DAVES89 Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 This morning I was at "Grandparents Day" at my granddaughters school. While the kids had recess the adults were invited for coffee and doughnuts. While I was sitting at the table a guy across from us was talking to his friend about putting his 1990 red/gray Reatta coupe up for sale. He says it has never been driven in winter and that he was hoping for $7,000.00. I told him about this forum and he said he would check it out. What is the chances of that happening? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 id like to get 7000 for mine too but know the current resale value is 1500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 There's a 1990 gray/gray for $6995.00 at a local dealer. Been there for at least 3 months now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Put the car away for the winter in its new home at my cottage. Maybe a little early but it was a nice bright, dry day and the pontoon boat had to come out at the same time as we have had a couple instances of shell ice on the sheltered backwaters of the river in the last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Looks like a lot of room for another Reatta or two 2seater! If you don't want to buy one I can certainly help you fill up that space... On another note. I am a "junker" which makes me a sometimes parts seller. Certainly not at the level of Jim or Marck. But I did make a sale to a guy on the forum who needed a Teves brake pressure switch. I had two in back stock but wasn't sure they were good so I thought it best to take one off the Black [the one I am driving now as winter approaches]. So with the car off I pump the brakes to get the brake fluid out of the system and remove the original switch with no problem. The adventure starts when I try putting in the replacement. It threads in fine but as I am hand tightening it goes in at an oval pattern. When I do the final tightening it snaps off leaving the threads in the body and me holding the switch. I think okay this is not starting well, and I need to get to an appointment, but I have replacement pump/motors to put in. So I do, but in the process lose over a pint of brake fluid. In my rush to finish I miss the insulator mount point in the back and after I added the fluid I start the car only to hear the pump run quite a bit louder and seemingly more often. Thinking the accumulator was weak, I swapped it out with the original accumulator. No difference. Now I'm running late and top the brake fluid off and leave for my appointments. Brakes are good, everything seems fine but the pump seems to run too much and was loud. I get through my day and stop off at my machinist friends house to get his opinion. He sees that I missed the rear insulator mount and gets that squared away. To be sure we bled the Master Cylinder by loosening the line at the top of the pump. He then gets the broken piece out of the original pump/motor. But here is what I learned and what some have asked about [Ronnie in particular]. The pump will run before the red brake light comes on. By that I mean is that you can pump your brake 2 times and the pump comes on and if you continue pumping the light comes on at 4-5 pumps or more. I believe this is normal. Because if you think about it, the pump has to run to keep enough fluid in the accumulator. While driving your pump will come dozens of times a day. The Red light comes on when the pressure switch has to run the motor/pump too long to keep the accumulator satisfied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 9 minutes ago, DAVES89 said: The adventure starts when I try putting in the replacement. It threads in fine but as I am hand tightening it goes in at an oval pattern. When I do the final tightening it snaps off leaving the threads in the body and me holding the switch. Wow. Ain't it crazy how something so simple can snowball into a big deal in a matter of minutes? If that had happened to someone with less knowledge and no parts on hand it would have been a nightmare. 14 minutes ago, DAVES89 said: But here is what I learned and what some have asked about [Ronnie in particular]. The pump will run before the red brake light comes on. By that I mean is that you can pump your brake 2 times and the pump comes on and if you continue pumping the light comes on at 4-5 pumps or more. I believe this is normal. Because if you think about it, the pump has to run to keep enough fluid in the accumulator. While driving your pump will come dozens of times a day. The Red light comes on when the pressure switch has to run the motor/pump too long to keep the accumulator satisfied. Interesting Dave. That makes a lot of sense because on my car when it has been sitting for a while the pump will continue to run several seconds after the red light goes out . There must be two sets of contacts in the pressure switch that close at different pressures. One that turns the red light out and another set that stops the pump from running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Ronnie when that switched snapped off I said a "few" words and then thought I sell a switch for way less then this pump/motor I just ruined. But yes glad I have extra parts. Don't know how anyone trying to keep these cars as daily drivers do it without inventory. At any rate my buddy had an easy out that was just the right size. He said he got them from the paper mill he worked at before he was retired. All the machinists got one for working on the machines. He had that piece out before I could put my tools back in my junkin bag. Glad you agree on the switch statement. I agree it also makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 All good machinist have easy outs in their tool box. Sooner or later you're going to need them. I have two sets. (That's a good indication of how often I screw something up ) You have to use them with care. The only thing worse than snapping off a bolt in a part is snapping off an easy out. There is no drilling them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 That's the key wording, I am not good with those tools and lucky for me I have friends who are. This situation wasn't a small easy out. I'll bet the inside diameter of the pressure switch was close to 3/4". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin M Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 (edited) Today I went to fix my antenna. But My dad borrowed my multimeter and didn’t tell me so that didn’t happen. But I finally got my new Registration from the DMV to put my period correct plates on. I like them a lot better than the blue and gold. Edited October 24, 2018 by Kevin M (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 That's too funny! A dad borrowing a tool and not returning it... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 Drove the '91 to a car show about 30 miles from where I live. Did not take the car to show, just to blow it out since it had not been moved on 3-4 months plus we have had almost constant rain since the first week of September. Beautiful sunny day, warm enough I turned on the A/C The show was in Taylor TX on the main street and there was probably 500 cars, I would have been the only Reatta there. May have been only 6 Buicks total. It is a no charge show and they do give out some awards. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVET Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 Red letter day for my 88. I came back from a 20 min drive, placed a clean cardboard under the car and came out a few hours later to discover NO LEAKS! She has almost 119,000 miles now and had sat quite a bit before I owned her. So the gaskets were dried out and most of them leaked. I have now replaced all gaskets except the heads and power steering. Took me a while but it is worth it! One reason that it took me 3 years to do all this is due to the "while I'm in there" factor. I had used grease remover and a power wash a couple of times to clean the block, etc. It is now a pleasure to walk into the garage and not smell burnt oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 I met up with Ronnie this morning. He needed a taillight and I had three in back stock. We were taking a trip to Nashville so we brought it along... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, DAVES89 said: I met up with Ronnie this morning. He needed a taillight and I had three in back stock. We were taking a trip to Nashville so we brought it along... Good seeing you again Dave! Thanks for bringing the taillight to TN. Hope you are having better weather so you can enjoy your stay in Nashville. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 Those taillights were the ones I got from Dave Pannell. He sold his two Reattas and was leaving the forum. He contacted me and said if I was to drive to his house he would give me all his back stock inventory. He lived in Indianapolis and it was about a 5 hour drive each way. Wish he was still posting, always thought he was a nice guy... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Off topic, but apparently I was not far north of Dave and Ronnie this last weekend at the GS Nationals in Bowling Green KY. I only mention this as I had the opportunity to see a modern high performance car make a couple of runs, even though it did not fit the program as being Buick powered. It was a Dodge Demon, which ran in the low 10's @ hi 130's mph. under less than ideal conditions, with a cold, damp headwind. Amazing to see how far we have come in three decades, five times our hp., a full warranty and fully streetable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 I think Dave came down I-65, or at least part of the way. If we had known you were in Bowling Green maybe we could have met up with you there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin M Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 (edited) I drove my car for most likely the last time this year. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this on here before but I work on ships and I’m going on one on Friday. It’s in dry dock close to home so I may be able to drive the Reatta again this year. But that’s unlikely. Put some stableizer in the gas and disconnected the battery. I’m hopeful that that’s enough winterizing since it’s in a garage. Here’s a pic from my drive today. Edited October 31, 2018 by Kevin M (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 3 minutes ago, Kevin M said: I drove my car for most likely the last time this year. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this on here before but I work on ships and I’m going on one on Friday. It’s in dry dock close to home so I may be able to drive the Reatta again this year. But that’s unlikely. Put some stableizer in the gas and disconnected the battery. I’m hopeful that that’s enough winterizing since it’s in a garage. Here’s a pic from my drive today. Beautiful car and fall foliage. Your leaves turn faster than here in TN. I have to drive up into the mountains to see colors like that right now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 (edited) Ronnie posted yesterday that the CRT is great for checking codes on our Reattas, well I have another great feature about the CRT. The reminder page. For about 6 weeks now I have been taking my oldest daughter to school and we have conversations. I try to take something from every morning and put it in the reminder as a message the next day. She is 7 and likes that the idea that the car is "talking" to us. the message today? "Hey It's snowing"... Edited November 9, 2018 by DAVES89 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91vert Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 Hi Dave. Just curious if your daughter is 76 how old are you ? Cal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 Good catch! Another question is what would a 76 year old person be doing in First Grade? [Correction made] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 By Tuesday I will hit 299,000 miles on the Black and if my calculations are correct 300,000 [110,000 by me] by the end of the week. Never had a car with that many miles before. Next summer I expect the Red to hit 300,000 [185,000 by me]. Never owned a car that had that many miles before. It's been fun! the vert? She will hit 125,000 next summer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 That's got to be some kind of record for Reatta driving Dave. I think we both got our red cars about 10 years ago. During that time I've put about 30,000 on mine. The most miles I've ever put on any vehicle I've owned is 210,000 and I drove 85 miles a day just going back and forth to work. You must keep the roads hot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 The Red was purchased 12 years ago in December as a 50 birthday present to myself. As you might remember from a guy in Fort Lauderdale. Long drive home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 That was a long drive in a car that you didn't know too much about. You have a lot of faith l my friend. A lot more than I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 Made an offer on another Reatta that is Red/Tan. Looking for a back up if the Black goes down this winter. This is a rust belt car so I'm not sure what I am getting but it runs/drives and the A/C works so how bad can it be? Getting it on Wednesday. Bought it sight unseen with about 8 pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 What? You're just now getting the black one broken in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 (edited) Yeah well it won't be put in service until the Black gives me more grief then I think it's worth. So I could get another year or so out of it. I almost stole the new one. It just needs cradle bolts which he bought everything but the bolts. I went to your web site and saw the tutorial and the part number for the bolts needed and ordered them out for less then $50.00 delivered. So I think I can make this work... Edited November 12, 2018 by DAVES89 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Looks like I will be out of the "parts" business for sure by the end of the year. Gibson's, the You Pick yard I go to has been ordered by the State of Wisconsin to stop taking cars effective today. They also have to process and remove all existing cars in the yard by the end of the year. So I will be making a serious "shopping" run next week to grab what I think I will need. 2seater you want to go? I have to make a list... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Yikes, that's a lot of cars. I will send a pm about cruising the yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 If you want a 1995 Super charged engine and various conversion parts for it, now is the time. Glad I have been stockpiling parts and will get more as I will never have this opportunity to have such a large yard so close to me again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 On 11/11/2018 at 8:42 PM, DAVES89 said: Yeah well it won't be put in service until the Black gives me more grief then I think it's worth. So I could get another year or so out of it. I almost stole the new one. It just needs cradle bolts which he bought everything but the bolts. I went to your web site and saw the tutorial and the part number for the bolts needed and ordered them out for less then $50.00 delivered. So I think I can make this work... Just got back from a 9 hour round trip to get this Red/Tan Reatta. While the car was cheap at $500.00 it was not anywhere near as nice as advertised. Turns out the pictures I was shown were some years old. I thought I was getting a real nice car with bad sub frame mounts. What I got was a pretty rusted car with some bad interior parts [ driver's door, driver's seat and dash which I wanted most]. However there were some bright spots. The shifter illumination is excellent and all the interior instrumentation works. The teves brake system works well and there is no ABS warning light, the headlights go up and down well, so there are still many other good parts and with the closing of Gibson's I have added to my supply of car parts which is never bad. However when we got to the car, the engine was laying almost flat on the ground and the only thing holding it up was the dog bone. There was enough clearance to get my HF aluminum floor jack under the sub frame and I jacked up the driver's side with the jack in the middle of the sub frame. I got it as high as I could and then we laid a precut 2'x4" across the engine compartment from fender to fender laying across the angled tubular steel supports [the ones that angle on top of the battery and the fuse box]. We then hooked a ratchet strap to anything that the hooks would hold to and ratcheted it tight. We then dropped the jack and went to the passenger side and jacked up that sub frame till it was tight. Then hooked another ratchet strap and cranked it tight to hold the engine up to its proper height. We checked our work by starting the car. It ran great and I drove it on the dolly, fastened it tight and we drove back to the rental shop 4.5 hours away. When we got there I backed the car off the dolly and drove it to my friend's house for parting out 11 miles away. The straps held great and as we laid the 2"x4" flat we were able to close the hood down to the safety latch. I had the car up to 50 miles an hour without a hiccup. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 I've never made payment for any car sight unseen. I have purchased two cars off eBay sight unseen that specified a deposit within a couple of days after the auction was over. Instead of sending a deposit via PayPal as specified, I drove straight to the sellers, examined the cars and then made full payment with a cashiers check. One of the cars, a '99 Blazer that I still have, had a bad power window motor that wasn't disclosed in the advertisement on eBay. To remedy the problem the seller called the local Chevy dealer to get the price to have it repaired. I handed him the cashiers check and he handed me $142 in cash. We were both happy. I fixed the window motor myself for about $40. I have wasted a lot of gas driving to look at cars that weren't as represented. A good example is I drove about 250 miles into Kentucky to look at a "pristine" Ford Explorer that had always been stored in garage and well maintained. When I looked at the Explorer it had peeling clear coat, the differential was whining so loud you hardly could talk over it and baby food was caked in the passenger seat where a baby seat had been strapped in. People will tell you anything to sell a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 Jake, I have told this story numerous times about buying the Red from a guy in Fort Lauderdale Fl and driving the car without anything more then a short test drive and a visual inspection. Other then a blown SES warning light no other hiccups. Other stories: Bought a 2004 Chrysler 300 from a dealer in Oklahoma. Flew there, he picked me up at the airport, test drive was to the dealership to sign papers and drove home. !993 Buick Roadmaster bought from a dealer in Phoenix who was going to wholesale it out. Flew down, drove home. No problems and a gret ride home. Worst story; my daughter wanted a Miata. We were visiting in Phoenix, so I went looking. Found one, bought it and we [my wife and I] drove it for a week [we didn't have to rent a car] no hiccups. Took my wife to the airport, so her off, started heading for home. Blew the radiator in Missouri and had a new one installed. Guy "squeezed" me in and while he did the work I took a nap in the waiting room. Finished the trip home with no further incident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 This morning I thought I would go to Gibson's and start pulling some parts before the yard is cleared and crushed. Before going into the yard I spoke to the counter guy and he said that they don't have to crush what is in the yard. I thought that was good news but I also noticed that no one was bringing cars in either so I am still not sure. At any rate I went out to the Cadillac section as there were two Cadillacs that had Teves units. One was there and the other was crushed. Jesse the lot guy was redoing the Cadillac and told me that he was supposed to go through the entire yard and pull what he thought should be crushed and straighten what he left behind. I asked about the Buicks and he said I won't have to worry as he is going to keep them. So that takes some pressure off. I did get one Teves unit and a front ABS sensor lead. On the ones for myself I just pull the heads out of the hub using a vise grips, leaving the barrel behind as the ones in my car have rusted in barrels so I just swap in the head/lead and caulk around the head so water doesn't get in. Doesn't look factory but works for me. Quick fix and I get years of service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 5 hours ago, DAVES89 said: This morning I thought I would go to Gibson's and start pulling some parts before the yard is cleared and crushed. Before going into the yard I spoke to the counter guy and he said that they don't have to crush what is in the yard. I thought that was good news but I also noticed that no one was bringing cars in either so I am still not sure. Sounds like pretty good news Dave compared to what you were saying earlier.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Well, we'll see, but I am optimistic... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin M Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 (edited) Not really what I did to my reatta today. But I got a comment on the poster in my room. I work on ships so you need some decorations. The captain thought it was cool that I am into and have one of these cars. He said he thought they were cool and also weird when they came out. I guess that’s still sort of true still. Edited November 18, 2018 by Kevin M (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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