1967 - 1997 Riviera

What gap will you set the new plugs at?

No update since mid March. I'm starting to have withdrawal symptoms again.

Did Mr. Young tell you what your gear ratios and final drive ratio will be after the overdrive installation is complete?

With only 758 of this model produced, I earnestly hope a true pre-war Buick fan buys this car, and soon.

While I think it is much safer to use the modern, non-asbestos containing material to renew the clutch, particularly if one is doing the work himself instead of paying someone else to do it, if one really wanted to use asbestos clutch material it is still being made and could be found without too much trouble (just like R-12 refrigerant). Whether that would be legal in the UK is another matter.

I assume you mean EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve. If it is working for a while and then fails, then there is something about the operation of the engine that is causing this. You did not mention how many total miles are on the car. Does the engine consume an inordinate amount of oil, like one quart every 800-1,000 miles? Is your fuel mileage poor? Have the intake manifold gaskets ever been replaced? Has the car recently been emissions tested and failed? Does the "check engine" light ever come on?

If you found your timing varying up to +/- 2 degrees between cylinders, do you think your problem may also be due to worn drive gears on the distributor shaft, camshaft or both?

Marvel carburetors ...

That is SHARP, SHARP, SHARP!

The plastic blasting revealed an interesting ink stamping in the driver's door - maybe it was the beginning or end of a roll of new sheet metal. That is from the Wheeling Steel Corporation in Wheeling, West Virginia. I think they are Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel company today, one of the few surviving steel mills in the Ohio River valley that stretched from Parkersburg up to Youngstown, Ohio, and across into Washinton, Pennsylvania and then to Pittsburgh. At one time, Wheeling had the world's largest nail factory and also made galvaized sheet metal products, like garden watering cans, by the thousands. Wheeling was also home of the Mail Pouch tobacco factory whose ads, painted on the sides of barns, was a familiar sight throughout the midwest. Nice to see the stamping survive, but too bad the decal will be now be covered by paint.

When Car and Driver tested the Grand National in 1987, they titled the story "Speed is a Gunslinger in Black." I can still remember the opening paragraph of the story: "Corvette get out of town. Mustang move over. Camaro keep your back to the wall at all times. The biggest, baddest gun in town is loose and there's gonna be some shooting." Farther down the page they said: "O-k. No more fooling around. The Buick Grand National pictured here can scream from zero to sixty faster than any other car made in America. Period." Their measured 0-60 acceleration time was...3.4 seconds. There was only one car made in the world that could beat that time and it was the Porsche 911 turbo, which cost, in 1987 dollars, about $50,000.00. The Grand National was a bargain in comparison, even if you discounted some dealers wanting inflated prices for them.

Is your generator sufficient to keep both Optima batteries charged or did you have to replace it with a modern 55-60 amp, 6V alternator?

The firewall paint on the 1941 was the same as the rest of the body. The engine also looks great installed in the chassis. The 1941 is my favorite pre-war model year, so I'm following this thread more than any other until the final, ultimate triumph of restoration!

Marvel carburetors...

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only difference between the 1970 and 1971 versions of the 455 is that the 71 used dished pistons to lower the compression ration to allow use of the then new unleaded gasoline of lower octane. If one is doing a complete rebuild, then installation of new 1970 specific pistions into the 1971 engine should restore the higher compression. That would be my preference.

Hmmm...You say the car is immaculate inside, and previously well maintened, but you were told the owner parked it under his carport where it sat for ten years until it no longer cranked over. How could it have deteriorated to such a degree like that? It looks like there was not even a coating of sticky sludge on surfaces. I also think there is more to the story than you were told. Depending upon other $factors$, if it were me, I'd start looking for a replacement 1969 430 engine to rebuild.

No updates since before Christmas of last year. I'm anxiously having withdrawal symptoms!

If I understand what you are saying, the late Mr. Dave Corbin researched the numbers provided to him by a car's owner and provided an approximate date(s) of manufacture of the car and/or when an engine was made. If I recall, he did this from some original Buick production record books in his possession. Does enyone know what became of these record books after his passing? Would it be possible for another Buick Club member to continue this valuble service?

Just out of curiousity, did your valve spring manufacturer also shot peen the springs?

Hans, as the term is sometimes used here in the U.S., that is a humdinger of a car!

In my teenage years, a friend of mine had a father who raced 1/4 mile dirt track for many years at things like county fairs. His favorite engine to use was the Chevrolet 283 small block, a.k.a. the "mouse motor", which he said was perfect for that application. He had numerous trophies in his basement den to show for it. When he began to build a street rod as a gift to himself, consisting of a 1948 Ford coupe body on a 57 Chevrolet chassis, he installed a rebuilt 327 Corvette engine in it. When I asked him what custom camshaft grind he installed in it, he looked at me with a facial expression like I was both crazy and stupid. "Factory cam is best!" he exclaimed. What I learned many years later was that factory design Engineers have to take into consideration multiple factors in designing a camshaft's specs. Most of the time, the specs are a compromise that is optimized for that engine's application, something like a "sweet spot" on the curves of the engine map. Once you go off that optimized sweet spot, you gain something at the expense of something else. Unless you also compensate by making other engine alterations, it will never be as good as what the factory Engineers, with all their sophisticated computer design tools, had in mind. I don't know who is going to buy this specialized camshaft, but it wouldn't be good for most anyone just seeking to restore the factory performance of their straight eight.

If you can...go for the Mercury Man!

Tell your friend that if the History Channel's "Pickers" from Iowa show up on his doorstep, he should send them away!

Good job! I just love to read when someone is able to fix & restore these unique components on the older Buicks by themselves, thereby putting them back in top running shape.

That contrast of the whitewall tires against that blue color scheme, along with the Trippe lights and other front-end chrome, really makes your car SHARP! SHARP! SHARP!