Got a call from one of my dad's employees couple days ago telling me he has a station wagon that he needs to get rid of and asked if I was interested. Before I could answer he said it needed to be gone by the weekend, all I had to do was come get it. Well I didn't bother asking questions (I probably should have) but a free wagon! I went and got it today, I have to keep reminding myself it was free! My 17 year old seen my face when I was unloading it off my car trailer and couldn't help herself and said,"That may teach you to quit taking free stuff!"
What's wrong with free? I have taken sh... things in a lot worse shape than that one is for free! I'd say it's a good score.
I can't see the frame but this looks much better structurally (not speaking for the lack of paint in places) than the 2000 Caravan I was driving from 2012 - 2016; I was using epoxy to hold up a sliding door at the end of the track. I bet this Buick sounds better than that Caravan's engine, too; the Caravan rattled all over when idling.
So what's the skinny on it? Except for the fading and clearcoat loss, it does look to be in good condition. Looks to be '85-'87?
It's a 1989 Century with a 3.3 V6. It was running, I drove it on the trailer and off plus about a half mile around my house, shifts good but it does have a misfire and it quit running on me today. It has fuel at the rails and the injectors are firing but it won't run. I got trouble code 44 when diagnosing which is a O2 or vacuum leak. When I was checking over it today while it was running I noticed some brittle vacuum lines. When I touched one it immediately started running rough and could hear it sucking vaccuum. I'm going to replace the lines and go from there since they need replacing anyway. It has 121,6xx miles on it and other then the surface rust on hood and roof the underside is solid. Not a wagon I would have bought but I'll take it for free.
A sucker punch is also free. But, in this case, the fun of it will be when 1tireman buffs out that paint finish. It looks like it was once a really nice car and remarkably dentless Ha, ha! Daughters can say things their mothers dare not, without getting into trouble, despite learning exactly that from their mothers. Women are better at reading body language and facial expressions than men are, generally, except for salesmen
Looks like a good score to me. As mentioned the body looks to be rust free and the 3.3 is a good engine.
Yeah, those nylon lines are crappo after a decade or so. I try to keep the ends that are in the rubber boots and use washer fluid line to replace the rest, or score good nylon pieces off newer vehicles and splice them in. Also, when I splice, I use yellow monkey snot as glue, so that the rubber doesn't easily split from around the nylon or leak due to mismatched sizes.
Been busy but going to try and fool with the little wagon tomorrow. I have a friend that is coming by and he wants to help me with it. He seen it the weekend I brought it home and was there when I shut it off and 15 minutes later it wouldn't start. He was really liking the little car. He made a living turning wrenches for about 20 years until he decided to change careers but still likes to wrench just not as a job. I'll let him help me get it going and probably give it to him, his Chevy Truck has 400,000 miles and developed that bottom end knock at start up so he could use it. I think it will make good a to b transportation. I am paying insurance on 6 vehicles and Louisiana has one of the highest rates so I really don't need another car on my insurance, the multi-colored discount thing isn't helping me out much! I'm going to start another thread in car/truck section on my 2 daughters new ride I found them, a one owner, garage kept 2002 Saturn L200 with 72,000 miles and the owner's husband is a mechanic I work with. Check it out over there.
Looks like a nice little car. My sister had a Buick century 4 door when she first got her license. It was a great little car. I am glad to see you rescued it and kept it from the crusher.
