Such a Deal!?!?!? "Garage Find" '92 Roadmaster Sedan

Took the Roady Sedan to the Stone Hill weekly Saturday-night cruise-in, Pflugerville Texas. Still a lot of work to do, but figured we'd take the Sedan out and show it off a bit. It got a lot of good comments, and looked great next to the classic black Buick Eight next to it!

 

Sunday 8/6/17 work. FIRST, when picked-up, only the right/front power window was working. Now I have both rears working too. Still need to fix the driver's-side front..needs a motor, on order from Rock Auto. The rest have roller/slider issues...common. I do like how the Sedan rear door glass goes all the way down into the doors when open. The Wagon rear door glass only goes down halfway.


Next, I worked on radio repairs. When picked up, only the speaker in the driver's front door worked, and it sounded terrible. Went an bought all-new speakers to go in the stock locations.


Have to completely remove the rear seat to do the deck 6x9 speakers. DUMB design, and worse, I learned this after emptying out the trunk, including the spare! On boxy B-body sedans, you can change speakers in the trunk in no time. Not on round-bodies! They mount from inside the car! Doh! Have to remove all this to get to the rear speakers. Yikes. Notice in top picture I had to re-glue some of the attachment clips, being held together here with clamps.




Found that the rear-mounted antenna wire was crushed under the seat frame...my guess is from the factory when brand new. Amazed this car has any radio reception! Look how crushed this wire is!



Found under the rear seat in the 92 Roadmaster Sedan. Don't you wish you could find a pink Kazoo too?



Old stock speakers, about to remove them.


New Sony 4-way, 800-watt 6x9 speakers installed. Also notice the HUGE 3rd brake light that contains three bulbs. Had to replace one bulb while this was apart. All fixed now.



New Sony rear speakers installed and everything back together. You'd never know it had been apart.


Once I got the back speakers installed, I went to try them and found out the original radio had a bad right channel, will only play out the left speakers. This Buick Riviera radio was donated to the cause by a good local car buddy. It's a step-up from what the sedan originally had, but still correct for the car, to retain the stock look, and will play the Frank Sinatra cassette that was in the car just fine!


Hopefully I can get the radio installed after work tonight, and will be replacing one burned out light in the dash cluster behind the tachometer at the same time. Then later in the week will do the rest of the power window repairs and replace the front door speakers. PROJECTS!

-Mike

 

Video of ASC power sunroof working: Video of the dealer-installed power moonroof.

 

A Kazoo, yes. A pink one, no. Pink ones don't taste the same and they smell funny.

 

Ain't no pink kazoo's gonna touch these lips, no no no.

 

Took the dash apart yesterday evening to install new/used Delco radio, and also replace burned-out bulb in instrument cluster behind tach. Can you believe I had a TBI Roadmaster gauge cluster in my attic parts stash? Me either...I've never owned a TBI Roadmaster, yet there it was. Stole needed bulbs from it. Ha! Dash is nice and bright now!





Got the radio in and it works fine. I still have to replace the door speakers, but the new rear Sony speakers sound good. Pardon the sound on my cell phone video...in person it sounds a lot better.
Radio Working - Radio Video





My '96 Roady Wagon kept watch over me as I worked on the '92 Roady sedan.


It's fun to compare the vehicles. It really is amazing how DIFFERENT two similar vehicles can feel. From the sound of the motors starting and running, to the way the doors close, to the feel of the seats and the view of the dash and over the hood, to the way they ride and handle, these vehicles feel TOTALLY different.

The Sedan is very soft (Dynaride!), and very slow with the tall highway gears, but very smooth, and the cloth Limited seats make me want to take a nap, you sink into them and they curve around you. You can see more of the hood from the driver's seat in the Sedan, which makes it feel more...stately.

The wagon, with leather seats, is easier to slide in and out of, and the wagon handles much better (Gran Touring Suspension, Tow Pack and KYB Bas-A-Just shocks), is MUCH faster (LT1 baby!), and feels much lighter on it's feet than the sedan. The handling is firmer, and it just feels...much newer. The wagon actually feels smaller too...maybe due to that sloping hood.


They are both VERY nice vehicles, and it's fun to compare them. Oh, I hate, hate, HATE the wire wheel hubcaps on the sedan. Hard to clean, and they rattle and creak driving down the road. Can't wait to put the Impala wheels on the sedan!

Next up for the sedan is power window work and new front door speakers. The new window motor for the driver's-front door should be in today or tomorrow...fun job there. I also ran all over town this weekend getting Dorman/Help window sliders, #74444, which are getting harder to find. Seemed like every parts store had one in stock, and I needed six, so ran all over Austin. Projects!

Having fun! Take Care All!


-Texas Mike

 

It is fun to compare the Roadmaster noses. The sedan is much taller when you walk in front of it than the wagon. My son HATES the way the sedan looks, says it's frowning, ha!

 

Hey, that Buick Eight, what specific year is it? My dad's college buddy was from a Buick family.

 

I believe it was a '41 model. Full disclosure, before about 1955 I get fuzzy with years. I can spot a 54 and 41 Chevy, a 49 and 50 Ford, and a 54 Skylark and 49 Caddy, but from about '55 on, I'm pretty good with most models...but yes. I THINK it was a 41.

 

My favorite cars are the older ones. I tried to cheat but the Texas tag looks like 54. I can't zoom in like some can. Since after 1941 not many cars or trucks were built for civilians that would eliminate 42 thru 45 except a rare few with blacked out chrome. So 1940 or 41 seems correct. I'd also guess a 1941 without the LT1 engine.

 

Yeah, Dad thought '41 or '46 right off the bat. Gorgeous car, though.

 

Latest Updates

8/9/2017 - Window roller time. Passenger-side first.


Well there's your problem! I HATE those factory sliders! Broken right in half!


Must-Have pliers to remove old factory sliders. Use the diagonal pliers to snip the broken sliders in half, then yank the pieces out with some long-nose pliers.



New Dorman HELP roller/sliders. THE permanent fix for B-Body whales and round-body cars.


I use my bench grinder to sand the thickness of the new slider nearly in half. This allows the slider to be easily installed into the track rail, and to move totally free with no friction when using power windows.



After installing the slider in the rail, line the ball pivot on the regulator up with the slider, and use a small clamp to force the ball into the slider.


It WORKS.


Apply white lithium grease to the rails, regulator pivot points, door latch and lock, and anything else that MOVES inside the doors while you have the chance. Run the window up and down a few times and then add more grease. Work the locks, door handles and such as well. Everything should move freely.


Back together, and used some duct tape to re-attach the plastic protector.


I also always replace the Christmas Tree clips. Bag is about $6 at Napa and worth it! No rattles allowed! New Napa Christmas-tree clips. These flex, unlike the brittle ones Autozone sells. The Napa ones are just like factory ones.



Passenger rear door back together and working perfectly!

Front passenger door next. Same steps as above, plus added new 4-way speakers.




FIXED!


Next-up, driver's-side doors. Wheee!

-Mike

 

8/11/17 - Backed into the garage for driver's-side door window repairs and speakers, and shocks, and oil change.


About to remove door panel.


Tools for the repair.



Driver's door has the most wiring mess. Need to be really careful too, all the plastics are brittle, want ZERO rattles.



Panel carefully removed. These panels are more stout than the 94-96 panels, but they can crack. Got to be careful.


Inner panel with stuck window and blown speaker


Back together!

 

Power seats are sticky, did not want to move forward and back with a person seated in the car. I unbolted and lubricated all the mechanisms really well. Works perfect now! Did both front seats, using white lithium grease on all adjusters and pivot-points.

 

8/11/17 - Time for shocks and the oil change. Got my son Eddie to jump in with this work. His first shock job.


I personally like KYB Gas-A-Justs, but the Excel-G are good too, just softer. We're trying to keep that "DYNARIDE" smoothness, but just without the extreme float. These will do that.


It's a real shame these tires are so flat-spotted and old. They have great tread, and are Goodyears, but the car sat on them for years. Thump-Thump-Thump...


Eddie Massey doing his first shocks. Proud of my smart kiddo!



Removing the oil FROM 2012! Yikes! It was still not black...that's something... Car will be MUCH happier now!


Nighttime Engine Degreasing and Detail. Because it's August in Texas and this is the coolest time of the day! LO5 5.7 TBI 350. Outstanding motor, will run FOREVER!




This is the THREE-BODY mafia trunk.
Cleaned-out the trunk, aired up the original Uniroyal Gold Seal spare tire, mounted the jack and hardware correctly and installed the tire cover and storage net. Also lubricated the trunk auto-latch pull-down assembly. Everything looks new!