ol' yeller

Last bump before the show. See you all there!

My wife & I will be attending the International Riviera Meet next week in Klamath Falls, OR. I was wondering if anyone from this forum is also going and maybe we could hook up down there. I will be driving my '90 Coupe, If it doesn't sell between now & then. The meet is from the 24th-27th. Should be a great time for friends of the Reatta's bigger brother.

bump

Anyone?

Reluctantly I must sell my 1990 Reatta coupe. Either it or my Mountaineer has to go before my daughter's wedding (July 27)and there seems to be little interest in the Mountaineer. It is located near Seattle, Washington. The Reatta has 90K miles on it and no options beyond the usual standard features. A picture can be seen at <A HREF="http://www.reatta.org" TARGET=_blank>www.reatta.org</A> site under reader's rides. Click on the picture to enlarge it. It is burgundy with an aftermarket rear spoiler. It has new brakes (calipers and rotors) all around, new struts, beautiful aftermarket rims and top of the line Z800 Ultra Toyo tires. It has an aftermarket AM/FM radio with CD. It runs like a fine swiss watch. It is in above average condition inside and out. It won Best In Class at last year's All Buick Open car show here in Puyallup. I recently also replaced the steering wheel with a factory recovered one that looks great. If you want a good, low mileage car at a fair price, $6,995, give me a call at 253-297-2708 or email me at powersfam@qwest.net. I will be showing it for sale at both the "Open" and the International Riviera meet in Klamath Falls if I don't sell it before then. I wouldn't hesitate to drive this car across country tomorrow. Spare parts and manuals extra. I will not sell the parts or manuals before the car sells.

Thanks Padgett, I knew it was something simple.

For some reason that is beyond me, do not click on the link in the above message or this message, it doesn't work for me. If you just type in <A HREF="http://www.reatta.org" TARGET=_blank>www.reatta.org</A> into your browser it will take you to the homepage mentioned above.

I am no techie type, nor even a very good typist but when I type in <A HREF="http://www.reatta.org," TARGET=_blank>www.reatta.org,</A> it brings up the homepage for the Reatta division of the BCA. There are several hot button links displayed including a link to this forum. On the far right of the hot buttons is one for Reader's Rides. If you select the hot button for that, you can scroll down to the picture of my burgundy Reatta with my name underneath. If you click on the picture, it will enlarge to a nice viewing size. Perhaps you were typing in Reatta.net? If I am giving bum information here, please let me know. I also have several pictures from many angles that I would be willing to email to interested parties. Thanks for the interest.

One more point, It is held in the same location as last year, at the old location of the Buick dealer. Not the new location. We will have more room as we aren't competing with the dealer for space. Also cars of every vintage are welcome from 1903-2003. The only requirement is that it must be a Buick. Last year we had an entry from Lewiston Idaho, a 1918 model B37 Touring car that he drove from Lewiston! Everyone is welcome and there is no charge if you just want to come and look.

Highway 101, No, Ol' Yeller was a rustbucket 2 door hardtop, with a green front fender from Bremerton when I first acquired it. It won Most Ambitious Project 3 years ago at the All Buick Open. I undertook an "almost" frame off restoration 2 years ago and last year it won Best In Class. It doesn't pay (as my club found out) to mess with someone who is part Irish and part Dutch. First I get mad and then I get stubborn! HA! Anyway, I know the car you are referencing and it belongs to a good friend of mine, Mike Mullay. For some odd reason we call his car Ol' Bluenose. He drives the wheels off that old, 1964, 4 door every day and takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. Mike happens to be the Director of our local chapter of the BCA. He also has a beautiful 1956 4 door hardtop that his wife bought him for Christmas one year. Please, anyone who is into Buicks and can make the drive, this is the show to come to. It is the Premire Northwest Buick Event!

Reluctantly I must sell my 1990 Reatta coupe. Either it or my Mountaineer has to go before my daughter's wedding (July 27)and there seems to be little interest in the Mountaineer. It is located near Seattle Washington. The Reatta has 90K miles on it and no options beyond the usual standard features. A picture can be seen at reatta.org site under reader's rides. Click on the picture to enlarge it. It is burgundy with an aftermarket rear spoiler. It has new brakes (calipers and rotors) all around, new struts, beautiful aftermarket rims and top of the line Z800 Ultra Toyo tires. It has an aftermarket AM/FM radio with CD. It runs like a fine swiss watch. It is in above average condition inside and out. It won Best In Class at last year's All Buick Open car show here in Puyallup. I recently also replaced the steering wheel with a factory recovered one that looks great. If you want a good, low mileage car at a fair price, $6,995, give me a call at 253-297-2708 or email me at powersfam@qwest.net. I will be showing it for sale at both the "Open" and the International Riviera meet in Klamath Falls if I don't sell it before then. I wouldn't hesitate to drive this car across country tomorrow. Spare parts and manuals extra. I will not sell the parts or manuals before the car sells.

June 22nd<BR>115 2nd Ave SE, Puyallup, WA<BR>Sponsored by Puget Sound Chapter Of the BCA<BR>Parking opens at 8:00AM<BR>Show from 10AM-5PM<BR>Preregistration $8 BCA members, $10 Non Memeber<BR>Day of show $12<BR>Email-powersfam@qwest.net<BR>This is the Premire Northwest Buick Event, last year we had 148 paid entrys. Come on down and show your Buick!

Price?

Just curious. Is the Factory Service manual (not the New Product Manual) that I see (and bought) on Ebay identical to the one offered by Helm at Helm.com? I thought they were until a recent posting talked about how much better the Helm version was as opposed to the Original Buick FSM. I may have overpaid slightly for mine but at least I have one now. I'd appreciate some enlightenment here. Thanks.

Barney, I would like a set of burgundy as well. If you get enough interest,(including mine)count me in.

Puget Sound Chapter of the BCA is holding their annual Buick Car Show on June 22nd in Puyallup WA. Email me for an entry form. Last year we had 149 Buicks registered including 3 Reattas. It is a great show!

If I were you, I'd pull a wheel off and inspect my rotors and calipers. If they were making metal to metal contact you can see the wear on the rotor. From what you describe, you may have a problem with your CV joints on the front axle. Look at the rubber boots that protect the joints from water and dirt. There are CV joints at the wheel and the other end of each front axle where it attaches to the transmission (4 total). If the boots are torn and your car is making the noise you describe, I'd just buy 2 replacement half axles that come complete with the axles and the CV joints and boots. It is better economy to replace the whole shebang in my opinion that to piece part the repair. It will require some faily large socket wrenches to take it apart. If I were taking it to a repair shop I'd ask for the same repair from them. The labor to replace a half axle is alomst the same as the R & R of one CV joint. You will have to have the front wheels aligned after this repair. I hope this helps!

And I thought that Hondas were made from recycled beer cans...

Guys, on the profile for this forum, you have the option of posting a link for a picture of you. I think he is confused that by joining this forum he is joining the Reatta club. The Reatta club is a division of the Buick Club of America. While there is a link from the BCA site to this forum, becoming a registered member here doesn't make you a member of the Reatta Division of the BCA.

You've got mail.

I bought my '90 coupe last year through ebay from Chicago (I know, not the best place to buy from). I too live in the great Northwet and had trouble finding a nice, low mileage car here. The year preference is a matter of what's important to you and your personal taste. 90-91 didn't have the touch screen dash. I went with the newer dash as reliability was my concern. 91s have better braking systems and better (& more horsepower) fuel injection. The steering wheels are different as airbags were first placed on the 90 cars. If you want a convertible your only choice is 90 or 91. They are rare and a nice one can be expensive. Buying remotely is safe if you take simple precautions. My deposit was the maximum I felt I could lose and not be plunged into financial oblivion. I had the owner take the car to the nearest Buick dealer and had them run a diagnostic on it. From that I had a list of things that needed fixing. Do not let the owner choose the place to take the car for this evaluation. I then flew in and looked the car over for myself. If it was substantially different than either description, I would have walked. Make sure to arrange your transportation so you have a roundtrip in case it doesn't work out. I elected to drive my car home which was a great way to get acquianted with it although I piled up another 2,000 miles on it. Before you hand over any more money, do the brake test described on the Reatta data home page. Brake work can get expensive. Search here for ASB light on and you will see what I mean. Shipping a car can get expensive too. There are many reliable shippers but you need to check them out carefully before you select one. I recommend an enclosed trailer to protect your car as best as possible. Add to your purchase price, the cost of transportation, your airfare and the cost of any repairs and then you can make an intelligent decision. As an example, my car was purcased for $5,500, my airfare was no cost to me as I was able to route a business trip through Chicago. The dealer assessment was $150. I knew the car needed brake work,$500, struts, another $500, a power window motor, $75, new tires and I added aftermarket wheels $1,200. And a new passenger side mirror for $250. My total was now $8,175. I have since added at least another $1,000 in misc. repairs and trim items. That means I am upside down as far as an investment is concerned. As for transportation, I have a car with just under 90,000 miles and well equipped to last a long time. I recently (last month) decided to sell my Mountaineer and drive the Reatta full time. While I haven't regretted my choice, I have had a devil of a time selling my Mountaineer. I may have to rethink my decision. Good luck. Email me if you want to discuss this further.

Short story long about maintenence. When I was 17 or so (over 30 years ago) My Dad decided to see how many miles he could get without changing the oil. The car was a 1965 Buick Sportwagon with the bulletproof 300 V8. He got about 60,000 when 1 day the car wouldn't start. He rousted me out of bed and asked me to fix it. I pulled the drain plug, nothing came out. There was at least an inch of sludge in the pan sealing the drain hole, I dropped the pan and cleaned it out. I ran a wire thru the oil passage to the oil pump to clean it out. I rebuilt the oil pump, Then I pulled the valve covers and discovered 1 rocker arm worn into 2 pieces. I ran another wire up the passages to the rockers and went to the wrecking yard for new rockers. 5 quarts of new oil and a filter and I had it running again. I went to Dad and told him that I hoped he learned his lesson about maintenence. He gave me a deadpan look and asked what did I mean? I explained that it cost him $20 for the rockers, and another $15 for the oil pump repair kit and $10 for gaskets. He shrugged and said that he saved way more than that in not changing his oil and filter for 60,000 miles. I asked him what about my labor which took most of a Saturday. He asked me if I liked eating meals at his table. I guess there was no way to win that one! Did I mention that he was a lawyer? I have religion around maintenence and oil changes despite my training at the hands of the master. BTW that old Sportwagon lived to a ripe age of 11 with almost 200,000 miles on the original engine. Dad did change the oil after this incident.

It's all a matter of taste. Some people like the touchscreen and think that the steering wheel of the 89 is nicer. I preferred the airbag and reliability of a more conventional system. BTW mine is a 90 coupe so you can go me one better with the brakes and better fuel injection. I know CD was optional through '90, don't know about 91. Enjoy whichever one you choose.

Dick, When I went to helminc.com it said that FSMs are now $120. As a word of caution too, there are often FSMs offered (on Ebay etc.) that are New Product Information Manuals. They are about 1/2 the thickness as they only cover the model year changes and don't have any information on things that didn't change. I got stung on one of these manuals as I thought I was buying the complete FSM (my stupidity not the seller's). I know this has been covered here recently but some newcomers may not know how to search this site for all the wonderful information contained herein.

I have a spare steering column that is free of damage and tilt sloppiness. In light of the fact that my turn signal switch is not working to its full potential I was thinking of just replacing my column with my spare. That way I could fix the sloppyness without going through a big disassembly of the steering column. I am curious though as I don't have a key for the spare column, do I need one to remove the lock cylinder? From my somewhat useless New Products Service Manual it appears that I don't. It looks like once I remove the lockplate, coil, and switch, it is just one bolt. Then I could install my old lockset/ignition switch into the replacement column. Could someone please confirm this? I figure when I have it down this far, I will replace the old turn signal switch as new ones seem readilly availible for around $50 from the dealer. I am somewhat intimidated from previous posts here in going much deeper into the column to tighten the torx screws. Any other comments? Thanks, I plan on doing this in the next few weeks.