ol' yeller
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Posts posted by ol' yeller
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Welcome back Keith!
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There is little to nothing available in the aftermarket for the '69 Riviera. That means if your plan is to restore, most everything you need to buy would be good used or NOS. Fortunately they did make a ton of '69 Rivieras but the used supply is drying up. My opinion is that this car is not "worth" restoring if you are looking to break even when you sell it.
I did a frame off on a '69 Riviera and it was the most expensive restoration I had ever done. The end result was a return for pennies on the dollar when I finally sold it to stop the bleeding. My suggestion would be to part it out. If the grill and headlights are in good condition, they are in great demand as is a lot of the chrome and stainless trim. The 430 is a great engine but was only made for a couple years. If you are going to keep it, I'd drop in a 455 and call it good. You will also have to find a great driveline shop that knows and understands 2 piece drivelines as your center bearing is possibly shot and parts are very hard to find. I sincerely wish you luck with your decision.
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I'd like to make it very clear that I do not hold Ronnie or the Reatta Store responsible in any way for my problems. Ronnie has been very helpful so far in seeing that a problem that was not of his making is rectified. As it sat a couple days ago, the only option I had was for the seller to replace the defective and used (sold as new) part with another. It was partially my fault for not reading the terms and conditions carefully enough to realize that the seller (again Stocklifts, NOT Ronnie) had a 30 day return policy. As of now I have accepted the replacement part as it seemed to be only way I didn't come out a complete loser in the transaction. I appreciate that Ronnie went the extra mile to get Amazon to look again at their poor handling of the issue. I have no faith that pursuing this further with Amazon would net anything beyond more wasted time and a much unneeded raise in my blood pressure. As I have accepted the replacement part as restitution I am closing the matter pending the receipt of it.
I don't want anyone else to fall victim to what led to my problems. There is still a lot of danger in ordering parts online from Amazon and other online sellers and resellers. In the future I will not order any more parts online unless I know the seller and have had past successful dealings with them. It is sad that some sellers don't have the integrity to do the right thing when they screw up and stand behind their products. It paints all sellers with a broad brush. In my case the part I received was NOT AC Delco, was not new, and was defective. It may very well be that Stocklifts received this part as a return and didn't inspect it carefully before returning it to their inventory.
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I'll see if I can find my old 40 channel. I was already thinking of bringing it to stay in touch with my buddy as we drive down.
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Ronnie, I asked him if he eliminated the CPS. He said he tested the CPS and Cam position sensors first for output. When they tested OK, he said that pointed at the ICM. He replaced it and the car ran great. He deduced that the rumbling was due to heavy spark knock.
As an aside he also showed me that the new AC Delco ICM I bought on Amazon was actually a used part. If anyone is buying parts on Amazon from a company name of Stocklifts I'd advise you to check over the part carefully before installing it. They only offer a 30 day return policy so there is no warranty beyond out of box failure. Amazon was no help. The seller eventually agreed to send me a replacement that I don't need because I had to find one locally to get my car running again. My fault for not checking further when I bought it. When dealing with Internet companies be very careful to understand the terms and conditions. In the future, when dealing with expensive electronics on my Reatta, I will be spending a little more and getting parts locally that I can hold and inspect prior to ordering them.
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FYI despite what has been published there were very few if any electric pull down devices installed in Reatta convertibles. I suspect some may have been installed after the fact. Jim Finn may have what you need. Good Luck!
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It ended well except that I gotta eat 2 weeks of canned beans if I want to attend the National this month.
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I do know he was very confident that it was the ICM. That would mean that he did eliminate the CPS but I don't know how. I'll ask how tomorrow when I pick up my car. Thanks for your help with the Amazon refund!
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Diagnosis is in and Padgett wins the prize. The problem was a failure of the new ICM. Ironically I replaced it prior to the old one failing as preventative maintenance. The old one was dripping the green goo so I know I was on borrowed time with it anyway. It will cost me a few beans as I had to have my mechanic order a new one rather than wait for a replacement from Ronnie's store. At least she will be running well in time for the National. I hope I won't have any problems with getting my money back from the Amazon seller.
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Its hard to recommend someone to you when we don't know where you are. I had a previous Reatta's injectors cleaned and rebuilt by Dr. Injector which I believe is a franchise so one may be near you. It was very reasonable and well done.
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I have a Buick buddy with me so while we only have 1 Reatta there would be 2 of us.
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Thanks John. I knew back in the 60's Buick put a phoenelic coating on the cam gear to make it quieter. It would last for about 100K and then fail. All the replacement gear didn't have the coating. I had this on my '65 Skylark 300 V8 motors. I didn't think Buick would repeat the mistake 30 years later but he asked.
It may be that the tensioner failed but at this point all I have is speculation. I will report back after he gets into it on Tuesday.
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Finally the right tow truck showed up after waiting 4 hours and one bad dispatch (wrong type of tow truck). Dropped it at my mechanic's and he asked me to try and start it while he watched under the hood. It did what it did earlier (crank but no start) and then stop cranking and act like the engine wanted to run backwards. On the second try after 10 seconds of cranking it did start and run. He said that the HB was spinning true and if it took out the CPS it wouldn't have started. His very preliminary diagnosis was that it jumped time. He asked if this engine had the plastic coating on the timing gears? I don't know the answer but I thought Buick figured out that wasn't good back in the 60's. He's thinking I need a new timing set. Question, is there a timing chain tensioner on this engine? I guess I could look it up in the FSM. I did notice yesterday that the engine was running one bar above top dead center on the temp gauge which also could be because of a timing issue. If it jumped time would that set a code? Not looking for more than speculation as I have no car to work on at this point.
I haven't heard of this being a common issue for the 3800 but the mileage is about right for something like that to fail. He will begin the teardown on Tuesday after checking the crank position sensor and the Cam sensor. He didn't think my problem was at all fuel related, especially with the rattling noise. I hope I can stay out of the poorhouse on this one.
Greg
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I hope it isn't fuel delivery as that could get expensive to have my shop do it. I will have him check the fuel pressure. I did get a chance to look at the HB from the top and it doesn't have any apparent problems. It does look a little ragged around the edge so maybe it broke away from the center hub? It seems to be tight when I pulled on the belt though. I can't see the backside without crawling under and my wife and cardiologist have told me that those days are behind me. I'll let everyone know what is found. It doesn't seem to be a fuel delivery problem, it seems to be more of a timing issue.
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I tried to cold start it this morning and it will crank and tries to fire. It acts like a car that has timing issues. I'm still leaning towards a HB and CPS but I have no hard evidence. I guess my mechanic will figure it out and I'll report back on Tuesday.
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Thanks everyone for your ideas. I was just surprised that whatever happened didn't set a code. As I need the car running well for the National I don't have time for me to play around with it so that is why it is going to the mechanics today. I suspect that the HB went out and probably took the CPS with it although I didn't see the HB wobbling or any rubber hanging from it. Admittedly I also didn't get a good close look either as I was still recovering from the effects of the Novocaine last night. Still, I was surprised there was no code or CEL. I'll take another look this morning before the tow truck comes to see if there is anything obvious. John, I may have to make a trip to your neighborhood to see what that sounds like at Vic & Jim's Tap.
Greg
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Coming home from the dentist today and my car started running like garbage. It was running fine at light throttle but any throttle beyond that and the car would bog down badly. There seemed to be a rattle coming from the engine when this occurred. It is not there all the time but over the last week or so I have noticed a rattle at times especially when idling. Tonight when I made it home I lifted the hood and looked and listened for any vibration or noise but all seemed good. I blipped the throttle and it stalled immediately. It was hard to restart but I did get it running well enough to pull it into the garage. I checked to see if there were any codes but besides a couple BCM history codes related to an old AC problem there were no codes set. The check engine light is not lit.
I replaced the coils and ICM about a month ago with new AC Delco (Motorola) parts as the old ICM was leaking badly. The car has run great since then and actually it ran great before then as well.
Any guesses or ideas? I am towing it to my mechanic tomorrow but with the holiday and all he probably won't get to it until next Tuesday. The car has just under 100K miles. I am suspecting that the harmonic balancer is bad but I don't know if the symptoms support that.
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Nope John, you did it right. I just figured that as long as he had the hub & drum at the shop, they could install the correct length studs. Being attached to a NAPA this should be easy. Barring the machine shop participating in the solution, you could call CARS and see if they have a solution to this problem. Seeing how the car is over 45 years old a PO could have done anything to the brakes as I would think they have been worked on several times over the years and miles.
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Get longer studs. The FLAPS should carry them. The machine shop could install them. I'm surprised they didn't suggest this.
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When I bought my '90 vert almost 2 years ago it had 87,000 miles on it. The AC didn't work and it needed a new top. There were a few other obvious issues with it but they were minor. The car was owned by a collector and it was his wife's nice weather driver. The interior and steering wheel were very good. The car was always garage kept and came with complete documentation as well as a complete owners folio. They were the original owners of the car. I paid close to what this car is asking.
In the 2 years I have owned "Marilynn" I have had to install new struts all around, rebuild and convert the AC system to R134A, buy 2 new tires, a tie rod end, a new top with an installation, a new battery, drain and flush a very rusty cooling system, replace 3 of the soft plugs in the engine, replace the IAC and coils, drain and flush the ABS and drain and flush a leaking transmission. Other than that the car has been flawless. LOL
If you add up what I paid for the car and what I spent during my short ownership I will never recover what I have into her. That isn't the point. Every collector car I have ever owned (there have been several) I always wound up in the hole when I sold them. My point is that while I owned them they were all beautiful cars (with maybe 1 or 2 exceptions) that I could always count on them to start and run whenever I wanted to take a cruise somewhere. I could have started with a better car but I get great personal satisfaction from pulling another car back from the brink of the wrecking yard. Truth be told, I would probably redo most everything a previous owner did even on a nice car, just because it wasn't done to my standards.
My Marilynn puts a smile on my old face every time I slide behind the wheel. I love the open air driving with the top down and how it makes the driving experience much more sensory. I like the fact that even though my car is only 24 years old and not of an era known for great cars, I still get an occasional thumbs up or a hey, that's a nice car from someone at the store or gas pumps. I like that my car is somewhat unusual and I especially enjoy the camaraderie of you great folks here. That is why I don't mind paying the price of admission.
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I have seen it up close and personal. The seller said it was garage kept and only used as when they are not snowbirding. Here in the Great Northwet, subframe bushings are not nearly as much an issue as they are in the rustbelt. I believe the owner said it is the second top on it. Overall it is a decent car but probably will take some bucks to get it back to pristine. It was at a car show where I saw the car so I didn't ask about the mileage or why the seats were covered. He just lowered the price from $8,500. I suspect he would be willing to consider taking close offers.
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I seem to remember that either would bolt to the engine block but there is a difference in the pad that bolted to the crossmember. If you change out the metal pad to the '65 or later ones you could use the later engine mounts. Your other option is to have your old ones revulcanized. There are several vendors who provide this service.
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I had 3 pics of the Reattas. In one several of the cars didn't show up. In the second there was a guy bending over showing his backside so I went with stunned guy. Photography isn't my strong suit.
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I am not that familiar with the large series cars but I am intimately familiar with A Body cars of that generation. Back in the day, when you ordered a front brake drum it came as a complete unit including the hub. It is likely now that in the aftermarket the only way to get drums are with the drum minus the hub which isn't the end of the world as the only things that could wear out in the hub are the bearings and races. The good news is that you will probably save some on shipping as the drum only will weigh less. After you get your new drums, take them along with the hubs from your old drums (or complete drum assembly if it hasn't separated) to your local machine shop. Ask to have the old hubs pressed into the new drums and then have the new assembly balanced. I also strongly recommend cleaning, inspecting and repacking your wheel bearings and races.
It might be hard to convert your car to disk brakes. I had a tough time finding parts for a '69 Riviera restoration. If it was the smaller A Body it would be no problem as the aftermarket has many products to do this as well as the drying up supply of old used parts. Drum brakes will work well with your LeSabre as long as you do the job correctly, replacing all the parts with good new. The only changes I'd recommend are an upgrade to a dual reservoir master cylinder (maybe 68's already had this?) and also the addition of a power booster if not already so equipped. Just keep your heel on the floor when applying power brakes.
I'd also recommend picking up a Chilton's manual for your year car. I have one that goes from 1965-1971 and covers most makes of American made cars as well as their systems. If you were closer to me. I'd give it to you but PA is a long way from WA state.
Enjoy your new car and welcome to the hobby.
Reatta Replacement
in Buick Reatta
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Did you buy it as an investment or for enjoyment? I'm with Raleets on this one. Drive it as old cars don't tolerate sitting around very well. You have another collector car so you could spread the use among them as well as your next Centurion (you know you're going to get another one). Enjoy your new car.
Greg