General 96 Roadmaster thread

Non-repair car talk
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by kevm14 »

I'm sure the style is correct. I just think the RMS has more perimeter length due to the steeper rear window and just some body style differences.
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by kevm14 »

I hand washed it. The paint looks etched from like acid rain or something. I'm sure a light polish and wax would help. Not sure I want to deal with any compound (paint correction).

Look, I have a camera again!
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In some ways this car just makes me miss my Fleetwood...I don't know what that means though.
Bob
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Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by Bob »

Looks good. I guess I missed when you put the SS wheels on it.
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by kevm14 »

Bob wrote:Looks good. I guess I missed when you put the SS wheels on it.
May of last year.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2609&start=190#p17506

My stick on center cap Buick logo things are sort of coming off. Nothing has fallen off but I might have to get a little more serious about adhesion. Because there is still a Chevy bowtie under there, I guess I don't want something totally permanent like epoxy. Also, my knockoff SS center cap I bought (to replace the one I lost many years ago) is not great. Mainly it's the finish. It has some kind of plastic wrap that like traps soap and stuff when I wash the car. Maybe I can just peel it off but it seems to be part of the finish/design. Anyway I need to just use some kind of glue that is more permanant than the sticky back of the logo covers plus the square of double sided tape I put in the center.
kevm14
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Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by kevm14 »

Upon driving it in this morning I was thinking about the things the vehicles in my (driveway) fleet have in common. Here are some:
- All longitudinal RWD-based V8s (this is obvious) [includes Caprice]
- All report outside temperature somewhere
- All have power heated side mirrors [includes Caprice]
- All have auto-dimming rearview mirrors (I think the switch on the Ram broke though) [was available on Caprice, probably not on 9C1s]
- All have at least a power driver's seat (I think only the truck doesn't have dual power) [includes Caprice]
- All have factory keyless entry remotes [was available on Caprice, but not on 9C1s]
- All have some kind of ABS (again, truck has a lame passive rear-only system so this one is iffy) [includes Caprice]
- All have factory aluminum wheels though the Ram has a really crappy finish that is peeling off and looks almost like pot metal underneath

That's what I got for now. The Fleetwood also made all of these of course.
Last edited by kevm14 on Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:43 am, edited 5 times in total.
Reason: Added wheels
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by kevm14 »

A few quick burnouts after my EGR replacement. Verification of power delivery.

https://youtu.be/24N9FVqBS68

This car needs 3.42s but is obviously capable of burnouts with 2.93s, as well.
kevm14
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Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by kevm14 »

Took it in for inspection. Naturally the techs liked it. A guy who works there still has a 96 SS or Caprice anyway.
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He let Ian and I walk under it while it was on a lift to check it out. He pointed at different things but overall it is in decent shape for the age. Except for one thing.
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Yeah. Left rear axle brake line. Just when I got the car back on the road. Well this was obviously brewing for a while. I may be able to get some nice prebent stainless lines from Classic Tube but it will probably also require wheel cylinders since that is usually what happens. Rather than do all that I'd rather get the axle out of my Caprice which already has nice stainless lines on the axle. I think I'd also need the proportioning valve as that has also been converted to disc proportioning. Not really a small job but I could use this as an excuse. I will have to work with my father in law to see how it will work to remove the axle from my Caprice because right now, other than requiring a jump start, it runs and drives around his yard. Removing the axle would make it quite immobile unless something creative is discovered. So as of right now I really can't drive the Roadmaster….again. I mean the brakes are fine but I think it is on the razor edge of blowing.

But if I come out of this with the axle and brake swap, well, that was something major on my list anyway so that would be an acceptable outcome. And that was the whole point of the Caprice, as a donor to repair/upgrade the Roadmaster.

Also Tire Pros has this cool ash tray made of cams, a wheel for the top and a brake rotor for the base.
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kevm14
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Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by kevm14 »

Wow. I parked it last August because of the brake line. Just fixed that. Then the oil cooler lines rusted. Replaced those. Back on the road.

And I have tunes again, too.
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This is what it is:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074Y ... UTF8&psc=1

$18 on Amazon. Now at least I don't have to listen to the radio when I drive the car. I will probably drive it to work tomorrow to celebrate it being back on the road after 6 months.
kevm14
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Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by kevm14 »

Bill told me that if I only drive it to work one day then it doesn't count. Touche. So I'll take it tomorrow, too.

Also it rolled 185k today.
kevm14
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Re: General 96 Roadmaster thread

Post by kevm14 »

Looking up the RPMs from the other thread reminded me to do this.

So here are some key RPMs and speeds for the factory 2.93s that my Roadmaster has (oops, I did this with 225/75-15 wagon tires, redoing with my 255/50-17s):

5000 rpm in 1st is around 44 mph (with the torque converter locked up so in the real world the speed would be a bit lower).
5000 rpm in 2nd is around 83 mph.
5000 rpm in 3rd is 135. Not terrible top speed gearing but if it had the 225/75-15 wagon tires (which aren't going to be speed rated) it could pull 145 in 3rd which is about right. Well, with RMS aero, maybe 140 is more realistic but with torque converter stall that could still work out closely.
And then here are some RPMs and MPHs in 4th lockup:

Code: Select all

RPM	MPH
1043	40
1173	45
1303	50
1434	55
1564	60
1694	65
1825	70
1955	75
2086	80
2216	85
2346	90
2477	95
2607	100
I think most people would say that gearing is still fairly tall. And I'd agree. Of course 2.56 is 14.4% worse across the board, which is VERY noticeable by seat the pants dyno.

So shifting to the 3.42 buys about 16.7% extra RPMs everywhere, so BIGGER than the already noticeable difference between 2.93 and 2.56. Good so far. Let's compare to above:
5000 rpm in 1st is now around 38 mph. Pretty good. A little higher shift RPM would extend it a couple MPH.
5000 rpm in 2nd is around 71 mph. With more aggressive shift timing, this would really help with the 30-70 acceleration but over 65-70 it's going to stay in 3rd, which is only like 2800-3000 rpm. Previously the 2.93s helped a little up there because they carried you above 80.
5000 rpm in 3rd is now only 115 mph which is still more than necessary to run right into the 108 limiter. If I get rid of that, it will need to do a WOT 3-4. But this is definitely looking a lot more like performance car shift points (actual shift points are probably a bit different but this is ballpark).
4th lockup will look like this with 3.42s:

Code: Select all

RPM	MPH
1217	40
1369	45
1521	50
1674	55
1826	60
1978	65
2130	70
2282	75
2434	80
2586	85
2739	90
2891	95
3043	100
Definitely better cruising RPMs for any attempt at acceleration or maintaining speed on hills instead of coming out of lockup or downshifting.

Seems like a totally reasonable gear. After all, that was the factory ratio in 89-93 Caprice 9C1s (and 94-96 Fleetwoods with V4P towing, many Corvettes, etc.). Point is, to the extent that a factory 2.93 car drives WAY better (even with the mechanical fan) than a 2.56 car, the 3.42 is actually slightly MORE than that difference. Sounds great to me. It will, as they say, "really wake the car up."
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