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Amazing how time slips by....


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For the past month I've been trying to get the workbench unearthed. But the weather has been so cooperative I'm finding it hard to stay indoors. After having new siding, roof, and drains installed I've been overhauling the 1:1 workbench/garage.

My head hurts from all the inspiration and ideas you guys are giving me.... I gotta get going.

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<sigh....> I know, I know. Somewhere it's happy hour! Enjoy your summer Ray!

As for up here, it's about 12 degrees above normal, thank you very much, as I need to replace the master cylinder in my Camry today.... 70 degree weather sure beats what they're predicting for Sunday: a high of maybe 50. But at least I got my garage workbench built before the temperature crashes.

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had to sell my 2005 ford escape for an offer i couldn't refuse, thinking about looking for an 85-89 caprice classic and put some speakers and an aux audio system, are those decent cars? I just cant bring myself to buy another plastic box again

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Yes, what a difference a year makes . Sandy was staying un invited as I write this from last year . Sadly, TOO many people who lost their entire life in this horrific storm . I know from experience as I too survived hurricane Agnes in 1972 as I lost everything .

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had to sell my 2005 ford escape for an offer i couldn't refuse, thinking about looking for an 85-89 caprice classic and put some speakers and an aux audio system, are those decent cars? I just cant bring myself to buy another plastic box again

The B-bodies are wonderful cars, they're almost all I've ever driven. As Rich said, they're comfortable, decent on gas and generally pretty easy to repair.

The stock Delco stereo system is pretty good, especially the receiver unit. I'd install a CD changer in the trunk and put some good speakers in at the factory locations- don't cut holes or anything like that. You might also be able to adapt a connector for one of the solid-state music players into the wiring harness- I know it can be done in the newer cars. The radio chassis itself works well and has good reception for the radio portion. It's also much easier to use than the newer chassis/head-units you can get as after-products. I was thinking of putting one in my Roadmaster, and the new radios are too complicated to use- when you actually have to go through half a dozen menus to change the clock or alter pre-sets, I don't need that kind of aggravation.

Charlie Larkin

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had to sell my 2005 ford escape for an offer i couldn't refuse, thinking about looking for an 85-89 caprice classic and put some speakers and an aux audio system, are those decent cars? I just cant bring myself to buy another plastic box again

Friend of mine had one 200,000 miles sold it still going. Lots of kids buying them now putting huge wheels on them. they call them box chevies...

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Thank you for all the info! I appreciate it because i look for very affordable cars to repair such as the caprice, the generation before 1976 is great but huge and bulky and the 1991+ is often destroyed by 1990's police and nyc cabs around here. A bit more personal use impalas and caprice classics in the 80s i believe. The two door would be a gem, two door caprice classics from like 82-90 are awesome ( not sure what years they made the coupe) the 1989/90 cars come with fuel injection? Also of course i wouldn't cut anything for some ridiculous speakers, just a plain pioneer or bose setup would work i think, seems like an easy car to work with wires. And no no! no big wheels! ahhh! i would very much prefer spoked classic rims with white walls or gold walls :D, i see these cars for around 2000-3000$, i might go ahead and get one very soon.

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Thank you for all the info! I appreciate it because i look for very affordable cars to repair such as the caprice, the generation before 1976 is great but huge and bulky and the 1991+ is often destroyed by 1990's police and nyc cabs around here. A bit more personal use impalas and caprice classics in the 80s i believe. The two door would be a gem, two door caprice classics from like 82-90 are awesome ( not sure what years they made the coupe) the 1989/90 cars come with fuel injection? Also of course i wouldn't cut anything for some ridiculous speakers, just a plain pioneer or bose setup would work i think, seems like an easy car to work with wires. And no no! no big wheels! ahhh! i would very much prefer spoked classic rims with white walls or gold walls :D, i see these cars for around 2000-3000$, i might go ahead and get one very soon.

The 1989-90 Caprice SEDANS had an TBI 305. The 1985-88 Caprices and Impalas also had the 262 V-6 with TBI. The 262 could be ordered as a credit option in 1989-90, mostly for cab fleets. I can attest that the TBI 305 is pretty good on gas; even the TBI 350 returns decent mileage.

The 1986-90 wagons used the Olds 307 (VIN Y), which was carbureted. Warning: finding people who know how to work on the TBI systems is getting tough, and the aftermarket support for them is craptacular, as I found when the TBI unit in my '91 Caprice started to go wonky. If you get one of those cars, I would recommend very strongly that if problems begin to happen, that you'd adapt a similar vintage TPI system to your engine, a product for which both GM and the aftermarket have good support systems.

The coupes were made from 1980-82, and again from 1984-87. They're quite rare, as you noted.

I'm glad to see you actually want to make some effort to preserve a car rather than turn it into a "car"toon or worse.

For speakers, the Bose speakers used as options in the 1991-up cars will probably work fairly well in anything you buy. Pioneer's speakers are also nice and they have direct-fit replacements for the front and rear speakers.

Try the radio before replacing it; if it works well, keep it in there. The Delco ETR-series radios are very well-built and can stand up to a lot of abuse, much less fragile than any of the after-market units and still sound good. If you want an improved sound, they did make a couple of them that were of a higher-degree of sound fidelity. You might need to change the plugs, though, so check that out first.

Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone that makes white/gold tires anymore, except for possibly Vogue, and they're expensive. For a good all-around tire at a reasonable price, I like Cooper Trendsetters and Uniroyal Tiger Paw AWPs, both of which are available in whitewall.

Wire discs or genunie wheels? The discs are getting hard to find in good condition and tend to be pricey when they can be found in nice shape, even though they were quite common, and the aftermarket ones generally look terrible. I actually like the standard covers or couple of styles of optional wheelcovers- I always thought the "sport" wheel covers were pretty neat-looking.

Dayton makes a nice wire wheel that will work well on a Caprice looks-wise. I believe they were also the original supplier for Cadillac, which offered genuine wire wheels as an option (at a princely sum of $1000) on the Broughams.

Charlie Larkin

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wow thank you again for all the info, i just really love that car's style and elegance, it looks right and doesn't look childish, goofy or PLASTIC! For an average budget of 5000 i think that would be a win. It is a shame to see many donks/hoopties and i don't even know what being made from this car, boomboxes on wheels i assume. Being 24 people look at me like a total moron when i say that the black on black four door ford galaxie looks way more badass than their typical leased maxima or sonata. I don't know where the craze for the cars of these years started, but it was probably when i was like 5 years old, back living in Russia still, my grandfather owned and preserved his gaz 24 Volga with great pride, the car still being in mint rustles condition now after 43 years, unfortunately my grandfather has passed and i recieved the vehicle, which is in a garage back there. IT was that pride of ownership, care and the hours he spent waxing and detailing the car ( mind you in soviet and post ussr collapse times), a trait of car owners that you just dont see much today, simply because our cars look too plain to even care about that way. i do not have the space or money to import it here, but i certainly will make sure this soviet classic will be in a collection display one day... grandad would be proud. Well i guess from that on i only really liked cars that had shiny parts ( being a kid and all) and with chrome bumpers and metal push button door handles, i mean seriously nothing beats the metal push button door handles today, nothing! Get out of here with that key less entry push button start! i want a chrome lock!

Here is a car my grandfather owned: 1977-24-4door-sedan-31.jpg

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I just love the GAZ 24. It really is a nice looking car. I've had a hankering to own a Russian car, but like you I can not afford to get one out of Russia. There was supposed to be a guy in Texas that has the big Chaikas and ZILs. Maybe some Russian friends here with business contacts in Russia can help you get the car here. About the Caprice...I would also leave the radio alone, maybe get a booster amp on it in an out of sight place and then get a Redi-Rad for the radio. It allows you to hook up iPods and portable devices to play music from that source. http://www.rediscoveradio.com/

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Here is some pics for ya from a GAZ 21 which is owned by a collector here, these pics are right next to my building here in Brooklyn, this guy really loves his Volga and he is not even Russian! Just an american guy with the appreciation. Notice the Hood ornament, only 1st and 2nd edition cars received the ornament, the 3rd and most produced edition did not.

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Edited by Nxr
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Chilly 65 degrees here in the Mojave desert. I thought I saw a cloud, but it was just an airplane.

G

G , I love the desert out in Arizona and Nevada, but the summers are murder. l tried to talk my wife into moving but couldn't get her to....

When you get older, times seems to go by even faster.

Nick the older l get the faster it goes...

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front_left-vi.jpg

They're around! Many years ago I was headed to the hobby shop in New Jersey. Like most of us I scan car lots as I drive by and this time I did a double take. Right up front was a Chaika, the first time I had ever seen one in person! So I headed home for my camera and got full photo documentation.

More photos:http://public.fotki.com/modelcitizen/11_car_reference_library/chaika/

Edited by Tom Geiger
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had to sell my 2005 ford escape for an offer i couldn't refuse, thinking about looking for an 85-89 caprice classic and put some speakers and an aux audio system, are those decent cars? I just cant bring myself to buy another plastic box again

get a retired ford Crown Vic, you'd be surprised how fast people get out of the way when you're driving one of those .. they're cheap too

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you know i thought of that too, i see them for around 1400$ with LX hubcaps or marquis hubcaps. The striking presence on the road, esp if you got the black car and keep the police hubcaps is certainly menacing! Great CHaika btw, i remember as a kid those cars were often used for weddings after their soviet retirement after 1991, this was about 1995-1996, Back in Saint Petersburg they had a very nice wedding service that offered chaikas, zils and sometimes even a town car or a Cadillac deville ( which in 1990s russia was like a super awesome deal)

Edited by Nxr
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