Moonbeam Therapy

After a day like today, I deserved a night ride in the Riv. The idiot lamp came on as I left the driveway, so I tried the shut off -- restart trick in the cul-de-sac before we went anywhere. That took care of the light, and helped settle her down. A little piston slap during acceleration remained, but even that wore off as she warmed up. I'm starting to wonder if the oil pressure is on the low side, even though the dipstick shows she has plenty of Quaker State in the pan.

Once home, I eyed the paint cleaner, but went for the leather conditioner to wipe down the steering wheel, the sun visors, the driver's door panel, the armrest/console, and the headliner. All were coated, but they can at least be pulled back to a nearly-new condition without replacement. The seats themselves (front and back) have tears and gaps down to the foam, so we've set out some sheepskins to cover them 'til I can find a good upholstery shop. When the seats come back for installation, I'm going to have to see about diagnosing the drivers' side power seat adjustments. The solenoid whirs whenever the switch is activated, but there's no movement, or even a sound of strain.

Another thing I'd like to find the time to do is remount the driver's side window with new bushings. It goes up and down just fine, but it slams from side to side by about a quarter-inch when you close the door. Given the length of that window, I'm terrified of hearing it crack one day.

So it appears that I've added to the task list more than I've crossed off tonight, but that'll probably happen for a while.

A few readers have asked for more about the Riv's history.

Here is the Cliff's Notes version, as related by Tom on the day I picked her up:

The Buick started life as a Hertz specialty rental in California, kind of like the Mustang GT350H from 1966 and the Shelby GT-H from 2006. When her rental gig was up, she was bought by a man owning a Buick dealership in Orlando. He kept her as a commuter during the years of the skinny Buicks (like this 1992 Riviera), and then sold her through a broker to me in the spring of 1995.

She had 96,000 on the clock when Tom bought her in '95, and as of tonight, she's showing 152,289.