FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!

[Blicj11]

Thank you sir. Love the result.

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat fans of a certain rascally station wagon,

My local classic car enthusiast friend insists that the first of the year and Superbowl Sunday are excellent times to get your classic out for some exercise.  So this year, I decided to try to find some quieter traffic and visit a recently restored railroad depot.  Sadly the traffic was much heavier than I expected.  However, Biquette and I made it to our destination which had once been a popular steakhouse.  Here is an online article describing the renovation:

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/10/24/walnut-creek-depot-poised-to-go-from-steaks-to-retail-shops/

As hoped, the nice and shiny building made a great backdrop for my trusty wagon:



As always, click on the image for a larger version.  I tried very hard to avoid including anything in the photos that would give away that they were taken in 2020.  Of course there were modern parking meters, handicap parking, and other obstacles to avoid.  Here is a view of the north side of the building:



Yes, you can see a blooming tree in the background, California is definitely staring at a drought.  The reason to avoid all those modern features was to make another stab at digitally aging a photo.  Here is a photo taken at the south side of the building:



I took more care in replicating the aging process using a photo that was taken of my trusty wagon back in 1968 as a reference.  You can view that photo on this webpage:

http://www.canebas.org/Biquette/

Here is my attempt to digitally age the above photo to look like a slide taken in the 1960s:



It is a difficult balance to make the image look old but not degrading it beyond what you will see in images of the period.

Enjoy!!

Cheers, Edouard 

[Blicj11]

Both you and the car appear to be aging well.

[xairbusdriver]

“Aging well...” through the ‘miracle’ of Photoshop!

[elagache]

Dear Blick, X-Air, and WeatherCat fans of aging with style!

Both you and the car appear to be aging well.

Well, . . . . . .  I wish I was aging as well as Biquette!  Of course you can't buy off the shelf a complete suspension, steering and brake systems for us human types.

“Aging well...” through the ‘miracle’ of Photoshop!

Well no.  No Photoshop was involved in making Biquette look as new as she does.  She really does look that nice in person! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCatters who like to stroll down memory lane,

Since we are supposed to be mostly at home, I decided to pull out some old photo albums to see if I could find some additional photos of our trusty wagon.  The first album I found included this photo taken according to the caption between December 1977 and January 1978:



On the right is Mom, Dad, and my sister are standing next to what I believe to be a Hobbie 18 catamaran.  You can see the back of Biquette on the left.  The dark patch on the right side of the bumper is a bumper sticker that read "I'd rather be sailing."  Eventually Biquette would get catamaran towing duties.  We bought an second-hand Hobbie 16 that we were bold enough to sail in San Francisco bay!

A bit of nostalgic distraction to make our present circumstances a bit more tolerable!

Cheers, Edouard 

[Blicj11]

Thanks for the memory trip. Stay safe - at home.

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat fans of a certain rascally station wagon,

Both wagon and owner are not particularly fond of heat.  As a result, Biquette doesn't get out as much in the summertime, even if she now has air conditioning.  Still, I thought it was work making a quick outing to capture the first scenes of summer in these parts of California.  Alas, there is a certain uniformity to the scenery.  Here is a first example:



You can see what has been the typical strategy to cope with wild fires.  In the past, cutting down the weeds to some specified distance from structures was considered adequate.  This photo was taken on a church parking lot and apparently it was considered acceptable to protect the nearby structures.  Photo #2 shows a newer and more aggressive approach:



This hillside is a PG&E right of way which has some high voltage power towers that can be seen in the background.  It is the failure of a power line on a structure like this that started the Camp fire.  As a result, PG&E has followed the more extreme CAL FIRE guidelines  All the grass has been cut down the hillside and all the lower branches on the trees cut.  This is to deprive any fire that starts sufficient fuel to do a lot of damage.

I hope it is effective in fighting fires.  Alas, not exactly the most appealing scenery at the start of what may be a very long and difficult wild fire season.

Oh well, . . . . . Edouard

[Blicj11]

The main thing is the Buick looks great!

[BikerGeek]

New guy here! Just spent some well invested time reading this thread. What a great wagon and story!

[elagache]

Dear BikerGeek and WeatherCat automotive enthusiasts,

New guy here! Just spent some well invested time reading this thread. What a great wagon and story!

Thanks so much for your kind words!   

I suppose you were also aware of Biquette's website but here it is for completeness:

http://www.canebas.org/Biquette/

Unfortunately, my trusty wagon is still suffering a bit from all the changes done to her and the work that still needs to be finished.  Every winter I hope to have her headliner replaced and the area between the roof and the headliner insulated with the best thermal product that can be bought for automotive use.  Of course this winter it didn't happen once more.  As a result, the cabin warms up horribly because a station wagon has so much roof surface area exposed to the solar radiation.  At the moment she may be also suffering from some issues with her electronic fuel injection system.   So I have some troubleshooting to do and need to find some cooler weather in which to do it!

Thanks again!

Cheers, Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat faithful,

Alas, my trusty wagon has been suffering from some strange throttle "stuttering" problem since spring. Since the electronic fuel injection system has a logging feature, I decided to make a run with my venerable 2009 MacBook Pro to see if I could find evidence of the cause.  This drive allowed me to confirm a hunch I've had for a long time and WeatherCat was the key to the confirmation.  Thanks to WeatherCat, I have this graph of the ambient air temperature during the drive:



It was an unusually cool day with the air temperatures not exceeding 74˚ F the entire drive.

However, Biquette's throttle body has a sensor measuring the temperature entering from the air filter.  That shows something very different!



You can click on the graph to get a larger image.  What you can see is as the drive continued the temperature at the throttle body climbed well above the ambient air temperature.  This isn't a big surprise.  Biquette has one of those open style air filter holders:



These are very popular, but they force the engine to pull air that has been already pulled past the radiator and over the heads.  As a result, the air entering the engine was over 30˚ warmer than the ambient air.  That's fine on a cool day like this, but imagine touring Route-66 with the air temperatures closer 100˚ F.  Asking your engine to ingest air at 130˚ is definitely increasing the risk of premature detonation.  Since I'm still hoping to haul a heavy vintage travel trailer with Biquette, I think I have no choice but to come up with some sort of cold air intake one of these days.

I had suspected as much, but now I have definitive proof thanks to WeatherCat!  Thanks Stu!!

Cheers, Edouard 

P.S. I did find an alternative hypothesis for the stuttering problem.  When I started the engine the voltage strangely remained low.



Looks to me like the alternator has a faulty voltage regulator. 

[Blicj11]

It's one thing after another. But that engine sure looks cool when the bonnet is popped. Thanks for the upkeep (not only on the Buick, but on this fascinating thread).

[xairbusdriver]

I believe you have "air conditioning" in that beast. Obviously, you need some duct work so the intake cam get access to that cool, 'conditioned' inside air! After all, what is more important, your comfort or the beautiful vehicle?!

[elagache]

Dear Blick, X-Air, and WeatherCat automotive enthusiasts . . .

It's one thing after another. . . . . .

Unfortunately, that is the case.  I have been scheming on this problem for a while, but unfortunately, the electronic fuel injection replacement for the carburetor is much taller than its mechanical equivalent.  This particular electronic fuel injection system is now basically obsolete, has some serious annoyances, and the company has all but gone out of business.  However, changing the system is a huge hassle because the tuning parameters cannot be easily moved from one system to another.  It is a bit more misery than I'm ready to take on at the moment.

I believe you have "air conditioning" in that beast. . . . . .

Uh, yes! . . . . . . Alas, it appears that the evaporator unit might have a leak on behind dash.  Sadly returning us to . . . . . .

It's one thing after another. . . . . .

Cheers, Edouard