My '95 Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

[DerekTheGreat]

Sad that Karen has been seen traveling abroad, thought she was land locked to the states.

Can confirm. it's those wonderful GM terminals. Sometimes in a pinch you can twist the cable clockwise to mimic tightening it, might just get you to where you need to be.

[gadget73]

GM side posts are ass, and I'm glad they finally got rid of that crap when they entered this century. Took them 50 some years to return to the normal world.

of course being GM though, their modern top post stuff has the posts flipped from "standard" and the cables are real short so you still have to buy a special battery.

[Arquemann]

Over the last week of 2022, the Cheva has been putting in work. Helped a friend move a 3-person couch, hauled half a kitchen from Ikea for my parents and crammed up to 9 people to cruise around town. Also every time I've been too lazy to put more pressure in the rear air shocks, consequently the tailpipe tips have taken a bit of a beating The return from Ikea was vvverrry bouncy.

Hasn't lost power since the first incident, so maybe it was those battery terminal adapters.
It would also seem that the oil leaks have slowed down some, maybe the stopleak stuff actually worked.

[Hearsesrock427]

Wow, I wouldn't have guessed she had 200,000+ miles unless you told me. Love love love that shade of blue especially on wagons, and the 2 tone is period correct. Would explain why the door bottoms, fenders, and rockers are clean, at least from my vantage point. If someone really did care of that stuff before it fucked up the metal, good on them. I just barely got to Kira's doors and rockers in time, when she was in service, and those will need to be taken down to bare metal and really gone through properly before she even thinks about going into spring/summer service. Reading through your thoughts, trials, and triumphs with Sally made me think of all of mine with Kira, and all the conclusions I drew from her brief service.

I amazed how incredibly poorly built these cars are from the factory. Where do I begin. Brakes and transmission, which were holdovers from the box predecessors, are not up to the task of moving a heavier, more powerful car. Numerous ancillary systems are not built to last. Things like door panels- yours are unbelievably nice for only being 1 year newer than Kira. This tells me they have either been scrupulously maintained or replaced at least once. Don't remember if you mentioned how many windows worked properly, but all 4 of Kira's were fucked when I got her. The entire power window system is fragile finicky shit, from motors to tracks to regulators, to the point of requiring complete re-engineering/replacement to pass muster. The parking brake system on drum equipped cars, is finicky and overcomplex. Doesn't help that most of the parking brake system parts I could readily find were for Impala SS and '94-'96 9C1, which use a completely different system because of rear disc brakes. The door hardware (pins, hinges, latch, strike, bushings, etc) is not adequate for the size and weight of these doors. When Kira was on winter beater duty, I had to grease the doors every 2 months or they'd start creaking and become harder to close again. Even with tons of grease they weren't that great because stuff wasn't maintained in the first place so the doors just sagged, rubbed, got out of spec, etc. I could go on, but you get the idea.

The bodies on these '91-'96 bubbles, especially the station wagons, require extensive reworking to pass muster. There are water traps basically everywhere, from corner to corner including the roof. Wagons eat their A, B, and D pillars because glass seal failure, shitty seam sealing, or both. (Note the surface rust just above Sally's tail lights- that's how you know there's water intrusion behind the D pillars). Sedans like to eat their trunk floors because of shitty seam sealing, wagons like to eat their spare tire wells/rearmost floor pans for the same reason. Sedans like to eat their tail light fascia because of shitty seam sealing (box panthers also have this issue, as I'm sure you've seen by now; in both cases it's usually an easy fix if it's caught early enough).

If one is willing and/or inclined to fix the numerous smaller issues, these bubble B bodies make incredibly good pro touring cars. They're quiet, fast, comfortable, and (at least with regards to the engine) pretty reliable. I would've sold Kira to the lowest bidder if I didn't think she was a viable foundation to build on top of. I will eventually own at least one station wagon and hearse. They're just, a lot to dive into all at once for me. I can only hope Sally's next owner will be as willing to fix the myriad of things that cropped up as you were, and be willing to do the in-depth, more expensive repairs/maintenance that will eventually be required.

[Arquemann]

Wow, I wouldn't have guessed she had 200,000+ miles unless you told me. Love love love that shade of blue especially on wagons, and the 2 tone is period correct. Would explain why the door bottoms, fenders, and rockers are clean, at least from my vantage point. If someone really did care of that stuff before it fucked up the metal, good on them. I just barely got to Kira's doors and rockers in time, when she was in service, and those will need to be taken down to bare metal and really gone through properly before she even thinks about going into spring/summer service. Reading through your thoughts, trials, and triumphs with Sally made me think of all of mine with Kira, and all the conclusions I drew from her brief service.

I amazed how incredibly poorly built these cars are from the factory. Where do I begin. Brakes and transmission, which were holdovers from the box predecessors, are not up to the task of moving a heavier, more powerful car. Numerous ancillary systems are not built to last. Things like door panels- yours are unbelievably nice for only being 1 year newer than Kira. This tells me they have either been scrupulously maintained or replaced at least once. Don't remember if you mentioned how many windows worked properly, but all 4 of Kira's were fucked when I got her. The entire power window system is fragile finicky shit, from motors to tracks to regulators, to the point of requiring complete re-engineering/replacement to pass muster. The parking brake system on drum equipped cars, is finicky and overcomplex. Doesn't help that most of the parking brake system parts I could readily find were for Impala SS and '94-'96 9C1, which use a completely different system because of rear disc brakes. The door hardware (pins, hinges, latch, strike, bushings, etc) is not adequate for the size and weight of these doors. When Kira was on winter beater duty, I had to grease the doors every 2 months or they'd start creaking and become harder to close again. Even with tons of grease they weren't that great because stuff wasn't maintained in the first place so the doors just sagged, rubbed, got out of spec, etc. I could go on, but you get the idea.

The bodies on these '91-'96 bubbles, especially the station wagons, require extensive reworking to pass muster. There are water traps basically everywhere, from corner to corner including the roof. Wagons eat their A, B, and D pillars because glass seal failure, shitty seam sealing, or both. (Note the surface rust just above Sally's tail lights- that's how you know there's water intrusion behind the D pillars). Sedans like to eat their trunk floors because of shitty seam sealing, wagons like to eat their spare tire wells/rearmost floor pans for the same reason. Sedans like to eat their tail light fascia because of shitty seam sealing (box panthers also have this issue, as I'm sure you've seen by now; in both cases it's usually an easy fix if it's caught early enough).

If one is willing and/or inclined to fix the numerous smaller issues, these bubble B bodies make incredibly good pro touring cars. They're quiet, fast, comfortable, and (at least with regards to the engine) pretty reliable. I would've sold Kira to the lowest bidder if I didn't think she was a viable foundation to build on top of. I will eventually own at least one station wagon and hearse. They're just, a lot to dive into all at once for me. I can only hope Sally's next owner will be as willing to fix the myriad of things that cropped up as you were, and be willing to do the in-depth, more expensive repairs/maintenance that will eventually be required.

I wouldn't say they're terribly built. It's a pretty solid car for the time period. Though my comparison is to mostly euro cars. It feels chunky and sturdy. Big and heavy suspension, brakes, softly sprung and alot of suspension travel. Biggest gripes of mine currently is the TCC, garbage headlights and creaky door panels.

The two-tone paint is factory optioned, some parts of the body have been repainted, but most seems to be original paint. Can't say if the door bottoms or rockers have been redone. Only patches I've found is the right D pillar and the bottom of the spare wheel compartment. The car has spent it's first years in bumfuck nowhere, Canada. It might've been north enough so they didn't salt the roads.
The window regulators fail slightly more spectacularly than box panthers, the parking brake is definitely not overly complex, it's just designed really shit. I had no problem finding the parts from RA. The doors close kinda sloppy, hinges are fine but weatherstripping is old and the striker bushing are long gone. Currently I keep the drivers door unlocked because the locks freeze bad and I don't have keyless. It's 30 years old soon, high mileage, things break, things can be fixed. I haven't really come across anything that's dumb to have broken.

Compared to my box, the ride is almost as pleasant but with the cop suspension it handles nicely enough to somewhat enjoy curvy roads. The effortlessness and soft, springy comfort of american cars is what I love the most. If I could find something economical with similar quietness, pleasant suspension and comfort, I'd be set for a long time. Currently I'm having a hard time justifying the comfort and space for the fuel consumption.

[Arquemann]

Context: this car had RAS from the factory, but the factory shocks have been replaced with Gabriel HiJackers, tee'd lines and a schrader valve.

A few times since purchasing the car, I've heard air compressor-esque sounds coming from the rear of the car. Always barely noticeable over the sounds of the car, road and music. Gone by the time I was able to focus on it or had the music turned down. Today the sound was on from the moment I started the car and on the whole 25 minute trip. Once home I turn the car off and back on again, the sound is there again.

I dug out the Fuse diagrams, and out I go to yank out Fuse#9 (Automatic Level Control Air Compressor) from the engine bay fuse box. The fuse is blown... I turn on the power and the compressor sound is still there.

Uhhh, okay...

Well, there's Fuse #27 (Automatic Level Control, Trunk Lamp) in the interior fuse box. I pull it out, the fuse is good. ...Turn the power back on and the compressor sound is STILL THERE. And the trunk lamps work too...

I just left the power on and started going in and around the car to figure out where the sound was coming from, since I have no idea where exactly the compressor would be. After maybe a minute or so, the compressor sound just goes away. I put the fuses back in and it's still gone.
Troubleshooting is so much fun!
I guess I'll have to go under the car at some point and just unplug the compressor itself wherever it is underneath there. The fuse situation is just what makes me question everything again...

[Arquemann]

Okay so I might have a fix, or atleast I did something.
Reading online, apparently the factory air compressor would've been located in front of the left front tire. Well there's nothing there.

Since the noise shut up earlier, I wasn't sure if the noise I was hearing still was the same noise but quieter, or something entirely else. Long story short: the rear wiper motor seems to be broken and shorted so it's constantly doing something, and definitely not moving the rear wiper.
Whatever position the rear wiper button is on, the motor goes RRRRRRRRR. I popped out the fuse and it shut up. Maybe the wiper motor was sometimes engaging on some remains of the wiper mechanism and making a racket.

Maybe now I have enough reasons to do a rear wiper delete without feeling bad, since the wiper motor is shorted, the mechanism is broken, the wiper arm is crusty, the blade is way past due and the washer fluid gets lost on the way from the front.

[friskyfrankie]

Is that not a safety issue? Not sure if that is so there.

[Arquemann]

Is that not a safety issue? Not sure if that is so there.

Not an issue. For whatever reason, here nobody gives a shit even if you literally cannot see through the back window of a vehicle. Slap on some 0% tint or paint the back window lol.
Perfectly legal, so nobody cares if your rear wiper / washer isn't functioning.

In contrast to if your front side windows or windshield is tinted, it's an instant ticket 90% of the time or a fail in an inspection.

[friskyfrankie]

Guess then as long as you can see out of it you're fine. Makes life simple!

[Arquemann]

Guess then as long as you can see out of it you're fine. Makes life simple!

While the idea of a rear wiper is fine, they kinda suck in practice. Especially on wagons and hatchbacks, the rears get filthy and all the wiper does is grind the dust and crap into the rear glass like a damn sanding block. Combine that with the often dusty roads and wet weather of Finland, you've got a recipe for a cool frosted glass design for your rear window. And most cars have piss-poor sprayers, which dont' help much.

Also most cars look alot better with a rear wiper delete, not so much the case with the caprice, but atleast the rusty flippyflabby eyesore of a wiper arm wouldn't be there.

[gadget73]

you could probably repair the RAS if you wanted to. Its just a tee adapter that connects the stock air pump to the manual fill valve. I had it working on my Towncar at one point, but the compressor was leaky and both of the available air shocks are trash. One of these days I want to stick helper air springs inside the coils. Been saying that for enough years now that clearly I'm not overly motivated to actually get it done.

[Arquemann]

you could probably repair the RAS if you wanted to. Its just a tee adapter that connects the stock air pump to the manual fill valve. I had it working on my Towncar at one point, but the compressor was leaky and both of the available air shocks are trash. One of these days I want to stick helper air springs inside the coils. Been saying that for enough years now that clearly I'm not overly motivated to actually get it done.

I guess you missed this one:

-the factory air compressor would've been located in front of the left front tire. Well there's nothing there-

[DerekTheGreat]

..I had it working on my Towncar at one point, but the compressor was leaky and both of the available air shocks are trash...

That's what they told me some seven years ago when I put the Monroes on my Town Car. They're still working great.

[Arquemann]

I went about deleting the rear wiper motor today, went pretty smooth in all honesty. The motor assembly has a few gears, all but one were metal. That one plastic gear was stripped of a couple teeth and the wormgear would skip on it and spin free. The gasket has leaked some water in at some point, atleast the water would drip onto the plastic trim and not onto the headliner (which has weird reinforcing ribs from a glassfiber-plywood type material).
Quick rant: the "clips" holding the roof interior trim between the D-pillars are of the most asinine design I've ever seen. Basically square expansion nut type clips, but only the screwhead was visible, and instead of unscrewing, the "screw" was a ¼ turn cam that kinda-almost-had-an-effect on the clips width. Arbitrarily choose a position for the screw and pried underneath the trim way too fucken hard and they came out. Didn't even break any of them.

Anyways, I used sikaflex to seal the gap between the outer plastic trim and the body and Sika'd a round large clip flange on top of the hole on the outside, clean and cheap.
New rear wiper motors are available off RA, but one would be 150+ euros to get over here. Wouldn't mind replacing it, but not at that price. Also the washer is clogged and the wiper arm is crusty, and needs a new blade aswell.

Among other things, I treated all the door weatherstripping with rubber conditioner, lubed the door locks and did another once-in-a-while fluid check. I think the stopleak I put in the engine oil actually worked pretty well. Not by oil level going down but the mess on the driveway not really changing.
The day was quite nice, +5°C, sun was shining kinda warm, not too windy. Driveway was dry and the car wasn't an icicle. Was able to work without gloves and in a light jacket. Somewhat unsettling considering it's the middle of February.