EmTee

I came to the same conclusion when looking for a 24' enclosed trailer last fall. There were only one or two decent used ones near me and they were 20', but as Kerry noted above, the asking prices were ~90% of new. Anything else I saw advertised online was either ancient, beat to hell, or both. I wound-up shopping new at dealers in my general area. In the end, unless you happen to luck into a used one owned by a 'friend-of-a-friend' with known history, I think you'll be better-off biting the bullet and buying what you need/want new. I got over the price paid as I towed mine home and realized that the piece of mind on a 2000-mile trip is worth it. Shop the dealer as well as the trailer - you want someone who will stand behind the product and provide whatever maintenance, parts and support you'll need going forward.

My assumption based on the information provided, is that the suspected battery drain didn't exist before the top pull-down motor was repaired.

1. Distributor vacuum advance 2. Brake booster 3. Heater control valve 4. Anything else...?

She looks ready to roll!

My GUESS is there may be a limit switch built into the motor that works like the 'park' switch on a windshield wiper motor. IF that's the case, then the relative orientation of the gears that you replaced might matter. You might need to open it up again and look carefully for a key or tab on one of the gears that opens an internal switch when the pull-down is in the CLOSED position.

Hmmmm, that's surprising to me because the Allante' just looks so much wider to me. I will say, however, that I've never seen an Allante' parked directly next to a Reatta. That would be interesting to see...

What make/model is the subject car? From your description, it sounds to me like the pull-down motor isn't turning off once the top is seated. There must be an adjustment somewhere in the mechanism to ensure that the limit switch (inside the motor assembly?) opens when the top is tight against the header.

I'd start by reviewing these two discussion threads: https://forums.aaca.org/topic/403118-no-convertible-top-no-problem-1920s-buick-missing-top-bows-and-sockets/#comment-2577976 https://forums.aaca.org/topic/396270-1922-buick-new-top-begins/#comment-2525880

That's disappointing, however, from a practical standpoint you'll probably need to allow several months to receive the correct material if you order from SMS (essentially the 'only game in town'). I suspect you'll be dissatisfied with anything but an OE-looking repair. Depending upon your risk tolerance, you could attempt to repair your armrest as a test case. I might be tempted to try removing the arm rest cover, lay it in the sun to soften it, turn it inside-out and try bonding a patch inside to reinforce and hold the seam together. Then reverse the process for reassembly. You'll need to be careful with the foam; maybe slip a plastic bag over it before reassembly? If the foam crumbles, then you'll need to replace or augment it with new foam. You may be able to have a local shop cover your arm rests with black vinyl and then dye (i.e., paint) it yourself with dye sourced online or possibly a local auto refinishing supply store. Keep us posted on this project!

Hopefully no dribbling Dynaflows?

That's not the same yellow shown in the 'circus car' is it? Yours looks more muted and not so 'busy'.

Is the rear glass set in butyl adhesive or does it use a rubber gasket around the perimeter? My '64 Grand Prix uses the latter, however, maybe the LeSabre is different...

It looked to me as if the wire was somehow misplaced and was probably chewed by the shift quadrant. Hopefully only the insulation is damaged. If so, maybe clean the wire with brake cleaner and dry it before applying some RTV to fix the missing insulation. Need to carefully re-route the wire before reinstalling the pan.

Where is the car located? Is the original engine really unfixable?

Short answer: yes. If it were mine, I would cut the wire, slip a piece of shrink-sleeve tubing onto the wire, solder the wire back together and finally shrink the sleeve over the repair to insulate it. If you want to avoid cutting the wire to add the shrink-sleeve, I would clean the wire with brake cleaner, dry it thoroughly and then apply some RTV to cover the damaged insulation. If the wire shorts to something inside the transmission it will de-energize the solenoid that wire controls and could damage the wire further or other items in the circuit (i.e., the switch). It looks like it was chewed by the shift quadrant, so be sure it is routed away from that (or other moving linkages) when you reassemble it.

Also check the condition of the battery cable connections. The resistance of an 'iffy' connection will increase with temperature, which increases the voltage drop.

Ha! You're absolutely right - I forgot about that idiosyncrasy!

Yup, the lower A-arms appear to be cast iron. The uppers look like cast aluminum. Maybe the iron is used to help add some rear weight bias to counter the heavy front-drive architecture? The tube shocks are located ahead of the springs -- I wonder what else (if anything) those might be used on...

Some examples from the internet below. Looks like "Roadmaster" on the left fender and "DynaFlow" on the right, as you seem to have noticed.

Part of the problem is that the chemical mitigation built into the rubber composition requires the tire(s) be regularly 'exercised'. RVs, trailers and hobby cars, however, generally sit unused for long periods which makes their tires more susceptible to degradation. Covering the tires on vehicles stored outside can help slow the degradation; at least the UV-related portion. Yet another reason to drive your classic regularly!

I remember many having issues after only 5~6 years!

Maybe it's me, but those Skylark wheels just don't seem right on a '38...

Left & right should be mirror images of each other.

I don't mind a vinyl top on an Eldorado with its more formal roofline. Toronados should never have a vinyl top IMHO, due to the way the C-pillar blends directly into the rear quarter. Some Riviera color combinations look fine (e.g., silver/black), however, in general I think they look better sans vinyl.

Yes, I realize that. It sounded like the center pin broke free, so I was imagining it might be repairable. A picture of the damaged cable would help.