Dark cherry 1996 FWB and RMW

I joined a couple of years ago, bought the Caddy in February 2022 and the Roadie a week ago -- a year later, almost to the day. Both have a trailer-towing package (V4P on the Fleetwood, V92 on the Buick). Both are burgundy inside and out.

I have learned a lot from this forum, and it is high time to post in this thread. I had hoped to attend WF 2022 but plans changed at the last moment. Work rules out attending this year, but both cars will travel cross-country in the next 6 months and hopefully I can make it to some meets (unfortunately, WF is out this year too).

Here are a couple of photos.

1. Roadie under prior ownership last summer, with Ridler 695 18x8 and window tint. The tint is already gone, and the OEM wheels will soon be back on (Ridlers look good but I like the OEM ride better). The wood surround trim has seen better days and will be replaced as time allows later this month.



2. Caddy at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta.

Nice rides!

You'll travel cross countryin comfort and style. The wagon will get you a lot of "used to have one of those" comments.

Thank you!

A friend, who knows those cars inside out, has been going through the Roadmaster so that, indeed, I have a reliable and comfortable long-distance runner (he went through the Fleetwood with me last year, and that car has been great with 7.5k trouble-free miles added already).

The Roadie's front and rear brakes needed work. The previous owner (PO) had told me about the fronts, and included rotors and pads with the purchase price.

At the front, I decided to set aside the low-cost pads bought by the PO, and to buy the same Wagner ZD52 ceramic pads that I have on my '96 Fleetwood because they brake well and make zero noise or dust. I also got a Raybestos H5584A brake hardware kit and National 4739 wheel seals.

At the rear, the drums are good but I needed most everything else and again bought Raybestos parts -- 462PG organic brake shoes, a pair of WC37080 wheel cylinders, and a pair of (H2578 left, H2579) Self-Adjust Kits.

The braking improvement is noticeable.

The PO repaired an oil leak when he'd first bought the car, but warned me that it was still not perfectly fixed. My friend traced the issue to the oil cooler lines. I found a Chevy dealer who sells NOS parts on eBay and got the correct GM Genuine P/N 10269713. I also got a FEL-PRO ES70687 oil cooler gasket and a GM Genuine 14090908 oil drain plug gasket -- my friend said it's a good idea to replace them when doing the lines.

I also decided to do a tune-up. I got a WIX 46153 air filter (same as I got last year for the FWB), eight AC Delco 41902 Double Platinum spark plugs, an AC Delco 748B spark plug wire set (he recommended that "OE Replacement" for its higher quality), and two GM Genuine 12132228 spark plug wire holder clips. I found a discontinued NOS GF624K fuel filter on eBay, rather than an aftermarket Fram or Dorman (I would have bought WIX, but could not find it, so bit the bullet).

My friend also advised me to replace the front shocks and the idler arm.

For the idler arm, I bought a Moog K6187T "Problem Solver" as it has a very good reputation and great reviews. I have had zero issue with any Moog part, so I should be good here.

For the front shocks, last year (for the Fleetwood) I agonized about that decision and went with KYB KG4515 Gas-A-Just. As I have posted elsewhere, they are very good on the highway -- comfortable / track well / respond nicely to bumps. But, in town, I find them a bit too soft -- there is too much movement of the front end at parking onramps, for example, if I approach them at any speed. I therefore decided to go with the AC Delco 530-9 that I was told (last year) are the OE equipment for a trailer-package Fleetwood and should work well on the Roadie. I also got two GM GENUINE 11517996 strut mount nuts.

I put 250 miles on the Fleetwood last weekend to get a good benchmark for the suspension, so I'll be able to compare with the RMW this weekend (the shocks will be installed tomorrow).

My friend also recommended that I buy a heater hose tee, given that the car still has the original. He says that, over time, they tend to crack and it's a good idea to score an NOS tee while they can still be found. I got Genuine GM P/N 12522867 from the same GM dealer on eBay.

Finally, on the cosmetic side, I have ordered the last two sets that I could find of P/N 10161510 window panel clips. The driver-side panel were removed at some point, and they need to be reinstalled properly (right now they look OK but not original). The windows track well, but it can't hurt to have a few P/N 9666748 window rollers that were included with the clip sets. I got those from the eBay Chevy dealer, too.

Finally, since the wood trim vinyl is mostly shot (the main fake wood vinyl is good enough that I plan to keep it so as to keep costs down), I have ordered reproduction 3M vinyl from Stripeman.

Great looking cars! I'm picking my RMW up from paint today. If you need stock wheels, I'd be interested in a trade for your Ridler's.

I just drove Betsy, my 1996 RMW, for 3.5k miles in the past two weeks. She served as my travel vehicle on a 2.2k miles work trip with nine site visits throughout the Midwest, and then as my mover to transport furniture and an e-bike for the summer. She performed like a champ, both empty and loaded up.

Zero issue except for getting code P0410 (for the secondary air pump) about 600 miles into the trip. This was taken care of (pump disabled, PCM reset) at Billion Buick in Sioux Falls, SD. The car could have been driven safely and harmlessly without taking care of it, but I saw the mileage drop by a good 15% and I wanted the trip to be as good as possible so I went to a dealer (the mileage drop is by design, apparently to incentive folks to fix emissions-causing issues).  

While at the dealer, I took the opportunity to get an oil change ( it had been just 2k miles but already 6 months since the previous owner had last changed the oil, last October, and the oil change light came up right before hitting SD so I did it). Wonderful service at Billion Buick-GMC, I recommend them highly. They fitted me on short notice at a time that accommodated my work schedule, were super-nice, and charged a most reasonable price.

Here is Betsy a couple of hundred miles into the trip. Notice that she again sports her original wheels (with RWL tires -- they will be replaced soon; I sold the Ridler 18" wheels locally, to another forum participant whom I look forward to seeing again soon) and the new woodgrain vinyl. As @rcktpwrd anticipated, I got tons of folks approaching me to say nice things about the car :-)

Nice!

I bet the dealership/tech enjoyed working on something 'old' and a little different than the usual. Good to hear they were accommodating and helpful too.

rcktpwrd wrote:

Nice! I bet the dealership/tech enjoyed working on something 'old' and a little different than the usual.

Very much so. The tech who worked on the car was in his mid-forties, but while the ticket was being written up (by a service advisor) I saw a couple of younger techs, in their twenties, walk up to the car and smile at the car in a very good way.One lingered to look more closely. I've seen the same reaction from folks who were not born when the car was built -- good vibes all around.