Changing of the guard: 1989 Caprice Estate

[Kaysboat]

After about 15 years of searching, I finally picked up my dream car, a pre 1991 Caprice Wagon.

My parents had a Buick Electra Estate when I was younger and was the car I learned to drive on. I wanted to buy it from my parents, but due to its high milage, some body rust and fact taht I didn't have a garage/house, it didn't happen at the time.

Since them I had been casually looking for a Caprice wagon, as I always thought they looked a bit better than the Buicks (too heavy in the front clip), Oldsmobiles (weird wire wheel disks) and Poniacs (weird dash and ugly wood grain pattern). A couple came up, but I was either an hour too late or too expensive for what they were.

At Christmas I was picking around kijiji (like craigslist) and found one near by. Called the seller, and it was the original owner who was looking to simplify his life a bit. We went to check it out and it was pretty ligit. Extremely dirty, but in good mechanical shape and body/frame etc... very solid. We picked it up a week later, and the owner was actually crying when we drove away. For him, it was very important the car went to someone who would enjoy and appreciate and, and it was sold to us with the promise we wouldn't flip it. Which we won't.

Since getting it home, I've done the following:

Swapped tires around (whitewalls were on the inside)
Extensive interior and exterior cleaning (I've bought a bunch of banger cars over the years, but never had a car as dirty as this. Dust was literally everywhere in every nook and cranny)
Replaced front pads, rotors and bearings
Replaced washer pump
Fixed some vaccum leaks
Replaced front bumper cover
Replaced a few faulty switches and misising interior trim pieces

Still on the "to do" list

Replace headliner
Rebuild rear brakes
Replace rear bumper filler
Fix/replace radio (tape stuck in deck, making radio inop, as well as only one side of the speakers work)
A zillion other things that will surely crop up

The plan is to use it as a three seasons daily driver, and we'll be going to one car for the winter season.

The 80 C10 truck is used for odd jobs and lumber yard runs, and the 86 Crown Vic is reserved for summer fair weather cruising.

Enjoy

[Arquemann]

Nice Caprice, I looked at those before I bought my MGM.
Especially the wagons are quite plentiful here, currently atleast a dozen of that body style for sale. Many are matte black and beat to shit though.
Hope it serves you well.

[gadget73]

My boss has a rusty 89 Caprice Estate in that same color. After the Olds 307 jumped the chain and died he put an Olds 350 in it. Still runs the electronic Q-jet and the rest of it so the lockup converter works.

kinda lame that they were made with the Olds engine. A TBI 305 would have been a better engine.

[Mainemantom]

Nice wagon. 89 was a good year especially for patrol cars. Does it have cloth, vinyl or leather ? Start looking for spare parts, getting hard to find . What year is the pickup in the driveway ? That model was a good truck especially with the straight 6.

[Hearsesrock427]

If it wasn't for the high beltline/small rear window surface area on these box B body wagons I'd rock the shit out of one. She's a happy stablemate for your '86 and your C10. You've got a right angle brigade going good there! Really nice to meet your idols mang, especially automotive ones. Am curious about bumper filler panels- I know the GM B and C body cars from this era have notoriously bad filler panels. Do you just replace them every few years and live with it or are there places that make filler panels that can stand the test of time? Makes me wonder if anyone's tried to make panels out of high hardness steel (have to go with heavier gauge to help compensate for the thin, wide, surface area methinks)....?