Beemon

Here's some telemetry data from our 75 mph jaunts. On the way home I think we averaged 80. The temp needle is pointing at the 210 mark. I think if I had the stock fan, and wasn't dumping hot coolant through the heater core into the bottom of the radiator tank, it would be a little cooler. As soon as we crossed snoqualmie pass, it dropped back to 180 and stayed there the rest of the way home. So with the thermostat and radiator eliminated (and confirmed to be a problem), and the fan has no immediate effect, it's one of two things: 1) water pump for some reason is not pumping the correct gpm 2) engine is worn out so much its causing excess heat... Both options are plausible I suppose, the water pump was rebuilt 7 years ago and should still be good. The engine itself is unknown miles and never been apart based on my inspections. Will investigate tomorrow, maybe. Also just like my Buick, I'm working on my two tone: And speaking of two tone Buicks, here's two beautiful Buicks side by side:

Portawalls look good when they fling off at 80 mph. Really gives the guy behind you on the highway a good laugh... lol maybe you can get them to work with a good spray adhesive, but I imagine it will be very difficult to clean the black wall enough to get something to stick.

I have never had a problem buying $1500 worth of tires for my trucks that are 10 ply tread and go tear them up on gravel roads. However, the last tire purchase I made for my 56 was $550 Hankook black walls. For some reason I don't see white walls as a major value add before all other things are taken care of. Any black wall radial will probably be better than a Coker tire anyways, their certifications are questionable at best. Your best bet is Diamondbacks, but then you're back up to $1500 for a set.

Pulled my valve covers tonight and replaced my chrome covers with my Edelbrock valve covers I've had in the trunk forever. I also have the spark plug wire covers, but I can't find the nuts so I'll have to stop by the hardware store prior to the meet. My 65 Riv rocker shafts still looks brand new.

The misses and I went out to one of the local parks. We saw the falls and the river and got some lunch. I did get some pictures before we left and hung out with Mr Ben Bruce before leaving. I saw Willie leave in his Buick so I didn't feel bad leaving in mine. Currently trying to brace her for the full five hours tomorrow when the show starts.

It is bypassed. I looked at the swap meet stuff but did not see a ranco valve. I'll have more fun rebuilding it when I get home.

If it's just leaking, find a plumber buddy and solder it back together to get you down the road for the season. Or heat up the solder and redo what's there. I just had my top tank pulled for a rod out and it only cost me $210 from a reputable shop in Seattle. That's all it needed, we didn't even pull the bottom tank.

I've been going a bit stir crazy, my girlfriend wanted to go back to our home away from home after lunch so I started tinkering with some toys I brought with me. No one noticed, but the front of my car said "Special". So I went and swapped out this centerpiece I've had in the trunk for a while now. The medallion is a little bent so I'll massage that later, but at least the car trim is complete again. I might see if I can get a second set of valve cover gaskets and put my Edelbrock valve covers back on the engine.

Where have you guys been hiding at?

My girlfriend and I are 20 minutes away from the host hotel at an airbnb.

So how does registration work? I didn't because I didn't think I would make it due to some hardware difficulties and ended up making it out, but not registered.

Finally made it

Rookie mistake, I tried removing the radiator cap and it went everywhere. I'm dead in the water here, waiting for a tow to NAPA. On the plus side, the pantyhose are doing their job.

My ranco valve blew, I'm trying to figure out how I can bypass it. I've lost quite a bit of coolant now. It's all over the floor on the passenger side, too. Looks like the solder joint broke between the tube and the mount because I can wiggle it back and forth.

Tomorrow as in today (Wednesday)

I read through your thread while I waited for my laundry to finish before tomorrow. Loved the pictures John, looks like we'll all be showing up mid-day or afternoon tomorrow, can't wait!

The radiator was done TODAY (7/11). I picked it up and just finished installing, filling, and repairing both my power antenna and light switch. Turns out on my light switch, the reason why I had no gauge lights was because the contactor lever on the back side of the rheostat was rusted. I took the whole thing apart again just to be sure. Used my girlfriend's nail filer to clean up all the contacts, and I have lights again. I also picked up a couple bolts and tightened down my driver fender. I'm still concerned about the battery tray support, but it's better than it was. I am a little concerned about the charging system, it experienced a hiccup today after I buttoned everything up and wasn't charging. After idling at 700 for 10 minutes it started charging again after it stopped for 10 minutes. I hope this was a fluke, but just in case I let the voltage regulator know what's up with the palm of my hand. I have not experienced any cooling anomalies, and the panty hose is in the radiator. See yall tomorrow?

The Opel Insginia GSi should be the exact same car as the Buick Regal GS, and you can buy the Buick badging and steering wheel from any GM parts outlet so it would be really easy to "convert" over. I actually prefer the Avenir front end over the GS front end, I feel like its much more aerodynamic. However, this 3.6L V6 engine is really fun and fast. Its not supercar fast, but its faster than it probably should be. I think it may also have a tune stored because the engine auto stop/start has been disabled.

Well I have not heard back from the radiator shop so I made a conscious consumer decision and traded in my 2008 Z71 Avalanche for a 2019 Regal GS. Come July I will be in a Buick, yet to determine which one.

These got stuck open for me after shutting the car off in 85 degree weather. I wouldn't dare run one after I had two fail back to back for the same issue.

Punch it in low out of the starting gate/on ramp and shift into D about 45 mph and get it up to 70, you gotta burn the carbon out - Willie told me once to drive it like I stole it and I still do. Can you possibly film it? How loud is the pinging? If you can't hear it with the radio on low volume it's not a concern.

They are going to do all the professional tricks, including flow test. They are going to attempt to check all the boxes before they take it apart but at this point... I agree, and this is most likely what is going to happen. The core is solid, hopefully they do not recore. I would be very surprised if they had to recore.

Did a ton of research on this before, and I have used the clutch fan prior to the overheating issue, but the correct fan clutch for a 65 Riviera is a 2747 HD fan clutch. If it's good enough for a 401, I think it should do well for the 322. The part number I used in the past was an HD clutch as well, 271303 from NAPA (2747 part above) and worked great until it didn't (confirmed with heat gun and thermometer). I had an aftermarket 6 blade 2 in pitch fan I think you suggested way back in 2017. I'm currently digging through some old posts, but on the lookout for the stock standard 5 blade 3 inch pitch fan that has 2 blades offset and held in with 5 rivets.

John if it's any consolation, I run 5* BTDC also because I have pinging on hills above that. It's a factory stock engine. At 5 degrees, there is very slight load pinging like you describe when pulling steep hills. It is very slight and I don't think much of it because it's not knocking and rattling. I believe this to just be the nature of the beast. I run high octane 10% ethanol. I ditched my 56 distributor because my advance plate was overrunning and replaced it with a 65 distributor. I didn't and still do not have access to a distributor machine but was able to verify timing to stock as you have. I run NGK 5858 V-Power plugs with Packard 440 wires. On the subject of spark plug wires, did you verify ohms per length of wire? It doesn't sound like you have a wire issue, but more resistance is more work for the ignition system.

Do they make rubber piston seals?