Hey all, I'm a Buick newbie who's so new, I don't even have one yet. But I plan to scrape this forum to get all the info I need to see if my "master plan" is even possible. What "master plan"? Simple: - Get a tan 1996 Buick Roadmaster wagon - Convert it to manual transmission (Vette 6 speed?) - Install my empeg indash mp3 player and Alpine headunit along with a ton of other audio gear - And do whatever else is reasonably necessary to get decent traction, decent handling, and 300HP (maybe) So, I wonder, am I in the right place? Do you all even speak to "kids" with such new Buicks as 1996? Is there any info on these newer models stored in the archives of the forum? And is there any info on the non-performance mods such as audio, dashboard modification, electrical, etc? Thanks all, I hope I can find all the info I need so I can go out and get the Buick of my dreams!
Sounds like an ambitious undertaking, but YES, you are in the right place. I don't personally know of anyone that has converted a Roadmonster to a manual, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. I think it would be a really sweet ride once you got it finished. 300 horsepower out of a Roadmonster could probably be done with little more than a cam swap. There's a lot of aftermarket support for those motors, so parts should be plentiful (not cheap, but plentiful). You would do well to check out some of the Impala SS enthusiast boards and see what sort of upgrades those guys are doing, because there would be a lot of ideas there that you could use too. Well, welcome to the board. Don't be afraid to ask questions. - Freed PS- That mpeg unit in the pictures looks very slick. Do I even want to know how much it cost?
i've seen the 6 speed on a chebby caprice wagon. kinda cruddy looking install but was really neat idea. nate
Thanks for the tips. A search of this board gave me tons of great info for purchasing a used Roadmaster and also pointed me to the SS forums. I'll be checking all this out; I'm pretty excited. Freedster: The empeg used to sell for $1400 when it was available back between 1999 and 2002 but they are discontinued now and can only be purchased used. I got mine "new in box" used for $750 in 9/2002, but they sell for about $450 now. The empeg is a pretty quality unit if you have even a slight knack for computers and want TONS of music at your disposal. I currently have 6,500 songs on mine (~32gigabytes) but some people have upwards of 30,000 songs (~160gigabytes) at their fingertips in the dash of their car. The deal is even sweeter because it has cool visualizations, advanced audio controls, flexible playback controls, and for the more knowledgable computer guys it has custom software such as GPS, games, lyrics scrollers, internet accessability, Palm pilot support, and even more usability and audio customizations. The forum has all the information, if you're curious. Back to searching the board for info!
