Passing the reins to our Grandson

[RPOLS3]

The last thing we need to do to the car prior to MCACN is replace the bumper fillers (between the body and the bumper) that have deteriorated and fallen apart over the years. We have the replacements in hand and they just need to be painted and installed. Jacob is trying to negotiate with the body shop Owner who is our neighbor to swap out some lawn mowing time for the paint work.

[Xplantdad]

Looks good!!

[scuncio]

That's great to see your son take an interest in these cars. The Turbo Buicks were king when I was in HS and I've always loved them.

[bigjake]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RPOLS3</div><div class="ubbcode-body">We have not been able to find time to put some miles on the car since we did all the work in the spring - so this morning bright and early Jacob took it and headed south on his own to do some fishing with his Grandpa. It was a beautiful morning here to take a drive with the T-Tops out.


</div></div>
Great seeing the Regal! Oh, and by the way....we caught 75 Blue Gills that morning!

[RPOLS3]

Forgot to post these pictures from earlier in the summer. Steam cleaned the carpet and seats on a nice breezy warm day. Working on our checklist of items for MCACN preparation this fall.

[RPOLS3]

One of the last large items on the MCACN to do list is to replace the original bumper filler panels on the car. 3 of the 4 are literally falling off the car and the 4th is not too far behind.

Was able to find some of the hard rubber reproductions from The Parts Place


Our next door neighbor owns a body shop and is helping us with the painting part. Jacob has been swapping out labor by mowing his lawn in return for the painting work. We are doing all of the disassembly and reassembly in our garage. Friday night we took everything apart and test fit the new pieces to make sure there was no major surgery required.

New bumper fillers in place, test fit.





Our neighbor brought over his paint match camera yesterday and took a few shots. Plan is to bring home a test panel tonight to make sure it matches and then take the pieces with him to paint. Hoping to be doing resassembly this coming weekend if everything goes right.

[olredalert]

----Jake,,,You have to have a story board that states the mileage. No one will believe the odometer after looking at the car. If you didn't know it already the Dykstras are a fastidious bunch!!!......Bill S

[RPOLS3]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: olredalert</div><div class="ubbcode-body">----Jake,,,You have to have a story board that states the mileage. No one will believe the odometer after looking at the car. If you didn't know it already the Dykstras are a fastidious bunch!!!......Bill S </div></div>

Thanks Bill! It has somewhere well north of 100k miles on it - remember it was a daily driver for many, many years - in Chicago winters to boot. Interior, underhood, trunk, and chassis are all original to the car virtually untouched. Paint is original other than the hood and doors. The engine has never been apart, including the turbo. I don't think the valve covers have ever been off the car. The transmission - now that's another story as they were the weak link in these cars.

It still drives really well and everything works including the A/C.

[bigjake]

That car never saw the inside of a garage for 21 years! When we handed it over to Jacob, in 2006, it had at least 130,000 miles. The trans in it now, is the 3rd rebuild of the original trans. I had a friend from our car club, who did only Buick Turbo cars. He rebuilt the original trans, and that lasted about a year. I took it back to him, and he said, &quot;I'll build you a trans that you cannot hurt&quot;! That's the trans that's in it now. Consider this...every Tuesday, Wednesday, and some Friday nights, during the summer months, that car and our son Dave's '68 Camaro were regulars at Union Grove Drag strip.......FOR THREE YEARS!!! We drove them up there, and raced them all night (8-10 passes) and drove 'em back home...a distance of 74 miles each way....never broke down, never overheated!

[RPOLS3]

The bumper fillers came back from the body shop on Sunday - so we decided to put everything together Sunday afternoon. All that is left prior to MCACN is to enjoy driving it a little and one final clean up.



Alignment at the corner of the headlight bezel not the best but there is no real adjustment.