ol' yeller
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Posts posted by ol' yeller
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Frank, I did not receive a grill badge when my Reatta won a Gold award in Portland. I did receive a very nice plaque which has a place of honor in my home.
Greg
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Thanks Bill!
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I did reply to the survey but I am left wondering what the results were of the survey. It is because of this lack of feedback I almost never answer a request for a survey. If it is important to you to ask my opinion, it is only courteous to let me know what the results were.
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I can smell the rodent pee all the way up here in Seattle.
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Your clunk could also be a collapsed strut. Engine cradle insulators are hard to replace and difficult to find if you need everything.
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I've seen these go for $400+ on Ebay. You might have to increase your budget if you are looking to entice one from someone.
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Here in Seattle there are 6 on Craigslist. They range from $2200 for a high mileage coupe to $5500 for a nice '90 convertible. Some have been there for over a year on and off. Here generally rust is not an issue.
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Old car guy adage, You can't save 'em all...but is sure fun to try!
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Yes Lee, the FSM you have is the New Product version. It only contains what changed in Reattas from 1989 to 1990. There is a complete version of the FSM available for 1990 which contains most of the information you need. It looks very similar to what you have but doesn't have the red writing on the cover saying New Product Information. The FSM is available online for free as Walter (wws944) has suggested as well. I like having a hard copy. The top manual is separate from the FSM and gives a ton of information only relating to the top and top mechanism. It too may be available online but I don't know where.
Greg
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I always latch the rear pins first then the front clamps at the top of the windshield. It is also very easy to adjust the pins if you pull back the headlining material at the pins (held with velcro) you will see that it is a simple matter of loosening the nut and then adjusting the pin, and then securing the nut. There is a top manual currently available from hydro-lectric that actually gives the proper measurements for all top adjustments and there is a plastic tool available on Ebay to measure properly for around $10. I adjusted mine prior to getting the manual and tool and it worked out fine but it was nice to have the right specifications too.
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I owned a slightly later version, a 1976 Skylark hatchback. I bought it from a car rental agency used when it was only a year old. I loved everything about that car, from the smoothness of the 231 V6 to the roominess of having the hatchback. The only thing I didn't like was the yellow paint job which was very poor quality. I eventually had the car repainted in GM Firethorn which was a metallic red they offered in those days. It became a very sharp looking car and the respray was a beautiful job with no trace of the yellow anywhere. A friend had sold me the Pontiac rally wheels that came on his '74 Firebird but in retrospect a set of 14" Buick Rallys would have been much better. The wife drove it until the second child came along and the Buick was traded for a 4 door car so she could get the car seat in and out easier. It is still one of those I sold that I still miss.
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They are out there but usually command a premium as adding a console and floor shift are popular upgrades during a restoration. Floor shift tilt columns are very hard to come by and can demand big money. I would think that a column from any A body GM car from that era (64-65) would be workable. I think in '66 was when GM added the 4 way flasher to the column which would also work but not be original correct.
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Good to know.
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There were also 2 different tilt columns as well. Of course, I don't think they made a 3 speed column shift with tilt. Just auto on column and floor shift.
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STOP! Don't pry harder. There are 4 screws holding the IPC trim in place along with the clips. There are 2 short torx screws in the trim at the top of the IPC (gauge cluster) just above the tach and speedo. You have discovered the other 2 that were in the vents. If I am not mistaken (old memeory) you may have to remove the temp controls as well to get the radio out, but it isn't hard to do.
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The dash pods were pretty available used to pick up a couple to use as parts. They are pretty simple to take them apart and restore yourself. The only piece you might have to look to find a good one is the clear plastic speedo cover but I have had good success just using plastic polish on them as well. A light sanding on the pot metal and a quick respray of silver from a rattle can for the surround. Some tape and semi gloss black take care of the area around the switches. Lettering can be touched up using thickened Testors model paint and a toothpick followed up with a cotton ball to clean any excess. Part of the fun of having a restored car is doing stuff yourself!
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Keith, I have the same problems with my grandkids!
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Bill, I guess mine must have been a lot worse than yours. Glad you were able to fix it cheaply!
Greg
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I tried the solder repair and it worked for about a month. That's when I decided to toss the battery and fix it once and for all.
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After replacing mine a year or so ago, I also ran a tap into the battery to clean up those threads. It worked for a couple months but evidently the threads in the battery were too stripped to hold the cable tight. My solution was to replace the battery and 2 years later it is still working great. It did kind of pain me to toss a good battery because of the bad connection.
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Interesting to note that at the Portland National the vast majority of the convertibles there were white with red interiors (Flame or Garnet).
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X2 Ronnie!
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I didn't see anyone making a big issue or threatening anyone over the policy change, other than Smithbrother that is LOL. Just a few of us discussing the change and our approval or our disapproval. I didn't even see anyone threatening to leave the forum or the AACA over this. Their sandbox, their rules. Lamar is one of the most fair moderators of any of the forums on which I participate.
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Other considerations are likely expenses like AC conversion $1,000+, Struts $1,000 with install, and Headlight repair kits $200.
programming a second remote
in Buick Reatta
Posted
My understanding is that you can only program 2 remotes & the car is remembering 1 from the past. Disconnect the battery for a few minutes, then reconnect it. Then program both remotes one after the other.