I own a 1985 Chevy Chevette that I bought five years ago that I've pretty much gone through the same experience with. While it was cosmetically OK when I bought it and seemed mechanically sound, it had sat in a garage for several years prior and once I began driving it regularly it began showing me its issues. I've managed to keep the car on the road and I still drive it to this day in spite of several breakdowns and countless repairs. That car has challenged every aspect of my good sense, judgment, and even my manhood...most guys would have either just cut their losses and junked it or sold it off out of frustration, but I never gave up on it even though it always seemed to defy my every attempt to fix it. I know that car bumper to bumper...every vacuum line, every hose, every component...and I have spare parts on hand for whatever it might need in the future. When I drive it, I have pride in it, because I am the reason ... the ONLY reason ... the car still runs and drives and isn't rotting away somewhere in a field or a junkyard. It might not be worth much to someone else but to me it's almost like a beloved pet that I rescued from a shelter. Priceless.
I have the same feeling with my, funnily enough '85, Pontiac Fiero. It's body is multi-colored with paint falling off, and headlights are stuck up. But, it's mine, and I love that little car. I've also always wanted a chevette too, either that or a chevy sprint...
Well said, nice thought for sure. My father was for several decades an auto body refinisher at different auto body shops in the S.F. Bay Area. He got his start in the Central Valley working for a concern that manufactured vending machines known as 'Vendalators' best as I can spell correctly. One day as my father, Robbie or Joe depending on the shop and year, "Robbie" as he was mostly known, had been welding the vending machines, as that was what he was hired to do. Then when the guy who was to put a spray finish on the machine called out sick, my dad stepped up to the plate, God Bless him. The manager of the shop asked my father if he felt like taking over the paint shop and operate the spray gun which my father had no experience in doing. My father said, '...sure thing boss.' That positive attitude gave my dad another skill set that would become his work for the rest of his days. There were more opportunities in the Bay Area than in the farm belt of the San Joaquin Valley so we picked up stakes and moved to San Pablo just north of Berkely California when I was but a wee lad of 4 or 5 years of age. So Kevin, I doubt you'll find this buried in the Comments as a reply, but I honor your father and his knowledge and he reminds me so very much of my father. My dad developed several health issues over time, likely due to the toxic atmosphere in a paint shop and passed at too young an age, he was only 60 years old when prostrate cancer took him along with high blood pressure that ultimately was his undoing when he suffered a stroke induced from a blown artery in his brain.
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My uncle had a Cutlass with the diesel engine. He was a frugal man. He had an auxiliary fuel tank installed in the trunk. Since he lived in San Diego, he would drive south to Tijuana, Mexico, for cheaper diesel fuel. The range he got out of that much fuel was quite remarkable. To say he was upset when the engine went bad would be an understatement. 😅
my dad had a cutlass with a diesel when he was growing up and i want to find one but they really don't exist anymore or you find them but people think they are made of gold
I had a diesel Cutlass. I bought it sight-unseen and it was infested with tiny little ants from rural Oklahoma. I once drove to Des Moines from Denver on about twenty bucks plus whatever fuel was in it. I was never happier than the day I got rid of it despite its stellar highway mileage. I was more than willing to bear the increased price to not drive it. One of the worst cars I ever had.
With only two belts on your water pump pulley, the pulley shaft was probably deflected enough towards the alternator side that either: A) The bearings in the water pump were overloaded on that side, or B) The pulley twisted over enough to cause a belt misalignment. Props for sticking with it and figuring out how to fix it!
I was looking for that, I believe that middle pulley might have loose mounts just a tad, but with belts tensioned, It's just enough to scrape. When you add more belts, they app tension in different direction, so it basically cancels, at least a bit. It makes sense as metal did expand from heat → mounts got just a bit looser.
I know this is a old video but I just saw it. The problem is it has the wrong alternator belt. GM never made a engine where the alternator was powered only by the water pump. The belt should go around the crank pulley, water pump and alternator.
The whole time I was watching, I was thinking it was the water pump that was bad, since it was an obvious return. But videos like this remind me I don't know everything.
My Grandma had a Buick. It was broke down all the time. My grandpa, master mechanic, rebuilt the entire car and it still did not run. He finally gave up, parked it tarped it, and bought Chevy. Enjoyed watching you go through the same struggle, brought back good memories. Thanks Kevin 🤘🏻
You are doing it cause it's frickin cool. By the way, the pulleys on those wore horribly and even new belts would squeel. I had an 81 olds cutlass cruiser wagon. Belts always made noise. Just s thought.
Yeah my moms 2017 escape has very uncomfortable seats, especially the backs, the older they are they are much more comfy but they also kinda seem to wear out faster but who cares
Couldn't agree more with the 'save them while we still can' sentiment. Every once in awhile I'd see a car like this in the wild when I was a kid, but they are really starting to disappear now.
@@WCM1945 my friends mother had one when I was in grade school. The clear coat had failed in an interesting pattern and you could always tell who's car it was from a distance. I continued to see it occasionally even years later.
I like how nobody EVER questioned exactly *why* that water pump was returned. My guess is that the alternator belt puts just enough downward load on the water pump for the bearing in the pump to scream and heat up.
@@woofer2121 bet its more that engineers dont really tend to think things over as well as they should/could, i know many who.... need a practical engineer or even just somebody whos mechanically/tech inclined working with them... to notice problems, and help solve them even... doubt it was intent vs incometence..halons razor... (look it up if you dont know what it is)
I was working at a chevy dealer when the converted olds engine came out, this was in a rural area and rural people loved their big GM cars, so getting 30 mpg as opposed to 14 was a good deal, this was during another one of those gas price hikes, also diesel was cheaper by the gallon than gas, like quite a bit less, most people I knew that had them had no trouble with them, hope you get lots of years of use out of old blue
It probably made the farmers feel right at home....if you close your eyes, you'd swear it said Massey Ferguson on the side. Sounds just like a tractor.
There's so many 1970-82 Corvettes, 1965-69 Mustangs, 1968-72 Chevy/GMC trucks around. Its not as fun as the odd ball classics that have disappeared. Its really not. Kevin is nice.
Hi Kevin, I had a 1981 oldsmobile that had the same belt squeal issue and it turned out to be the pulleys on the crank. Apparently the old v belt style would wear the sides of the v out to the point where the belts would go too deep into the groove and bottom out causing loss of grip. I relaced those pulleys and it fixed the problem completely.
I use a mechanic's stethoscope to figure out where a sound is coming from. It's like a doctor's stethoscope but instead of a round disk thing, it has a 2ft metal probe. You touch the end of the probe to something that you think is squealing and it conducts the sound from whatever it is touching, not everything around it. Super useful.
I really love this thing, sometimes the odd and crappy stuff deserves a little love and attention simply for surviving for this long! This thing would be great to keep aroun for beer/caseys runs and loaning out to people
I'm sure you don't really want to hear this, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching you fight that car. It really cleaned up well also, and ended up being a bit of a looker with that deep blue paint. I'm definatly more engaged when you go passed "well, it's running. (end of video)". Getting it clean and shined really completes the viewing experience for me. Well done :)
This is the epitome of junkyard digs - giving some love to a forgotten car. Glad your content has stayed the same with the new shop and only gotten better. Respect.
Cars in the U.S. weren't required to have rear shoulder belts until 1990. And that engine is in desperate need of a new set of injectors -- or at least having them cleaned and tested by a diesel mechanic.
@@cody3300 I believe there is a big difference between the two: diesels do not have spark plugs, require more frequent oil changes, as well as other differences I'm not totally familiar with.
Back in the day, we just used a bar of soap to stop belts from squealing. Just hold to the underside of the belt and the car does the rest. Worked every time.
It’s funny. When you guys cleaned the dash and it became blue it reminded me of a time as a kid. When I was younger, my dad bought me a pig and I always thought it was black for a month until I gave it a bath and it turned out it was a white pig lol 😂
Or Kev's dad gets his own "Auto Body tips time" on Kev's channel It would bring some diversity Just a thought. Would work if Kev's dad did not want a channel.
Your dad is the ultimate explainer. His temperament (at least on camera) is like an instructor. If he was my dad I think I could be a much better mechanic or auto body guy.
this is the automotive equivalent of one of those videos where they find a decrepit almost dead dog, then nurse it back to life and at the end it's clearly happier but you can still see how traumatized it is deep inside.
Great to see how nicely it clraned up. That paint checking was pretty common in GMs of the era. I had an 84 Regal T-Type that did the same on the hood. Enjoy the car. You brought a rare survivor back to life. Cheers!
The reason the hood looks like that is because back in the vintage of that car GM was still using lacquer and the lacquer with micro crack and then when they painted over it it just accentuated it so the cracks or even deeper the only way to get rid of microcracking is to strip the paint and start over and apparently they just painted over it
Hey Kevin, I really do like how you don't take the easy way out and just give up on it. You keep going and trying things, even showing us your frustration from time to time. Good stuff.
Good job on bringing this old thing back to life. I find it beautiful. The interior vintage trims, the "wood" and most importantly, those super comfy seats...
Love the vid. Would love to keep seeing this one around. I like the idea of a revival that becomes a daily driver, and the fixes required along the way. Especially on something as unique as a Buick diesel.
i think the only thing I like more than the revival videos is getting the revivals back on the road. I love the tips @ 37:45. For some like me with no mechanical skills these videos are gold!
this was your most challenging project. I never seen you so frustrated and I sure in hell don't blame you. Yes belt dressing can work miracles. that is an old timers treatment.
I'm almost finished after a year of Resto Mod'ing an 85' El Camino Choo Choo Custom. G-body's deserve to be revived! What a cool / comfortable car. Just slap a new engine in it and you are good to go.
There is always an upside..., Out of all the junk you revived and drove in the past, The JLOA( Junk Lovers Of America) has rated this junk as being up there as one of the best pieces of junk you drove in a while.
I have to ask, my friend from Sweden, Why?!? Why this era? I mean, the heart wants what it wants and I am not judging you - I'm just wondering. Because this era is probably not the *most* popular among fans of US cars.
@@wes11bravo Well for me it is because being from eastern europe the 70s and 80s were the decades when most people started buying cars, before that barely anyone even knew how to drive let alone own a car. And I was always interested what americans drove during that same time period. I also mostly drive cars from the 1980s so there's also that.
Wes Harris well because I love them. Simple as that. I like the styling of them/the interiors and feel of them. Way way more interesting than all the modern cars on the road. They aren't as common to see on the road which is nice because I wanna be me and not like everyone else. You guys from "over there" complain over that all these cars are shitty and none should be allowed to be left and if someone likes it they get hate (not talking about you but there are people like that) but there is just such a nice feel to get in and drive one of those cars. The ride/the quietness/the smoothness etc is just soo nice that you would not find on our European cars of the era or modern cars especially. Besides they are a little cheaper than say a 50s 60s vehicle that usually is 10 000 dollars or more. (A bit too much to buy and daily drive for a 19 year old) so for example then I can buy something from the 80/90s for the third of that. And they are great daily drivers. Not too old and not to new. My 1992 Buick century is perfect. Reliable and goes through the snow perfect. (It's just that I want something a little cooler 😂) Hope this explains a little and then you understand my part of this 😁 there is quite a lot good looking malaise era cars
It's a long story but Kevin is right for continuity on your battery. I had a 1990 Jetta and I replaced a starter, alternator, and radiator (which was a stupid mistake and I ended up blasting a hole in it when I replaced something.) All because I had bad battery terminals. Check your terminals and connections before getting a battery.
Had a 84 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (maroon in color ) in this body style, it was a great family car and excellent for vacations as a family. On my Olds the Power Steering Pump made squeaky noise, needed a replacement. Cotton rags would work better. Yea ! Mook & Angus & Kevin !
Thanks for sticking with it and not giving up on that car I think it's neat to actually see a car like that get restored and be driven around though they may not be necessarily reliable they're still kind of neat
man that baby is BEAUTIFUL!! I don't care what anyone says I would drive a car like that or older anytime anywhere, let alone find a dead one and revive it
One thing to check if you have a chronic belt squeak is the pulley alignment. Usually you can do it with a precision straight edge that is long enough but there is specialized equipment also. Some brackets for accessories are not that great and there can be part variations that can cause pulley alignment issues.
I'd totally daily drive this lump, not a shadow of doubt. Also, guessing from it's reliance on glow plugs to start that it's an IDI design. That being the case, it could be an ideal candidate for running on vegetable oil. (DI can also run just fine on it, but change the oil even more often.)
@@user-pn1ti9il5q Yep, good stuff. There's a surprising amount of older diesel rigs that are DI here in the UK. Most of them making similar power to this from sub-3 litre displacement too, but sounding nothing like as good/pissing in Greta's cereal way less than a nice V8, sadly
That's one beautiful century limited diesel. I remember when my mom used to have a Buick regal estate diesel wagon back in the day. Stay safe & take care.
The noise didn't stop when you pulled the alternator belt off it just got quieter. Go back and listen with headphones again when you fire the engine before you spin things with the drill. The noise is still present it's just better. And you can hear the power steering pump squeal when you spin it with the drill.
The squeal on the power steering bump was the belt hitting the fans of the alternator. I cut out about 30 other attempts of fixing this, I never found the true cause, But rather an acceptable Band-Aid
I've been watching this over three days, willing the Buick to live! Lots of people would no doubt say that it was a pile of junk, but as always, it's in the eye of the beholder. I like it!
Awesome video of an awesome project!!! I know things got a bit frustrating but, in the end, it was totally worth it. This is such a rare, unique car. I love it! Nice to see Junkyard Monk in this video too! I thoroughly enjoyed watching this!👍🏻
Though it fought you tooth and nail, this series was awesome. Especially since I'm going to be putting my family's 89' Mercury wagon back on the road, it's definitely nice to know that the oldest truth still remains "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
Let me know when you want to unload it. Maybe I should finish watching the video first though 🤔. That blue interior is hard to find these days, my Grandma had a new silver 1980 Century with the blue interior when I was in kindergarten. Had like the 4.3 V6 or something like that. Brings back memories.
I totally sympathize with you and the squeaking. I have a 2006 GTO that developed a squeal to end all squeals. I changed all the pulleys. The car had only 29,000 miles. Squealed worse...changed the belts with "off brand" belts...quiet...bliss....for only a few hundred miles, then it started chirping and then squealing like 1000 stuck mice. I got belt dressing...it helped...for a few seconds. I bought more pulleys and finally Gates belts. I cleaned the crank pulley prior to all this. I started the car....silence....ahhhhh.....the key to this is, if you have an older low mile car stored in a garage in the Arizona desert, replace the belts with factory belts. 4 years later, at 32,000 miles, still silent.
Chirping belts? Use some comet cleanser (powder) sprinkle it lightly on running belts and the squeaky goes away! Careful though the fan will sling it EVERYWHERE so go sparingly
I know this probably won’t get read because it’s a yea later but whatevs! I love angus! He had a great personality and is obviously very knowledgeable. Also him and Kevin have a great light hearted dynamic!
This has tp be the best video i have ever seen. The struggle was real, the people were expressing real, the car was real. Oh, please post the electrical video someday please! I know nothing about cars, but watching your videos Kevin, I feel like i can survive the apocalypse one extra day! lol
Junkyard Digs just jam it in there. It'll be fine. Also try and get it in between the fins on the alternator 😉😉 joking aside great video and would love to see more of these 70s/80/ early 90s American land yachts. My favorite cars. I daily drive a 92 Buick century. Greetings from Sweden
DaBossk some are actually more common than others. There is only 4 1992 centuries in the country but roadmaster wagons is quite more common. Same with park avenues of that era. And then the caprices could be found too fairly easy. 😁 we have quite a lot of American cars "over here"
I had a 1971 HQ GTS Holden Monaro Coupe (Factory 350 Chev SB) back when I was 20... It developed a “Chirping” under the bonnet & drove me and my mates crazy, trying to work out what it was. The motor was built, so trying to pin point the source of the squeak was difficult. Tried belts etc, changed out the alternator as well. It ended up being a dry shaft in the twin point Mallory dizzy... So frustrating! A subscriber from Tasmania, Australia. Keep up the great work. Love your videos.
