I'm going to use this thread to document my progress on a friend's 60 Electra 225 that I'm freshening up for next year's national event.

I started out with a mess in the trunk when I got the car. I pulled out all the dead trunk material and saved the cardboard trim pieces to reinstall after the new material gets laid in over the Winter.

This is where I am right now -


Trunk floor is painted along with the jack parts and the spare tire.

Next in line is the underside of the trunk lid, which is scratched up and a little rusty in spots.


Jack bits:




Trunk floor covered with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator (I still have the stuff stuck to my fingers)

Weekend progress:

Only managed to break one bolt getting the t-stat housing off. But I was able to wrench on the stud and unscrew it once i soaked it with PB Blaster.



Oh the destruction!!!!





Oh the beauty




Generator, fan guard, and air cleaner top came out nice..

Adam, your going to mess around and get into this full time!!

What's so bad about that?

Didn't get too far today, since I broke two sockets and managed to destroy the passenger side exhaust manifold.




But I got the intake, valve covers, and the drivers side exh manifold off.

I had to make a trip to Sears for a new impact wrench and some new sockets...

When I popped off the passenger side head this morning, this made its way to the floor. I have no idea what it is, or where it came from. Can anyone help out?? It's roughly 5/8" tall and 7/16" wide. It looks to be a plug of sorts, but it has a hole through it.

I can't see anywhere that it came out.

Heads, intake, exhaust manifolds, and water neck all came off this morning with only minor fights. The impact wrench made short work of getting those old rusted exhaust studs out of the manifolds under the car.

I'm waiting on an order from CARS to get the heads rebuilt with new seals and the rest of the engine parts cleaned up, also. They are sending engine and chassis paint as well. So, I'm dead in the water until I get the shipment from them. Hopefully I got everything I needed in one shot. I ordered over $500 worth of stuff in decals, little rubber parts, paint, sensors, etc.

I'm proud of myself that I have only broken 3 bolts so far. One was on the t-stat housing, one was the bolt holding the tranny dipstick tube to the exhaust manifold, and the other one is still holding tight in the passenger side head with a corner of the exh manifold still sttached.

I have pictures, but I don't have any time to post them right now. Tomorrow, maybe........

Smartin, nice work!

Just a guess, but on the closeup pic of the exhaust manifold, there's a threaded stud sticking out of the head that looks about the size of that piece you found. It also looks like there's paint on all of it but the top threads--did that piece possibly serve as a cap on this stud? There's also a dab of paint on the top of the stud where the hole in the cap is. I'd be kind of surprised if this was right--just a wild guess on a Wildcat!

The stud serves as a mounting point for the lower generator bracket...so it has a nut that goes on it when everything is mounted correctly.

This little rubber doodad may be nothing, but I want to make sure it didn't fall out of something important. I would imagine it's not near any real heat, otherwise it would be trash by now.

Nice work Adam! (and nice car too!)

Thanks Phil! This car is going to be much nicer than what I had projected at first...


Discoveries I made this weekend:

Dead heater core (which explains the mildew problem and the fogging windshield)




I also got the passenger side manifold off and found that the heat riser was frozen shut. This would explain the power issue!

The heads are getting rebuilt as soon as I get the gaskets and seals from CARS.


Current state of affairs: waiting for parts.

this could very well be a restricter of some sort used to slow down the rate of water return to the radiator, allowing for better cooling. more than likely, you will find another one in the other head. i seem to recall a very similar arrangement in my 324 olds rocket engine.

well, now that you mention it is rubber, my restricter theory doesn't sound very good. the pieces in my car were basically drilled out freeze plugs.

Got some more random stuff done today...

Did some cleaning under the hood today, but concentrated on getting the heater box cover done, power steering pump, horns, and breather tube clean and painted. Every nut and bolt gets wire wheeled and clearcoated, unless noted a specific color. I love seeing things come together, even if it is just a heater box! Everything's clean and spotless. I love it!!


PS pump: purrrrdy!





Heater Box Cover - this should look good when mounted again:TU:





T00B...nothing special here..





I got the heater core out last night and it is TOAST. When I say TOAST, I mean it must have been leaking for 5 years. No wonder everyone was complaining of mildew problems. I hope it can be recored!

Looking great Adam!! You may want to try some older type radiator shops - it is surprising what is out there and available in heating cores - you just may find new ones are available.

Adam,

Ames Performance Engineering (Pontiac restoration parts) has a repo core for "B" cars beginning in '61... maybe it'll fit? http://www.amesperf.com/

Looking good Adam,
I second Keith's recommendation about the old timey shops, I know there have got to be a ton in St. Louis. They may be able to rework the one you have got, too. My Wildcat had a heater core that I figured was totally gone, too, but Mr. Cool here in Austin kicked serious butt and fixed the leak with no problems in two years.
BTW, I think I talked to you last year at the nationals when you were trying to figure out the shift linkage for your friends 62 console. I had the Burgundy Wildcat with the white buckets with silver sparkle inserts.
Your project sure looks fun.
Mike

There is a radiator shop next to my office, and he is THE guy to go to for a radiator porblem, so I'll go to him first. I am taking the radiator and the heater core there tomorrow to see if he can revive it. I'm having the radiator boiled out and checked just to be on hte safe side. I'd hate to be halfway to Rochester and have a tank blow on me.

If you're referring to Plano, I was there, but I think you might have been talking to Bob (the mechanic who was doing the work on his car at the time). I don't think they have it totally figured out yet, since the car does not want to fully engage in Park when "parked." The parking brake must be engaged every time he parks the car.

I do remember your car, though. Very nice!! I'm a sucker for the Wildcat.

Heater core is junk...I'm looking for another one. Anyone?

Bummer Slim,
I guess just keep trying ebay.
Good luck.
Mike

Hey,
One other thing. On that 62 console.
I don't know if you read my post to someone else on the placement of the indicator plastic. I had mine hooked up correctly and the guy who redid my interior put the mount on top instead of beneath the gear shift. It rolled down the hill and totalled his Pontiac. The extra 1/4" difference threw the geometry off. In other words the console has to be closer to the floor, thus giving the lever the full range it was designed for. I don't have access to my Wildcat right now, cuz it's about to move into it's new garage, but have him check it out and I might be able to post pics within a few weeks. See ya.
Mike

Interesting...

I will look at that when his 62 comes into the garage in a couple months for a bit of work.

I'll also post a couple pics of the TOASTED heater core, too.

Pics of the alleged producer of horrid mildew smells..

Nasty. That's a nice big core though, isn't it? The heaters throw flames on those old Buicks! Hope you can get a good one.

Good luck on the mildew smell. You'll probably get a hundred "tips" on getting rid of it, but I'll throw one in anyway: cedar chips. Supposed to do wonders.

Thanks Guy, I hope I can find one, too. So far, this has been the most difficult issue. I hope to keep it that way!

Cedar chips....makes sense! At the very least, it will mask the odor.

The chips are supposed to absorb odor, too, and the best part is that it's a dry cleaning system so you've got nothing to lose. Any more moisture as in a liquid cleaner or deodorizer you run the risk of just re-activating more smells!

It's great to see how much care you're taking on the details of this car. The photos are nicely presented to show your work. It's kind of a step-by-step restoration guide that we don't see too much of, and very informative. And fun!