Just got back

I have just returned from a round trip vacation driving from Wisconsin to Fort Myers Beach putting on over 3500 miles in 10 days. The Red had 216,000 miles on it when I left. Never a hiccup, car ran great. Only problem was one fog light burned out on way down, the other on the way back.

I did pack a bunch of extra parts; Fuses, relays, light bulbs, serpentine belts [stock replacement, shorter one to bypass A/C], CRT, IPC, Mass Air Flow Sensor, Alternator rebuild kit, Blower control module, Teves Accumulator/Low Pressure Switch/Switch Socket, Headlight Switch/Harness, butt connectors, electrical tape, portable power station, hand tools, as well as a can of r-12 freon.

A couple of guys were concerned that it was too far to drive a car with those miles, but I had complete faith in the drive train. I also had the car checked out by my mechanic friend who gave the car a clean bill of health.

I turned the car into a bit of a truck as I had my luggage as well as my wife's [she flew down]. We did it this way as I have more free time, and I wanted to do some "junking" on the way.Also included were two 6 way seats, passenger door panel, and headliner for Mc_Reatta.

It truly was a car full.

But the car handled/drove and rode well.

Dave,

That's a great list of items to have on-board for a trip of any length.

I'm going to put one together before my next big trip. Might be headed out to central PA. in June. I'll call it my DE-Pac. (Dave's Emergency Pack)

Do you have handy the number of the shorter serp. belt?

I have a hard time picturing your Reatta packed to the gills. Do you have any pics of this feat?

John F.

I got boggled at "two 6 way seats". A four seat Reatta ?

No pictures, but Ronnie and Mc_Reatta saw it packed as I traveled to Fort Myers Beach. What I did was this;

Inside the trunk starting at the drivers side speaker.

My Tool Bag, Box of Parts, Box of misc. parts for Ronnie and McReatta, Small carry on type bag of beach stuff. Packed in also were two extra steering wheels.

Driver's side closest to taillight was Portable Power Station, Driver's/Passenger Side 6 Way seat base [i took the seats apart]. Tucked in on top of the seats was the Passenger Inner Door Panel.

Inside the car behind the Passenger Seat were the two Seat Backs wrapped up in a moving blanket. My Gym Bag style suitcase was on the floor in front of the Passenger seat with my wife's suitcase on the seat. The Headliner fits side ways over the passenger seat right at the passenger window level [no vision obstruction] tied in place with a rope from coat hanger hook to coat hanger hook. Still enough room for me to stop at a wayside near Gainsville to sleep by reclining my Driver's side 16 way.

Once Ronnie and McReatta got their parts everything else went back in the trunk, I picked up my wife at the airport and it was business as usual...

BTW the shorter belt # is on Ronnie's site.

Unfortunately, he couldn't sell space in all 4 of the seats to help defray the cost of gas cause he only had 3 seat belts in the car.

All this talent bordering on genius, all on one site. It's almost too much to bear. But,

it's the reason why I keep coming back.

John F.

What kind of gas mileage did you get on a long trip like that one was?

I got between 26-28 MPG. Some spots did worse some did better. Best places for gas mileage were Florida and Indianapolis to Chicago [until heavy traffic hit] where I was pushing 30 if I kept below 2000 RPMs...

BTW the Red just hit 220,000 miles yesterday.

DE-Pac. (Dave's Emergency Pack)

Not finished yet. Need to add tools.

Got the case at a garage sale several years ago. Thought it might come in handy some day.

John F.

I know it is late in the year but thought I would bring this back up for anyone taking a trip. It also is a good list for what to have on hand for back stock inventory to keep your car on the road with no down time.

 BTW the Red is now past 267,000 miles however I did this spring do a engine/tranny/rack and pinion swap...

I carry one of these plus a t-bar lug wrench, a serpentine belt wrench (which includes an 18mm socket), and a small fire extinquisher. In general, what I carry is not needed.

Glad you had a good trip !   I just made a trip from Phx.AZ. to Michigan & back ! The only trouble I had was a bad tire (had to buy a new one ). When I got back I had 302,887 miles on the clock ! I took tools,and a xtra belt,alternator,crank sensor. This is a 1989, my daily driver.I also have a 1989 with 67,000 miles that stays in the garage most of the time ! I had the transmission rebuilt at 259,000 miles , but haven't done anything to the motor!

2 hours ago, Buick City said:

but haven't done anything to the motor!

Better do that timing set, ASAP- before it fails. The chain, tensioner, cam thrust button and sprockets are wearable items, and can fail without notice. Good opportunity to install a new oil pump, too. A new water pump is optional- depending on age.

TIMING SET

TENSIONER

CAM THRUST BUTTON

OIL PUMP KIT

TIMING COVER GASKET SET

TOTAL $115 + S&H

(OPTIONAL)

WATER PUMP

$18 + S&H

Great to see other owners taking their Reattas on the road, prepared for anything. It took me a while to reach that level of knowledge and competency to feel comfortable on a long trip though. This site and ROJ helped immensely. I took ~1200 mile trip about a year and half ago with zero problems. I did reach one milestone I hadn't considered before it presented itself to me. As luck would have it, I was in an area w/ plenty of gas stations as my tank was nearing empty. I was so close to getting 500 miles on a single tank that I decided to try it. Maybe I was on fumes as I pulled in to the next station I came upon after hitting the 500 mile mark, but I made it.  It was a nice feeling, knowing my efforts to keep things running smoothly and efficiently was paying off. I was on Interstate all of that mileage, keeping up w/ traffic, so to speak, so even at high speeds, she got great mpg.  Just curious...anyone else done this?

Re tools/parts I carry...beyond what has been mentioned before, I carry one of those small 2Ton floor jacks, a 2'x2' piece of 3/4" plywood and a couple of 4"x4" and 2"x6" sections of wood. That insures I have a stable platform to jack from if I am broken down on a bad stretch of road. I think it's been mentioned but I keep a  fire extinguisher, 4 way lug wrench and flashlight in the boot, also.

I forgot to add this pigtail I put together. It allows me to tap directly into the fuel pump via the prime terminal under the hood.

When I bought the Red [2006] I flew to Fort Lauderdale and bought the Red the same day I saw it. Only assurance I had was the service manager at the Buick dealership telling me is was a "nice car".  Drove it non stop home. I had previously purchased a Roadmaster in Phoenix Arizona and had good luck. Since then a Miata that I had a radiator issue [fixed on the road] and later yet a 2005 Chrysler 300 [also no problems].

Makes it part of the adventure... 

I hit the road from the dealership, too. I live in eastern NC, bought the car in Chapel Hill, and headed straight to Arlington, VA to visit my brother. On the way, I ran through a snow storm south of my destination and an RV pulled off the shoulder in front of me. I gave the ABS system a good test at that point. I slowed down straight and true. My sister was w/ me and we looked at each other, wide eyed, wondering if we would make it in one piece. The funniest part of the trip had to do w/ the alarm system. Since I only owned the car a few hours, I didn't know much about it. My brother wasn't home when we arrived so we killed time riding around and ended up at a McDonalds. I pulled into my space and we sat there to talk. In the early days, I seem to recall my car unlocking the doors when I put it in park. After that happened, I engaged the locks w/ my remote to feel a little safer in a strange city. After a few minutes of yapping, we opened the door to get something to eat. Well, the horn commenced to doing its thing. I immediately shut the doors, thinking the alarm would go off. No such luck. It didn't occur to me the remote had to be used to deactivate the alarm, so, after a few hectic minutes trying to figure out what to do and getting eyeballs from folks, I pulled out and drove down the street, horn honking. I pulled into an isolated area that had a phone booth. A local LEO arrived and wanted to know what was going on. After I convinced him I was legit owner, I got on the phone and called the BUICK hotline. It was then I was told how to disarm the alarm. My sister never let me forget that incident. For fifteen minutes or so, she felt like a car thief, or so she said.

22 minutes ago, heygibb said:

Well, the horn commenced to doing its thing. I immediately shut the doors, thinking the alarm would go off. No such luck. It didn't occur to me the remote had to be used to deactivate the alarm, so, after a few hectic minutes trying to figure out what to do and getting eyeballs from folks, I pulled out and drove down the street, horn honking.

I thought when the Anti-theft was activated- it deactivated the ignition & fuel pump? (Anti-theft Module).

Must not because I drove around w/ the horn blowing. Maybe the newer technology does. As I recall, the Reatta theft alarm system was one of the first on a stock car and probably wasn't as advanced as it once became.

Yes that happened to me also,I jumped out and disconnected the battery , then someone told me to put the key in the door and turn to unlock ,and the horn quit !

On 3/28/2014 at 6:27 AM, DAVES89 said:

I have just returned from a round trip vacation driving from Wisconsin to Fort Myers Beach putting on over 3500 miles in 10 days. The Red had 216,000 miles on it when I left. Never a hiccup, car ran great. Only problem was one fog light burned out on way down, the other on the way back.

I did pack a bunch of extra parts; Fuses, relays, light bulbs, serpentine belts [stock replacement, shorter one to bypass A/C], CRT, IPC, Mass Air Flow Sensor, Alternator rebuild kit, Blower control module, Teves Accumulator/Low Pressure Switch/Switch Socket, Headlight Switch/Harness, butt connectors, electrical tape, portable power station, hand tools, as well as a can of r-12 freon.

A couple of guys were concerned that it was too far to drive a car with those miles, but I had complete faith in the drive train. I also had the car checked out by my mechanic friend who gave the car a clean bill of health.

I turned the car into a bit of a truck as I had my luggage as well as my wife's [she flew down]. We did it this way as I have more free time, and I wanted to do some "junking" on the way.Also included were two 6 way seats, passenger door panel, and headliner for Mc_Reatta.

It truly was a car full.

But the car handled/drove and rode well.

Taking the 'vert this time to New Orleans. Have already started packing my "travel pack". Anyone along the way [Wisconsin to New Orleans] that want to meet up? I will be traveling by myself as I have more time then my wife who will be flying. This way I can "junk" guilt free.

I just finished a nationwide Reatta search and I noticed many high mile Reatta's that were still in great shape. It speaks well of the car & it's drivers. There is a 1990 on Hemmings right now with 178,000 miles and it looks great. Makes you feel good about owning one of these cars that you can still drive with confidence with over 200,000 miles on the ticker.

Sounds like a great trip Dave!

Dave, is your route taking you anywhere near St. Louis? Might be able to meet up if so.

On the way down I will be driving through Indiana, edge of Kentucky and Tennessee. I found a couple of "full service" yards that have Reattas that might let me walk the yard and see if there are any parts I could pull. I could come your way on the way back and we could catch up.

Ok, let me know. Only trouble is there is no Famous Dave's  BBQ here in STL. Guess we'll need to find another lunch hangout. Plenty to chose from.

Okay the trip has commenced. I took the 'vert and after doing some "work" on it to be sure I was ready. Work done [at Kendall's] was , front brake pads and grease in the lower ball,  joints, swapped out the alternator for a new one from Advance [lifetime warranty and no extra rebuild kit to bring], lubed the driver's seat back as it was rusted in place, swapped out console and installed a "vent mount" for my GPS. Looks and works okay.

 Left this morning at 2:00 am with the idea of stopping in a yard in Tennessee and Alabama. I made both before they closed and had no luck on parts. There was a working Teves pump and motor but he wanted $75.00 and I would either would of had to come back for it [no way] or he would ship it bringing my cost to over $100.00. These Reattas were 1988 units and my goal was to find a couple that worked and pull them quickly, but they were no good.

 At any rate I am sitting at a Burger King in Tuscaloosa [6:00 pm] and figured I put on close to 1000 miles today bringing the odometer over 123,000 miles and all without a hiccup. I di bring a bunch of extra parts which is insurance for no problems.

  I just filled up and am pushing on to New Orleans which is my destination as my wife is flying in tomorrow so we can have a long weekend and take in what New Orleans has to offer.

ive still never found a reatta in a junkyard and ive looked.i can't even find same year rivs.

Well the ones I saw weren't worth anything. They both had the Teves Master Cylinders but the one I wanted the pump/motor off of was the '88 only style. It did have a replacement ball on it, but he wouldn't let it go. He had this idea that because the car was so rare that someone would call him for the whole unit. I was going to explain to him that he had a customer right in front of him and that because there are so few Reattas left [especially for the early '88 Teves unit which is what he had] that he should sell what he could. I even asked if I could buy the '88 hood ornament but he said whomever bought the hood would need the emblem, so that was it.

 Regarding the drive down, I "hit the wall" so to speak and made it to a Mississippi rest area at about 7:30 where I thought I could sleep for an hour or so drive on and/or get a motel room. 2 1/2 hours later I wake up and say "what for" and made myself more comfortable and slept another 6 hours. That is not easy to do as while a vert has more headroom then a coupe it is definetly lacking in how one can position the seats to be more comfortable.

 At any rate back on the road and heading to New Orleans with two accidental detours, one to Hattiesburg and the other to Kiln, Mississippi. Saw the "Broke Spoke" what a dive. I wouldn't let my dog go in there. Fortunately it hadn't opened for the day or I might have gone in to see what the inside was like.

 This is now a couple of days later. I picked my wife up at the airport and we are enjoying what New Orleans has to offer. So far so good!

Too bad the junkyard guy was so inflexible. Yes these cars are rare. That is precisely why he will see so little demand for these parts, especially from an 88, and why he should've sold the stuff to you. Now he'll probably sit on that stuff forever (until the yard decides it's taking up room that would be better utilitzed by a car with some parts in actual demand) and it'll  get crushed and sent to China to make some pieces of junk to be sold at Wal-Mart.

Gotta love how they think they're sitting on a golden egg laying goose, and just turned away the best shot they will see at making some money off the car for a good while to come, in all likelihood.

Not familiar with the broke spoke. Guess I need to look that up.

Kevin I'm not surprised that you don't know of the Broke Spke. It is the local watering hole in Kiln made famous by Brett Farve [formerly of the Green Bay Packers and a couple of other teams] also of Kiln who now resides in Hattiesburg. They were accidental "finds" along the way, so were must see detours.

 The guy was friendly, but the car was really beat up. he should have sold what he could, but you are right in 2-3 years it will end up getting crushed with nothing to show for it. The drivers window was open and all the "good stuff" was still there [CRT,IPC, and both pod switches]. It looked too ratty inside the car to take a chance as I had no way of testing anything as I had the 'vert.

 Tuesday I leave for home on a return 16 hour drive. My wife doesn't get back until 10:00 PM the same day. It is possible if I leave early enough I can pick her up at the airport. 

 That would be something... 

1 hour ago, DAVES89 said:

I picked my wife up at the airport and we are enjoying what New Orleans has to offer. So far so good!

1 hour ago, DAVES89 said:

At any rate back on the road and heading to New Orleans with two accidental detours, one to Hattiesburg

Happy to hear the trip is going well and you are enjoying New Orleans. With that thick northern accent you might not want to hang out in Hattiesburg too much.

Just got home. Left New Orleans at 4:00am and got home at 9:40 pm. 1140 miles in 17.5 hours. Drove back by way of St Louis so I could have lunch with kdirk and swap parts and stories.

 Never will try that many miles in one day non stop again. [3 gas fills and 1/2 hour with Kevin].

I drove the 'vert 1100 miles in one day and over 2500 miles in 4. Not bad for a 28 year old car. Took along a number of repair parts but never needed a one. These are great cars and glad I drive them. However a coupe has much more room then the 'vert when trying to take a nap in a rest area.

That's quite a trip Dave. Makes my little day trips that I post about seem like a trip to the grocery store.    Did you take any photos of your Reatta on that trip for us?

My wife took one at the New Orleans Central Park. There are "Live Oaks" as a background. We were told that the Live Oaks were called that because they grew so fast. Anyone know diferent?