92 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser: The Summer Adventure Wagon

I’m pretty sure patgizz did one a while back.  Yeah...here it is:  https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/holy-crap-i-just-bought-the-coolest-car-ever/31954/page1/

that might have some helpful info.

No real progress to report, since I've been busy driving the heck out of it: going to work, ice cream runs, trips to the park, etc.  I'm loving it.  Today was my last day of work at the flooring company (yay) so I celebrated by taking the Cruiser.  It did 195 miles carrying 4 guys and our equipment; handled it like a champ.  It was comfier than the van too

All that stuff without even folding the back seat down. Have I mentioned I love wagons?

Edit: I made This Thread to talk about hot rod engine options but after spending so much time in it this week I think it's lazy nature is growing on me.  I'm almost thinking I'd rather leave it and hot rod something else.

It’s worth noting that this whole thing would never have happened had we not been going to crew for Logdog, who I met through selling a car on the forum over three years ago.

The trip home was uneventful except for a two hour gridlock on the interstate caused by an accident.

Later that evening the wagon sat happily cooling off in my driveway.

Looks like you need a bigger driveway now :)

I look forward to this day all year, vintage races at Waterford Hills Raceway.  I went with my dad, brother, and the kid.  She loved it! The weather was perfect and the drivers put on a good show as always.  We got to take the wagon for touring laps during the worker lunch break and it turns out "just touring laps" are fast laps for the wagon.  The old girl handled it pretty well.  Somehow my dad managed to snap a pic of the wagon by itself on track.

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

I look forward to this day all year, vintage races at Waterford Hills Raceway.  I went with my dad, brother, and the kid.  She loved it! The weather was perfect and the drivers put on a good show as always.  We got to take the wagon for touring laps during the worker lunch break and it turns out "just touring laps" are fast laps for the wagon.  The old girl handled it pretty well.  Somehow my dad managed to snap a pic of the wagon by itself on track.

 

Quoted because this is awesome. How'd the old girl feel? Did you get the tires squealing ?

In reply to Indy-Guy :

It was floaty, heavy, surprisingly composed, and yes, the (awesomely cool) whitewall tires were squeaking.

Yet another update wherein I don’t work on the wagon because I’ve been too busy doing stuff:

We moved, locally. I have a big yard and a garage now, which is nice. I started a new job fixing boat props with a friend of mine and we are temporarily using the Oldsmobile as a delivery wagon so it’s been doing a few hundred miles per week.

We took it to Gingerman this past weekend to join Logdog for Champcar fun. It was a great weekend! Turns out the wagon is perfect for two people camping.

When big thunderstorms came through on Friday night I was glad we decided to skip setting up the tent. Now my wife wants to take it on a cross country wagon-camping trip 

I used some spray adhesive to fix the headliner as it was starting to sag at the windshield and along one of the long side windows. It’s not restoration quality but it will do the job. I also recharged the AC which is good since the weather this week has been 90ish and humid. That’s pretty hot for us northerners.

Besides that, the wagon continues to soldier on. I think once winter arrives it will get parked and then some real work will happen.

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

I look forward to this day all year, vintage races at Waterford Hills Raceway.  I went with my dad, brother, and the kid.  She loved it! The weather was perfect and the drivers put on a good show as always.  We got to take the wagon for touring laps during the worker lunch break and it turns out "just touring laps" are fast laps for the wagon.  The old girl handled it pretty well.  Somehow my dad managed to snap a pic of the wagon by itself on track.

 

This is amazing.

Love those cool old wagons. My uncle had a 94 Roadmaster with woodgrain paneling. Now I'm wanting to buy one, but I've probably bought enough cars this year (6, sold 1, net of 5).

So the wagon needed a place to live for the winter; I just had to do some organizing in the shop.

Before:

After: 

The rallycross prepped Neon/winter beater, our newest addition to the fleet, will keep it company.

That looks like a really nice garage. Quite an improvement over the concrete slab next to the mobile home. 

In reply to Indy-Guy :

Oh yes. There’s a two car garage attached to the house too. It’s nice.

So how many miles does it have now?

Last time I looked it had rolled past 220k. I’ve driven it a few times the past couple weeks as Neon has become a project. Can confirm a b body wagon does good snow skids.

It could use new tires though.

So how's the wagon been? If you can't tell I miss it quite a bit.

Nice wagon, I had been looking for one but did not want to do an engine swap( I have to have an olds engine in my cars). Ended up with a clean 81 custom cruiser diesel( burns gasoline now) and love driving it, except I am not a fan of the 10mpg I am getting out of it. 

In reply to Jordan Rimpela :

Stupid reliable is what it’s been. I’ve been driving it to work all winter when the weather hasn’t been bad. I’ve decided to keep it stock, fix a few more small things, and use it for camping road trips this summer.

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

 and use it for camping road trips this summer.

 

And Lemons Rallys in the fall?

Winter is finally over and there’s nothing like rolling down a two lane road with windows down on a sunny afternoon to remind you why you keep an old car around. The heat is starting to get weak in the wagon and having to use it occasion for commuting over winter was starting to get old.

Yesterday we drove it for date night, dinner and Avengers Endgame (epic, the steak and shrimp burrito as well as the movie.)

The old girl is looking a little dusty. Time for a wash, brake work, tires, and an alignment before we are ready for summer adventures again.

Spring cleanup work day at church. The wagon spent most of the afternoon pretending it was a pickup truck.

It’s ok, the interior was overdue for a good cleaning anyway. That’s on the to-do list for this week, right after I do an oil change on my wife’s car, put the Neon back together (again,) fix the gutters on the shop, etc.

A while back I came close to buying some nobby all terrain tires that popped up on CL. It would probably have looked sweet but in the end I decided I don’t want to do anything that would compromise comfy floating. Preliminary tire shopping is happening now.

I’m just daydreaming.  And maybe I should search the inter webs first.  But how feasible is it to drop a big-block into one of these?  I’m thinking a stockish Vortec 8100 would round one out fairly nicely.

How many versions of the wagon are there ?

Chevy , Olds and Buick ?

Do they all use the same motor and transmission ?

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I’m sure someone else can answer more thoroughly than me since I’m not schooled in GM lore. I know mine has a TBI 350 and I think that was an optional upgrade over a 305. At some point the Buick and (I think) Chevy wagons got the LT1 but the Olds wagon was gone by that point.

Took the long way home, it was nice. Also confirmed the limited slip still works... heh.