Fox W.

Status of Metro Moulded Parts Inc. (Same as always!) "Chris, Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, due to low demand, low production numbers and market considerations these are pieces that we will not be developing in the near future. However, I will log your request in our master request database for future consideration. Thank you for your interest in Metro Moulded Parts. Best regards, Mike Hinshaw New Product Development Manager Metro Moulded Parts, Inc. 11610 Jay Street, P.O. Box 48130 Minneapolis, MN 55448 Direct Phone: (763) 231-7836 FAX: (763) 757-7228 E-mail: mikeh@metrommp.com"

I know, most would not be selling the smoked plastic front layer to the gauge cluster, but rather sell it all as one unit. I am hoping somewhere there is a bad cluster with a good front. Basically mine had what looked like deep scratches, though may also be stress fractures, not sure.. I tried removing them, and it wasn't working, so I tired a method that was a bad idea.. In any case, I would like to replace it with one that is scratch/crack free. Very picky, not looking to get one that looks as bad/worse than mine did.. Name your price. Thanks.

Thank you both. I called Mike and he gave me similar helpful advice, and I think I should be set, I will update this when I have a chance this week to give it a try.

He just contact me via email, glad he is feeling better.

Sliding glass, as in the main window? Loosen it in what manner to what end? I feel like I am an expert on taking it apart and back together again! Hehe. Just apparently terrible at making it work smoothly.

Sorry to hear that.

Hello, I will soon post pictures to better show what things look like what to see if things appear incorrect when compared to the Reatta's of other members. Basically I purchased a replacement driver-side window from Mike at buickreattaparts.com, because the factory-adhered plastic guide on mine had come apart from the glass. (It was like that when I bought it 6 years ago.) This caused no issue except having to guide it up by hand by pulling the glass inward a little, otherwise the glass would go up along the -outside- of the door-vent rubber. But anyway, after installing the window, I am finding it is very tricky to get all the factors right, such as window going up/down in a smooth and quiet manner, angle of both window and vent window being the correct level of aggression against the door seal, etc. I cannot seem to get any factor right no matter what I try. The upper corner of the vent glass pushes against the seal firmly before the door even touches the latch. This makes shutting it not very easy, and it almost 'pops' off when you open it. It also just feels wrong to see the vent-window almost flex a bit just trying to close the door. If I keep all 4 bolts loosened for the vent glass, so that it can push outward as much as it pleases when the door closes, it still doesn't behave as the passenger-side does, though becomes tolerable. On top of that, no matter what I do to any adjustments, the window makes a bad groan when it goes down if it hasn't been lowered in a few hours (if you go up/down a few times it remains quiet.) I have lubed EVERYTHING with a specialized product that is for automotive window sills. It just seems to suggest something is off. The other thing that suggests this is the window eventually went off the vent-window track after I put everything together.. which is why I took it apart to revisit this and get it all right. I got it back in track, but I don't see what I had off that made it come out before. There was also an acute leak of air that could be heard from 40+ MPH, but I somewhat corrected that by making the stops allow the window to go up to the highest position possible. I even went as far as buying a better condition driver-side door seal on Ebay that is indeed nicer than mine.. I installed it, but overall that didn't help.. in fact I made life slightly harder since it wants to push-back against the glass even more. I wouldn't bother people here with something silly as this, but I have put may hours in to the original project, and now far more in to trying to futilely adjust things so they work even nearly as nice as the untouched passenger-side does. One thing I noticed is that the door seal on each side is different in design where the vent-glass corner meets it.. Is that normal? I will take pictures soon. Any advice is appreciated. I just heard that Mike has been sick, and I really do hope he is feeling better and makes a full recovery soon! He just contacted me today.

I noticed the same thing about the search results lately.. Seems Reatta became a very hot keyword to add suddenly I guess. It's like all these vendors copy off of the same common keyboard database. I am always annoyed at how many parts are sold on there for a Reatta, when they are indeed not.. Like the half-shafts, they always also say "For Non-ABS" again, some part compatibility database they all work off of is wrong. I bought one (not on ebay) awhile back, and sure enough, found it couldn't fit because of having ABS.

Greg, could you show pictures or explain in more detail the first area you mentioned? I am about to start working on rust/paint. I took the rocker panel off the driver-side, and removed the two lower fender bolts.. (Ok, I didn't remove them as much as shear them off, quite unintentionally.. now I have to deal with that.) The debris that came out by pulling the lower fender out a bit was substantial. I can also peak in to see that you are right, there is thin sheet metal there that has rusted.. (So far the only sheet metal I have found that had any rust on this car from MA. Normally just rust on thick frame metal.) It is most unfortunate, and seems difficult to fix.. I need help with how to take the fender off.. It seems I have to remove the hood to do so, is this so? (Because the hood support seems to screw through the rear-upper fender bracket.) I can take pictures once I have this off to show people the problem area in detail. Thanks Greg.

One of mine was discolored as well, and I finally took it off today to repaint it myself, it went well, looks good. It is also slightly warped inward from one of the screws pulling on it, I haven't decided if I will bother trying to improve that. Since my car was from MA, some of the screws were very rusty at the heads, and impossible to use a philip's on. So I used my dremmel with a cutting wheel to make a deep slot, which I could then use with an impact wrench, using a standard 'flat head' large driver bit, on the lowest setting to remove. (Works very well, these screws are good quality, hard metal, and the impact wrench allows you to push against it hard, while it uses shock/rotation to free them. Just have to use one that lets you go down to a very slow power setting.) I did all this mostly because I always wanted to have a peak under there... I was really pleased to find that it was free of any rust! I was pretty amazed. These cars were made so well..

Hello all, I wanted to add that I purchased one from Car Motorsports years ago, and I love it. They have all the Reatta logos and will embroider them in any way you please. Car Motorsports - Car Covers Mine says Reatta on the back in black, and has the hood emblem right where the real one is.

Eek.. what a shame.. It looks like a lot of water has gotten in to that car.

Dave, thank you kindly! I installed the inverter; Now for the first time since I acquired the car, the dash pods work perfectly.

Thanks for letting us know guys! Are you two near the bay-area then? I've been looking for others around here. Also hoping to find a mechanic or auto-body place that appreciates the Reatta. I tend to get a cold attitude of little faith from people.. (They don't take me seriously because the car is a Buick of little value in their eyes.)

1991 Buick Reatta Coupe 2D Green, Power Seats, Low Miles, Nice Condition Dark green, low miles, 1991. Kiwanis sticker on the back, which from my POV may be a good thing in regards to character reference.. Not likely owned by a gang-banger. Just thought I'd list it here!

I will need to be purchasing one for certain, so let me know. $32 would be perfectly fine.

KDirk, you are completely right. I did not intend to get one with 500v output. I had looked at several and I guess I didn't properly read the one I actually bought, thinking it was 110v. Oops! I certainly won't use this one. Thanks!

I should have used the ACE bandage. My arm and hands are pretty roughed up, a couple good cuts too. What a PITA... My inverter has flickered ever since I acquired the car.. Years ago, after reading posts on this forum to learn the location of the inverter, I found that wiggling it and bending the 12v connector a bit could make it work more consistently.... For awhile.. Recently I manipulated it too much and the inverter came down/broke from it's mount pin. After trying to disconnect it entirely, the plate with the terminals had separated from the rest of the inverter.. So I still have yet to manage to get the connectors separated from the terminals.. very hard to do with one hand. I wonder if Barney still has any more of these to sell. First I am going to try this one I found on Ebay. Since we don't know what the frequency of ours are (do we?) we can't say if this one will be too bright/dim when compared to the console.. But it will be interesting to see. I was happy to see that the dimmers' modulation is mutually exclusive from the inverter (no extra wires) so generic replacements can be used. 12V DC to AC Power inverter EL Lamp electroluminescent - eBay (item 330415487751 end time Mar-26-10 01:14:59 PDT) Attached pic shows the inverter without it's terminal cover, of which came off.

Bump. Still looking. Thanks! This is for this project: http://forums.aaca.org/f116/touch-screen-controller-connection-pinout-208085.html And the like.

I finally was able to do this. It -still- took a huge amount of force to get it off.. Enough that the hex insert almost stripped out, but it finally came free. Replaced it and now it consistently takes 3 brake pumps before the pump comes on. (Engine off, just on battery) I think that is a good/normal figure, no? Thanks.

"All of the fancy doo hickey's all over, 16 way seats etc would all be thrown in the dumpster" The way you take joy in saying that is what comes off as fishing to elicit reactions (I think you will be disappointed here, this crowd is too civil and mature to entertain those sorts) could you at least sell or give those parts to people who may need them? They are not making any more and it would be a shame.