More on more doors  

The face that only a Mother, or a Cadillac lover could love.

Has it come to this?

I have been wondering a lot about that lately, do I want to own another real vintage car?

I'm always looking through CL for bargains.

Besides that '40 LaSalle that I've been posting about, I just saw this '55 Cadillac a couple of weeks ago.

I have had a thing for mid Fifties Cadillacs for a very long time. I finally got one back in the 1990's, a four door hardtop.

It's not as sleek as the hardtop models, because the roof is
much taller and the tail is not as long.

There aren't any pictures of the right side, but from what I can see, the car looks to be in good shape.  For 1955, the rear window had the "Florentine Curve" bright molding that looks particularly good on the hardtops. It doesn't look as graceful on a sedan, but it's a nice touch.

Certainly an elephant in the 
driveway.

This looks like a nice place to spend time.

That's a real nice interior. It's not done in authentic materials, but so what? Most cars in this price range come with  pretty worn out and stained upholstery. This had to cost a fair amount of bucks. I've never had a car reupholstered.

It looks very inviting, I'd bet that it even smells nice and clean. 

The original Cadillac V8 was long lived
and reliable.

The seller states that the car runs really well, and all the windows work. Miraculously it still has the original air cleaner in place. The seller states that all the lights are in good shape and work. It doesn't have a/c which is just as well, as it likely wouldn't work anyway.

It looks like it's challenging the buyer,
"Let's do it Bro!."

This reminds me quite a bit of my '56 Sedan de Ville hardtop. I sure do love the face of this car! The '54's and '55's have smooth flat quarter panels without the jet pod shape. This is much cleaner.

A very basic four door sedan, nothing glamorous. 

For most of my enthusiast lifetime, these were the bottom of the barrel in my mind's eye. Though this model was the best seller that year. 

This car however looks pretty good, straight, complete, reportedly currently running well with a nice redone interior. 

The car had been posted without any pictures of the interior, which was a mistake. The price has been pretty reasonable, it started at 4,900 bucks then the seller amended it to 3,900 firm, Now it's dropped again to 3,698. 

It just gets better.

If I bought this car I would immediately have it painted, a medium dark blue, like my '97 Explorer, with a white top. I would not remove all the trim, that would be likely to break old clips and studs. I'd just have the trim masked and left in place. 

A good running car, with a redone interior and a new paint job, Wow! This would be a finished car, wouldn't that be nice. 

In earlier postings the seller asked for cash plus a good running car. I get the idea that they may have inherited the car, or bought it at a really low price, They don't want to keep it and complete it, they just want to move it on. 

This is my '56, which I owned almost 30 years ago.

A car like this really hits me in the heart, I wanted a mid 50's Cadillac for years, since I was a grade school kid. Sure, I'd prefer a coupe or a two door hardtop, but this car is available, affordable, and in good condition. Sedans are really solid, and a Cadillac never really suffers for having four doors. 

This is a Series 62 sedan, and these are seven inches shorter in length than the hardtop models, that makes them look a bit stubby, but it should fit better in my garage. The '55 has a cleaner rear design than the '56 and the hood has a narrower more prominent center section.

A '55 would be more conducive to everyday driving, as it would be much more modern than the '40 LaSalle. It has power steering and brakes, as well as an automatic transmission. It would be easier to fit it with radial tires.

Though it's more of  a "Godfather Part Two" kind of car, instead of an early Noir car, it's still very cool and "fedora and pinstriped suit "ready. Film Noir actually came into prominence after the War, from 1950 to 1955 or so. So it actually has real cred in that area.

So, would this satisfy my itch for a real vintage car? 

Maybe.

Currently I've just been following the car on CL. I would like to go check it out, but it's in the Sacramento area. 

 More comparison shopping.

2013 Cadillac XTS 13,000.00

Because looking at cars is just fun.

This one caught my eye because of the nice color combo.

The light grey interior compliments the white exterior.
It reminds me of my old Jaguar XJ6.

This is another late model car that I've started considering.

My attention has become focused on later model used cars. My anticipated price range has accordingly crept up to the 10-15,000 dollar level. At this price I would expect to find a lower mileage, very well kept example. This is more than I have ever spent on a "hobby car." Although it wouldn't actually be considered a hobby car, it would be something that I would regularly drive.

From what I've read and seen online, the XTS would be very similar to my current Riviera. Very smooth, solid and quiet riding. The XTS is the final Cadillac front wheel drive sedan. There is still a FWD Cadillac cross over. 

I like the large headlamps as well as the chromed grille.
It shares the current Cadillac front end appearance.

On closer inspection you'll notice that the tail lights
stand slightly taller as 'mini fins." A nice touch.

The styling of the XTS is modern and on first glance, is maybe just somewhat generic. However on  closer inspection, it still has plenty of Cadillac heritage Art and Science design cues. It even has some classic Cadillac design cues that reveal themselves. The large chrome grille, The lettering style on the chrome deck lid panel, it even has "fin like" vertical tail lamps. Cadillac has played up the tall vertical tail light theme on several current models.

The backseat is spacious enough, wide enough to accommodate
 an occasional center passenger.

The XTS is no longer in production. The period that it was built spanned 2013 to 2019. It was the flagship of the line for many years, though many derided it because it was FWD, and in their minds, it was not competitive with other luxury marques. This might be true, but a lot depends on what you are comparing it to.

The door panel displays a fine design.

Modern Cadillacs don't compare or compete with the top models from Mercedes and BMW, and especially the Uber marques like Bentley and Rolls Royce. Cadillacs are much less expensive.

It's also true that the imported competition is primarily RWD or AWD. Cadillac made this model available in all wheel drive also.

The most popular models from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes are the smaller sedans and CUVs. That's also the case for the Japanese and Korean marques. The Lincoln line is now exclusively SUV/CUV. I believe that the largest selling Cadillac is the XT5 crossover. 

The CT6 was a larger RWD model that supplanted the XTS. Unfortunately it's production life was short, only from 2016 to 2020. It's odd that the CT6, with a bespoke RWD platform, as well as a bespoke V8 engine option, did not meet with the approval of the buying public. I found that particularly sad, since this car was configured the way that all the pundits said that they wanted.

Lately my preferences have turned almost completely towards luxury type vehicles. I don't find myself currently attracted to performance oriented cars.

The interior of the XTS looks suitably upscale. I like the design of the instrument panel and door panels. The seat upholstery is nice. I also like that it has a console mounted shift lever. Though I have finally made peace with the Lincoln push button, dash mounted shifter set up. The presentation of the interior is somewhat flashy, especially in comparison to the Lincoln MKZ and MKS, which are more understated. But Cadillacs have been flashy for quite a long time.

The V6 engine provides plenty of performance and highway fuel economy is in the high 20's. I've seen some reviews where the driver stated that they saw 30 mpg. on highway trips. That's pretty good for a relatively large luxury vehicle. I prefer the simplicity of a N/A V6 engine, and would avoid the turbo V6s. The other newer Cadillac sedans have the turbo four as a base engine. I've read of problems with that engine, especially in the smaller ATS models. Maybe that  is related to the availability of a manual transmission, which results in the car being driven harder. Which is also related to the driver demographic.

Initially I was pretty turned off by the XTS, I didn't want another FWD car. I also wasn't knocked out by the styling. It's funny that after researching all these later models that I began to find them all more attractive than I did initially. These are the cars that are available. They are very nice driving, quite good performing vehicles.

What about a vintage model? Do I still think about those?

I saw a pretty nice, affordable '55 Cadillac sedan on CraigsList. It looked to be in good condition,  reportdly running well, with all the accessories in fine shape. It also had a reupholstered and finished interior, a major point in it's favor.  Something rare for a low priced car. Though it definitely needs a paint job. 

It's not a glamorous model like a hardtop coupe or convertible, it is the plain Jane posted sedan, though it was Cadillac's best selling model that year. These are a bit shorter than the hardtop coupe, the rear deck is seven inches shorter, with a total length of 217 inches. I kept my longer '56 Sedan de Ville in the same garage.

I've been taking a lot of time to think about a possible purchase, but the prospects don't look promising.

Once you decide that you're not going to buy a car from the '50's or '60's,  you will find yourself becoming more accepting of modern designs.

Compared to earlier Cadillacs, and I'm referring to pre 2000 models, the XTS is quite compact. I've sat in the newer series CTS sedans, and they are noticeably narrower, with a tighter rear seat. Realistically, I only need something that is comfortable for four occupants, so the CTS is as suitable as the XTS. It really comes down to the driving experience that I want, RWD or FWD. It seems that the RWD Cadillacs have caught up the BMW in driving dynamics.

The other choice is whether or not I want a sedan or an SUV. 

I have to admit that I no longer find any penalty with an SUV. I think that they are more practical and useful. Since I'm not considering any sporty coupes, I don't see a styling penalty either. Most are pretty handsome looking in my eyes. 

I would like something smaller than my Navigator and Flex, which is why I have been leaning towards the Lincoln MKC. Since I took one out for a test drive, I'm pretty familiar with the look and feel of these cars. I liked the one that I drove.

Thinking and looking is cheaper than buying. Since I still need to slim down the herd  before I buy, there's no real hurry. 

I haven't fixed the Riviera or the garage door ...yet.

 Maybe I'm not really a Car Guy. Part Three?

I knew that I'd have to confront the issue someday.

But, I was hoping that someday would be a bit later!

Or maybe I've just realized that in a few days, I'm going to be a septuagenarian with a stable of older cars and a busted garage door!

Or, maybe I'm just not the kind of guy that loves any particular car.

Actually, I'm trying to find out where I am currently in the hobby car thing, and where do I see myself going?

I've written on this subject over the years.

Many enthusiasts have very strong connections with a particular model car. This can be built from real, lived experiences with that certain car. They grew up with it as the family car, it may have been a car that belonged to them at a certain period of their life, and they eventually sold the car and moved on. But they never forgot it.

Or, it was something that they lusted after for years. They might have been just a young kid and unable to buy any car for themselves, or they might have been a young adult without the means to purchase a special car. Or it wouldn't fit into their current life requirements. You can't get by with an Austin Healey if you've got three kids. Either way, it was something that they wanted to own quite badly, at least at the time. 

Many of these enthusiasts harbor that desire for many, many, years. Usually until the time is right for them to acquire that car. They are now in a place in their lives when they can afford to indulge themselves and buy THAT car. 

This type of relationship always makes for a nice ownership story. I have never been the kind of guy that obsessed about a particular model car. 

I just have never had strong emotional ties to any car. There were never strong familial bonds forged with a particular car through family relationships or experiences. I was also never going to inherit a cherished family car.

Thomas Murray has his viewpoint.

I'm not a car fan in the Thomas Murray kind of way. I don't use them to try to relive the past. 

Murray saw old cars as a way to connect to, and make the past real. He wrote that he could see the faces of friends and relatives from the past, reflected in the shine of the paint and chrome. Driving down a lonely stretch of road, he could imagine himself being transported back to the special times in his past.

Egan's outlook is closer to mine.

I'm more of the Peter Egan type. He's kind of a serial car owner. He gets very interested in a particular car, and learns all he can about it. He puts a lot of work into his cars restoring them, but he doesn't mind moving on. He realizes that he has to sell his cars to acquire new and different ones. 

I've been involved with cars for quite a long time, I've been driving for almost 55 years. I have been interested in cars and motorcycles since I was a kid, but lately something has kinda faded out.

I keep asking myself, "Is there some particular car that I really wanted to own, one that I have dreamed about owning for years?" Maybe the time has come.

That's a hard question for me to answer.

I've had a wide variety of cars over the years. At first they were used for regular transportation, they were just my car.

Later I started to buy "hobby cars" just for the experience of owning them. Those have numbered up to twenty vehicles so far.

Maybe part of my problem is that I was willing to settle for something that was close enough to what I wanted, something that was currently attainable. You know, the "low hanging fruit."

There's a lot to be said for this approach. At least you currently have something that more or less satisfies you. You are also "doing" instead of "dreaming."  

You might not have exactly what you think that you want, but at least you've got "something."

For example, I wanted a Big Twin Harley Davidson since I was in high school. Realistically they were out of reach for me at the time. But I was able to buy several big Japanese motorcycles that satisfied my craving, and provided me with years of motorcycling experiences. And sure enough, the time finally arrived when I could afford to buy a Big Twin. Though I found that the Sportster model better fit my preferences, so I took that route. 

Wouldn't you know it, when I finally did buy that Big Twin, I found that it wasn't that impressive, and I actually didn't like it that much. I ended up selling it, and keeping my Sportster! 

I met an old guy at a Car show last Summer, who was displaying an immaculate '55 Chevy hardtop coupe. I was admiring the car and asked him how long he had owned it. I expected the usual response, that he'd owned it for years. Struggled to hold onto it, then finally had the money to really cherry it out. He surprised me by saying that he had owned it less than a year! I asked if he had owned other vintage cars and he said no, he hadn't ever owned an older car until this one. Which he purchased at the age of 80!

That's a long time to wait.

At least he was smart enough to buy a nice one.

I keep asking myself these questions.  

I think that part of it is just my age. I've reached an age where I don't really want anything that much.

I don't really need anything that much. I don't care about anything that much. I should clarify by saying that I'm talking about things, material objects. I do care very strongly about certain things in my personal life, but stuff, nah, not that important. 

Honestly, I'm lucky enough to have what I need, and that includes reliable running vehicles that serve as transportation.

I still enjoy driving and taking trips in a car. I still amuse myself by looking at cars online. I still own a bunch of hobby cars. I'm still active on a couple of forums, and still producing this blog.

About a year ago, I started going to local C&Cs and small shows, but I'm starting to lose interest.

My Wife once asked me why I thought that I needed to own a vintage car, couldn't I just go to shows and events and enjoy other people's cars? Why did I have to have one of my own?

Leave it to a woman to ask a sensible, honest question! 

I told her that I really do have an actual interest in owning an old car, but I also want to attend these events as a participant. Going to these events in my own hobby car makes me a part of the action. It doesn't matter if my car is something that the other guys would think is that special or desirable. It is special and desirable to me. I've found that the interests of the show attendees are actually pretty varied, they aren't just interested in '57 Chevys, Camaros, or early Mustangs.

Is part of the attractions of owning a hobby car sharing it with others at shows? Is that one of the main reasons? I have an older friend who bought a Model A hot rod when he was in his mid 70's. He's regularly at numerous local C&Cs and shows. It's one way to get out and socialize and interact with other people. 

I've met a lot of guys that have put years of work and effort in their cars, and they are enthusiastic about talking about them.

While I appreciate that, and respect their efforts, I'm just not that guy. 

What I've been trying to do is to evaluate where 'I" currently stand in the car hobby. "Where am I now?"

What do I want, where do I go from here? I've still got some energy and gumption left. But realistically, at my age, I'm not that enthused about getting my hands dirty.

After all, I did crawl around under my Mustang to replace the oxygen sensors. But, I don't want to be having to do that all the time.  

I'm going to turn 70 in a few days. How much time do I have left as an active "hands on" car guy?

How much do I want to remain as an active DIY car guy? If there is something that I want, newer or older, maybe I should really think about getting it, I've only got a limited time left. 

I also don't want to leave my Wife with a mess of old cars to dispose of. 

Which of the cars that I own today, do I see holding onto into the future?

What do I think that I would "want " to have, and why. 

Am I still having fun, and if not, why? 

That's probably the most important question.

As I mentioned, I've touched on these subjects lately.

Who are we keeping our cars for? I don't own anything that is valuable, or is likely to become valuable in the foreseeable future. Realistically, my kids aren't going to want any of my vehicles. Well, my Son might want my truck.

Do I have some kind of Holy Grail car that I've dreamed of owning?

Is there some kind of late model car that I want?

Would I really want another project car?

Shouldn't I streamline my hobby car affairs and simplify my life?

I have had some health issues and luckily I've been able to work through them, and am currently feeling pretty good. But how long will that last?

I'm far from an affluent guy, but I have a reasonable amount of funds available to dabble around with my lower level hobby cars.

So, where do I go from here? 

I apologize that this is going to be all about me. There will be a lot of sentences that will start with the letter "I."

My hope will be that there will also be other enthusiasts that are going through a similar period of soul searching, and they can benefit from this period of introspection. It's going to be a prolonged period of thinking out loud. 

I'm going to run this series along with my day to day car stuff to keep things from getting too boring!

Oh, that broken garage door leaves me with two of my cars trapped inside. My '06 Mustang and Riviera. I still need to change out the water pump in the Riv. Luckily I had positioned the Riv, just right, to provide me with enough room to work on it. 

I'll do that first, then deal with the garage door later, probably after Christmas. 

I guess that I'll be getting a new sectional garage door as a late Christmas present.

It is always something!

 What is going on here?

Why do I like stuff like this?

 7,000 dollars.

This '41 Cadillac Series 60 sedan showed up recently on CraigsList. It is not that far from me, as it's located just south of Gilroy, about a one hour drive. This is a model that I have admired for a very long time. I had gone to look at a '40 LaSalle sedan earlier this Spring, and I thought that it would be a good idea to take a look at this car. These don't turn up that often, so I didn't want to miss the opportunity. 

The car had not been misrepresented by the seller, it had been stored in a barn for over 15 years. It was a car that had been continuously used for a long time, and it was pretty worn out. 

The story was that this car belonged to the seller's Wife's Grandfather, who drove it for decades. At one time the engine was rebuilt before the owner passed away. The seller had inherited the car, which had been stored for over fifteen years. At one time the seller had wanted to completely restore the car, but he had lost interest in the idea and thought it was best to sell it. Talking with the seller, I felt he was in that stage of life where he wanted to simplify his life.

Although the seller was younger than me, I can't fault that sentiment.

Bill Mitchell's styling triumph established trends that lasted into the 1970's.

It is a pretty neat car, but it is pretty worn out. The body is straight with only a few noticeable dents. The paint is faded, the chrome work is pitted and rusted. The interior is worn down and dirty. The trunk is locked and since the seller couldn't find the key, he removed the rear seat back to access the parts that are stored inside.    

Oh, it smells like an old car.

You can see the added gauges and the added speakers for the 8 track stereo that the previous owner installed. In many ways this car reminds me of my '51 Jaguar Mark VII, it was a car that was in steady usage for decades, but was not restored or cosmetically maintained by the end of that time. Then the car was moth balled, for a couple of more decades. Luckily this Cadillac was stored in a barn.

I don't think that my Wife would want to go for a ride.

The front seat looked pretty rough, that battery was used to start the engine when I was there. It fired right up and settled into a smooth idle. 

The back seat area looked even worse. The floorboards looked to be quite solid.

It would take a lot of cleaning to make the inside of this car bearable to use without a feeling of disgust. All the door panels are there and mostly dirty, but intact. I saw the missing window and door cranks in a box on the floor. Maybe the panels could be steam cleaned and stained a darker color?

Perhaps a set of sturdy seat covers could be sewn up using some Army surplus woolen blankets? 

Dynamat and generic auto carpet could be used to recover the floor.

The bottom edge of the trunk lid has the most obvious rust. This could be fixed properly, or I could use POR 15. I know that it works.

The rusty areas of the bumper could be scrubbed and polished with Simichrome, and the worst areas could be sprayed with silver  paint. I'd done that before and it goes along way to making a car look presentable. I read on a forum that the bumpers can be wrapped with a chrome looking vinyl. Certainly something to think about. 

It is a handsome car.

I told the seller that I would be interested in making the car into a driver, and would never attempt to restore it. While all the trim is there, it is in very poor shape. The die cast parts are pitted badly. It would cost a fortune to replace all that bright work. The head liner is gone, and the seats are toast. Of course the car would need the braking system and other mechanical systems gone through completely, the wiring would also probably have to be redone. But the engine appears to be in good shape.

I went to Kanter's online parts catalog and found that most common parts like water and fuel pumps. starters, generators, and brake master and wheel cylinders were available and fairly reasonably priced. I've done a lot of auto rewiring, so there's no need to pop for an expensive aftermarket wire loom. Still it would take a lot of work, and a bit of money.

Is this car just a sad piece of junk?

No, but it would be a foolish mistake to buy a car in this condition and then decide to do a full restoration.

The guys on the ACCA forum would call this a parts car, they don't think that any car warrants a full restoration anymore. It would probably cost around 100,000 dollars, over twice what the car could be worth. 

When I got home, I told my Wife that I liked the car, and if it was selling for 500 dollars, I would have bought it right then, but not for 7,000 bucks. I didn't make an offer at the time, it doesn't make any sense to throw out an offer unless I'm seriously interested in it. 

I'm going to follow this car on CL, I'm pretty sure that the seller will be reducing his price over time. I don't think that there will be a long line of buyers queuing up for their chance to own this car. 

The '40 LaSalle that I'd gone to see, earlier this year, had originally been listed for 10,000 dollars. By the time I went to see it, the asking price had been reduced to 7,000 bucks. It was still listed on CL for another month or two, before it disappeared. I don't know if it was sold, or if the seller had just pulled it and will relist it at a later date. And that was a nice car, running well with a redone interior and nice trim. My issue was really whether or not I wanted such an old car.

I've still got that guy's phone number.

There is a very nice '41 Cadillac coupe listed currently on CL for 24.5K/offer. This is a restored, show level car. Truthfully that 60 Special could not be brought up to this level for just 25K. 

Wouldn't it make more sense to buy something like this?
The hard truth is that it would end up cheaper in the long run.

My plan for the '41 Cadillac that I went to see, would never produce an example like this. I would hope to clean it up, redo the seats, and maybe paint it. Would it be a good idea to buy it, even if I could get it for 1,500.00? 

It depends. I would have to be satisfied with a pretty rough car, even after it was rehabilitated. Once it was back in good mechanical condition, the cosmetics could be improved over the years, bit by bit. 

My '66 Riviera was never restored, or even repainted, though I spent quite a few years improving it. I used that car extensively and without apology. Maybe I'm just past the stage where I can, or should be satisfied with a rough driver. It looks a lot less appropriate to an old guy. It just kind of marks him as a bit peculiar and eccentric. 

 If I really want an old car, I'd give the guy with the LaSalle a call and see if it is still available. I told my Wife that perhaps someday, someday, the stars might align and that LaSalle and I might end up together.

She got quite a laugh out of that. It's no wonder that Men don't open up and share their feelings!

 Getting the '96 Mustang ready for sale. Part two.

This was the long section of hose.

This process has been a bit unusual, because these events are happening almost in real time.

I started this job almost two weeks ago. I first posted about the repair last week. I had started the process at the beginning of the week that I posted.  The car has been up on jack stands all this time. A couple of days after I posted, I was still trying to install the passenger side upstream oxygen sensor. 

Without success.

I just could not get my hand far enough up to turn it, and get it started. Working upside down under the car is probably the worst situation. I ended each day with a bunch of familiar aches and pains.

It looked like there was plenty of room on the driver's side, and I was right. I removed and installed the sensor in about fifteen minutes. 

I thought that it was a better idea to concentrate on the most difficult side. Though I was frustrated, I didn't get mad, I just kept plugging away. 

Luckily I could just stop when I got frustrated, since I didn't need to use the car.

This was with the medium section of hose.

First, I tried using a section of fuel line that I taped on the sensor, so that I could turn it. I'd been doing that for years with spark plugs. You don't want to cross thread them. However I couldn't find any success. I spent six hours on one day. I tried a long section, then a medium section, then a short section. Again with no success.  When I was finished for the day, I got cleaned up and told my Wife that I'd spent six hours in what was equivalent to trying to screw in a light bulb! 

ARRRGGGHHH!!!!

The heat shield I spoke about last week wasn't a factor. I'd gotten my orientation mixed up, the heat shield was actually a bracket to hold the sensor connector a safe distance away from the exhaust.

To the right of the green connector is the 
starter, next to that is the bung.

What do you do when you need some ideas? You look it up on YouTube!

I watched a lot of YouTube videos trying to glean some hints.  

It looked like the only way that I was going to be able to do the job would be by removing the starter. There were quite a few videos on that subject, and this was a pretty difficult operation with very limited access,

I went out today, Monday, and thought that I should just button up what I'd removed. So I re-installed all the bolts I'd removed back into the chassis brace. Then I decided to investigate how bad the access was to remove the starter.

It was quite a tight fit.

I saw that in one video, that the repair guy removed the right front wheel on a 2000 model, and found a opening in the body, under the plastic inner fender liner where he could insert a weird, right angle ratchet extension wrench. I couldn't find a similar opening on my car.

I also saw that some guys could access the starter bolts by placing a long extension in from the front, in the space under the exhaust manifold and the cross member. I couldn't get my 3/8 extensions through that space. 

 After that, I figured that I'd do the easier two downstream sensors for now. I raised the rear of the car another three or four inches, which gave me a bit more space to work.  These sensors are right out in the open, and were very easy to remove and replace.

After that success, I thought I'd give another final (?) attempt to replace the passenger side sensor without removing the starter. Which I really did not want to attempt.

 After watching several videos, I realized that the best way to remove the starter is by dropping the exhaust down pipes and the mid pipe unit. I wasn't prepared to do that, so I decided to give it just one more try. I had just gained some practice replacing the downstream sensors, and had familiarized my "touch" at screwing those in. 

This time I decided to try the bare sensor, without any "aids."

The "bare" sensor.

I squeezed my left hand in, over the top of the starter and squeezed three fingers of my right hand through the narrow opening, holding a bare sensor and fed the end into the bung. I held the sensor up with my left fingers, and turned the sensor body with the index finger and thumb of my right hand. I also turned the sensor body by turning the faceted collar with my left index finger. I kept a tight hold of the sensor which would try to unscrew itself, as the wire lead tried to untwist itself. I would stop and let the wires unwind themselves. I could finally feel, and see the threads engaging. I took my time, and worked slowly and steadily and eventually seated it as far it would go by hand.  

This is the shorter 7/8 wrench that worked the best.
The socket was not needed with this car.

I used the smaller of my 7/8 open wrenches to firmly tighten down the sensor. The open jaws are much slimmer than on the longer wrenches. The short length was also a better fit into the cramped available space. 

Success! Finally, and believe me, it was a very hard won victory! 

After this, I decided to call it a day, I could put away tools, lower the car and clean up the garage, ...tomorrow. 

That's just what I did. 

After I finished cleaning up after myself. I took the car out for a test drive. After twenty miles of mixed driving the car ran fine, it seemed better than ever, with no CEL light. 

Success at last!

Now, what's that funny sound coming from under the hood of the Riviera? 

It's always something!