Jump to content

trafalger

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    193

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by trafalger

    Anderson Pearson, My 1941-76C Buick Roadmaster

    in Me and My Buick

    Posted

    Thanks Keith, much appreciated. Its a shot in the arm after so much preparation. I swear I've never seen so much prep work on a car...but I'm glad its done. I'd really like to be out driving in this beautiful late summer weather but it looks like I will need to wait for fall. Get out and enjoy yours for me!

    Hi neighbor! I see your in Charlotte as well.

    My 1964 Electra Project

    in Me and My Buick

    Posted

    Bypassing the core is fine. Heater cores can and usually are a major undertaking. I can not comment on the cable and availability. However, I believe one can be made. If there is wetness on the passenger side floor it is usually from the core.

    I figured as much...and honestly i'm not going to drive it in the winter. I'm totally not gonna worry about it.

    Winters here in NC are like 45 degrees.

    My 1964 Electra Project

    in Me and My Buick

    Posted

    The ones I'm looking for are smooth...here is a pic

    post-87476-143139146406_thumb.jpg

    To add to what was said about the TH400 transmission that you have in your '64; it is a one year only transmisson. In '65, Buick incorporated a variable pitch torque converter into it as well as different valve bodies, etc. - no interchanges. If you're wanting the transmission to up shift through all three speeds when you want (manually,) it's easy. Hold the shift lever in L (1st gear) until you want to shift to 2nd gear, put the lever into D and let the transmission shift into 2nd. As soon as it shifts in to 2nd, pull the lever back to L; the trans will stay in 2nd gear until you move the lever to D to engage the 3rd gear.

    Cables for those cars are not reproduced. If you can get the cable off, let it soak in some penetrating oil, that should free it. One thing to be very, very cautious about is trying to move the cable or temp. control valve using the levers under the dash. The corrosion is stronger than the die cast. The lever will break with hardly any pressure! One of the Tech Advisors for the Riviera Owners Assn. has found a way to use the vacuum going to the air door to operate a later model vacuum controlled temp control valve. Place it somewhere in line in the heater hose, run a Tee from the door control vacuum line and you're good. He says that Buick over engineered it to begin with and the vacuum is much simpler to deal with.

    What does the face of your "thumb knob" look like for the ones you're missing. There were a couple of different styles - smooth, ribbed, "rough"?

    One thing that hasn't come up yet is a discussion on wheels. Through '64, the bigger Buicks had a 3-3/8" diameter hub on the rear axle and the front hub assembly. Only wheels for 64 and earlier will fit. In '65 (first year for Rally wheels on all big cars) Buick went to a smaller diameter hub. You also need to look for wheels that have the raised bump between the bolt holes so the rivets on the front drum assmebly will have a place to sit.

    Pretty soon your car will be like new again. Keep it up.

    post-87476-143139146399_thumb.jpg

    My 1964 Electra Project

    in Me and My Buick

    Posted

    Holy cow what a day.

    We got up at 7:30 and cleaned out the trunk all the way to the metal (the PO had left a bunch of crap back there and it was all NASTY) The carpet had literally disintegrated. Anyways got all that done, headed to car quest, got them to match the paint on her and picked up some sandpaper to hit some of the touch up spots.

    Picked up a bunch of wax and a buffer (on sale for 15 bucks) and various other cleaners.

    I was able to shine and refinish the runner plates that I found in the trunk from the PO that got all the carpet secured down, shampooed all the interior carpet (prolly pulled up 40 years of ick)

    We washed and waxed the car 3 times in all, sanded and touch up painted the few bad spots we had, and I was able to buff out some scuff marks from the PO.

    It's 8:03pm and we're stilll working on her, but all in all I've very pleased with today. We got to drive her over 45 miles with no issues whatsoever. Her paint looks 100x better and I even got to shine up the chrome. The carpet is clean and the trunk is empty, the musty smell is totally gone now and I swear to god the car runs better. I think she knows we're trying to get her back in fighting shape.

    post-87476-143139146151_thumb.jpg

    post-87476-143139146147_thumb.jpg

    Carpet washing!

    post-87476-143139146154_thumb.jpg

    The runners are in

    post-87476-143139146158_thumb.jpg

    All done for the day (if you look at my earlier pictures you will notice she had a boo boo next to the I, if you notice that is now all gone!)

    post-87476-143139146162_thumb.jpg

    post-87476-14313914613_thumb.jpg

    post-87476-14313914614_thumb.jpg

    post-87476-143139146143_thumb.jpg

    My 1964 Electra Project

    in Me and My Buick

    Posted

    Quick question, I noticed a water leak in the passenger side so I think my heater core is shot. I'm not really worried with that as I'm a guy that will have the air on in the winter. That being said I also noticed that my water control valve under the hood is pretty much frozen solid in place. And the control cable for it is well rusted and broken.

    My question is, in the meantime I have just bypassed the valve all together with no water running to the heater core. Is that going to f' anything up?

    Where can you buy those control cables? My gut tells me that the valve is pretty simple if i can get it apart to fix, anyone got any tips? And should I worry about that heater core, does a leak always mean the core is shot or could it be something else? I was reading the manual and it looks like to get that core out is going to be a MAJOR undertaking.

    My 1964 Electra Project

    in Me and My Buick

    Posted

    Thank you very much for the post

    I got her title tag and registration today. So look out!!!!

    Any fun stuff you can share about a 64 would be awesome

    Tomorrow I'm heading to car quest to see if they can match her paint so I can touch up a few bad spot until I can afford to have her repainted. I wish I knew someone local that had a paint booth I'd love to learn how to do that

    Joseph,

    A little about your car as I have an identical model in my garage and have owned it for almost 40 years. You have a TurboHydromatic 400 transmission and as a matter of fact, the first year for the Turbo 400. This transmission combined with a nailhead is a bulletproof combination. Let's put it this way, mine survived a 16 year old car crazy male and had over 100,000 miles on it at the time. I don't think there is anything you can think of that I didn't try back "in the day". Neutral drops? No problem. Slam into Low at speed? Never an issue. Oh, since this was the first year of the 3 speed turbo 400, Buick didn't think to put a 3 speed indicator in the shift quadrant, just L and D. Little know fact: If you shift into L above 25 mph, the transmission will go into 2nd gear, below 20 it will drop into first gear. If you shift into L above 25 and just leave the gearshift in L, as you slow down and reach 20 mph, the transmission will drop into 1st gear all on it's own. Don't ask me how I know, but I do. In other words, I wouldn't be the least bit worried about the driveline.

    The '64 model Buick's were modern automobiles as others have said. Your '64 will drive, brake, accelerate, and handle much like today's automobiles. A fifties era auto will not. Not that it is such a bad thing, but you will need to re-think your driving technique when you get behind the wheel of that 55 Roadmaster...

    My 1964 Electra Project

    in Me and My Buick

    Posted

    Thanks for the reply, my antenna problem is not the motor however it is the mast is broken. I need to find a replacement power mast and mine will be good as new. I was however able to find the antenna service door and remove the assembly with no issues.

    I picked up a fixed mast antenna at autozone for 5 bucks to test the radio at least. She does work, although its a bit limiting being only am haha

    I'm not sure if they made an fm radio for that year but maybe I can stumble onto one eventually.

    My 1964 Electra Project

    in Me and My Buick

    Posted

    The one piece of advice I have regarding your trade plan is that a 64 is modern compared to a 50's car. My 63 Cat was a pleasure to drive. I love my 55's and I drive all over the country, but you really have to DRIVE them.

    On the other hand, I sold my Wildcat and still have the 55's :)

    Thanks for the tips.

    Realistically how hard is the 64 to keep on the road when compared to a 50s? I'm not talking about the accessories, i mean just pure road worthy? Obviously I want something I can enjoy and drive.

    I worry about the size of the car and the gas mileage. I really wish i had a buick guy local that I could just get 10 minutes with that could look at the car and tell me if I'm about to drop a tranny in 3 months, or if it sounds like the headers are about to come out of the engine. I'm not a big engine guy and this thing is by far the oldest car I've ever worked on much less driven.

    I'd love to be able to drive her to my parents house which is about 100 miles away, but I guess I'm just scared of it as a whole.

    My 1964 Electra Project

    in Me and My Buick

    Posted

    Thanks for all the tips!!

    I really like working on the car but I really starting to wonder if it would be worth it to try and sell her and get into my "dream" car. I'm about to hit the point of diminishing returns with some big purchases (like paint and an interior redo) My dream car is a 1950s area car. I love the 50s curves especially the Buicks. While I really like the Electra I'm just not in love with it.

    Would it be more advantageous to try and do a trade? or sell her outright? What would be a decent price for it?

    Just thinking out loud before i get too involved financially in this thing.

    Thoughts? I'm looking for some feedback.

    1964 Power Antenna Mast

    in Buick - Buy/Sell

    Posted

    Hi guys,

    I need to find the mast that goes into the power antenna housing. I have the motor and it works fine, I got the motor assembly out and i was able to remove the old mast.

    The way it works on this car is the antenna mast has a twist connector at the bottom that turns and when it does the mast goes up and down.

    Nothing remotely modern fits this thing, it has to have the mast that fits it.

    The mast will be yellow at the bottom.

    I've looked online and I was able to find the fixed mast replacement the whole assembly replacement, but I only need the power mast.

×
×
  • Create New...