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78 Estate Wagon addition


JohnD1956

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Thanks to Zonda, we added this 1978 Estate Wagon to our small collection. We drove it the 100 miles home this past Thursday and were very pleased. Eventually it will need some work but for now I'm just glad to have it.

When I first looked at it I thought I smelled antifreeze, and figured it needed a water pump. But it turned out the owner had just not retightened the hose clamps on the new top radiator hose. The car has a new water pump, a clean timing chain cover so I suspect a new timing gear set, new brakes and battery. The A/C even works still.

It does need a headliner including the sun visors, and a good armbustin polish. Maybe later this week.

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Guest ZondaC12

That's awesome I can't believe you actually went and grabbed it! Looks great. I'll have to stop and see it sometime, or maybe I'll see it at a chapter meeting. grin.gif

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Guest ZondaC12

Try as I might I can't find the thread it was first brought up in!!! Can't belive it. I kinda wanted to go back and see, I forgot how it all played out. And it would have said what engine it had. I think it was on craigslist...ad is probably taken down by now. Oh well.

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That is the Buick 350 in there, with the turbo 350 transmission. The wheels were off an 85 wagon. I have a set of chrome road wheels here ( which should have been on there) but they are off a Riviera and are set up for my 69 Electra's disc brakes. Odd-ly the center hub hole on the Electra is 1/4 inch smaller than the hub on this Wagon, so I had to pull these rims off the shelf.

The nice thing is this engine runs very well. I had some trouble with the carb linkage but sprayed it down with carb cleaner and it works right now. I am going to start looking for a used 1970 Buick 350 to keep in stock in case I have future need.

Zonda, you had found the car in the Want Ad Digest, online, and sent an e-mail to the Chapter members. And this car was sitting within 10 miles of Dick Andrew's summer place in the Adirondacks...

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I am pleased to see that I am not alone in my appreciation of wagons. My 69 Sport Wagon has become my "travelling car" and it is great! It allows us all the room we need in case Bernice finds something special at an antique shop.

I had an 87 ,but it had the 307 Olds and was such a "dog" ,I was afraid I would get run over.

I just found a 92 Roadmaster wagon that has 60k and was kept in a heated garage .it looks like it just came from a showroom.

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Guest ZondaC12

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JohnD1956</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Zonda, you had found the car in the Want Ad Digest, online, and sent an e-mail to the Chapter members. And this car was sitting within 10 miles of Dick Andrew's summer place in the Adirondacks... </div></div>

RIIIIGHT now I remember. Wow. Ummmm that's...bad. blush.gif My mom would chew me out for that! "youre not allowed to forget anything yet!" Haha

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I know what you mean Joe. Last time I went to get a piece of sheetrock with the Electra I had to bust it up to get it in the trunk. You would have thought with such a wide car you could get a 4 ' piece of sheetrock between the wheel wells but noooo, the thing was an inch too narrow. And then 3 feet was hanging out the back besides. I don't even ride around with the rear seats up.

I have plans to keep this car for a while.

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  • 7 months later...

Since purchase of the Wagon I have known it needed sparkplug wires. But I put it off for one reason or another. Then Wednesday the speedometer cable broke and Thursday we had torrential rains all day where upon the car was missing so bad I thought I would be stalling in traffic. So Friday I picked up some parts and had at it this AM.

I pulled the speedometer cable between the transmission and the cruise control transducer and found the end snapped off in the transducer. The cable itself is a breeze to do, the end was a bit of a challenge, or so I thought.

Upon removal of the cable the broken cable piece would not come out. So I decided I had to get the gear out to extract the broken piece. Two screws hold the unit in the car, two screws hold the unit together, one teeny tiny screw holds the torsion spring in place inside the unit. Guess which screw I dropped.

I spent an hour looking for that screw in an ever widening circle but I was not successful. With rain predicted I figured I 'd better tackle the wires and then go back to it. The wires were easy, and this time I remembered to put the longer wires on plugs #2 and 6, because while they look closer than #4 and 8 respectively, the wires have to travel further at the cap. And just as I was finishing that, my son Andrew comes out the door and I stopped him.

I described the teensy screw, and he looked straight down at the ground between us and said there it is.

So now the Wagon runs like a new car. No more cross fireing and I can even use regular gas again. And the cruise works and everything. What a Buickful day!

Here's a pic from a few weeks ago this spring, after I polished it. Still needs work but it runs like a Buick should.

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Guest imported_Thriller

John,

That's excellent to be able to get something done and the feeling of accomplishment, along with a better running car, is a good thing.

In a sense I know how you feel...over the last week we've been doing a lot of little things on the Wildcat for Colorado.

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  • 1 month later...

Since shortly after my June 20th post, I have been chasing a miss in the wagon. I think I posted about this once already but as a reminder, I replaced everything on the engine that was electrical, except the coil. Then with the same miss and bucking still plaguing me I went to my friend who races GM products. He simply started the car and said I had a fuel delivery problem. That had never occured to me.

After a test drive he thought I had dirt in the carb or a sinking float, and recommended I put in a new gas filter now, and rebuild the carb first chance I get. I also made a mental note to replace the fuel line as a precaution. Someone previous to me had bypassed the original fuel line using 3/8th inch flexible fuel line, for the entire length, tank to pump. Even though I had no external gas leaks, I figured if I was getting debris then maybe the line was disintegrating internally.

While ordering a carb kit I found out NAPA could get me the Thermostatic Vacuum Control Switch which had also been broken before I got the car. Previously they, and the Buick Dealer, told me it was not available anymore. This switch on this car controls the heat riser valve, and in the broken state I found out the heat riser was not opening. I also put STP Gas treatment in the tank, and I continued to drive the car to work for the last two weeks with this miss.

The more I drove it the better it seemed to get, but on several occasions it was bucking as bad as it had been earlier. My friend said he could take the car and rebuild the carb this week, so I got down to business and finally replaced the fuel line. Lo and behold, the bucking and miss cleared up. I've put roughly 100 miles on it since replacing the fuel line and it runs pretty good. I gotta see what happens tomorrow morning but if it continues to run this good I'm going to put off the carb rebuild and buy the new battery for the 56.

Yahoo!

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John,

I like the idea of a rebuilt carb though. That's such a critical part of the system and if this guy is good then you would be all set for a long time, not having to worry about that issue.

I like the architecture of your house by the way.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the compliment on the house Bryan. I always liked what I think would be called the California Ranch ( or raised ranch in this case) , with that big overhang. But in Upstate NY it's kinds out of place. This place sat vacant for almost a full year before we happened upon it 12 years ago. I'm kinda worried that would happen again if we tried to sell it. I was thinking if I added a deck across the front at the level of the upper floor it would look like a swiss chalet. That might sell better in this snowbelt area.

Meanwhile the place was built in 1965, and it could use some work right about now, if I can just stop putting all my dough into the cars for a while.

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  • 10 months later...
Guest TallGuyJoe

Hey John,

I was digging through some of the old posts and saw this one about your '78. Looks like its in great shape :) It seems there isn't much difference between the various years from the 70's to the 80's at all. I had to replace my front grill years ago because when it was my grandfathers he had a bug deflector and someone stole it breaking parts of the grill so I found one in the yard and someone at a display said it was a 78. I guess the fins are a bit different between the years and I didn't notice it.

Have you worked much on it lately?

Joe

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I'm glad you brought this thread back up Joe. I've been driving this car for a while now 14K or so, and I have spent a lot of time and $ on it So much that I am a bit embarassed. Here's what's transpired since my last post:

I still have not rebuilt the carb, but I did do new front rotors with new wheel bearings. Also new rear drums ( while they were still available), and universal joints. In all this I was chasing a stubborn vibration above 50 MPH While doing the universals I noticed a puddle of undercoating on the drive shaft. When I got under there and sanded it off, the car straightened out. Imagine, the original owner drove that car 100K with that vibration, and a 5cent piece of sandpaper was all that was needed.

Also last December a head gasket went and right after Christmas they were both replaced. That was major improvement in performance. But two weeks later I had at least one lifter collapse, and I almost had to tear it down to replace those, but a wise man helped me cure the problem with out doing that.

At my last safety inspection I learned a rear and front shock are leaking, and the fuel pump was leaking oil from the vent hole, so this past weekend I put in a new fuel pump. Thats when I noticed I still have the original timing chain and gears and I plan to replace those the first week in August. I have had a lot of Buicks over my years and every one of these older Buick engines ( without a chain tensioner) has needed a timing chain between 99 and 129K.

Along the way I also had to replace the windshield because the seal was leaking and it was badly scratched. But I planned for that the day I bought it. Then I found out the seam on the cowl was also leaking but I was able to fix that by putting some seam sealer from the outside under the hood.

It's been a labor of love. Right now I still need to change some more vacuum hoses, and I want a new radio. The power antenna broke, the six way power seat stopped working on one tilt axis. But the A/C still blows cold. The car starts right up, I'm getting close to 14 mph driving 20 miles to work and home. I used the car on several long distance trips ( 3 hours or more at highway speeds) and got more than 16 MPG, so I am very happy with this car.

And I have had it at a couple of shows and I was very surprised to see how much the women like it.

Edited by JohnD1956 (see edit history)
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Guest TallGuyJoe

Isn't that why some call them "Shaggin Wagons"

Thanks for giving us an update. So far I haven't run into too many issues with the car but I am sure things will show up over time. I am worried about the timing chain issue. I have I think around 112,000 on it and I am sure it hasn't been replaced. I would have to dig further into it to make sure but as of now I am going to assume it hasn't been changed. I have heard from a few people that is an issue. Thanks for the heads up.

I guess the issue is that they aren't very "collectable" and valuable cars so where do you draw the line when putting money into it? I need to get paint to start off with and I know over time it will start adding up with one thing here, another here like issues you have run into. I figure the paint would probably be as much as the cars worth ;)

At least your AC works and you get good gas milage. The ac went out years ago on mine and it hasn't been on the top of the list on things to do. I need to fix the wipers don't want to work anymore and do a few monir items before getting into larger projects. Never figured out the milage yet...its probably best that I don't.

I am sorta new to the car hobby so I guess a little here, a little there is how it goes right? I have an '83 Monte Carlo and have worked on that many times over the 15 years and done different upgrades to it but this wagon seems like a whole new ballgame which makes me hesitant to do anything to it :) Maybe because its in much better shape than the Monte so I get worried.

Joe

Edited by TallGuyJoe (see edit history)
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Sounds like your car has some sentimental value, which is missing in mine, but I'm not worried about collectibility. There was a time when you could not give a station wagon away, but they are making a surprising comeback. Since you're in on the ground level, at minimum investment, I would not worry too much about the investment. But I would also address what needs to be done.

Do not peel off any of that wood grain till you decide it absolutely needs to come off. That stuff is a killer. And with it still on there you can probably repaint the rest of the car very reasonably. I would recommend you just keep it as a Driver, and refurbish what needs to be done.

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Guest TallGuyJoe

Yeah the car has been in the family for 33 years, it's hard to just get rid of it. My grandfather took good care of his cars, the paint issues and such have just happened over the last 10 years since it had to sit outside for awhile during that time and was used every day unfortunately.

I have heard recently wagons are becoming more popular. I don't really see many at shows maybe because they were all used pretty heavily and not many survived? I love the stories people tell about them, seems everyone who grew up until the 90's or so rode in a wagon sometime in their lives and it seems to have left a positive impression on them.

I have heard woodgrain is a pain and costly so I guess we will see what the issues are. I think there is a small bubble of rust under part of it on the left front fender but I would rather leave it on as well. And if the grain is taken off, they just don't look right without it, even if it is just vinyl. I'll see what options we will have with the body guy.

Joe

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With the right color, the wood grain makes it pop. But I had a black one once and took off the wood grain. I loved it that way. Also I saw a white one once with the wood grain removed. It looked great with the chrome trim for the wood grain but without the wood grain. As for my car, I think it needs the wood grain. But my car has several panels that are ruined and it will have to come off.

First though I plan to keep attending to the mechanical issues. Not much point in painting the car and then having everyone around it with tools and such.

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  • 3 weeks later...

As planned, I tackled the timing chain this past week. One nice thing about this era car is the parts are inexpensive. One bad thing is everything has to be ordered and shipped in, causing extra delays.

Anyway, I started it July 31, and finished today. Right after teardown my wife came outside and said: You are going to paint that while it's apart, right?. To be honest, I hadn't planned on painting it. But then I did, so here's a few before and after pics. One more thing. My good friend around the corner helped me time it with my new timing light. He felt the centrifugal advance wasn't working right based on the way the timing advanced while increasing the RPM. It was an astute observation that I would have missed.

So we cleaned the weights and lubricated them and that made a super improvement in performance. We'll see if that holds up next week when I return to driving it daily.

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Guest TallGuyJoe

Looks great man! It is crazy what a bit of cleaning and paint does. I need to get on painting and cleaning mine as well. What type of paint did you use if you don't mind telling?

Joe

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I used Duplicolor spray paints. Their heat resistant primer and then GM Blue for the engine, and I used self etching primer and Satin Black for the other stuff. One thing I found was that the Non CFL brake cleaner was not so great at getting all the grease off. I was surprised by that revelation.

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John, I've just looked in on this thread and have to commend you on your work! I've recently picked up a west coast twin to your car, right down to the color, the engine and the clock on the dash! Mine is (was) a one owner car with 90K on the clock. Not a spec of rust anywhere, but a few parking lot dings and rock chips in the paint.

I've replaced a number of things since I acquired it in June, like the radiator, master cylinder, muffler, catalytic converter, battery & alternator, etc. Unfortunately, the a/c is not working and there is a rear main seal leak, but it runs beautifully and smooth.

You did a fantastic job on the engine bay!

Regards,

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Edited by dmfconsult (see edit history)
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DFM...You made a nice score on that car! Mine should have had the chrome road wheels, but it had the steel wheels and hubcaps when I bought it. I think that your car is way better than mine. But thank you for your compliments. I'd love to see more pics of your car if you have time to take some. That car is super sweet!

ps: I have always liked that big round clock. Reminds me of the older Buicks guages.

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John, thanks very much for the compliments... the car is really a 20-footer, but it's a survivor and I have no intention on doing much on the exterior, other than patching a few spots where the woodgrain has come off around the door handles. I bought the car to use for family camping trips, hauling bikes, etc., and while I'll keep it nice, it will get used. I've just taken it camping and it swallowed everything my wife wanted to bring without problem! Without the 3rd seat, the space under the deck is extremely useful!

The ralley wheels are nice, but these will need some refinishing, so I will be keeping my eyes open for nicer ones as it will be cheaper than having these rechromed. I have some more pics, but they are still on my camera... as soon as I download them I'll post a few more. I've attached a couple of more photos of my car and another local buick nuts '89 Estate Wagon.

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Edited by dmfconsult (see edit history)
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Damn, Those are two fine wagons. Hey Joe, you taking this in?

I do like the older ones better. I think it is the wood grain which turns my head. It is narrower on the early generation cars.

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Guest TallGuyJoe

Yeah John, this is crazy, what are the odds that you guys have almost identical older wagons? Crazy I tell ya haha.

Those are fine wagons you have Doug! I love the 78, man I wish my wagon had paint that looked like that! I would be set then for sure. I need to dress up the engine a bit like John did...I gotta take baby steps haha. The woodgrain looks a bit darker on the '78 than my '77 or maybe it looks dark because its in great shape?

Now you guys need to get photos of them next to each other at an event like National! That would be an interesting article for the Bugle. I wonder if they have ever featured the late 70's wagon in an issue before?

Joe

Edited by TallGuyJoe (see edit history)
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I would have to hide my car under blankets if it were parked next to Doug's.

I took my wagon to a cruise night this past monday but didn't have time to wash it. So I ran through the "touchless" car wash and it ripped a large chunk of the wood grain off my passengers door. This was unexpected but not upsetting because I bought the car knowing that door was previously damaged and repaired incorrectly. The repair and the wood grain are in horrible shape and I have to start looking for another door with the wood grain. Then I will paint around the edges. Then , maybe, I would uncover it if it was next to Doug's.

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You guys are too kind! When I say 20-footer, I mean it. There are lots of knicks in the paint, woodgrain along with the normal parking lot dents in the car, believe me, they just don't show up in the photos, particularly the ones I took after spending 3 hours polishing the 32 year old paint! The entire front end is pock marked but the light paint hides some of it. I got a tip to use lemon pledge on the woodgrain and it came out fantastic, which is why it may look a little darker Joe. Give it a try on your wagons, it's works really well, although you have to reapply after a wash or rain, but it's a quick application.

John, based on your pictures, our cars would be really at home sitting next to each other on the show field... we just have to figure out who gets to travel the 5000 miles to do it! I'll get a few more pics out soon... I'm really enjoying this thread!

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There are many products you can use on the wood. The real trick is to do small patches and polish it all off with the applicator, leaving a small amt of buffing with a clean cloth. On and off as soon as possible. I've even used Kit car wax on it, and that will last a lot longer than one or two rain storms.

But you guys got me interested in taking the car a bit further. New Master cylinder is on the agenda for this weekend and then I have two places to go look for a new door. I'll try to post a pic of the offending panel tomorrow.

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