Wood is GOOD! Here's my new-to-me Roady!

Wood is GOOD!

I really missed having a wagon with WOOD on the sides, it just didn't seem right, and I could not say all my Woody jokes!

And....I missed having a wagon with a Corvette-based LT1 engine...which this also has! Ha! Zoommm! I just could not get over my wife running off and leaving me in the Denali that evening...

The wire wheels and white-walls have to go, but other than that, this sucker is really CLEAN!

So here's the rundown on my new baby. 1995 Roadmaster Estate Wagon, white over maroon leather (base non-Limited). Been in the Dallas area all it's life, and always garaged..no rust ever, and no accidents. Buying from the second owner, who has had it for 20K miles. He bought it from the wife of the original owner, who sadly got alzheimer's (sp) and could no longer drive. They were members of the sellers church.

Car has the original snap-down floor mats, none of the door panels are cracked, and still has plastic on the 3rd row seat...never been sat on!
It's a non-tow-pack car, so I'm going to finally see what all the fuss is about regarding electric engine fans. Also hope to swap what I'm sure is a TALL non-posi rear axle for something shorter soon to wake it up. And of course, as mentioned, the car has Impala wheels in it's future.

The seller is a really nice guy, and was very up front with the few issues the car does have. He said the paint on the car is nearly perfect. There is a small scuff on the lower rear bumper. The woodgrain is flawless, but the trim around it is peeling some.

I want to polish the woodgrain outline trim. Folks please send me all the tips you can on this!

For other issues, the Pass-Key and Airbag lights are on. He said the car had an issue with not starting right after he got it, and when he got it back from being fixed, these two lights were on...will have to sort that out.... Also, he said the previous owner never sat in the back so the rear windows were never used..they just used theclimate control. When he bought the car he put the rear windows down for the first time and they "fell off the tracks" (ha! we know what that is!). He said they go down fine, but you have to help them go up straight. He knocked $100 off the price for this issue...and I'll be buying HELP rollers after work tonight...I'm getting good at doing these...haha.

It's also missing the chrome sliding rain on the roof-rack...what's up with that? The seller had no idea anything was missing...it was gone when he bought it. And he said the black side trim on the driver's quarter panel just came loose. I may pull it off before the drive home, and then will 3M it back on.

It does not have a CD player, and he said the radio works fine, but the tape deck eats tapes (just like my last Roady). Will hit the salvage yards for a good Buick CD radio this weekend for sure.

The only other non-stock change is the seller said he has a steep driveway and the exhaust tips kept scratching, so he took it too a muffler place, had the resonators removed, and the pipes now exit out behind the rear wheels....we'll see what I do regarding that.

The seller recently replaced the water pump, but the main reason he's selling it is the transmission went out, and he just had to replace it, and now I think he's worried what's next. He said the trans has a warranty on it and only has 100 miles on it since the rebuild. I'm thrilled to death, as we all know the 4L60E in these tends to fail around 100-150K, and this is done. Other than that, and some say the Opti, these cars are bulletproof! Hahaha!

So yeah, it needs some love on the cosmetics here and there, but it sure looks like a nice start for my next project. I'm going to pick it up after work tomorrow, and will have another long-winded update after the trip I'm sure.

I'm tickled! Got me another woody wagon! Yeah!!

-Texas Mike is a Happy Man!

We'll call these the "before" pics of my new project! Man I need some Impala wheels!

 

Looks like it's in great shape. That interior is amazing. The work on the woodgrain surround trim sounds like a great father-son-son-son project. Hey - pay them by the foot? Also, I seem to remember somebody posting that the trim rails were metal on some, but plastic on others? I always liked the '67 Caprice Estates and the Colony Parks that had metal trim instead of wood' trim. Be neat to do it to mine, but the trim is too wide to look good that way.

 

Congrats....... so have I missed something? You still have your other wagon? So you now are hording them also? Or when it comes to hording wagons, ya still staying in denial?



EDIT..... I just saw your other post

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=255484#post255484



Ya still should have horded IMO

 

I figured I had missed something as well. Then I saw the other post.

Congrats on the new car man. My favorite part is that the windows aren't tinted so your little boy can sit in the way back and wave to everyone again.

 

Hahaha...well tint is at the top of the to-do list. It's Texas, as the a/c has no chance of getting past the front seats without tint down here. Plus the car was always garaged and I am not letting that pretty maroon leather get sunburned!

-Mike

 

Congrats, great looking wagon!

 

Wow, what a terrific turn of events! It's a shame about the whitewalls and wire wheel covers, but she's your baby now! Next thing to try to find would be a neat Buick sport wheel for inside. So your OCC will be residing in good company still, with all those others! Hope the guy comes into this club.

 

Nice, very nice.

 

Congrats! My wife and I feel the same way about a Woody wagon. I passed on a couple of non-Woody's before I got mine. Looks great!

 

Congrats Mike!

 

I started catching up on the forum here and saw you posted your OCC for sale and then saw it was sold, and then saw why, and now I'm here, and yes, I think you did the right thing. I'm about to go through several vehicle changes myself.

- selling the Gran Torino
- buying something from the late 50s to mid 60s*
- buying a Yugo (yes, you heard me right, a Yugo)
- buying the wife a little car (she found a near mint 2003 Sebring LXi sedan she likes)
- possibly selling the Suburban after summer is over to get a black 07+ Yukon XL

I feel like maybe if I change out the vehicles often enough I'll have enough variety to be stable in other parts of my life.

*contenders so far are something from that Nebraska dealer auction, a yellow '57 Ford Custom 300 sedan, black '60 Ford Galaxie sedan, copper '58 Edsel Corsair sedan, some 64-66 Chevrolet sedans, and some basket case '57 Chevy post sedans.

 

Great news Texas Roady Mike (TRM? for short)

The best part for the rest of us is being able to watch your new Roady go from a nice wagon to WOW over the next while. More pictures from recycle yards, more how-to's, more road trips with pictures.............it just gets better all the time.

 

Six speed the first mod?

 

Hehehe :banana:

 

Heading up to get the car this afternoon. Will report tomorrow.

Oh boy!

-Mike