2022 - What did you do to your wagon this week?

Finally got a front panel on my dash. It's temporary, was blue, now black, doesn't fit right around the radio. Rest of the interior is tan. Of course right after driving over an hour to pick up the blue dash, a scored a proper tan dash, with just a 3 hour each way ride. As old and probably brittle these are, black will do until all the work behind it is more complete.

drove over an hour to a yard, Gibsons in Neenah, that confirmed they had some wagons, but after looking at the 12 estate wagons they had sadly they all had rust on the quarter panels in areas that made them worthless, but for anyone wanting a rear window all but one or two still had the rear windows and all looked to be in good condition, but sadly vandals had been through and the few remaining grills are damaged in one way of another most by vandals but they also seemed to have decent interiors, though some did have open or broken side windows.

While rotating my tires I found out I had a bad caliper and my pads were pretty much gone. So I installed new Rotors/Caliper/Pads.

I found a Caprice grill near perfect at the pick and pay but didn't have my torx set in the box I took. The original was junk so I put an Impala SS grill in it a year ago and want to put it back stock. Hopefully it'll still be there when I can get back. The yards around here are quick to crush.

well if you want a road trip I know there were some caprice sedans at Gibsons in neenah here in wisconsin, I didn't really look at what condition they were in as I was more concerned about the estate wagons.

Did an oil and filter change. Then changed out the belt tensioner, surprisingly not too bad of a job, and belt, loads of fun with the tow pack....

I had a 'spirited' drive down the interstate for 8 miles with a C7. I was following him through traffic and hanging on his tail until we broke out and the damn soeed limiter kicked in at 108 lol.

I'm running V-rated tires incase you get worried.

New skins on all 4. Dropped from 225/75 white walls that came with the car to 225/70 white letter. Presume speedo is a little off.

Sprocket wrote:

I had a 'spirited' drive down the interstate for 8 miles with a C7.   I was following him through traffic and hanging on his tail until we broke out and the damn soeed limiter kicked in at 108 lol.

I'm running V-rated tires incase you get worried.

well from your comment I guess the driver didn't pull the stunt a newer camaro driver did when I out ran him as he tried to block me from merging on the highway, as later down the highway he decided to cut me off and do a brake check at 75 MPH.

I managed to avoid the old fart put went nearly sideways before I could recover, then the guy comes up along side and points laughing till I tap the dash cam, then he quickly sped off.

Got a deal on a sand blaster this weekend to go with my glass bead cabinet . I've got a bunch of stuff that I'll be cleaning up and repainting when this -hitty Ohio weather finally clears up

goldwolfnhn wrote:

Sprocket wrote:

I had a 'spirited' drive down the interstate for 8 miles with a C7.   I was following him through traffic and hanging on his tail until we broke out and the damn soeed limiter kicked in at 108 lol.

I'm running V-rated tires incase you get worried.

well from your comment I guess the driver didn't pull the stunt a newer camaro driver did when I out ran him as he tried to block me from merging on the highway, as later down the highway he decided to cut me off and do a brake check at 75 MPH.

I managed to avoid the old fart put went nearly sideways before I could recover, then the guy comes up along side and points laughing till I tap the dash cam, then he quickly sped off.

jerks everywhere. Nah, he was cool. I saw him flying up and lifted to let him weave infront of me and then nailed it and I think I suprised him that I kept up around half a dozen slower cars until we broke out and he punched it. Sure wished I still had the t56 and 4.10s as he'd been surprised with a fat girl chasing him down lol. The 2.56s are great at 80+ and as they just start pulling and speed comes.....up to limiter. gotta fix that pronto.

Started removing the air pump and all the associated garbage that goes with it should have it finished tomorrow part of my engine compartment detail project . Saturday I'm going to pick up a set of BellTech front lowering springs and KYB gas shocks . Guy had them on a Caddy for a couple hundred miles and didn't like the way the car sat it's a deal I could not pass up .

Picked up my springs and shocks yesterday hour and a half drive in heavy rain but it was worth it . The guy had these on a Caddy hearse for one summer basically a couple hundred miles they are like new and I ended up paying 30 bucks for everything ! So now that the weather in Ohio is finally warming up
it's time to go full steam on the wagon .

Wojtek wrote:

Picked up my springs and shocks yesterday hour and a half drive in heavy rain but it was worth it . The guy had these on a Caddy hearse for one summer basically a couple hundred miles they are like new and I  ended up paying 30 bucks for everything ! So now that the weather in Ohio is finally warming up
it's time to go full steam on the wagon .

Measure the ride height from the inside of the wheel opening, and top of the rim both before and after (write them down). Subtract, and you get your drop. Remove .030" (1/16" for each inch) shim from each adjustment stack for every 1/2 inch of drop. This will correct for the negative camber change induced by the springs.

I finally got around to dyeing and installing the seats I got from Sprocket.  Color isn't quite what I had in mind but not the worst thing I've ever seen.  At least they're not ripped up and are comfortable.

RadioFlyer wrote:

I finally got around to dyeing and installing the seats I got from Sprocket.  Color isn't quite what I had in mind but not the worst thing I've ever seen.  At least they're not ripped up and are comfortable.

those look pretty good. What did you use to dye them? I still have another pair of fronts over here lol

I bought a dye kit from Leather Magic. It should have been darker but because I was changing colors it lightened up a shade or two. Works really well though. Spray it on, brush it in and let it dry.

I took about 150 pics to prepare for a BaT listing submission. It needs to be a this is a great day to go for a drive car but I need to get something that my wife isn't scared to drive.

Bucky53 wrote:

I took about 150 pics to prepare for a BaT listing submission. It needs to be a this is a great day to go for a drive car but I need to get something that my wife isn't scared to drive.

These cars are one of the safest cars for an occupant in case of an accident. If a B-body wagon is going 50 MPH, and a Honda Accord is going 50 MPH in the opposite direction, and they hit head on, the B-body continues to travel in the same direction at about 10 MPH, and the Honda goes backward at that same speed. The effective accidents are that the B-body is in a 40 MPH accident, and the Honda is in a 60 MPH accident. Which car is more scary to drive?

Division equation:

One wagon goes over one smart car nothing left over.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

Bucky53 wrote:

I took about 150 pics to prepare for a BaT listing submission. It needs to be a this is a great day to go for a drive car but I need to get something that my wife isn't scared to drive.

These cars are one of the safest cars for an occupant in case of an accident. If a B-body wagon is going 50 MPH, and a Honda Accord is going 50 MPH in the opposite direction, and they hit head on, the B-body continues to travel in the same direction at about 10 MPH, and the Honda goes backward at that same speed. The effective accidents are that the B-body is in a 40 MPH accident, and the Honda is in a 60 MPH accident. Which car is more scary to drive?

Division equation:

One wagon goes over one smart car nothing left over.

oversimplificaiton of crash dynamics.

Newer vehicles are much safer. a New Accord is tons safer than a 30 year old B Body. The Delta V means little when comparing vehicles that handle the characteristics differently. The old cars transferred more energy into the occupant compartment than the newest ones. Ours arent as bad as 30 years prior to these, but same thing. Besides the new ones having multiple multi stage airbags, better restraints, actual functioning ABS, traction, stability control...the structure and materials are designed much better to be sacrificial. Sorta like the dude in the big truck that thinks his truck is safer putting a ranch hand bumper on it. All he does is negate factory engineered crash behaviors.

take two Coke cans. put one in the freezer. empty the other one. Now smash them both into your head. The frozen one, while it will hold up remarkably well, and show little to no damage, and likely obliterate whatever it is striking, will cause much more injury than the empty one... it will sacrifice itself and absorb the energy, transferring very little into your head.

Similar to a solid body on frame car... our frames transfer alot of energy... arent designed to absorb and crumple. A new unibody vehicle is designed to absorb all of that energy outside of the passenger compartment.

All that to say, there's very little thats safe about our vehicles in an actual accident. Side impact on these and the crown vics of the same era are horrible. What's also funny, is a new sedan isnt much different in weight than ours. a new accord can be 3400 lbs. ours were 4400 lbs. A new Charger can be 4500 lbs. My boss's porsche Taycan (electric car) is 5100 lbs... more than my "overweight sled" as he likes to call it. So... with the advancements in restraints and crashworthiness plus the relative similarity in actual weight.... 900-1000 lbs isnt a huge difference when 60mph objects collide...

Several years as an accident investigator/ DWI enforcement officer/ Accident reconstructionist is to blame for my soap box. Sorry, Fred. It all got aggravated when my sister was a cop in 1999 and killed in the line of duty in an accident where her Crown Vic frame buckled and the car folded down on itself.. showing how bad the crashworthiness was back then... So I sorta take a personal interest in these discussions.

Don't get carried away men. She's scared because it's so big she's afraid she's going to back into something. Besides that she's a lousy driver and I don't want her driving it anyway.
I fully agree with the safety factors ya'll mentioned.

I parked it on the pad beside the house last week and forgot about it. Just looked outside and it's still there.

I tried to help her by fixing some long overdue items and she fought me the entire way. I know people say old cars are easy to work on but nothing on my wagon has ever been easy. Nothing. And it’s not because bolts are rusty or seized it just doesn’t like being worked on!

replaced the fuel pump and wiring harness in the sending unit...

Starter motor form a local rebuilder. Not too bad on my back in the driveway. Down side, I appear to have an oil leak. Will probably start with valve cover gaskets see how it goes from there.

I would check the rear china rail first. Put some florescent dye in the oil, and use a black light. If the leak is at the china rail, you will have to R&R the intake manifold.

I cursed at it when the battery died. Had NOTHING left on and it sat for 9 hours and was dead. Okay battery is 4 years old, it's going. Jumped it, drove 17 miles home and its been fine since. Stupid car.

that and my digital dash keeps going out and smacking in doesn't fix it. pulled the cluster put it back in worked perfect for 3 days and now it's dark again siiiiigh.

Was going to drive it about a week ago when I noticed a puddle under it. Was antifreeze leaking from a bad tank seal. Ordered a new radiator from Amazon for $109 not expecting a nice part. Was pleasantly surprised when a very stout box arrived with a perfectly straight and well made Radiator inside of it. It even came with the fan mounting brackets.

Installed it over the weekend and filled and bled the system so I can take it to work in the morning. Bleeding is so much easier with an electric pump.

Also finally got around to resetting an old Laptop I had and getting TunerPro and EEHack up and running again. Car still throwing an intermittent Knock Sensor code, time to focus on cleaning up the wiring.

94Woody wrote:

Was going to drive it about a week ago when I noticed a puddle under it. Was antifreeze leaking from a bad tank seal. Ordered a new radiator from Amazon for $109 not expecting a nice part. Was pleasantly surprised when a very stout box arrived with a perfectly straight and well made Radiator inside of it. It even came with the fan mounting brackets.

Installed it over the weekend and filled and bled the system so I can take it to work in the morning. Bleeding is so much easier with an electric pump.

Also finally got around to resetting an old Laptop I had and getting TunerPro and EEHack up and running again. Car still throwing an intermittent Knock Sensor code, time to focus on cleaning up the wiring.

similar price to the radiator i bought on ebay. not the same as OEM of course but works perfectly. nothing more satisfying than knowing the cooling system is all flushed and clean and new radiator

1991BlueBertha wrote:

94Woody wrote:

Was going to drive it about a week ago when I noticed a puddle under it. Was antifreeze leaking from a bad tank seal. Ordered a new radiator from Amazon for $109 not expecting a nice part. Was pleasantly surprised when a very stout box arrived with a perfectly straight and well made Radiator inside of it. It even came with the fan mounting brackets.

Installed it over the weekend and filled and bled the system so I can take it to work in the morning. Bleeding is so much easier with an electric pump.

Also finally got around to resetting an old Laptop I had and getting TunerPro and EEHack up and running again. Car still throwing an intermittent Knock Sensor code, time to focus on cleaning up the wiring.

similar price to the radiator i bought on ebay.  not the same as OEM of course but works perfectly. nothing more satisfying than knowing the cooling system is all flushed and clean and new radiator

I still haven't pulled the knock sensors out to get the block completely flushed. Tried it this time but of course it didn't budge so I just left them alone. Waste of time anyways because at nearly 230K the engine is leaking oil from the front crank seal, oil pan, etc. She will be getting a transplant soonish.

Dusted it off....been traveling for work a lot and the wagon has been sitting in the garage looking sad really since Daytona WFest. I have all the parts to upgrade the upgraded brakes...just waiting for free time and motivation.

Got the old girl some new glasses so we can both see better going down the road.
I will rearrange the lights once I get the parts I need, just couldn't wait to see how they looked.

Moved it to the driveway in front of the garage so I can start doing some work to it. Finished setting up the welder I bought last Fall so I can do some body work. At that point I said to myself "I'll get started tomorrow" and went inside. Fast forward to the weekend and it's still out there waiting.

Maybe in the next year or so when what is left of the paint on the hood, roof, etc bakes the rest of the way off and the rust starts I will do something.

Finally got to be able to do some work on the wagon between spring clean up ,winter wood stock pile ,rebuilding the front brakes on my truck and the lousy weather we have had here it's not been conducive to work on it . I removed the air pump system and after looking at the silver exhaust shields that seem so out of place I painted them with black header paint and now they blend in with engine compartment ,still have more to do on that engine compartment detail . I finished reinstalling the loose rubber trim ,polished up and painted the lettering on the Estate Wagon emblems and reinstalled them and a new Buick emblem for the tailgate .. I bought a black trim kit to cover the sail panels it's OK for now but I' ll eventually remove them and paint them .I conditioned all my rubber seals and freshen up my roof rack .Next up is rubbing out and waxing this car still has the original paint and other than some chips on the hood and some light scratches it's in really good condition I'll be ordering some Dr. Colorchip to take care of this .

Front end rebuild is finally complete: all MOOG for control arms, springs, steering linkage, plus rotors pads calipers wheel bearings, swaybar stuff. Feels good man.

Moog 5662 springs and Monroe HD shocks ride nicer than i thought

vivix wrote:

Front end rebuild is finally complete: all MOOG for control arms, springs, steering linkage, plus rotors pads calipers wheel bearings, swaybar stuff. Feels good man.

Moog 5662 springs and Monroe HD shocks ride nicer than i thought

Best thing I even did to my wagon. After almost 3 decades that stuff was all very worn out.

94Woody wrote:

vivix wrote:

Front end rebuild is finally complete: all MOOG for control arms, springs, steering linkage, plus rotors pads calipers wheel bearings, swaybar stuff. Feels good man.

Moog 5662 springs and Monroe HD shocks ride nicer than i thought

Best thing I even did to my wagon. After almost 3 decades that stuff was all very worn out.

That was one of the first things I did when I got my wagon in 2013 @ 117K miles. I used Mevotech and regretted it as they are poor quality and too tight on the ball joints. Replaced lower joints with Moog and the uppers with Proforged tall joints to switch the alignment to negative progressive on bump. Worked out very well once I also modified the upper arms for more caster (+5.5*).

I did use stock Moog springs which actually are taller than stock and did KYB shocks which were later replaced with Bilsteins which are the best IMO.

had the left tailgate glass hinge break. had a defrosterless glass with good hinges in the garage and put it on instead. Now I need to get it tinted to match and fix the tint on the drivers window that started to krinkle....

Sprocket wrote:

had the left tailgate glass hinge break.  had a defrosterless glass with good hinges in the garage and put it on instead.  Now I need to get it tinted to match and fix the tint on the drivers window that started to krinkle....

A few years ago, I went to the Daytona LKQ to get parts from an OCC, and when I opened the gate glass to put the treasures in the cargo bay, the right hinge popped. I managed to get it shut, and drove it home. When I got home, and replaced the right hinge, the left one let go. I was fortunate that I did not have a large spoiler for my trip home.

Replaced the water pump, then put a toggle switch in line to the power antenna so it doesn't have to go up for the Bluetooth, CD or cassette.

This week, last week honestly, I actually found a box of motivation in the form of a double din install kit from ETCHUS. They were having a sale and I've always wanted to put a touch screen radio in the car. They are the one thing I like about new cars and back up cameras are very handy.



While searching for a radio things quickly got out of hand and now I have a LOT of stuff to do.



I have one of those weird cars that GM put a 105A Alt on so I grabbed a new 140A and will be making some battery cables since Innovative Wiring shut down their website and went to email ordering with nothing in the way of descriptions for the items only.

Went to LKQ today because posts at ISSF state that one of the alt brackets is different only to learn that is a LIE. Worked out anyways because I found a grille in excellent condition to replace my cracked one. Also grabbed the four note horns from an RMS and it had a perfect auto dimming rear view mirror as well, talk about 13 bucks well spent.

Will just make a post in a couple weeks (yeah right) when I have everything done.

94Woody wrote:

This week, last week honestly, I actually found a box of motivation in the form of a double din install kit from ETCHUS. They were having a sale and I've always wanted to put a touch screen radio in the car. They are the one thing I like about new cars and back up cameras are very handy.



While searching for a radio things quickly got out of hand and now I have a LOT of stuff to do.



I have one of those weird cars that GM put a 105A Alt on so I grabbed a new 140A and will be making some battery cables since Innovative Wiring shut down their website and went to email ordering with nothing in the way of descriptions for the items only.

Went to LKQ today because posts at ISSF state that one of the alt brackets is different only to learn that is a LIE. Worked out anyways because I found a grille in excellent condition to replace my cracked one. Also grabbed the four note horns from an RMS and it had a perfect auto dimming rear view mirror as well, talk about 13 bucks well spent.

Will just make a post in a couple weeks (yeah right) when I have everything done.

The 91-93 cars have different FEAD brackets for the 105 and 140 amp alternators. The bracket for the 140 amp units only came on 93 FWs, and 9C1s with the heavy duty electrical package. They require the PS pump from the FW, rather than the standard one on the B bodies.

This weekend I got the 140A Alt put on along with my new 2 Gauge wires. Also installed a Vette starter and the C/D note horns from an Road Master Sedan.



Also installed a K&N CAI.



Found out that you can get a repo F Body elbow for less than people charge for used and it will be here Thursday.

Found 2 wiper modules at the recycler. $11. One cover was cracked so it was a buck cheaper

Did not get very far this week thanks to a sinus infection and back pains. Got the rest of the interior pulled and got my Etchus Double Din kit installed. Requires some cutting but it was pretty easy and an excellent piece. Highly recommended.

Stuck receiver in place for a quick photo. Now the fun of wiring up the amp, speakers, etc has to be done.



My F body boot came in a few days ago so I got it installed, looks much better than a hockey puck. Brand new part for less than an eBayer wants for used. Just have to drill a hole for the Opti vent.



Also had another box with my new mufflers arrive today. I've got so much to do as it is, lol.

Been working on a complete front end rebuild since Saturday. Got it about 2/3 finished.

Repaired the tailgate this evening. A while back the linkage inside broke so the gate would only swing open and not fold down. I found a speed nut in my collection of random stuff that was the right size to fit the rod. The tailgate once again is fully operational.





I also replace the six broken plastic clips that hold the interior panel on, still have to find some screws to replace the missing ones on the sides.

The screws on the sides are the same as the ones that hold the bottom rear of the door panels to the door.

I sold it. The market is tanking for these cars and I couldn't justify keeping it. They have gone from the mid 20s to low teens in the last months. The Buick boys are really taking a beating.