February 2013 Wagon of the Month

Hello, longroof forum. I was very honored to be contacted by Tom for longroof of the month. My story is not as long or as well photo-documented as some but hopefully it makes for some good reading. I haven’t been in the car scene for decades but I’ve had quite a few of them pass through my hands.

I have been into cars and other machines since I could understand what one was. “Wheel” was one of my first words. For some reason I’ve always had a thing for wagons, too. I think it’s the look and the fact that they are so much more versatile than their sedan equivalents. I remember riding tailgunner in my buddy’s mom’s boxy wagon while his brother did donuts in snowy parking lots. In middle school my uncle has an Impala and in junior high a friend’s dad bought an lt1 Caprice wagon. I thought both were pretty cool.

My first car was (is) a 1966 Pontiac Lemans my dad bought as a father/son project when I was in 6th grade. I spent a lot of time in junior high and high school taking it apart and catalog-surfing restoration parts. We got it running and then gutted the interior and stripped it to the frame from the firewall forward… and it still sits in that condition. I’ve never driven it but I learned a lot on it. Someday soon I’ll drag it out of my parents’ garage and get to putting it back together. The plan for it is pro-touring suspension and interior and possibly lsx power.

My first car of my own was a 1987 Mercedes 420SEL I paid $2500 for when I was a senior in high school. It was pretty sweet for what it was: 4.2L SOHC Aluminum V8, 4 wheel independent suspension, disc brakes all around, and lots of cool luxury features. I drove it for 3 years until some strange fuel problem showed up and I lost interest. I still kind of miss it. I’ll get another Merc someday.

I bought a 1960 Buick LeSabre 2-dr Hardtop in college because I’d always loved the look of them and it came up for sale locally for cheap. I’ve done some improvements to it but have never really had it on the road. The body is pretty rough but its savable. I need to either do something with it or sell it.

To replace my Mercedes I bought a 95 Jeep Wrangler. With the 2.5L engine, 5 speed transmission, and 33” tires it was unimaginably slow. It was fun but my whole ownership of it was a disaster. I ended up rolling it, mostly fixing it, and then selling it.

That left me in 2007 in my 3rd year of college and in need of another vehicle. I wanted something interesting and with some potential but that was also somewhat practical and I could drive daily even in the lovely Rochester winters. I started my search for a decent B/D Body. I saw my wagon on craigslist but at $7500 it was way too rich for my blood. I kept searching and narrowly missed out on a MAB WB4 ‘95 RMW when my car popped back up for a much more reasonable price.
It’s a 1996 Roadmaster. It was originally a white woody with blue leather guts. The previous owner had it lowered, de-wooded, painted, and installed the wheels. I joined the Impala SS forum before I even bought the car and have not missed a Waterloo Wagonfest since the summer of 2008 (thought my car was not there in 2010). In the 5 years since I bought it I’ve caught up with a lot of maintenance, redone some of the suspension, done some basic power mods, swapped the 4L60E for a t56 and the 2.93’s to 4.10’s.





I drove it through one winter and it broke my heart to watch it rust more than it already was. I decided to make it another “no-salt” car and bought a beater for the next winter. Just this last summer I finally got around to replacing the floor pans that has disintegrated thanks to crappy 1996 white paint lifting and previous owners not using rubber mats under their salty boots. In the mean time I also accumulated a lot of parts that haven’t found their way onto it yet, graduated from college, got married, got a job, and quit that for another job.
Just over a year ago my wife and I bought a house.



That has taken a lot of fundage and time but it’s totally worth it because it came with this:



Not my beater diesel, the shop. My wagon now has a great storage spot and I finally have a place to work and horde parts. Its currently an organizational disaster but I’m slowly getting it outfitted and setup to accommodate anything I can dream up. Hopefully a 2-post lift will find its way in someday. Here you can see my 2 Buicks as well as my dad’s 93 lt1 t56 Formula that I am babysitting for the winter.





I’ve also managed to convert my wife to a wagon-er. When we met she had a 2006 Subaru Impreza which was ok but too small, really slow, and uncomfortable. I talked her into upgrading to a wagon. I really wanted a 5-speed 2005 Legacy GT wagon just like Crovo’s old one. She picked a 2005 Outback instead. At least it has the 250-hp H6 so it’s not totally boring. Much to her disappointment I couldn’t keep my hands off it. I’ve swapped the “lifted noodle” Outback suspension for Bilstein struts and OEM springs for a Legacy GT Spec B, rolled the fenders, and got some nice wheels for the summertime. Brake and exhaust upgrades are in the works for it as well. She likes the utility of the wagon body and we will appreciate it even more when our kid is born (which will happen sometime this month). Here is her car in its winter duds.





Most of this has no real relevance to my wagon but it’s all part of my automotive life. I’ve had a lot of fun with the wagon / B-Body community and look forward to lots more. This is my most eccentric, generous, and helpful group of friends. I am on quite a few automotive forums: pro-touring, Mercedes, Pontiac, Cummins, Subaru, etc and this is my favorite by far. I have lots of plans for my car too. I already have most of the parts for an aggressive turbo-ready 383 and also have some brake, suspension, interior, and other upgrades planned. I’m sure it will take years since my car addiction tends to get me sidetracked on other projects constantly but I’m in the wagon scene for the long haul.
Here are a couple stolen shots from WF2012. Even my wife had fun at Watkins Glen.

Nice! It was good to meet you at WF a couple of years ago. Garage envy, and I don't say that very often...

I deffinatly have some garage envy going on, I have a decent set up for inside the city limts, but nothing like yours!!!!! And I like your choice of vehicals, and the drive train swap in your wagon is great. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing!
Nice write-up.

And congratulations on the soon-to-be newborn!

Great story, Matt!

Hope your scoobie works out better than mine did.

And yeah. Wicked garage envy. Congrats on that purchase! Nice!

Exciting things to come with the kid on the way, too. Awesome.

Great news on the little one on the way!! I did not know. Love the Garage lots of room for hording complete cars!!! WOOT!! Do the lift ASAP. You will not regret it.

Good write-up, really nice cars and I love the shop!

Oh and a big congrats on the upcoming kiddo. Get some sleep NOW! Kids are great, being a Dad is the best thing ever.

Take care!

-Mike

The wagon looks great! Nice that the Roadmaster grill hasn't been displaced by an Impala one too. Your shop is cool. I have a buddy here with a similar metal quonset hut behind his house.

Awesome write-up Matt and congrats to you and your wife on the due shortly baby.I would kill
for a garage like yours,think about all the great times you and the kid will have doing things together.Great selection of cars by the way.

I saw the car one year at a wagonfest, dont remember which one. Nice Buick!

You sure you didn't have your car at WF 2010? That was the one year I went and recall seeing your car there. I think you came late or something.... Anyway, nice write up and green wicked garage envy too. I can't even get my wagon in my garage!

Great to hear you are having a future wagon kid too

Come to think of it I guess it was 2011 that I went to wagonfest on foot.

Thanks for the congrats on the kid, everyone. It could happen any day now and we can't wait. I'm very excited to have an excuse to buy legos and have a little garage buddy to hang out with.

Yep, 2010 I saw it. I donated a set of fly away panels to the raffle.

Congrats Matt,nice to see Life is treating you well.

I will never forget you lending me the sockets to remove the part from the wagon in Fred's j/y back in 2008,thanks again.

Love the t56,I never knew you had it.

Lorne.

Great wagon there, Matt. Oh yeah, yours is nice, too!

OPPPS

Oh yeah... total garage envy here too... nice write up and I totally agree, this forum has some of the friendliest helpful members I've ever met on a forum.

Oh... nice wagons too!

Congratulations again on the Kiddo Matt. Your garage is awesome, nice find on the house, I see you plan on some late nights in the shop.... What's your wife think of the bed up in loft already?
I've loved your wagon, ever since following it down the thruway to WF'09.
Let us know when the baby comes, should be real soon right?

All the best to you and Momma.

Mike

Thanks, Mike. The bed in the loft is a long story. Once people heard I had some space I was getting requests for storage before we even moved in. That's a friend's who is spending a year on the west coast.

Junior could be arriving any second! I'll update when he or she is here.

matthimself456 wrote:

Thanks, Mike. The bed in the loft is a long story. Once people heard I had some space I was getting requests for storage before we even moved in. That's a friend's who is spending a year on the west coast.

Junior could be arriving any second! I'll update when he or she is here.

LMAO,when I read about people wanting your storage space for free it reminded me of a high school friend who was building this
huge house out in the woods.Each weekend he would go to the house to do more building and would find furniture neatly seperated
into rooms.Turns out his socalled friends were moving their furniture into his unfinished house behind his back.That all ended when the county inspector came by.

Monday (2/18) was a very big day for us. Our daughter, Marlowe Elizabeth, was born at 2:52pm weighing in at 6lb 8oz and measuring 19.75 inches long. She is very healthy and very beautiful. I'd love to show her off with some pictures but the time to upload them has not been available and from the looks of it won't be until I drop her off for college in 18 years.

Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes. We are very excited to be parents!

CONGRATS! Pretty name! I wish you and yours all the best. Get sleep when you can, remember the diapers WILL eventually end, and most of all just love her a lot and teach her everything you can.

There is NOTHING better in life than parenthood. Kids will drive you nuts often and it's a lot of work, but it's way worth it in the end.

Take care and keep us updated...and while this is WAGON forum, it's also a forum of friends. You have any questions at all, do not be afraid to ask.

-Mike

Beautiful name and congrats to you and mom.

You know the drill, Pics or it didn't happen.


Congratulations Matt!

Mike

200OZ wrote:

You know the drill, Pics or it didn't happen.


Congratulations Matt!

Mike

You kidding? He's got no time for cameras...he's feeding, changing, rocking, or sleeping. Been there, done that!!

Please.... No time for cameras, who doesn't take a million pics of your newborn? I've done it 5 times bucko.

Mike

Blow some oil in that 383 and seal it up, cuz it'll be sittin' for a few years.

Congrats Matt and Momma! That's awesome news.

CONGRATS! Njoy the ride!

Enjoyed reading your story Matt. HOpe to see you again this spring and at Wagonfest 2013

Dave & Shammoo

Hi Matt

First congratulations to you and your wife on your new arrival, enjoy every minute. Looks like you got yourself a very nice house. The garage speaks for itself.

Thanks for being the Wagon of the Month for February.....nice story. For some reason, I always thought your wagon was a Caprice, now I know it isn't. If you ever need any blue interior parts, let me know. I have more than I'll ever need.

I always liked the white and silver/gray combination. Pontiac used to offer that combo in the early 80's. I remember those 60 Buicks, like you have. Unfortunately I remember them well.

Thanks again, nice story, see you in July.

Tom