The doghouse guy is using a beat-up station wagon as a dog coop. Doesn't quite sound anal-retentive to me.

No, no, no! He is using the car as a dog HOUSE! Shucks, everybody knows a "coupe" only has TWO doors!

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

Here you people go! Pictures!

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Properly-gapped new spark plugs at a minimum...

So when is the 3800 Supercharged S2 or 3 going in? That car has a 3.1 not a 3100 right?

I'm keeping the engine original. I'm more of a fuel economy guy than a power guy . As to your 3100 v. 3.1 question, I'm not sure how to answer you. The Valve cover reads "3.1", but the owner's manual repeatedly makes reference to the 3100. What is the difference? Is there one? GM briefly made a 3300 that was basically a downsized 3800 -- it actually was in this car from 1989 to 1993, if my memory serves correctly on the start date. Is this what you are thinking about?

We're putting the car on the road on Monday, after which I'm going to have the wheel balance etc. checked. I just read in the owner's manual that the spark plugs need to be replaced every 30,000. If I buy "longer-life" plugs -- say, 100,000 -- can I ignore the 30,000 mile interval?

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Plugs can be ignored if you really need it (not good of course) but for about $20 and an hour of time every 30k it's not worth it. Plugs do wear out but they often get carbon or oil caked on them from improper burn, oil in chamber, bad afr, etc. and nothing short of changing the or cleaning them will help. So the answer is yes, but I wouldn't recommend it.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

That engine went from the 2.8 to the 3.1 then 3.4. You likely have the 3.1 but don't quote me on it (could have the 3.4). That 60 degree v6 was used in virtually every gm car of the era.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I thought it went 2.8 (1982-1988) and 3.8 (1984-1988) --> 3.3 (1989-1993) --> 3.1 (1994-1996). Of course, that's not counting the many fours or the diesel six.

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Those are two different engines. The 60* V6 is what you've got, which went 2.8>3.1>3.4. They were largely used for FWD chassis, A and X chassis.

The 90* v6, which is essentially a SBC with two cylinders chopped out of it went from 3.3>4.0>4.3. They used this on their larger rwd models, trucks, SUVs (blazer, S10, etc) since they already had good trannies for the SBC.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

My ConsumerGuide 1998 Edition Used Car Book (which goes back to 1988) backs up my timeline. What may be getting you is that the Celebrity never had any of the 90° sixes, going from the 2.8 in 1989 to the 3.1 in 1990 (it was discontinued that year, too).

I'm going to look this up at the library today, as I also thought that the Century came with the 3.4 at some point. ?

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

I think that the 3.4 was used on the next generation of GM front drive mid sized models.

Correct, the celebrity is the same chassis as your car. The later century had the 3.8 I believe but your generation would have the 60 degree as it is their fwd platform. My celebrity had the 2.8

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

You could get this Century with the 3800 V6. Buick had a "sportier" Century (did they call it the "T-Type"?) in which they shoehorned the wider 3800 under the hood. A great car to sell before a spark plug change was due.

Im preety sure it STARTED as the 231 buick (last dubbed as 3800) and then was downsizes for whatever fuel crisis that came along