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rearviewmirrorstore.com is actually my site. I was just checking on visitors for the day, and I saw someone was directed there from w-body.com. I was like.....what?! Then I came here and found this. That's a pretty rare mirror you linked to. As far as I know, they were an exclusive option in the Dodge Stratus, and as you can imagine, there's not a lot of those in the junkyards anymore. It's what I call my "grand daddy of them all" mirror, as it has pretty much every feature other than a back up screen, thus the price. You're actually pretty limited on choices if you want auto-dimming with map lights. Donnelly made them, which were even found in 2nd gen Regals, but Donnelly mirrors are garbage. The auto-dimming gel is pretty much guaranteed to break/leak at some point, and I'm guessing the gel must be acidic or something, because eventually, they start deforming/eating through the plastic housing of the mirror. I have seen this time and time again in the junkyards and in the w-body community. Have helped several GTP owners switch from their Donnelly (no map lights) to that mirror in your last pic. Very easy swap. Another option is the optional 1st gen Sebring convertible mirror. Same mirror was available in the mid-'00s Lincoln Continental and Olds Intrigue GLS, except those had a compass as well. The problem with any of those, as me and Sean have talked about numerous times on this site, is that they require a BCM to kill power to the mirror after X amount of minutes. Otherwise, those mirrors will have a continuous draw on the battery. Enough so that they could kill the battery if you don't start the car after a few days. These are the mirrors I'm talking about: https://rearviewmirrorstore.com/products/gentex-auto-dimming-mirror-with-led-map-lights https://rearviewmirrorstore.com/products/gentex-auto-dimming-mirror-with-led-map-lights-compass There IS another older option that many don't know about for auto-dimming and map lights. They were an exclusive option for the '90s Chevy Caprice and Buick Roadmaster, so they'd be period correct for your Z34. Only downfall is I believe they use the tension spring mounting instead of a torx screw. I have a few that are still sitting around. This is what they look like:

https://rearviewmirrorstore.com/products/gentex-auto-dimming-mirror-with-led-map-lights I think this is the one. Anyone know what cars these come from and how to wire them? I guess I could just buy from here, but it would be a lot cheaper at the junkyard. Looks like a bunch of GM and Chrysler products, but I can't find an actual list. pinout: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=138415 maybe why mine didn't work correctly: https://ls1tech.com/forums/wiring-stereo-electronics/1927323-gentex-221-a.html

I have a couple questions about rear view mirrors and I'm trying to dig through they recent posts in the whatever thread and find the post with all the mirrors, but I'm having a hard time finding that and wading through the posts. I put a mirror in the 95 Z34 that had map lights, but it's too loose to live with my subs plus I had it wired incorrectly so the lights were controlled by the interior lighting and not the swtiches on the mirror. Anyway, I'm just interested in map lights and auto-dim and having a set screw, not the stupid press-fit crap. I will probably just go to the local U-Pull-and-Pay. What vehicles can I use and how should I have it wired? I have some terrible pictures to share. Right now I have one with auto-dim just so I didn't have to deal with a falling mirror, but I don't have it wired correctly for that either. I think the one that's in it is an 051330 and the one I had in it is a 3C1215, but neither are the ones I really want. The first 3 pictures are of the one I had in there with map lights only, the second 2 are what's in there now and the last 3 are of one that came out of my Grand Prix for wiring reference, I suppose.

No it does not. But hear this, I was doing some research in the 1988-1993 BUICK REGAL GM PARTS ILLUSTRATION CATALOG. And I seen I have the first design that fits 1988-1989 REGAL only. It’s called a *1 KIT, which comes with the upper strut mount plate, the rubber insulator mount and the upper spring seat with them studs in it. The second design which every W-BODY had was not sold as a kit. i am thinking it’s the spring seat that is only different. The second design allows you to use the tool on the newer regals. Would it be ok to use the 2nd design spring seat and swap it on mine? The plates and rubber insulator mounts on the 2nd design are the same as the 1989s are on the 1st design. It’s just that spring seat that is not allowing me to install the tool down into the tower to remove the cartridge. I don’t understand why the first design would not allow you to use the tool on the BUICK REGAL. Other W-BODY models for 1988-1989 had the second design spring plate which the BUICK REGAL got the second design spring seat in 1990. here’s photos of them (1st Design on 1988-1989 REGALS) (2nd Design 1990-1996 BUICK REGALS)

ok......what you're referring to is the upper spring seat, curious, when you say that your upper spring seat is totally different from what's supposed to be there does it look anything like this?

That’s the insulator. I’m talking about the retainer mount for the top of the strut that has studs in it. Sorry if it wasn’t clear enough. I apologize for that.

Don't know what was installed..... but the upper mount should look like this..........it's a common item

But I can replace the mount if I wanted to with the oem correct? My mount is different trust me. The strut shaft got jammed in the tower and got stuck under the mount. I had trouble so I had to pry it back to the top so the insulator could go back on. Where the oem ones you could use the tool designed by gm so you would not have to remove the strut. If the tool fits with the oem mounts in these videos you just saw I rather get that mount. I will send a photo of mine and compare it with the one in the video.

Take a photo of what you have, generally the aftermarket upper mounts are all near as close to the original design. You mentioned that the holes in the strut tower have been maligned? any portable spring compressor will be a manual item, the safe method is to take the struts to a shop & let them do the replacement on a pneumatic spring compressor that has a cage to protect the techie from danger.

Found another video. My strut tower looks nothing like this down the hole. Look at all the clearance he has for the tool. Now I know my top mount was replaced because the cartridge on my strut mount gets stuck under the mount if you use the strut rod to compress it down into the tower. Is it possible someone who worked on my 89 regal the first time removed the whole strut and replaced the top mount? I cannot find any aftermarket mount for my Buick anywhere online for these struts. It all says to replace the cartridge with that tool kit. Is it possible to replace the top mount back with oem from the factory if I can find the mount?

if I was to find this oem mount and replace the aftermarket mount so I can use the tool next time can I swap the top strut mount out? Here is the diagram of the front suspension for the regal.

What mount from the factory was on these cars differently then the aftermarket mount mine has that restricts the clearance from getting the spanner bar down into the tower to remove the cartridge spanner nut?

I am going to have a friend help me out. If his compressor don’t work on the wall mount because of that bracket being made like that I will have to rent one. I am just hoping it doesn’t require a special tool to compress these springs.

Got the knuckles swapped over and the GXP brakes installed. Going to tackle the e-brake next. Going with a rip-it style handle from an 04-ish J-body and a center console from an 00+ Monte. I have new rear e-brake cables from a 2G, so I'm going to need to figure out how to mate them with the Cavalier one. I know there's a thread somewhere on going to this style e-brake, but I can't find it. Anyone know where it is?

be careful with the springs. they are huge and under more tension then i've seen on most others. Nearly killed myself when one went orbital on me. That said if you're going that far its perhaps worth your while to get some 96' knuckles so you can run the larger rotor

Ok so I wanted to let everyone know in here I had no luck still replacing the front strut cartridges with the tool kit I got off eBay to replace these strut cartridges. My friend came over to help me work on my Regal to replace the strut cartridges. We found out the strut cartridges have been played around with the first time they were replaced before. Someone who worked on it years ago tried cutting the top strut tower because we found small cut marks along where the studs are for the strut tower mount. We also found out they replaced the top mount with an aftermarket mount. So that’s why the strut tower will not fit the spanner nut extension down into the tower to loosen the cartridge nut. We have to remove the whole strut and compress it to remove the cartridge. What a pain in the ass.

Been a long time since I've played with rear brakes on a '92 or '93 W-body, but I don't remember there being an access problem.

anyone on here who has a passenger side door for the two door cutlass-preferably black. hit me up i am interested in buying if you are interested in money

The registration fee on mine is $46, but the bill also includes city and county property, which added another $57 for a total bill of $103. I'm thinking of applying for an Antique Auto plate. It qualifies, and although it costs a few extra dollars, one of the perks is it pegs the tax value at $500, which is a fraction of it's present tax value. The flip side of that coin is that it imposes a cap on the number of miles the car can be driven each year. I'm just not sure whether it's worth it.

Congrats. I think here in Iowa, a 25 year old vehicle is considered to be vintage or a classic. With both my W's, I'm well beyond that. Plate renewal is $50 per vehicle for me now.

So, Wednesday marked seven years to the day that I took delivery of my '95 Cutlass Supreme convertible, which also means the registration is due for renewal. When I took it in for that today, I was informed that since the car is now 30 years old, the state of North Carolina considers it to be "vintage vehicle," and such it no longer requires an annual state safety inspection. Fine by me, that's a few dollars I didn't have to spend today. I also believe the Antique Automobile Club of America would consider it an antique.

So….I think that relay might be a little passed its prime. On the plus side, that should be the cause of your issues.

Opened up the compressor relay.

Gotta be careful with testing that one. I don’t believe you can do a simple continuity test like that and get a definitive result. Depending on how the switching is handled in the PCM, it’s likely you won’t get a definitive continuity reading between it and ground. It’s such a low current circuit that the 11 ohms you saw may very well be a good control ground. I’ve heard that you need to use a very low current test light for definitive results when testing those types of circuits.

You are correct, the correct pin to test clutch engagement is #5, not #3. KOEO with AC on I have battery voltage at pins 1 and 3 (test A). Clutch engages with battery voltage to pin 5 (test B). Pin 2 is a mystery. I do not have ground continuity and the meter reads 11 ohms. I don't think it is receiving the control ground from the ECM.