4-Speed's 1964 "Super Wildcat" 4-Speed

If you could stroll down to your Buick dealership and order a new '64 Wildcat, I think I would want mine built just the way this car was. Matt Menges is in the midst of a body-off restoration of this fantastic 'cat, and we're eager to hear all the details.

The sight of that beautiful nailhead fitted with the Super Wildcat's chrome, dual snorkel air cleaner and the BUICK finned aluminum valve covers is enough to make any Buick fan's heart start beating faster. I hope Matt will keep us posted on his progress with this one.

Looks awesome.

So here's a question for y'all...what years had dual exhaust flowing to a single muffler? I know '61 was that way if you had dual exhaust.

looks great here's my motor

scott 64 wildcat

I believe all big series Buicks from 61 thru 64 and Rivieras from 63 thru 65 used this set up for their duals. Those mufflers are big and heavy. Hope others will confirm this application. Part numbers are different, though.

That chassis looks great. There was a rough but complete 1963 Lesabre (I think?) 4-speed convertible that was listed a couple times on Ebay late last year. I hope it ultimatley benefits from the same level of restoration. The big 4 speed Buicks deserve it.

That looks like a very faithful restoration. I LIKE those period tires. Are they the stock bias plies?

Thank you for posting the pics, Brian. Well, needless to say the origial owner of this car bought it for one thing in mind, to go as fast from point A to point B as possible. The car was bought new in Gallup, NM, and Mr. Gage lived in Phoenix - the original sales invoice was in the glovebox. Here's why he wanted to go fast and that is it... the car is triple black (with a silver headliner), and does not have a/c, nor ps, pb, p. windows, trunk light, p. seat, radio, or any other creature comfort. The options he chose were a 425 with two fours, 4-speed, 3.91 posi, deluxe interior (for the buckets and console shifter), dual pipes, Formula Five wheels, and tinted glass. Talk about a blast furnace in the Phoenix summer. It was an early Flint-produced car, being built in Sept/Oct of 63, and is one of the most stripped Wildcats I have ever seen. It was driven hard and then abandoned in the destert in 82 until I bought it in 99. The poor thing was a general mess, but all the rare parts that make it special to me were present and in good condition, like the complete running gear minus the carbs. A good friend of mine helped me hunt down the correct 3634S rear carb, which is special to the dual four, 4-speed, 64 Wildcats. The front is the standard 3645S dual four carb found on 64 2x4 Rivs, Electras, and Wildcats. I have replaced almost every part needing replaced with perfect originals or NOS, and all the bolts, clips, clamps, etc. are correct for a third periord 63 Flint production car. To me research like this is fun because it is always interesting to see the hardware differences between assembly plants and production periods. I have used as few reproduction parts as possible to restore this thing. The weatherstrips are even NOS GM parts. It will be a very cool car when finished (at least to me), and the next one on the resto block will be a Coral Mist with black deluxe interior 64 Wildcat 4-speed factory a/c car - not that I like the torture of restoring these things and finding NOS parts, but a Coral Mist 4-speed it just too cool.

Have fun and thank you for your comments,

Matt

Guy, I forgot to add, yes, those are the correct size tires, 7.60-15. They are not Firestone 500s though (they don't make them new - yet at least), but I do have a correct NOS Firestone 500 for a spare.

Matt, thanks for adding the details here. We're really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

I can only imagine how "cool" a hot, black '64 Wildcat with the dual quad 425, 4-speed, and positraction would have looked streaking across the Arizona desert back in 1964.

The pictures of this Wildcat has made me join this group. What an awesome sight. Got a question though, anyone know how or where I would go about getting a posi for my 64 Cat. And for that matter, what would be the recommendations for a 4 speed for my auto car. I know it won't be a factory original but I have a good starting point with a stock Cat convertible that I would like to do a Super Wildcat job on. I have my on the road after a shoe string budget resto job but I am getting ambitions and might start a long term modification and resto on it. I am not a pro, I have learned alot on my own and seeing photos like this get me wondering. You only live once!

Matt I have been attempting to contact you for awhile, I recently ran into a Past friend of yours, who unfortunatly stated you guy's not on good terms at this time. He suggested you would be a great source of info on the 64 cat. Here's the question: dash paint finish one tone? flat /satin or semi.looks like the area between dash pad / winsheild is flat not sure about the face /glove box underside steering wheel . Please help, thanks. 2.5 yrs into body off 2dr cpe 425 single 4bbl cpe resto.Also any idea on where to find a replacement rubber splash boot { fuel filler area. Thanks again !!!

64Wildcat - Thanks for the reply. Well, if you are talking about a guy in Texas, all is cool now. It was a misunderstanding on my part, and on his part. It is hard to stay on bad terms with a person you have known since age 5, you know? Bad energy is, well, bad, so I am glad that is over.

Anyway, on your Wildcat dash, here is how they are. The top of the dash (including where it rolls down to the bottom of the A pillars on each side) is flat flat, really flat. Matte is an understatement. The speaker grille is also flat. The bottom dash area is semi-gloss. Satin would almost be too flat, as it does have some shine to it, just not a gloss. If you paint it gloss like the outside of the car, it will look overdone and just not right - I have seen this, and in my opinion does not look good at all. If you would like, I can email pics of each area, as I have a parts car that has a stripped dash so you can really tell the difference.

I have a few of those filler boots, so pm me your email address and we'll hammer out the details.

If you have any other 63-64 Wildcat questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Have fun,

Matt

thanks for the info I'm sure this will help the resto shop as little can be found on the restoration/ paint info My email address is ellen659@earthlink.net

as noted I really need the best possible condition rubber boot (fuel inlet pipe area)please let me know cost including shipping some other questions do you know of anyone reproducing the 15 inch ralley wheel or anyone who can restore slightly pitted chrome areas. Also need replacement lower body chrome molding clips which except the bayonnets on rear of each trim piece also looking for a pair of nice circular roof pillar wildcat head emblems, last question for now! having great difficulty locating chrome shop to fill pits and quality chrome on aboe mentioned body moldings following pit filling and platting what have you been using in the black areas between individual chrome ribbing? Thanks again for any info you can provide looking forward to hearing from you hope you don't mind all the questions I'm afraid there maybe more as this project continues.

I wish I lived closer to Matt. He's got a ton of parts, and I just had to wipe the drool off myself looking at his Wildcat.

Joe, thanks for bringing this thread back up. It's a very special car and maybe we'll get some updates on progress? Also, I hope Gunnerside got some of his questions answered.

That muffler was mentioned and I got to thinkin' (bad sign). Depending on how it's designed internally, this thing could function like an "H" pipe, couldn't it? Pretty clever, if that's how it worked.

So, Matt, let us know if you can!

Hi Matt

I was wondering if you can help me with some parts for my 63 Queen Mary III, I need a inspection cover for the 4 speed and radiator cover.

Happly motoring to one and all...I'm jumping in on this chat to ask a question...where do I find the production numbers for the 1964 Wildcat 4-Speed....I've located the body style and motor size...GOING FAST WITH CLASS...OLD BUICKS IN CLT

I've culled this information from the

Daily Production Reports available from the Sloan Museum.

email me or pm and I can send an Excel file with dual quad and 4-speed

numbers. Roberta has posted the file I made for the 65 wildcats on the BCA website.

Ted

Louie, those inspection covers are very tough to find. Let me do some looking for you, though. I will say that Pontiac and Chevy are different. My black Cat did not have one on it when I bought it, but Palbuick had one for me. As far as the rad. cover, which cover are you needing? The small shroud on top of the rad? Does your car have a/c?

Thank you, and talk to you soon,

Matt