wmsue

Glad it all worked out. Have fun driving it.

Thanks Joe. I saved a bunch on painting it myself and it feels good to accomplish it. Maybe I saved enough to afford the high test gasoline. I have to drive to upstate New York (RedHook) to pick up my wife in early August and I keep telling her that I'm taking the Buick. I remember seeing a car show in Rhinebeck, New York advertised earlier. Maybe it's the same weekend. 35 Years ago I met my wife in Upstate NY driving the same car. It's only fitting that it makes a return visit....all fixed up.

Update on Replacing Top........ Been driving to old buick around the past few weeks to get a feel for driving a 'boat'. The engine still didn't run quite right till I followed the suggestion of my neighbor and replaced the intake manifold gasket....again. It runs like brand new now. It seems that one of the rubber tabs from the valve cover was slightly under the intake and creating a leak. All fixed. Today I read the manual over again and started removing the old top. I found that there are NO cables in the flaps, the stay pads are 2" off on one side, and there were only 9 bolts holding all of the rear trim pieces to the body. There are a lot more than 9 holes in the body for the bolts. There were signs of rust so I cleaned everything up and put the first coat of POR-15 on all the rusty hidden areas. Tomorrow I hope to start making alignment marks on the new top and start the install. I ordered and received a Porter Cable upholstery staple gun the other day. Wish me luck! p.s. I'm taking lots of pictures.

FYI The Packard Museum in Warren is very good. I don't believe the Crawford Museum in Cleveland is open yet. The closed for 2 years for renovation and all the cars are in an enclosed heated warehouse in Medina, Oh (?) There was a controversy with funding from the late Mrs. Crawford but it was resolved before her passing a few years ago. With her newest donation they were able to sustain the collection and totally renovate the space. Among the collection are a few unique stainless steel prototype Ford autos I remember seeing. In Canfield (outside of youngstown) is car museum of TP Tools. A great museum that's open on weekends and by appt. You always see TP tools at the cars shows and some of the cars highlighted in their catalog are on display. It's a bit north of were you are traveling.....but didn't want you to plan on visiting Crawford and be out of luck.

Don't remember where I learned it from.....but I can recall jumping Field to Ground to polarize a generator.

When I worked in a machine shop during H.S. and college we had a hot tank for cast items and a 'cold' tank for aluminum. When the solutions were fresh they both did a great job. It was not a happy day in the shop when someone put the wrong thing in the hot tank. We also had a 'Wheelabrator' that consisted of a rubber conveyor belt and shot peen (similar to the shavings of a brake drum lathe) that blew apart any rust or crud. I would tumble a V-8 head for about 7 minutes each. We had a sign on the front of the Wheelabrator that said "Be nice to me, I'm seven days older than God." It was an old machine that was half in the building and a huge tower setup outside. When it broke (and it did fairly often) the smallest kid had to climb up into the tower to replace a part or fix it. That was usually me. I didn't listen to the shop foreman once and tried to wheelabrate an old RR lantern that I cleaned in the tank first. It came out looking like swiss cheese. The shot peen blew a million little holes in it. Guess I should have used the sand blaster like he said.

"Not all vehicles can be set to the same specs, as caster, for example. So, if factory specs are going to be deviated from, for any reason, my personal recommendations would be to "max caster" (which might be only 2 deg positive), camber at basically "zero", and toe-in as close to "zero" or "min-spec" as possible, consistent with good tire wear of the tire's particular tread design." Having read a few of threads concerning alignment are the above suggestions by NTX5467 a good place to start? I have a 65 Electra with all new suspension (springs, ball joints, shocks, tie rods, bushings, idler arm....) and radials. Since getting it painted I've only put 10 miles on it because it tends to wander all over the road above 35 mph. The closest shop is 10 miles away that is able to align the car. I haven't put the seats back in the car because I'm working on the conv top. I'd like to drive it a bit even though I've only got an old bucket seat bolted in place for now. The alignment shops records only go back to 1982 and I figure my old specs are out of date since I put radials on it. Any thoughts? Thanks

IRISH SPRING SOAP did not work for me. I opened the glove box of my Ford Ranger and there was a nice nest of a field mouse with her few day old babies. The bar of soap had lots of nibbles out of it and the pieces were scattered among it's next. I had a whole bar of soap in the glove box. The truck smells real nice and clean. The mama mouse must have felt dirty and decided to scent her nest. My registration and insurance card were half eaten as well as tire receipts etc. Time for plan B - A trip to Tractor Supply for one of the electronic devices.

I see the light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully it's not the headlight of an oncoming train. My 65 Electra Conv. is almost ready. I bought it in 1973, my junior year in HS. didn't even have a drivers license but I had a car. Daily driver for 6 years and then I went to pick it up from having body work done on it and the engine was blown. Of course they denied ever driving it. Number 7 rod was snapped and section of the cam was missing. About 6 years ago I finally got a few extra bucks and found the time to start restoring. Little by little most thngs have been addressed. Made a spray both a few weeks ago and painted it back to Seafoam Green Met. and tonight I put the rear bumper on. I've got 3 of the 6 brake lights working so far.....that's legal right. Headlights, license plate light and backups all work now too. Hope to get the front bumper on by Saturday and take it on the road. Since I only have one old bucket seat bolted to the floor there will be no passengers for while. I've have YOM plates and the insurance started up yesterday. The reupholstered seats and door panels are not in yet because I haven't put the new conv. top on. It'll be a lot easier to install it without any seats in the car. It came in last week and sure looks nice. Got to wait till my friend has time to help me in mid May. It may not be pretty just yet, but with a bit of luck it will see the road.

Art supply stores sell battleship linoleum. It is used for block printing. Try Dick Blick Art Supply or School Specialty (Sax) art supply. Good Luck

I bought my HVLP system from them about 20 years ago and my new TP finish gun from them a few weeks ago. I live and work not too far from their store in Canfield so it's close to stop by. The help you get from the staff is great. I think the gentleman's name is Russ I usually look for. I've looked through the windows of the museum many times but never find myself near the shop on the weekends. Great place and great prices.

Barry, The crown moldings for the 65 and 66 Electra 2drs are the same. The part # is 4226867 for the 2 drs The moldings are different for the 4drs for 65 and 66. If you ever run across a good set of these for sale, keep me in mind. Mine are heavily pitted and need rechroming or replaced.

Fast forward to April 2012 I got the weather stripping problem sorted out last fall. I got a set from Steele and they are not 100% correct but I'll make them work. Some of the screw holes don't line up but it will work out. Got tired of waiting for the body shop to fit me in. So I constructed a tunnel 14' x 24' and covered it with 2 mil plastic. The old Buick fit nicely in it with plenty of room to operate a spray gun. The paint job came out pretty darn good. I did manage to get one tiny mosquito and an eyelash buried in the paint. If I didn't point them out, they would be hard to find. No runs! No hits with the hose! The metallic looks even but I do have a bit of orange peel. I sprayed Acrylic Enamel with a hardener. I might try and buff it out in a few days. I'm ordering the replacement convertible top and window on Monday. I'll start applying all the trim this week and hopefully get the seats in before too long. thanks to all who helped solve the many problems I've encountered so far. I've have all winter to read and prepare for the install of the new top. Heck with the money I might save, maybe I can afford the high test gas I need to run the old girl. Please ignore the weeds and lack of mulch on the garden outside my shop. The mulch is in my green Ford Ranger on the right. I just had my priorities in order and painted my car first. I weeded and mulched while the paint was drying. It was a good day. Thanks for listening

Fantastic story. Don't loose faith now. Thanks for posting you progress. A few thoughts.....They make a 'shot peen' hammer that is made from plastic/nylon, The head is filled with metal shot that floats in the hammer head. It provides a good hit put doesn't mess up the object it hits. I'm not sure how long it takes to line up the king pin and spindle to do the install, but if you soaked the kingpin in dry ice for a while to shrink it, maybe it would be loose enough to slide in. On the down side if it contacts the spindle for too long, it will suck out the cold and the pin might get stuck. Maybe do a dry fit with dry ice and see how loose it make is. Good luck and keep us informed. Thanks

What's the code from the check engine light? That might give a clue or help narrow it down.

I was able to find a rebuilt brake booster for my 65 Electra a year or so ago from NAPA. I had to turn in my old one for a core. I added a dual M/C and converted the fronts to disc brakes. You have to add a proportional valve to the setup. If you have questions let me know.

Got the replacement parts in the mail yesterday from Wheatbelt. Installed them and the horn works great. Thanks

Anybody ever try the electronic or ultrasonic mice machines? They are suppose to deter any critter with an electronic sound that doesn't bother dogs or cats. I've never tried it because I didn't think they would work.

Hi all, Well I finally installed the tilt steering column in my 65 Electra and purchased a lower clamp joint (thanks WildBill) and all is well. Except that the horn will not work now. After checking the wiring and the book, I find that there is a 'contact cartridge assembly and a pin' that need to be installed on the bottom of my steering wheel in order for the horn contacts to work with a tilt column. Anybody ever run into this? How did you solve it? Attached are a few photos to describe it better. Making the pin isn't such a big deal but the cartridge assembly could be because I don't know any specs on it. Anybody have spare ones around they like to part with? Does anyone know that part #'s for these? I checked out Buick Farm and had no luck. Thanks

I bought a 79 Skyhawk 'new' in the fall of 78. Paid 5K for it. The engine blew in my old buick and couldn't find a replacement fast so I bought my first new car. It had the 3.8 litre V-6 with a 5 speed, tilt, A/C PS,PB and a real spare tire. Got great gas mileage. I installed a water vaporizer in the engine compartment and a vacuum gauge under the dash. I was engaged to my wife at the time and she said she'd pay the extra to get an automatic in it. I paid extra and got the 5 speed. Never hear the end of that one. I thought maybe I'd get a few points for selling it and buying a 4 dr. after we had kids....not enough points to offset the lack of it being an automatic though. I remember one cold winter I pushed the clutch pedal to the floor and the cable came through the firewall. It took awhile to fix that one. I don't have the Skyhawk anymore but the old Buick will rise again for this summer. Can't wait till I get it primed and painted. Almost there.......

Give - Then and Now Automotive a call. They did a great job on my fuel pump a few weeks ago. I know they offer brake relining and brake banding services too. Then and Now Automotive - Services Phone: 781-335-8860 Outside U.S.: 01-781-335-8860 Fax: 781-335-1925 Then and Now Automotive 447 Washington St. Weymouth Ma. 02188

I didn't realize cut-away transmissions were that rare! I taught at a local university in the mid 80's and we had a few cut-away transmissions that were color code painted. GM supplied them to us as well as a few cars. I remember we had a white Pontiac that was flood damaged before it hit the showroom floor. When we got it the interior was stripped of cloth but everything else was there. Even the mud still in the rockers panels. I'm sure GM used it as a write off. We had about a dozen engines that had been donated but I don't remember any of them being a cut-away. I certainly would like to see it in a museum but as far as value........I wouldn't put it very high.

Hi WildBill, I sent you a p.m. thanks

Hi Gerry, My service manual only shows one break down for the full size Buicks including Riv's. I'd be willing to take a shot of it working. Will send you a p.m. Thanks

Hi all, I'm changing my std. column to a tilt steering column and find that I cannot use my lower support assembly. My std. column had a pressed on clamp assembly and the tilt takes double bolt type. I'm also not sure how the shaft stays centered in column? The old std column used a bearing retainer/collar that will not interchange with the tilt column. The tilt column already has the shifting lever attached and from the diagram, the bearing and seal are behind it. I've posted photos of both columns and the diagrams from the service manual. Anyone have a spare one around they'd like to sell? Not sure if other years are the same? Any ideas how the column stays centered? Thanks