NTX5467

With all due respect, the vehicle you purchased was "used", although it had not been registered to a retail customer during it's life. If you had purchased the vehicle as "new" and found the problem, then it would have been a different situation in some respects, but the fact they are willing to take care of the situation at no cost to you is very good AND tends to prove their intent and desire to satisfy you. Loss of value? Probably not. Mental anguish? Not sure as you were previously happy with the vehicle until you found something that made you suspicious. Shady dealings by the dealer? Only your state Attorney General's office could comment on that. I tend to concur that litigation (whether in Small Claims Court or otherwise) would not really solve anything and NOT result in a large enough settlement to make it worth a lawyer's time (from the lawyer's perspective). If the dealership had declined to repair the prior damage (at no charge), you might have a better case, I suspect, but still no massive damagaes or a replacement vehicle. Had you discovered the damage sooner, like in the first 90 days or so of ownership, your bargaining power might have been greater to exchange it for another similar vehicle, but whether or not that might have been an option would be speculation. In a worst case scenario, the dealership operatives could have taken the orientation of not admitting the whole deal (damage while in demonstrator service) and put the burden of proof on you to prove that you didn't have it repaired elsewhere (after you bought it from them) and wanted them to repair it and make it right when the prior repair did not suit you. Instead, they are taking care of it, which is good. I suspect the technicality in your situation would be that it was not a "new" unit per se, but a "used" dealer demonstrator unit of the current year model of vehicle and that you were fully aware of its prior demonstrator status, although you are the first registered retail owner. In the end, it's your decision of whether or not to pursue legal action against the dealership and to seek official legal counsel on the issue. Considering the possible realistic monetary damages that could be obtained versus the cost of doing so might be a valid consideration also. Everybody likes to sell or trade-in a used vehicle with the tag line "never been wrecked" as a means of getting more money for it--valid situation. But if you decide to later trade-in the vehicle to the same dealership on a zero-miles new vehicle, if they try to degrade the trade-in price due to the prior damage, just tell them the story and be up front with them. As it was all done "in house" back then, I don't suspect they could really make significant decreases in their trade-in offer so it might give you greater bargaining power with them at that time, just make sure you get the best price on the new vehicle at the same time. The other situation is that the amount of the body shop estimate to repair the situation is NOT a very big wreck any more. If it was going to take, say $3000.00 for repairs, that would be for a "minor wreck" (considering the price of labor, paint materials, etc. and could really be termed a "wreck"). It doesn't address the fact the vehicle has been repaired, but might put things into perspective somewhat. If you were selling it to a private party, you could point to the fact the repairs were made at a dealership repair facility instead of a "fly by night" shadetree shop, which should count for something and give the ultimate purchaser a little more piece of mind and hopefully indicate your intent of using only quality repairs on the vehicle instead of otherwise. I hope this might have helped you, but the decision of what you do is yours. NTX5467

It's possible that there might be what I'd call an "embedded" drive shaft shop in the metro area that might still have some in their new stock. It might be in the old part of town with "caked oil carpet" on the wood floor, but if you do some shopping in the local metro yellow pages, you might find just such a place. I found one in Dallas when I needed a center bearing for my '68 LeSabre, which they still had several of. The son of the original owner was running the business. This type of driveshaft shop would have been around during the time that GM used lots of 2-piece drive shafts and the double-jointed center joints in the 1960s and 1970s. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

With all due respect, why take it to a place you didn't like to start with? Also, considering the number of "emergency" repairs that always seem to appear at dealership service departments prior to major holidays, it's highly possible, regardless of what you might have been told up front (as some service advisors might not be fully aware of technician work schedules or write the ticket and let the dispatcher worry about the rest), that they were that busy OR the technicians in the specialization area your repair was in had already gone on THEIR vacations too. Lots of side issues that might not be readily apparent. So, now you're going to be out another tow bill plus a check-out fee to get the car from one place to another, only to pay for another check-out fee as the second tech will want to verify the diagnosis before he makes an estimate for repairs. And get into another check-out/estimate/approval/repair cycle at another place. It IS your money and time, which I understand and I also recognize that we should be doing business with those we feel comfortable doing business with. Whether GM supplies a new or reman supercharger unit, a complete bolt-on assembly instead of the aftermarket nose-cone pieces the Pontiac Grand Prix people know about, it will still carry the same GM Parts Warranty as other GM parts do. Yes, they are somewhat expensive, but then again it's a complete unit that's ready to install without any particularly special tools. I don't suspect they might have mentioned if the "extra oil" came from fuel dilution or anti-freeze dilution? In that case, figure in an oil and oil filter change too. You can tell if that's what it is by smelling the dipstick when you pull it out--you'll smell gasoline and the oil should appear much more watery than normal and coolant will make it appear milky instead of "oil". Might be that one thing led to another? I regret that you have the feelings you do toward the one dealership. If they are as bad as you claim, GM probably is aware of that via their own service/sales survey processes and could well be addressing those issues at the present time. I'm also aware that a dealership's best assets are their employees that interact with the customers and ultimately determine customer satisfaction ratings. Of course, you can also make your feelings known to the GM operatives in several manners, provided they haven't already read your post. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

A couple of scenarios . . . considering the GM Service Manuals would have had to be approved, printed, and distributed to the dealership network at or before the late fall vehicle introductions, I suspect that finalization process would have stopped in the early part of 1970 (for 1971 vehicles). Therefore, the option could have been approved at that time but pulled later on or shifted more to a Delco Radio GM Accessory situation. At that time, cassettes were pretty high-tech but 8-tracks were still pretty popular. Possibly more technology than was needed for the Buick owner (with all due respect) but was more in line with Pontiac? At that time, Chrysler was offering a hump or console mounted cassette player/recorder unit as an option on their midsize and larger cars. It was a regular option and in the sales brochures AND they sold some in cars. I did see a Delco Radio cassette player unit for a 1971 or 1972 Firebird at a local Delco Radio Service Station. It was a console mount unit. It required a matching radio with a round plug-in for the communications and power cable from the unit to attach to, but the radio could be modified and hard-wired to the tape unit also. If the radio was set up for the tape player, but no tape player was in the car, then there was a block-off plug that was put into the radio's tape-ready plug-in connector. Similar as to if the radio was "multiplex ready" but no multiplex adapter was installed nor the additional speakers for the non-mono sound situation. I have a 1970 Camaro assembly manual. It lists many things that were aproved for production but were pulled prior to production. Things like 4-speaker stereo radio (which didn't happen until about 1980 for Firebirds and not Camaros), bumper rub strips, and a few other things. Possibly the same thing happened on the Buick cassette? The definitive source of verifying the situation would be a Delco Radio Parts Manual (which the repair stations would have had). The ones of these I've seen list the Delco part number, application by model and year, and other data that would be on the paper tag attached to the radio or sound system unit. During the early 1970s time frame, if the item was an approved accessory item, it would not appear in the regular GM parts book, but in the GM Accessory Parts book, or as in the case of Delco Radio items, in the Delco Radio Parts Manual (which detailed which radios went in which cars and other items to install the radio where there was not already a radio/speaker setup). The Delco Radio Service Center parts book would mirror what the GM parts book did for cars, but would be for the radios (i.e., diodes, resistors, potentiometers, light bulbs). Hope this helps . . . NTX5467

The "cleanest" option would be to swap engines or long blocks, but that can open a whole nuther can or worms depending on the quality of the rebuild. Other option would be to remove your engine, remove the oil pan and inspect the main and rod bearings. If there's significant wear (plastigage them and don't really worry about the gooves in them, unless you see a change in surface color--meaning the first main wear layer of the bearing has been worn away), then you can get a "crank kit" and install it, reassemble, and reinstall the engine. A "crank kit" is a refinished crankshaft to a slightly smaller journal size that has appropriately smaller bearings to match it. In any event, always plastigage the installed bearings/journals to make sure the oil clearances are correct before you put things back together! Or you could take the whole thing to a competent machine shop and let them do everything that needs to be done. The most time-consuming and expensive route, probably. Also plan on replacing the engine and transaxle mounts as they will probably have deteriorated to the extent they can come apart when you remove them. Time, age, torque cycles, etc. will cause normal age deterioration of them. FYI, the only crankshafts I have known to "warp" were the TufTrided cranks used in some heavy duty truck applications. This is a special surface treatment that is usually only a few thousanths of an inch deep, but aids in durability by making the surface harder than it normally would be. One time several years ago, we tried to get a GM replacement crank for a Chevy 427 truck motor that was not warped from the treatment. All of them would have had to be turned down enough to take all of the treatment off, so no need to pay for an expensive crank that you had to turn and end up with a regular crank in the process. Somehow, GM got them to work on the engine production line, but the replacement items would not. A crankshaft journal and its matching bearing can wear enough to cause a knock, but it's not from warpage of any kind, but from normal flex due to harmonics in the engine as it runs. Hope this helps, NTX5467

One question might be "how" it was determined that the shimming was correct? I recall seeing a service document that showed there should be something like .040" between the tip of the starter drive's teeth and the deepest part of the flywheel's ring gear teeth. Sometimes, shimming starters can be a pain, especially with a flywheel that had a wear pattern on it. Could it also be a heat issue due to the proximity of an exhaust pipe? In that case, there are some heat shields for Chevy applications that might be of help. I would hope that there would not be enough dimensional changes between hot and cold engine temps to cause the starter drive/flywheel ring gear relationship to change THAT much and cause a problem. Quality of rebuilt or reman starters can vary from brand to brand. I would hope that would not be an issue. On the Chevrolet side of things, usually when a starter end housing gets broken, it's due to the starter bolts getting loose and letting the starter torque kick the starter against the loose mounting bolts. For that issue, there are also some starter braces that attach to one of the starter's through bolts and then attach to the engine block to keep it from moving around. In some cases (as in the diesel V-8s), the loose bolts can also break the cylinder block casting and render the block unuseable as a result. Also be aware that there are special starter bolts and that they usually are not regular bolts (at least for Chevrolet applications). Usually, there is some knurling on the shank of the bolt--what good it does, I'm not sure, but if GM could use a regular and less expensive bolt, they'd be doing that. One other thing to consider, did the end housing of the replacement starters exactly match that of the original that was pulled off? This is something that people usually don't think about, but GM used to have a multitude of different end housings for the same starter main housing (other than the long and short solenoid issues). The differences were how they interfaced and cleared the transmission bellhousing area for the different transmissions. In later years, they have become much more universal, but in the earlier years they were not nearly as "generic" as many people thought they were. Perhaps it was not that way with Buick V-8s, but it sure was with Chevrolets. One associate that used to own a private repair facility related that if he changed a Chevrolet starter, he always transferred the old end housing to the new starter as it was a "known situation" and would not cause any problems or need shimming. Of course, if the end housing bushing showed some wear, it was easy to replace them. I've known of some of these starter issues that seemed to never go away once they started, or at least you never heard of what finally fixed things. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

It might be possible that the whole mechanisms would interchange between car lines, but I suspect it is highly unlikely. The motors themselves might interchange, but not the assembled mechanisms. If you can find a Hollander Interchange Manual (which the salvage yard people use to determine what interchanges and what won't or what will with a few modifications) it would quickly verify the situation. Just some preliminary thoughts . . . NTX5467

Same wishes to y'all too, Mike and Nancy! Happy Holidays! NTX5467

Might be an intake manifold/coolant leak situation. There is a service bulletin out for that situation, but not sure if it applies to your vehicle (usually not for supercharged V-6s) . . . so you'd better get with a dealer's service department to see what's going on. Clanging and banging might be a lower pulley/harmonic balancer situation. On the backside of the pulley, there's a balance weight that's mounted in rubber. When the rubber deteriorates, the weight will swing freely (as it's mounted on a ball bearing!) within a particular range of motion (a few inches). Not a hard fix per se, but needs to be fixed with a new part. Might even be a spring loaded drive belt tensioner or a non-adjustable idler pulley, but those would possibly only address the noise issues. BY THE WAY, you probably need to get the supercharger oil changed/serviced. That might also be a reason for the noise and/or driveability issues. All GM sells is a new supercharger unit, but if you go into some of the front wheel drive Regal or Grand Prix websites, they might have some links to vendors for reman units. In any event, it's probably time to see a Buick dealer for a diagnosis of what's going on. Enjoy! NTX5467

I doubt that Chevy sheet metal would fit down there without some alteration, due to the wheelbase differences between the Impala/Caprice and the Buick. I suspect you're wanting a full panel to replace instead of just enough to fix a smaller hole. What probably WILL interchange is the convertible top mechanism and weatherstrip items AND probably body mounting cushions. When I was doing research for my '68 LeSabre Custom convertible, I discovered there were two different size of full size GM car convertible top mechanisms--one was for the Impala, Catalina/Bonneville, LeSabre, and Delta 88 cars; the other one was for the Cadillac DeVille, Olds 98, and Buick Electra. I suspect the same relationship might have been carried over to the next generation of GM full size cars too, but have not researched that. I checked the casting numbers on my LeSabre's body mounts and they coincided with those in the Chevy parts book too, just as the convertible top weatherstrips also did. You might check out the website for Sherman and Associates. They have lots of rust repair panels for lots of vehicles. Enjoy! NTX5467

The seats are from a '88-'91 Riviera/Reatta. The switches have been discontinued, but if you'll send me your address via email to NTX5467@webtv.net, I'll mail you the parts illustrations and GM part numbers so you can search the NOS vendors for what you need. NTX5467

I recall a CAR LIFE magazine road test of a '70 Chevy Nova with a 350 4bbl (QJet) engine and 3.07 or so rear axle ratio. They noted that it averaged about 22mpg on a road trip down the CA coast. This mpg was a good bit higher than you might expect, even from a 350 back then. They mentioned that at certain air flow rates through the carb's primary throttle bores, a QJet was "super efficient" at metering fuel. It was one of the first carbs to use a triple booster venturi setup. They noticed this situation on some other cars (which had QJets too), but did not mention them specifically. With the "right" jetting for cruise economy, a higher compression ratio motor, efficient intake manifolding, AND an efficient high-turbulance combustion chamber dynamics, outstanding fuel economy can happen--especially in the 2000-2600 rpm ranges. Oh, I forgot to mention a long connecting rod as a possible factor too as the dwell time at TDC is greater than with a shorter connecting rod. As for the exhaust pipe situation, I recall from the Buick engine performance seminar in Flint, that when the exhaust duration was lengthened by about 20 degrees on the GS spec motors, more power happened. This might make me suspect the exhaust duration of the stock camshafts might be a little short for what the engine "wants" or perhaps the exhaust port might be a little too restrictive (as cast). Adding a low restriction dual exhaust might appease that situation somewhat and add more efficiency at cruise than might be expected. Sounds like it might be cost effective too. Just some thoughts . . . NTX5467

I'm going to suspect from about '88+ due to the style of the switch (concave and convex areas) which matched the power window switches of that era on larger Buicks (i.e., LeSabre, Park Avenue/Electra, Riviera). For it to have "Lumbar" would indicate some sort of bucket seat or split bench, but the "Wings" and "Thigh" situations would nail it to a higher end option package AND probably a Riviera or Park Avenue Ultra in particular. If I think about it, I'll check to see if I can nail down a seat illustration in the GM Parts database. Each one of those switches will be attached to an electrical servo motor that runs the pad supports via a screw jack mechanism, possibly except for the "Lumbar" which might be an air bladder situation. Quite an expensive situation to produce and fix due to the added complexity. The "pod" as pictured will come in a couple of pieces. Probably the trim portion and then the switch plate. It's possible the various switches might have been available individually, but it probably comes as one unit. Probably ought to be some casting numbers on the backside of the plastic switch plate (8 consequtive digits with no letters or hyphens or similar) and maybe an ink stamp on the side of something in the same format. NTX5467

Shaft wear is just one aspect of looking for a good distributor shaft. The OTHER consideration is the condition of the "cam lobe" area where the rubbing block of the points contact it. The transition area (edges of the lobes) of the flat spots can wear and make setting the points for the correct gap AND dwell pretty near impossible. Point gap and dwell are related, but on a worn distributor cam, getting them to coincide as they did when the distributor was new can be difficult. What I might recommend is to get a dial indicator and install a decent set of points in the distributor (if there are not any already). Then (if the points are new) set the point gap to specs. Now, assemble the dial indicator and check the point opening on each of the cam lobes. I suspect some will be less than others and you'll discover which ones are worn and which ones might not be. Then, you can also used the dial indicator to see if "wobble" is in specs too. Of course, varnished oil vapors might affect the clearance between the shaft and the wear bushing in the distributor housing. Even if you get wobble spec correct, it will not dismiss the fact that the cam lobes are worn, but it might make things a little better in the process. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

Dempsey Bowling used to have a website in the "Front Drive Chrysler and Shelby Dodges" webring that was done back when he was in college and cut up various filters to see what was inside. Since Dana bought Wix, their quality and content has improved greatly from what it was in the 1960s, with an "Auto-X" magazine study of the FL-1A Motorcraft filter interchanges coming out that the Wix was better than the OEM Motorcraft in several areas. Sometimes, in older vehicles you have to take what you can find. GM discontinued the PF25 and PF35 oil filters and replaced them with PF454 and PF1218, respectively. The replacement numbers have an anti-drainback valve in them which the earlier ones did not. Not sure what the differences are in the PF44 to PF46 or PF58 to PF61 updates, though. The PF30 and PF45 were specific to vehicles and the clearance of the oil filter and the vehicle body, as I recall. Many differing orientations on vehicle "warm-up", but the generally accepted drill is to get the engine so it will realiably stay running and then drive off at moderate rates of acceleration and speeds for a mile or so. Remember too, that other vehicle parts that turn will also be starting to turn after sitting for a while (i.e., rear axle, transmission, wheels/tires) so moderation is a good guide until things have "waken up" a little. Of course, cold weather might have some different "speeds" than warmer weather. Oil changes? One rule of thumb I developed a while back has to do with oil consumption and the coloration of the oil (and how fast it colors). The current GM orientation on oil consumption is that "acceptable" is more than 2500 miles/quart or so (unless you have an 8.1L gasoline engined truck, which has its own "acceptable" use due to the nature of the engine and how the vehicle is used). From what I've seen, most newer vehicles or vehicles with rings that are still in good condition will usually do a good bit past that and may not use one quart between the max factory specified "non-severe" change interval. Anyway, what I considered as the original 305 in my '77 Camaro aged, as long as the oil rings are keeping things under control and the compression rings are not letting lots of blow-by develop, then if an engine uses about a quart every 3000 miles or so in non-severe driving and all trips are more than 20+ miles at a time, then when the oil gets one quart down, just add another quart and then change it when it gets one quart down the next time. This is kind of situational in basis and can vary with uses, but with the quality of modern oils and a reasonably decent oil filter, it should be a doable situation. Similarly, as the engine ages and the consumption rises, it will be more necessary to change to oil to remove the combustion contaminates suspended in the oil. Just as if the engine is subjected to lots of short trips where the engine just gets hot and then cools off again and repeats that cycle many times, changing the oil will be necessary to remove the moisture from it that never gets cooked out by an engine at full operating temperature for a reasonably long time. It usually takes about 10 miles with the engine coolant at "thermostat open" temperatures for the oil temperature to match it, as observed on vehicles with an oil temperature gauge from the factory. The crankcase ventilation systems will only work to remove those vapors if the internal engine temperature is high enough to make the moisture into vapors in the first place. So, as much as the engine oil makers tend to sensationalize stop and go driving as "bad", the real culprit can be how long the engine runs at a time between hot/cold cycles. Unless the oil gets hot enough to cook out the moisture and condensates on the inside of the block surfaces, the engine's not fully up to temp for optimum oil life. In reality, 15 miles of stop and go city driving will take longer than 15 miles of freeway driving, so adding "run time" into the mix might make things a little different. Of course, they are wanting to sell more oil too AND a particular type of oil in some cases. In general, unless the engine sees lots of short trip driving, ultimately going 4-5-7,000 miles between changes with modern oils is not out of consideration (providing that the rings are still in good condition and no oil consumption issues are present). Remember how the oil change intervals for "normal" use went to 7500 miles with the use of unleaded fuel? Now, we don't have the issues with fuel dilution or washdown during warmup (and chokes that choked too much) with the modern computer controlled vehicles. But I tend to like the 4000-5000 mile interval with a fresh filter each time, personally, AND always an OEM spec ACDelco filter (or similar for the respective manufacturer), as a good rule of thumb. Just depends on the locale and temperature ranges and trip length/engine "run time". Just some thoughts, your orientations might differ and I respect that. Enjoy! NTX5467

Let me explain the measuring information, if I might. The number of lug studs (lug bolts, or whatever is used on a particular vehicle) wheel "bolt circle" is what the first number is about and the second number is the diameter of the bolt circle of those same lug studs (if you drew a circle that matched the max length between the center of the wheel and the center of the lug stud holes. From here on out, it's pretty simple math to figure out what is where. Just as the radius of the circle can be accurately measured, so can the space between the lug nuts' centerlines (and appropriate holes in the wheel). This is the dimension that I suggest be matched to determine if a particular potential wheel might be appropriate for a given vehicle. If you find one of the plastic "tools" the tire stores use, it's based on the same principle of the measurements between the hole centerlines. All I did was short circuit that a little by happening upon something I could put a measurement on that would fit in my wallet--plus marking it for the appropriate bolt circle information. Key thing is to measure from the center of the hole to the center of the next closest hole (or center of the lug nut stud to the center of the next closest lug nut stud). The reference point for measurements is NOT the edge of the hole or the edge of the lug nut stud. The one thing NOT admitted to is the "register diameter" of the wheel. This is the diameter of the hole in the middle of the wheel that will mate with the axle shaft flange, hub flange, or basically what the wheel mounts against. It is usually acceptable to have the hole a little bigger than the matching mounting register, but smaller is NOT an option (at least not for a stamped steel wheel, but an alloy wheel can be machined to match in some cases). Although the stamped steel "mag" wheels might not have a defined matching area, the inner contours of the wheel can have some contact pads that might give the wheel an added contact place to the front spindle/hub area and also might prevent the wheel from being tightened down firmly against the mounting flange. Another thing is that wheels for disc brake vehicles, especially the earlier ones, might be different in their inner rim configurations than the same looking wheel might be for drum brakes. Disc brake wheels can fit drum brake vehicles, but possibly not vice versa. I hope this might clarify what I was mentioning with respect to measurements of the bolt circle. Enjoy! NTX5467

On many of the steel and alloy wheels that GM used in that general 1979 time frame, there usually is a letter code near the valve stem (on the regular steel wheels that would be covered by the wheel cover or trim ring) or was on the back of one of the spokes (on the alloy wheels and maybe on the Buick road wheels). This code would be for parts book identification should a new wheel be needed and would possibly be used to identify the wheel before a part number tag was put on it. If this is a solid chrome wheel, the code might be elsewhere. Plus, if you have an idea about the year model, then you might backtrack to find the original vehicle application in the parts database. The REAL deal information was in The Bugle a while back where an excellent article(s) appeared on all of the details regarding identifying the road wheels with respect to application and model useage. Seems like the center caps for the various applicatioins were illustrated/mentioned too? For something that might seem rather generic, they weren't all the same. What you might also do is check some of the used wheel/reconditioned websites for visuals and information. Usually, those websites also have the Hollander interchange part number in their particular part number, or at least reference to it. One thing I did several years ago, when I thought I might be looking for some of the 15" chrome wheels, was to make me a measuring card of sorts. I happened to find a "sticky note" that was 2 58/64" tall. I then marked it "2 58/64" 5x5 Bolt Circle centerline of lug nut studs" and put it in my wallet. You could do the same with a business card by marking the center-to-center distance of the centers of the lug nut studs on the car you're looking for wheels for. NOT the distance between the lug nut studs, but the distance between the CENTERs of the lug nut studs. Then you'll be able to find wheels that fit your car without having to ask about bolt circle specs (although knowing what it is can help). Just some thoughts . . . I know those wheels will make that car look neat. NTX5467

Glenn, LOTS of GM wasn't properly nourished back then. When Saturn was being born AND Cadillac was being shored up the first time, I don't believe it was Roger that was a real culprit, it was that other GM Board member with "Neutron" for a nickname. I believe that Saturn was the right thing to do and that Roger, in his own way, did good with it and the market timing was good too. It gave USA buyers something to buy as their beloved Valiants/Darts, Novas, etc. were no longer being produced. Saturn got both ends of the buyer spectrum, old on fixed incomes that were highly traditional USA brand car buyers and those younger people just coming into the market that would have looked at a foreign brand. At that time, it was highly unusual for any GM division to have a "birthday party" at the plant, but it happened with Saturn bigtime for several years (remember the television commercials of Saturn back then???). I will not doubt that Saturn might have taken some sales from other GM brands, but the significant thing to me is that GM proved that they could build a vehicle that would take sales from the import brands PLUS be at the top of the JDPowers surveys CONSISTENTLY. The fact that Saturn was totally new and the only items it might share with other GM cars was some maintenance and tune-up parts and was a totally separate business entity were plusses, from what I saw back then. Only thing is that Saturn, too, was starved for money and support as other GM divisions were back then. Saturn was controversial in many respects within GM and the dealer network, but it was a general boost to GM and the car market as a whole. It was started with a "clean sheet of paper" in all aspects and that was good--instead of "adapating from existing platforms" as is the typical GM orientation. Remember when everyone was saying "Happy Birthday, Buick" on the video at the Saturday evening presentations? Lutz added something to the effect " . . . The best is yet to come" to his particular birthday wishes. I saw that as hugely significant. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

I didn't watch the launch program, but did go into the Buick.com website and see the virtual tour pictures. Dang Swanky in there!!!! Looks good as a total package too!!! "Minivans" typically don't have a hood as long as the Terraza or Relay. It might still be an upgraded Rendezvous/Aztek/Venture/Silhouette platform, but it should be much easier to work on with those longer front fenders and a real hood. I perceive the "look" to be more or a crossover utility than a "minivan" as crossovers are the "in" thing now. We had a Chevy Venture van as a shuttle vehicle at work. It really worked pretty well compared to a Tahoe or Suburban. Easier to get into and out of plus better seating leg room. It also had a better "zip around" factor due to the lighter weight. No durability issues either. Now, we've got a "Mini" Blue Bird bus. Lots of people like to quote the beloved J.D.Power survey results. In general, there might be some truth to them, but when a Plymouth Breeze and its model companion Dodge Stratus scored very differently on the same survey (same car, same factory, different price point), it makes you wonder about the accuracy and how it relates to the particular model's clientel. Sometimes, you have to read between the lines and also position the results against the general selling division's sales and service CSI ratings (generated independently from data received from the corporation's own surveys) to get the real picture. There are now other rating surveys out there now too, but JDP is the "premier" one of the bunch and the one most quoted. It would be nice if the Terraza had a stompin' V-8 that would pull a big boat, but that's not what it was meant to be. Enjoy! NTX5467

The earlier engines were the normal, 210 horsepower Throttle Body Injected 5.7L V-8, if I recall correctly. Not a bad running engine at all AND not subject to some of the expensive problem areas of the LT1 engines as they age. If you do find a useable LT1 engine, you will most probably need the complete engine wiring harness AND computer. The later engines are most probably OBD II compliant and that's a whole bunch of other stuff too. In OBD I, there was basically one oxygen sensor in the exhaust system to monitor and adjust the fuel mixture. With OBD II, you get an engine monitoring sensor AND a catalyst monitoring sensor. Quite a bit of difference in the two systems! PLUS, if you put a "newer engine in an earlier model chassis", then your vehicle will most probably need to also meet the newer total engine's exhaust/evaporative emissions standards, regardless of the year (unless there is an exemption that your vehicle is not old enough to be able to use). Many of the LT1 Roadmasters came with factory dual exhaust, which did help their performance some, even with the smallish tube diameter of the exhaust pipes. One of the expensive areas to repair of the LT1 engine is the OptiSpark distributor for the ignition system. The orientation is a neat one, but when the seals get oil past them, it can be nearly $500.00 to replace it. The spark plug wires only come as a "harness" and are quite expensive to replace too. The water pump is run by a splined shaft that attaches to the camshaft, which is kind of neat too. End result, a good many maintenance and wear items that are unique to that motor setup and not the cheapest thing in the world to repair/replace. In short, you might be better off keeping or repairing the 5.7L Chevrolet engine you currently have in the car. As for improving the performance of the stock engine, Edlebrock makes an intake that is basically their aftermarket 4bbl intake but with a mounting pad to accept the throttle body fuel injection unit. They might even have a larger throttle body unit too. Then you can address the exhaust system. Doing a dual exhaust system similar to the LT1 Roadmaster setup might help, especially with a low restriction and quiet muffler setup. On the factory dual exhaust LT1 cars, for left hand pipe clearance, they used a really trick aluminum spacer to mount a PF52 oil filter instead of the PF25 or PF35 filter that was normally used. The plug also moved the filter from the center of the plug to one side of it, moving the filter closer in toward the engine block in the process. Something a street rod person with tight exhaust clearances on their street rod could really appreciate! In other words, with a few add-on items, you could approximate the extra power output of the newer model LT1 engine without all of the hassles involved in swapping one into your vehicle. Sure, it would bolt in, but it's all of those side issues that would be the pains (time and money) to deal with. If you do decide to swap in an LT1, then you will need BOTH cars side by side to swap EVERYTHING over from the donor vehicle to your vehicle. When done, they you can let the donor vehicle head to the salvage yard. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

That title certainly seems to have a different meaning than what the commentary mentions. Here's a link to a nice review of a 2003 Park Avenue Ultra that I found today. I somehow found it listed in a Motorway.com review of a new Cadillac DeVille in a Los Angeles newspaper. If it doesn't work for some reason, you can find it as I did: Google -- "Buick Park Avenue Ultra Review" in the search window. motorway.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,246%257E25896%257E1027497,00.html# There was another review that came up in the Google search that mentioned how the Park Avenue Ultra basically owned the market niche that it was in. Generally a good review too. Thanks for posting the LeSabre article, Roberta! Enjoy! NTX5467

I suspect the system works off of a "ground" switch that is in the lower seat cushion and/or has some wires that use the seat belt buckle to see if the main seat belt (retractor side) is plugged into the buckle. Seems like there might be a "logic module" under the seat too. Each front seating location should have some sort of switch to determine if that seating position is occupied, with a switch in the seat cushion (which would require seat belt buckling to complete the circuit) that initiates things. The buzzer probably has a timer built into it so that it turns off after a particular length of time. On my '77 Camaro, I unplugged the buzzer and left the light operational, but both of them are timer operated unlike the earlier systems that had the more involved switches and sensors as the big safety push back then was to get everyone to use the seat belts. What you might do is check all of the wiring for chaffing, cuts, breaks, or shorts-to-ground that might not supply all of the correct signals to the module under the seat. I suspect that all GM vehicles with such a system that year all used similar systems, if not the exact same one. Hope this helps, NTX5467

Jessie -- Thanks for your comments! From what I can see, your head is screwed on "right" and your heart is in the right place with regards to older cars. It would be nice to save all of them, but that's not really possible (although it makes you feel good to do what you can). Until things change, I'd say "Enjoy to the limit of your tolerance". Take care and have a great holiday season! NTX5467

On the newer GM vehicles, you can use the GM Tech2 scan/diagnostics tool to put the brake system through a bleeding mode. I'm not sure if your year model will do that, though. It takes just a few minutes for the cycle to run each time. Quite interesting to watch and listen to! Other than that, the normal pressure bleeding or manual "open bleeder valve, press brake pedal, close bleeder valve, release brake pedal" procedure might be all there is. I suspect that a GM service manual for your vehicle would specify how to do it (with the scan tool or manually). The other alternative would be the hand-held vacuum pump system that you can buy at many auto supply stores. Sometimes, when you're sitting there bleeding the newer systems, the pedal will never seem to come up to where you think it should be regardless of how many quarts/gallons of fluid you put through the system. It'll usually be solid, but low. But for some reason when you drive the car, everything is where it should be. To avoid the mess and such, it might be worth the money to take the car to a GM dealer that can do the job as GM intended. Just some thoughts, NTX5467

Look for a copy of "The Standard Catalog of Buick", which should be available at Barnes&Noble, Borders, or similar. It details each model year and model of Buick with respect to equipment, specifications, and maybe even production figures up to pretty recent models. I suspect it might have what you're looking for. Sales brochures would be for the whole Buick line, not just one specific model, uaually. You might search for a 1978 Buick full line brochure and make sure it has your model in it. There usually are some literature vendors listed in The Bugle and also in Hemmings Motor News. These sales brochures were only available during the model year they were for. Another source might be the Buick Gallery at the Sloan Museum. If they don't have what you might need (to look at and NOT buy), perhaps they might be able to refer you to someone that has the brochures for sale. Hope this helps, NTX5467