Sorry, it was dark there. The picture was taken at Hàrrison river, BC, Canada.
My dad bought this Buick in New York, in 1993. The car had 80000 miles on its odometer. The condition appeared to be good to my father. I was not around that time so I could not help my father (who knew nothing about cars) to choose a car. In 1995 My parents drove the car to San Jose, California, where my dad got a job as an electronic engineer. He drove it every day till sepetemer 1998 when we (my parents and I) got a Canadian immigration visa. My parents drove the car from San Jose to Toronto, stayed at our friends' place and picked me up in Toronto airport.
The next morning I took a look at the car. It had 120000 miles on the odometer. The car had definitely been rolled over, the engine's valve mechanism was making a lot of noise, dad said that the noises had been the same from the moment he bought the car. Alternator went off that day. The car new that it was important to pick me up at the airport and after that it could do anything. This was the first problem with the car from the moment my dad bought it. Only collectors went off but the whole alternator had to be replaced because the mechanics did not have a clue what is there, inside alternator and I did not have any place in Toronto to take care of it by myself. After the problem was solved, we drove the car to Vancouver, BC (where we live now). By that time the car had crossed the North American continent 3 times. Here we rented a house with a garage in it where I finally had a place to do some work on car. When we got to Vancouver, I noticed that the battery is going off. When we went for a new battery, I took tools with us (just in case). When we went out of mall with the new battery, the car wouldn't start as it new again that now there is a new battery and the tools in the trunk. I replaced the battery right on the spot. After some time my dad bought Jeep Cherokee and I got the Buick for myself.
I decided to finally take care of the engine. First I opened oil pan. Crankshaft bearings had some visible wear but the crankshaft itself did not. I measured oil clearance with plastigage and it was exceeding the valid range. Then I measured the crankshaft itself and it appeared to be as good as new. This meant that I did not have to take the engine out!!! I replaced the crankshaft bearings. After I closed the oil pan, I opened the valve cover. Most of cams of the camshaft were damaged badly by 6 jammed hydraulic lifters. That was the main source of the unpleasant noise. I replaced the head gasket (taking the head off and installing it back was a hell because the designers probably did not think of somebody who might want to do it one day), lifters, rockers and camshaft, filled the engine with Mobil 1 oil and never heard any bad noise from that engine again. Unfortunately I do not know what the top speed is because the speedometer is only up to 85 MPH and when I once speeded up on hwy 5 BC heading north towards Blue River, the arrow almost hit "0" from behind.
I am planning to get a Volvo 2xx to drive it while I am in Canada (it may be long). When I am back in Moscow I will be driving a Moskvich (Aleko).
Now I travel a lot with the car. I have already been all over British Columbia and Alberta with the Buick.
