'95 RMW

Hello everyone. I'm Dave. I have wanted an LT1 RMW for quite some time. But you know, in life you want a lot of things and while some might come quickly, others come after time or even not at all. I am finally getting a RMW, though.

I was seriously pursuing a massive mid-70's Pontiac wagon for a while. By summer, that deal had died. I waited for something like five weeks for the seller to obtain a title, then couldn't find a time when he and a friend of mine near the car could meet so my buddy could evaluate it for me.

I just put a deposit down on a '95 Roadmaster wagon. It has higher miles (157k) but no rot anywhere on the body, and only a few spots of light rust on the floors or frame, from what I could see crawling around the car. The interior is nice, the paint is pretty shiny, and the car drove well on a test drive. It drops oil for a half-minute after starting the engine, has some greasy undercarriage nastiness, doesn't have great tires, has some smaller, dents and dings, and the black trim that is notorious for falling off has been reattached in spots with the wrong kind of glue and, in once case, screws driven through it. :headscrat

I am paying $2699 for it out the door, which is a decent price for one of these, IMO.

Here are some underwhelming pics for now. I will post more when it is in my driveway.












On a related note: my dad has a '96 Impala SS. He's not very good about taking care of it. A while back, I did an amateurish detailing of it for him. I don't have many pics handy, but here is one "before" and one "after".

Seems like a pretty good deal for a rust free Roadie!

And your pop has a nice Impy, too. Your amateur detail sure helped it out!

And they're both even the right color!

I had a DCM woody for a while, too. Used it as a daily/winter rat to match the DCM SS I had at the time.

Welcome to the madness!

Welcome, Nice roadie! Where in W.Mass are you? I'm in Chicopee.

Welcome aboard.

Sweet roadie, and your father's SS looks great.

Welcome. Nice F-body.

Welcome to the forum Dave.
Thanks for the Intro thread.
I think you'll like it around here.

BTW...."amateurish" ?
Your kidding me right?
The only way that car coulda looked any better is if you buffed it to black!
(Hang around....you'll get it later... )

Thank you all for the welcome.

The detailing job really was amateurish. If you looked closely, you could still see plenty of flaws and scratches in the paint. I used a PC random-orbit polisher and an assortment of polishes and wax from Adam's. I also removed the seats to fully clean the carpets, cleaned the seats, cleaned and organized the trunk, polished the wheels with one of those Mother's poof-ball things you chuck into your drill etc. The car looked great, and my dad was happy. The car now looks much as it did in that "before" pic, and I just don't have time to gussy it up for Pops this year

Welcome! Your Roadie was also celebrity owned.

Guess I can stop chasing that one now .

mp775 wrote:

Welcome! Your Roadie was also

Guess I can stop chasing that one now .

Hah! I had no idea EXACTLY who owned it, although I had been given some clues. That is pretty awesome that that blog is there. Now I can sort of learn my car's history. Thanks for the info. Had you tried to buy it?

I'll tell the story of how I got it once it's in my hands.

Bull wrote:

mp775 wrote:

Welcome! Your Roadie was also

Guess I can stop chasing that one now .

Hah! I had no idea EXACTLY who owned it, although I had been given some clues. That is pretty awesome that that blog is there. Now I can sort of learn my car's history. Thanks for the info. Had you tried to buy it?

I'll tell the story of how I got it once it's in my hands.

Not gonna lie that's awesome! Close history on the car only a click away on the computer! Too cool!


Also welcome! Nice car with the good interior! Come to the fall round-up and meet all of us!

Welcome to the forum! This here is the welcome wagon! Haha.

That is damn cool to have that blog there extant to go along with your car, nice find!

I've just done the "amateurish" detail on my truck in the same fashion you did to that SS, I'm still not done yet. My arms want to fall off now.

Bull wrote:

Now I can sort of learn my car's history.

Yeah

Quote :

Had you tried to buy it?

I e-mailed a few weeks ago when I saw it on Craigslist. Finally heard back from him a couple of days ago that he had traded it to someone in Connecticut who was reselling it. It's OK, I'm looking for a non-woody anyway .

[quote="mp775"]

Bull wrote:

I e-mailed a few weeks ago when I saw it on Craigslist. Finally heard back from him a couple of days ago that he had traded it to someone in Connecticut who was reselling it. It's OK, I'm looking for a non-woody anyway .

He had mentioned that accident to me. The hood looks good, although the body shop didn't paint the underside, so it's white. The grill on the car has also been repaired. I'll be looking for a replacement.

I think I prefer the non-woodies, too, but I'm not positive. However, I recall how long it took me to polish the paint on my dad's Impala. A wagon would be even worse, so in that sense the wood will be a real time-saver!

Bull wrote:

However, I recall how long it took me to polish the paint on my dad's Impala. A wagon would be even worse, so in that sense the wood will be a real time-saver!

Half wax, half "Lemon fresh Pledge".... Seriously!

Welcome aboard! I would almost swear you stole my RMW from me!
DCM Woodie FTW!

That RMW was on Channel 3's Better Connecticut show and once when I watched the host and hostess drove it around on TV. Looked in good shape.

[quote="Bull"]

mp775 wrote:

Bull wrote:

I e-mailed a few weeks ago when I saw it on Craigslist. Finally heard back from him a couple of days ago that he had traded it to someone in Connecticut who was reselling it. It's OK, I'm looking for a non-woody anyway .

He had mentioned that accident to me. The hood looks good, although the body shop didn't paint the underside, so it's white. The grill on the car has also been repaired. I'll be looking for a replacement.

I think I prefer the non-woodies, too, but I'm not positive. However, I recall how long it took me to polish the paint on my dad's Impala. A wagon would be even worse, so in that sense the wood will be a real time-saver!

I've got a pretty mint grille for $30 if your interested.
I'm moving to Warren,MA in about a month. But currently I'm in Webster,MA and go to my parents in Sturbridge weekly

[quote="Ironfistdog"]

Bull wrote:

mp775 wrote:

Bull wrote:

I e-mailed a few weeks ago when I saw it on Craigslist. Finally heard back from him a couple of days ago that he had traded it to someone in Connecticut who was reselling it. It's OK, I'm looking for a non-woody anyway .

He had mentioned that accident to me. The hood looks good, although the body shop didn't paint the underside, so it's white. The grill on the car has also been repaired. I'll be looking for a replacement.

I think I prefer the non-woodies, too, but I'm not positive. However, I recall how long it took me to polish the paint on my dad's Impala. A wagon would be even worse, so in that sense the wood will be a real time-saver!

I've got a pretty mint grille for $30 if your interested.
I'm moving to Warren,MA in about a month. But currently I'm in Webster,MA and go to my parents in Sturbridge weekly

Heck yeah I'm interested. I just looked, and Warren is about 27 miles/45 backroad minutes from me. I'd make that drive for a grille, sure. Are you sitting on a stash of parts in general?

Yup I've got quite the collection in Sturbridge. And I'm right off the pike (exit 9) at that address. What do ya need?

I'll have a more complete sense of my needs once the car is actually in my driveway and being driven. I noticed some issues with the DS front door panel, beltline trim held on by screws going THROUGH it, stuff like that. I'm definitely looking for a set of Impala wheels, and I am considering picking up a spare LT1 to refresh and detail so I can drop it in the car.

But again, once the car is here my needs list will become clearer to me.

I can tell you right now I have a complete set of belt trim (minus tail gate piece) with the clips.
I also have a set of SS rims I was gonna mount on my dggm caddy but might keep the stock wheels instead. They have good tires, but missing center cap, as I was going to use Cadillac ones instead. For the right offer I may let them go.
Plenty of stuff to sift through,

PM sent

On an unrelated note: someone on here who knows me from Garagejournal suggested to me during a PM exchange that I include a pic or two of my other cars. So, here we go.

Old Pontiacs, barns, and America. If the pic also had beer and bikinis, we'd be all set.






Should I have closed the hood for the shot? Absolutely!

I Approve!

That GTO is nice 68 or 69???

Awesome assortment of multi-wheeled vehicles you have there! Sauce'm!

1984twodoor wrote:

I Approve!

That GTO is nice 68 or 69???

It's a '69. My brother bought it from his boss at the Pentagon back in the '80s. I bought it from him in '93 or '94.

Matt Trakker wrote:

Awesome assortment of multi-wheeled vehicles you have there! Sauce'm!

Damn those memes are funny. Never seen them and am busting a gut!

Another F-body owner.

Once again I move that we change the name to F'n BaD Ass of NE!

The T/A reminds me of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, although I'm pretty sure the one in that film was older. I dig the wheels!

Damn dude. If you ever wanna sell that bird... That is my absolute favorite body style. Nice car. Nice goat too!

So I couldn't find the video of the Roadmaster being driven on Channel 3, but I found some video of the owner talking about selling it. She's hot and you don't see too many women driving these cars, but I think her husband drove it more. I can't post it beacuse I am new but is on wfsb website

toomanytoyz wrote:

Damn dude. If you ever wanna sell that bird... That is my absolute favorite body style. Nice car. Nice goat too!

I do play around with the idea of selling it from time to time. Even recently I have considered it.

rmwdriver wrote:

So I couldn't find the video of the Roadmaster being driven on Channel 3, but I found some video of the owner talking about selling it. She's hot and you don't see too many women driving these cars, but I think her husband drove it more. I can't post it beacuse I am new but is on wfsb website

Maybe you can post the link after your probationary period is up. I took a quick look and couldn't find it.


The check I have been waiting on came in, so now I can go and pay the balance on the car. It's a pain in the sack buying a car that is a ways away. I need o drive down there, pay and get the paperwork, then drive back here to get a plate and a registration, then drive back there to get the car.

I am considering swapping the plate over from the GTO so I can just drive the car up as soon as I pay for it. This would save some running around. I'd then get a new plate for the Goat.

rmwdriver wrote:

She's hot

And something of a celebrity in her own right if you're into 1990s Rhode Island political scandals.

If you put (end of the road for the master of the road) in google you get a story of your roadmaster and the link to the video not the video of it being drove, but the story of it being sold

I spent about seven hours on the road today, driving to the bank, the car dealership, the insurance agency/RMV, back to the dealership, and then finally back home for good. The end result is that I am finally a bona fide Roadmaster wagon owner.

The car is really comfortable, rides beautifully, and has good power.

I was too worn out and it was too dark and wet when I got home to play with the car too much. I already have a list of things that I need to take care of: new wiper blades, fix the power mirrors which don't seem to work, fix the rear view mirror which vibrates like crazy, secure the DS front door panel which flaps when you slam the door, figure out why the interior courtesy lights don't work, fix PS front window which is off the track/switch is stuck in UP position. The list will get bigger.

It was dark and raining when I got home, so I don't really have any pics to show yet. I am going to post one, just to prove that I am a bona fide member of the group, though.

Picture proves it happened ..

Congratulations.....look forward to seeing you pull this RMW together.

Hard to tell in the darkness, but it looks in great shape. Can't see any rust or anything. Congratulatiosn.

These pics are better, but still just quick shots.



This bothers me: the space between the edge of the grille and the headlight on the driver's side is wider than on the passenger's side.





There are issues like this in various spots on the clear over the faux wood


The lower areas of the car are pretty clean; no rot, some light rust where the paint has chipped or been scratched. I need to treat and cover these areas right away to prevent any rust from getting a grip anywhere.







This needs to be fixed; there is glop like this in a few places on the car where that rubber trim is


Here we have glop ad screws driven through the trim to hold it on


Poor little piece of tweaked trim at the bottom of the DS fender


DS front panel is loose when you close the door and has this ugly cosmetic issue


Overall, interior is clean and nice w/only a couple minor tears that I found anywhere.






Took a pic of the SPID so I can start decoding it and see what options this badboy is equipped with

Just decoded all of those codes except the QEU. Looks like the car has some nice options, and then some stuff that I don't understand, like computer sel suspension. The neat stuff for me is to see that it has a 2.93 posi rear, V92 trailer provisions (whatever that means, exactly), heavy duty cooling system, 140 amp alternator, UQ3 enhanced speakers etc.

Now, maybe a lot of these cars were optioned that way; I'm still new to them , so I don't know. I'm just glad that mine has some nice options and isn't stripped down.

OOOOOoooOOOOoooo....it's a V92 tow pack car! Nice!

That's a rather desirable beach-wagon you've got yourself there!

Hi Dave,

Welcome to B Body madness. It's a disease. I just read through all the posts and it seems you'll fit right in (i.e. the grill gap). The guys on this forum are all incredibly helpful and as a group can help you fix or do anything you wish to your Roadie, so don't hesitate to ask. Parts hoarding seems to be a symptom of membership here so this is a great place to find the odd ball parts you may end up needing. An added benefit is that you live near Indy (Ironfistfog) who seems to own two or three of each B body part ever made or knows where to find it.

Good luck with your Roadie.

Rich

Bull wrote:

Just decoded all of those codes except the QEU. Looks like the car has some nice options, and then some stuff that I don't understand, like computer sel suspension. The neat stuff for me is to see that it has a 2.93 posi rear, V92 trailer provisions (whatever that means, exactly), heavy duty cooling system, 140 amp alternator, UQ3 enhanced speakers etc.

Now, maybe a lot of these cars were optioned that way; I'm still new to them , so I don't know. I'm just glad that mine has some nice options and isn't stripped down.

QEU is P225/75R15 tires.

V92 is the Trailering Package. It includes other options like stiffer suspension, 2.93 rear, oil and transmission coolers, 140 amp alternator, and mechanical fan.

Computer Sel Susp isn't an option; it's how the springs were selected at the factory.

CompNine says there were 47 '95 Roadmasters exactly like yours.