Finally Mine.

Been waiting on a friend since March to decide what she was going to do with her wagon. I finally got the title today and its already in the shop getting a new timing chain. next project is repairing the windshield leak, wiper switch, then a headliner. i wish i had some more pics, but i had this one saved, its from the day she bought it last year. and a later day trip to myrtle beach.

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc265/jase386/Digcam147.jpg
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc265/jase386/Flobeach2.jpg

 

They are a good looking wagon. Worth the wait. Congrats.

 

Congrats that a great looking Chevy wagon. Tell us more about it.

 

I dont know what all there is to tell except for all the work she needs to be a good traveling car. I have a minivan id rather travel in, just for sentimental reasons, but the wagon needs some work.

A friend is working on the timing chain as i write. It should be ready tomorrow. The odometer is at 97,000 and some change, according to the title its 197k. The mileage i would assume is correct because of the amount of wear on the timing gears. Other issues that i will probably be asking about later are as follows.

It smokes on cold start up only, its a light blue puff of smoke that could be valve stem seals, or rings. My friend says that in the summer months when its really hot out, it goes thru coolant. But in the winter she didnt have to put any in.. thats strange to me, i would assume head gasket since the radiator, and hoses are new, however the headgasket would leak year round, and there is no oil in the coolant. I plan on having a full rebuild once i get the odo back to 00000 anyway.

More help ill need from the forum, in the near future is how to install a new signal/wiper switch. The windshield leaks, and ill just have that resealed at the glass place or body shop. and i want new front suspension because it sags a little, the rear, i think, has already been replaced. New headliner of and of course new upholstery at some point. Stormin' Blew us out with links to upholstery places, so i shouldnt have a problem find them to just recover them myself.

Her name is Flo, as in Kiss My Grits. My friend named her that, she says she just Flows down the road. Flo was bought new at a dealership in a neaby town by an older man, who, according to the sales receipt, traded in an 82 Chevy Wagon, and paid the difference in cash. He later gave Flo to his caretaker, and she stopped driving it about 3 years ago. Poor Flo was used as a pickup truck, and the rear footwell was covered in potting soil. She sat for 2 years with the rear window down under an oak tree. You can imagine the amount of time we spent cleaning her to get her to look the way she does now. My friend bought her, cleaned her up, and put her in the wind. In 13 months, she logged about 37,000 miles, then the timing jumped. And here we are.

 

Jase, I'd check out the tranny, rearend play and U-Joints on a high-mileage car, especially if was used as a commuter car (stop-go traffic). Wagons usually have a 2.73 to 3.27:1 rearend, and people still think they're running a Trans-Am.

Keep your eye out for a decent used Industrial sewing machine if you're gonna do the upholstery, or get one of the 1960's vintage Singer machines, something without all the fancy stitching features. You'll use pretty heavy thread and large, straight stitches. The nice thing about an old Industrial m/c is the big table and the down-pressure on the presser foot. When you have to turn a seat at 90 degrees, the smaller domestic models just don't have the heft to hold everything down and that means slippage, loose stitching.

The big machines can even handle some hardboard substrates like sun-visors and foam underpad for pleats (door panels, seats).

You can always sell it after you're done, anyway.

And get auto/marine grade thread - the regular upholstery thread has no UVA/UVB chemistry/protection.

I've been too long away from GM engines (1967 Caprice Convert) to be helpful with the newer GM's. The Stovebolt guys will have to chime in on the finer mechanical points there.

 

smoke;..sounds like valve seals...easy fix
anti freeze;...sounds like a minor leak,,,have it pressure tested
headliner;... stockinteriors.com
suspension;...I say hammer that thang!!...they look wicked LOW

glad you got her!!congrats

 

im more of a "how it came from the factory" kind of guy. wire hubcaps, white walls and all. I do, however love the wagon thats on Senri's avatar. Burgandy/Silver two tone, no hubcaps. There are several cars that look great with basic black rims, and the Caprice and Caprice wagons are one of those. Maybe he needs some police Center caps on that one.

ill check out that stockinteriors for sure. and i didnt even think about pressure testing the system. and ive done that before on another vehicle. Now for instructions on the valve seals. wish you lived nearby!!

 

Nice car! Glad you finally got it. It reminds me of my old 85' Caprice Estate. I sold mine for a measley $200 to a guy in Ohio.

 

holy cow, i would have been up for that deal if it still looked the way it does in that pic. Mine is a little rough inside, and i paid not much more than $200 but then i had to have a timing chain put in. plus its right at 200k miles. but shes been a good car for the previous owners, and they werent shy about using her. Shes in for a good life now as long as the money holds up. did yours have power windows and locks?

Does anyone know what exactly 'Estate Equipment" covers. it was a $200 or $300 option on the 85 Caprice wagon. Are they talking about the wagon body and badging or what?

PS. how do you apply those pics to the post like that with out using a link?

 

Well, it was an oil burner (high miles - used alot to go to Florida and New York) and the inside was very soiled (but the headliner was perfectly intact! LOL). I bought it from a lady I work with that bought it new. I originally bought it for parts, but decided not to. I think the guy that bought it from me was a derbier, but he did not say it. It was 100% rust free as well.

Yep, mine had power windows, power locks, cruise, tilt, power seats on both sides, etc. It was loaded. Notice it also had the cornering lights on the lower front fenders like my Safari had.

I think the "Estate" package mainly just added the woodgrain. I have seen some "plain" Estate wagons and some "fancy" Caprice Classic wagons (no woodgrain). I have a brochure somewhere I can check to be sure.

 

well crap, now im jealous. i love cornering lamps. and mine doesnt have it. guess that was an option you could order. once you get used to having them, then get in something without them, you miss them.

 

I didn't think it was much bigger, but I found this one. It turnes out it only misses the hubcaps at the front, but you were right. I really like it! I would take the ones off from the back as well. No cornering lights, though!

 

a local fella used to have a plain white Buick wagon. i would pass it on the way to work every morning. Plain white, with black wall tires, no hubcaps, but always clean. very sharp looking wagon, but to me a buick needs her hubcaps to preserve her dignity. a Chevy can pull off the look way better.

(as a side note, i always liked the "dustbuster" GM vans with no hubcaps too. Esp the early models.)

 

I do like this more or less scrappy look (although most that have that look are actually scrappy). Besides being full black and the letters this is a nice example:


I also agree that this is a sort of Chevy thing. The upper models don't suite this kind of look.