What I have been doing lately...
Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 7:55 am
As most of you know we don't have an Astro or Safari and have mostly converted to the Dodge side. I say mostly cause as of a couple weeks ago we had only 1 GM brand in the driveway. Well, actually Jessie has it at college. She is running the Buick while she is in school and then for how ever long she wants. A couple weeks ago we added another GM to the stable. 
Lynne's Grandparents had a 1986 Caprice Classic Brougham. Lynne's Grandpa died in 1992 and Gram died in 2002 and the car was parked in a tool shed on the farm since then. We finally inherited it. 
It was covered in 7.5 yeasrs of dust and dirt and hadn't been started in 4 or 5 years. The battery was completely toast so we ran to wally world and bought the cheapest one they had and installed it and the car fired up and ran! 
I wish I would have grabbed the camera before leaving home but I didn't. 
We pressure washed the car after airing up the tires and backing it out of the shed. Only blew 1 brake line and she was running at a high idle but we drove it on the trailer for the ride home! Once home I started adding up the costs to get road worthy and figured it would be worth it. Parts are CHEAP!
Work done:
New calipers, wheel cylinders, shoes and h/w kit. Rotors, pads and drums were in great shape. New brake lines on the rear axle, new tailpipe from muffler back (deleted the resonator). I then found the radiator leaking so it got a new radiator, rad cap and thermostat. Hoses and belts are in good shape. After that I pulled the Rochester Quadrajet and rebuilt it. Found the reason for the high idle...choke heater coil was bad. New choke, fuel filter and air filter and she is running good. I also installed a tranny cooler and did a lube, oil and filter. She is now on the road!
Some pics:
Actual mileage!
Lynne's Grandparents had a 1986 Caprice Classic Brougham. Lynne's Grandpa died in 1992 and Gram died in 2002 and the car was parked in a tool shed on the farm since then. We finally inherited it. It was covered in 7.5 yeasrs of dust and dirt and hadn't been started in 4 or 5 years. The battery was completely toast so we ran to wally world and bought the cheapest one they had and installed it and the car fired up and ran! I wish I would have grabbed the camera before leaving home but I didn't. We pressure washed the car after airing up the tires and backing it out of the shed. Only blew 1 brake line and she was running at a high idle but we drove it on the trailer for the ride home! Once home I started adding up the costs to get road worthy and figured it would be worth it. Parts are CHEAP!
Work done:
New calipers, wheel cylinders, shoes and h/w kit. Rotors, pads and drums were in great shape. New brake lines on the rear axle, new tailpipe from muffler back (deleted the resonator). I then found the radiator leaking so it got a new radiator, rad cap and thermostat. Hoses and belts are in good shape. After that I pulled the Rochester Quadrajet and rebuilt it. Found the reason for the high idle...choke heater coil was bad. New choke, fuel filter and air filter and she is running good. I also installed a tranny cooler and did a lube, oil and filter. She is now on the road!
Some pics:
Actual mileage!
