Buicks Rule

Friend from Howell--what did you buy?

CD's---multiple CD's in dash. Hello GM?? Why? Is it 1995 again. How about an MP3 or IPOD port? Then by taking plugging in a small device you have whatever CD's you want, organized your way, and don't need to waste space lugging them all around. Maybe GM really believes that IPOD users will fall for GM supported Sat Radio. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Recognizing that IPOD's etc are here to stay and adding the input feature to radios is extremely cheap and just might buy a few more sales to younger people from the competition. Sorry-glad my days of taking a bunch of CD's for a long trip are over.

Lamar--Peter's wife would NOT be amused. This is however, about the first time a BCA post had to be censored in the life of the site. You're famous. Careful--the next time, the mouth from the south might have to give you ( or your wife ) a call to have your leash reattached. Since you are from GA, you have to know MOS.

The 62 Wildcat vinyl tops were not pinpoint convertible top grain. It was an unusual grain. No idea where, if at all, the original style material is available. There is a gentleman in CA that knows a great deal about 62 Wildcats and would be aware of whether the material is available and whether the parts interchange. PM me through this system. If you're a BCA or AACA member, it's easy to put you in touch with him if you have a roster for either club.

No torque tube in 61, just nailhead and last gen dynaflow. Throttle linkage could be a problem. 64 would have had similar tranny to 65, so you might be able to get a cross member from a 64 to fit if the 61 cross member/mounts won't work.

Horses. Nope. All the retirees and Calif real estate moguls move to rural/ranching areas, buy horse property and then whine because the horsies smell, they attract flies, their hooves clop on the ground when they walk buy. Guys-this is a COUNTY ordinance for a COUNTY bigger than some eastern STATES. FYI ( Arizona only has 15 counties ). So this stops some person on a ranch literally miles from no where from changing a tire on his car. Now if BJ forks would push some of that $ generated political clout down on these guys, the problem would go away.

THe POCI seems to have handled the insurance issue as racing has been a part of their events for a long, long time. With respect to damage to your own car, absolutely--it's your problem not your insurance company's. I think the liability issue may be more what happens if a driver runs over a spectator.

For what it's worth, Pima County Supervisor Ann Day is the sister of Sandra Day O'Connor. In a county with a pot or crack house in every neighborhood, a panhandling bum on every street corner, undocumented immigrants passing through in veritable platoons, THIS is what they worry about. Subject: UPDATE -- Pima County Zoning changes will no longer allow people to work on their own cars at their own houses. UPDATE -- URGENT PIMA COUNTY ALERT -- UPDATE !! "DRAFT Automobile Repair Zoning Amendment" http://www.azautohobbyist.com/Pima%20County-draft%20car%20zoning%20change.pdf Zoning Commission UPDATE 1-25-2006: Action postponed for up to 9 months while further evaluating and developing possible changes to the Zoning Code. This is a "gestapo" ordinance to allow the Zoning Police to prevent YOU from working on YOUR car. It is an attempt by "Neighborhood NAZI" types to force YOU to live only as THEY approve !!! The ordinance authorizes the Zoning Police to penalize YOU for performing unauthorized maintenance on YOUR car on YOUR property !!! It was heard by the Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday, 25 Jan 2006. The shocking information presented at the meeting from the Planning and Zoning staff was that THEY interpreted the CURRENT regulations such that automobile repair is NOT permitted on residential property. HOW ARROGANT !!! Even the Zoning Commission members were shocked and surprised at that interpretation. THEY stated that THEY did not permit ANY use of residential property that was not specifically allowed in the Zoning Code. THEIR position was that since automobile repair was authorized elsewhere in commercial zoned areas, it was therefore prohibited in ALL residential zoned areas. This absurd interpretation could be extended to other uses, such as prohibiting cooking in your home, since restaurants are specifically allowed in other commercially zoned areas. The decision from the Zoning Commission was to extend the discussion and public hearing process for up to 9 months to further develop any proposed changes. There will be a panel made up of interested members of the community to review any proposed changes. The action needed now is to contact Pima County Planning and Zoning and OBJECT to the current ERRONEOUS interpretation of the zoning code, and demand that THEY immediately adopt a rational interpretation that recognizes YOUR RIGHT to work on YOUR car on YOUR property. An Email contact for the Planning and Zoning Commissioners is as follows: priscilla.chavez@dsd.pima.gov YOU should also contact YOUR Pima County Supervisor, and the other Supervisors and ask them to DIRECT Pima County Planning and Zoning to establish a MORATORIUM on automobile related zoning enforcement until the Zoning Commission develops any recommended changes. Tell them that current staff at Pima County Planning and Zoning are violating the Constitution and YOUR rights !!! The supervisor phone numbers are: District 1 Supervisor Ann Day 520-740-2738 District 2 Supervisor Ramon Valadez 520-740-8126 District 3 Supervisor Sharon Bronson 520-740-8051 District 4 Supervisor Ray Carroll 520-740-8094 District 5 Supervisor Richard Elias 520-740-8126 See Mr. HEMI's website for more links to additional information. Just Say NO to this "Gated County" ordinance !!! Forward this message to EVERYONE that you know !!! Mr. HEMI MrHEMI@426-HEMI.com www.426-HEMI.com

Pete, Sure it's not a Jowett. British car. Late 40's/early 50's. Looks like an upside down claw foot bathtub.

Buick DID chrome stainless pieces on some of their more flashy cars. Often times this was done on Convertibles in the 50's through mid 60's to provide that extra jewel-like sparkle and also sometimes to equalize the colors when a stainless piece butted up against a plated pot metal piece. In 58 chrome plated stainless was used on the Roadmaster 75 and Limited convertibles. I know it was done on some models at least through the mid-60's, but from what I've seen it tended to be a convertible thing. Your plater should be able to tell you if the stainless is plated. Because stainless flexes, it can be difficult to chrome it and have the chrome adhere, plus it adds to the chroming bill.

VP--aluminum bell housing-unpainted--possible green overspray from poor masking at edge meeting block. Cast Iron body should be raw cast iron, or clear coated, or cast iron gray paint. FP--aluminum housing should bare aluminum.

Absolutely Earl, Mr. B and Mr. J did not get into the auction business as a public service. They did it to EARN MONEY and they do that VERY effectively.

Brad, If you read some other posts along the way you'll figure out that MY post was NOT directec as much to YOUR comments as to comments of others, and as a general reminder that AACA never gets a second chance to make a good impression with many postwar owners because of inappropriate comments about post war cars that some people feel they MUST make to further their own agenda.

You put the top down and let it ride in the back seat. Aren't you glad you had the convertible.

Find a reliable mechanic that is also a racer. Pay him to service the car. IF it's a warranty issue, HE may have contacts that can help get it fixed. If not, at least you'll have independent documentation of the problem that might pressure GM Zone to actually authorize the fix. Worst problem with a new car is being tied to dealership service for the warranty period. On the other hand, the two new FORDS purchased have done EXTREMELY WELL needing virtually no warranty service and doing well afterwards too--other than 4.6 blowing an intake manifold at a very inconvenient time. Naturally just a couple days after the most recent recall settlement would have reimbursed for it. Oh well, the Fords have still had less problems and less expensive service issues than sister's ex-98 Century.

Dave, The other auctions have different rules that BJ, which ends today-I think. The smaller auctions will have more real people and real buyer cars.

Tommy, Typos, tommy, typos. Or, try doing the posting before the 3 martini power lunch.

While I agree that the prices being paid at BJ are ridiculous and will have a negative effect on the hobby, it's happened before. Remember the days about 20 years ago when the full classics went nuts, then the Ferraris. The market will self correct. HOWEVER, considerable damage is being done to AACA by the disparaging comments of some about post war cars in general. Continue to make the post war car owner feel unwelcome in AACA and you'll succeed in turning back the clock, and the member ship, from 60,000 to 10,000. While I know that the few on here that slam the post war car AND its collector do NOT represent the view of most of those AACA members, the casual reader whose been attracted by the reference to BJ in this thread may just not bother joining. Attacking another collector's choice of car to collect is like telling a new mother that her baby is fat, bald and the ugliest thing you've ever seen. It's neither good manners nor wise.

The Damman book does have some errors so for example when it conflicts with Gustin and Dunham, go with Gustin and Dunham. Remember the Opel Rekord imported into the US in 1958 had been built and sold in Germany for while, so it may have simply been the 1,000,000 Opel Rekord built, or the 1,000,000 Opel built since production resumed since WW2. The other thing that killed Opel in the US was dealer service personnel that simply could NOT fix them. We had a GT in the family that was well loved but only stayed around a few years because of constant repairs that didn't succeed. Not to mention the sometimes month long wait for parts. On the other hand, it had the hi po engine and routinely returned 35 mpg and up on premium gas-lots of highway miles. However, when a semi backed over it at a railroad crossing, stopping only when the driver stood on his running board and told him he was backing over the car, it was traded shortly after the 3 month wait for a new hood from Germany.

Some years there were 2 350 4 bbl. One at about 275 hp and one at 315. The 315 was standard in the GS350 but could be ordered in a regular Skylark. I think 70, 71 and possibly 69. 72 the compression dropped so not likely.

Greg, See the other threads on BJ for how some of the financial aspects are handled. Here and on the AACA General side. It's extremely interesting and causes one to consider the pricing aspect quite differently. Correctness taking a backseat to flash is not a new development up there.

Earl, I stopped watching BJ and I stopped going due to the moronic comments by ill informed "EXPERT" commentators. It was either that or throw something through the TV. The sad part is they PAY the name morons big bucks because of their names, while there are local people in AZ that could actually stumble through reasonable comments about most cars, including the unusual, without making any overt errors. You even know a couple of them. But, as has been said, BJ is for the mega buck crowd, or the mega buck wannabes, that want a junket in ALL senses of the word. The camera angles aren't that good to actually see something, the comments range from the merely incorrect, to the offensively moronic and OCW will summarize the prices later. If I were going to do an auction in AZ, I would do Kruse, or one of the others where you'll find some real hobbyists that actually know something. And, if I really wanted a huge auction, I'd go to Auburn for the ACD meet/Auction. At least there the organizers are reasonably pleasant. I have never sold a car through BJ but I have friends and acquaintences who have dealt with them. Those that are stand up car guys have little good to say about their experience with BJ as a buyer or seller. Those that have a sizeable shyster gene think BJ is great.

BTW--those mileage figures are with the cruise set on a constant, and legal, 75 mph. In town-22.8-24.5 every time, through mostly stop light to stop light driving. The 2002 or or LeSabre I used on a trip from Phx to Dallas averaged 31-32 mpg for the entire trip, exclusive of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Traffic portion. That's the non supercharged 3.8 in a much bigger car than the LaCrosse.

Willis, I agree with your ideal Buick. A 2 door, Lacrosse or Lucerne with an SC-3800 and a convertible or retractable top. Your fuel economy figures do NOT impress me on the 3.6. My SC-3800 gets 29-31 on highway trips. Uphill, down hill, AC on, AC off, headwind, tailwind, cross wind, light load, heavy load. It is amazingly consistent usually averaging 29.? -30.? for a 1000-2000 mile trip. And that's in a Riv-bigger, heavier and with older aerodynamics than a LaCrosse. It's too bad GM didn't throw some more technology at the 3.8 and see if they could boost performance and fuel economy.

Idea--Great! Execution-Yuck! Unless it has to do with the picture sizing, it looks foreshortened, bulgy and too tall and bubbly in the top with a tail like an Eclipse. How about something with drop dead gorgeous styling that says BUY ME! Actually looks like an even more gorped up GTO. People are buying the Mopars because the styling says BUY ME! Not Boring or in the case of the Aztek UGLY ALERT-RUN!