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Topic: Lets work on this beater I bought.

Ks started this discussion 12 years ago #37,821

My buddy mentioned wanting to get rid of this car, I told him I'd take it off his hands for $400. Beater acquired. It's a 1992 Buick Regal Custom Coupe, not a bad model all in all, it's got just shy of 150,000 miles on it and with some tender loving care it might see 300,000 miles. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of a beater, it's a cheap car meant to take soak up miles that would otherwise be put on your regular vehicle. If I can get 100,000 miles out of the beater, that's 100,000 less on my regular ride. Got an errand to run? Drive the beater. Roads shitty dirty today? Drive the beater. Everything about this car is meant to be as cheap as possible, just enough to get the job done and take the beating.

This car does have problems (hence the price), but with a little elbow grease and time I'll likely get 125,000 miles out of total investment of maybe $700-$800. It'd be hard to beat that deal. I'll keep a running tab in this thread for fun. I didn't get pics of putting in a new starter, and fixing the doorhandles, you'll just have to use your imaginations. I'll try to document everything else a little better.

Price $400
Starter $60


$460

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Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 4 minutes later[^] [v] #507,386

Ks (OP) replied with this 12 years ago, 1 minute later, 6 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #507,388

I got the starter put in and fixed the doorhandles, the handle cables just needed adjusting, the people had not used the passenger door for YEARS over this lol, it took literally 20 minutes max. Next thing to do is change the transmission filter, most people never do that. Ever. On a car with more than a 100,000 miles you really don't want to do a full transmission flush and change, just drain what you can, change the filter and fill it back up.

Transmission filter kit + fluid $35

$495

Ks (OP) double-posted this 12 years ago, 4 minutes later, 11 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #507,390

@507,386 (B)
Frugal is an acquired taste.


When you change the transmission fluid just loosen the nuts a bit all the way around until a spot leaks, then just loosen the nuts in that area more. If you do it right you can drain and the remove the pan without much of a mess. Done wrong and you'll be in a pool of transmission fluid.

kook !!32zdfdzi+ joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 6 minutes later, 17 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #507,393

Ks (OP) replied with this 12 years ago, 28 seconds later, 18 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #507,394

This square thing in the pan is a magnet, it collects the metal that your transmission inevitably produces. In some extreme cases you'll find chunks of metal (not good), but in most cases it's more like a sludge of wet powder. You can get an idea of how long it's been since the filter has been changed by how much sludge is on the magnet in the pan. This magnet is pretty caked with sludge. I'm guessing this filter has never been changed. Ever. If it has been changed it was surely many miles ago.

Anonymous B replied with this 12 years ago, 4 minutes later, 22 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #507,395

Ks (OP) replied with this 12 years ago, 7 minutes later, 30 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #507,396

Here's what a clean magnet looks like. I wanted to get more pictures of putting the new filter in and the seal on the pan and putting it back on, but my hands were covered in shit at this point, not the best project to document. You can't just slap the pan back on, you gotta use RTV sealer and sort of stick your new seal to the pan then use a torque wrench to tighten the nuts back up. Torque wrench is a must, and you must use the manufactured specified torque, these pans are aluminum, tighten the nut too much and you fuck the pan and seal. This pan called for 12 pounds max. If things go well tomorrow we'll change the oil and filter, then move on to more fun stuff.

Ks (OP) double-posted this 12 years ago, 23 hours later, 23 hours after the original post[^] [v] #507,694

I went to change the oil but I checked on the RTV sealant from yesterday, the shit hadn't even set, I dunno if it's too old or what but it should have been totally set by that point. I went and bought some more and had to pull the transmission pan again. It was almost blind luck I happened to check the sealant at all, I've never had problems with the stuff before. Anyhow here is the pan pulled, cleaned and ready for more sealant.

Ks (OP) triple-posted this 12 years ago, 5 minutes later, 23 hours after the original post[^] [v] #507,695

This is why I bothered to check the sealant. Someone at some point had hit something and put a small hole in the pan, by some force of dark magic the hole got sealed by the metal powder the transmission had produced. The car healed itself! Really though, if you hit something it hurts something, stop and check your car, check your parking spot the next morning for fluids. Check shit out. Stuff like this can ruin cars if people don't notice it's leaking fluid and it gets too low, it could have just of easily been the oil pan or a brake line or something. I sealed the hole up and it should hold fine.

Ks (OP) quadruple-posted this 12 years ago, 2 minutes later, 23 hours after the original post[^] [v] #507,696

If you apply sealant like this it's overkill, BUT you won't get any leaks, and you won't develop leaks later. This sealant with the new seal will hold for the rest of this cars life, but I'll probably change the filter out again in 30,000 miles or so.

Ks (OP) quintuple-posted this 12 years ago, 6 minutes later, 23 hours after the original post[^] [v] #507,697

Press on the new seal and very gently line up the holes with a screwdriver. Press the seal down 3 times or so, get that shit tight, you don't want it to fall out of line while you're trying to position it back onto the transmission. Let it sit for 10 minutes at least, take that time to clean the bolts used to hold the pan in. Apply a circle of sealant around clean bolt heads, seal fucking everything. You don't wanna do this shit twice unless you have a lift in a shop or something, laying under the car on your back lining up the pan and getting the bolts started sucks. If you bought a cork seal, take that shit back, you want rubber.

Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 8 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #507,698

Let's work on this beater I bought.

Ks (OP) replied with this 12 years ago, 11 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #507,700

Here's what all the fuss is about, that shiny new transmission filter might never see the light of day again. Tomorrow I'll do the oil change and then move on to more exciting stuff. I'll get this car into fairly good shape before I beat it to death. The plan is maintenance, repair, and improvement. Hopefully somebody will learn something from this thread or something, I dunno. A transmission fluid change and filter would cost you $125 or more, this cost $35 plus you learn some shit about your car, and you know it gets done right. Any shop would have tried to sell me a new pan, and those things have a starting price of $100. Someone who didn't know better would have spent around $250 getting this simple job done.

Ks !KansasxqvM joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 2 weeks later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #511,445

I changed the oil fora. I wanted to do a walkthrough, but the wind was blowing at 30 miles an hour and it was just not a good time. The only things I wanted to really talk about is chocking the tires, chock both rear tires on both sides. Make sure the brake is on as well, people get crushed by cars all the time because they don't take a minute to be safe. Don't be one of those poor saps.

I know most of you will have your oil changed at a service place, which is cool, but do yourself a huge favor and before you leave the parking lot stop and check your oil. The single time in my life I paid for an oil change they didn't put any oil back in and it blew the motor. It's actually a fairly common occurrence, avoid that shit and take 1 minute to check your oil. Also, definitely get your oil changed at least every 5,000 miles, it is super important to the life of your car.

I wanted to do some stuff about dent repair, touch up painting, gluing, and JB welding, but it's too cold here (20) and none of that shit will set in the cold. So next we'll install a tablet, new radio, amplifier and speakers to bring the beater out of the 90's. Stay tuned.

(Edited 1 minute later.)

Killer Lettuce !!iNo3FkiZx joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 4 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #511,448

Ks !KansasxqvM replied with this 12 years ago, 13 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #511,451

Killer Lettuce !!iNo3FkiZx replied with this 12 years ago, 19 hours later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #511,638

Anonymous G joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 7 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #511,640

Rogi FORGOT HIS DAMN TRIPCODE joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 2 weeks later, 1 month after the original post[^] [v] #513,922

Syntax joined in and replied with this 12 years ago, 4 hours later, 1 month after the original post[^] [v] #513,942

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