ice man

Well here is where I stand as of now. First off, I have to apologize to Barney as I have no idea how to locate private messages. JC Taylor (Foremost Ins.) was willing to have Safelite install the window and scheduled me an appointment. Now that the glass has to be purchased used, the adjuster is claiming that stress, age or pressure caused the failure, it's not covered by my policy. Now I have to find a glass company to come out and see if they can determine what caused the rear window to shatter. And so the saga continues!

Thanks guys and I'll pass those names on to the insurance co. I'm not a big poster on this site and my kids are surprised I'm able to do what I do. Some years back, I remember seeing a post that some company would periodically run a line of windshields for the Reatta's and thought that may still be the case for back windows. Wrong again! The car has been in Florida for better than 12 years, parked in the same garage, door closed for four months during the summer heat with no issues. Anyway, Foremost Ins. is who I have to deal with and they deal with Safelite. After a trip to Safelite near me, I was informed that they only install remanufactured glass from their vendors. I don't feel I should be the one to locate, purchase and have shipped, find someplace to install it, accept responsibility if they break the used glass and then hope to get reimbursed by the insurance co. I guess I'll see how this plays out. I leave at the end of this month to head north and get the '67 ready for the national and I can't see this being resolved before then. I'll post the final results whenever it happens. Thanks again

I've got a 90 coupe with 48,000 miles and yesterday, while sitting in the garage, the rear window shattered. The car was last driven a week ago. My question is, are there any manufacturers making replacements? I called JC Taylor ( Foremost Ins. ) to report the claim and they in turn called Safelite and made an appointment. I now received a cancellation of my appointment from Safelite saying they can't locate a replacement. Is used my only option?

It is stored somewhere, I just don't know where? In the car makes too much sense!!!

Thanks EmTee for the input. I do have a '90 service manual back in Florida somewhere, but I can't seem to lay my hands on it. I looked for it last winter when this problem started but can't figure out where the hell I put it. I've yanked the ECM and all the relays from my parts car to take back to Florida. I think I may remove and take both fans with me too, as there no use for me here in NY.

Karl: Your description very much mimics the problem I experienced, only my coolant temp was pegging the gauge when standing at a light. After moving again, the temp did come down some and I made it home without being stranded. I opened the hood and as the temperature increased, the fan on the drivers side was again on low speed. As I mentioned in my first post, I swapped the relay from the horn to the fan that wasn't running at high speed and the fan ran on high. The horn also worked after the swap, so I'm thinking the problem is with one of the other relays. I'm pulling all the relays from my parts car and even the ECM and taking them back to Florida with me. Can anyone else recommend parts I should take just in case the relays don't do the trick? It may be some time but I'll post an update as to how I make out. Thanks to all who posted and helped me understand these cars that are smarter than me.

My '90 Reatta coupe began overheating when the AC was on. I checked the fans and the one on the drivers side seemed to be only running on low speed when coolant was above normal. At first I thought it was the fan relay, so I switched the horn and fan relays and the fan went to high speed and the horn blew?? Now it appears that when the AC is on the fan goes to low speed. Does this make any sense as to what could be wrong? The car is in Florida and I'm in the Buffalo NY area now but leaving soon. I have an '89 parts car here and could take parts down if I knew what may be the problem and what to take. I almost gave Paggett a call last winter while there to get his input, but that's no longer an option. Any ideas on the problem ?

That doesn't help much. My cover doesn't have that rectangular notch, it has a small pointed protrusion at the 6 & 12 positions. The rear end is a 10 bolt 8.5, not 8.2.

look above. Here you go, this is the best I can do, but not done by me. I hope this helps someone ID this thing. Tom G

I took several pictures of my differential with my I-phone and thought maybe there was an easier way to post pictures up here thru my phone. Well, can anyone tell me why I can sign in on my computer to post but when I try to sign in from my phone I can't, using the same username and password?? Tom G

John, no C-clips on Buicks is a step in the right direction. Pictures would help if I knew how to do it. The cover is scalloped at the 3 and 9 o-clock positions which from what I've read, indicates an 8.2. My housing indicates an 8.5 because of those extra square chunks in the casting at the 5 and 7 o-clock positions. I assume then that an 8.2 cover can bolt to an 8.5 differential?? I'll work on pictures but thanks so far. Tom G

Brad: Posi was available in '67 but not for the GS-340. As far as pictures, I'm lucky to have gotten the write-up posted " OLD SCHOOL" It's definitely a 10 bolt for sure, just don't know out of what. When I measured between the backing plates I came up with 55-1/4 inches. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but it would be nice to know if it's Buick, Pontiac, Olds, Chevy or GMC small truck as some trucks had coil springs.

I purchased a second GS-340 many years ago but never paid a lot of attention to things underneath. Now, I have noticed it's a limited slip rear end. After checking my option chart for '67 , limited slip was not an option for those vehicles. Now I'm wondering what was installed in place of the original? Here is what I've determined so far. First off, I've cleaned the entire right axle tube to try to find any readable code numbers and have found nothing. If there were, they got destroyed by jack stands. The cast body has 10 bolts and the 2 larger chunks at 5 &7 indicating it's an 8.5". The cover is oval with the large scalloped recesses at 9 and 3, which was used on 8.2's. The cover also has small arrow protrusions outward at 6and 12 and the bottom bolts are 3" on center. On the casting is the cast clock (indicating 1 and pointer at 6) followed by 35. Further down the case is #1235187 or maybe the 8 is a 9. Continuing around the bottom going up is CFO or O is a D. There is also three big 1" A's. One on top and one by each axle tube. Axle tubes are 3" dia. Pinion nut is 1-1/4", Ring gear has # 2344746--41-16 GMC W and held on with 10 hex bolts. I didn't count teeth or measure ring gear. I just would like to know what the hell vehicle this rear came out of. Any info you folks can supply would be much appreciated. Oh, it also has what looks like original coil spring perches. Thanks

For what it's worth this is what I did when mine broke. A 5/16" cage nut fits perfectly into the square hole in the steel cowl. I then took a 5/16" stove bolt that had a wide but shallow head and used my cutoff wheel to grind a wider slot in the head. Using the old plastic wing nut as a pattern, I traced the wing design on a scrap piece of steel the same thickness as the plastic wing and ground it down to resemble the plastic wing. From there it's just a matter of soldering the wing into the slot of the stove bolt and painting them black. Now, instead of just a 1/4 turn to lock it down, it screws into the cage nut until tight. No more worry about plastic breaking and wings being lost. Once installed you can't tell it from the original.

Thanks guy's, I'll try using the relay off my spare antenna and see if that solves the problem. Sure beats R&R the complete antenna.

I have an issue with the antenna on my wife's '90 coupe. Turn radio on antenna goes up, turn off and antenna may go down but usually stays up for a time then goes down when it feels like it. When we first owned the car if the antenna stayed up I could wiggled the wiring connector and it would go down. Now no matter how much I giggle the wiring nothing happens. The last time we used the Reatta, no matter what I did the antenna would not go down. Sometime during the night it decided to operate and when I went in the garage the next day it was down. I have a replacement antenna but didn't want to go thru the trouble of switching it out if there might be a simple fix or maybe what might be going wrong. I did notice that while attempting to get it to go down this last time the antenna felt quite warm near the wiring connections. Any Ideas??? Tom

I don't know Paul, but being a BCA member my thoughts and prayers go out to Paul and his family for a speedy recovery. Tom G. Niagara Frontier Chapter, BCA

Have known Roberta for many years, she's one tough cookie and has a lot of fight left in her. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family at this tragic time. Speedy recovery friend! Tom & Donna Gestwick NFCBCA

Besides not knowing how to post pictures, my creeper isn't anything too interesting. Just a large piece if cardboard. Easy to slide on, low to the ground and very replaceable. TG

I replaced mine a couple of years ago and purchased them from Lowes. I can't remember if they were metric or not because whatever they were I bought matching stainless steel screws to fasten the air box.

My wife and I live about 30 minutes south of the villages during the winter months. Every third Saturday they hold a car cruise at Spanish Springs. We own a '90 Reatta coupe which we took down to the cruise but we weren't welcomed in because the car was "too new". You may get in with an '88 because they frown on anything newer. There is someone always there with a '92 ish Thunderbird with a 50's Ford front and rear ends molded in and that seems ok. Kind of a double standard. We do go whenever we can because it is a good show with lots of cars, cheap cocktails, and free music, but we just don't take the Reatta any more. I might try it again this year and lie about what year it is and see what happens. After all, the people running the show probably don't know what a Reatta is. I did see a dark blue one cruising the Villages streets a couple of years ago, but it never showed up at any shows we attended. The town of Eustis holds a big cruise on the 4th Saturday of every month, but until the snowbirds like us return, the attendance is usually low. There is a Villages car club, I believe several marque clubs within and an AACA chapter there, but in order to join the AACA chapter you must live in the Villages. Oh well! I think you'll have a good time otherwise. Tom

Yesterday my wife and I took our grandchildren to our local county fair, for the day. A local fire company was putting on a demonstration/ training session using the jaws of life and various other extraction tools on a newer Chevrolet Impala sedan. During the demo the chief explained that in popping the door latch apart, they try to keep the integrity of the door intact as much as possible because they need that strength to break the latch. He mentioned Buick specifically, as using a hardened steel rod or tube across the inner doors, to which the latch is attached, as being almost impenetrable. Buick uses it for safety, but he said it's very hard to pop their locks and remove these doors in the event of an accident, to extricate the occupants. Makes sense as a safety issue but not so much as a rescue issue. At least this is how I interpreted it. Do we have any rescue personnel on the forum that could weigh in on this issue.

If this is the best that BUICK can come up with, then I can see them following Pontiac and Oldsmobile. Absolutely no "Muscle Car" styling what so ever and if per chance they go ahead with that design,for God's sake DUMP THE GRILL!!!!!!! I wouldn't even consider buying a used one let alone a new one.

The wife and I were there 2 years ago in her Black '90 coupe, but we're unable to attend this year as we won't be leaving Western New York until sometime after the 20th of the month. Was hoping to reconnect with Padgett and Reattajim again. Hope it's a good show this year. Tom