25 Cars 4 – Lebaron, Olds

Cars 4 – Lebaron, Olds

I bought a 1981 Chrysler “Lebaron”, blue-grey 4 door sedan with 318cc V8 engine and automatic transmission.  It was a police car, only one year old with many fairly gentle miles; I went to great lengths to “de-police” it.  I removed the identifying town stickers, removed its spotlight and the heavy-duty wiring harness that supplied its lights and siren, etc.  Soon after, Ginny, with our two dogs, was in a rear-end accident caused by a town official; we had our car repaired at an East Greenwich RI body shop owned by a friend’s relative, who besides a new quarter panel and striping added a dark blue vinyl top, covering the hole through the windshield pillar where the spotlight had been.  I removed the complex, engine-choking emissions apparatus, replacing with simpler parts from an older car.  At a junk-yard in Coventry RI, I found and removed, with their wiring, “opera lights”, mirrored visors and a cruise control (very complicated), which I installed; the owner of my neighborhood junk-yard was amazed.  I obtained Chrysler’s authorized 1981 service manual (two book set, expensive, and it got worse every year).

After Ginny’s accident and the rear body rebuild, this car tracked poorly, with the rear driving wheels right of the front ones (I ran over a curb on Post Road in our town, ruining the right rear tire), so a CTI friend dubbed it “the side-winder”.

This car’s engine died one winter; I had the top end de-sludged by a friend’s junk-yard repair shop (much time and cost); the problem (“cottage cheese” on the oil fill cap and dipstick) began to recur, and, much to my chagrin I figured out that it was due to a clogged “vapor recovery” valve (inexpensive repair part from a parts store).

The Chrysler was eventually stripped of its reusable parts (I put the cruise control on a friend’s Dodge Diplomat, which I later bought) and donated to the Kidney Foundation, and was towed away.

Next I bought a 1981 Oldsmobile “98” from a woman in southern RI. This car was a white four-door; with and dark blue cloth interior and automatic transmission; it had a Diesel engine, V8, with 350cc and two large batteries and 100 amp alternator to keep them charged, and a house plug for a block heater to thin the engine oil for easier cranking after cold nights.  This car had all power accessories, including a “moon roof”; the woman called it a “poor man’s Cadillac”; her donation to a police order got a windshield sticker, which got us front row parking at the fair as long as I left it on.  We took it to NH for our youngest daughter’s camp, and found it very economical.

Eventually the car wouldn’t run, though I rebuilt the “Roosa Master” fuel distributor (maybe I was the cause more than the cure); our second son discarded the fender skirts.

I bought another Oldsmobile Diesel, a beige station wagon.  I never used this car, and wound up selling both to one of our sons’ friends, who towed them away.