Coming home with a Buickload
 

Visited Danny today and picked up my 1966 RCA CTC-25 Dorrance. Also found a 1985 Panasonic 4 head VCR at an estate sale for 5 bucks, and it works. On the way back from Atlanta now, in the rain. The Dorrance cabinet is in the trunk covered in plastic.

Good haul!

One question about the Buick: does it have the nearly-indestructible 3800 engine?

It is a 1998 Buick LeSabre Custom with 166,500 miles on the clock. It has the 3800 Series II.

Funny anecdote.....I had a picture tube shield just like that sitting in my garage from a parted out God knows what from years ago. I used it to make a new lower quarter panel for my '62 Mercury a couple months ago :D

Would love to see pictures of the cabinet when you get everything unloaded.

Is this the one that someone bleached the cabinet?

Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. The Buick 3800s are probably the finest American-built engines in my opinion.

Hope you remembered to degauss it before painting it so that light blue paint job don't develop pink and green blotches. :D

The buick 3800 is probably the best V6 GM ever made hands down. They're reliable(aside from intake leaks). There a LOT of well made american engines(most are not made anymore) :( I drive Ford trucks and the best ones were built in the 90's(300 sixes) were bullet proof but we dont make inline 6's anymore. I have an 06 with a 3 valve 5.4, so far so good at 163K MILES. People will poo poo them but maintenence is the key.

Here is the Dorrance in its new home. Had a mishap when putting the tuner in, it somehow got crooked and the knobs wouldn't go on straight. Ended up breaking a small piece of the plastic on the mask. I stuck it back in and it was fine. Unfortunately, that's not the only casualty. The top left coil on the convergence board snapped off, but the wires are still attached, so it still works.

Very nice. I bought and sold a boatload of used CTC25's back in the late '70's when I was in college.

I and a friend actually managed to put two console sets into the trunk of my 1964 Coupe deVille. I repaired them and sold them. Ah, the olden days when I could get away with such crazyness...:D

Amen to that. Most people think "Ford" and "lemon" are synonymous. Our 1984 Mercury Lynx went through two abusive owners before we got it in 1992. By the time we got it there was a leak in the oil pan, the brakes needed a lot of work, a driveshaft had broken and the parking brake was toast. Seems counter-intuitive that the clutch was fine; perhaps it was replaced shortly before the car was parked. Once fixed up it ran just fine while we had it, powered through snow like a 4x4 and was great on gas. The only problem we had with it was the brakes on the left rear wheel seizing once. One quarter panel had a lot of Bondo and the edge of the hatch was rusted through, but I saw cars like it in great shape years later. As you said maintenance is the key.

I still do and have no plans to stop. :D For instance, yesterday I hauled a 25V set 2.73 miles (4.4 kilometers)* on a four-wheel dolly before I caught a ride the rest of the way. Tomorrow I'm going to the same place to get another big set!

* I always plug my return route into MapQuest or Google to get the distance when hauling something big on foot. The dolly is a convertible unit and easily toted around by bus.

I had an entire tube era electronic organ in the trunk of my 78 Lincoln Mark V....And The trunk lid was an inch or two shy of latching. :banana::D

Had 48 cases of empty Bud tall boys in my 76 Coupe Deville.
Had to put some on the back seat. All N.H. cans that didnt
have deposits & the beer was cheaper also. Turned them
in in Mass. Pure profit.:thmbsp:

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

When did they start marking the cans with the state that deposit was paid.
Our taxes in Wisconsin are high enough without that!
Around here, very few aluminum cans go the the landfill. :thmbsp:

Got 247,000 out of an '06 V8 Mustang. Stick. Still has its original clutch. Coworker's got it - 285,000. Still goes :)

Most cars these days will last a good long time if you maintain them.

As for inline sixes - were there any bad ones from anyone? It seems pretty much any inline 6 out there was just a good motor. Toyota got them right, Ford did, AMC, BMW, Jaguar.

Mass cans had several states carved into top, bottles printed
on labels. Then they came out with can eating machines that couldnt
tell anyhows. I think they finally changed the UPC on deposit cans.
N.H. used to be a dirt cheap place to live but a lot of what are called
Massholes took over the south half & wrecked everything. Still only
have a few taxes.
Sin
real estate
timber sales
buisiness profits

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Mopar slant sixes, International six truck engines. GMC made their own inline sixes.

Speaking of Buicks I'm now the Proud owner of a 2003 Buick Regal LS which also has the 3800 Series II engine in it with only 107,000 I bought it after my 2000 Chrysler Cirrus LX got wrecked by ironically enough a 2000 Buick Century (which is basically the sister car to the Buick Regal)anyways I've been pretty happy with it so far except for the fact that the driver side heated seat didn't work when I got it because the switch was bad and when I finally replaced the switch assembly on it the seat works now but its not nearly as warm as the passenger seat is for some reason. also it was in a wreck at some point in time in its life and the previous owner had the front end completely replaced but whoever did the replacement didn't do it right as the grille wasn't attached properly (because they left the original fiberglass mounting bracket in place which was broken and because of that the grille wasn't mounted properly), also they replaced the driver side headlamp assembly with one that wasn't for the correct year or the correct car (it was a head lamp assembly from a 2000 Buick Century which was slightly different from the 2003 Buick Regal Headlamp assembly, even though they're technically the same car) and it didn't have the curblight in it which is what the orginal had because that's how it was originally ordered according to the original window sticker from the car that I found in the owner's manual packet) also when they installed the new front end on the car they didn't line up the passenger side fender properly so because of that the gap between the hood and the passenger side fender where they're supposed to meet is a lot larger than its supposed to be and also there's a large crease in the fender because the mounting brackets that mount the fender to the frame was pulled in too far (which is why there's too much of a gap in between the hood and the fender.) Anyways other than that its been a pretty good car it runs well and has disc brakes all around. Also I was wondering but how common is it for the console on these Buick Regals to get broken? I'm wondering because when I got my Regal the cup holder assembly was broken and the wood trim piece that goes around the shifter was broken off for some reason and also I've noticed that if you try to shift the car into 2nd or 1st gear the shifter is hard to get into those gears and it jerks the shifter box to the point that its almost like its going to come loose out of the console. Anyone on here had any experience with the Buick Regals and specifically with some of the issues I'm having with mine?

Also I just remembered, but how common is it for the catalytic converter to go out prematurely on a car? I'm wondering because right after I had bought my car the Service Engine Soon light came on and I checked it with a OBD II Test Tool at Auto Zone and it said that the Catalytic Converter was failing which to me doesn't seem right considering the car only has 107,000 miles on it and from what I've read the catalytic converters are supposed to last the lifetime of the vehicle, and I took the car to the mechanic and he said that sometimes the rear Oxygen sensor goes out and triggers the Service Engine Soon light but he said that the rear oxygen sensors are supposedly nearly impossible to get out and so because of that they have to replace the whole catalytic converter assembly which they quoted would be about $600 which I really am not ready to plunk down that kind of money on repairs yet for the car, although I think the car's fuel economy is kind of suffering because of that because I can only go about a week on a tank of gas on the car and I've kept track of the trip-odometer reading between fill ups and I'm only averaging about 215 miles on a tank of gas.

Anyways I would love to hear what you guys have to say about what I'm experiencing here, as this is only my second car I've owned that's had a V6 in it and both cars had the 3800 in it (my first car which was a 1988 Oldsmobile Delta 88 which had a first Generation 3800 in it, and I know that was able to go about 2 weeks on a tank of gas and went about 300 miles on a tank) and now this Buick which has a 3800 Series II Engine.

Yep, when my engine light is on (it comes and goes) it always reads catalytic converter. I replaced the first O² sensor a little over a year ago, and it didn't help. This is the sensor right on top of the engine. In March last year, the engine light started flashing, and it started running like a pile of crap. Replaced spark plug wires, problem solved. All I have to do now is fix the oil leak, power steering fluid leak, catalytic converter, right rear window motor, and rear brake shoes.

Is your car auto or manual? If the former, I don't know why you'd be trying to force it into 1st or 2nd gear. I have a column shifter, which I WAAY prefer over console shifter.

For a V6 ... Yes but i had a 3.8 in my Ford LTD 1986 ( the small model with a V6 with a carburetor) Never seen the end but i scrapped it because too much rust on the body ..On GM models this is the 283 V8 . nothing was better than this motor..

My car is an Automatic and I was trying to use the lower gears for driving in the snow but like I said when I tried shifting down to those gears with my shifter the shifter felt like it was going to pull right out of the console.
Also my car supposedly has a leaky valve cover gasket, because every once in a while you'll get a whiff of burning oil from the car when I'm driving it because oil is getting onto the exhaust manifold somehow, although I think what really is going on is that the dealer that I got the car from had changed the oil in the car before I had gotten it and they ended up over-filling the engine with oil by a quart of oil so because of that I think the excess oil is leaking out of the engine onto the exhaust manifold where it then burns off causing the burned oil smell every once in a while, kind of like what happens with a lawnmower when you over fill it with oil. As to whether or not I prefer Console Shift Automatic vs Column Shift Automatic,the reason I went with a vehicle with a console shift automatic is because my previous car I drove that got wrecked was also a console shift automatic and I had driven that car for several years (way longer than my Olds that I had which was a column shift automatic) so because of that I was just used to driving a console shift automatic and it would of been kind of hard to get used to driving a column shift automatic again after driving a console shift for the longest time. Anyways that's what the deal is.

I think you mean 283 V6? as V8s started at 318 CID (like the famous Chrysler 318 which was also another rock solid engine that was built to last but sadly was discontinued when Chrysler discontinued their A-Body cars like their New Yorkers and Diplomats and the Gran Furys in 1989 and replaced them with the M- and K-Bodies which used V6s and 4 Bangers.) Interestingly enough All three car makers had a 3.8 Litre V6 engine of some sort Ford like you said had one, Chrysler had one and GM had one, although GM was first I believe and GM's is more famous.

No, I think he means the Chevrolet 283 V8.

OK, I didn't realize V8s went down that small in CID. :scratch2:

How about a 229/231 V6?

As a rule of thumb, cars are designed to get roughly 200 miles per tank. However, if you are absolutely certain you were getting more mpgs before the catalytic problem, the reverse of what you said is likely true. That the converter is suffering because of the mileage problem. Ask a real mechanic to do a good tune up and see that the motor runs right first.

OK, that's interesting because everywhere I read online said that a failed rear Oxygen sensor (which is part of the catalytic converter assembly) would cause a car's fuel economy to drop off.

Also why would it be a "general rule of thumb" that cars only get 200 miles on a tank of gas (which for me is only about a week) when my old car which had a 4 cylinder engine in it could easily get 300+ miles on a tank of gas which was about 3 weeks on a tank of gas and my Oldsmobile I had before that which also had a 3800 like my Buick I have now got pretty close 300 miles on a tank of gas which was roughly 2 weeks on a tank of gas?

Also I don't understand what you mean by because like I was saying above I had read in several online forums pertaining to car maintenance that said that the rear oxygen sensor (which is part of the catalytic converter assembly) is what causes poor fuel economy because the sensor isn't able to send the ECU the right fuel/air mixture information so then the engine actually ends up burning more fuel than it needs to, because its not getting the proper amount of air mixing into to fuel.
And actually I have had a mechanic look at the car already and he said that I needed the whole catalytic converter replaced because that's the code my car's OBD II is throwing for the Service Engine Soon Light which he also said that's the same code for the rear oxygen sensor but because the rear oxygen sensor usually gets seized onto the catalytic converter making it impossible to remove he just replaces the whole catalytic converter assembly and is done with it. As far as any other engine problems go supposedly the valve cover gasket is shot but I'm not sure if that's actually the case or not because the engine does leak a little oil every once in a while which then gets onto the exhaust manifold which then causes a burned oil smell every once in a while because the oil is being burned off the exhaust manifold, but I'm also wondering if it isn't just because the engine was filled too full of oil and because of that some of the excess oil is being sprayed out of the engine onto the exhaust manifold which is similar to what a lawnmower does when its overfilled with oil, I say this because the dealership I got this car from had changed the oil on my car before I had bought it and they had filled the engine too full by a quart, inspite of the "oil leak" the oil level has stayed pretty consistent since I've had it.

Look up 221 c.i. Ford Windsor V-8... :yes:

Are you really expecting good gas mileage in the winter? A cold engine is the worst case for efficiency. Especially if the o2 sensor isn't working right and not keeping the air-fuel ratio correct. Or your thermostat isn't letting the engine get fully warmed up, or just not driving long enough to get it warmed up.

Your Buick should get low-mid 20's mixed driving. My squaw
had a '99 LaSabre & got mid 20's. She bagged a dear so
only got abt 150K on it. Never needed "tune up" type stuff
but that engine was a leaker !
Assuming 18 gals that would give about 400 miles.
Either engine isnt running right or cat is plugged, O2
filthy etc. IF you need a cat price it at a custom exhaust shop.
One on my crown vic was rattling & got it changed for <$250.
Whatever u do be damn sure its running right when done
or you will wreck everything again.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

For snow driving most cars if you put it in "2" you lock out
low gear & make it much easier to get traction & avoid
downshifts going up hill.
On RWD it also eases you down hill with very little braking.
Just avoid sudden downshifts or you get spin out.
With FWD there are a few more rules. Biggest thing with FWD
is if you HAVE to go out in snow storms get snow tires. You
may not need them but it makes a HUGE difference.
My 1st FWD car was one of these.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/1972-O...ureId:11444845

About 3000 lbs sitting over the front wheels made it go in snow even
with bald bias ply tires. Added snows the next year & you could
go almost anywhere a big 4WD truck can.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

One of my dream cars (among many) is a Jeep Grand Wagoneer. My favorite SUV ever. I would love to have one, but they're getting so darn expensive. Put snow tires (or chains) on that, and you can go anywhere. Only problem is that since Grand Wagoneers are getting so rare, you would have to be careful of all the road salt.

It seems you are a younger boy . i'm 60 years old and a 283 was a small V8 chevy block I had in a Chevrolet Impala 1967. Later , I had a 318 is a small V8 in a ( Dodge Aspen 1977 ) . Not the same .. GM is GM and Chrysler is Chrysler my cap'tain ...

Before the Chevy 283 V-8 there was the 265 V-8. And before FORDs' 289 V-8 there was the 260 V-8, don't know what Chrysler had before the 318. All the best,Tom.J

I too would also like to have a Jeep Grand Wagoneer but like you said they're rarer than hens teeth now and because of that they are getting extremely expensive now, last time I looked one up on ebay motors one was going for nearly $80,000 and it was in mint condition and only had 20,000 miles on it or so. That's about like the original Dodge Challengers and Chargers which can go for as much as $120k in mint or restored condition.

Yes I'm only 28 years old, plus ontop of that my mom's dad's family were into Mopar because my grandfather's dad owned a Chrysler dealership out in Myerstown, PA years ago so I'm not as familiar with the GM and Ford Engines but as far as I know Chrysler never had a Small Block V8 engine smaller than the 318 because the 318 was their workhorse engine for years (besides their Big Blocks like the 360, 440 and the 426 Hemi) I know that Chryler's original Hemi which came out in 1955 with the first Chrysler 300 was a 331 CID engine, and apparently according to what I was reading GM at least (don't know about Ford) was trying to limit its V8s to less than 400 CID which is why GM had their V8s in the 200s and 300s as far as CID went whereas Chrysler didn't operate with such limitations which is why they had two extremely powerful V8 engines at over 400 CID (the 426 Hemi and the 440). So that's what I know.

Chrylser only ever had the 318, because it was an engine that just worked and it was the workhorse engine that was put in just about every Chrysler car that wasn't a muscle car (like the New Yorkers, Newports, the Darts, the Diplomats, the Furys, Volares, etc.) My guess is that because of the fuel crisis of the 1970s GM and Ford decided to downsize their V8 engines whereas Chrysler didn't and that probably explains why Ford and GM had such small V8 engines compared to Chrysler, either that or they just were wusses and just weren't daring enough to try and experiment with engine sizes that went over 300-400+ CID like Chrysler did. Either way, its not really something worth arguing over.

Hmm, interesting my car as a 17 Gallon Gas Tank and it goes through that tank of gas in a about a week or so, and I do do mixed driving (I mostly drive on county roads to get to work but then I drive on a couple of different highways to get around to different parts of town like when I need to go to college classes or go to church or go to my parents house.) So yeah I definitely should be getting about 22-23 mpg or so but that seems to be not the case, I did have a mechanic check the car out and they didn't seem to find anything mechanically wrong with the engine they just said that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced, but like you said what exactly caused the Catalytic converter to fail in the first place especially since that part is supposed to last the life of the car if the car is properly maintained and running properly. Which like I pointed out earlier the valve cover gasket seems to be a bit leaky on my car but I don't know if that would cause the catalytic converter to go bad.

IIRC, 273.
The smallest V8 that I recall was the aluminum 215 Buick, Oldsmobile, Rover engine of the early 60s. Fun to work on as one could easily pick up a bare block and set it on a workbench.

jr