Jim

If you are referring to the one up on the front of the engine near the AC compressor, I have heard they are gel or liquid filled. I have several Reatta parts cars and do have a good one available. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com P.S. If your ISP blocks emails from people not on your buddy list be sure and add my email to your list.

If someone is abusing the system, notify the moderator, Rawja, and with some documentation maybe the offenders privledges can be suspended.

These are very hard to find. There is one on Ebay right now ending in 6 hours. Over the years I don't think I have ever seen one on Ebay and I have had maybe only 2 or three over the last 10 years.

A couple of weeks ago someone was looking for the part number for the replacement antenna mast. I posted the correct GM part number of 22038195. Yesterday I ordered 4 of them from GM and tried to install them. It turns out GM is now getting these top sections made in China and they are defective. Right where the nylon band is crimped to the top antenna section, the Chinese failed to crimp this area tight enough and it then binds up when sliding through the second antenna section. I tried recrimping this area but all I did was misshape the area. I then got it back to as round as possible and then filed/ground down the area so it would slide in the second section. You do have to be careful to not grind/file away too much of the metal.

I have several Reatta parts cars and do have the part you are looking for. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

I do have good pressure switches and pump/motors. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com Bill, On a chance you are Iamjoltman-------- I am sending you an email at your April '04 address.

Remove your regular seat and bolt in the 16 way. The additional wires are spared with a cover on them under your present seat. The problem though is finding nice seats these days. As the cars get older it is getting harder and harder to find nice seats.

F 14, Thanks for the recomendation. I do have one. Jim jfinn@cpinternet.com

On the '88-90 Reattas the correct wire color is light grey stamped Packard and is numbered. You cannot buy them anymore from GM and when you order them with the original part number you get the black ones. I do have a couple of good used sets available. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

The replacement mast from GM is part number 22038195 and is about $ 20

It can only be done on an '88-89 with the touch screen. On the '90-91s the procedure is similar but the information reads out in the area where the mileage normally is and reading the vin is not an option. You verify that the vin read out on the screen is the same as up by the windshield and if it is your mileage is correct. If the vins do not match then your BCM and/or PROMS have been changed and the mileage reading you are seeing is of the BCM in your car and not the original. The following is the procedure for checking the codes but the last step after it asks you if you want to clear the codes, if you say "no" to that question, is it will read out the vin when doing the "B" codes. BCM means Body Computer Module and controls the functions of the body. ECM means Engine Computer Module and controls the functions of the engine. IPC means Instrument Panel Cluster. With the key on, engine running or not, go the climate screen on the CRT and press and hold the off and warm buttons at the same time. The service engine soon lamp will light and the ECM codes will be listed followed by the BCM codes and then the IPC codes. They go by quite fast so you may want to write them down. Any code with a "h" after it will be a code that was current, but is not now, and is listed a "history" code. Any code that does not have an "h" is a current code. ECM codes will start with a "e" and then 2 digits, BCM with a "b" etc. After the codes are listed the screen will say ECM? This means do you want to diagnose the ECM. If there were "e" codes push "yes" if not, push "no" and the screen will go to the BCM? If there are ECM codes after pushing "yes" it will ask several questions. Keep pushing "no" until the question "ECM code reset" comes up and then push "yes". You can go from the ECM to the BCM and then to the IPC and clear any codes. You can't hurt anything by doing this procedure and even if you make a mistake simply push "end" or shut off the key and everything will go back to normal.

I have several Reatta parts cars and have the window you are looking for. I will send you an email and I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

The accumulator is easy to replace. Remove all the pressure from the system by pumping the brake pedal with the key off and then simply, using an allen wrench, unscrew the accumulator. The following is something I have saved in my email program. 1. It is HIGHLY recommended that all the fluid in the whole system be changed with new fluid to eliminate any built up moisture in the system. 2. Any time the brake hydraulic system is to be opened the brake pedal should be pumped 25 times with the key off to bleed off the 2600 pounds of pressure in the accumulator. 3. Siphon out as much of the old fluid as possible from the reservoir and refill with clean fluid to the top. A better way is to cut the rubber hose that comes from the reservoir right where it attaches to the ABS pump and let all the fluid in the reservoir run out. Then remove the piece of hose still attached to the pump and reinstall the rubber hose. It is long enough to do this. I like to cut it rather than try and remove it because the hose sticks really hard to the plastic fitting and you might break the fitting trying to take the hose off. 4. When doing the rear wheels only let out about a half of a cup and then refill the reservoir. This is to make sure you don't take out too much and get air into the system. 5. To bleed the front brakes have the key off and bleed in a conventional method. 6. To bleed the rear brakes A. Turn on the key and allow the system to pressurize B. Have an assistant slightly depress the pedal and hold it C. Open each rear bleeder, one at a time, and hold open until clear fluid comes out. (The pump and motor will do the bleeding) When you are done there are high and low marks on the reservoir and after the system pump and motor has run and the lights are out the level should be at the low mark. When you have pumped the brakes with the key off 25 times the level will be at the high mark.

I just called the Amerihost and made my reservations. Ron,

I have several Reatta parts cars and can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com. Email works best for me because I then have a record of what a person is looking for. If I get a call I sometimes forget to write it down and then forget which parts are needed. Last night at 10:50 PM I got a call and a couple of weeks ago I got a call at 7:15 Saturday morning and another one the next day at 10:05 PM Sunday night. Particularly during the summer if you need to call please call during the week 8 to 5 CDT Monday through Friday. Thanks, Jim

I'll be there Thursday through Saturday. We have the ideal camping spot. We take my brother in law's motor home and park in the first spot in a private yard across from gate 7. We have water, electricity, large shade trees and the gate to the swap meet across the street and shuttles to the other end of the swap meet right in front. It is supposed to be hot and sunny this weekend so bring your sunscreen. I rarely find anything Reatta related but I have other old cars so it is always a fun time.

I just sent in my registration last week and when I got home from my trip to North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin this week, my confirmation papers were there. I did sign up for judging but the info might not have gotten to the judging people yet. Jim

Tom, Thanks for all the nice recomemdations. I agree, if the red and yellow lights are coming on right away he only needs either the accumulator, or the pressure switch or the pump and motor or a relay.

Alex, I received your first email and using the "reply" function I responded to your inquiry. Email does work best for me but I will try calling you today. Back when the handles were available from NAPA and others I had them order one for me. In their books it listed the handle as only fitting a '91 Reatta. I had them get it anyway and it did not have the extra casting on the back to mount the small switch. The counter man also said that was the only one they ever carried. He said no one ever reproduced the ones for the '88-90 Reattas because there was too low of a demand. The '91 handle is used on several other GM cars of the era.

I had one car where they got another button like the one inside the glove box and then put it on the console between the ash tray and the storage area. They simply spliced the two wires on the existing switch and brought them over to the new switch so the original one still worked.

Reatta's are the only car that used that handle. Reattas in '91 and Chevrolet used a similar handle on a couple of their cars in the late '80s but they did not have the extra mounting on the back side for a small switch that feeds the body computer ( BCM ) to control some of the functions of the lights, keyless entry and the security system. I do have a good handle and have them in several colors. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

I have been here all along enjoying the posts. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com Email does work best for me. When I check my emails I scan them briefly immediately and then if it is something I need to respond to, I turn it red in my email program and that reminds me to follow up. I will be away from home for the next several days as my son is getting married in Iowa. Bob, I apologize, I got your call and flat out forgot to call you back. I will today. Jim

Tom, Thanks for the nice things you said. I would like to add that Stan Leslie also has done more than most of us to further the Reatta division and he should be included in the kudos. Stan--- Excellent reply, I wanted to say something along those lines myself but I didn't know exactly how to word it or how it would work within the BCA. On a slightly side note, I was also asked to send in something for the next Reatta division newsletter and since I will again be a judge I will try and point out some of the things judges look for. One of several things that come to mind at the moment is your car is not competing against other cars. Your car is being judged against a 400 point system. A car starts with 400 points and the judges deduct points for items that are different from when the car came from the factory. We are also instructed to judge fairly, if for example we see some chips in the paint on the bottom of the door because the seat belt got caught in the door when it was closed and chipped the paint we take off one point. If we see it on the first car we judge, we take off a point on that car and then on successive cars. We cannot see a defect for example on the third car we judge and then go back to the first or second car to see if we missed that item on those cars. At national meets as opposed to regional meets the judges in all classes are usually more experienced at the particular class they are judging because there are more judges available. At regional meets very often you might have people judging Reattas that are not familiar with them. They may own a '39 Buick but have volunteered to judge Reattas. At the last several National meets there were 3 or 4 classes for Reattas and all the Reattas were judged by experience judges, usually Reatta owners. You cannot judge the group your car is in. Example, if you brought a convertible you would judge the coupe class.

Very nice job. I have Reatta parts cars and also buy Rivieras for parts and always wanted to show up at a Buick meet with a 5 passenger Reatta. I have Reatta front clips and would like to put on of them on a Riviera. I even did a little measuring once and from memory I thought there was a different curvature between the front fenders of a Riv to the Reatta doors. Is this a problem and what did you do? If you are not to far from Minnesota, bring it to the National Buick convention in Rochester in July, we would all like to see your car.

I try and not get into some of the controversial issues but in reading Greg's comment that none of the "Executive" have ever responded. It is possible that is true but as assistant director of the Reatta Div. I will respond with my thoughts. I have known Greg since 2000 and when he started modifying his Reatta I sold him many parts for the project and gave him many pieces at no charge. At the Flint meet I had the opportunity to meet Greg in person and get to see his car. Terrific job he did. At that meet there was also a yellow and black "bumble bee" that was as far from stock as you could get and again a very nice car to see. Clubs like the BCA, Olds club, Corvette club etc. are generally there for the preservation of the marque. In many of these clubs there will be a modified division for those cars that have been drastically changed. The Buick club has such a division. We are a small "division" within the BCA and it would not be practical to have a sub-division within the Reatta division as there would simply be not enough members to sustain it. We in the Reatta division exclude no one from membership and are just the opposite, welcoming of anyone with a Reatta or simply interest in the Reattas. The current board members of the Reatta division are--- Domenick Clemente, director Jim Finn, assistant director Ed Farnell, treasurer. My wifes Reatta has Cadillac wheels, wood grain panels and a tan shifter knob. One of Ed's Reattas also has Cadillac wheels, wood grain panels and a very nice looking Burgundy convertible top. We are not against modifications. We do judge our cars against the 400 point BCA judging system and I and Ed will be loosing points on our cars. Domenick at this time is in the process of moving and has no computer access but I have spoken to him and can say that Greg and anyone else is 100% welcome in the Reatta division and actually people like Greg are extra encouraged to join as they have so much of offer other members. Jim P.S. I have also sold and given many parts to 63 viking and Jon your are not an outcast. We are looking forward to seeing your car.