auto_editor

Now that summer-ish weather has reached my neck of the continent I've started to catalog some of the "issues" I've found on my 1989 Custom Cruiser (the big, boxy RWD kind).

I present three of them here in the hopes the solutions are easy, quick and cheap, though I'm smart enough to know that they seldom are:



The biggest of them (literally) is the fact that her hood fits perfectly in every direction save where it meets the A-pillar/front fender top corner. I feel that if I try to mess with the hinge bolts or some other adjustment I am more than likely to mess up the fit everywhere else. Short of hammering that corner down, what can be done?




Next up is another hood-related item. There's a strip of trim that runs from the front of the hood (just behind the nose piece where the ornament is located and which, BTW, shows NO blistering for some reason), and out of every piece of trim on this car, this is the only one that's showing signs of degradation. Along its entire length there are little "blisters" across it, with no pattern or indication that they are the result of damage. I've heard of issues with "pot metal" trim on other cars. Is this it? There's no way to "repair" it, I'm sure, I just wanted to know what went on there (and if that bit can be found on similar Olds, as the hoods for all of them seem similar).





The last one (for now) is on the inside. There is a plastic trim piece that is on the interior side of the rear gate's bottom weatherstripping (if you are sitting in the third row it is at the top of the footwell's upper edge beneath where the closed gate sits). It uses these tiny black press-fit plugs to hold it on, and I can't find them anywhere. My B-Body factory manual has no part numbers for them and I've looked at so many trim fasteners from EVERYONE that I'm seeing them in my sleep. If you know where I can find them (or a great substitute) I'd be VERY grateful.





That's it for now. I promised myself that I wouldn't go looking for things to fix as I already had enough to do without that, but you know how it goes...

Allan R

Angie only needs a little TLC.

1. Rear of hood. Get a helper. Open the hood and have the helper keep upward pressure on the the middle. Loosen the 'bottom' nut and just a smidge on the center one. Have your helper push the hood up slightly on the side you are working on. Tighten the lower bolt snugly, then the center one. The hood should have dropped a bit to match the level of the fender. Repeat as needed till it lines up.

2. The hood strip. Not worth fixing. Get a replacement from the boneyard. Needs the hood blanket to be removed so you have access to the mounting studs.

3. Those little press fit fasteners are available from most automotive parts places. Look for blister packs in the 'trim' section of the store. Don't buy from GM unless you Got Money. The fasteners are usually plastic.

Minor problems; all easy to fix. Have fun with them.