'96 Century general project thread

[SappySE107]

That is incredibly difficult to go through, and so young. Really, its a lot to lose a parent but also a brother...fuck. We all process death differently. Religion probably goes a long ways here, of which I have none to offer or assume. Just don't beat yourself up for not feeling and expressing how you think you should or could. We all handle loss and pain differently.

[LeftVentricle]

Today would have been my father's 61st birthday. He left us last November. At that time, I took a trip around the Bay Area to visit family and friends I hadn't seen in many years. It felt like the correct way to mourn him, to see the sights he saw regularly, and maybe some things he didn't. I spent Thanksgiving with my sister and her mother.

I have never been good at expressing my emotions, so I hadn't written about my trip in the year since, because every time I sat down to do so, whatever I typed came out hollow, empty, as if I were writing it on someone else's behalf. Death is inevitable. The condition of "humanity" has a 93% fatality rate, after all! But though I have experienced a few deaths in our family over the last decade or so, I could never properly process them. Even this 2000 mile trip by myself didn't. It didn't help that it was around the same time that my wife decided she was done and wanted to move out and eventually divorce.

In 2010, my grandfather, Charles Trotter, passed. I didn't cry for him then, so that I could be strong for everyone else grieving. In 2012, his wife, my grandmother, Rosemary Trotter, joined him. I didn't cry for her then, so that I could be strong for everyone else grieving. In 2018, my brother, Forrest Smith, left us suddenly. I didn't cry for him then, so that I could be strong for everyone else grieving. In 2022, my father, Daniel Richards, departed sooner than he should have. I didn't cry for him then, because I had no capacity. In 2023, my grandmother, Beverly Johnson, died. I didn't cry for her, because I didn't know her.

In fact, I don't know my family at all. My dad's family is unknown to me. The only interactions I had with them, I was too young to recall, or they were incredibly brief. There are reasons for that, but I don't intend to air dirty laundry here. Aside from the lineal descendants of Daniel Richards, I consider my ties to his side of the family non-existent. There is some sadness in that.

I love you, Dad. May you improvise, adapt, and overcome any challenges you face in the next world.

[LeftVentricle]

It's finally cooling off in Vegas, and I'm sick of trying to figure out why the black wagon is still misfiring after basically rebuilding the ignition system, so it's time for George to ride again! Gonna get an alignment soon.

EDIT: Someone at the A-body board mentioned injectors. At this point, I'm leaning toward injectors, but since testing that requires pulling the upper intake, I'm not going to do that just yet. I plan to change over to the non-A-body-style throttle body, throttle position sensor, and mass air flow sensor, and get another '97 W-body PCM from Milzy. There's a '98 Grand Am at the yard up the street that's not been picked apart yet, so I'll grab the upper, TB, TPS, cruise module, throttle cables, and MAF from that. Then I'll probably just slam in some new injectors as a matter of course.

I know I said when I bought this car that I didn't plan to do any modifications, but I consider the MAF swap a necessity at this point. It's becoming more and more difficult to acquire the Buick-style MAF, since it was only used on a few cars for a few years. Whereas the newer style was used on many more cars for many more years, so it's both more plentiful at the yard and easier to buy new if I need to. The factory TPS doesn't seem to be calibrated correctly either, reporting 66% at actual WOT. And yes, "while I'm in there", why not just upgrade to the 2000+ top end, right? No time, money, or motivation for that.

[SappySE107]

Cut wires are always a good time. GM updated the tuning to remove the MAF, which had issues that I don't recall the details on. Might be worth updating it though.

[LeftVentricle]

Here's a little treat for y'all that's relevant to the thread. (just ignore the Buick lump underhood)

And here's a couple photos of work done on the black wagon.

Getting started:


On the agenda is general tune-up stuff: rotate tires, spark plugs and wires, air filter, clean the MAF, fuel filter, engine oil and filter, transmission oil and filter. I've been experiencing what feels like a misfire recently, so the goal is to chase that down.

We've all done plugs before, so here's the important image:


Looks like #2 had a pretty bad crack in it, unless that's just gunk. They're all the correct Delco plug for the engine (41-601), which is nice to see. I replaced them with Autolite 605 gapped to 0.060". Everything else went about how one would expect for a tune-up. The transmission oil smelled and looked a bit spicy but not quite burnt, and the magnet didn't have very much on it.


Couple interesting things to note. It seems as though someone has been in this transmission at some point. There was RTV gunked all around the pan's edge. The pan was unpainted, and is probably aftermarket, since it doesn't have

DIV OF GMC
Hydra-Matic
4T60

embossed into it, and the gasket was the typical aftermarket rubber style. The side pan had RTV in the edge as well. I'm not complaining about any of that, mind you. It's just pleasantly surprising.

The misfire cleared up quite a bit after all that, and it starts faster with a fresh fuel filter. However, I still feel it sometimes when passing on the highway. I'm going to try rerouting the 7x crank sensor wire to see if that's the problem. I had that issue on the white wagon a number of years ago:

[SappySE107]

I upload everything to this site. Not as convienent to share across multiple platforms but Brad and I can make backups for what is on here. Not sure if you have the originals still or would want to reupload everything but its an option.

[LeftVentricle]

Image hosting site Imgur will be removing images not associated with an account.

Like many of you, I have been using imgur for hosting for a long time, anonymously. It will be a monumental task to rehost everything I've posted here over the years. I feel like a lot of this thread (and my old head gasket thread from 2013) will probably end up dying. I'll do what I can, but there isn't a ton of time. May 15th, apparently.

[young gun]

Sorry to hear about the recent stories LV. Maybe your new alignment business can pop off!

[SappySE107]

You just need to look at it from another angle. Start your own extreme camber company, and take your customer's cars down I-40 for a bit. Thats what the wear looks like to me anyway. Extreme.

[LeftVentricle]

Wow, another one I would like to find a wagon bigger than the cavalier, but its such a rare find. Whats the plan for the new one?

No modifications planned. It needs an alternator, battery, belt, tensioner, and tires. It has functional air conditioning, which will be very useful in a couple months.

In other news, FUCK Interstate 40.



Potholes on that shitty stretch of tarmac completely buggered the alignment on the white wagon. These tires are three weeks old, with less than 3000 miles on them.

[SappySE107]

Wow, another one I would like to find a wagon bigger than the cavalier, but its such a rare find. Whats the plan for the new one?

[LeftVentricle]

GENTLEMEN

[LeftVentricle]

Shit went sideways last night, but all things considered, everything went way better than it could have. I got some new tires put on the wagon. I left the shop, drove a short distance, stopped to get out to take a picture of my new kicks, then had a gigantic freakout.



A transmission cooler line blew off suddenly. I got it fixed and refilled, but man, that was wild. If I hadn't gone to get tires, that could have happened on my commute this morning. That would have turned a $50 oopsie into a $2000 transmission rebuild.

[LeftVentricle]

Been following your progress with the wagon over the years and it seems like you got it dialed in now. Made a 2k mile journey with no probs. so at least the ol' Buick has been treating you well. Drive it 'till the wheels fall off and put'em back on again. Best wishes bud

It's good enough, but the kludges and deferred maintenance are starting to catch up. Hence getting a reliable second car. That, and Nevada recently changed insurance requirements for cars registered as classic, and classic insurance doesn't allow you to daily the car.

[dbral]

Sorry to hear about your loss and how life has been treating you. Been following your progress with the wagon over the years and it seems like you got it dialed in now. Made a 2k mile journey with no probs. so at least the ol' Buick has been treating you well. Drive it 'till the wheels fall off and put'em back on again. Best wishes bud