When driving a legendary vehicle that is antiquated maybe a matter like having a recirculating air switch is trivial when there are t-tops. Concerns about breathing in polluted air are noted.
Otherwise thanks for sharing your entries about the Buick Grand National.
1. Have you taken into account of the over sized tires you put on the GN when figuring out the MPGs? Since the tires are bigger wouldn't the odometer indicate few miles than actually driven since they they'd do less revolutions per mile than the stock size? The mileage is horrible even for a car that old. I got an 88 5.0 with a stock engine and have gotten 29 mpg on the highway numerous times, granted it has 2.73s though.
2. I can't believe you know about that Grand National at Captain Bob's Chowder House. I grew up a couple towns south of Princeton and drove by there every day while I was going to community college back in the early 90s. I was surprised when I was back there a couple years ago and that poor GN was still sitting there a little more worse for wear. Capt. Bob is a character as you can imagine.
Like green say the issue is website destruction,and that is what should be looked into ,as one way of addressing the issue affecting the community http://4wheelonline.com/Smittybilt_Winches.134507
Nice touch they did to keep the car looking original--your idea or theirs? I'm impressed. I can see not fixing the radiator right now if the leak is so minor, but do you really want to get stuck somewhere with a dead battery?
Jason - I drive by Capt Bob's when I ski at Wachusett Mt. I'll have to stop in and try some food to get a closer look someday.
this is the first time I've commented in ages and this format sucks compared to the one I enjoyed for years. it's completely inefficient and user unfriendly.
if it weren't for the BRZ/FR-S, Jag, Porsche and AMG (and most of the editors) I'd probably stop coming back.
You were warned to replace the battery and did not, then had the car die on you the next time it was driven? How is it possible to have owned as many cars as you people have owned, and still act like you've never owned a car before?
The Dash on the GM A/G bodies are modern even by today's standards and the design is simple and usable considering that GM used to place the HVAC controls on the left side of the steering columns.
Our family's Olds Cutlass had a similar dash design as what was used in the Regal and Century. A pod for the instruments, a pod for the HVAC and Radio and open space for the passenger and several strategically placed dash vents. This design must be close to 40 years old since it debuted in 1977 (for the 78 model year and was in production for almost 10 years). Switch gear feel wasn't the greatest but probably ok for the time.
Is Travis new? I don't recall seeing that name before. If so, welcome! Love the writing style. On a completely unrelated note, I've decided the most irritating thing in the world is when I try to click on the comments button for an article on here, and just as I click the page decides to load an ad right where that button used to be. I'd bet a good percentage of ad clicks are accidental for that reason.
This is very sad indeed. I was a huge fan of following the long-term and Insideline on a daily basis. I loved the convenience of the comment section in that I could see the various posters comments directed at specific posts. This new format is horrible. Instead of being a daily "must stop" site, it is once a week at best, mainly to see if there are any updates on the GN.
Which brings me to the other sadness. So few miles and so little use of such a tremendous classic? Not even 300 miles in the month of February? I was so excited about this long-term test and really wanted to see how a car of this vintage would ahndle the challenges of daily driving. As a result of the lack of use I am beginning to believe this was just someone's secret project, to have the employer buy their long-sought after vintage car, and then maybe buy it for a bargain at the end of the "test" when all the bugs have been worked out and parts replaced. That is the only thing I can figure for the lack of use.
Almost a month without an update for the GN?? and cmon guys, the other cars have a much better comments set up to post on individual entries. Lets get this one up to speed too ok?
". So few miles and so little use of such a tremendous classic? Not even 300 miles in the month of February? I was so excited about this long-term test and really wanted to see how a car of this vintage would ahndle the challenges of daily driving. "
-- That might answer a lot right there. While older cars can be a lot of fun when you have a massive garage full of other options the more cushy and compliant new cars seem to win out.
-- I'd love to see a list of how many days each car sat idle each month. Is the GN being driven by people that just don't post or is it being passed up? Is its main usefulness in it being a conversation starter.
-- I drive a 40 year old car over 7000 miles a year and while it never misses putting a smile on my face there are nice things about getting into the new car on the other days, and I don't spend as much time in LA style traffic like they do.
@zim: I drove my 40 year old MG over 10k miles in 2012 and enjoyed 99% of it, but like you, sometimes it's just nice to get into my quick, comfortable, quiet, automatic equipped 2004 Jetta, where I can be cooled in the summer, enjoy heated seats when it's
My best friend's Dad got the Monte Carlo SS (he was a successful attorney) and I thought it was "rad"! I'd never heard of the GN, but this thing looked the part.
Love it. The Top Gear guys are really cool and personable. I wish they were still doing studio segments, but I appreciate their going their own direction apart from the UK Top Gear. The formula works for them.
I'm looking forward to reading about the road trip. I bet that you don't get anywhere close to the 31mpg high you got out of the 911 on the LA to NYC round trip.
I'll be in Austin for the races as well, maybe I'll see you and the GN around! If y'all need anything, I'm happy to pass along a phone #/email address if you want it.
The GN was certainly one of the best accelerating cars to come out of the mid 80's, but it is not remotely one of the best CARS. How were the headlights. Those old twin halogens often have far better penetration than modern aero lights.
@agentorange: The all-on-one-page format for the Buick is a function of the fact that our site's database doesn't fully support a vehicle this old (pre-1990), so we've had to lay out the updates as one long feature story. If the '85 911 and '84 Ferrari 30
ahhh, the true fun of older cars. I love older cars. I've gone all up and down the west coast in an early 70's car and there are moments where you have to cross your fingers and hope. And each year the car gets older the less likely it is you'll find a key part when you really need it. And there are a lot of little seals to get harder and not seal anymore. My guess is a semi-universal oil cooler adapter for a similar engine should do the trick in this case at least.
I still don't understand why you guys are using high mileage oil in a low mileage car. The point of that is to help with engines with more wear from use, not old, but little used engines. If you want to upgrade then move to synthetic, which your turbo will appreciate, especially in hot weather SoCal
"...our site's database doesn't fully support a vehicle this old (pre-1990)..." ROFLMAO!! One of the best pseudo technical explanations I've seen for a while. Just make sure that oil cooler is only leaking "outside". You might want to check that it is not leaking into the cooling system.
Crap, Erin, that's a bummer. Stressful to have a car exhibit problems on a cross-state venture. In college I was on the road with a dying instantly-turn-fresh-tranny-fluid-black automatic transmission that thankfully kept spinning until I got home.
Since you were kind enough to respond to comments on the long cumulative comment thread for this car, can I ask you guys to fix the commenting format on your long term test introductions? Either there is no comment thread, or in the case of the new Passat, you cannot see the thread unless you post a comment. And then once you navigate away, you cannot see the thread again until you post another comment. I know our opinions are ancillary since Edmunds killed off Insideline, but could someone on the inside throw us a bone here and at least keep the comment format you have working properly on all articles?
agentorange, I suspect that the o-ring you see in the drawing - item #12 - between the oil cooler and the original filter boss (this is an add-on cooler Buick used since this is a turbo application) is bad. Either that, or it's that part #5 in the diagram, which is an extension boss/retainer with female threads on the engine side which engages the male threads on the original boss and clamps the cooler on, has become loosened (probably loosened when the oil filter was last changed - ?), and the o-ring #12 is not clamped tightly enough between boss and cooler to seal anymore. At any rate, I suspect there's nothing wrong with the cooler itself - it's the o-ring. You can get them for five bucks on ebay, or if you have the specs...it's just an o-ring. Easy fix - drain oil, unthread the retainer/extension boss and pull the cooler body away from the boss, clean both mating surfaces and threads, install new o-ring, reinstall retainer/extension boss (probably would use thread locking compound on it), torque to specs. Refill with oil, check for leaks, done.
bankerdanny, One of the things that high mileage motor oil is supposed to help with is conditioning old seals (apparently not quite enough). Low mileage, old cars still suffer from dried up seals
@emajor: I totally get what you're saying. The commenting does work a bit inconsistently since we transitioned all of our content over to the new format, and the reason that our template structure is different over here. We do need to make improvements to
Charlie's place looks like a scene from American Pickers. Or a place that might have a lot of motorists buried behind the garage! Hopefully the GN will be sorted out soon at not too much cost
@emajor: I just insert "-commentspage" (no quotation marks) between "...road-test/introduction" and ".html" This will let you look at comments without posting. I actually posted the above on the Passat introduction but of cou
He didn't suggest replacing the cooler entirely - he suggested removing it because the coolant hoses leading to and from the radiator are cracked, and the next thing he expects to see is a coolant leak - since the cooler had to come off to replace the gasket (o-ring, actually), that involved flexing those cracked hoses, and the fear is they will now be much more likely to fail, I would bet. The radiator connections are for now capped off. The oil filter is screwed onto the filter boss that that non-turbo versions of the engine use, and they're going with that arrangement for the Power Tour. I think that's a bad idea - I would find a way to get the repair done first - there are new o-rings, kits that include just new hoses, that include new hoses and a new cooler, there are kits that include a new coolant retainer/extension boss that will allow the use of a larger filter (a common GN/GNX mod), etc. and they are easily available. The idea that you have to go to some GN/GNX guru to do a cake repair like this is really kind of a joke to me - this is a one-hour, shade-tree job. Look at those photos - tons of room to work, no rusted fasteners, you don't even have to lift the car up - this guy removed the entire oil cooler system from the top, hanging over the fender. As car diagnosis and repairs go, this is really playing in the kiddie pool, let's face it.
@fordson1: Yes, I understand this was a relatively simple repair, but I'm not a mechanic, and I'm not skilled or experienced at working on cars as some of our other editors (Mark Takahashi and Jay Kavanagh come to mind) are. For me, it wasn't the risk to
I don't think the decision to band-aid it was made by you - I don't fault you. And I understand there was a priority on getting it into proper running condition for the PT...but now with the hot weather coming, 93 octane being available and the inevitable, um, equipment-measuring contests that will part of that party, I don't think it is in proper running condition. Most GN/GNX people not only make sure the cooler is working correctly, they also use the adapter boss to enable the use of a much larger oil filter - enhancing filtration and increasing oil capacity...which enhances oil cooling. I would not run it with the band-aid for long and I would not run it hard.
Comments
Otherwise thanks for sharing your entries about the Buick Grand National.
Good eye! The emblem above the headlights is something you won't see on any other GN.
1. Have you taken into account of the over sized tires you put on the GN when figuring out the MPGs? Since the tires are bigger wouldn't the odometer indicate few miles than actually driven since they they'd do less revolutions per mile than the stock size? The mileage is horrible even for a car that old. I got an 88 5.0 with a stock engine and have gotten 29 mpg on the highway numerous times, granted it has 2.73s though.
2. I can't believe you know about that Grand National at Captain Bob's Chowder House. I grew up a couple towns south of Princeton and drove by there every day while I was going to community college back in the early 90s. I was surprised when I was back there a couple years ago and that poor GN was still sitting there a little more worse for wear. Capt. Bob is a character as you can imagine.
this is the first time I've commented in ages and this format sucks compared to the one I enjoyed for years. it's completely inefficient and user unfriendly.
if it weren't for the BRZ/FR-S, Jag, Porsche and AMG (and most of the editors) I'd probably stop coming back.
Our family's Olds Cutlass had a similar dash design as what was used in the Regal and Century. A pod for the instruments, a pod for the HVAC and Radio and open space for the passenger and several strategically placed dash vents. This design must be close to 40 years old since it debuted in 1977 (for the 78 model year and was in production for almost 10 years). Switch gear feel wasn't the greatest but probably ok for the time.
Which brings me to the other sadness. So few miles and so little use of such a tremendous classic? Not even 300 miles in the month of February? I was so excited about this long-term test and really wanted to see how a car of this vintage would ahndle the challenges of daily driving. As a result of the lack of use I am beginning to believe this was just someone's secret project, to have the employer buy their long-sought after vintage car, and then maybe buy it for a bargain at the end of the "test" when all the bugs have been worked out and parts replaced. That is the only thing I can figure for the lack of use.
Sad indeed.
Only in Cali.
-- That might answer a lot right there. While older cars can be a lot of fun when you have a massive garage full of other options the more cushy and compliant new cars seem to win out.
-- I'd love to see a list of how many days each car sat idle each month. Is the GN being driven by people that just don't post or is it being passed up? Is its main usefulness in it being a conversation starter.
-- I drive a 40 year old car over 7000 miles a year and while it never misses putting a smile on my face there are nice things about getting into the new car on the other days, and I don't spend as much time in LA style traffic like they do.
My guess is a semi-universal oil cooler adapter for a similar engine should do the trick in this case at least.
Since you were kind enough to respond to comments on the long cumulative comment thread for this car, can I ask you guys to fix the commenting format on your long term test introductions? Either there is no comment thread, or in the case of the new Passat, you cannot see the thread unless you post a comment. And then once you navigate away, you cannot see the thread again until you post another comment. I know our opinions are ancillary since Edmunds killed off Insideline, but could someone on the inside throw us a bone here and at least keep the comment format you have working properly on all articles?