My '94 Roadmaster Build

Hey guys. This is my '94 Roadmaster as I saw it on Craigslist before I bought it. I was in the market for one but I didn't have much money, so I bussed all the way to Kansas City with my dad to pick this one up. It was in pretty rough shape. I will have little projects on it for years to come, but I hope it will be awesome when I am done with it. It is already pretty awesome.




This will be a long term thread. I will update it as I complete little projects on it. It will be fun (for me at least) to see its progress and learn from you all as I go.

I shoot most of my pictures with film, so updates may be sporadic as I get film developed.

Looks like a decent one to start with. What color are the guts?

Andebe wrote:

Looks like a decent one to start with. What color are the guts?

Blue cloth interior in decent shape. Seats are good but I am probably going to replace the carpet.

After talking to the owner quite a bit about the car, we decided we would head out to pick it up. We bought some bus tickets and ventured forth.









The bus ride was long and terrible but at long last we made it. This was my first view of the car.



It was in about the condition I expected. Lots of little projects and some big ones, but I love the car. It is going to be such a fun project.

The ride back was smooth and comfortable and it gave us a bit of time to get to know the car.







And we are home. I am proud of my new ride. I am more excited about this car than any car I have ever owned.

The next day I took (and failed) my emissions test. That is going to be the first project. I was able to get a temp till the end of July so I have a bit of time to work on it.

Time to start cleaning! This thing needed a lot of it. Shampooed the carpet for hours, cleaned the seats, cleaned all the plastic...and it still needs cleaning. Not sure the previous owner ever cleaned it. It is starting to look WAY better though.

It's interesting to read about new wagon owners,.and see their enthusiasm for their new rides,.

It fades after you've had a few wagons and fixed them,. maintained them,.modded them,.

So watching some one discover these cars for the first time is kinda fun, and their intial dedication,..

I wish you success and good luck with the car,.

She's cleaning up nice Nathan! I prefer the cloth interior to the leather. I also have a 94 RMW, blue interior. When I got mine the carpet was filthy. I removed the seats, easy job, and then took out the carpet. I rented a carpet cleaner and worked for several hours to get it clean. I think I also used my pressure washer. Eventually, I won the battle.

As for not passing the emissions test, nick "phantom 309" could probably give you a few tips on what to look for that may be causing the problem.

Tom

phantom 309 wrote:

It's interesting to read about new wagon owners,.and see their enthusiasm for their new rides,.

It fades after you've had a few wagons and fixed them,. maintained them,.modded them,.

So watching some one discover these cars for the first time is kinda fun, and their intial dedication,..

I wish you success and good luck with the car,.

I agree with this 100 percent! My fun always renews,after a good cleaning,and getting several thumbs up from people on the street. Catch alot of people taking pictures of my plate,"SWAGON." Some laughing with,others at... Enjoy her,shes looks good getting loved on.

Love the pics and story!! It reminded me of when I bought my first Bbody wagon...and cleaning one up after you buy it is always the best part.  Did you pop the back (middle) seat cushion up yet?  Always good treasures in there!! Push the bottom of the cushion toward the back of the car and it will release a little tab (2 total) so the cushion lifts up.    

Eager to see your updates as they come!

Nice wagon to start with!

Deadmanonduty wrote:

Nice wagon to start with!

Just like a new girlfriend,. fun to play with at first and try and improve,. and always looks great in the pictures./

Then,. you move in together, and you find out what its like to live together and you find out a lot of previously unknown little quirks,.

but she still looks good to the other guys,.

………and you put miles on her EVERYDAY!

Well I have done quite a bit of work to get it running better. I did a new Opti-Spark, plugs, wires, water pump and thermostat, knock sensor and plug, and front shocks. Still trying to decide if I want to try to fix the air shocks on the rear or just put in regular shocks.

Well my work payed off. She passed emissions and is running pretty dang good now, and I got plates for her. Still idles a little rough sometimes, but its much better than it was. Glad to have that off my plate.

BTW, check out that beautiful Marauder next to me at the emissions testing facility.

I also picked up some fender skirts. Here they are set up for a test-fit. They look cool. I am hoping to get them painted up in the next few weeks. I am going to sand down and repaint the rusted corners at the same time.

NathanGilmer wrote:

I also picked up some fender skirts.

Wheels too. Looks good.

After you have the skirts painted, put some of the "chrome" tape on the area that mimics the stainless trim.

Cool thread and good luck with the car. As it is a 1994, is the Aux Battery Post (Pass side by the firewall) brass or Aluminum? In 94 they started with Aluminum and switched to brass due to meltdown issues.... If Aluminum, source a Brass one from the JY. I just replaced one on my 94 Caprice wagon last weekend. All 95 and 96 sedans and wagons had the brass one you want.

You can get adapters to use regular air shocks for the rear. Does your pump still work? The pumps are often non functional, and the fuse is removed.