Jim

Getting at the bolts that hold the motor to the housing necessitates getting the vertical filler panel support out of the way. What I do is remove the one bolt on the top of the core support and then slide a piece of heavy paper or a rag under the filler panel support and the push it towards the center of the car. I then take a rubber snubber and hold it as far away from the headlight motor bolts as possible. This gives me enough access to the bolts to remove them. The reason for the rag or heavy paper is so as you are sliding the top of the filler panel support towards the center of the car, you will not scratch the paint on the core support. No bloody fingers this way.

I guess as long as this post has been hyjacked I will add to it. Back when Gremlins were fairly new I was going to a Western Electric school in Denver and staying at the Holiday Inn on Colorado Blvd. On the driveway coming out of the motel onto Colorado Blvd was a small dip in the edge of the road so rain water could run down the edge of the street. A Gremlin was leaving the motel and stopped with the front tires in that depression waiting for traffic and when it went to leave it couldn't, as the transmission was slipping so bad it couldn't get out of that 6 inch drainway. We had to walk over and give it a push so the owner could continue on his way.

Kingsley, I sent you an email regarding these items. Jim

I am almost sure I have the door panel and I do have the other pieces. Please send me an email. Jim

I have the button you are looking for. Send me an email. Dave is right to a degree. There were several shades of gray in the other Buicks and while I am not positive I think the only other car that used the specific color you need was the Rivieras. Lots of time on Ebay you will see folks selling "tan" armrests from Rivieras. Those tan colors are different from the Reattas and only Reatta used the beechwood interior.

My favorite Christmas ornaments are the ones I have gotten from Bob the last several years and the ones from Nick Toth.

[quote= Also Pep Boys sells a toggle Switch for $19.99 that fits in the bottom hole of the headlight switch and it has been opening and closing my lights for months now. The '90 headlight switches are one of a kind and only used in the '90 Reattas. I repair the '90 headlight switches and then test them in my own car before sending them out. I will not sell a switch outright as they are fairly scarce but I send out a good tested assembly and require an exchange. To qualify for an exchange some parts can be missing but the three white pieces inside must be there and the fog light button. If you are removing the button and adding a Pep Boys switch in that location you are ruining your switch assembly and it cannot be repaired as the parts are not available. I feel the switches are worth about $ 120 outright as they are available if you look around. I repair them for about 1/2 that. The 88-89 switches which I also repair are a pretty complicated arrangement of sliders and contacts. These switches can get pitted on some of the contacts and this pitting will cause low current flow which generates heat and can cause some wires to melt on the back of the switch. The '90 switches were a very simply operating switch. The contacts do not pit so it is highly unlikely any heat will generate and cause damage. 88-89s yes, '90-91 no. The 90 switches will come apart if someone pushes to hard on the buttons. When they come apart the rocker contacts inside can cause a short but everything is protected by fuses. In the last year, on several occasions the new switch was installed in a car where their switch had fallen apart. They got the repaired one from me and reported my switch would not turn on the tail lights. I emailed back and had them check the fuse and in every occasion the fuse was blown. They replaced the fuse and everything has worked good since. Mid '90 GM changed some of the wiring in the body to eliminate problems but the switches stayed the same.

I agree with Roger and others. I have had some parts cars here where they covered the grills in a black material and I didn't like the looks of it. Now having said that , I just happen to have all four speaker grills available in tan. Jim

Over the years I have bought about 6 pints of the beechwood interior color from auto parts stores that sell automotive paint. I use my spraying equipment but most of these stores will mix up the exact color and then put it in spray cans. You then get an exact match. I am pretty sure I have good speaker grills in tan and will check and then reply on your other post.

I agree with Kingsley that a new band in an original antenna assembly would be the best. With age the bands get brittle and break. Over the years, like Barney, I have also rebuilt antennas with new bands but have not done so lately so I have not checked to see if my GM dealer can get the OEM parts. I do have some good used original antennas and most of the ones I have are original but have a later build date on them so the band inside is of a later vintage.

Nic, The patches that Barney has that go on the '88-89 floor mats are 1 7/8 inches in diameter. The one Road mister has pictured is a floor mat patch. These were glued to the mats. Jim

When I read the first comments about the patch on Ebay being too high I thought it was a fair price but didn't comment. After reading Barney's post I decided to add my two cents worth. As you all know I sell my parts pretty cheap and every once in a while I tell a friend here about my prices and he thinks I a nuts. Very often it takes a lot of time to find out if I have the part, what the condition is of the part, take it off the car, box it up and then take it to the Post Office. This all takes time so when I sell as an example a fuel injection harness for $ 10 I have a lot of time involved but I still sell it for what I think the part is worth, not considering the time involved. Even if the guy selling the patches on Ebay is doing it himself, there is a lot of time involved in making those patches. If he is paying someone then I would guess he is making about $ 5 per patch. For his $ 5 he is listing it, following up on the computer side of the sale, packaging it and then taking it to the Post Office to mail it. This all takes time. The other morning I was on the computer for 4 hours stopping only twice to go and see if I had a part and the condition of the part. This all takes time. I never figure this time into my prices and that is why my friend thinks I am nuts. This time factor is also why I prefer emails as opposed to phone calls because I can do the emails at my convenience rather than at the convenience of the caller. OK, while I am on my soap box I will go a little further. A. I got an email from a person stating he wanted a wiper motor. B. I replied I had one and a price. C. He emailed back asking if it included the circuit board and wanted my phone number. D. I emailed back saying did and since he was specific about wanting a motor didn't give my number figuring there was nothing that could have been added with a phone call. E. Week later got an email simply wanting my phone number. F. I have pictures on my computer of 80% of the Reatta parts but found I did not have one of the wiper motor so went out to get one off the shelf and take a picture. Found I did not have one on the shelf so decided to take one off a parts car to send to him and also have a picture. Had to clean 8 inches of snow off the parts car. Got the motor off partially and then dropped a wrench and it fell to the ground under the car. Now I had to go and find a jack, jack up the car buried in snow and slide under the car to retrieve my wrench. Got the motor off the firewall and sent him a picture but no phone number figuring there is nothing else I can provide. G. Didn't hear from him again. H.. Found out from Kinglsey the fellow really needs a wiper switch. I. Emailed the person and they will be, I think, getting a switch from me. J. I now have about 1 hour tied up with this person and may sell him a switch for my normal low price. What I am actually doing here is procrastinating. It is about 2 above zero outside and I need to go out and do something productive but am putting it off as long as I can. I don't know the person selling the patches and have never seen one but I think $ 26 is fair.

That is some old searching all the way back to 2002 for posts on inverters. I do have some tested good used inverters available. Jim

Jim, There used to be a song about selling ocean front property in Arizona. I have seen the little lake you live on in Pine City so tell me, where did you encounter sea gulls? I am going to send you an email. Jim

You should definitely check with Nick ( gryfan ) He has sent me some of the neatest Reatta things I have ever seen and no one else has them. Anyone who has bought anything from me has seen the rubber stamp I put on packages. I got that from Nick. I am enclosing pictures of the Christmas stocking I recently received from him. Nick first class. Jim

I have all the parts. Send me an email and include your zip code or town for shipping purposes. Jim

From experience my two cents worth is the capacitors are weak inside the CRT unit and that is causing the tearing at the bottom. There are about 20 electrolytic capacitors in there and at this point I do not know which ones go bad. You mentioned once your background lights came on. This tells me it is your headlight switch module that is bad and not the photo cell. Again from my experience the two items that give the most trouble in the '88-89 Reattas is the CRT/touch screen and the headlight switch module. I have good working CRT/touch screens but in your case since it is still working I would put up with the tearing until it quits. I also have tested good working and appearing headlight switch modules available.

Back when the Reattas were new a friend who worked for a GM dealership picked me up so we could go play racquetball. I had never seen a Reatta before and thought this is a really nice car and would like to have one but at $ 29,000 it was way out of my league. Five years later I had been doing "repairables" as a sideline to my phone company job and wanted to get a new project. I was looking through a magazine called the Locator that junk yards subscribe to and found an '89 in Iowa that was hit in the front but they had all the parts to fix it. I bought the car, fixed it and had some left over parts. In a million years at the time I rode in that first one, would never have thought in the future, I would have owned over 60 Reattas, been an assistant director of the Reatta division of the BCA and would have met hundreds of really nice people.

Marck, I have several of them. Send me an email to remind me to get back to you on this. Jim

I have several sun roof motors and have never had a request for one. That should tell you what it is worth. Parking light $ 25-75 depending on clear lens, nice chrome, amber globe. Bumper guard $ 10 I have stacks of dash panel trim pieces. How many do you want at $ 1 each. In reality, $ 5 each to cover my time in case someone reading this actually wants one.

Years ago we used to start a rebuilt engine, let it warm up and then retorque the head bolts. I don't know if that is still necessary on the newer engines/heads but I believe the same is necessary when replacing a new original style bellcrank. Install the new bellcrank and then about 3 months later retighten it. The original cranks were diecast metal, soft. After a new one is installed the metal will compress a little making it loose and then it can rotate on the rectangular shaft causing it to wear out. After retightening it one time I think they will last forever. This would not apply to an aftermarket steel crank or a used crank.

I am pretty sure I do have a good white hinge. Send me a direct email and I will check and get back to you. Jim

I have some right and left headlight assemblies with the parking lights. I also have a grill and some taillight pieces. I am away from home until Wednesday and can check to see exactly what I have and the condition when I get home. Jim

I normally post on the Buick Reatta site but had some time to kill so was looking at the various other aaca sites and found this one. I have had sitting in the corner of my pole building for exactly 40 years a 1924 Reo opera coupe that I guess I should sell as I am never going to get around to restoring it. It is complete except for the original drivers seat is missing and the back seat is missing. The important and hard to find right front seat is there. This seat is a very small fold up seat that tucks up under the dash so the person can get in the back of the car. I have a spare complete T6 engine and 40 years ago I bought 4 new 33X4 1/2 24 inch tires and tubes. The tires are still in the wrapping paper from back then and have not been mounted on the car. I have never started the car but both engines are free and turn over. The car is original and has never been restored. I really have no idea what to ask for the car but thought I would post it and see if there is any interest. Jim

My wife is working for two months in New Braunfels TX and I came down here for a few days to visit her. Yesterday we went to a local hotel for Thanksgiving dinner and it was just so-so. When we got back to her rented house I noticed the Hispanic family across the street having dinner in their garage. About 20 minutes later there was a knocking on the door and there was the neighbor with two plates of Thanksgiving dinner for us. We ate it today and it was far better than the hotel dinner especially because it was given by the kindness of the family. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and wish the best to all in the upcoming Christmas season. Jim