92 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser: The Summer Adventure Wagon

The empty spot in my driveway is full again.

I’ve always wanted a big full size wagon so when I saw the for-sale thread on the forum I was curious. After reading the ad I knew it was a good deal and I knew I wanted the car but I also knew I didn’t have the time to go get it... until I realized my brother and I would be driving right past the seller’s location on our way home from the ChampCar race at Watkins Glen.

So we made a plan.

Endurance racing and bringing home a cool car, what a weekend it was.

Here’s a gratuitous racecar pic:

It’s worth noting that this whole thing would never have happened had we not been going to crew for Logdog, who I met through selling a car on the forum over three years ago.

The trip home was uneventful except for a two hour gridlock on the interstate caused by an accident.

Later that evening the wagon sat happily cooling off in my driveway.

It’s a great cruiser, and the first car I’ve ever had that draws noticeable positive attention from other people on the road. My wife actually likes it too, so that’s a win.

I need to do some minor stuff, replace window regulators, give it a thorough going over, and then I plan to use it as GM intended, hauling the family around for fun adventures.

It came with some spare parts; among which are the window regulators and an all-important factory service manual so I should be able to get started right away, and if I sell the van soon this will be my daily driver for the summer.

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

I'm glad this went to a good home, and thank you for buying it, so I wouldn't be temped by it anymore.  I've already got a '95 Roadmaster Wagon in the drive way.  These make really nice cruisers.  I'll be following along.

p.s. please document the window regulator repair for us.  I've got to do it to one of my rear windows too.

Sweet wagon. if i didnt need 4wd. i would have one in my driveway too.

It’s usually the rollers and not the regulators themselves, so keep that in mind.  The factory used football shaped sliders to hold the glass to the track, and they split in half over time.  Replacement is round rollers.  They can be installed with channel lock pliers after the door panel is popped off.  

Thats a sexy looking Chumpcar! 

In reply to Patrick :

Good to know, thanks.

Great cars.  My brother in law has 2 of the Roadmaster variety.  Loves them.  

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I believe the aforementioned round rollers should be in the box of bits somewhere. Glad to hear your wife approves, too!

First update: I still need to pull everything out of the box-o-parts so I can get organized. I haven’t done anything to the car yet besides drive it. It’s comfy, drives like a boat, and I like it. It’s also surprisingly easy to park. An oil change is on the agenda for this weekend, and then maybe we’ll see about fixing those window mechanisms. That is, if I have time after I clean my wife’s car. I’ve kind of been promising to do that for a month after I used her Focus to take the dogs hiking on a rainy day.

I probably won’t make that mistake again.

I don't remember if I told you, but I ran full synthetic in the Olds from the day I got it with no leaking issues.

I used the wagon to take van wheels to get new tires mounted.  When I got home I noticed something drip drip dripping underneath near the rear axle area.  Wasn't hard to diagnose it as a fuel leak.  Yeesh, that's pretty close to the hot exhaust, looks like I won't be driving this car until I get that fixed.

And here I was feeling all smug about having all three vehicles running reliably at once. So, now my driveway looks like this:

Dang. Glad I didn’t see this ad, those things are very tempting. 

Indy-Barely Functional-Guy said:

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

I'm glad this went to a good home, and thank you for buying it, so I wouldn't be temped by it anymore.

 

 

Always happy to help ;)

Is the fuel line supposed to be rubber on that part of the car?

Good question.

Let's see what we have here; the leaky section was a 2ish' long piece of hose connecting the return line to a bit of hose coming from the tank.

One end:

The other end:

Let's put re-plumbing fuel lines on the to do list, but for now I need to fix this quickly so the wagon can take over daily driver duties while the van gets some maintenance love.

Why do I read this thread and think of Moby Dick?

Full size wagons and minivans oh my. 

I like big cargo bays and I cannot lie 

It’s leaking trans fluid too. I think the long hot drive home after it had been sitting for a bit did in some seals and other rubbery bits. As far as I can tell it’s (hopefully) just the pan gasket so I’ll do that with a fluid filter change this weekend as well.

The wagon is dog-approved.

I took it for a test drive around town after buttoning up the fuel line. Then we went for a walk.

Ok dual flowmaster exhaust exiting just behind each rear wheel. Some detroit speed suspension parts and some nice rims and tires stuffed into the wheel wells would do it justice.

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

...... after buttoning up the fuel line. 

So Just a fuel line leak? No tank dropping or replacing. You got a Win!

In reply to Indy-Barely Functional-Guy :

Yeah, I got lucky for now. In the future I want to drop the tank and redo everything because I figure if one was leaking the others won’t be far behind.

No passenger airbag so the small human gets to ride shotgun. She thinks the wagon is cool, but “Mom’s yellow car is still way faster than your car, Dad.”

It’s fun having a project car that the whole family can enjoy.

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

 

It’s fun having a project car that the whole family can enjoy.

So true!  I bet she'll enjoy the rear facing 3rd row seat as much as riding in the front seat ;).  

And you'll talk about it for years.  Funny how a weird old car and make such great memories.  

It's leaking trans fluid still (enough now that I'd have to add some every few days) so it wasn't the pan gasket.  For now I'm driving the van to work while the wagon takes up the "project" spot in the driveway.

Speaking of projects:  I can't help but notice the old fuel injected small block under the hood isn't exactly an inspiring engine.  I'm sitting here wondering if I could swap in a LS or something while staying under challenge budget.  That might be the plan if I decide to keep this for awhile.  I have no experience with such things so I've got some research to do.