A Big Suprise & a Test. Very Long story...

RUQWKNF

KEEPER OF SECRETS
Staff member
Joined
May 26, 2001
Welp, where do I start? First, this will be a very long story so sorry in advance. You see, I have been Buick poor since selling my first Buick back in 2005, my Dark Slate Grey 86 T-Type. I caught a lot of heck from my best friend Dave Fiscus, but I always said that one day I would own another Turbo Buick. So for the past month, I have been telling Dave that the next time I came to visit him, that I had a big suprise for him and Natalie. I have been shopping for another Turbo Buick for the past 3 months and Thanks to Steve Stankus, I found her. Friday afternoon, I go to Steves place and pick up the car. Dark Blue 87 Turbo T with Blue interior who I've named Sarah. Man what a gorgeous car. I drive the 76 miles from Steves house to mine with no problems. I figured what I was about to do, there would be some tests involved. I stop by the house, pack some clothes and head off to Daves house in Cincinnati Ohio for the big suprise. During my drive, Dave calls me twice to check up on me. I was worried that he would hear the tell tale sounds of a Turbo Buick in the back ground and would spoil the suprise, but I lucked out. When I got to about 1 mile from his house, I called him and toldl him that I will need him to put on his shoes and help me unload something from my car. I pulled up in front of his house at 1:35 EST with the car idling and the parking lights on. He comes and is very suprised. Natalie behind him saying, I knew it, I guessed that your suprise was you bought another Buick. Dave slid behind the wheel, looked up at me and said "Your stock just went up in my book." We stayed up till 4 AM telling the whole story.

The next day (Saturday) we called around getting the best deal and prices on tires. The ones that came with her were bald and old. I chose Tire Discounters due to their free alignment with the purchase of 4 tires. She needed one anyway cause the steering wheel was slightly off center on the drive over. Dave recommended that I go with a 295/50/15 BFG Radial T/A on the back but we were both worried that they might rub. We installed 1/4" spacers and to our suprise, they fit perfectly with just a little less that a 1/4" of space on both sides for clearance and no rubbing on the wheel trim lips. And man do they look mean as H E double hockey sticks!!! I went with 205/70/15 BFG Traction T/As up front. Now the car sits perfectly level and has the perfect stance. Not too low, and not too high. So after the alignment we headed over to the Zone for some piddly stuff. Locking gas cap, radiator fluid, fuel and oil filters, Autolite 23s, new wipers, Bosch O2 and some white litheum grease. I let Dave drive us back home. He was just as much in love with the car as I am. The whole time I had Big Hair 80's music playing on a mixed tape I had from 1992. She has a factory cassette EQ radio that works perfectly. It was truely a cruise back in time.

The next day, Sunday, we hit the shop. Dave discovered that the stock radiator was leaking at the drivers side neck. I had noticed on the drive over that she was running pretty warm, especially driving in the rain with outside temps around 50. She has a stock fan, stock radiator and PTE FM IC. So we start to mull over the options when Dave remembers he borrowed a Griffin aluminum radiator from our good friend Ken Hagood, so he could make it to the GS Nats 2 years ago. We dug around his shop and TADA!, we found it. So we call Ken and see if he wants to sell it. He does and I scored a Griffin. Thanks Ken. She already had an external B&M trans cooler in series with the internal radiator cooler. We removed the stock radiator and proceeded to install the new one. We needed some adaptor fittings for the trans cooler lines so off to Napa I went. Now the stock radiator also has an oil cooler in it as well, which is not really needed. Dave takes the factory oil cooler line adaptor off of the oil pump but somebody made a boo boo. We buttoned her back up, burped and topped off the radiator fluid and she purred like a kitten. White litheum grease on all the hood bumpers, wipers and gas cap. Now the temps held steady at 158-162. Here's where it gets interesting. The weather forecast was calling for freezing rain for NW Indiana and it's a 4 hour long drive from Daves house to mine so I left earlier than normal. During the drive home, I noticed a few things. The cruise control must have a loose connector or wire cause it's a hit or miss ordeal on proper function. Ok I thought, this is the first test of her new owner. After driving non stop for 2 hours, I start to hear the tell tale sounds of rattling valve train due to either lack of oil or miss adjusted rocker arms. She ain't got no T&Ds so it's gotta be oil. Hmmmm. I notice that the oil pressure is slightly down. Now she's really testing me. At mile marker 138, I notice oil pressure is slowly dropping and the noise is getting louder. PULL OVER AND SHUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY is what my next course of action was. At exit 140, I-65 N, I take the exit and get stopped at the light at the top of the exit. My blood pressure and heart rate are racing now. Oil pressure is now at 10psi and the Oil/Choke idiot light is flashing intermittently. Come on baby, just make it to the Shell station on the other side of the bridge. I back her into a parking space, mentally expecting a Roll back wrecker in my future, look at the gauge and it shows 7psi. KEY OFF!!! At this point, I'm approximately 112 miles from my house and it's pouring rain at 6:35 CST. Sigh....

I pop the hood, get out and notice oil all over the passengers side inner fender, heater box, valve cover, every frickin where. I look down and notice that the oil pressure gauge copper tubing has been routed underneath the header and back up the back side of the motor. I immediately suspect that it might have rubbed and was leaking. I go in and buy 4 qts of oil, pour it in and start her up. OP shoots up to 56psi and is steady, no bottom end knock, but still some valve train clatter. Sounds like the lifters might have lost their prime, but at least I have oil pressure. I call a towing service and get a roll back and try to make the best of a lousy situation. Luckily, the driver Sam, was a very nice guy and the drive home flew by with his stories of the road. We get home, I move the EVO out of the garage, and push Sarah into the garage. I settle up with Sam and start my diagnosis. The 1st thing I do is loosen the oil pressure gauges copper tubing and pull it up so that I can inspect it. Old AF diagnosis method. Nothing, no chaffing, no kinks, nothing. Now I'm baffled. So I start to wipe up the oil that's everywhere and just decide to reinstall the line loosely sticking up above the header, start her up and watch for leaks. I see that it's leaking from the filter. I call Dave and tell him about the copper line and the filter, we're both baffled when suddenly, it hits me, I had this exact same thing happen to me on my old grey car except it involved a damaged o-ring on a PTE oil system. I tell him I think I know what it is, when he removed the factory oil cooler line adaptor, I bet the o-ring stuck to the oil pump housing and got sandwiched between the oil pump and PF52, and when he spun it on, the old o-ring disturbed the seal, and it took 2 hours of steady driving to slowly drain out all the oil. I go back out, pop the filter and TADA!!! Found it. Stock o-ring from oil line housing stuck to the oil pump and caused the leak. So I checked the PF52s gasket and it was intact. Cleaned it up, topped it off, spun it on as tight as I could get it, poured in 1.5 qts of Mobil 1 Syn and fired her up. Oil pressure jumped up to 59-60, no more leaks and the valve train noise was slowly going away. Sigh.... Lifters finally pumped up and the noise went away completely. But, now I had another problem. In my hurry to get back in the garage with my new theory about the o-ring, I accidentally locked myself out of my house. ARRRRRGGGH!!! About that time, my neighbor pulls up and comes to my rescue. After an hour of fiddling with the locked door, we get it opened. Man he saved me.

So, now I sit here, it's 3:20 AM, watching History Channel and drinking a large cup of Captn Morgans rum and orange drink, taking it all in. The suprise, shopping for parts, the perfect stance, the time warp cruise, giving her a good once over, the radiator, and the crazy trip home, diagnosing a one in a million problem only to lock myself out. I'm definitely gonna be late in the morning, but you know, it all worked out. It looks like she's gonna be ok. And Man does she ride and drive like a dream. And I know she's gonna be a runner. I'm in love all over again. I personally believe that every car has a heart and soul, and that whenever ownership changes hands, the car will test her new owner to see just how she's going to be treated. I would say she definitely tested me tonight. I would like to say thanks to Steve Stankus for giving me the opportunity to purchase this gorgeous car. Thanks to Dave and Natalie Fiscus for being such good friends, Ken Hagood for hooking me up with the radiator in a time of need, Sam the roll back driver, my neighbor for helping me out and last but not least, to Sarah.
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My new 87 Turbo T, for testing me and not giving up on me. I know we're gonna have a lot of fun memories together. And I know it will be worth it in the end. Thanks for reading my incredibly long story. I will post some better pics when the weather clears.

Patrick "Die Hard Buick Guy" Rubio
 
Great story and a happy ending. You really do need to get some sleep. Congrats!
 
Great post this honestly has to be one of the best post Ive seen here in a long time... Congrats on the car :D
 
Congrats Patrick on your purchase, it looks like a nice car. You are off to a very good start with that car & the mods it has. Welcome back!!
 
It's about time you got another Buick Patrick. Hollar next time you come down to Jackson. See you later this year.
John
 
Thanks

for telling it like it is,
enjoyed the story, kept thinking it's gonna get worse, but I like a happy ending.
I recognized your sig from long ago, good to see you here again.

cruzn57
 
Thanks for sharing. Thats an awesome story. Fill us in with more details on the car! Sure does look nice.

Jason
 
Great post, I expect a full write up on the future combination today!
 
Glad you got another Buick Patrick.

Wouldn't you have been upset after typing all that and hit the Esc button by mistake:biggrin:

Oh yeah, the Captn Morgan also goes well with Dr Pepper and I'm not a Dr Pepper fan;)
 
Thanks everyone for the replies.
It does feel good to be part of the family again.

Patrick
 
Patrick, It goes without saying, this car could not have found a better home. I would like to say thank YOU for the painless (except seeing you drive away in her) transaction. I'm sure one of these days, down the road, I too will also buy another turbo Buick. Once bit by the bug, there's no escape!
Steve
 
Lol !

Thanks everyone for the replies.
It does feel good to be part of the family again.

Patrick

Scored big with me too Patrick ! Welcome to the Dark (Blue) Side again...LONG time coming ! She's a beaut ! I knew it was only a matter of time.:) You bleed "BUICK".
 
Here are a couple of pics of the tires mounted.
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Here is an engine shot, nevermind the oil line, it's coming out this weekend for an electric OP gauge.
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With 2" of snow on the ground, it looks like it might take a little bit before I can get her really cleaned up and snap some daytime pics. But I will. I can't wait to get out and have some fun again.
I would have never thought those tires would have fit without rubbing. Gotta hand it to my boy Dave tho, excellent suggestion.
What do ya think?

Patrick

P.S. Hmmm, what's this????
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Freaking Fiscus put the KYBOSH on you Patrick:biggrin:

If it was Deisel oil that would not have happened:)
 
mmmm

beefy....those tires look mean. I'm going to copy you....I'm in Atlanta and you'll never have to see :) Congrats on the car. I've had mine for 6 months or better and she's still testing me. I hope yours is finished.
 
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