The Roadmonster and Companions: Members’ Rides

It’s Monday, so it’s time for Members’ Rides! Last week, I was finally able to scratch the itch of showing off an excellent example of America’s most legendary sports car, the Corvette. Today, we’re sticking with the classic GM small block V8, but looking instead at a modified wagon with it.

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Meet Cam (CRM114 in the comments). Cam is a Minneapolis-based logistics manager for a local charity. More important for our purposes, he has a couple of great V8s, along with an EV to help offset some of the V8 fuel costs!

How did you get into cars?

I have been obsessed with cars and pretty much anything adjacent for as long as I’ve been capable of having thoughts. When I was about 10, I started subscribing to Automobile, R&T, C&D, and MT. New issues were super exciting and pored over as soon as they arrived. Automobile was probably my favorite in terms of writing, but whichever one had the cutaway drawings occupied a lot of brain space in those pre-Internet days. Car and Driver’s article about using a Syclone to get pink slips from Ferrari drivers is still seared into my brain to the point that when I found it online, I was annoyed that they had omitted some of the original photos.

What’s the makeup of the current fleet?

• 2013 F-150
• 2016 Tesla Model S
• 2013 Honda CB1100
• 1994 Buick Roadmaster Wagon with a 383 stroker kit

What led to the F-150?

I bought the Ford a few months after the Buick in ’22. One of the ways I justified the Buick was that Allstate had refused to total my car for 8 months while it sat in the shop, needing an airbag computer that was unobtainium during the pandemic. When they did finally total it, I used the money to buy this as a winter car, so my rust-free wagon would stay that way.

Realistically, it was a bit of an impulse purchase. I have a buddy that I exchange car listings with all day, every day. He sent it to me and I just went and bought it. It was formerly a plumbing company fleet truck, with an aluminum contractor topper that I sold for a good chunk of change. It was cheap, and it has a Coyote, so it was good enough for me. I would have considered an Ecoboost, but I strongly prefer the V-8.

How often do you drive this one?

I tend to drive this a lot in the winter, or whenever I need truck stuff. It’s RWD, but I have a set of Blizzaks for it, so it does pretty well with TC and a few hundred pounds of snow in the bed.

What’s the best thing about it?

My favorite things about it are how it has been to own and operate, and I love the motor. Plus, using Forscan and a cheap Amazon key, I was able to get the factory remote start working for $17.

How long have you had the Model S?

My wife and I have shared it for about two years. It’s up to about 125k now.

Has it given you any issues?

This thing has had all kinds of annoying issues: broken window regulator, water intrusion around the cowling, horns failing, screens delaminating, etc. But it always drives, so we accept it. We also paid less than $20k for it with rebates back when EV prices were sky-high, and I knew exactly what we were getting into when we bought it (it’s a 60D, which is/or was the sneaky best Tesla to buy used). Plus, we spend less per mile on electricity than on tires, which helps when the rest of the fleet is so thirsty.

What’s the best thing about it?

My favorite thing is that it is the ultimate commuter. You wake up and it’s fully charged, defrosted, the cabin is 72 degrees, and it’s quiet. Put it on autopilot, and all of a sudden rush hour traffic is just something to observe, not fight.

Anything you think the newer ones do better?

There are things I certainly like about the newer ones, especially the Plaid that I had as a loaner, but the cost-cutting on the newer Teslas is also pretty annoying. I had a P100D for a loaner as well, and was bemused to find that I couldn’t decide if the extra ~300 was worth the loss of the turn signal stalk. I haven’t driven any non-Tesla late model EVs.

How did the Honda CB1100 come into the picture?

I bought it new back in 2013. I had always wanted a CB750 or CB550, but as I was looking for a commuter bike, I wanted EFI. I’m also historically a bit of a Honda guy, so it was an easy decision for me. I love the way it looks!

And how is it?

It’s great to have a UJM that is modern and easy to live with. The only complaint is the lack of a 6th gear, which was remedied a couple of years later.

How much have you ridden it?

I’ve only put six thousand and change on it. I used to commute every day with it in the city, but nowadays it only gets taken out a few times a year now.

When you do get to take it out, what does the ride look like?

These days, it’s twisties only. It used to be perfect for free parking under a loading dock at work downtown and cheap parking at school.

What’s the “Roadmonster” story?

I bought the Buick Roadmaster in ’22 on eBay. I immediately flew from Minneapolis down to Houston to drive it home over the weekend. The guy I purchased it from had made a few mods, as well. He removed the faded wood grain vinyl. It had some Australian 4×4 wheels that appeared to have been sold in this country only on a 90’s conversion van from one particular outfitter, with 255/60R15 Cooper Cobra’s in lieu of the normal 225/75R15 whitewalls.

Beyond that, the previous owner also swapped the entire interior from a donor car, as well as the ECU. This is kind of funny, because he didn’t trim the headliner for the aftermarket sunroof, so it’s currently blocked off completely. Also, the ECU he swapped wasn’t from a tow-pack car and hadn’t been reprogrammed for the different axle ratio. So it had 27″ tires instead of 28.5 inchers, and the car “thought” it had 2.70 gears when it really had 3.42 gearing.

The result was that what was supposed to be a 108mph limiter was actually cutting fuel at 82mph. In Texas, 82mph is strictly slow-lane material. I’m really surprised he didn’t figure out the admittedly difficult process of getting into the ECU to fix this. Since I was surprised to find out that the seller was keeping the license plates, not being able to exceed 82 did help keep me out of trouble on the way back.

What made you pick it up?

Having been an import guy for most of my life, I wanted a hot-rodding project. It had to be RWD and a V-8. Initially, I was looking for a 70’s big block wagon, naively thinking that I would find one for a few grand. I learned quickly that they were rarer than hen’s teeth. If they weren’t demo derby cars, then they were donor cars for something smaller.

I thought I knew a lot about cars when I started, but I quickly realized that I did not. It didn’t help that the shop I paid to swap the motors half-assed the install and screwed up a ton of things, but I have learned a lot diagnosing and fixing their errors. If I knew what I know now, I would have bought a Panther wagon, since junkyards are full of P71s for suspension parts/axles, and Windsor motors have a whole lot more aftermarket support than LT1s these days. I ended up putting about 5 times what I paid for the car initially into it, so I have a somewhat ratty wagon full of great speed parts.

How is it with the stroker kit?

The stroker motor is great. It has a forged rotating assembly, AFR heads, and a Lloyd Elliot-ported intake. I had Lloyd design a custom cam for it that I could tow with, so while it’s only putting out 487 hp at 6,000, the torque curve is as flat as Nebraska. Peak torque is 467 at 5100.

What other mods have you done to it?

It also has QA1 upper and lower control arms, coilovers, and a sway bar up front. The rear suspension is stock springs and helper bags with Bilsteins, and an aftermarket sway bar of unknown provenance that the first owner must have had installed along with the 3.42 gears. I assume he liked to tow a lot. Wilwood calipers up front. Torq Thrust wheels. BBK mid-length headers and an adapted JEGS Impala SS catback. Stage 2 rebuild on the 4L60e. Maybe some other stuff I’m forgetting.

Any additional mod plans?

There are a few things I would still like to do, including rear disc brakes and converting the engine to LS-type engine controls. You can replace the much-maligned Optispark with a 24x sensor and use an aftermarket ECU or a reprogrammed later GM ECU. One of the biggest considerations, since I have about five times as much in speed parts as I paid for the wagon initially, is to buy a nicer wagon and start swapping everything over. Or possibly swap into a platform-mate, like a Fleetwood.

How often do you drive it?

I store it in the winter, but I try to daily it the rest of the year when it’s running and not torn down for normal hot rod reasons. Electricity is a lot cheaper than 92 octane, however, so the Tesla gets driven a lot more. I really built it to rapidly tow an Airstream cross-country, which it will hopefully do soon.

What’s your favorite thing about this?

The best thing is that even with all the mods, it is one of the most comfortable ways to cover large distances. It’s the only thing I’ve ever owned that is truly pleasant to cover 1,000 miles a day in.

Does it have any issues?

There are plenty of issues with it. I had never done an engine swap, so I had a well-known shop install the motor for me. While the guy who runs the shop is very knowledgeable about these motors, somehow the project took about 10 times as long as it should have and there were a litany of fuck-ups when I got the car back. On the plus side, what I have learned fixing everything that was wrong has been an education.

Why is this the best road trip car ever?

In addition to soaking up the miles, doing it in a total sleeper is tons of fun. As a sidenote, the Buick has an Instagram that documents the build.

Thanks Cam!

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