Buicknutty
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Posts posted by Buicknutty
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The disassembly of the Wildcat engine continues, but it seems like everything has fought us every step of the way. The engine needs to be lifted to be able to got the oil pan off. Those bolts were tough, one oil pan bolt was rusted, etc.
Anyway we finally got it off, the centre link dropped, it needs replacing, and the front sway bar off too. I have only the stub of the bolt to get out, and the pan to clean up then we can start to put her back together again.
As expected the pan is pretty dirty, and part of the pickup was blocked but nothing that seems to unexpected from such an old engine. By the wear on the timing chain I'm figuring the engine must have 100,000 miles or more on it. A guess only of course.
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Well after a bunch of body work it was time to do some mechanical work. This engine (a 70-71 455) is a transplant and we have idea what the mileage is on it though it seems it might be on the high side. Either way I decided it would be prudent to do the timing chain and gears as well as a few other related things.
Like the oil pump, distributor, water pump, and since I have to disturb the front part of the oil pan gasket I'll take the pan off and clean it out. I also have new motor mounts and timing chain cover which will go on upon reassembly. The new timing chain cover has a modern type of seal, which tends to be less tricky than the old rope type.
Internally the engine seems sound, runs well, doesn't smoke and still has has good compression.
The distributor which is going back on is a new HEI type as my wife has seen first hand the issues I've had with points on the Electra and specifically asked me to go for an electronic one on her car.
You can see by the slack in the chain, it wouldn't have stood up to much driving, esp the spirited kind. This isn't a show car but I am cleaning it up and will repaint it anyway. Not to show standards, but to make it nicer looking.
The rockers are a bit of a sad case, the right side is quite badly pitted, and the left one has some dents in it, which likely I can straighten, but I wouldn't say no to a better set if someone out there has a decent set they would part with.
Keith
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Awesome looking work Matt!
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Great work as always Roger!
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Awesome work!
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On 2/3/2023 at 9:01 AM, EmTee said:
Is this because the bonding material expands (gets thicker) as it gets hot? Probably not as big an issue in Canada as it would be in Arizona. Like everything else, there's a tradeoff involved. I'm guessing that Keith used the adhesive to avoid distorting the big, flat panel with excessive heat. Nice progress on the 'Cat!
You are quite correct as to the reason I opted for the panel bond. Though my welding skills are good, it's still a toughie to weld a panel like that.
I did think about the geography too, though we do often get weather in the mid 90's and sometimes 100F here, it's definitely not as common as in the south.
For sure it's not cheaper to use the bonding compound!
Thank you very much for the compliments too!
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16 hours ago, Smartin said:
I am going to offer my two cents even though you may not want to hear it...sorry...
Using panel bond for a patch repair like that will come back to haunt you once the car gets in the sun. The line will "ghost" and never go away. In the sun (heat), it will appear worse. This is known in the body repair world now, and I also know from personal experience on a car I did a couple years ago. I cringe every time I see it.
The patch looks great, though
I was concerned about the longevity of a repair like this and talked to a couple of body shop professionals who are friend and they had said it's now a very reliable way to repair. I did discuss that this is a restoration, therefore likely a much longer lived repair than the average collision repair and was assured it will last.
Well, I'm in it there now.
Thank you for your opinion, nonetheless.
No offence, but I hope you are wrong!
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As I'm slowly getting through all the bodywork I'm also thinking ahead to other stuff it will need in the (hopefully) near future. One of them being adding AC to it.
A few years a friend and I stripped a '68 Electra, he wanted the drive train and I got most of the rest including the dash and all the AC stuff and the cruise control, plus a lot of other spare parts. Including the right side right side of the firewall where it bumps out a bit to accommodate the evaporator, etc.
Back to the AC conversion. One of the things is the upper dash panel, it's the wrong colour, and it has cracks at the edges, not terrible but it needs fixing and to be black.
So, has anyone had experience recovering these dashes? I've done some searching but so have not come up with anything.
The unit was in non operating condition as someone had sabotaged the condenser, and though everything else looks alright who knows it's current condition, so I'm looking into a more modern system which will work without the issues.
This is going to be a nice driver, and we do want to keep it as stock looking as possible.
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I did get primed last night now it's more or less one colour again, till I start with more filler of course!
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16 hours ago, Smartin said:
Is that panel bond you used on the patch panel?
Yes, there and on the section in front of it. The structural parts are migged in, but the outer panels I've used the 3M bonding material.
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So some more work is done on the Wildcat. All of the outer body on the right side is done, there is still some to do on the inner fender and a few other areas.
My repairs certainly look much better than that original stuff!
Hopefully I'll prime it in the morning.
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4 minutes ago, Elpad said:
Poor sad thing, I just can't give it a "Like", but thank you for sharing the photo.
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Love this shot! I wonder if any of these cars have survived?
Keith
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6 hours ago, Machine Gun said:
Such a beautiful car! There's something about the '69 front end and instrument panel styling that make the Electra and LeSabre my favorite postwar Buicks. My dad bought a '69 LeSabre new from Leschel Buick in Paterson, NJ and kept it for only four years until he traded it on a '73. It's a shame that the full size '69s have become pretty scarce.
Yes, they certainly have, though at one time they were common, even the big girls like an Electra.
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Now to the older Buicks. I finally got to take one out for cruise late yesterday and I choose the '69 Electra. It started good and ran well on the 15 mile drive I gave it.
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John, my wife recently bought a 2018 Regal GS and it is one fine ride, when you put it in GS mode it really tightens things up.
She loves it, needless to say.
Keith
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That's one awesome model Sebastian! Nice group of literature, I have the exact two on the left, but a different shop manual. Lovely brochure, isn't it?
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Thanks Gents!
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9 minutes ago, EmTee said:
Keith, does that explain the large gap between the top of the door and the quarter panel that you were struggling with in your last Wildcat update?
Joel, I apologize for sidetracking your thread...
That's what I had been thinking about for ages, this is a relic from poor repairs but with the equipment we have there's no way to push things around. However, a very good friend and a life long body guy did a whole lot of measurements to it and didn't think too much had shifted on the quarter. Though we just can't be sure. I know QC back then wasn't the greatest but this looks pretty poor.
As I noted, in the end we decided to just make it look good.
Keith
Sorry, we won't hijack your thread any more!
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I don't seem to update this thread very often but work is slowly progressing in the midst of all of the other things I'm doing.
I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the fit problem the passenger door has to the quarter panel, and after consulting with a number body pro friends of mine we've come the conclusion it was born very much this way. Also some info from a gent on the forum who worked at GM during some of these years in quality control backs this up. Perhaps it wasn't quite this bad, but nothing seems to have been bent to create this poor fit.
However the cause, we are where we are so the only thing is to move forward.
So I finally started to weld in filler to make the gap appear better. I didn't really want to do it this way but I'd like the gaps better than this.
The other point is door fit, with some adjustment the door closes and latches quite well, plus the fit to the fender and A pillar is good too.
In the same garage we have the '68 Wildcat and my '69 Electra and I think I have an example of extremely poor factory fit, ie the Wildcat, and extremely good fit in the Electra which has lovely door fit and near perfect gaps on all panels.
Now the quarter panel between the wheel well and door jam is complete, the rocker is welded in, and the door gap has been fudged with steel plate and the liquid filler which comes out of my mig.
This weekend's project is to try to fabricate the piece which goes over the wheel well before I get launched into other things on Monday and I won't get a chance to get back to this for a couple of weeks.
Keith
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Sebastian, I'm just catching up on this, so congratulations to you and your parents for getting such a lovely car! As you've already noticed these are great driving cars, as well as having great styling.
As you may or may know I have a '41 as well, a Canadian built Roadmaster, and for a totally manual car it's very easy to drive.
Keith
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On 1/1/2023 at 10:17 PM, JoelsBuicks said:
Sebastian, I took a look at our 68, the same area behind the back wheels where the body soft mount is located. I did find some rust there as you’ll see in the pics. There seems to be substantial strength left; more on the drivers side .
not to be too critical of Buick engineers but if I was going to design something and guarantee it rusts, it could not have been done better.
I’ll mention this again, there is quite a bit of undercoating that has large loose and flaking chunks. And what’s more strange is that there appears to be undercoating in much better shape that is below that stuff. I’ve never see this before.
This is what happened to the '68 Wildcat my wife has, only they were completely rusted out. When the car was last painted in the early 80's it seems the body shop did a simple repair, they cut them out and did a nice patch over that area in the trunk!
Of course this car is a convertible and the body sagged to the point where the top wouldn't close!
I agree with you it's a terrible design, and especially here in the north where they get bombarded with salt and sand, so they're bound to fail.
Keith
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The temps have been up and down here in Ontario, and when it gets cold at nights they tend to salt the roads, and/or use the brine on them so I've been very leary of taking any of mine out for a winter's drive.
Though we are supposed to get a lot of rain overnight so if it clears tomorrow or the next day I'll try to take on of the babies out for a drive.
Keith
(John, that sounds like a perfect name for your Super!)
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Great to see an update on this, Micheal! As an Electra owner myself I love what you've done to the car and wish you all success in 2023.
Keith
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My 58’ Century Caballero Estate Wagon Build
in Me and My Buick
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Great looking work Matt!
Keith