olbuickman

BooReatta, My daughter E-mailed me the pictures that she took here at my house on Fathers day. I am having a problem that when I try to download the attachment,I keep getting a message saying "no preview available"It makes no difference whether I try to view the file or scan and save to my computer,it shows the same message. If I right click and hit "save as" I get real small pictures that distort when I try to make them larger. I have windows Xp and use photo and fax user. I wonder if anyone can get me thru this,thanks,Frank

BooReatta, I heard about "Leatherique" on the Corvette Forum(detailing) A lot of the Corvette owners are fanatics about their cars and several of them have used this product. I buy alot of my high end detail products from Autogeek in Stuart, Fla. there are other supply houses that also sell it. My daughter with her digital camera will be over this weekend and I have asked her to take a few interior shots of the Reatta. I will post them when she E-mails them to me.

For a long time now I have not been pleased with the way my saddle leather seats have looked in the Reatta. The whole rest of the car I have detailed and have used multiple coats of Zaino sealant. The everyday leather cleaners were not bringing up the leather. Last Saturday was a hot and humid day, so I applied Leatherique rejuvenator oil to the seats waited 7 hours and then followed up with their Pristine Clean. I can't believe the difference that it made in the seats,they look and feel like new. By far the best deep leather cleaner I have ever used. I have been detailing cars for 50 years. Frank

Hey guys can we try again rather than getting side tracked on a re-cover job. Anyone out there that wants to sell a saddle steering wheel in decent shape? Thanks

A friend of mine has a red and saddle 1990 Reatta convertible, his steering wheel is trashed and is looking for a replacement. Anybody interested in selling one? Thanks

Buick is the offical car of the Pga tour. When a Pga event is in town, the Pga officals will arrive in town a week or so prior to the event and use these cars. At the end of the tournament these cars are divied up to the local dealers. The dealers get these cars with low miles and get an extra discount. They normally sell pretty quick after the end of the tournament. Frank

In the picture of the red reatta that hit the wall, there is a long time Buick employee and car lover standing there with sunglasses and not wearing a hat, Darwin Clark

I use Zaino fusion polish along with my Porter Cable orbital polisher, it brought the lenses up real clear. I then follow up with a coat of Zaino clear seal.

Here is the route that I took on aftermarket wheels and tires for my 1990 black Reatta convertible. I was able to pick up off E-Bay a set of 17" chrome Lucerne wheels and tires. The tires had 12 miles on them. The wheels came with the Tri shield center cap. For less than a thousand including freight I was able to give the Reatta a nice look. I priced out a new set through the local Buick dealer and you are talking close to $3000 with the correct chrome lug nuts,wheels and tires.

Dave, as you know I worked for Buick Motor Division,I can tell you this,myself and a lot of of our field reps told our management that we were losing sales to other 2 seaters like the Mercedes because when our prospects drove the car they felt it was underpowered. Management came back and told us that the car was going to be short lived and that the Cadillac Allante was going to be the survivor. It was frustrating for us because we knew we had a good car. The Reatta and the Riviera were two of the lowest warranty cost per car of all the Buick models.

I have had my Epoxy floor down for 20 years and when I wash it up in the spring it looks as though I just applied it. I would not go with a product that is a " water based epoxy" . I have had poor results in previous garage floors using the water based products. It pays to look for an epoxy coating that says " 100% solids". Be meticulous on the prep and application and it will last a long time.Durall epoxy from Minnesota, Sherwin Williams Armorseal 1000 and PPG epoxy coating are all good products.

I used Zaino "Fusion" polish with my Porter cable orbital,topped it off with a coat of Zaino Z2 pro sealant. It took about 10 minutes. It is important to finish with a sealant other wise you will be polishing alot. At local car shows last summer I had some people ask if I had replaced the tailights lenses with new ones. Frank

Dave, not trying to sell you a set of tires just pointing out that there are some good buys on takeoffs out there. If you want to keep the car original,goodyears are the way to go. Randy, got a good deal on Goodyears from a tire shop in Burlington,Wi. Maybe he will chime in here on this thread.

Dave, I was able to pick off a set of take off tires and wheels for $850. There was 20 miles on the tires. I went to my local Buick dealer and even with my GM discount the wheels and tires would have been $2200.I keep the plain jane aluminum wheels and tires hiding in my basement.Arizona wheelcovers and Recycling in Phoenix is where I got the wheel and tire deal. frank

Nic, Last spring I obtained a window sticker from triple A enterprises, P.O box 8463 Bloomington In 47408. Their Website is window-sticker.com They made me one encased in plastic that I use at car shows and I have one in paper that I keep in my paperwork file for the car. They look great. Frank

Randy, glad to hear that you and your family are safe. We lucked out in Brookfield just wind and rains. The snow from December is almost gone. I washed out the garage floor on Sunday,the epoxy floor makes cleanup easy. Frank

Randy, you would have thought that GM would have learned a lesson from the 1982 to 1985 Riviera convertibles that were produced without any frame re-inforcement. I drove several of them and not only did the cowl shake but so did the doors when you would close them. I had a chance to drive a riviera convertible that had been converted by Hess and Eisenhardt out of Cincy,Ohio. They reinforced the frame and also had a thick headliner that our factory unit didn't have. It was like night and day difference driving the two cars. there was no cowl shake with the Hess and Eisenhardt car and the doors lined up perfect. It was also quieter inside as well.At one of our announcement meetings I had a chance to talk to our chief engineer on why they wouldn,t beef up the chassis on the Reatta convertible and he said because the car was going to go away in 1991,the corporation didn't want to spend the money on the car. You would have thought management would have learned a lesson from the Riviera convertible. Frank

Weewilly, I had one made up for my Reatta. If you contact Triple A enterprises in Bloomington In they will do it for you. I had them make one up in plastic laminate that I use at the local car shows and I keep a paper one in my Reatta records file. Their website is www. window-sticker.comb Frank

Jim, always glad to post pictures of the black Reatta with the lucerne wheels. Have a great holiday, Frank

Yesterday, I was talking with a gentleman from York, Pa. Shortly he is going to be listing on E-Bay a brand new set of tan floormats that he ordered new for his 19990 Red and tan convertible. The reason I am posting this is just to give a heads up to anyone that is restoring a Reatta with tan trim this would be the finishing touch. If mine weren't in such beautiful shape I would have stepped up to the plate and bought them. Keep an eye on E-Bay. Frank

Alex, last fall I had a friend of mine that works in an Auto electric shop replace the flasher in my 1990 Convertible. I was there when he worked on it, he had to pull the entire dash out to get at the flasher,he tried going in from the bottom by just taking off the bottom cowl,but he couldn't reach the flasher. When he replaced the flasher he put it on a pigtail so that in the future it can be easily accessed from the bottom. Boy, was their a lot of cursing on that job. I gasped when I got his repair order and bill. It could have been worse, I could have paid about $40 more in labor charges if I had gone to a dealer.

Barney, I am using 235x55xr17 on the Reatta. Frank

Hey Jim, easy on us cheeseheads we may have to take out our wrath on you Viking fans again on November 11Th . This time we will beat the purple people in Green Bay. This guy actually isn't far from Randy. Kenosha is real close to Paddock Lake.

I went from the stock 15" aluminum wheels to the 2007 Lucerne chrome wheels, on a hard turn my front wheels rub just slightly on wheel wells. With these 17" wheels and tires I run on the speedometer 62mph while my hand held Garmin Gps shows 60mph. With several coats of Zaino sealant on the wheels they are a dream to clean.

HRP, Here are the steps I use on a lot of the cars I detail not just Reattas. I wash the sides and lower quarters with Dawn, Then I spray and claybar panel by panel that will really get the area smooth. I then use Zaino fusion polish and top it off with Zaino Z2 pro sealant. The sealant will really make it a lot easier to keep the lower areas of the Reatta clean. Frank