The Rum Runner

[thesam1984]

Last week i put the brakes on the car... they perform great and my front pads were almost done. However ive unleashed a myriad of problems. Once i put the wheels back on, tires felt off out of balance.. what i thought was a lost weight, is cupping from my blown shocks... ive been so busy that i havent gotten to the shocks i bought. I tried rotating the tires but they are worse, cant even get past 60 with a vibration. I also might have some separation in the wheels that were in the front, the rears are the ones that are cupping. Ive got a line on a set of cheap 16" buick rims and tires and they may have to do until i sort everything out. The most infuriating thing is the tires look perfect and have a tremendous amount of tread still... i think im getting a slight runaround from discount tire.

[thesam1984]

On a better note i pick up some amazing parts from the junkyard for the buick. A full interior (seats) from a low mileage Park Avenue,same year and same color, dark red cloth. Only thing ive got to do is wire in the passenger side power seat to the door (mine car came with only drivers power seat), and the new seats reek of cigarette smoke (pulling them was no picnic. I pulled seats power seat swith in the door and as much wiring as i could from seat to door. I should beable to splice the passenger seat into my drivers... only thing i might do is go back for the carpet and a vent tube which gives heat to the rear seat throught the middle seat... either way im stoked as my seat was broken and cloth was a must for the wife... pics coming soon!

[thesam1984]

The seats are in great shape, and besides being dirty they are soft and not broken down at all



I got the wire harness to hopefully wire the seats in just like factory... i didnt see any wires under my passenger seat but it shouldnt be difficult


The rear seat has a fold down with an opening console with the better cupholders too... i found a suprise in there as well

[thesam1984]

The suprise was a letter... it appeared to be a card and it was already sealed and ready to be sent off with an address minus a stamp. My guess was someone put it in the back console for safe keeping, and forgot it was there and it never got sent. Im going to write a small note saying how i came accross it and drop the card in an envelope and mail off the whole thing... Hopefully the delay wont cause any issues.

[thesam1984]

Well i found out that the loud thumping is a very bent rim i grabbed a set of 16 Lesabre rims from Craigslist for 100 bucks with tires. They will make do until i can get another rim for the white walls. Then i will clean them up and hopefully do a much better job painting them.... i also changed the light bar (finally) and stupidly left my key on and killed my 11 year old battery (surprise to me)

[thesam1984]

I haven't posted in a long time, because I found out that the noise and cupping of tires was caused by the dreaded engine cradle bushings going... and as I removed them, of course the one rusted out and broke causing me to have to open up the wheel well to get at the bolt. I got it back together with some washers but realized that I would have to replace the cradle to keep the car... I began hunting for another car and ended up trading the buick for a 1993 Volvo 850GLT. He knew about the front and I showed him everything he would need to do to repair and the volvo needed some work as well. So I said goodbye to the Rum Runner and will be back again some day

[thesam1984]

The last fill-up before the trade


New Volvo, very tired looking

[thesam1984]

Sold the 850 and my project 240 to buy a nicer car for a new baby


Ran perfect, always taken care of mechanically, working A/C great price.

[thesam1984]

Loved this one.... LT1, new everything...


Taken away buy an idiot with Monte Carlo... He tried to cross 5 lanes of traffic and smashed into me, then took off, hit and run.... they never found him

[thesam1984]

I had just banged up my Jeep, (front corner) but not until after Jeep fest, which Betty White was a hit


I missed LeSabre so I bought this old girl... Low miles, all windows worked, fave colors... everything she needed was still good on my wrecked Roadie... But this car was a constant finicky runner and never as nice as the first... even rolled away from my wife when the linkage failed

[thesam1984]

Bought this girl with low miles, no rust and perfect paint... but the fender was smashed up to the hood... put her back together


Decided my Jeep ZJ was falling apart so I sold the caddy (which my wife never really liked) to buy a nice jeep for us and I would get a beater for me... you can see my ZJ in this pic

[thesam1984]

Got this Jeep, fully loaded everything works $1300 out the door. Wife loves her, so im happy


I was looking for a Chrysler 5th Ave (Rwd) but stumbled on this and couldnt say no.
A 1989 Olds Delta 88 Royale Brougham... couldnt pass up what a good deal she was... so I'm back, as i said I would be. I'll start a new thread look for Super Beater!