Introduce yourself thread! (56k warning!)

[Delaymora]

Hi, My name is Mathew. I'm 22, I live in Salt Lake City. I am currently a Customer Service Rep, but I've mostly done manual labour before that. My hobbies are cars, computers, and video games.

I just got a white 1996 Buick Century a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty proud of it! I only paid $600 for it as it was sitting in someone's back yard for the last 7 years, and all I had to do was slap a new fuel pump and sending unit in. Now she runs like a sewing machine on 7y/o gas! Here is a link to some pictures I just took this morning. https://app.photobucket.com/u/Delaymora

If that link works correctly, there is another album in there that has all the pictures I still have of my "Spiritual First Car". Pearl the Blue 1992 Buick Century Stationwagon wasn't actually my first car, but she was the first car that I fell in love with. I bought Pearl for $800 in September of 2017. She ran like a top, other than a mysterious no start condition the eventually just stopped happening, until I wrecked the car in January of 2018.

I love the indepth information on this forum, and I hope I can do something interesting enough to add to it!

[Johnnybeen]

Hi I'm Johnny and this is my 1994 Buick Century; it is my first car which I purchased in 2018 from a distant 87 year old relative who hardly drove it and garaged it for its whole life, I bought the car at 23,317 miles. Because of the low mileage there hasn't been much to complain about, the only things I've had to do to it over the past couple years after new tires and fluids upon purchase is replace the alternator and recharge the a/c. The only real issue I inherited from the previous owner is the body damage on the passenger side and front bumper, the story is that she couldn't see out of the car and would hit the walls when parking in the garage.








In my time of ownership I've driven about 14,000 miles give or take (hard to remember because I've hardly had to drive this past year due to covid) and I'm getting to the point where I would like to address issues and make tasteful changes in hopes that I will get many more years out of it. Over these couple years of ownership I haven't had the time or funds to put aside to do much else other than basic preventative maintenance such as oil changes every 3000 miles and doing an oil undercoating since it does see winter weather.

Issues to address:
-Shaking at 70mph: For the longest time this was a mystery but it seems like the problem has been the front bushings, I managed to track down a pair and may replace the ball joints at the same time.
-Rear bumper: I was in a rear end accident and the damage hasn't been dealt with yet because I couldn't find a replacement when it happened and its been on the back burner ever since.
-Body damage, especially because rust is starting to spread and there is more reason to take care of it as it was backed into on that same rear corner more recently
-Leaky passenger door seal (cant find one anywhere)
-Lifter tick: I know this is a common thing with the 3100 but I would like to find someone who knows these engines to listen to it and confirm its benign in my case

Wanted upgrades:
-Cupholder, broke the old one
-Dash cover
-Floor mats that actually fit
-A steering wheel cover that wont look out of place
-Wheel arch trim
-Century emblems, one has been missing since I got it and the other was crushed
-A tasteful set of rims
-Side window deflectors?
-Modified oem radio with aux jack?

I figured these are about the only upgrades one could do since these cars seem to have virtually no aftermarket but im pleasantly surprised to read about what other members have done with their cars, looking forward to learning more.

[tlc1976]

Nice to see you again Peter.

Aside from seeing RarecarVRs fleet, and seeing one on blocks in the distance (both in 2006) Ive never seen a VR in person.

The only A body in the local yard at least last year was an 87-89 Celebrity. I grabbed the windshield for my cruiser. I also grabbed the headlights since mine both have small holes. Also grabbed the front plate holder for kicks even though Michigan doesn?t require one. Wanted the taillights and bumper but it was tight up against a huge steel tank and besides I needed to get going. With everything going on this year I haven?t been there since.

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I havent seen a Celebrity in a long time, until over the weekend I got passed by a White Eurosport VR. Was a treat.

[EurosportCL]

Yep you are correct. I did get the lighted passenger side visor and the dome light w/map lights from you. Both still work fine. FYI, I went to a huge car show yesterday and won a trophy, number 22 and counting. CL has 32 options and i'm always on the hunt for more. Unfortunately, where I live there has not been any celebrities in any jk for 12 yrs or so.

[tlc1976]

Hi All,

It has been a very long time since I last posted on the old site. For those who don't know me, I'm the original owner of my FREE 86 Eurosport CL. The car has 332,000 miles and counting w/ the original: engine, A/C compressor, (still is ice cold even after getting rid of the freon), master brake cylinder, starter motor, interior and license plates. One year ago this month, I replaced the original alternator. In 1991, due to the GM recall, car was stripped of its paint and primer and re-primed and painted (all free) and I paid for the first gen clear coat, (4 coats) and have never waxed it since. Car has won many trophies at car shows. I have never, ever seen another A-body at any shows until 2 weeks ago when there was a beautiful white, 95 Buick Century wagon. Unbelievably, I have every service receipt since car was new. There is a story re: why. Just today, I found replacement rear coil over shocks from Monroe, but not through Monroe, but through Shock Warehouse, go figure.

For years, I have been searching for the tach for a 2.5L. Can anyone help?

Peter

If you?re the one I think you are, I sent you some lighted visors and maybe something else back in the day maybe 10 years ago. Maybe one of the deluxe dome lights. Or maybe a lighted mirror. I tried to get you some bumper guards but the car was gone when I got back to the yard. You were trying to add all options to your CL.

I?m in rough shape right now, recovering from major surgery for the 2nd time in 2 years. But I?m still driving a bodies.

[EurosportCL]

How does one check if it is for a 4 or 6cyl? How much do you want and does it work?

Peter
Original owner 86 Eurosport CL

[EurosportCL]

How do I post pics of my 86 Eurosport CL

Peter
original owner

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

I know I have a celebrity tach, and its for sale! I do not know if its for a 4cyl or 6cyl thou.

[EurosportCL]

Hi All,

It has been a very long time since I last posted on the old site. For those who don't know me, I'm the original owner of my FREE 86 Eurosport CL. The car has 332,000 miles and counting w/ the original: engine, A/C compressor, (still is ice cold even after getting rid of the freon), master brake cylinder, starter motor, interior and license plates. One year ago this month, I replaced the original alternator. In 1991, due to the GM recall, car was stripped of its paint and primer and re-primed and painted (all free) and I paid for the first gen clear coat, (4 coats) and have never waxed it since. Car has won many trophies at car shows. I have never, ever seen another A-body at any shows until 2 weeks ago when there was a beautiful white, 95 Buick Century wagon. Unbelievably, I have every service receipt since car was new. There is a story re: why. Just today, I found replacement rear coil over shocks from Monroe, but not through Monroe, but through Shock Warehouse, go figure.

For years, I have been searching for the tach for a 2.5L. Can anyone help?

Peter

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

You could still do a 3.8 or a gen1 3800 (non SC). They came in the Celebritys kissing cousin, the olds Cutlass Ciera, and the Buick Century. Again, just grab everything from the dashboard foward for wiring, engine, tranny, and your set. You could even do it a wee bit simpler, and drop the engine cradle out of the donor, and out of the Celeb, and swap it as an entire unit. It would just need to be from a 92 and earlier model I believe.

Problem is finding a donor. Not many A-Bodies left on the road.

[Derryberry]

As it would be my first engine swap maybe I should look into swapping it out with one of those other celeb engines. I really just want to have a car that operates as it should, and do 70 on the interstate. :P

From there I can justify doing mods to make the car my own, and maybe swap it with a 3800 in the future!

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

It can be done.. One of our banned for life members put a Cadi engine in one, a L67 in another, and more engines than you can shack a stick at. Its just a matter of wiring, and programming the PCM for security (where applicable), and other odds and ends.

A 2.8/3.1 MPFI is a pretty direct swap, if you grab the entire wiring harness from the front of the dash forward, including bulk heads, engine and tranny. Then you use the computer from the donor, and it becomes virtually plug and play (as long as its OBD1). So its just a matter of finding a 90-91 A-Body for a 3.1, or a 87-90 2.8 Abody. There is a catch about the transmission thou. If you grab the engine, wiring harness, and transmission, you are almost guaranteed sucess. If you dont grab the tranny, it will work, but your speedo has a 33% chance of not being correct. It would depend on the final drive ratios. You can check them on the spare tire cover, if it survived.

86 models also had a 2.8 MPFI engine, but its quite the nightmare to work on, and a completely different engine.

If the donor has a 3100/3400 engine, its not plug and play.

Once you move over to OBD2, things get much more complicated. It can still be done...

[Derryberry]

Ive actually been doing research on swapping it with an l67 3.8 sc

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

Personally, I would pull that craptastic engine out, and replace it with a 2.8 MPFI, or a 3.1 MPFI. But thats me personally.