2008 Craftsman LT 1500 - Marooned on Facebook Marketplace Island

I bought this 38-inch Craftsman lawn tractor, which I think is from model-year 2008, off Facebook Marketplace a couple of years ago for next to nothing. I bank rolled what I got for the even older Cub Cadet I had bought off Craigslist in 2017 into it too. So, I had a functional tractor with a bagger for a fraction for what these go for new these days. Go, me! Best is, it has given me little trouble in the three summers I've had it. That was until I rode it over the cast iron water meter in my front yard with the blades engaged several weeks ago. 

I've always been careful going over this thing but that day I guess I clonked it just right. Or wrong. Due to a high water table in our sub-division, our lawn has been slowly sinking, and our water meter now sticks up like a massive pimple. The day I rode over it, a "CLANK" rang out so loud every dog, cat and bearded dragon on our block ran for cover. 

I hit it so hard the engine stalled but bless its air-cooled heart, it started right back up. Problem was the stress of the blades hitting the water meter jammed the engine snapping the deck belt for the blades in two. 

How hard could it be to get a new belt? Well, Craftsman didn't make many tractors with 38-inch decks, and the parts and serial numbers were as hard to decipher as hieroglyphics. Folks at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, Tractor Supply and Menards were little help. They meant well, but even the ones who knew what a "PTO" switch was were as clueless as I was. 

I bought a belt at Menards labeled for a 38-inch deck, but I struggled like hell to get it on. I ultimately was able to pry it on with a screwdriver, but it was so tight, the engine wouldn't crank. I popped it off and it turned over. Whew. I thought I somehow seized the sucker; stranger things have happened. Obviously, I needed a belt with a larger circumference. I know, I know. Measure the old one. Well, I would have, but idiot over here threw it out the day it broke.  

Half-a-dozen belts later, some too small, some too big, I found one at Lowes I felt fit snug enough yet had enough slack that the engine would crank with the blades not engaged. Wouldn't you know it, though? When I went to start the engine, the battery was dead; someone (me) had left the key in "lights on" mode and although the bulbs are burned out, there's still a draw on the battery. Strangely, it was so dead, my Harbor Freight juicer couldn't charge it. Odd. AutoZone tested it, it was fine, and they charged it for me. 

Got back home, plopped the fully charged battery in, hooked it up, jumped on my rig and all I got was a "thunk-thunk", and...oblivion. The. Ferk. A couple of YouTube videos helped me deduce it was either my starter was fried or the starter solenoid was toast. Again, the battery tested fine, and it was fully charged. 

I pulled the starter and had AutoZone test it and it worked fine. Must be the solenoid, right?  I picked up a new one at Home Depot for $15. 

Semi-decent YouTube videos I found made it seem as though replacing the solenoid, which is a switch that sends battery voltage to the starter after you turn the ignition key to on, is a snap. Naturally, that wasn't the case on my Craftsman as it's buried under the seat behind the battery tray, not conveniently next to the starter like it is on tractors in the YouTube videos. 

I won't bore you with the details but know just finding this little SOB let alone figure out how to get it out and back in was an f-bomb filled, wrench throwing, knuckle scraping afternoon. In fact, one of the toughest "DIY's" I've ever done; and I've rebuilt cars, repaired large and small appliances, remodeled bathrooms and kitchens and removed hornets' nests by hand. I like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain. gum and coffee too. 

I did get it in, eventually, and then, good grief, the old "thunk-thunk" was back. No go. Growing increasingly despondent, because at this point, what could possibly be the problem, I ordered a new starter off Amazon although the old one tested fine at AutoZone. 

Holy smokes, that didn't work either! "Thunk-thunk". I was at a standstill marooned on Facebook Marketplace Island. 

My salvation was a Reddit thread I found. There were multiple threads of people going through what I was going through where their tractors, regardless of brand, wouldn't start despite new starters and solenoids installed; some with new ignition switches. All of them said their issue was a bad battery. Couldn't be my problem, right? Mine was only two-years old and my friends at AutoZone said it was good. They couldn't be wrong, could they?

Curious, I bought a battery at Walmart for $32 and the wonderful kid behind the counter told me some smaller tractor batteries, some just a year old let alone two-years old like mine, are susceptible to cell damage from heat, cold and over-charging. Motorcycle batteries, which are even smaller, have the same problems. "Cells" go bad on them much quicker than cells on car batteries do. 

I dropped the new battery in, sprayed some starter fluid in the carburetor to make things move along as quickly as possible and...old blue fired up in the blink of an eye. Yes. Finally! 

Frankly, I don't know what the heck happened. Seemed the problem was a bad battery like that Reddit threads alluded to, but I have questions I'll never get answered. Was the battery failing or did AutoZone  damage it by over-charging it? In fairness, before all this, sometimes I'd got that "thunk-thunk" when I went to start it, but after a couple of thunks, the engine would crank. I don't get that now so maybe the solenoid was going and the stress of the too-tight belt from Menards pushed it over the edge? Then, what happened to the battery? Again, I'll never know. I packed the new starter up and returned it. 

Once I got my tractor back online, I blasted through the thick blanket of leaves on my property mulching them down into a neat pile on my tree lawn for the city to suck up. One thing, though, the new deck belt pops off when I disengage the blades; better that than binding the engine up. I don't know if there's a problem with the deck or the belt is too big. It's not the end of the world but I will try a smaller belt next weekend. Not one small enough to high jack the engine, of course. 

My wife marvels how I have to learn things the hard way all the time; our younger son is much the same way. What did I learn from this saga? First off, lots about how lawn tractors work but more importantly, I ain't never gonna mow over that damn water meter again. 

1984 Chevrolet Caprice Coupe - Winter Storage

 

Unless you get a sweetheart deal from a friend, relative or some kind heart who just needs a few extra sheckles, vehicle storage is expensive. And the owner of this 1984 Chevrolet Caprice Landau coupe is dipping their bumper into the market to see if they can heave-hoe it rather than sign a contract for winter accommodations. With an asking price of $14,500, they'd better get their trickle charger ready because this one's going to winter hibernation right where you see it at some shed in Elyria, Ohio. 

What price would this move at? Half that, maybe? Hard to say. Rare and unique as these are, they aren't sought by collectors. Looks like someone dumped a buck or two too many into it and is looking to recoup their losses. I love this thing but I ain't payin' no 15-g's for it. Especially as hacked up as it is. 

Poster of the ad claims the AC's been rebuilt and is "blowing snowballs", that wasn't cheap to do. Curiously, the dash has been "upgraded" to a Dakota Digital Dash setup, Summit has these for like $1,300 (good grief). 

It has a new "thick" radiator and the engine's had some work done to it although, most likely, this is not the original till it was born with. Details are scarce on it other than it has headers, an Edelbrock intake and a four-barrel carburetor. Transmission? No details on that either, most likely a 200R4. 

I'd guess this car came out of the factory with the "LG4", four-barrel, Chevrolet 305-cu. in. V-8. By '84, whomever did the modifications in the engine room would have had to deal with the finicky, "Computer Command Control". Mess with that or toss it altogether and you can get the car to run; you just won't have any gauges on the dash. Hence, I'd have to imagine, the pricey Dakota Digital Dash. 

This car is part of GM's 1977 downsizing of their full-size lineup. The big boys got a fairly substantial styling update for 1980, the Chevrolet Impala and Caprice coupes in particular as some clear-headed designer had the good sense to ditch the funky, "hot bent" backlight for a more conventional and formal look.

Chevrolet sold a Caprice coupe through 1987, these "box" or "square body" Chevrolet's made it through to 1990. 

1982 Cadillac Sedan deVille - Summer of '84

There's no better time machine than an old car. This 1982 Cadillac Sedan deVille popped up at the transmission shop next to my office this week and just like that, it was the Summer of 1984 all over again. 

That summer my parents were flush with cash from stock options they didn't know they had until they were notified they had to liquidate them or risk losing them.  Skinflints they usually were and my father facing retirement in less than five years, imagine my surprise when my mother, who didn't drive or work, told my father to use the money to buy another Cadillac. 

Her first Cadillac, bought in the summer of 1978, was a sinister dark blue on black, 1972 Sedan deVille, that was, and I kid you not, a three-miles-per-gallon, shuddering, underpowered, charmless, unreliable, constantly breaking-down shit show. Again, my mother didn't drive but she had "her Cadillac" and she was not happy my father replaced it in the winer of 1982 with a little, V-6 powered, Buick Century. Cash in hand, the time had come. Momma wanted Daddy to be driving another Caddy. 

She found a 1982 Sedan deVille for sale at the big Cadillac dealership in Freeport and with my father at work and my being on break from college, she commandeered me to take her to the dealership to kick its tires. 

At the dealership, she swooned over the gleaming maroon on maroon four-wheeled barge of pretension and insisted we go for a test drive. She sat in the back like a princess; I was her chauffeur. Our salesman rode shotgun. 

I thought the styling update for 1980 on the "class-of-1977" downsized Cadillac's handsome enough, but by 1984, Cadillac's "HT4100" V-8 engine had a dubious reputation for head gasket, camshaft, oil pump and distributor issues. On top of that, making just 125-bhp and 190 ft-lbs, tasked with moving a two-ton plus automobile, "HT" powered Cadillac's were notoriously slow. I couldn't wait to drive it. 

Out on traffic-clogged Merrick Road, the big Caddy lived up to its bad reputation. I hit the gas, and it felt as if the parking brake was on; it wasn't. Granted, slow and sluggish cars were nothing new back then, but that thing made my 1975 Chrysler Cordoba feel like a rocket sled. 

The steering was steering in the loosest sense of the word. You turned the oversized wheel, and the car went in that general direction. Eventually. The "play" in it was comical. Brakes were good if a bit touchy, the air conditioning blew frosty cold like mom liked it, the stereo with a cassette deck sounded pretty good for a factory unit. It didn't rattle as much as the 1972 Cadillac did as well. The velour-ish seats gave the car an extra level of cushiness. I looked in the rearview mirror at my mother who was sprawled out on the back seat, and smiling ear to ear. "Looks like we've found our car!", she said. I was mortified. 

Now, typically, my mother wasn't the kind of person who took kindly to things she didn't want to hear, but I felt it my duty to speak my mind otherwise I knew I couldn't live with myself. "Ma," I said, "this car is horrible."  Our salesman went bug-eyed, especially after my mother had all but bought the car. I couldn't blame him. I mean, what could some 20-year-old punk-ass kid know about a Cadillac? Well, don't judge an owner's manual by its cover, son. He had no idea what he was dealing with. 

Back at the dealership I stood my ground. My mother could tell I was not happy and to my surprise, she acquiesced. For a split-second I thought I could get her off the notion of buying a Cadillac but there was no dissuading her. It was then she spotted two black, 1979 Cadillac's in the back of the lot, a black on silver Coupe deVille, the other a black on red Sedan deVille. I told her I had heard good if not great things about pre-1980 Cadillac's and as we walked towards them, I said if it was up to me, I'd look at the Coupe. "Well,", she said, "it's not up to you. Let's look at the four-door." 

I test drove that '79 and thought it far from great but better than the '82; it at least at some modicum of "pickup". The color contrast of the black exterior on the retina searing red leather seemed opulent. Thing was, it was more than $1,500 more than the '82 and it had more mileage on it. I pressed our salesman on why that was and he shrugged his shoulders. "People like the older cars with the three-sixty-eight engine", he said. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I corrected him saying as gently as I could, "the three-sixty-eight came out in 1980, this car has the four-twenty-five". He said nothing turning his attention to my mother. 

Mom left a deposit on that '79 telling our salesman my father would want to see it before we finalized the deal. I made one last ditch effort to talk her into a far less expensive Chevrolet Caprice, Olds 98 or Buick Electra but nothing doing. "They're not Cadillac's. Cadillac's are special", she insisted. And that was that. 

Cadillac's were in fact special when my parents, who were children of The Great Depression, were young. By the summer of 1984 though, that yacht had long sank. Sad thing was, for Cadillac, things would get even worse as the '80's dragged on and melted into the '90's and beyond. Incidentally, my father drove that '79 Cadillac into the ground selling it for scrap in the summer of 1991 for fifty-bucks. 

My mother passed away in 1993, her hearse was a converted Buick Electra Estate Wagon. 

1973 Pontiac Grand Am - A Four Door for Us Coupe Guys

In my opinion, General Motors didn't introduce anything remotely as cool looking as the Pontiac Grand Am after 1973. This '73 Gran Am sedan popped up on Facebook Marketplace recently for sale near my triple-wide west of Cleveland, Ohio. Asking price was $8,000. Don't spit up your morning Metamucil. 

I'm not a sedan girl but this is a four-door a dyed-in-the-wool coupe lover could get their arms around. Bucket seats and a console on a 1973 Pontiac sedan? Giddy up! A four-speed manual was offered but they're rare - especially on the sedans. I want to marry that steering wheel and while there's no shortage of cheapie plastic baubles and bits on this interior, that's real wood trim on the dash and console. Imagine that.

The Gran Am coupes were the lookers; no wagon or convertible was offered. Pontiac sculptors did their best to keep as much of the coupe ethos intact with the four-door versions. 

I think they succeeded for the most part although, as with all of GM's A-body four-door sedans and wagons of this vintage, the back seat was a cozy affair. This despite the A-body four-door sedans and wagons were built on a 116-inch-long wheelbase whereas the coupes were on 112-inch wheelbases. So, if you think things are tight back here, imagine shoehorning into the back seat of a Grand Am coupe. 

'73 Grand Am's were powered by either Pontiac's 400-cubic inch V-8, in 170-horsepower, two-barrel guise or with four-barrel carburetor making 185-horsepower. There was also a four-barrel, Pontiac 455 making 250-horsepower on the option list but those are rare; I've never seen one. Brochures claim Pontiac's "Super Duty" 455 was available, even with a four-speed manual; legend has it there may have been one of those built. Our Marketplace gem here has an aftermarket four-barrel on its 400 engine; no idea if this a 2- or 4-bbl car from the factory. Does it matter? Contemporary road testers clocked a 455-cu. in. Grand Am coupe with an automatic going from zero-to-sixty in 7.7 seconds. Pretty good for a smog era Pontiac that wasn't a Firebiird or Trans Am. 

Those same road testers were unimpressed with the Grand Am's handling despite it having the firmest and beefiest suspension set up of any GM "A-body" at the time. They also lamented the cramped interiors particularly in relation to how large the exterior of the car is. I test drove a Grand Am coupe back in the mid-eighties and, frankly, I was perplexed by how mediocre it was. I thought it was slow, the engine hemmed and hawed, the steering was numb, the brakes were horrible, but they probably needed replacing. Didn't dissuade me from thinking it was cooler than Elvis, though. Just wish it was a better car. I passed on it. 

The clumsy handling was a real head scratcher since these cars were supposedly Pontiac's answer to sharp handling imports washing ashore from Germany. I know, as if. But that's what they portended to be. Fun facts, the Grand Am started out as the 1973 GTO but seeing the market for performance cars waning, GM opted to make the Grand Am first and foremost a "luxury" car. In the 1970's, what defined a luxury car was literally quite grand. 

For eight-thousand-dollars, you get a '73 Grand Am sedan here that's far from perfect. There's no radio, this had factory A/C but the guts of it are missing, there are a number of ouchies on the body too; look closely at that rubberized nose cone. That won't be cheap to fix or replace. At least the title is clean. Who would buy this and why? 

The Grand Am sedans sold terribly; the comelier coupes outsold them significantly not that they sold well either. What's more, all GM "A-bodies" were moving to square or rectangular headlights for 1976 that would have meant a costly redesign for the Grand Am's "Endura" front fascia. Thus, Pontiac pulled the plug on them after 1975. The Grand Am nameplate was resuscitated from 1978 through 1980 on GM's downsized A-body chassis. After a four-year hiatus, they brought it back again in 1985 festooning it to a front-wheel-drive, GM "N-body" that, ahem, was not so "Grand". 

1971 Buick Skylark - LS Swap It!

To "LS-swap" an automobile is to remove the original engine and replace it with a General Motors "LS" engine. The practice is seen as a massive improvement as the series of LS engines, there are many, are considered to be the most powerful and reliable V-8 engines GM has ever made. It's not just GM makes and models that get "LS-swapped", it can be done with any vehicle that can accommodate one. With this 1971 Buick Skylark, for sale currently on Facebook Marketplace near my triple-wide west of Cleveland, Ohio, it's been LS-swapped with a 6.0-liter "LS". 

GM has built "LS" engines since 1997 in a number of different displacements including a gaggle of 6.0-liter versions so it's anyone's guess, without contacting the seller, as to which one this is exactly. Poster of the ad notes the fuel injectors have been upgraded to LSA injectors and a Texas Speed Chop "Monster Cam" has been installed. One thing for certain, this is a handsome looking transplant. 

Looks can be deceiving, though. Along with the fuel injector and cam upgrade, which, candidly, are debatable "upgrades" seeing, in particular the camshaft. they can make the engine fairly challenging to drive casually, there's a Holley Terminator X engine controller replacing the controller the engine came from the factory with. So, while the install is tres jolie, that the engine has had as much work done to it as it has might explain the more than "reasonable" $20,000 asking price for the whole car. I've seen original and unrestored 1970-1972 Skylark that needed total restorations going for twenty-grand. 

Other "upgrades" include a disc brake conversion, Yukon closed differential with 3:08 gears, GM "Turbo" 400 transmission with a 3200-stall converter, aluminum radiator and electric fans. There are custom Buick valve covers on the engine to dress things up. Pretty neat. Apparently, these handsome wheels come with it as well and the body appears to be tight as a drum. That's saying something up here on the North Coast. 

Obviously, the seats need to be redone, and the headliner needs replacing; no pictures of it so my guess is they pulled it down. This is all catalog stuff although I'd get with an interior pro to have the seats reupholstered. If you've ever tried to glue or reglue a sagging headliner, you know that a trip to the dentist is more fun. 

What concerns me about this car is, and this is the same for anything that's been heavily modified, you get it home and something goes south, who do you take it to if you're not "handy" enough to handle this Dr. Frankenstein's monster of a car? Hopefully the seller is forthcoming with who did all the work if it wasn't themselves doing it. Teh shop that built the engine would no doubt be a great resource for you. If the seller did the work, hopefully they're amenable to you taking it back to them when there are problems; otherwise, that could be really awkward. Maybe not. If they bought it like this and don't know who did the mods, that's a red flag. 

Food for thought. I'd certainly line up a shop that could do the work on this before I bought it and have them vet it out for you. Good news is these days. younger techs are more familiar with computer-controlled engines than carburetors. With these kid techs, if they can't "plug it in", they don't know where to start. 

Buick first used the "Skylark" name plate on celebratory Roadmaster convertible in 1953 and 1954 commemorating Buick's 50th anniversary. They used it again starting in 1961 on their version of the compact GM Y-platform that also underpinned the Oldsmobile F-85 and Pontiac Tempest. In 1964, GM moved the "Skylark", Oldsmobile F-85, Pontiac Tempest and the new Chevrolet Chevelle to their new "A-body", intermediate chassis. GM updated styling on the A-bodies for 1968, the results were mixed; the Buick Skylark arguably the least attractive of the lot. Buick "righted" that wrong in 1970 when GM updated the "A's" again, this time, my opinion, making some of the best-looking cars of all time. 

When GM redesigned the A-body chassis for 1973, the "Skylark" name was dropped for another storied Buick nameplate, "Century". Buick festooned "Skylark" to their version of the Chevrolet Nova in 1975 replacing the "Apollo" nameplate. Buick built a "Skylark" in several different iterations through 1998. 

1971 Buick Skylark Clean title 6.0 ls Lsa injectors Th400 trans 3200 stall converter Texas speed chop monster cam Holley Terminator X Tanks efi fule tank with 340 pump Four-wheel disc brake conversion yukon posi unit 308 us gears Aluminum radiator with electric fans Custom Buick coil covers NEED Headlining and seats redone

$20,000