What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

Congrats, Badwagon! I like the dark green with wood.


What have I done lately........ I drove the Olds and the Buick today (with the dogs of course)

last year early Dec I put the dogs in the Olds one morning and started driving away to then have Deb come flying out the front door to tell me the insurance expired on the 10th.......

Well I have been so busy since I came out of early/semi retirement going at it 6 days a week all I seem to do is come home, read the forum, and take the dogs for a walk. I don't drive anywhere once I come home, if I need something from the store I walk the dogs a extra time to get what I need.

So I insured both on the first of this month and there they sat until today 8AM. Awesome sunny day, nice and warm so I tossed the dogs in the Olds and went for a hour+ drive, got home and did the same with the Buick...... the dogs along with myself were in heaven . I even think there is some hope for the younger generation as while stopped at a red lite 3 young freeks in a real beater stopped beside me and hollered "That thing is wicked, what is it?". Up until today the only compliments I have ever gotten with the Buick has been from those who remember them when they were new and small children aside there parents.

But now the fun is over for today, read the forum with my and then get some long over due yard work for the rest of the day

 

When I pulled out of the mall in November in the Mercury, I heard a guy who I'm guessing was in his 20s say something like "I wouldn't mind having one of those." Though he could be older than me.

 

Finally did something with the wagon. She's been parked in our side yard most of the winter, because it's been too cold and wet to do much with her. Last night I gave her a jump start and limped over to the gas station (running on fumes and low on tranny fluid) so I could fuel up and top off the transmission fluid. Until it dries out and warms up a bit 'round here, I'll probably hold off doing serious work. Gonna have to clean the mold off the interior again... Stupid door leak.

But hey, running Ol' Beastie for that short time has given me the motivation to save my change for some much-needed repairs. Soon she'll be roaring down I-5 once more!

 

The old dark cherry Roadmaster developed a stalling and hard starting issue. It was so bad that I had it towed home from work 2 Saturday's ago. The car would start (very long start) then would run for about 35 minutes then stall and could not be restarted for 2-3 hours. Found it to be the ignition module. Installed the new one and away we went!

 

I re-did the ignition to fix a misfire and have been driving it every day this past week until the salt truck came out. It was great and got a ton of attention from people. Apparently a '73 vintage isn't something most people are used to seeing.

 

Most people born after 1980 don't even know what a station wagon is at all much less one from 73. The Minivan generation missed out!

 

thanks modelT
i have the vintage air, will be installing soon. i agree i'm under the dash anyway might as well change the wiring completely.

 

After pulling the Volvo 740 out of our driveway through 5" of unshoveled snow and getting it out on the street so my wife could get her XC90 out, I put the fuel filler door back on. You would think that the Swedish (of all people) wouldn't spring load a piece of plastic that gets brittle in cold weather. Half of the hinge shot across the gas station last week when I went to fill up on a 7 degree night, and the door fell off. Again. Volvo started using this hinge with the 740 in 1983 and has used it on all subsequent new models, although all of them since the mid-90's aren't spring loaded anymore so they last longer.

 

I had a little accident and tore up the passenger side front of my 91 OCC. I bought a fender, and it did not have the antenna hole, and appeared to not fit correctly, so I bought another fender. I realized that I had to raise the core support about a quarter of an inch to make it fit. I also had a good hood, so I took it to a welder, to have him weld the ornament hole shut...I got it back bent in two places, and the patch was only welded about 180 degrees. The front half was loose. I bought another hood, and did it myself (mine was much better).

I tried painting the first fender myself, and got more fisheyes than a school of sardines. Scratch that. I also was sold paint that no longer matched the color of the car (total color change before I got it). I gave up and decided to get the whole car painted. I do not have a lot of money, so I went to a budget shop...mistake!!!

I finally got the bodywork done after my incident (PS fender, hood, and bumper cover), and took the Starship to paint...Well it is going back to get the screw-ups fixed. The idiots sanded my chrome around the windows, dented my hood, missed paint on my rearview mirrors (I took them off so they could paint the backside), completely missed painting my roof rack cross piece and when they took the tape off of my tail light lenses, it pulled the clearcoat off. Tuesday is the day it goes back. I hope the problem areas are fixed properly. It really scares me to take it back, but I can not afford to get it painted allover again.

While it was apart, I found that the driver's side speaker was frozen, and had to get a matched pair of speakers...this is getting to be a can of worms...I had to replace the mounts for the speakers on both sides, because the installer used particle board, did not seal it, so it swelled from water leaking on it. The wire clamps on the crossovers were crusty, and I had to directly solder the wiring to the boards. I relocated them as well to an area less likely to get wet.

So now I have a working stereo, and one of these days soon, I will be able to reinstall my interior door panels.

The lesson I learned from this is: if the traffic is moving slow, it is not time to relax, something stupid is going to happen in front of you. Be on heightened alert, and look for escape routes.

 

something stupid is going to happen in front of you. Be on heightened alert, and look for escape routes.
In Florida the only escape routes away from something stupid are north of I-10!

 

I watched the very last snow flake melt off of my wagon today.

 

You know I had forgot about you having a "bubble" OCC wagon. As rarely as these wagons are seen, it is odd that there are TWO of these less than 3 miles from my house. What is odd is that they are about a mile apart, owned by different people. One is blue and one is white. The blue one is driven by a younger lady and she has had the donut spare on it for about a year now. . I don't think the car is well cared for or loved, but it is still a nice looking car. The other one is white and the car has been setting in the front yard for years. It gets moved from time to time (as does a couple of other cars that sets around a lot there), but it still has moss growing on it. I wouldn't mind having either one of them.

 

I took mine in to a local shop to have the radiator flushed, picked up the hoses at NAPA and had them swapped at the same time. They replaced the heater hoses and thermostat too.
I asked them to look at the front end as I am going to head to Myrtle Beach at the end of March for a big car show they have. They replaced the bushings in the idler arm.
Got a couple new shocks up front.
Rear axle was leaking, so they pulled and replaced bearing and seal.
Got the power steering system flushed as well.

I seem to be in pretty good shape. ALthough I still haven't gotten the cold idle set right on the carb.

 

Darn, now I know why to stay away from some shops.

As for me, the Wagon's just staying in the garage all winter... I'm thinking of changing the oil, ATF and differential fluid eventually. Where can I find what kind of a differential is in the Mercury? I guess the manual in the glove box would be a good place to start.

 

It's been rough here in NY for the past couple of months with snow and cold temps so it was nice out and I got my
car washed.
Looks so much better.