May 2013 Wagon of the Month "Ms. Roadie"

Hey fellow Longroof forum members. Shawn here representing Ms. Roadie.

When I was contacted for the privilege of representing the May 2013 Longroof of the Month, I was really nervous. You see I’m not as passionate as some people when it comes to detailing their cars. I probably won’t have to many pictures either, it's just not my thing. Sometimes I wonder if I will regret not taking as many pictures of my children when they were toddlers. Eh oh well life goes on. I haven’t changed much on my wagon to make her stand out. Ms. Roadie is a homely looking gal with a few wear marks on her. I mean when I got her she needed some dental work. She also needed a little work under the hood. She still needs some paint and body work done to keep her looking young. But before I get going into the story of MS Roadie and my family, let me start off with how I got bit by the wagon bug.

You see I was a young boy when I experienced my first thrill of a near death experience, which was in a wagon. Well not really a near death experience but what are stories for if we don’t embellish them a little.

Let’s see oh yes, I was a young boy of about 6, the second oldest of, at that time three military brats, which would eventually become five military brats. My Dad was in the Army and I was living it up as a G.I. Joe every second of play time. It’s really amazing what a young boy’s imagination can do. How a mere piece of wood can turn into the multi-tool of weapons, from rifle, to automatic machine-gun, to bazooka, to rocket launcher, well you get the idea. . . My personal favorite was the picnic table. It would transform into a tank, a helicopter, a plane, you name it and that’s what it would become.

Anyway as luck would have it our family owned a 1977 Dodge Aspen station wagon. It was Blue in color though I remember it having wood trim my dad, who probably knows better than me since he bought the dang thing, says it did not have wood trim. It only had front and rear seats, no third row seating in this wagon. Though that never really stopped us from sitting back there when we had a car load of people. Well one day while my parents were driving our family and some friends to and from who knows where, we kids got a little rambunctious in the back seat. Picture a car full of two adults and five kids. The parents and one infant in the front seat, three boys and one girl in the back seat, hoping around bouncing up and down. One thing lead to another and for some strange reason I ended up popping open the rear door while we were driving. So there I am hanging onto the rear door head out the window as it swings open. I look down and see the road moving underneath me. I look up and to my left a bit and see my mom with this look of dread while she tries to keep from dropping my infant brother. At this point my Dad is yelling at me to get back in the car (F&*@ Son get your@$$ back in the car. What the hell do you think you’re doing opening the door while I’m driving the car? Son of a B&@%$*&! Kids are going to be the death of me . . . etc. etc. etc.). If anybody knows what it’s like growing up as a Military brat you can imagine the colorfully worded phrases that were escaping his mouth. But what can I do I’m hanging on for dear life. That’s when my sister reached out and pulls the door shut. Boy was that fun. I mean I was like Lee Majors in The Fall Guy; all I needed was another car to jump onto. . . Needless to say I’ll never forget that day, what an experience, and boy what a spanking. From that day on we had to lock the doors as soon as we got in the car. Makes one wonder, with how lax the seat-belt laws were back then, how we survived with all the driving around we did?

We had some really good times in that car. I still remember the cross country road trip back to Kentucky from California when we moved back from Hawaii. We stopped at the Grand Canyon; we stopped at the Petrified Forest; we hit all kinds of sites along the way. To this day I still want a cigar shop Indian just because of that road trip, those things are cool. I remember laying down and falling asleep in the way back as we tried to find a hotel. We even broke down in the middle of the desert. That was the first time I got to see an RV from the inside.

Hell we used to drive it all around Hawaii too. We would pile the family in the wagon, fill the Coleman cooler up with pop, bologna, mustard, and bread and hit the sites. Sometimes if we were lucky we had mayonnaise instead of mustard. Let me tell you a kid can only eat so much bologna and mustard sandwiches on a cross country road trip. I think back on all the trips we took and know that is why I love to take my family on drives. A lot of memories were made in that little wagon in a short period of time. My first experience of the Drive-in Theater was in that wagon. I still remember begging for popcorn during the intermission where they played the snack bar advertisements again.

We quickly out grew the wagon and moved up to a, dare I say it, Mini-van. Blah!! I hate that word. I don’t like mini-vans, but I had to endure them for the next ten years. Although we did have two VW buses that were kind of cool. Well at least they were cool in the winter time. Shoot you don’t know luxury until you have to scrape the frost off the inside of your windshield.

By the time I was old enough to drive I started getting affected by the fumes. At least that’s what I refer to it as. You know Perfume (girls), Crisp new dollar smell (money/Job), Gasoline (Cars, Driving, Independence); I can’t forget the biggest distracting fume Alcohol (Beer! Whiskey! Tequila!!!). Man being a teenager was hard. But along with the fumes came my first experiences working on cars.

There I was 17 years old working at a Pizza restaurant (Bearno’s), driving around a 1963 super beetle. Dude Life was happening; Work, Sports, Cars, Girlfriends, BS drama and all that. I was having car problems with the bug, ugly dark forest green POS, but it was mine. Mine I tell you MINE! Muwahahaha! Bought and paid for, $600.00 dollar.

Anyway I had no idea what was going on. But I noticed some floating stuff in the fuel filter. So I take it off and try to clean it out. Yep that’s right I was blowing through the filter backwards hoping the sediment would flow back out the way it came in. Who knew you could buy replacement fuel filters? –Shrugs shoulders— Heck I didn't even know it was a fuel filter. Anyway, so there I was in the parking lot of my work pretty much covered in gas trying to blow out a fuel filter. It’s wasn't working so I decide to take it into work and flush it out with water. Now if anyone has ever worked in a Pizza place you would know that the ovens are gas powered, and a person reeking of fuel walking into the back of the store is not a good combination. Nothing blew up thank goodness, but I got an @$$ chewing that I won’t forget. Then my boss does something I also will never forget. He starts explaining to me how engines work. I learned a lot from that man. And thus began my self-taught journey through life. Anything I've done to date is because of watching Him and his Father as they would fix, repair, and even build things themselves, instead of hiring someone to do it. There were times they had to hire someone for certain jobs, but only when they knew they couldn't do it. I guess I'm trying to say they new their limitations. From working with them I came to understand that I could do anything, teach myself anything, become someone if I just took the time to DO IT! They mentored me like a father mentors his own son. Now don't get me wrong, I love my DAD and he has taught me plenty but, he is very mechanically challenged, to use a Politically Correct term. We tried working on my Bug together a few times, but it usually resulted in us having to take it into the shop to fix what we broke, or made worse. Don’t laugh at least we had some bonding time in my teenage years before I started rebelling, which eventually lead to me getting kicked out of the house.

Fast forward several years. I’m married to a wonderful woman, our 17th anniversary is this month. We have five kids: a boy (16 yikes), a girl( 15 double yikes), another boy(7), and another boy(turns 4 at end of July), and yet again another boy(15 months). Our oldest son is now learning to drive. Man I feel old all of a sudden.

Around 2009 I started dreaming of a station wagon. We currently had a 1997 GMC High-top conversion van, and a POS 2001 Buick Le Sabre. I was getting tired of the constant fixes I had to do on the Le Sabre, and we were getting close to paying it off. I would say I was dreaming/looking for a little over a year for one of these wagons. I found one on Craigslist, but I did not have the funds to purchase it. It kept popping up every few month but the asking price was a big turn off for me. Then in June 2010 I wrecked my beloved yet abhorred Le Sabre, we had a love-hate relationship. I loved the way she drove, but hatted the things that I would have to replace, more than once, on her. I loved to see her go, but hated it took so long for her to leave.

Know I needed a replacement daily driver. Our family went down to a 1 vehicle family for a few months until the right opportunity presented itself. Enter the same 1993 white wagon that’s been off and on Craigslist for about a year. Only now the asking price is considerably less, and right in my price range. I call the guy, we setup a time and place to meet, and I go look at the car. He’s a collage kid driving his Dad’s wagon around while at school. They’re both ready to sell it. He’s telling me all about it, I don’t know if he’s a member of the forum or not. Probably not a member anymore if he was. The only think he was confused on was the Motor. Told me it had the LT1. I shared some information with him about the car too. Most of which I obtained from trolling this forum. I corrected him on the LT1 motor issue; pointed out a few things wrong with the car; took it for a test drive; Fell in love with her even though she had a severe shake in the rear end. Before we got back to the meet place I had already decided to buy her. After a couple issues dealing with the out of state title she was all mine. I quickly got her tagged; bought her some new shoes (tires); replaced a leaking power steering hose; replaced the rear U-joint, and warped back drums, this fixed the shake in the rear end issue. Started driving her to and from work, and have been for over a year now.

I've had to replace a few other things on her:
New teeth (front grille)
Before:




After:



Say Cheese!


Intake manifold gasket;
Oil seal in the oil filter adapter;
Plugs;
wires;
distributor cap/rotor;
Exhaust manifold gasket I’ll be Danged if she had one on the drivers-side when I bought her;
Valve cover gaskets;
Thermostat;
Rear Differential seal/fluid;
front and rear bearings;
Power Antenna;
front and rear speakers;

She got some new shades this year (tint)
Before:





After:




Complete with decals. Bonus points to anyone who can guess what the decals on the little corner windows are from, and which "one" they belong to?





a new Radio: This thing is cool it has bluetooth, and plays from you android, Iphone, or a usb drive. Love it.





New headlights.
I thought I would need some HID's too. Glad I held off on buying them until after I got the new light assemblies. Huge difference. These new clear lens style headlights are perfect, they light up the road just right.
Before:




New Headlights:




Installed: I eventually had to replace the brackets with the factory brackets. The cheap Made in China plastic adjusters stripped very easily when I was zeroing in the headlights. Instead of just replacing the adjusters I took the whole pods out and used my OEM mounting brackets. But the way they light up the road is perfect.






Next on the list of modifications is a:
Cold Air Intake
Replace the Parking brake cable
Replace the under-hood light lens

I need to do something with the paint job. The paint part will probably be next year though. I've got one big paint chip and surface rust is starting to form. There’s also a spot in the paint where the clear coat is coming off. I’m not sure if I should wax her with these problems or not? She needs it though, you can wash her and in 10 hours she’s all dirty again. Stuff sticks to her like snot on a snail’s bottom.

Plus there is something going on with the Torque Converter lockup. It seems like once the car is up to operating temps the TC lockup never happens anymore. I can observe it going into lockup and coming out of lockup several times until about 7 minutes into my daily commute. Then it goes into, and out of lockup multiple times back to back, before it stops going into lockup at all. I looked at the transmission fluid the other night and it looked overfull. Any way this is the absolute next thing I’m going to do on her, drop the transmission pan, replace the transmission filter and fluid. Well maybe not the very next thing, I bet I replace the under-hood light lens first.

Oh and she just started leaking coolant from the radiator so I guess she'll be getting one of those soon too. I'm not complaining though I love working on her. Sometimes I think she intentionally break things on herself so I'll fiddle around under her hood.

Needless to say she is a wonderful daily driver she now has over 150,000 miles on the “clock”. We are making memories in her too. The drive-in season is back upon us and the wife and I got to watch two movies in her last weekend. The first time Ms. Roadie has been to the drive-in theater since she got her new speakers and radio. Last year she got to go to the drive-in theater a couple of times too. Too bad she has to face away from the screen so we can see the movie. Unfortunately she has to stay home when the whole family goes to the drive-in theater. It’s just not as comfortable with two car seats and seven people in the wagon as it is in our big green giant (GMC High-top Conversion van). Plus the rear seat in the van lays down into a bed.




Ms. Roadie has taken us out to Red River Gorge a couple of times for some backpacking trips.
















She’s gone with us on some car camping trips with the Boy Scouts.



















My oldest son Jakob is learning to drive in Ms. Roadie. Guess I still need a picture of him behind the wheel


He has driven Ms. Roadie a couple of times now. He’s still nervous but learning how to push her buttons so to speak. He’s already mentioned how cool it will be to take her to school. He’s like I could fit everybody in here and she’s fast and powerful too. I just Shake My Head and think thank goodness I didn't get the LT1 wagon down the road. He’s mentioned buying the one down the road a couple of times but I would sooner buy it and give him Ms. Roadie then let him get it. He’s made a couple “Speed demon” comments, which have resulted in a lecture from me, that have me a little worried now. Eh? Teenage boys what to do? What to do? S. M. H. He’s definitely getting affected by the “FUMES” too.

Well that's about all I have to say about Ms. Roadie and my family. . .for now anyway. We're still living and growing.

Shawn

Sorry for not getting the rest of the pictures up last night. Had Boy Scouts and lost the light before I remembered to take the window tint pics. Enjoy.

Good story Shawn, and it's always good to see family's enjoying a wagon.
The clear lights with the casper shields are almost a night and day difference huh.

Waiting for the rest of the pics.

Mike

Great write up! My wagons go camping alot too. Get your boy a wagon with a 305 in it, yeah they still go over 100 MPH but they take a bit longer getting there. They don't win drag races but can get out of their own way pretty good.

Not to worry, none of my wagons are show cars by any means, doesn't stop me from putting them in shows though, lol. For me it's about enjoying the car and having fun with it, which you are doing in spades my friend. Enjoy the ride.

Thanks guys. We sure do love our wagon. Whether we're going camping, to the Drive-in Theater, or just to the store, she gets us there. She turns a few heads too. It might not be a "Dang that's a sweeeet ride" look but it's not "Dang that's a Piece of Crap" look either. It's always a reminiscence look or a young kid look saying wow that car has a seat facing the back.

I've already decided that Jake has to buy his first car and pay for his car insurance. We're trying to teach him how to be financially responsible. We discussed at length that he can get a summer job and save up enough money to buy a car and pay for his car insurance for a full year. That way when school starts back up again he can drive and not have to work during the school year.

I get so tired of all these young pukes thinking they are entitled to have a car when they turn 16, and mom and dad will take care of it. One of my son's friends made a comment last year that got me all riled up. This was about the time I had to deal with him asking why we don't let him have a cell phone like all his friends. One of his buddies said to Jakob; "You want to know what kind of car you're going to get when you turn 16? A crappy car, your parent won't even buy you a cell phone. That means they're gonna buy you a real POS car".

I laughed out loud when Jakob, told me that. I told him to go back and tell his friend that he could have what ever kind of car he wants so long as he pays for it. Just like a cell phone. You want a cell phone you wait until you're old enough to sign a contract and pay for it yourself. Heck with these prepaid cells he doesn't even need to sign a contract just have the money to buy one and purchase the minutes. He's learning you're not entitled to anything in this world you need to be self reliant. If you want something go out and earn it. You can do what ever you set your mind too.

Great pics, I love seeing a wagon used as a wagon. My fondest memories are of my wagon loaded to the roof (and sometimes on the roof), headed out on a road trip. Doing exactly that tomorrow, as a matter of fact!

I have the same lights on my SS. I really like them.

Shawn, I totally agree with you on having the kids buy their own stuff. Much better appreciation for it IMHO.

Very cool! Good to see it still being used like a wagon, family hauler, vacation ride, etc! Awesome.

Nice to see another family creating wagon memories like most of us had from our youth! Good write-up and great pics! Man the grill and tint sure made the car look better.

Nice family!

-Mike

Great story Shawn and some nice looking kids too,,must take after their Mom.I hope you make those children always walk behind you in case that belt buckle explodes!
Just couldnt resist that one.

Nice looking ride. I did the same with my 3 kids. If they wanted a car etc they had to save. When it came to repairs I was there to watch and if needed other wise they had to do it. My daughters friends laughed when she got her 1st car and I made her change the tires all afternoon one weekend.She could have been a tire changer for NASCAR after that. They were driving around with 3000 dollar paint schemes while I was driving around in primer LOL

Sounds like wagon folks share the same values and feelings about how to raise their children and while I dont have any children I am honored to be a part of this group.Your kids will grow up appreciating friendship,honesty and understanding the value of a dollar and THAT gives them a huge advantage.Those of you that can should reach around and pat yourself on the back!

Thanks Shawn, nice story.

It is good to see the wagon being used like it is supposed to. Our first wagon a 95, which we bought in 97, we used it probably like you do yours. There is not much it can't do. I still remember hauling kids half way across the country jammed packed and stuff on the roof (picture Beverly Hillbillies).

Tom

Thanks for sharing, Shawn!
Great story!

I like your "you can have what you earn" approach.