Jim

Another easy way to eliminate the alternator is take the belt off and start the engine and see if you still have the noise.

Bertimus, I just checked my email, as per my signature lines and do not see anything from you.

the lines at the ends of my posts. signature lines. I will sell them separately

As you found out it is almost impossible to restore the center caps by the average person. The problem is the very fine lines in the aluminum. If a person had some nice caps but with poor clear coat and could chemically remove the clear without damaging the lines that would be ideal but that is also hard to do and actually once the clear goes bad the aluminum corrodes and ruins the lines. Last week I picked up four VERY nice original center caps and they are available. These caps are nice and shiny like original,

This car did have a perfect drivers side door panel and both blue seats are very nice. I just looked at the paper work yesterday and it was a one owner car. Bought new in Racine WI and spent a few years in NY but 90% of the time in near Wausau WI. Several years ago I was driving through Weston WI and spotted the car and bought it. I had planned on driving it, the way it looked to the BCA National meet in Milwaukee but the brainiacs in the BCA scheduled that meet for the same date as a large swap meet in Iola WI so that National meet is one that I was not able to attend.

Who needs to buy a southern car when you can have a nice Wisconsin car. Here are some pictures of a nice running Reatta with only 256,000 miles on it.

That is the wrong lever. That lever, I am not sure why GM put it there, simply holds the rear bow half way up when putting the top back down after closing the tonneau cover. The lever to release the top from the tonneau cover when putting the top down is located inside the rear compartment behind the drivers seat. You pull that lever and the top releases from the tonneau cover and then operate the switch that releases the tonneau cover so it will come up and you can then put the top down.

It needs to be dark outside for the dimming function and background lights to work and of course the lights or parking lights or fog lights on. When the photocell/BCM detects low light levels the dimming and background lights work. The most common part to go bad in the '88-89 Reattas is the headlight switch. The two biggest problems are the "off" button does not function correctly and the dimming and background lights on the switches, CRT. IPC etc. do not work correctly. Try your dimming slider at night and if the background lights do not come on or if you are having problems with the dimming, I have reconditioned headlight switch modules available and also tested good photocells. ( never buy a headlight switch off ebay or--- unless the seller has tested all functions and can verify it works correctly )

I have a person looking for a front clip for a Reatta in the Dallas area. I have all the parts but shipping is too expensive. Does anyone have a parts car near there that wants to sell the front clip?

You can take the glove box out and then watch the rod move as you change the heat setting. On a '90-91 it could also be the temperature up/down button on the ECC but that is easy to to check by moving operating the up/down button and see if it indicates that the temperature is going up and down. If the temp does not change on the '90-91 then try, instead of simply pushing the buttons, try sort of punching them with your finger or the eraser end of a pencil. I have a good heater programmer available if your car is an '89-91. I found out recently that the '88 programmers are different and I am currently out of them.

I have about 30 KFOCI Quarterlies Starting with issue 8-3 summer of 1969 continuing with all issues to Spring of 1973 Fall/Winter 1979 Issue 33-3 1997 through issue 38-1 2002 About 60 Bulletins Starting with May 1997 to Nov. 2002 Almost all but a few missing issues. I would like $ 45 for everything.] I will also include some reprint articles of Henry J convertibles and reprints of the Skyline X-50 convertible. Also included is the 1980 KFOC Handbook with more info than anyone needs to know. Shipping would be only the exact cost of shipping from Duluth MN.

I have some tested good photo cells available. I can be reached at reattas60@gmail.com

I have a good one and should have your color. Send me an email and the color of your car. Jim

I agree with Dave. There are hundreds of them out there that will go right in. Get one from any larger '88-90 GM car that used the 3800 engine. Goes right in and no changes needed. I just changed, myself, the trans in my '90 winter driver and followed the book even though I have disassembled many Reattas. I mention I followed the book because in my opinion the book is wrong. It say's to leave in the passenger side axle. MISTAKE. It was in the way removing the trans and in the way putting it back in. You already have the left side out so for a little more work, separate the lower ball joint and the tie rod end and take out the axle.

Thanks Barney for the referral but to be honest, getting one from me should be the first option. The headlight switches in the '88-89 Reattas are the most common part to go bad. They are actually getting pretty hard to find in junk yards as the Reattas and Rivieras are now 30 years old and you don't see them showing up anymore. In addition even 15 years ago to find a good one in a junk yard is not likely. I have said for 20 years or more not to buy one on Ebay either unless the seller can guarantee the switch will work on all functions and has been actually tested. These switches are a very complicated arrangement of contacts, sliders and even some hidden contacts and dirt and displacement of metal on the contacts can cause problems. Jim

I have lots of parts cars and lots of extra letters.

Much easier way------- Take a pencil with an eraser or just use your finger and punch the bad button sort of hard. This usually dislodges the dirt and it will start working again.

The $ 5 is the big thing. I am the same way. I only looked at CL and had not too good results selling things particularly my Honda Gold Wing. Ran it several times, before they added the fees for motor vehicles, and didn't sell it. Last Spring I also got onto FB marketplace and sold the Honda right away. Since then I bought a Reatta parts car off marketplace and just recently sold a Reatta on marketplace. What I really like about marketplace is you can see the other persons info before getting back to them. This helped in the car I just sold as the first person to inquire, looking at his postings on FB, he was a real creep. The guy I sold it to was a real nice fellow.

I was at a garage sale three months ago and they had a set of those same wheels in 17 inch for $ 20 for the set of four. I bought them because who can pass up four nice wheels for $ 20. The didn't fit a Reatta but did fit my '65 GTO. I decided to sell them and put them on Facebook Marketplace and sold them right away. Made 10%. Well maybe my math isn't too good. I looked back and found a picture and see now mine were slightly different.

Twice I took a full pickup load of wheels to the scrap yard and have about 50 ready to go now but back then wheels were worth about $ 20 each just for scrap but right now here in Duluth they are going for 30 cents a pound and that makes them worth only a little over $ 7 each. I will just sit on them. On a side note, catalytic converters are worth quite a bit now. I brought several of them to the recycling place and got $ 80 each for the stock originals.

I am not a fan of the stock wheels but the ones in the picture on he blue car I put on a different car a few years ago and then sold that car so the only wheels and tires I have left are some stock ones. I do have the same wheels on my wife's driftwood convertible but I would be in a lot of trouble if I took them off her car and ran them in MN winters with the salt. The wheels are from a late '90s Cadillac STS and are plentiful in the junk yards. My local yard has several but then I would need to get some 16 inch tires and this blue car is just a winter driver anyway.

2seater, I replaced the fuzzy picture with a better one and yes it is the passenger side output. Padgett, I was thinking the same as what you said, that the transmission would still shift so maybe what I was thinking was at the time about 4 years ago when it went out, I asked a neighbor, a transmission guy about the speedometer not working and he said something must have broke in that area. He was certainly right. It has been a while so my memory is foggy but I remember having to quit driving that car at the time because of transmission problems, not just the speedo. Obviously it was also leaking a lot of trans fluid. I do have a hoist and borrowed a trans jack and took my time changing it myself. I have dismantled about 50 Reattas so know how to change one but for step by step I used a factory shop manual and that way I got everything disconnected without the usual lowering the trans just to find something still hooked up. I mention this though, as the manual said to leave in the passenger side axle shaft. That was a mistake. It was always in the way working on that side and then the same putting the trans back in. Shaft in the way. I got disgusted and removed the axle shaft and that made it easier. After finding I had kinked/caused a hole in a cooling line and fluid all over the floor and the first test drive with not enough fluid the car, it now runs good and will be my winter driver with stock wheels and tires.

Very interesting timing on this subject. About 4 years ago I was driving a '90 Maui I bought from Kingsley and was making a U turn and there was a clunk and the transmission went bad. The speedometer quit and with no speedometer the computer would not allow the transmission to shift. The car sat all this time and just yesterday I pulled the transmission to replace it. Here are pictures of what I found. Jim

I bought some of his parts yesterday and he wants folks to text him.