My 60 Electra 225 Convertible

That red is poppin' my man! Looks great Adam!

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I just found this thread today and I know it's a little late but there's a '60 Buick 4 door H.T. in my town. It's been sitting outside for at least 20 years.

2 tone blue and looks complete. I could check it out if anyone is interested. It's in Avon, Ct in a driveway of a private home.

That red is poppin' my man! Looks great Adam!

x2...made me unwrap my convertible and run it with the top down.

Gorgeous Adam, just gorgeous. Please post lots of pics when you get it home.

The 60 flat top that I owned had the blue stripey pyjama fabric on the seats, in good condition, but the red leather looks amazing in the convertible.

Adam..

I've been so itchy to drive the car lately that I haven't even washed it or taken the time to shoot a couple photos.  I've also been working 12-14 hours a day at work, then coming home and working for 2 more hours on stainless trim.  I have two cars worth of stuff to have done before May 27 when I deliver it all to Buick Race Day in Norwalk, OH. 

The car is running absolutely perfectly.  I love it.  I spent a few minutes testing a small area to cut and buff...WOW it looks so much better.  This paint is very dirty and beat up.  Even with all the rust, it should clean up pretty nice.  I just have to find some time to do this before BPG...at least before Springfield.  I entered it in 400 point judging....we'll see how that goes! I would be extremely surprised to score a bronze...the condition of everything (sans interior) is just not up to snuff.  We will see, though.

So, the top issue.  It is not installed correctly, and you can see the rear bow seam is not where it should be.  I don't have time to fix it before Springfield, so it will just have to look like crap for the show.  At least it is clean and keeps the water out.

I will do an oil change before I leave for Norwalk in a couple weeks.  I also need to change the rear axle seal on the left side since it's seeping.

Not much of the car...but it is proof that we're enjoying it

Not much of the car...but it is proof that we're enjoying it

As it was meant to be. 

400 point judging?  You should do at least a silver.  Everyone starts with 400 points and  deductions are made in order of importance:  authenticity (no excuse for it not being correct if you do your research); workmanship (you have that under control for sure ); condition (the least important criteria...usually just a point here and there).  And some of this will depend on the judges and whether they paid attention to the training .

Willie

I would be very surprised to see a Bronze, Willie.  The car is not up to snuff with all the correct goodies...tires, etc.  Condition is a major factor with this car, currently   I can see through the fenders.  Engine compartment is very original, as far as never being really cleaned or painted.  Wrong belts, clamps, etc.

I will do my best to make the paint look good, but the car just needs work.  Depending on if I have a customer car this Winter, I will either tackle this car or the 54 to paint.

I had to see what I could do with the paint...so I put aside the stainless trim to do some sanding and buffing.  It is difficult to get the real effect on a photo, but it's a HUGE difference.  There is a ton of superficial rust staining and dirt embedded in the paint, as well as a boatload of scratches.  This will make the car look sooooo much better!

Very nice Adam. What I'm impressed with is the momentum you built very quickly getting this car up to standards.

It's been a while since I was active in the local BCA chapter (I live in O'Fallon). Looking forward to seeing your car in Springfield. I'm planning on driving the 49 there.

Geoff

I got some help this weekend.

I blotted some white paint on all the chips and rust spots just so I could make the car look like it's not full of rot from 10 feet away.  Tomorrow, I will finish buffing it out and give it a bath.  Atena is on whitewall duty tomorrow.

I hope the car is up for a 10 hour drive on Wednesday!

I bet it will look great Adam, once they are all restored they are never as fun as they were when you could drive them and enjoy them without the worry

It is already looking soooo much better with the top layer of paint wiped off, and all the chips and spots colored in.  If you look at it cross-eyed, it looks like a million bucks

Use Go-Jo on the white walls.  It worked great for me in Portland!

I literally have to sand the whitewalls to get them white.  Nothing has been able to penetrate these.

Done with preliminary buffing.  All the jamb areas are still a mess, but it's a start.  The car looks sooooo much better with some of those ugly spots masked.  These whitewalls are really ticking me off, though.

Oh man!  Looks Fantastic!!!

Dammit man! I need to find a way to get down there with Big Blue.

Yes you do! 

The car really looks good in person. Did it keep you dry on the way home with all the rain?  

Amazed at how much better the paint looks after you detailed it!

The paint cleanup really made a difference in how the car presents.

Tom K, Some light drippage from the two corners during the heavy rains.  3 hours of heavy rains

I got home from the Buick Race Day/ Buick Performance Group car show this evening, and within an hour, I had the wheels off, drums off, and left rear axle pulled.  I am taking the wheels/tires to get balanced, and possibly tires replaced if they will take back the horrid looking brown walls that were sold to me.  The drums need turned, as I am getting some pretty good chatter when coming to a stop...especially at higher speeds.  The left axle seal was leaking, too. 

Drums are turned and stops nice and smooooooooothly now!  Replaced the left rear axle bearing.  Just saw the right rear is leaking now, too.  That one can wait.  Whitewalls are white now, due to 180 grit on the DA.

You can't beat freshly turned drums. 

I am really glad to see you guys using and enjoying this car!

...and I'm glad you nudged me at the time you did last year.  I'd still be driving the 58 if it weren't for that message

Lots of progress Adam. Look forward to a closer look next week in Springfield!

Knowing that my speedometer hasn't worked since I bought the car, I decided to investigate.  My initial suspicion was that the cable was just unhooked either at the cluster or the transmission.  I looked under the car first, and pulled the cable from the transmission.  Hmmmm...no inner cable.  There was a new complete speedo cable kit included with the car, so I pulled it out and ripped out the inner cable, and stuffed it into the old housing.  Test drive revealed why it was taken out in the first place.  Something inside the instrument cluster was causing the barrel to hang up and read 120mph all the time.

Today, I pulled the dash apart to get to the instrument cluster to see if I could handle this myself.  After some time getting to all the fasteners, I finally had the cluster out.  Not as bad as I thought.  The 60 has a printed board that all the electronics run on, and is plugged into a single connector.  One connector, speedo cable, and a clock connector, and it's free!

After taking apart the cluster, I found that the magnet that turns the barrel was rubbing on the cup it rides in.  Some MacGuyver work later, it was smooth running.  I basically added a spacer to the inner spindle of the barrel to keep it about 1 /16" away from the magnet. 

I also made sure all bulbs inside the housing were good.  I replaced two of them.

I now have a working speedometer, and as a bonus, a working clock!!

Later this evening, I will be tackling the door, hood, and trunk jambs...as they are very scuzzy.

Good work in tackling and solving that problem!

Nothing like working to the last minute Adam, reminds me of when I restored my 67 (the 2nd time) before the National Meet in 87ish in Indianapolis, I was off the week before and worked round the clock putting the car back together, at 4 AM the morning I was leaving for Indy we put the interior in.  My Dad gave the car a bath while I went to bed for a couple hours and I took off for Indy in a freshly restored car that had not been even on a shakedown drive - all went well. 

Clock keeps blowing fuses.  Not sure why, but I think I'm going to look into it when I actually have time to think about it

So I found a weak spot with the convertible.  Yesterday, I had gone down to Arkansas to pick up a 60 Cadillac to work on, and Atena ended up driving the convertible behind me.  I was pushing the speed pretty hard at 75-80mph.  On I-44, the hills are pretty relentless.  The Buick finally overheated and puked coolant all over the side of the road.  We filled the radiator back up with water we found in a deep puddle (it was clean enough) to get us to the next exit to refill and cool off.  Other than that, it ran great.

I found an NOS side mirror for it at the swap meet, and it was sans glass.  I did some research online and found http://mirrorglassplus.com/...several models of car are the same glass as the 60, so I ordered one for $19.99 shipped.

The radiator is out to get cleaned out, as well as the radiator for the 54. 

This past weekend has given me a kick in the a$$ to start getting the 60 into shape.  Of course these events always have a habit of doing that to me.  I think we are going to sell the 54 after I get it running so I can concentrate on going through the 60.  We will eventually find Atena another car. 

NOS mirror installed with new glass...total investment $60! 

One piece at a time

_{That's awesome.  What a bargain!  I actually need a glass for a hooded mirror I am restoring (just for the heck of it and in case I decide to switch to these on the convertible) so I may try that place, depending on what the local glass shop says.}

you should go to jail for stealing

There was the same NOS mirror next to it with glass, and it was $150.  I win this one I do wish I could have found that passenger side lower fender molding.  I would love to cover up that rust hole!

Adam, ongoing kudos...always entertained by your canny maneuvers.  FYI haven't forgotten about our '49 convsation, still getting ducks in a row....

-Steve.

Cool, thanks Steve.  Let me know as soon as possible, because I need to know if I will have an open garage this Winter, or if I will be tearing the 60 apart to do the body.

Thanks to shorttimer, I now have a lower trim piece to cover up the lovely rust hole in the passenger side fender!  It looks soooo much better with that piece mounted.