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The Lost Cutlass: My First Car It was 2009 and I was 15 going on 16 and searching for my first vehicle. My parents said I could pick any vehicle as long as it wasn’t too old. One day while riding through town I spotted a car that just struck a chord with me. It was Aqua Blue, two door and had mini quad headlights. I knew nothing about vehicles so I tried to find out what that car was. It was a 1993 Cutlass Supreme. I knew then, that’s the car I want. I searched Craigslist for months and never found one that was in good shape. I began to lose hope at finding one and settled for a Grand Prix. We arrived at the second hand dealer to inspect the Grand Prix and the salesman says “Sorry folks, it sold this morning.” We drove all the way to the city for nothing. On our way home, I searched Craigslist again and came across a 1991 red two door Cutlass Supreme. We were not very far from it since we were in the city so we crossed the Mighty Mississippi and headed into Illinois. It belonged to a old woman who recently passed, 95k miles on the clock. We looked it over and It was in decent shape for being 18 years old. I wasn’t thrilled about it. It didn’t have the quad head lights, wasn’t the blue I liked and it had this digital cluster that was not my taste. I was tired looking at cars and bought it on the spot. Let me sum up the next few years, I FELL IN LOVE WITH THAT CAR!! Cutlass Charlie, I named it. I graduated high school still driving Charlie and she was starting to show her age and the repairs kept getting costly. My parents offered to buy me another vehicle as a graduation gift. I gladly except the offer. I ask to keep Charlie as a project car, not wanting to give her up. My dad says “No, it’s got to go.” I sadly put a For Sale sign in the window of my car. A man stopped by my house and said he was looking for a car for his son,who is turning 16. He looked Charlie over and wanted to buy it. With a heavy heart I take one more drive around town and remove my license plate. Before I let the car go I take the owners manual and all the papers as a keepsake. Vowing I will find the car again...someday A few years later, I was heading to a construction site to help my dad with a job. Off to the right of the road I see sitting in tall grass Charlie with a for sale sign in the window. My heart started pounding but I was a broke college kid and couldn’t afford to buy it back. The next day I drove by to see the car and It’s gone. One day, a few month later, I was driving through town and pass by our local funeral home and in the parking lot was Charlie. I’m wondering who the new owner is. The next week, it’s sitting in the same spot at the funeral home. A few more weeks later I see it again at the funeral home. I’m starting to feel bad for the owner. Every one they know is dying! One day I was sitting at a stop light and coming down the road is Charlie. Finally, I’ll get to see the owner I thought. The car drove by and to my shock it’s a local Catholic priest, Father Ted. No wonder it was at the funeral home all the time. I got a full time job and a little bit of extra money just burning a hole in my pocket. I miss Charlie so much I began my search for another one. If I can’t have my original car I want one exactly like it but I ended up falling in love with a 90 CS Convertible, Rocket I named it. In October ‘17 I bring home the convertible and begin working on it. I returned home from the auto parts store when my mom asks me if I had heard the news. “What news?” I said “Father Ted passed away”, showing me the headline on Facebook. I hated to hear that. He was a family friend and well respected member of the community but in the back of my mind I thought where is the car? In January of ‘18 , I was asked to come work for our local Assessors office doing some real estate work. I eventually get moved to personal property doing data entry for vehicle tax values. One morning my co worker was showing me how to add and take off vehicles in the computer and the functions of the Missouri DMV website. The Mo DMV website has every vehicle registered In the state of Missouri listed by VIN. Out of curiosity I looked into older tax records just to see if the VIN for my car would still be on file. After a few minutes of searching I finally found the VIN. I immediately ran it through the MO data base hoping it was still registered to somebody. Watching the screen load felt like forever. It was still registered to Father Ted but next to his name was a Transfer on Death, a woman named Bea. As the months went on I searched the county trying to find Bea. I wanted to know what had become of my CS after all these years. Everyone I asked knew her but they didn’t know where she lived or knew how to contact her. February 12, 2019: The mail had arrived at the office and it was all personal property tax forms. I began sifting through the large tote and select few at a time to start working. I grab the next form to input into the computer and it is Beas form WITH HER ADDRESS! I finally knew where to find her. I immediately typed it into google maps and she lived only 5 miles out side of town. After work I jumped In my car and set out for her house. After taking a winding road out of town I turned on a old forgotten gravel road that was lined with rusty barbed wire and overgrown weeds. I headed down the road and out from behind a tree as I rounded a corner appeared my CS; sitting alone under a pine tree covered in Sap and mold with flat tires, peeling clear coat, foged headlights and no license plate. I stopped the car and stared in awe. I finally found it! The memories started to flood and seeing the damage that time had done made me angry and sad. Then the question arose, was it for sale? I wasn’t a broke college kid anymore. The next morning at work I wrote a letter to Bea asking the question if she would want to sell it. The worst she could say is no. Two days went by and my phone rang and I didn’t recognize the number. I picked up the phone “Hello” “Hello, this is Bea, I got your letter and I have a few questions before we go any further” I could tell her guard was up and she was suspicious. I explained to her who I was and we made some family connections and small talk. After a few minutes on the phone she became more comfortable with me and freed up. “I’m sorry to badger you” she said “I’ve been In law enforcement for 30 years and now a days you can’t be too careful with people” “I understand, do you know anything about the car and it’s condition?” I asked She let out a big sign and said “Well...not really, Father Ted and I were friends for 20 years. I found the car on the side of the road. He was looking for a car to just drive around town. I’ve never driven it. He started to get sick and he didn’t want to fool with the car anymore so he was going to take it to a junk yard. I convinced him to not do that. I thought it was a cute and neat looking car and I didn’t want to see it scrapped. I just got it because I was the Transfer on Death. I have no plans for it. I just didn’t want to see a perfectly good car get scrapped. If you want to buy it I’ll sell it to you but I would like a fair price. “I understand, that’s ok with me!” I said. We chatted some more and she said “I will get in touch with you later, my brother passed away. I just wanted to call and touch base since I got your letter. Give me a couple weeks to get some family things worked out and I’ll call you again.”I gave her my condolences and said to take all the time she needed. I wasn’t in a hurry. I hung up the phone smiling, knowing my foot was in the door. Summer was in full swing and I had not heard from Bea. I wanted to call her but with a death in the family you never know how a person is doing and I didn’t want to badger her. I got the courage to call her again but there was no answer. The next day also no answer. I was getting concerned. Finally one day at work I get a phone call. “Hello, this is Bea. I’m so sorry I missed your call. My sister passed away a few weeks ago and I’ve been busy with my family” I held the phone speechless. I felt terrible calling her. “I’m so sorry” I said “I didn’t mean to bother you. I just wanted to let you know that I was still interested in the car since we haven’t talked in a while.” “Oh yes, I remembered.” She said” I’ve just had a lot going on. I know you want your car back and as far as I’m concerned it’s yours and I’ll sell it to you. Just give a couple weeks. I have the title and have to have it corrected to my name first” “That’s fine” I said “I feel terrible for calling you now, I had no idea. I’m so sorry” “ thank you” she said in a trembling voice. “I feel bad for you though too. I know you want this car and I’ve had all this stuff happen to me and I know you’re eager.” I told her it’s just car and I’m in no hurry to get it. When ever it’s a good time just call. As the air began to cool and the leaves change I began to grow more anxious. I had found the car 7 months ago and still had not seen the car up close,only from a distance. Bea and I exchanged phone calls from time to time just to touch base and talk. She said she was searching for the title but couldn’t remember where she put it. I wasn’t worried about the car. It was behind a locked gate on her private property. One afternoon I was out and about and decided to drive by the car just to gawk. I headed down the road and I began to panic upon seeing the car. There was a dent in the door and the driver window was shattered! I screamed inside! How long had it been busted out! It wasn’t the last time I saw it! Who did this? Some of the interior pieces are hard to find and where I live there isn’t a W body in the junk yard for miles! I got home and immediately call Bea. She answered. “Hi Bea, I went and looked at the car today and I noticed the window was busted out.” She said “You know I thought I noticed Somethin was different the other day.” “With the window broke, if possible, I would like to get it out of there as soon as I can or at least put something over the window.” I consernly explained. “I know, I know” she said. “I know you want the car and I’m just too sick right now to meet with you. I’m trying my best and I know you’re worried but ,if you want,the gate is unlocked. I don’t mind if you go and look at it and put something over the window.” The window had been broken I’m guessing for close to a month. I was nervous. It had been hot and rainy the whole time. I just new the interior would have some damage. After work one evening, with her blessing, I grabbed my tool box and the battery out of the convertible and headed to check it out. As I headed down the long barbed wire lined gravel road the butterflies in my stomach began to fly and hundreds of memories began slowing resurfacing. I parked next to the gate, got out of the car, and unwound the rusty chain. Bea told me she didn’t live in the house the car sits at. I walked into the yard surrounded by vehicles just sitting in the tall grass with flat tires and expired plates. There were Jeeps, Tauruses, Sables and utility vans scattered about but sitting in the corner of the fence, parked next to a 88 Blazer, under a pine tree, rested my car, Cutlass Charlie I named it. suddenly every detail of my teen years became clear and car seemed to speak to me in a sickly tired voice, “Hello friend.” A lump began to gather in my throat seeing the damage that time had done. The car had a zombie like appearance with the fogged headlights, peeling clear coat and caked on dirt. I sat down my things and opened the door. Spider webs woven like streamers began to tear away while the rest of the shattered glass fell to the ground revealing a dusty, dirty, cat hair filled cabin. Besides the dash being slightly curled from the summer sun, the interior was intact down to the cassette player with the keys in the ignition. I reached down to open the hood and and it unlatched with a load squeaky moan. I lifted the hood to a oily and dirty 3.1. Once again to my surprise everything was intact. I put the convertible battery in to see what worked and what didn’t. I turned the key and the UB3 dash lit up immediately showing 122k miles. The passenger power window rolled down flawlessly with out any tired noise and the glass was churning in the driver door. The power locks snapped up and down and the blower motor churned out a musty smell form the vent system. I flicked on the lights and the head and tail lights shined through the dirt. Charlie was alive but barely. I popped the trunk to reveal a swamp. Pine needles had clogged the channels and water filled the trunk. I left that day knowing It was a race against time to get the car. I taped a bag over the window and left. It was a week before Thanksgiving and Bea called to talk. She was very ill and in and out of the hospital. “Well, have you thought of a price?” She said. “I have, I’ll offer you $400. It very rough” I said. “Oh my gosh” she gasp. “That’s what I was thinking,$400” So we agreed, $400. Winter was approaching and I told her we should just wait till spring. I didn’t have an indoor place to work on the car and I kept driving by periodically to check on it Over the next few months I combed local junk yards searching for parts but they were few and far between. I did manage to find the window. More waiting then, the day came; August 29, 2020: It was hot, cloudy and humid. I finally got to meet Bea and take Charlie home. We did our paper work and I grabbed a small bowl to scoop out the water in the trunk. The water was brown and muddy but submerged were the original jack and tools, starting to rust. The tow truck arrived and he began hooking the car up. With a moan, the car slowly came out from the grave onto the roll back. “You know, I’m a MOPAR guy but, I always did think these cars were neat when they first came out” said the tow truck driver. “This was my first car.” I said. “No shit, that’s awesome you found it. And it was still local too!” We loaded the car and headed home. As I drove away, Charlie behind me, I saw Bea standing on her porch watching the car leave just as I had done eight years prior. Only, she was saying good bye to a piece of her friend, Father Ted; not just a car. At home we unloaded the car and the rain began to fall. I taped more bags over the window to keep the water out. Seeing the car in the driveway was a time warp. All the memories came flooding back again. I felt as if I should say “welcome home, it’s ok now” It had finally hit me. I set out to find Charlie five years ago and here she was. Let me sum up, I FELL IN LOVE WITH THAT CAR...again.

I research this kinda thing because of my site and because I own a 91 Cutlass - Some of you may already know Ed Welburn headed up design on the 1988 Cutlass Supreme and I assume that influenced the other W's as well. One interesting thing was that he said he designed the Cutlass along with the Olds Aerotech as a side project. Working on the Cutlass by day, Aerotech by night / in free time. Recently I saw another video that was more candid and informal, where he said he would talk about his best design and his 'least favorite' - he was most proud of bringing Camaro back, and probably also the new Corvette, but he couldn't mention that at the time. I had guessed his least fave was the Cutlass. Not that he didn't LIKE the design of the exterior, he had just said that it was too much for the time. He said Roger Smith wanted them to do a car like a concept GM car that was on display at Epcot called the Aero 2000. He wanted it to be as advanced as that car. Ed said it was like what you'd call a Jelly Bean car design of the time, he said it was too much. He said they tested it on people and nobody liked it, so they tested it on more people hoping they would like it. He said they probably tested the look of the car on everyone in America because they wanted to hit on a group who actually DID like it. He said the interior was the opposite to the exterior and it didn't go far enough. Also he said it didn't look great once it came to market with smaller wheels than the "pie's" and not in 2 tone like the Indy 500 black/silver cars. So I thought all that was interesting and didn't know if that is common knowledge over here. When you look at the window / greenhouse of that Epcot car, the Aero 2000, I can see some similarities. I can see why people were reluctant to like the "new" Cutlass, coming from the G-Bodies, with rear wheel drive and that squared off look that was so popular the continued it in 1988 as a Cutlass Supreme "Classic". Ed is a great guy, designed some awesome stuff in his time - I've messaged him on Facebook to ask him about something Aerotech related that was on eBay, got to talking and showed him my convertible, that technically I guess he designed so many years ago!

I said I was willing to spend $500 dollars, not that I was actually going to pay that much. For clarification, Tire Rack has a set of Blizzak WS80s on clearance for ~$70/ tire, as opposed to the average price of $110 each (for a variety of sizes). Since I live near one of the warehouses, I am able to knock $40 off per set to pick them up. Coupled with a current $80 rebate, I was able to buy them for $181 with tax. I'll post pictures when the snow flies later this year.

Hi, Everyone, I finally got my dream car on the road here in NY on Monday: my 1994 Cutlass Supreme convertible. I am looking forward to being a part of the group.

What I did on my 95 with the same issue was to slice it exactly at the corner seam. Then the vertical and horizontal pieces could be put back in their channels. Then I just filled in the corner (since the shrunken vertical and horizontal pieces don't quite touch anymore) with the black window seal adhesive stuff, which I also used to re-attach the two separated sections into their channels. It doesn't look great, but it looks a lot better than it did, and more importantly to me it doesn't leak after many years. It's quick, cheap, and easy, and if it doesn't look good enough you can still always have the whole thing replaced.

After 9 years without a w-body, I find myself behind the wheel of another! Some of you might know me but many I'm sure don't so here I am to say hello again! Back in 2011, I sold my Black 2000 GTP, and just yesterday I picked up a Silver 2002 Grand Prix GT for $450. That's right, four hundred and fifty dollars! It's definitely clapped out, but I knew that's what I'd be getting for a near junk-yard price. It runs, drives, and more importantly, stops. I plan on giving it as much TLC as reasonable. Give it some care in it's twilight year(s?) The biggest issue it has is the transmission. There is quite the delay in shifting into 2nd. On the test drive, it would only go up to ~20 mph and the tranny would just slip, so I was a bit worried. I figured out the trick though - feather the gas and keep the rpms below 2.5k, then it would shift and be fine from there. Keep light on the gas and it will shift more normal. The seller included an extra working 4t65e from the junkyard and included it. So I have a backup. Or I might just swap it out anyway. Rust is an issue, but that's kind of expected. At least the strut towers are really good. Anyway, here are the pictures: Inked20200912_114532_LI Inked20200912_114548_LI Extra trans in the trunk: 20200912_114725 Standard interior we all know, no frills. 20200912_114655 20200912_113731 Security light is on and someone's been working here... 20200912_124409 Rocker panels look in decent shape - at first glance 20200912_114616 But as you can see, there are no jackstand mounting locations. GONE! 20200912_124311 20200912_124343 Well, there it is. It smells like it looks, but it's mine and it's a w-body. I already have a parts list going of things to replace. So far I have: upper & lower intake gaskets, coil packs, grill insert, vacuum lines and front bumper. I don't think any power mods would be appropriate given the condition of the underbody and transmission.

I told Bea I would take her for a ride in it when it was road worthy again. Like I said, she never drove it. It only has 121K miles. It makes me mad to see it neglected like this. When I sold it it was running, driving, clean and the paint was still good! Now look! I am excited to fix it up though. I learned a lot about these cars by working on my '90 convertible and making friends on the forum. Jiggity76 had been a huge help, I cant thank him enough!

I've done it both ways. Doing a factory vacuum swap is a gigantic pain, but possible if you want to pull the dashboard apart and most of the engine bay. It also comes with issues of its own. the factory non ABS master is at a different angle to PMIII and comes VERY close to the turbo. I've thought about this and in my junkyard trips it looks like J and N cars of the era used the same master but angled up slightly, that may help the issue of it being close to the Turbo but it may also bring its own set of issues. never done it but its been on the back of my mind. Also you'll need to run 2 new rear brake lines. making absolutely sure to not get them backwards since you'll no longer be running a Front-Rear Split setup but a Cross- diagonal so the Front left needs to be on the same side of the master as right rear and front right needs to be on the same side as left rear. You can't get away with just one as the factory rear brake line is 1/4" or something like that and standard are much smaller. What I did on my Red Turbo GP was remove everything PMIII off the firewall and use a 4th gen F body booster and master. It has the advantage of also being Front rear split so you don't have to mess with the brake lines to the rear of the car and it can be done in a day or 2, not weeks. What I did, and I know others have done it differently I made an adapter plate of aluminum to bolt to the factory bolts then put my own holes in for the F body booster. You DO have to cut holes in your factory firewall plate for this. and in the future i'd do it a bit different and cut most of it away so I could access the booster bolts easily from the inside of the car I did have to cut and extend the pushrod from the booster so it was the same length as PMIII Was. Just cut and welded that. I considered threading the rod and putting a turnbuckle on it to get it proper. Now the fun part is the brake lines. Since we live in america getting metric fittings is a bigger pain then it should be. I changed everything to 1/4 fittings, took the front brake lines and put them into a t fitting, and then made a brake line to go from that to the master. For the rear I also changed the fittings to SAE but then put it into a reducer to get the size of the line down to fit into the master, again just made and extension tube to get it how it needed to be. Not the cleanest part of the install but it does work quite well. If I ever get around to working on TGPs again i'll be doing this same modification to my Black TGP as I fully believe PMIII is not fit for purpose at this point. I'll revisit the modification at that time and fine tune it then.

It’s been awhile since this was posted, but I used a wooden dowel to find TDC on mine. Glad I did, because the timing mark on the dampener was off by about 6 degrees. The plug location makes it easy to determine TDC...turn the engine by hand till the dowel stops rising on #1, and mark the position on the damper with chalk. Turn backwards, and do the same, and mark. TDC will be between the two chalk marks...mark that spot with paint.

Not a day that goes by that I dont miss being boosted. My TGP is long gone now. I am toying with the idea of engine swapping my Envoy with a 6.0, and a single turbo.. I think my wife would kill me thou.. My back, and cars, I just cant do it anymore. SUV/Truck for life now.

And I'm still here

I don't have a parts book for the Cutlass, but I would be shocked if they were different considering the verts effectively started their lives as coupes.

I ripped that junk out, and replaced it with clear silicone caulk. I think it looked better. Also, it didn't leak.

Thanks Rich

Not sure for certain but I would think a glass replacement company would have something very close to that, they'd need a sample though. Now the piece just above that in the pic with the screw in it, unobtainable, better order gummi phlege for that.

Not a bad price if it makes for a reliable DD, factory jack points are over rated anyways. Can always nab a discount floor jack at the part stores for $20 to toss in with the spare if needed for road trips.

Great story, and I could almost picture the events as they happened.. Mods.. I dont know if you can edit the OP post, but with the DARK Theme, you cant even see the writing.

Wow, great story! Seeing the photos brought back some memories. I had an almost identical red '91 CS back in the late '90s, except mine had the luggage rack on the trunk. The 'flash dash' was easily my favorite feature. I hope you can get her put to rights before she deteriorates any further. You should take Bea for a ride in it when you do. I've never recovered a car I previously owned but I did have one follow me to another town after I sold it. A couple of years after I graduated from college, I bought a 1986 Olds Calais Supreme and left my 1977 Buick Skylark (Nova clone) with my dad to sell for me. I was living in a town about three hours away at the time and about a year and a half later, I started seeing this car on the road that looked a whole lot like my old Skylark. One day, I saw it parked on the street and was able to take a closer look at it. Sure enough, it was my old car. I never did see the new owner to talk with them. Probably just as well. Of course, at the other end of the spectrum was the '94 Olds LSS I had after the '91 CS. I sold it to my best friend, whose idea of maintaining a car was to wash and wax it about once a year, whether it needed it or not and I don't think he even knew how to open the hood nor what to do under there if he did. But whenever something went wrong with it mechanically, he would call me up and complain about it as though I'd sold him a lemon. I got to watch that car deteriorate for about six years before he finally donated it to charity.

What a touching story! You painted a very vivid picture of how important this car is. I believe buying a car is a very emotional thing and owning and taking care of them as well. So happy you found her again and that you put the work into tracking her down and keeping tabs on her. It paid off and now restoring your first car can begin! Very few people can say that! Congrats Kody and look forward to seeing her get better and better!

I've got a 1993 Chevy Lumina Euro with a 3.1 engine and a 4t60e trans with 115k miles. I really love the car and at this point I know it like the back of my hand! It's a great car, the only thing is it spent a lot of its' life in the midwest, so it has a lot of rust. I'm currently looking into getting new fuel lines made, so if anyone has any recommendations they would very much be appreciated! I try to keep everything as oem as possibly on it and plan to repaint it sometime in the future! I'm very excited to be a part of this community! I feel like I see less and less w-bodies on the road and when I do see one I wave. I look forward to seeing what everyone else is up to and learning more!

Wow, what a great story!! Congratulations on finding Cutlass Charlie again, Cool! The story isn't short, but I highly suggest that everyone read the whole thing. Imho, the details are what make the story unique, interesting, and personal - verses, "I looked for my old car, I found it". So, you pick an Olds. Then, your parents kick you out of the house. You turn to a life of crime and grift .... Olds story, heard it a million times. Of course, there's the perfect song... Peaches & Herb - Reunited Congrats again on being reunited with your first car!

Some time ago a forum member did this conversion, the usual approach is to remove the PMIII firewall adapter plate & install the regular plate that supports the vacuum booster/master cyl. Can't remember who it was but he didn't remove the adapter plate, instead he drilled it, did some light machine work/welding to it to accept a vacuum booster. If memory serves because he was in Europe he didn't have access to the needed parts so he improvised. The rear brakes lines need to be formed as the ABS system makes use of a single brake line that tees off at the rear wheels whereas the vacuum system makes use of 4 independent lines.

I was going to but never got around to it. I'll have to come back to this thread and describe my lessons learned from converting my car when I have more time. Long story short... and this is just my opinion: The PMIII was a ill-conceived idea in the mid 1980s, and then we add 30 years of living next to a hot turbocharger onto that and its gone from a questionable system to flat out unsafe. It adds in entirely too many faults and fail scenarios that just shouldn't exist. On top of that critical components are just not available anymore. Believe me, I tried like hell to make it reliable. I stopped just short of making my own controller for it namely because the cost of a modern safe pressure switch that I needed completely eclipsed the cost of replacing it wholesale.

The fog lamps furthest toward the middle of the car? Yes, there should be adjustments on them.. however, most of them have broken over time. It has been a very, very long time since I've looked at the 88-90 fog lamp, but if I'm remembering it right, there is a screw that runs straight down from the top and there is a plastic piece that adjusts the tilt up/down. That plastic piece is what breaks. If you can move the fog lamp by hand up/down, then it's broken.

Agreeing with a vacuum leak. There are a LOT of brittle plastic vacuum lines on a 3.1 that fail over time. Check every single line and make sure there are no cracks. Especially check the one that feeds the MAP sensor.

The pump is continuing to run because the relay has failed. It's been a long time since I've dicked around with PM3, but IIRC, those relays are out of production. Likely other shit is beginning to fail too. You can convert to vacuum brakes with some work. If you search around the forum, I believe @White93z34 did a writeup on how to convert.

Nobody asked me about the "new" W-body Cutlass. I thought the first few years of the 2-door were STUNNING from the outside. Of course, as is so typical, after styling a knockout car, they screw it up after a couple of model-years just to be "different". Should have left it alone. The interior was what they NEVER got right; at least on the bread-and-butter models. Digital dash? What the hell were they thinking? I wound up with a Chevy Lumina Euro 3.4, but what I wanted was a Cutlass two-door with the 3.4. I saw one in black, in the Big Sky ski-lodge parking lot in '88--'90, and about fell in love right there. SWMBO decreed that we have a 4-door; and around here 3.4s were so scarce that I bought the only 4-door I could find at the time. Had to drive 160 miles (round trip) to even find that one. AFTER we actually bought the thing, my local Chevy dealer had one in red instead of white, and with a CD player instead of cassette. About the same price, too. If only I could predict the future!

Here's the link to the timing belt change I did on 11 January, 2020.

If it’s still stock (and has the pm3 brakes) it’s basically a matter of time until they’re non functioning, at least safely. You can swap vacuum brakes in with some effort, but I was lucky enough to have bought my TGP with that swap already done when I owned it.

LIM gaskets would be my first guess, or another vacuum leak

It's gone!!

Yepper, pull the recovery tank, the pump (assuming it is the original) has a deep cone shaped cast impeller, when you're looking for a replacement Get the same, try not to fall into the *oh, the chinese aftermarket pump will do*, not so.

$500? You can buy a new set of 225/60/16 easily for only $400, and you're still less than $500 installed. Buy them at Walmart.com, it's cheaper than other places, they deliver to your local store in a day or two, then take them to a good tire shop for installation. That's what I did with my Cooper CS5, and they've been great for me (and American made, too!). You can even get a set of lower-end all-seasons for $300, and you're less than $400 installed. If you're only keeping the car for a year or two, you could buy good used tires for $300 installed. But anyway, post pictures after you buy your tires, so we can see how the larger tires fit.

Aren't GM cars designed for tire-chain clearance? Everything but Corvette and maybe some other "specialty" vehicles, anyway. I was screwed by California DOT on I-80 at Truckee, CA, years ago. The prick wouldn't allow me back onto the highway without tire chains. Had to buy tire chains at a local store. It's a damned racket--the road was wet with melting snow but there wasn't any actual snow or ice. It's just a way to fleece the traveler. My vehicle had "Mud/Snow" rated tires on all four corners, and the town I lived in had more snow than the ZERO snow that was on I-80. Anyway, my '92 Lumina Euro 3.4 clanked and rattled about half-way down to Sacramento, with the chains flailing. I can't imagine another half-inch of tire would take up more room than tire chains. t

Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing and updating your progress!

As stated, it's on the backside of the block, just above the oilpan rail in the centre of the block casting.

Fairly rare one for a 1994, just 210 Bright Aqua/black top/graphite interior convertibles got the 3100 V6.

Does any one know if there is any kind of maintenance for electric side mirrors? Today I attempted to adjust my passenger’s side electric mirror and it would not move. I had to open the passenger’s side window and push on the mirror while moving the switch. It finally started moving but seamed sluggish. Found out there are 3 screws holding the mirror and motor assembly in the housing. Removed the screws and was able to slide the mirror assembly far enough out of the housing to let me clean all of the dust and dirt of every thing. Used a tooth brush on the 2 screws that move the mirror to get the threads cleaned off. After cleaning I put one drop of 10W30 oil on each plastic adjusting screw and operated the mirror back and forth and up and down several times. This seams to have helped so I wiped any excess oil off the plastic screws and put the mirror back in the housing. I don’t know if I should of used oil on the plastic screws but I guess I will find out sooner or later. The picture is of the 2 plastic screws after cleaning and oiling.

welcome. Nice to see a good looking very in Upstate.

Did someone say "Old Man"? (It's been my nickname for decades, but not because of Oldsmobile, another story for another time) Anyway, I'm glad to see a clean w-body convertible on the road being driven (although technically your picture is in your garage, we're hoping it runs because you said you got it "on the road"). Enjoy it! Drive it! Take more pictures and post more info about it.

Not to be confused with Old man? Judging by the front Facia, I would have to assume thats a DOHC car as well? Love that blue, is so pretty when its clean and smooth like that.

Aw, thank you! He's been my influence - has always been an Olds man

Welcome Kim! Beautiful vert you have there! You and your husband have great tastes in cars.

Thank you! What a beauty you have there! We had a black Grand Prix in the past, but it was my daily driver and drove me nuts that I couldn't keep it clean-LOL.

I’ve toyed with the idea of selling the gtp but I don’t think I could bring myself to let it go unless offered more than it’s worth.

Won't START, or won't CRANK? Big difference.

Hey Jiggity yes flip it over bud it goes to the map sensor should look like this

Well , changed the seals in the pressure switch, they where not bad, but I had new ones in the kit so why not. the accumulator pistons where not too nasty , cleaned em up and swapped in the new Transgo springs. and new seals . got the valve body cleaned up and the new boost valve assembled and installed, all the Valves looked good and all the solenoids checked good with all resistances in spec, didnt get any pics before the install was busy trying to get it done. Valve body is done and the side cover bolted down I reinstalled the servos accumulators and installed a new filter grommet and filter. and its all done. the engine bay is cleaned up and I just have to get in and tidy up some hose covers that get a bit frayed with pressure washing it. for giggles I looked at the pressure switch from the GTP and found the third gear switch and the TCC membranes where in top of the sealing ring, no way they where sealing and that may have been the cause of death for the transmission. Not sure how that would have happened but sure enough there is was.I had already removed the 3rd gear one to test the switch. the one Im pointing to is the TCC switch, both these are normally closed until pressure is applied then they open the circuit .

Apologies for the wall-o-text, but I got started writing and didn't stop for over an hour and a half. There's no TL;DR version. I've been the unwitting victim of over a decade of experiences with the 284, and I would liken it to having an autistic child - moments of brilliance and joy tempered by fear of what's coming next. So here we go. Something I've discovered about high-mileage 284's. If you put it together and you get a weird side-to-side shimmy under acceleration, and at 154k I can almost guarantee you will, it is most likely because of worn output shaft bearings. I'm currently on my 3rd 284 in my car and every one of them did it. Initially I blamed the axles as anyone would, but even with brand-new axles it still did it. What happens is the output shaft bearings in the differential wear beyond tolerance, and allow excessive movement in the output shafts. This manifests as an acceleration shimmy and an output shaft seal leak, usually on the driver's side. I don't know what the solution to this is. I bought up a bunch of output shaft seals a few years ago on closeout at RockAuto and had an idea to fill the empty space in the back of it with an epoxy, like JB Weld, that it might strengthen them enough to smooth it out. But I haven't tried it yet. If anyone else has experienced this and/or found a solution to it I'd love to hear it. My other idea was to flamespray the stub axle's bearing surface to enlarge it. The most important thing to know about 284's is that they are made of unobtanium. GM did not allow anybody at the dealership service depts to disassemble them for repair, they were R&R only. Taking one apart isn't that complicated, but you do have to have some highly specialized (and likely non-existent in 2018) tools to put one back together, including of all things an oven. The part you remove to get at the detents in the bellhousing supposedly has to be destroyed in order to remove it, and replaced during rebuild. So, there's that. They were built at a Getrag production line in SC, which is where they were supposed to be sent for repair, and in 2003 all the remaining service parts they had were auctioned off on eBay. In 2007 I spoke to the last guy who knew anything about them at the SC factory and he couldn't believe there were still any on the road. At the time, technically mine wasn't. I don't know what kind of magic the wizards at Getrag used to come up with the 284, but it was an engineering marvel in its day that was largely overlooked. However, its two main weak points are those 3rd-gear syncros and the output shaft bearings, plus the fact that you weren't supposed to take one apart outside the SC factory in the 90's. Point is, don't buy one of these expecting to be able to rebuild it like any other transaxle. The one advantage a 282 has over a 284 is rebuildability. Maybe in 2018 with 3D printers that can make titanium parts out of electronic 0s and 1s we can make some of the pieces necessary to do it, but I don't know of anyone who has attempted it yet. Me, I've got 1 good spare in case I ever have problems with the one I've got now. One other thing I didn't see mentioned, is check its mount. They don't make replacements anymore and you're going to need it. It's like a foot on the bottom of the case. Hopefully it wasn't damaged in the process of removing the 284 from the subframe. They usually split in half. Make sure you can't pull the top half away from the bottom half.

Giant Kraft dinner, washing machine races, Svetlana, space bobby they are all a master plan set down by Decepticons and Ajam I to take over W-body and rule Bxx Evans! it's just a matter of time before Breakdown will get out his battery operated wrench to make the final adjustments. Muwahahahaha