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1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera Cruiser

Boring can be Beautiful
GIVEN AWAY - March 2006 - The Olds did a great job for about six months after I got the tires, and I used it as my primary transportation and trip car.  Then one night I came out of a store and tried cranking it - the car wouldn't start - more importantly, it was spinning way too fast.  I diagnosed the problem as a bad timing chain and pulled her home with the truck.  It was the proverbial 'last straw' as my two other drivers had also had serious troubles show up the same week.  I decided to do away with all the 'beater' transportation and get something new.  A friend of a friend was a mechanic and in need of a car, so I handed over the title and keys and sent her on her way.  Turned out I was right - the aluminum timing chain had stretched ands imply rolled off.  He fixed the car in an evening with about $75 in parts.  I could have done the same thing, but it was cold out and I made the decision that I needed to focus on the cars I bought to tinker with, not the ones I needed to get to work.  I enjoyed the car very much while I owned it, but i have no regrets about sending her on her way.
September 15, 2005 - I finally got new tires on the car today - a full set of BF Goodrich 205-75/14 whitewalls.   What a huge difference!  The car has had problems with minor vibration, and some pulling to the left.  I'd rebalanced and rotated the tires, had the alignment done, and checked all the suspension parts out.  It wasn't serious, just annoying. 

After almost a year of putting up with it, the problem got bad enough to diagnose properly - a bad belt in the right front tire.  One of the new %$#@! blackwalls Dad put on before I bought it had a belt that was slipping.  I hadn't realized just how bad the problem was until it was gone. 

The car is tracking straight, all the vibration is gone, and the ride has smoothed out to luxury-car standards.  Part of that is the larger tires, which offer a little more cushioning.  As an added plus, they should also add some gas mileage due to the larger diameter.  The engine won't have to work as hard to push the car the same distance.  Maybe I'll see 30 mpg!  I did a deep cleaning of the interior this weekend - it's almost like driving a new car!
August 28, 2005 - I finally got the last bits done on the Oldsmobile.  Pick and Pull (formerly U-Wrench-It) provided a rear bumper filler panel yesterday, and I painted it to match.  As you can see, the wood grain makes a lot of difference - well worth swapping out the tailgate again.  My friend Mike used his frame machine to straighten the back end out - it had more damage than either of us first thought.  Both sides had been pushed in, but we got it all back where it should be.  All in all, I spent about $400 on repairs and ended up with the car pretty much as it was.  Actually, the car is nicer in some ways, with the new headliner and speakers.  The car continues to amaze me - I went up to Warrenton last weekend and got 28 mpg rolling at 75-80 all the way up!  I think I will go ahead and put new tires on next - bumping up to 195 or 205/14s to improve mileage a bit more.
July 21, 2005 - The insurance company TRIED to total the Olds for $650.  After the dust settled, they ended up paying $1350 to fix it.  I couldn't find a good wood grained tailgate, and ended up with this one from a 1987 that HAD been wood grained.  I thought I could replace the decal, but discovered that it is no longer available.  It kept me rolling until a couple of weeks ago, when I found a blue 1988 Olds with good wood grain that I installed instead.  I still have to get the latch pulled out and have the outside of the hatch painted to match - I did the inside with spray paint.  However, I also installed a new headliner and new Blaupunkt speakers in the front, and fixed the wobbly dash.  And on a trip last weekend, she got 27 mpg!
May 12, 2005 - I was stopped in traffic yesterday and happened to glance in my rear view mirror to see a silver Dodge Durango coming up WAY too fast.  I braced just in time - he slammed into the back of the wagon and caved in the back hatch.  The Driver's seat back got bent, and the dashboard popped loose at the front edge.  But she was still drivable, except for the busted taillight.  The truck, a new 4x4, ended up parked with a  holed radiator and crunched bumper, grille and hood.  The Olds looks bad, but the body was not buckled - even the side windows are fine.  Problem is that the insurance company is likely to total the car - I'll have a battle on my hands - with the original excellent condition, low miles, and all the work I've put into this Olds, it is NOT your average 17 year-old car!
March 7, 2005 - Last Thursday, I actually took the plunge and had SOMEONE ELSE replace the tie rods and do an alignment on the Olds.  I have been busy with other projects, and for the $70 it cost me to have the work done, it was worth it.  Interestingly enough, I had planned to take my Mazda truck up to York, PA for the National Studebaker Swap Meet last Friday, but the tailgate handle broke off when I tried to open it for loading.  There was the wagon with less than 24 hours on its tidied-up front end, so I hopped in her and took off.  As expected, the car was terrific - 26+ mpg rolling 75-80 most of the way. 
January 6, 2005 - I got busy towards the end of December and let the inspection sticker run out.  I waited until today so that the mad rush of other people who had expired inspections and only ONE car would be over.  The inspector checked her over, commenting on how nice the car looked, and made a point to tell the other mechanics the age and mileage on the car.  Good politician - he knows to tell the parent they have beautiful kids...  ::grin::  Anyway, having just put new brakes on the car, and all the other work I've done, she sailed through with nary a fault.
October 31, 2004 - As to be expected with a car of this age, I have had some problems with the Olds over the past few months.  All minor, thanks to providing all the labor myself.  But I'm glad Dad did not keep it.  After running great for two months, the car suddenly refused to start outside a store.  However, I figured out it was the engine control module ($98) and had the car going again in an hour.  I have had to replace all the underhood sensors (ranging from $9 to $29 each), the tailpipe and muffler ($16 and $34), and had the %$#@! rear tires swapped on the rims and all the tires rebalanced (only $18!).  Even so, I love the car and use it as my primary transportation.  I have put more than 6,000 miles on it in three months, and it doesn't use a half-quart of oil between changes.  I plan to have the front end aligned, and then have the headliner replaced.  That will add another $200 investment, but that is still only about $1,000 total for a car that looks, runs, and drives great.
July 25, 2004 - "This doesn't look like one of your cars - it's boring."  So was the comment of a co-worker who saw me getting into the wood-paneled family hauler above.  Irregardless of the advertisements, this IS my father's Oldsmobile!  Or was.  When my parents decided to get a new van, the Olds was marked for disposal.  It had refused to start for Dad, and then fired right up for the AAA service man.  His gas station kept the car a week and never had trouble with it. The car was also using transmission fluid and coolant, liked to spit coolant out occasionally, had a falling headliner, was filthy from neglect, and had a mix of whitewalls and blackwalls. 

However, it had low miles and ran well, most everything worked, and under the pine straw and dirt, the paint was still nice.  So I gave them the $600 they wanted for it and brought it home.  Two days of cleaning later, the car looked terrific.  Shiny white paint and nice wood grain make for a pleasant combination.  I painted the rear whitewalls so the tires matched, and gave the interior a good shampoo. 

For now, I have pulled the fabric down from the headliner, but plan to replace it soon.  Over the past few weeks, I have replaced the bad radio with a factory AM-FM cassette I actually bought more than a year ago for Dad - he never brought the car over for me to install it.  The hoses and thermostat were original, hence the coolant problems.  Replacing those solved the spitting and leakage.  The transmission fluid use was immediately traced to the modulator valve - a vacuum-operated switch on transmission that becomes a straw for the manifold to suck fluid through when its diaphragm goes bad.  $20 part and one bolt to install.  My favorite junkyard, U-Wrench-It, provided some needed body and interior parts for under $10.

Why bother with this family-style transportation?  First of all, it runs fantastic - it had better acceleration AND gas mileage (26 mpg average daily driving) than anything else I own!  The car is attractive, clean, comfortable, and is loaded with options which all work.  The 3.8 V-6 is one of GM's best engines, and this one only has 70K miles on it.  Plus it gives me passenger hauling capability I haven't had in the past, along with the ability to carry everything from my bicycle to an MGB hardtop.  And it takes a lot of wear and tear off my new truck, which already has 38K miles on it!

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