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What did you do to your Wagon this week?

338968 Views 2685 Replies 279 Participants Last post by  Fred Kiehl, 
Wagonmaster Russ
I'll start.........

Rear brakes.. (the lining separated from the front shoe on the drivers side and toasted the drum..... :mad:)
and I cleaned the winters dust off of the motor!
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Fred Kiehl
Replaced the right rear regulator in the White elephant, was going to do more, but found out the 96 regulators are different from the 92 regulators. I had to go get another regulator.

I would have finished more, but I found some really interesting stuff in the JY including a set of Corvette Superior rims with 255/50/16 tires, and a removable hard top for a 76 MB 450SL.
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Fred Kiehl
I tried to replace the PS front window run channel. It did not work out well, and I am back to square one (see thread in exterior section). Also tried to paint part of the interior panel from the same door...dark maple red paint turned pink. Fortunately I have an extra door panel, so my butt is still safe. I am glad I did not try painting the DS panel first, I do not have an extra one of those.
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Fred Kiehl
I used SEM paint. It worked great on my dashpad, but the hard plastic on the door turned pink (front top panel). I put a coat of SEM primer on it, and it still turned pink.
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Fred Kiehl
If I remember correctly, it is 4565.
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Fred Kiehl
2
Stingroo said:
What Dark Maple Red paint did you use?

That scares me, a lot.
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I let it dry overnight and reshot it again today...worked out fine. It really looks nice now. I do not know what the problem was. It cost me almost a can of paint. Pic of the dashpad, and the pink paint before respray.

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Fred Kiehl
I put the newly rehabbed and painted dash pad in today, and swapped radios between the cars. I also centered the radios vertically in the dash opening.

I have two almost identical radios and the radios are quirky, they only work with their own wiring adapter. Why does a 1 hour job take 6 hours?
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Fred Kiehl
Today I put the electric antenna in the Starship. I also found out that the PS front cladding was held on by a wish and a prayer. I had to make a couple of clips to hold the pins in the cladding, and I had to epoxy the sleve to the fender because someone drilled the hole a little oversize. While I had it apart, I found that there are some other quirks as well. I try to do one simple thing, and open a can of worms every time.

I also put a new center airdam, and a used DS airdam on it.

More coming.
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Fred Kiehl
1993 Roady-man said:
That pinkish fog color is due to moisture. Also if you put your paint can in the sunlight for awhile before spraying it heats the paint up and this won't happen. Did you do it early in the monring? Was there and dew outside when you did it?
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I did it in the evening. It was pretty humid. The next evening it took paint fine except for one small spot where I sanded it.

Latest is replacing both front door panels with newly painted front top panels that are perfect.
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Fred Kiehl
Installed my center console in the Starship, and repaired my PS door cladding and reinstalled it. Also installed the repainted front door panels. Gave it a bath too.
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Fred Kiehl
I replaced the run channel on the passenger's side front tonight. Now, I no longer have gaps at the bottom of the front run channels. With all the different run channels, the ones from a 95 Caprice fit my 91 OCC perfectly.
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Fred Kiehl
DidUTouchMe said:
Put fender skirts on, repainted steel wheels. Takin the RMW to a Buick,Caddy,Pontiac,Lasalle only car show Saturday.
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Pics of the skirts!
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Fred Kiehl
JOHNER said:
DAMN,...I would of said I was doing doughnuts in front of police station but ended up in the ditch...lol..
Really man,whats up?? that ditch is huge how did you miss it?cwm3
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The problem is that he did not miss it.
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Fred Kiehl
lwrdr2 said:
Did the right side valve cover and man was it disgusting underneath like the leftside. Now they are both chrome.



Now for more chrome accessories.
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You should have pulled the air pump while you were in there, and plugged the manifold holes. You would have had a lot more room for tools. It would have cleaned up the engine bay too.
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Fred Kiehl
I went to the local paintless dent removal company, and had a couple self inflicted dents removed from my DS front door...I was pleasantly supprized, because I can not even tell where they were. The guy subcontracts out of Tampa to body shops in the greater Tampa area. They charged me $100 ($107 with tax) and would have removed up to 4 dents per panel for that amount.
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Fred Kiehl
Wierd issue solved...My windshield slipped about 3/8 inched down, and partially covered the serial number barcode that is supposed to be in the little window. History: I had the windshield replaced last summer/fall because I accidentally cracked it. The replacement was installed, and I thought everything was just honky-dory...well it wasn't.

I have never heard of a window slipping...the top reveal could be pulled out with your fingers. Well the guy who did the job will not take my calls or call me back. I need to get this fixed pronto, or there could be some bad things happening. I called around for someone to R&R the windshield. Everybody is worried about breaking it...I finally got someone out around 5:00. He removed the windshield (he did not break it), and low and behold, the bottom of the glass was not attached to the body. Not being attached at the bottom, is probably the reason it did not break. The little white stops were missing too. I had them, so they got installed. I watched the entire process, helped put the glass in place to minimize the chance of breaking, and am satisfied that it is installed correctly now. It cost me $130 with a new OEM top reveal molding, instead of the generic one the first guy used.

While it was apart, I also put some sealant on the seam in the airbox under the cowl in an attempt to stop a persistant leak at my PS front floor.
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Fred Kiehl
lwrdr2 said:
Went to the junkyard and found a nice 91 OCC. And it only had 61K on it All I wanted was the grill to swap and it was the matching dark metallic blue. looked inside and decided to take lots of things.
Aside from the grille installed I now have the black face climate control panel, looks much nicer. Got the factory cassette player with all digital functions and the graphic EQ, tailgate glass popper, nice set of ventvisors.
Going back 2mara to get the headlight switch and the rear washer/wiper control panel, rear door hooks with lights and some more odds and ends. Best thing was everything I got 2day came out to $28 bux. Nice when its all half off.
Now when I put everything back the woodgrain parts of the dash are painted a med metallic gray. will look nice when I use the same color on the outside of the car too.

If there was only a way for me to cut the roof off so I could have the glass roof it would be nice.
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You can get the glass off of the top by removing the nuts inside, and cutting the urethane glue around the window. You need a long blade box cutter. It is a sizable job, but can be done with a little perserverence.
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Fred Kiehl
lwrdr2 said:
I was actually thinking of taking the entire roof off and transplanting it on the Caprice. Glass, roof rack and all.

Sad to see a car with that low miles in there. Only thing I saw wrong was the back door window was taped up and the tailgate had a big dent in it. Would love to take the car whole and transplant my running drivetrain in it.
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You did not say you have a Caprice wagon. The cost of the undertaking would far exceed the value returned.

What condition are the door claddings in? You should grab the instrument cluster. Since the tailgate is bent, grab the black wire guides along the DS top, and the wire clips in the slotted actuating arms...they break easily, and are not available. There is a small hold down thumb screw and catch for the spare cover...another hard to find breakable item. The wing windows on these cars tend to have the hinges come off. For your own parts stash you should have a pair of them. If the front seatbelts are nice, they are hard to get. You need a Torx 50 to remove them. Front bumper covers are a good item if you want to make some money. They sell for about $100 + shipping. What condition are the tail lights in? If they are nice, they are a high dollar item. Did you get the cargo bay light lenses? I have a list of parts I usually grab, but I don't want to burden you with it.
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Fred Kiehl
I replaced the aftermarket heater fan with an OEM used one...Double the amount of air in the cabin, maybe my AC will be a little colder this summer.

Adjusted the PS doors because I had a small leak at the top when it rained. Should be drier in the car now.

I have the carpet pulled back on the PS so that I can check for leaks at the front of the footwell. Looks like crap, but there is no other way to check it.
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Fred Kiehl
rematar said:
I have a press fit black OEM squirrel cage which was removed from a motor I tried to get repaired. I was wondering about dremeling off part of the hub and trying to bolt it onto a new motor. Have you looked at anything like that?
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I have considered removing the OEM fan, but have not made a valid attempt at it. I do not see how to remove it without destroying it. Once off, it should be a simple matter to fit it to the shaft of the "new" motor. The aftermarket fans come with a removable fan...it has a nut at the top of the shaft to hold it on anyway. The other issue I have with the aftermarket fans is the connector. The replacement fans come with a pair of wires and no connector. The connector on the OEMs is part of the fan itself, and you just plug the wiring side into the fan. It also has a foam gasket around the connector, which may be an leak issue if it is not there. If you can get the fan off of the OEM motor, seal the motor drip pan, and find the correct connector, then I would be inclined to install a new fan motor. On the other hand, getting a used one is cheaper initially, but there is no garauntee for longevity.
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Fred Kiehl
R&Rd my antenna on the Starship. I made a mistake when I repaired the last one. I used the top mast section from a RMS, and it turned out to be too long, bent the end, and broke the nylon cable off. I happened to have a correct part, and did a quick swap, now everything is right with the world.

Since I got the leak in my front footwell to stop, I put the carpet back in place. I bolted everything back together with one mod...I made a front door sill like the ones on the 94-96 cars. It worked out nice and now if I have to pull the front apart again, it will be a lot easier (hopefully that will not be necessary, and since I made the mod, it probably won't).

You would think I would get to drive the car now, but NooOOoo. Now the twilight sentinel is acting up, and sometimes I do not have rear lights.
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