Buicknutty

Well not totally, one of things left to fix!

Awesome, love the video, thanks for sharing!

I do have a few rodent abatement things in place, this building is constructed very very well, and I've never found one in this building. Right now the car is in such a condition that widows up or not they would still get in it! Most of the windows are out of the car for the work which needs to be done on it. The steel walls of this building go below grade level and into the concrete making it about as animal proof as it is possible to get. The old building is a different story and I do catch mice in that one from time to time so they are around for sure! Keith

We had a nice Buick weekend. On Saturday we took the Electra out for breakfast, etc., a drive of about 35 miles or so. Then today it was so nice I drove the Reatta, top down, to another city to pick up some items, almost all of it two lane paved roads, just a few miles on a major highway. I didn't take note of the mileage but it was something like 110 miles total.

Here is the car as it sits right now, a rather sad looking Wildcat. Though it's appearance has not changed a great deal it is improving, well it will be once I get these other projects out of the way and can back onto it. Keith

That's really great they were able to reproduce the fabric. They sent me samples for my car, but nothing they had at the time, about 2 years ago, matched mine very well. It is possible that since the car was built in Oshawa the fabric could be of local manufacture. For these cars they did get a lot out of Flint and assembled them here. I've heard conflicting stories about this and I suppose they are all true. For the more popular cars they made more stuff here, and the less common ones were finished and trimmed out here. This is before the auto deals and fully assembled cars carried much higher duties than if they were built in Canada. Sorry for the diversion, but I'll be interested to see the end result! Keith

That's fabulous, congratulations! The Buick is looking great and awesome that it's running well too. Keith

I've been driving the Electra quite a bit so far this year, and we went out for breakfast so I drove it, then a little drive on the way home but only about 40 miles or so today. The car is really running great.

This car is still available and the seller has contacted me to indicate he will take somewhat less than his previous asking price. So if you have an interest in the car, give him a call and try to buy it. He has not said what his lower price might be so I cannot guide you at all. Keith

Very nice!

As i now have the car running again, I've moved it to another garage so i get a few other small jobs done on other cars, late models and a couple of the vintage babies. Hopefully I can get all of these out of the way in a few weeks so i can get back onto this one.

Great looking progress Matt!

Today my son and I took his '55 to an upholstery place in another town, to talk to them about getting the seats done, it was about 75 miles round trip. The temps are hot here running in the low 90's to about 95 F, and the engine held it's cool throughout including some traffic. Oil pressure stayed great too, so a successful run. This was the longest it's been driven since we got it on the road last summer, and the hottest drive too. We took the secondary highways all the way and it cruised comfortably in the 55-60 indicated range. Here's a shot of it in front of the shop while we were waiting. Keith

Yes, that's the sad part about this car. I have more pics of the undercarriage and it doesn't get any better.

This car is for sale locally (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) on Kijiji and I went to look at it as I am still way off from finishing the one I'm doing for my wife (see the thread "My Wife's 1968 Wildcat Convertible"), though I decided to not buy it. The car's interior is the rarer bucket seat and console and still would be in usable condition once cleaned up. It has a 350 2 bbl, instead of the correct 430 4 bbl, though it started well from cold and ran good without obvious smoke. I'm thinking the engine is of a similar vintage to the car. Who or when this was done is not known, the car does drive, but it isn't currently licensed. Though it wouldn't have the muscle of the big block it would still take you down the road. There is no visible rust on the exterior panels, and doors etc seem to fit well, though the underneath is much different. The body structure and frame will require a considerable of work. The car was used as a prop car and is owned by the production company and it's no longer needed hence it's now for sale. I believe it's a Canadian car and it appears to have been in storage for some time before being acquired by this company. There's an oil change sticker on the door jam though difficult to read, the date is July 13 198?, I think the last number is an 8, and it shows about 8,000 miles more than the mileage on the sticker. The body number, 218 shows it to be a very early production car out of the less than 3,600 built. According to my info at least. He is asking $9,000 but has indicated he might take only Slightly less. If you are interested call or text Pazz at 416-898-2221. https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/city-of-toronto/1968-buick-wildcat-custom-convertible/1659536720

Since it is nice and warm, summer like temps here in Southern Ontario we took the '56 Roadmaster to a large cruise in Port Dover, and old fishing town now a tourist town on the North Shore of lake Erie. Our old faithful, the '56 Roadmaster has had very little use recently, so we gave it a wash job and took it for an afternoon of hardtop driving! The smooth flow of power and the muted growl from the 322 nailhead with the buttery smooth Dynaflow makes it a nice drive. Less than 50 miles round trip but all of it on well paved country roads. The only other Buick there was this Skylark which was a bit of a custom, still running a nailhead though. The paint was extremely well done, kind of like a root beer brown with a hint of burgundy in it. The interior and dash were customized as you can see. Keith

Wow what a beauty! The lady is pretty nice too!

Thank you for the info!

Well Folks, after many interruptions and a couple of snags I finally got the engine in the 'Cat back together and it's running fine again. I have a question about the exhausts on these cars. This one has a single and it would appear as if this is what it was built with. Is there any reason I couldn't order a stock dual system and bolt it up? The car really should have duals as far I'm concerned. Thank you! Keith

Yesterday it was such a nice day, but I had to go to my daughter's place to do a some of work in the backyard so I drove the Electra! That was about 125 miles or so round trip, a warmish day so we ran with the AC on most of the time. The car ran great plus I took a more scenic route as part of a major highway was closed for some weekend repairs, so it was a very enjoyable drive. Sorry folks, no pics this time! Keith

This lady has a casual sexiness about her. I know I've said this before, but I really love these vintage pics, a tiny slice in someone's life. I wonder who she was, who took the picture, where they were going, what happened to her. Thanks, Keith

On Friday I picked my Reatta up from where it had been stored for the winter. The deal was a friend wanted me to sort a few things out on his '40 McLaughlin Buick coupe over the winter, and he would provide storage for one of my cars, the Reatta in this case. With his just about ready to go back to him I wanted to bring the Reatta home so I can drive a bit in the nice weather we are now having. The car was on a battery maintainer all winter, and it started right up like it was yesterday! With a check of the fluids and tires too all was well and I drove it 70-75 miles home and a side trip. Ran and drove great. I love my oldies a lot for sure, but wow fuel injection and electronic ignition sure is nice too! Keith

Awesome work Roger. This is a fabulous thread (if I haven't said so before!) and I enjoy reading your progress, and sometimes even the lack thereof due to the various technical problems you encounter. The best part is how overcome all those obstacles to create to next piece of the puzzle! Keith

Tonight was the first of the local cruise nights to start and we had lovely weather for it. I drove the Electra, and there were 160 cars there but I was the only Buick! One car you don't see too often was this Cosworth Vega, and a very original example. The little screamer puts out in the region of 200 HP with 7,000 RPM redline. Keith

Yes, I remember that well! Long way to go for gas though.