weak of an engine for dealing with steep hills at speed under a full load, so then I bought my 94 RMW.

Welcome home, look forward to meeting you soon. Happy to help you fill out your wish list

"These cars aren’t exactly built to high standards were they?"

How many decades of service were you expecting? Coastal areas and/or northern salt will eventually kill any metal body vehicle. Especially if it is parked outside where condensation forms inside and out each morning.

I think that these cars are built very well. I have a 1996 wagon and my wife a 1995 sedan and they just go and go. As they have gotten older they have sone aches and pains to deal with bur never anything major. I have been driving roadmasters since 2005...love at first site. I have owned for, always upgrading ( my wifes had 54K miles on it and was garaged in FL. My wagon said 100,000 on the speedometer but the computer said 200,000. It is no big deal because these cars are alledegly good fot 500K miles and I drive about 30 miles per week.

Because of the superb ride, comfort, and good gas mileage I hope to be driving these monsters until it is timefo give up driving.

We live in a retirement community where golf carts are legal on the streets. People as why I don’t get a golf cart. Well...they are more expensive than a RM, have a harsher ride, and aren’t nearly as safe. Viva la Roadmaster.

Russ

Well in terms of high standards my experience growing up with 90’s GM products wasn’t the best.

The car is decently built it’s just they could have done better selecting seam sealers and rust prevention.

JMcFly wrote:

Well in terms of high standards my experience growing up with 90’s GM products wasn’t the best.

The car is decently built it’s just they could have done better selecting seam sealers and rust prevention.  

not many car manufacturers want cars to last 25-30 years....not profitable

from my experience the last of the cars that seemed to have been built more to last where the mid maybe late 80's, pretty much once they started putting plastic everywhere is when quality started to go down hill, with the early to mid 90's being the last of even the decent quality vehicles.