Spring 2008 - Reatta Division
Contents
1. Division Newsletter Buick Club of America Volume 11 Issue 3 Spring 2008 Craft Centre Awaits Demolition For those who were able to attend April many many memories still linger and and Ron Gill s Reatta Reunion in Sep will for some time You can join us in tember 2006 memories of this scene bringing back those memories at the were thought to be your last Would Tech Session planned for this summer s you believe the demolition of the Craft National Meet in Flint Thursday is Re Centre is still pending Disagreement atta Day The Tech Session will start between GM and the US government after lunch at the GM Building adjacent on the proper procedures to be used in to the Wingate Hotel in Grand Blanc the process are keeping things at a New and old topics will be discussed standstill At this rate we will be able between current Reatta owners and to visit the site this summer those who worked to put your Reatta on the road something you will not want Even though the site has been deserted to miss April Gill with her Reatta in front of the not yet demolished Craft Centre View From My Workbench By George Madsen Assistant Director Spring is finally showing signs of its arrival Reatta owners who have stored their cars over the winter months are beginning the task of getting them ready for the warmer days ahead On the return trip from our winter vacation in Naples Florida we found a place where no such tas2. the screw in the shoulder belt anchor surround the dome light lens and the retaining things for the dome light Take out the bulb to avoid breaking it use caution as one of the bulb retainers has 12 volts going to it If con cerned disconnect the battery I was able to remove the dome light housing retain ers by grabbing them with a needle nose pliers and pulling wiggling and turning If you damage one you will need to find a replacement The front A pillar trim is retained by two plastic parts that will probably break see photo below The black part is the lower retainer and can be pur chased at most auto parts stores I only found the white part at GM 20462090 about 1 60 There is also a screw holding the trim at the back of the door window opening The trim interferes with re moving the headliner Finally tilt the rearview mirror down out of the way to remove the center sun visor clips Now the headliner will come out as a unit Velcro strips above each door and two over the back window can be separated using a kitchen knife Use care not to bend or damage any of the ah ai 5 1 m a E ai Py E s P S E Taa e 4 a 0 d a ia s d x i En mu Wai is ee a i TF are A ex ca a 2 os a bn m ey eke fC s l T e F i Headliner removed corners or edges of the headliner shell Itis a com pressed fiberglass mat but is only slightly stronger than an ice cream cone Make not
3. Central Power Sup ply CPS If both the IPC and the GCC displays are flickering or are blank check the part number on the CPS If it is 16058596 replace it with part number 16088406 1988 Modified Reatta w Northstar V8 d EE A Am TT J P 5 Zz ian pa a J n A A ao h ta 4 Ms m 4 Open for comments And yes it s for sale Retta Division Buick Club of America Officers amp Key Division Positions Director Bill Parks PO Box 175 Covington VA 24426 540 962 2222 Wparks22 aol com Assistant Director George Madsen 14560 South Oakley Avenue Orland Park IL 60462 708 349 8878 georgemadsen att net Secretary Treasurer Ed Farnell 440 Langford Road Blythewood SC 29016 803 754 6922 reattaclub aol com Newsletter Editor Nancy Eaton 20111 Deerfield Drive Georgetown TX 78628 512 869 5114 reatta texas net Reatta Logo Wear Coordinator Carole Madsen 14560 South Oakley Avenue Orland Park IL 60462 708 349 8878 carolemadsen att net Web Site Address http www reatta org Web Road Master Roberta Vasilow BUICKRACER comcast net BCA Technical Advisors 1988 1991 Reattas Barney Eaton Art Kaufman 20111 Deerfield Drive 806 Brookside Lane Georgetown TX 78628 Milbrae CA 94030 512 869 5114 650 583 8966 barney texas net artsauto7 cs com REATTA DIVISION Secretary Treasurer Ed Farnell 440 Langford Road Blythewood SC 29016 Membership and Division Information Reat
4. made out to Toni Hunt for his Reatta After all what goes better with a Red Coupe than a Black Convertible Somewhere between the Red Coupe and the Black Convertible I joined the Reatta Division of the Buick Club of America and within two or three years was Reattas to convince folks that I am somewhat sane and to make room for a 55 and a 57 Oldsmobile which I have coveted since my youth I do still have two convertibles and two coupes two of which I drive regularly What started out as a purchase of a flashy Buick that was comfortable to drive and that I could finally af ford has ended up as a unique opportunity to make new friends see a lot of the country attend several great Buick meets learn a lot about one of Buick s great cars that never was able to meet its full poten tial and to serve as an officer in a Division dedicated to the preservation of the Reatta I hope each of you have as much fun being involved with your Reatta as I have with mine Technical Update By Barney Eaton BCA Board Vice President Technical Advisor Coordinator Technical Advisor for Reattas Keeper of the Reatta Database Headliner Replacement If you own a Reatta Coupe chances are your head liner is sagging or will someday soon You can replace the headliner or at the very least save some money by removing it and taking it to a pro fessional to be replaced Removal Remove the sun visors the coat hooks above the shoulder belt anchor
5. of the wind to avoid overspray from the adhesive Lay the headliner material on the headliner shell and allow for excess material and enough to wrap around the back of the shell Fold the material in half exposing the shell and foam to be sprayed you are only going to do one half side at a time Spray an even coat of adhesive on half of the shell spray a little extra in the corners of the creases Then spray an even coat on the foam backing Use caution not to have any headliner cloth exposed to the adhesive Allow the adhesive to dry see can for instructions New headliner insulation Now with your helper s extra hands start from the center and smooth the material Your helper will hold the material up so that it does not get glued down before you are ready Work from the center out smoothing it into the contours of the headliner shell When you complete one side fold the re maining side back over the finished side spray and repeat Once you are satisfied with the appearance of the glue job turn the unit over and finish by wrapping the front back and sides to the back and gluing in place The photo taken earlier is helpful now Finish by trimming where required and cut a hole for the dome light and visor parts Installing it into the car you can always use some extra hands Again you don t want to bend the shell Once in the car get it above the plastic trim at the shoulder belt anchor and position it side to sid
6. arily of maintaining the mem bership data base collecting the annual dues pay ing the Division expenses and printing and mailing the quarterly newsletter and answering periodic questions about the Division The easy part of the job is showing up at the annual meeting and taking the minutes I have thoroughly enjoyed being your Secretary Treasurer and look forward to serving you for another year This coming year I hope to help with a review of our by laws which have been almost unchanged since our Division was formed Another challenge will be managing the mailing of the newsletter new member packets and dues ac knowledgements in the face of rising postage costs With a little luck we should be able to maintain the present dues for the foreseeable future I am looking forward to seeing many of you in Flint in July As always I welcome your com ments on the way the office of Secretary Treasurer is serving you pE i e ioe Packing for the trip to Flint Reatta Marketplace Cars and Parts For Sale Parts You name it I should have it John 810 730 9230 Parts Large inventory Reasonable prices Jim jfinn ecpinternet com 1990 Coupe Red w tan interior 83 500 miles California car in showroom condition Photos available 9 000 707 527 5455 Email Jaq Caz sbcglobal net 1991 Convertible 39 000 miles White on white with black rub strip flame red interior Cassette and disc player 16 way driver s seat original fl
7. but very hot in South Carolina summers MGB and two Austin Healeys which I had restored were the beginning of my self gratification that be gan as I got a little money put aside Soon after call ing the owner of the Reatta who turned out to be a state criminal investigator that I vaguely knew I owned a Reatta that needed a fair amount of TLC but was a strong runner looked really sharp was cool in the summer and very comfortable to drive vet z D x f aa e cited 4 Ss bet t Maui Blue Convertible and to Florida for a 90 Drift wood Coupe While Kitty is still at least superfi cially supportive I have since made trips to Augusta Georgia for another 90 Maui Blue Convertible to Ohio for a White 89 Coupe and to Fort Worth for a Red 91 Coupe with only my truck my car dolly and books on CD to keep me company After numerous calls to Jim Finn for parts and lots of The rest of the story is that I have sold a few of the travel up the Reatta learning curve I was really en joying my new ride Things rocked along pretty smoothly for a couple of years and I became a fairly frequent visitor to the Reatta discussion group on the internet although mostly as a consumer of informa tion and not particularly a contributor One day while reading through the discussion page I noticed a Black 1990 Reatta Convertible for sale in Florida A week or so later Kitty and I were on our way to Vero Beach Florida with a cashier s check
8. e front to back Start by locating the dome light hole and install the dome light housing next install the sun visor clips With those done the unit is located as it was originally and you can start reinstalling screws etc Push the headliner in place where the Velcro pads are located The last thing I did was install the sun visors This is tricky because you can t see the holes I used a sharp awl to find the screw holes and align the first one with the sun visor mount then find the next hole and install the screw only start the screws when you have all three properly located Doing a headliner for a sunroof car is similar The service manual tells you to open the sunroof about 2 inches slide the inside cover for the sliding part of the sunroof forward and it will come off I added an optional item while the headliner was out insulation There are several types that will work mainly it needs to be no more than 1 4 inch thick I used the bubble type with foil on both sides see photo at left If you get stuck call or email me REATTA FUN FACT The CRT Cathode Ray Tube screen in the center of the dashboard of 88 and 89 models takes the place of more than ninety gages and switches Secretary s Ramblings By Ed Farnell I am offering again this year for the office of Sec retary Treasurer and I appreciate your vote I have stopped counting but believe this will be my fifth year My job consists prim
9. e of the excess material in certain areas and how the material folds over the back of the headliner shell Carefully remove the headliner cloth Take a photo for reference later Now you will see why the headliner is sagging The headliner material comes with a thin foam backing The foam deteriorates causing the head liner to sag Next you remove the old foam residue from the headliner shell A wire brush will remove most of the dead foam I used an old toothbrush and vegeta ble brush to get into the corners and tight areas Replacement headliner material is available in lar ger fabric shops like Jo Ann s Fabrics or Hancock Fabrics If you live in a metropolitan area you may have an upholstery supply store with a good selection of colors Remove the passenger side sun visor to take as a sample color I paid 9 99 a yard and purchased 5 feet 1 2 3 yard I was con cerned about a yard and a half not being enough You will also need a good spray adhesive 3M brand 77 is very good and is available at Home Depot and Lowe s For attaching the headliner material to the shell I recommend a helper Also if your headliner shell has been damaged during removal you can use tape on the back side for minor damage but you may need to do some fiberglass repair on bad breaks or corners that get broken Use care in re moving the headliner and damage can be avoided Installing the foam backed cloth is not difficult Select a location out
10. ional Meet
11. k ever faces car owners It is Sarasota where the Gulf Coast Chap ter of the BCA has hosted its Old Car Bash on the first Sunday in March for the last ten years The car The Gulf Coast Chapter s Old Car Bash billed in the Bugle as a day of fun and friendship with old Buicks no judging no trophies There was a live band in addition to a car corral parts vendors and food The Reatta gang turned out six cars not bad for a local show A number of participants as well as spectators showed genuine interest in our Buick two seaters Owners fielded a number of ques tions about options engines IPCs CRTs and so on Everyone had an enjoyable day in the eighty degree temperatures We would like to thank the Gulf Coast Chapter for hosting this fine show Now that we are home it s time to start the task of getting our Reattas out of hibernation and ready for those warmer days just around the corner The Reatta Division s Ninth Annual Reatta Ren dezvous will take place during the 2008 BCA Na tional Meet in Flint We will leave the Wingate Inn in Grand Blanc at 5 00 pm promptly on Thursday July 17th We will drive into Flint to see RDiv member John Bourbeau who has a special collec tion of Reattas and related items We will also see the historically significant Durrant Dort Building of General Motors fame Then we will travel through the lake and ski areas south of Grand Blanc Dinner will be at Lucky s Steak House in Fent
12. lly decided to cancel Re atta judging at this year s BCA National Meet Reatta Mania Defined By Ed Farnell Secretary Treasurer About eight years ago my wife and I were taking our daughter to visit the college which I had attended many years ago About three miles outside of Clem son South Carolina I spotted a Red Coupe on the road side with a for sale sign in the window At sixty miles an hour it looked very much like a car that I thought was absolutely beautiful back in 1988 but was well beyond the reach of a state government convinced by Nancy Eaton to run for the office of Secretary Treasurer Of course the Secretary Treasurer of the Reatta Division must have more than two Reattas Since those seemingly innocent forays into the Reatta world my supportive spouse my truck and a borrowed car dolly have been to Dal las for a 90 Claret Red to Phoenix for a 90 investigator with lots of bills and children that would 2 R need a college education My wife Kitty and daughter Mary indulged me as I turned around to Ei hik aa look over the bright Red 89 Reatta that had what I S ry thought was a reasonable price in the window To make a long story short I convinced myself and _ my wife at least I told myself that I convinced her that I needed a nice inexpensive air conditioned car to use as a daily driver Until that time I had been driving my MGB which was and is still almost pris tine
13. on at 6 30 pm The restaurant lot will accommodate about thirty cars overflow parking will be in park ing lots adjacent to the restaurant All entrees in clude house bread and butter house or Caesar salad vegetable and a starch The following is the per person price per dinner and includes coffee tea or soft drink plus tax and gratuity Chicken Marsala finished w Marsala wine 18 Fettuccine Alfredo w shrimp 19 8 oz Aged Prime Rib w au jus 19 The Rendezvous dinner form is in with this news letter Please fill it out and send it with your pay ment to Reatta Division c o Ed Farnell by July Ist REATTA PEER JUDGING CANCELLED The planned Reatta Division peer judging event I wrote about in the winter edition of the newsletter has been cancelled Here are the reasons for the cancellation We had planned to hold the event in the Wingate parking lot on Saturday as we did dur ing the 2003 BCA National Meet in Flint This year we were unable to secure permission to use Win gate s lot on the date of the show It was suggested moving to the Cultural Center After conferring with our hosts regarding judging our cars during their Saturday Cultural Center Dis play it was clear that they would prefer we do not Both the Buicktown Chapter and the BCA had an nounced in advance that the 2008 meet would be a non judged event In order to not violate the spirit of that stated prerequisite and in deference to our hosts we have regretfu
14. oor mats and window sticker Signed log book from the Craft Centre with pen tire gauge and flashlight Price 13 500 Call 248 437 5022 Ask for David BCA 15683 1991 Coupe White with red interior 70 000 miles No CD or sunroof Garage kept regular mainte nance in very good condition Tires in good condition Price negotiable Pictures available Lo cated in Punta Gorda FL Call RitaAnne Sakal at 941 268 4632 or email whiskers yahoo com Reatta Wear at Flint this Summer Warmer weather is just around the corner Reatta Di vision members are busy getting their cars ready for the July meet in Flint This is the perfect time to up date your Reatta Wear wardrobe Some of our best spring and summer sellers are hats fashion visors golf shirts and ladies scoop neck shirts We will be in Flint with these items and more Nancy Eaton has designed a great new item which will be on display at the Reatta Wear table in the Wingate Inn The Reatta Wear table will be open in the lobby of the Wingate Inn in Grand Blanc starting Wednes day afternoon July 16th Attention Service Bulletin 1986 89 Reattas amp Rivieras This bulletin has been revised to change bulletin number from 89 8 5 to bulletin number 89 8 15 Some 1986 1989 Rivieras and Reattas may experi ence flickering or blank instrument panel cluster IPC and Graphic Control Center GCC displays accompanied by code E047 This may be caused by a poor solder connection in the
15. ta Division membership dues are 10 00 per year Membership is for a twelve month period Please note that a pink highlighter mark on the RDiv number on your mailing list means that your Reatta Division dues are due or overdue In order to continue receiving the Reatta Division newsletter your RDiv membership status needs to be current Please make checks payable to Reatta Division BCA Send all dues payments and address changes please write your RDiv on your check to Secretary Treasurer Ed Farnell 440 Langford Road Blythewood SC 29016 All Reatta Division members are required to be members of the national organization the Buick Club of America of which we are an authorized division Please note that a blue highlighter mark on the BCA number on your mailing label means that you are not a current member of the Buick Club of America BCA dues are due or overdue or you never became a member of the BCA in which case a BCA membership form is enclosed In order to continue re ceiving the Reatta Division newsletter your BCA membership status needs to be current The national organization can be contacted as follows Buick Club of America P O Box 360775 Columbus OH 43236 or by email at bcaoffice buickclub org Please send classified ads and newsletter submissions to Newsletter Editor Nancy Eaton 20111 Deerfield Drive Georgetown TX 78628 email reatta texas net Reatta Division meeting dates We normally meet once a year at the BCA Nat
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