My '95 Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

[friskyfrankie]

Look mom, I'm a hack!
Cavity wax is too thin and runny and the underbody coating was too thick to push into all the nooks. So I used what I had on hand: all purpose indoor-outdoor construction adhesive sealer! It's elastic so it should work fine. It is also a very nice shade of b r o w n.
I used wayyy too much of it and slathered it all around the bulkhead connector, ac drain hose, interior heater & antenna cable passthroughs and surrounding body seams.
I'll wait for it to dry and check for leaks, if that still leaks, I'm just putting more on!

It's so horrible that I do not feel a shred of remorse.

Aesthetics are wonderful but sometimes you just gotta say, "What the fuck"! (Nod to "Risky Business"). Do what ever works that you can deal with and don't give it a second thought!

[DerekTheGreat]

I'd do the same thing, not like anybody sees it and you're not entering it in a concurs style auto show.

[Arquemann]

I'd do the same thing, not like anybody sees it and you're not entering it in a concurs style auto show.

Shit, the only thing I'm attending with this hunk of chevy is a parking lot meet at dusk. Once I get this thing buttoned up again, only way you'll see my sins is with a flashlight and your face planted on the core support. Knowing my friends, it might just happen, but without the flashlight and the face planted on the closed hood instead.

The goop I used says it'll cure in 24 hours @ 23°C. Since it's about -2, I think I'll give it about 2 days before I go leak testing again. I think I'll install the cowl in the meantime.

[sly]

insert Mr Regular (regular car reviews) "BRRRROOOOOOOOooooowwwwwnnnnnn"
Whatever works. I probably would have slathered RTV all over it.

[Arquemann]

Well well well, it still leaks.
MORE BROWN!

[Arquemann]

It would seem that the leaky spots have been sealed. Certainly not the prettiest job, especially the ac drain, it was a real bugger to seal up and I'm still not quite sure if it's sealed completely.
The inner fender was an absolute bitch to reinstall, impossible to do without violence. When a part is bigger than the hole it's supposed to go through, things get interesting.

I initially replaced all but 2 of the U-nuts holding the inner fender, and ended up breaking one and stripping out the other. Fun to fish those out and new ones in when the inner fender was mostly bolted in already. While disassembled, I sprayed any rusty spots, the battery tray and the topside of the inner fender with cavity wax. I wish we had black stuff like you, everything is brown or beige.

Still need to reassemble the interior, the bundles of wires and connectors behind the front kick panel will require some tucking in, I had a hard time getting behind that stuff previously.
While the battery was out I removed the LED bar and its harness, it's pretty much summertime so I haven't needed it much recently.


Now that the Caprice might not leak anymore, my conscience is clear to sell it to the next dumbass. There's a pretty Sierra and a TD Parisienne for sale close by. The Sierra isnt a wagon and the Parisienne isn't a Ford, tough case.

[sly]

If the Parisienne is the GM Diesel from the 80s... you probably wanna pass on that. If it's a swap to something more local (like parts are actually available), might be an interesting beast, but it is another b-body... so there's that.

[Arquemann]

If the Parisienne is the GM Diesel from the 80s... you probably wanna pass on that. If it's a swap to something more local (like parts are actually available), might be an interesting beast, but it is another b-body... so there's that.

The Parisienne has a Nissan SD33T in it, kinda garbage but would probably do okay in fuel efficiency.
If it had an Olds diesel, I'd want it even more!

I don't have much bad to say about gm B-bodies, other than it constantly falling apart I really like my Caprice, more than I would've expected.

[sly]

Yeah... but at least the Nissan SD33T will run. Not so certain with the Olds diesel.
As for the B-bodies... the falling apart thing is the problem. I had a 85 Parisienne with the Chevy 305, q-jet carbed, 700R4 and I ended up having the left rear cylinder blow out (head gasket, block, head... I have no clue... but something blew out the back of the engine) and started dumping fuel, oil, and coolant on the ground. And yeah... I do still miss that car but just because of the Brougham interior. Those pillow-top seats were comfy.

[DerekTheGreat]

The Parisienne has a Nissan SD33T in it, kinda garbage but would probably do okay in fuel efficiency.
If it had an Olds diesel, I'd want it even more!

I don't have much bad to say about gm B-bodies, other than it constantly falling apart I really like my Caprice, more than I would've expected.

If it's got ~175ft-lbs of torque like Wikipedia says it does, it'll be a turd in that big ass car. Might do OK fuel wise, but you'll hate how slow it is. Those cars look cool and have comfy interiors, but that carbureted 307 Olds engine and the 200R4 trans are junk IMO. Might as well skip right to a 1990-1992 Cadillac Brougham with a TBI 350 and save yourself a lot of grief.

[Arquemann]

If it's got ~175ft-lbs of torque

Ahem, it's 188 ft-lbs! And however much the replacement Borgwarner turdbo adds to it. It's gonna be a gutless dog anyways.

As "fuel efficient" as the Caprice is with its ~24 highway mpg, it's not good enough. So I'm not getting anything with any damn 350, 305, 307 or 302 as a replacement.
24 average mpg is fine if it's something somewhat fun, but it's gotta do around 30 mpg highway. Regular gas is ~8 dollaridoos a gallon.

Unless my situation or my expected situation changes alot, I can't be driving a V8 boat around.

[DerekTheGreat]

Right, that's what I said.

24mpg is damn fine. Looking like you need to find yourself a lightweight econobox.

[Arquemann]

24mpg is damn fine.

It would be fine, if that's what this damn fat moses actually got for mpg. But that's what it gets when I baby it at 100kmh. My average mpg is around is 18, and that's what's not good enough.

Looking like you need to find yourself a lightweight econobox.

Yeah, and that's what pisses me off.
I've gotta get something fun with tolerable fuel mileage, or a genuinely efficient econobox, which aren't usually that fun.

For the money I'd likely get from the Caprice, I could buy a Golf that'll touch 60 mpg. But a Golf is as vivid and fun as a gravel parking lot, Id' rather spend the money on hookers and blow and off myself in the end. End result would probably be the same.

Just for some perspective; I'm on unemployment and a full tank for the Caprice is about a quarter of what I get per month.

[DerekTheGreat]

I'd be pissed too. Sometimes I wish I had different hobbies. But that's not the way I'm programmed. As a result, I find life too short to drive boring cars. I'll drive my low MPG garbage and enjoy V8 rumble until I can't afford to. At that point and if it comes, I'll either park the things until better days arrive or yeah, self-terminate after gifting them to people.

[Arquemann]

After about 10 hours of work and ~50€, the car is in about the same condition it was a month ago. Now with a slightly less holey exhaust and firewall.
The joint behind the muffler to the tailpipe where the clamp broke is so thoroughly rusted that I could budge the slipfit even with a kick, structural rust!

Last time I dried the carpet and insulation, I sprayglued some of the insulation to the floorpans. I had to do it because I had to slide the carpet under the dash, but this time it really sucked because I had to rip it all out to dry.

Unless the Caprice throws another curveball at me, next job ought to be switching to summer tires.
Towards the next disaster!