- Joined
- May 25, 2001
- Messages
- 1,680
I have been away from the Buick family since the early 2000s, and now I finally have one again!
A few years back, my best friend (and brother in law) who was a TR enhusiast too passed away leaving his wife (my wifes sister) and 2 very young children behind.
The car was parked in early 2003 soon before his first boy was born. With how life goes the car sat in the garage and he didn't have time to drive it between his kid (2nd one on the way), work and other hobbies. A couple years he passes away from bladder cancer at 39 years old. After he passed his wife wanted to keep the car for his boys.
Over the past few years attempts to get the garage cleared up enough to get to the car we never successful. A few months back I offered to buy the car from her, she accepted. She knew the car would just sit there and rot in the garage and realisticly she could not keep it for my nephews.
After 4 hours of work to get the car out of the garage I had it towed over to my house. Now come the fun part, getting it started after 8+ years. The shopping list of what I need keeps growing
The car has ~100K miles on it total, under 15K on the rebuilt engine, ~20K on the trans
The good part is the car has a ton of stuff done to it and I know it because I spun the wrenches on a good part of it:
.030 over 109 block capped with forged pistions
cam is a 206/206 I think
mildly ported heads
60-1 Stage IV turbo with precision exhaust housing
Terry Houston down pipe
Dequick V2 FM IC
KB 70mm TB, plenum
rjc power plate
Turbo-Saver
55# injectors
Original MAF-Translator with LS6 maf
GNX style dash
walbro 307 pump hotwired
KB 9/11 converter
Toy Shop built trans with stage-rite transbrake
KB rear seat brace
moser axles
air bags
rebuilt posi
billet rear cover
kenne bell cat back exhaust
hotchkis front and rear sway bars
hotchkis upper and lower control arms
poly motor mounts
new body bushings
new front control arm bushings
4-core radiator
vac brake conversion
The Bad:
Sitting in the garage, for some reason my friend put a couple gallons of muratic acid behind the car, it was there for years and when I pulled them out they were "sealed" but half empty. The result of that is all the chrome parts are toast.
Front Bumper, Rear Bumper, emblems. I'm hoping it didn't do anything to the frame.
The car got a few dents sitting in the garage, one I didn't notice till I got it home and washed it. Something big must of fell on it as there is a dent in the roof near the windshield on the passanger side. There are other dings and scratches but nothing huge. The paint looks actually quite good considering it was a $500 Maaco job back in the late 90s. The tires were flat but they seem ok since I put air in them, no cracks.
Front bumper fillers are cracked, hood struts are shot, the mufflers may have rusted, and have a 1/2 tank of 8yr old gas to pump out :/
Couple pics when I took it out of her garage, more to come soon when I find my camera at home:


Chris
A few years back, my best friend (and brother in law) who was a TR enhusiast too passed away leaving his wife (my wifes sister) and 2 very young children behind.
The car was parked in early 2003 soon before his first boy was born. With how life goes the car sat in the garage and he didn't have time to drive it between his kid (2nd one on the way), work and other hobbies. A couple years he passes away from bladder cancer at 39 years old. After he passed his wife wanted to keep the car for his boys.
Over the past few years attempts to get the garage cleared up enough to get to the car we never successful. A few months back I offered to buy the car from her, she accepted. She knew the car would just sit there and rot in the garage and realisticly she could not keep it for my nephews.
After 4 hours of work to get the car out of the garage I had it towed over to my house. Now come the fun part, getting it started after 8+ years. The shopping list of what I need keeps growing

The car has ~100K miles on it total, under 15K on the rebuilt engine, ~20K on the trans
The good part is the car has a ton of stuff done to it and I know it because I spun the wrenches on a good part of it:
.030 over 109 block capped with forged pistions
cam is a 206/206 I think
mildly ported heads
60-1 Stage IV turbo with precision exhaust housing
Terry Houston down pipe
Dequick V2 FM IC
KB 70mm TB, plenum
rjc power plate
Turbo-Saver
55# injectors
Original MAF-Translator with LS6 maf
GNX style dash
walbro 307 pump hotwired
KB 9/11 converter
Toy Shop built trans with stage-rite transbrake
KB rear seat brace
moser axles
air bags
rebuilt posi
billet rear cover
kenne bell cat back exhaust
hotchkis front and rear sway bars
hotchkis upper and lower control arms
poly motor mounts
new body bushings
new front control arm bushings
4-core radiator
vac brake conversion
The Bad:
Sitting in the garage, for some reason my friend put a couple gallons of muratic acid behind the car, it was there for years and when I pulled them out they were "sealed" but half empty. The result of that is all the chrome parts are toast.
Front Bumper, Rear Bumper, emblems. I'm hoping it didn't do anything to the frame.
The car got a few dents sitting in the garage, one I didn't notice till I got it home and washed it. Something big must of fell on it as there is a dent in the roof near the windshield on the passanger side. There are other dings and scratches but nothing huge. The paint looks actually quite good considering it was a $500 Maaco job back in the late 90s. The tires were flat but they seem ok since I put air in them, no cracks.
Front bumper fillers are cracked, hood struts are shot, the mufflers may have rusted, and have a 1/2 tank of 8yr old gas to pump out :/
Couple pics when I took it out of her garage, more to come soon when I find my camera at home:


Chris