[frankenstang57]

I've got a stoopid question for you guys. Some friends and I are planning on running this event this summer; http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/ It looks like alot of, run what you brung for cheap et all... Anyway, I have the chance to pick up a '91 Deville for $50.00. The car is suppose to be a one owner cream-puff that needs a tranny.(yeah right!) Anyway, looking at the field from last year the Caddy should work just fine. They're relatively reliable, able to take a hit, and there are tons of them in the junkyards. My question is this; what kills these pigs? Almost everyone I've seen in the 'yards have no visible damage on them. Is there something common, like the motor or what? I'd hate to go through all the hassle to pull a trans and have it be bad. Any suggestions? Thanx! :thumbup:

 

[Y2K]

The thing that kills them is the cost of repairs.
A bad engine or trans and they are off to the wrecking yard because you can buy another running car like it for less money than the repair job.
Is the '91 DeVille front wheel drive?
I have an '84 Eldorado and it's been a good old car but it's a pain in the arse to work on.
I bought a water pump for it and after looking at the job I decided to have a shop install it.
Took the pros 4.1 hrs to do it,imagine how much work an engine or trans r&r is.

 

[schnitz]

Come on—you've done stupid things all your life. Why stop now?

I wish I could be there for that. That line pretty much sums up all I'm living for....... :thumbup:

LOL!!


In a while, Chet.

 

[dinger]

That looks like a blast! What kills most enduro and demolition cars is heat, keep the tranny and engine cool. Use a good strong trans if you're using an automatic. Tires, looking at the course, you may need quite a few tires. A buddy of mine bought a 91 Caddy like yours for an enduro, it had 2 enduros on it already, made it 10 minutes from the end of the race and ripped the rear end out from something on the track. Had a blast and wants to do it again. Take a shot at it, line up some sponsors, maybe a tranny shop to save you some bucks on that trans, go for it. Dan

 

[Javelin360]

Looking at the web site has sparked my interest in participating in motor sports once again. It looks like a blast and may be safer than the demolition derbys I used to participate in until I took a sever hit in the drivers door.

Time to convince the wife

 

[TailGater]

Sounds like a blast! I had a couple fwd DeVilles, an '86 and a '90 the transmissions seem to be a weak link in these cars, the diff exploded in the '90 and electrical gremlins made me stop driving the '86. both cars made decent power for what they were, I used to enjoy pulling away from the local ricers in the '90 at the odd stoplight. They were never very impressed to get trounced by an old grandpa car. :thumbup:

 

[35WINDOW]

Wouldn't a guy want a rear wheel drive beater for those controlled, power-on, four-wheel drifts into the Tractor Tires?

 

[frankenstang57]

RWD would be fun... but we're stuck with this beater. It turns out the car is an '86, not a '91. Oh well, it turn out it was free!

Story is,it was a guy I work with's brother in law's car. Apparently the trans started to slip for what ever reason so he took it to AAMCO. They tore it apart and threw what was left in the trunk. One of my teammates went with me to pick the car up today. He was in the biz of remanufacturing transmissions a few years back so I feel confident in his advice when it comes to them. He checked out the pile-o-stuff and could find no major point of failure and came to the conclusion AAMCO wanted to sell a trans! Oh well, now for the fun part, putting it back together! Whoohoo, time to send in the entry!

 

[Hippie]

For your purposes the transaxle out of a LeSabre, Bonneville, etc. of the same vintage with a 3.8 will work in your Caddy if that one isn't all there. Final drive ratios are different but not by much. That probably has a 4.1 in it, maybe a 4.5. Before you do ANYTHING else dump 2 bottles of Bar's Stop Leak in it, the Gold Label stuff. These are notorious for coolant leakage because they are a wet sleeve design. This is actually a normal factory GM maintenance procedure for the 4.1, 4.5 and 4.9's.

 

[TailGater]

aside from the transmission, the car looks to be in pretty good shape, something you might find interesting, if its like my '86, is that under those hubcaps the wheels are aluminum so after your done with the car you could take the wheels to the recyclers and get a few bucks for em :thumbup: