So I spotted a Fleetwood....and now Sprocket has it

Was out and about Sunday afternoon and did my usual rubber necking when passing the local (small town) GM Used Car Lot.  What was this?  I see a big mirror Fleetwood sitting off to the side.  Called Monday and asked about it....they took it in on trade Sat and plan on taking it to the auction with a couple other cars Wed.  I asked if they would consider selling it As Is...and they said sure.  

Went during lunch and test drove it.  Pretty nice (needs a good cleaning)  2 owner, clean CarFax...and my favorite color (next to DGGM). 129K on the clock. It does have a dent on the passenger rear quarter, but not creased.  I negioate a price and said I'd call them in the morning with a yes or no.  

Talk to Cara that night and BOOM.  I have a Fleetwood   This will be my daily driver....so the Cavalier will go.  I hate that, but I can't keep them all. This is more "me" honestly.  

Having their PDR guy go over the dent today (had them throw that into the deal) so we will see how things look tomorrow when I go to pick it up.  Not expecting perfection since this will be driven quite a bit...

More pics then!  But here are a couple from last night after I took Cara to see it.  





 Chris

so how long before you have it up for sale?

I can see another set of Ridlers in your future!!! AND more lower!!

buickestate wrote:

so how long before you have it up for sale?

No that's the other guy, Pat.


Nice find Chris, we need a section for Fleetwoods.

Tom

NICE! Looking forward to the next pics! Very pretty! Beats a Cavalier all to pieces!

That's awesome, dude! She's a keeper!

(the car, too! )

And Pat, who do you think he is, me? Lol!

Thanks guys! Nah, I am keeping this one for a good while...hardly broken in at 129K!! It will look good parked next to the Wagon

Has a brand new set of white walls....and I honestly want to keep it stock. No fancy wheels, no crazy mods. I will get it tinted at some point.

Keeping it stock (but that's what we all say...) Hahaa. The wagon is still my #1 toy and I have a few more things I need to do on it!

Chris

Congrats Chris! Can't wait to see it up close.

I've got some paint left over if you want to take care of that color...

Well, took a peek at the post PDR work tonight. Eh...I'll have to get it fixed at some point. Not as bad as the quarter crinkle on my old blue wagon (Sprocket's now) but the car is too nice not to have it fixed.

I did "steal" the passenger fender skirt tonight, fixed where the chrome was separating from the body (little rivits had failed). First fix

I wonder if they will notice it missing from the car when they open in the morning? haha

toomanytoyz wrote:

I've got some paint left over if you want to take care of that color...

Well...I dunno...

:-p

brokecello wrote:

Well, took a peek at the post PDR work tonight. Eh...I'll have to get it fixed at some point. Not as bad as the quarter crinkle on my old blue wagon (Sprocket's now) but the car is too nice not to have it fixed.

I did "steal" the passenger fender skirt tonight, fixed where the chrome was separating from the body (little rivits had failed). First fix

I wonder if they will notice it missing from the car when they open in the morning? haha

I am sure you will be getting a call in the am even if you stole it from your own car!Great looking caddy by the way but I would hold onto the cavalier
in case gas goes thru the roof again!

Well, wish I could keep LilBuddy...but I need to let him go. I promised I would sell him if I got the Caddy. Lol

So...first thing first...JUST ORDERED MY NEW DASHMAT!! Will show up next week. BOOM!

Heck yeah.

Does it have the southern dash mod?

Gastt wrote:

Does it have the southern dash mod?

Unfortunately...yes. Not having a DashMat down here is not all it's "cracked up" to be. Har har... (not even sure if that made sense) Door panels look great though. (headliner too) Sun just took its toll on that pad. Non Sungate windshield too (so it was replaced at some point)

Sweet, after talking to u yestday and then seeing Cara went to look. I knew it'd be yours.
My Dad bought his Jag in a similar fashion. The previous owner hadn't even traded it in when he saw it, and said I Want it!

I have only come accross 1 93-96 fleetwood in a yard (a 95) and was uber impressed by the beast. The leg and headroom was awesome but it was just so massive (which I kind of like). I was shocked to learn that the 93-96 Fleetwoods are the largest sedan ever offered at a whopping 225" long car; thats longer than our wagons!

Enjoy. I think if I were to get a sedan, I'd go for the fleetwood of a Roady for sure.

I think you need to convert it to a wagon! Nice addition Chris. I like the color btw.

LMK what you are going to do with the Cavalier.

Southern dash mod or not it's a nice caddy

Sprocket wrote:

Sweet, after talking to u yestday and then seeing Cara went to look. I knew it'd be yours.
My Dad bought his Jag in a similar fashion. The previous owner hadn't even traded it in when he saw it, and said I Want it!

That's how I got my Caprice. I was working selling cars and I saw it in the lot, I was already asking my boss about it. The guy was just looking. He traded it in the next day and I bought it the day after that.

It's home I snapped a couple quick pics and rushed back to work. I will take a lot more pics once I clean it up. Looks good parked at home though!!

Chris

Very pretty!

Very nice Chris.

have the "after" pics of the PDR work? Dealer PDR jobs are not always the same as retail jobs.

AArgh,...

I'm so jeluz,.

I can't find a decent caddy in the right color for the right price,.

I,m sure you'll have it looking nice in no time,..

nick

Thanks guys! And thank you Nick...Cara said the same thing. She sees the potential in this one! (even if it is just an Average Gold Fleetwood) lol

Some little scratches here and there in the clear coat, which I can fix. Also some fading on the big mirrors, but I can repaint those. Took it on a long drive tonight too. I forgot how beefy these things are compared to the other B-bodies. Makes my wagon seem like a sports car!

Nice to have the remotes and gold keys!





Robert, you are 100% correct. Lol. The top of the dent is better, but I need to work on the lower lip. It still needs to come out more to meet the fender skirt top. Thinking I can tweak it some once I get the wheel off....

Here is the "after" pic. The top looks waaay better than before though. Note how the bottom is still rolled in. I won't complain about the PDR work though, it was included in the $2,200 price and he spent over an hour on it.




Found a little treat in the trunk...the missing rear bumper trim piece. Might be able to salvage this (hopefully)





Interior is nice (needs cleaning) Drivers seat leather is a little worn on the edges (I need to do what Nick did to his wife's Fancy Ford seat) All the factory floor mats are there and in good shape (just dirty)





Engine bay should clean up nicely!





CD and Tape! For once I don't have to buy one of these for my ride...



What's up with the extra relays? Seems they have their own fuse box too...interesting.



Didn't remember the Fleetwoods getting their own stalk?



Will have to peel this stuff off.....should be an easy fix. More chrome! haha




Nice place to buy a car actually, not pushy and were really good people. They want me to bring the wagon by at some point (one salesman had a RMW and loved it) But not so classy Temp Tag. Yellow duct tape for the win. You can see some of the scratches on the trunk lid, but I can get those out easily.

whats the extra black pot thingy on the drivers inner fender with the lines going to it?

some sort of traction control?

Use the oil rejuvenater for the seats,. you won't believe the crap that comes out of the leather,.

nick

PS,. mommys fancy ford drivers seat looks MAHvelus still!!

One thing i did learn that a light thin coat looks and lasts great,.

a thick wet coat flakes off,. i had material leftover so i hosed the pass seat,. and it flaked off,.
i called the guy and got chastised,. i got a tiny bit more dye, and re sanded and re did pass side,. it looks mahvelus too,.

you have waay more patience than me,. so yours will look great i,m sure,.

Yes, traction control. Yes, different stalk... FTP (flash to pass).

Sweet, dude. I'm happy for ya!

I hate the traction control. I'd much rather have G80.

I'm envious. That's a nice Caddy. I've only seen a few around my neck of the woods. One of which has been posted for over two years. Dang Dealer still thinks after two years on craigslist he won't need to lower the price to sell it. I love the color just not the 4900 price tag.

Nice toy! Funny, that's the same turn signal stalk as the one on Misty's '96 Bonneville. Man those seats look COMFY. Road trip time!

I say hit the yards for parts and then make it as stock and new-looking as possible. There are a TON of these in the yards down here.

I really want a big Caddy but Misty won't let me bring any more cars home unless others leave.... : (

81X11 wrote:

.............There are a TON of these in the yards down here. .............

Definitely NOT tons of them around here. next time your in the yards......

phantom 309 wrote:

Use the oil rejuvenater for the seats,. you won't believe the crap that comes out of the leather,.

agreed. You think they're clean now, just wait until you see them after a Leatherique treatment.

Search "leatherique sale" on Google and you'll find several places running sales on it right now.

Nice score, another FW owner among us . I'm interested as to why it has that 2 piece center console though, isn' that a 93-94 thing?
Flash to pass? Either my 96 FWB didn't come with it or it doesn't work

The split center console must have changed mid year in 95. Mine has the 96 style clamshell console.

My 94 has that console.

So...apparently 3 bars on the gas gauge is way too low. Hahaa. Took it out tonight to fill it up and literally ran out of gas on the way to the station...(I watched the bars go from 3..then 2...then put put put....on a dark windy 2 lane road in the middle of nowhere. Cara came to the rescue with the lawn mower gas can.

Lesson learned.

That's odd. My Fleetwood can go for quite a while even with LOW flashing.

Typical problem with these cars. Eventually had to change out the sender. If its working right, the whole gauge starts to flash when you get too low. Unfortunately it does that exactly 8 feet before it dies.

If your in the yards, keep your eyes peeled for a Fleet with "blue" foams" in the seats. That is the livery option and the seats are even more comfortable.

Bill

chris there's a fix for your fuel guage,. its all over the net,.google is your friend, search impala ss tho,..
Gary meir used to sell the potentiometers,.

gas guage fix

Nick

I had that happen on my red 94 baretop, too. It ran out of gas with 1/4 tank showing!

sherlock9c1 wrote:

do it once and do it right.

"first thing drop your tank,............"

my eyes glazed over right away,..

Nick

Guess I got lucky with my OCC because when my gauge says empty I have about 2 gallons left.When my low fuel chime goes off you had better be close to a gas station.Only ran it that low a few times after I bought it and I learned about how the gas keeps the fuel pump at a much lower operating temperature.

phantom 309 wrote:

chris there's a fix for your fuel guage,. its all over the net,.google is your friend, search impala ss tho,..
Gary meir used to sell the potentiometers,.

gas guage fix

Nick

Nick:

That fix was for the "full" reading, not the empty. Don't care what it reads up top. I want to know when its going to quit.

Bill

If you re-calibrate the needle to read 'full' properly as opposed to over-full, then, in turn, it should read correctly when empty. You are just shifting the sweep of the gauge over its full range.

You can reverse the procedure if you like. Just run it out of gas again and while you're on the side of the road waiting for help, get your screwdriver out and adjust your gauge to read 'empty'.

Nick, I've bought and installed that fuel gauge calibrator on a couple of wagons. I think it's not a bad idea really.

I just fill up with 1/4 tank showing now...and should have when I bought the Fleetwood. It starts sloshing anyhow when it gets that low...I was just in a rush and didn't pay attention. Will prob just leave it as is until I change out the fuel pump (which I will do sooner than later since I don't know the history on this one). And will look at that sending unit! I'm weird too...I like to take the tank down and clean all the crud around it. lol

Chris.

PS. Took it to work today...and gave my first ride. This is the co-worker who lost her husband this past Dec. I've been helping her sell off his cars and I took her to the DMV this morning since we sold another one. She asked if she could ride in the back like Ms. Daisy. She was a fan of the Caddy!

Did she try out the roof mirrors?

so cool....

selling cars? what cars? what does she have left?

You need a chauffers hat to complete the effect.Kudo's to you for helping her out with such a hard thing for her to do after losing her husband!