Larry Schramm

Here is a link of all of the rpo (regular production options) codes list that may help with other vehicles. RPO Codes.com- GM option codes,GM rpo codes,Regular Production Options,General Motors options

Could be an aftermarket thermostat. I have one similar to it in the garage in the original box.

What would you like to know about it? Made by GM/Buick for a couple of years and was sold to Land Rover and used for decades. Veryl difficult to change the mechanical fuel pump if the vehicle has A/C

Wayne, Your are absolutely correct. Take the miles driven and divide by the gallons put in the tank on a fill-up. Do this for several tanks and you will get a good idea of the actual MPG. One note that you must be cautious is the alcohol factor. I know from experience that if you keep long term records of fuel usage and mpg, you will be able to tell EXACTLY when you get a load of fuel heavy on ethanol. Your fuel economy can drop as much as 5 mpg and then jump right back up the next fill up. And I have the documentation to support that experience. Also, different brands of gas will give different fuel economy values. Just my experience of decades of keeping track of this stuff. ps. Ron, good to talk to you today.

Corvette Bill, I totally agree about the maintenance. I do all of the regular maintenance to the book or more. Especially the engine oil which I change in the 3-4.000 mile range. My Astro van has been a great vehicle.

Might try here. http://forums.aaca.org/f117/sale-buick-parts-240369.html

Chris, Do you have a pix of exactly what you need? I might be able to help you. pm me. Larry

Dyanflash, Sorry to hear about you Suburban, but a couple of observations that I have from doing a lot of hauling both with an open and a closed box trailer with mostly a 1998 Astro van that now has 223,000 with two trips to Fla from Mich in the last 6 months. When ever I can, I try to use the open trailer for long hauling because it will get better fuel economy which many of the other posters have also experienced and noted. Driving the van only I get about 20mpg. With the open trailer nothing on it it drops to 16-18 depending on terrain & speed. With what is being hauled it will drop maybe 2-4 additional mpg. The enclosed trailer behind it, I might as well put a boat anchor (a big one) because it goes below 10 mpg. I am many times stretching the towing capability to the limit and I do not have any large cars that I tow. Because the van is getting so many miles on it and it is only a 4.3 L V-6 I recently purchased a '07 Silverado crew cab with a 3.73 axle and a 5.3 V-8 and the heavy duty trailer package. I love this truck. I knew that when I purchased it it would not be a stump puller and fly up Pikes Peak towing a trailer, but with reasonable driving it would do everything I needed. I wanted this truck also for daily use. I just try to drive conservatively. It usually gets 10-15 mpg towing a trailer. I agree with Dr. Strangelove that if you want tons of towing capability and towing performance a diesel is the only way to go, but with that you still get tradeoffs includig a large up front cost. I do not believe that there is a "perfect" verhicle that covers everything. If you are looking for the maximum towing, you might look at the new heavy duty diesel GM pickups that are coming out in Sept. I hear that they will have a towing capability of over 25,000 pounds and Ford has an equilivant truck. Best of luck & here is a picture of my most recent boondoggle.

Here is a picture of an International from the Louisville show And another one from Louisville

This "fire truck" looks like the equipment that was used in the auto factories where I worked. For quick response by the people in the plant.

Bernie, It was good to talk to you and see your car. It was awesome. Have a great trip home. Larry

Great car to drive. I would take it somewhere to have the tire balance checked BEFORE you start off back home just so the drive is smooth. Those cars can be sensitive to tire imbalance(the convertibles)

Just a guess, but they look like GM. Maybe a Camaro from the 70's??

Looking at the hubcap, I also believe it is a Buick

Are there any wires/ wire connections coming out of the control?

If it is on the right side that you push, you might want to consider taking out the radio and looking from that point. I think if not you will need to take a lot more of the IP out unless you look from under the dash. Does the car have any aftermarket items like a radio, alarm system, etc...?

Any pictures?

According to your picture it looks like you have the cluster out of the dash and you are trying to get the instrument/dash panel from the car. Question is why do you think the cluster is causing the tail light fuse to blow? I do not remember anything in the dash that will blow the tail light fuse in the cluster. The places that I would look would be in the steering column, where the wiring routs by the park brake at the bottom of the A pillar and points to the back of the car. Also does the car have any aftermarket stuff on it? If so I would disconnect it to see if the problem goes away. I have had a number of cars that had stuff added and that caused tons of problems because the installers just went looking for a hot wire and then the problems started. Good luck.

One thought is have you changed the lube in the transmission? You might try changing it and see if it works better.

For the wiring harnesses, Packard Electric/ now Delphi calls it Moon Tape. It does a good job of reflecting the heat.

My guess would be that they are spindle parts for antique spinning machines. Look like the bottoms of spools that were used in the New England textile mills.

From my understanding the GM Type A is the older trans fluid and each time it was/is updated to a new formula it is compatible backwards meaning Dexron should be able to be used in vehicles with type A, DexIII can be used in older Dexron vehicles and Dexron 6 (the newest) is back usable for all vehicles. It is supposed to be the requirement that the fluids are able to be used back to previous formulas.

How do you get the door open? Normally the door and trunk key are the same? In a worst case you can pull the door panel and then the lock cylinder to get the code off the door lock cylinder. I think it is still on the cylinder. From that you should be able to get a key cut at the dealer or good lockmith.

FYI, it might not have aftermarket front disk brakes. Look at the brake pedal and if it says disk brakes it would be a factory option. I think disk brakes were a factory option on some cars starting in 1969 because my parents Skylark had factory disk brakes and it said it on the brake pedal. Also the front side marker looks like a 1968 vehicle.

Just spent the day at Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum attending the Motor Muster Car Show and thought I would share some photos. Enjoy.