Well, I called and left a message yesterday and haven't heard anything back yet. Will try again today since this is solidly at the top of my list of interesting cars to pick up as an interim beater, but am so far no impressed at all with any of the Craigslist sellers I've tried to contact about cars (since none have gotten back to me...).
I have the opposite experience as a seller, I immediately get back to people about selling and they drop off the map never to be seen again.
Harvey wrote: I have the opposite experience as a seller, I immediately get back to people about selling and they drop off the map never to be seen again.
Yeah, I've had that problem too. 
Here are a few places to buy special parts
http://www.intense-racing.com
http://zzperformance.com
http://www.3800performance.com
I had a 95 Riviera with the sc3800. I loved that car. Big, good power, and as comfortable as any car I've ever been in. I would definitely be willing to have another.
Klayfish wrote: Don't have much input on the mechanical issue this one my have, but I did stay a Holiday Inn Express last night. Actually, what I came here to say is that my wife had the Pontiac version of this as a DD for a few years. I don't recall what model year it was, it was either '04 or '05 I think, Bonneville SSEi. I have to admit, despite being a luxobarge, it was one of my favorite cars that she ever owned. Seats were amazingly comfortable. The dash was very busy with lots of buttons, etc...but I think it actually worked well and looked good. I loved the look of the car. The 3.8SC has tons of power to hustle the car along just fine. Handling was not bad for a nose heavy FWD barge. At legal and sane speeds, I'd say it was actually pretty good. Pontiac said premium unleaded, and that's what we ran. Sure was thirsty, 18mpg even driving it conservatively.
It was pretty normal for my GTP to average 28mpg in normal commuting. it would say 30mpg on the readout, but calculate out to 28.. if I ran 50% or more corn juice the mpg readout would be dead accurate..
Regarding the coolant elbows: every parts store 'round these parts has the metal ones right behind the counter and they don't bother with the "year/make/model/interior color" ordeal if you say you need coolant elbows for a 3800..
It's been a few years, memory may be bad. It may have reached mid-20s on pure highway. But the low end torque was fun, kinda hard to stay off the skinny pedal. I definitely remember that. 
Great, now I'm wishing I had one for my commute slog car...thanks.
Well, I've tried calling twice- once at lunch and once in the evening- and just gotten voice mail. Listing just has the number to call, but I'll try texting for S&Gs and see if that gets me anywhere.
Went to the local auto auction last night and checked out a SC3800 Grand Prix, but it went higher than I thought reasonable and the seller didn't let it sell for that, so that ended up being a waste of time. Considering going to the auction a little further away tonight, but logistics if I did find something to get the car home would be a definite pain.
EDIT: Out of curiosity, before I went to send a text I decided to do a reverse number check to make sure that the number was a cell phone. According to White Pages it belongs to A-to-Z Hauling and Transport which I don't find on Google Maps- but the reverse lookup interesting had an address for the place, which is clearly where the pictures of the car were taken. And from the street view photos, JohnRW1621 is right- there is a 3rd-gen Camaro in the driveway.
So, texting was the charm- finally got a response. The car is sitting at the address I found above and I'm going to go take a look at it over lunch. Seller may or may not be around, so asked a few questions over text. Said that they thought it had a blown head gasket because it was blowing smoke out the tailpipe, but that they figured it would likely make it across town if I could get it started (battery is dead from sitting). We'll see what I find when I head down to look at it over lunch, if it looks to be in otherwise good condition I'll likely see if I can haggle the price down a bit and snag it.
Are those plastic elbows that fail frequently easily checked under the hood? Or do they require taking things apart to see?
To check the elbow, bring a coolant pressure tester. All the auto parts stores loan/rent them out for free.
http://www.autozone.com/loan-a-tools/pressure-tester-adapters
The hand pump connects right to the radiator cap. Not too much pressure, just like one, maybe two pumps and you will see if coolant comes out of the elbow. Will also expose if coolant is leaking from anywhere else like radiator or water pump.
Since you need to take off the radiator cap to do this, remember to do this before you drive or the coolant will be too hot to take off the cap.
Bing maps does not show the Camaro but does show the Buick in the driveway.
http://binged.it/1KuMdMu
The photo states to be from 4-29-15 so if that is true, it leads me to believe that he has had the car for at least nearly a year.
JohnRW1621 wrote: Black plastic, silver metal:
Yep. Just didn't know they existed and so used new plastic ones recently.
So, got out and looked at the car over lunch. Unfortunately the seller wasn't there- they'd left the car unlocked so I could poke around to my heart's desire, but without the key couldn't start it up and see for myself what it was doing while running.
Overall impression of the car: A bit worn down, but not unreasonably so for a car with almost 190k on the clock. The exterior you can see decently well from the pictures- it has some scuffs and scrapes and some light damage to some trim, but pretty much no rust (the fender in front of the driver's door is the only place to perhaps be watched a bit) and no real damage. Rear passenger tire was a bit flat, but I can't hold that too much against it- both of our cars have one tire that has a very, very slow leak and has to be aired up every month or so.
Interior has definitely seen better days- but it is FAR from the worst I've seen. Both interior door panels are in poor shape and I'd be hunting for replacements, but they're still usable and actually THERE. Headliner is starting to come loose around the edges. The seats though didn't look to have any real rips or damage to them (though there was a car seat in the back that meant I couldn't see half of the back bench). It's definitely a luxobarge, with about every bell and whistle you can come up with (for its day) as far as accessories go.
The engine didn't look terrible bad... but again, I didn't have the key to start it up and hear and see it run. Had plenty of oil and it didn't look milky at all. The overflow coolant reservoir was a bit low, but the radiator was full of coolant. Looking it over, the only thing I noticed in particular was that it looked like there was something wet down the passenger side of the engine, but I'm dressed for work and couldn't poke around to see what it was without messing up my work clothes.
Had 2014 New York emissions inspection sticker on the windshield, and last year's registration on the plates- I'm guessing it's been sitting for a bit and they didn't bother renewing it for this year.
My thoughts are that if I can hear it run and it doesn't REALLY seem like it's in serious trouble, I'll see if I can't haggle the price down a hundred or so and buy it. Hopefully it'll just be replacing the LIM and the elbows and it'll be up to not blowing smoke and good for a good while longer until the weather warms up, when I'll probably try and turn around and sell it for a bit of a profit and try and finally find a convertible for SWMBO and I to drive for the summer. Alternatively, I could pull the engine and everything needed to run it and keep it around to potentially engineer swapping into the DeLorean.
The elbows are clearly visible from the tip of the engine.. they just connect the alternator bracket to the water pump and intake manifold. The wetness on that side of the engine is probably from that.. the last set I put in a car took a half hour, with 15 of those minutes spent fishing broken plastic out of the holes.
Great car. Great choice.
The only thing I have to add and not just echo is the bit about premium fuel. Driven in the way most people who own large fwd buicks do, they're just fine on 89 or even 87. Many a mile.
That said, my Regal got some big E85 injectors and a tiny little pulley, for some high 13 second fun.
novaderrik wrote: The elbows are clearly visible from the tip of the engine.. they just connect the alternator bracket to the water pump and intake manifold. The wetness on that side of the engine is probably from that.. the last set I put in a car took a half hour, with 15 of those minutes spent fishing broken plastic out of the holes.
But the alt and the elbows are on the passenger side of the engine, aren't they? This was on the driver's side...
You're in it for a Lower intake gasket. NBD
O_O
I asked if they were willing to come down a bit on the price, and they came back with (and I'm quoting): "450 today price"
Looks like I'm getting a Buick!
Yay!
belteshazzar wrote: Yay!
Yeah, I'm pretty excited. Being somewhat restrained and holding off on preemptively ordering the necessary gasket kit & the elbows until I actually have the car signed over and paid for.
Out of curiosity, what all besides just the injectors and smaller pulled did you need for the mods you made to yours?
Ashyukun wrote:novaderrik wrote: The elbows are clearly visible from the tip of the engine.. they just connect the alternator bracket to the water pump and intake manifold. The wetness on that side of the engine is probably from that.. the last set I put in a car took a half hour, with 15 of those minutes spent fishing broken plastic out of the holes.But the alt and the elbows are on the passenger side of the engine, aren't they? This was on the driver's side...
But...:
" the only thing I noticed in particular was that it looked like there was something wet down the passenger side of the engine, "
keethrax wrote:Ashyukun wrote:But...: " the only thing I noticed in particular was that it looked like there was something wet down the passenger side of the engine, "novaderrik wrote: The elbows are clearly visible from the tip of the engine.. they just connect the alternator bracket to the water pump and intake manifold. The wetness on that side of the engine is probably from that.. the last set I put in a car took a half hour, with 15 of those minutes spent fishing broken plastic out of the holes.But the alt and the elbows are on the passenger side of the engine, aren't they? This was on the driver's side...
Ah- yeah, it looks like I screwed up in that post. It definitely was the driver's side and not the passenger side. Sorry...
Ashyukun wrote:belteshazzar wrote: Yay!Yeah, I'm pretty excited. Being somewhat restrained and holding off on preemptively ordering the necessary gasket kit & the elbows until I actually have the car signed over and paid for. Out of curiosity, what all besides just the injectors and smaller pulled did you need for the mods you made to yours?
blower was ported. computer reflashed. 3" downpipe. A meth injection kit in case E85 got hard to find. That's all the stuff relevant to your question.
Ashyukun wrote: Ah- yeah, it looks like I screwed up in that post. It definitely was the driver's side and not the passenger side. Sorry...
No problem. Knew one of them had to be wrong, but no idea which without your clarification
$2016 Challenge Buick?
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