spyhunter2k Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Hi all. I’m the recent owner of my first W-body—a ’94 Cutlass Supreme white/white top/charcoal interior 3.1 convertible with 75K on the clock. I look forward to benefitting from the expertise here and also contributing myself once I become more familiar with the car. My other car is a ’90 Buick Reatta and I am active on that forum and have pioneered a few improvements to that car. I have a couple questions that I hope someone can help me with. The vert-specific issue: The passenger rear window motor only works intermittently—sometimes great and fast, other times it won’t budge. The previous owner said all that was sometimes needed was to remove the ashtray, reach in, and tap the motor and it would always work again. Well, the window wouldn’t budge (go down in this case) last night and no amount of tapping convinced it. It was the first drive in the car with the wife with the top down and let’s just say that with the wife already skeptical about the wisdom of getting a 15-year-old vert, me tapping a window motor through the ash tray hole on my first ride with her doesn’t help. I tried using both the master switch and the switch in the rear passenger armrest. No luck. Any suggestions? The non-vert-specific issues: The paint is pretty good but since I have cheap access to a body shop, I will likely go ahead and repaint the car. First, though, I’d like to acquire the 3.4-style tail lights and trunk lip/spoiler, assuming the lip can be transferred from the 3.4 trunk to a 3.1 trunk. Anyone have a set of these they’d like to sell? Also, am I correct in thinking that the only other differences regarding the exterior of the 3.1 and 3.4 cars is that the 3.4 have the rear area that houses the reverse lights painted the body color (instead of black as on the 3.1 cars) and the extra opening in the rear bumper for the 3.4’s dual exhaust? (I think I can just cut that myself when I’m finally ready to put in duals). The glove box (in passenger side of dash) surface overall seems warped/wavy, and the dash area above the gauges as well. Is this an eventual issue on all Cutlasses because of poor resistance of the plastic/rubber formula used to heat/humidity, or did this problem only affect some cars and others have good glove boxes/dash shapes? My eventual plans include lowering the car and installing a Series II Buick 3800 S/C (L67) motor. Thanks for any help you all can provide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psych0matt Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 welcome, sounds near identical to my car (which I'm getting rid of this weekend after almost 6 years) Good luck, theyre fun cars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake91 Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swift13 Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 welcome we need some pics tho, and until we get them were not happy i dont think the lip spoiler is specific for the 3.4s i have seen some on the 3.1s and some 3.4s without may have been changed by the owner but i have seen quite a few. i do have an extra lip spoiler layin around somwhere, you will have to drill into the trunk lid or just get a lid from the j/y and paint. the tail lights are very hard to find by me, i have seen a set go for 250$$ on ebay and i cant get to the yard quick enough to get a spare set the window sounds to me like the motor is going but to be sure give it direct power with no switch and see what happens. could also just be the switch or module??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 welcome. the rear window motors do bind up sometimes. don't know why, but on some of them I can see the motor is jambed hard against the geared arm. ---as in, if the motor was shifted back a fraction of an inch it would be ok....--- haven't done that successfully yet. dashes do warp. some people have corrected warping by actually installing screws through the dash by the defrost, where they are covered by defrost grid. (removal of dash would help to see it) the glove box door.... just get another one. It is generally accepted that 92-93 International series coupes (without regard to engine), 93-96 3.4 cars (but not 92), all 97s (which were only equipped with 3100sfi) are the vehicles that received the lip tails. It's been debated on whether other cars may have got them... but we could be seeing dealer add-ons. yes... find a set, and you can add them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swift13 Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 It is generally accepted that 92-93 International series coupes (without regard to engine), 93-96 3.4 cars (but not 92), all 97s (which were only equipped with 3100sfi) are the vehicles that received the lip tails. It's been debated on whether other cars may have got them... but we could be seeing dealer add-ons. yes... find a set, and you can add them! now i dont want a debate but i have seen a 95 with the 3.4 with out the lip, i dont see a reason why anyone would take it off and put on the rounded tail lights. but i guess other factors could be in play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 It is generally accepted that 92-93 International series coupes (without regard to engine), 93-96 3.4 cars (but not 92), all 97s (which were only equipped with 3100sfi) are the vehicles that received the lip tails. It's been debated on whether other cars may have got them... but we could be seeing dealer add-ons. yes... find a set, and you can add them! now i dont want a debate but i have seen a 95 with the 3.4 with out the lip, i dont see a reason why anyone would take it off and put on the rounded tail lights. but i guess other factors could be in play I saw a 94 3.4 that didn't either... so i checked it out. would you believe the back half of the car was from a different car? that 95 should have had them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 I saw a '95 3.4L car the other day with the rare orange color that had no lip spoiler. It had to have been a Series II, no SWRC, tan leather, but barely anything else. No sunroof either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyhunter2k Posted April 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Thanks for the replies. If it ever stops raining here I'll take some pics. I'm still suffering sticker shock--not for the car (think I got a pretty good deal), but for the top replacement cost. I actually did look into the cost of a new top before buying the car, but I hadn't priced the labor to install. I was thinking a couple hundred and a few hours is all it takes. My first quote was $750 for the labor ($75/hour shop labor X 10 hours for install per "the book"). I almost choked on my lunch. But it does need one, so I bit the bullet and bought a top from topsonline.com. I researched the tops extensively before buying one and will post the results of that research in a separate comprehensive top replacement thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swift13 Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 usually shops wont put on a top that isnt theirs but if you know someone thats always good yeah bout 750$ is the least your gonna pay for a top replacement, ive seen them range up to 1300$$ with new rear glass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 buy a new top from online and give it a whirl yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyhunter2k Posted April 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 I ended up getting a single texture pinpoint vinyl top in Brite White (correct white color) with the tinted rear glass (have never used a rear deforster that I can recall--won't miss it) from topsonline.com and I have an experienced guy lined up to do it for $425 "on the side." There are certain things I am willing to do myself and others that I know will probably result in my taking a one way journey down the road to insanity--this is the latter. I'm getting a new rear window motor soon and will try to install that myself. Want to test the switch first though to make sure that it's not the problem. I'll probably go to the junkyard this weekend to see if I can snag some good Camaro rubber for the rear window sweeps. After that, it's a paint job and the vert will look new, and I'll probably drive it that way for a while until I finish my Reatta customization (making custom front/rear bumpers and ground effects and swapping in a Series I L67). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 I saw a '95 3.4L car the other day with the rare orange color that had no lip spoiler. It had to have been a Series II, no SWRC, tan leather, but barely anything else. No sunroof either. I love that color...I had seen one recently in a junkyard that did have a lip spoiler...It was hot. For the record...This is the list of cars that came with lip spoilers: 1992-1993 3.1 and 3.4 Internationals 1993-1995 3.4 convertibles 1993 3.4 SL coupes 1994-1996 3.4 coupes 1997 coupes It wasn't too difficult to install a top, I did it myself and didn't do too bad of a job. This car now belongs to Taylor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptnjack Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 good move on ordering the right "correct" color top. GM offered a white and a brite white top. When I bought my 93 ragtop it had a new top but the previous owner put a nice new white top on it but against the brite whit paint it looks dull and yellow. congrats on a good move and solid research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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