Roadmaster Wagon Touring Pics and Deer Strike Pics

2/20/2016 - Finally got a free Saturday and saved up enough funds to go salvage-yarding for parts.

Yard 1, Fidel's Hwy 71 Salvage, Austin Texas:
Found a sad version of my favorite color 96 Roady wagon...picked out and very rough.


Car had the radiator support, but looked bent...most-likely from being yanked around the yard.

 

2/20/16 - Yard 2, Wrench-A-Part Austin Texas:
HOLY COW! 65K mile 94 LT1 tow-pack rust-free Austin Texas-since-new Roady had JUST hit the yard! Almost untouched when I got to it!!


Totally complete, and only 65K miles!!


Filthy and faded, but DOOR PANEL IS NOT CRACKED!


Tailgate dented and wood faded, but not a spec of rust on this car! Gotta love native-Texas vehicles!

 

Underside is SO VERY clean!

 

More underside pics if 65K salvage yard Roady



I seriously think with a battery and some fuel this thing would have fired right up.


Sadly both the hood and the fender were pretty dented-up, and the wood is too faded anyway. BUT I can sure use a lot of what is UNDER this hood! Last pic before the parts-stripping starts!


Has all the underhood parts I need, tow pack car too.




AND....I tore it apart....done. In addition to me, folks showed up and took the entire exhaust, tail lights, rear wiper and 3rd brake light, and air compressor. She got stripped!!

 

2/20/16 - My haul from that ppor 65K yard Roady! Radiator support, condenser, fan, power antenna, grill mounting and latching hardware, bumper trim under headlights, corner air dam, lower fan mount, and ECM plastic "box".


Complete radiator support with all mounts, hardware, decals, and condensor. WOO-HOO!


I nabbed this uncracked driver's door panel. I'll SEM-dye it to match mine if my current one ever cracks. These are RARE now! Also snagged a spare power antenna from a '95 Caprice I saw on the way out of the yard! I never pass those up.


I also nagged a non-tow-pack fan shroud from the Caprice that had that power antenna, since I'm running electric fans and will not be using a big shroud.


Replacement for my driver's side fan. My passenger-side fan was not damaged when I hit the deer.


That was it for a while. Had to save some more money up and make some more time.

-Mike

 

3/13/2016 - Well not accident-related, but while looking for parts to fix the body, I found this perfect Ruby Red sedan seat for my wagon. These are hard to find in Texas where interiors burn up. Adding this mod to the 2-do list. Wagon will be nicer than it was when done for sure!



Sedan rear seat all cleaned and waiting. The seat bottom snaps right in, but the back has to be combined with the wagon seatback to fold down. Will be sending to the upholstery shop soon. Great mod! Sedan seats match the front seats, with much deeper pillows and foam, and the fold-down center arm rest. A LOT nice than the flat wagon middle-row seat.



Also nabbed a set of hard-to-find Ruby Red snap-down factory Roadmaster floor mats. Lots of good finds while looking for body parts to fix the deer-damage!

 

3/17/2016 - Finally found a decent hood on a '93 Caprice Sedan at Austin Wrench-A-Part. Faded but not a ding in it and rust-free! Woo-Hoo!


Now the really cool and amazing part, my friend Richard up in Fredericksburg nabbed me this fender too. After looking all over Texas for thre months for a white fender with decent wood, from San Antonio to Dallas, and east to Houston, Richard found this fender at a salvage yard there near Fredericksburg, about 2-miles from where I hit the deer in the first place. AMAZING! Woo-Hoo Again!



Trim around the wood is shot, but main woodgrain is nice and dark! Looks good!


Got home and set the used fender on the car. Wood matches pretty well!!




It's just a hair lighter, but I can live with it. Now, to PAINT!

 

3/26/16 - Radiator support sanded and painted with black chassis paint. Also painted the grill mounting bracket and all the parts associated to the latch assembly and supports. Coming Along!




Worked on hood insulation this afternoon. This came from the salvage yard. Light spots are sunlight coming through the trees. I removed on torn area and then painted it all with flat black. Looks nearly-new in person! Great tip from the Impala SS Forum!

 

3/28/2016 - So had a "Hold-My-Beer-And-Watch-This" Redneck evening. Put my son Eddie in the Roadmaster with his foot on the brake, then put my Dad in the Denali, and put a tow-chain from the Roadmaster radiator support to the Denali's hitch, and I stood beside the Roadmaster and had Dad drive forward and yank the bent radiator support away from the motor until it was about where it used to sit, ...pre-deer. SCORE! I can now get at radiator, condensor, and all the wiring, and the battery can be removed, followed by the damaged radiator support. I'm sure we looked funny in the driveway doing this! I just soaked all the transmission and engine cooler lines at the fittings with PB Blaster.







With a little luck I'll be able to yank the front end off the car this weekend. Progress!

 

3/29/2016 - Big thanks to Terry in Washington State and James in Georgia for this awesome new front bumper trim, and to Chris for referring me to Central Texas Metal Polishing here in Round Rock. Trim looks FANTASTIC! Now I just need a bumper to install it on!

 

3/31/16 Brand-New Radiator and A/C Condensor came in.


I put every nut, bolt, fastener, and screw in my vice, used a wire wheel on them, and painted them. Now to remember where all this stuff goes.... Arrghhh....

 

4/2/2016 - Gorgeous Saturday morning. This is the "replace the radiator support" weekend.




Laying the refinished or new replacement parts out:



Let's tear this sucker down!!


Damaged radiator and Condensor OUT. God Bless PB Blaster, after spraying the fittings nightly since last Monday the trans and engine cooler lines came right off!




Splain this to me! These hoses go nowhere! They were just sitting in front of and beside battery next to the rad support? What's missing here?? NOTHING! Turns out these "vent-to-atmosphere", OK then!

 

4/2/2016 - continued
Damaged Radiator Support OUT!


Good Lord...she's naked..



Assembly of radiator support. Using the old bent one as a model for what-goes-where on the new one.



As most of you know I try to keep my cars nice, but still with all this removed there is 20-years of grunge under here. Can't put it back together like this. Let the cleaning BEGIN!!



So THERE's that Optispark I've heard so much about! Wish I had the funds to swap it here. Sure would have been easy!


What a filthy mess!

 

4/2/2016 - continued
Inner front bumper, front frame horns, and lower front inner fenders painted Chassis Black.








Bought new radiator hoses and replaced all the rotten evaporation canister hoses.

 

4/2/2016 - continued
Those rotten evaporation canister hoses were a nasty job! Sooty mess!!


That's it for Saturday April 2nd. Worked ALL DAY!