telriv

Decking the block is usually not a good thing to do as it now weakens the top end & sealing could be a problem. Also the sides of the pistons domes could come in contact with the heads. So material MAY have to be removed on the sides of the piston domes further lowering compression. Why not just get a set of the original shim steel gaskets that are approx. .015"-.016" compressed which would negate removing material from the deck & saving on machining $$$$. All my custom made FORGED pistons take into consideration ALL the shortcomings of the original design. AND they include the proper rings.

Sorry to disagree Ed but the consoles are a plastic material NOT fiberglass.

They ALL do that. It's the way of the design. There are NO cables involved.

Remove the shim & the isolater.

With those Egge pistons they will more than likely be .060"-.065" in the "Hole". From the factory the best I have EVER MEASURED/SEEN is about 9.75-1. This is with a piston in the "Hole" of about .040". RARE. More commonly they are in the "Hole" around .055". Approx. 9.5-1. Using these pistons & the Best gaskets you'll probably end up with around 7.8-8.2-1 compression. Now this throws the "Squish/Quench specs WAY OFF/OUT OF WACK!!!!!. "Nails" seem to run best with no less than .025" & no more than .050". Now we know why one engine runs better than the next. From the factory (at .040" + head gasket of approx. .015" = .055". Just on the outside. With .055" + .015" now = .070". With the set-up you're about to use you could end up with .065" + ,045" = .110". WAY OFF FOR PROPER RUNNING, EFFICIENCY & DETONATION resistance. Because of the "Nails" Pent Roof combustion chamber design they can tolerate a REAL 10.0-1 to 10.25-1 compression ratio using today's fuel. I usually make them 10.0-1 on many of the stock type builds I do. At a ..040" overbore on a 425 the bottom of the block should have been filled with an Epoxy to help keep the cylinder bores from flexing & stabilize the bottom end. This helps the re-build last longer before blow-by becomes an issue & the re-build has to start over, AGAIN!!!! Hopefully you "Sonic" tested the block BEFORE boring. Because of the weight of the reciprocating assembly cylinder wall thickness needs to be approx. .150" thick. Most 401/425's aren't this thick from the factory WITHOUT an overbore. I get asked/called constantly why the engine they just had re-built doesn't seem to run as well/powerful as the old worn out engine that was removed. NOBODY pays attention to the DETAILS!!!!! Many are trying to re-build the "Nail" using SBC tactics on the CHEAP!!! AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! IF YOU WANT IT TO RUN GOOD, LIKE IT SHOULD IT COSTS$$$$ TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS!!!! About the valve seat recession. One of the things I normally do in this situation is to use SBC valves. I take 1.940" intakes & cut them down to 1.900". Use 1.540" or 1.600" exhausts & cut them down to 1.520". This now puts them at a new seating area to re-finish the valve seats. This will "Repair" the proper valve heights. NEVER try to install hardened seats. Many/Most times you will cut into water. Especially on the intakes. If they don't leak today give them 6 months. I would be willing to bet they will start!!! You need to get valves that the total length is about factory "Nail" length. So they need to be cut to length also. Make sure the tops of the valves are hardened deep enough & can have AT LEAST .100" removed from the tips. They will be required to use 11/32" valve guides. I've had them made just for our beloved "Nails". DON'T EVER TRY LINING THE GUIDES. Because of the EXTREME side force put on the guides because of the short, stubby rocker arms (Much amplified by a higher than normal lift cam) the liners usually fall out of place. I don't care what you or the machinist does, they WILL dislodge themselves. Using SBC valves now gives you a Pandora box full of options as far as springs, retainers, valve locks, etc. I realize it's more than likely TOO LATE in your situation, unless you want to start over. I could type with one finger for days & not give enough INFO. Tom T.

For 1966 Buick changed the location of the mufflers to under the front seat area. The tailpipes on a GS are 2". I believe/think the axle pipes are the same for both.

If there is more than ONE person in the car they will most certainly drag over speed bumps. If more than 2 people in car they will drag when hitting a dip in the road. Clearances are real TIGHT where they go over the axle. Some creative positioning is required to not rub the tires or springs or body. If the car has sagging springs this of course will make it worse if not at stock ride height or higher.

When a new core is installed the only parts that are re-used are the end tanks. Makes NO diff. what was/is wrong with the actual old core itself. There was a reason Buick used a diff. core size between A/C & non A/C cars.

I know of one '63 that had the 2x4 on it. It was purchased by a lady as a parts car for another '63 that she was restoring. I think that ultimately she restored this one over the other because it was SO unique. This was at an ROA meet in, I belive. 2000 in Pa. It was probably a "Mule" car that Buick put together to do some testing of the 2x4 before introducing the 2x4 for '64. Many of us, including Tom Mooney I believe, Tom definately remembers this car, went over this car as far as date codes, numbers, etc. & feel it was legit. Dennis Manner does NOT remember having this car built expressly for a test car, but it WAS built by Buick. Dennis ws even looking at it. Correct carbs, distributor, had a BO TH400 trans., ( haven't found that BO code in any listings) a '64 rear end with the flange & all date coded correctly for the build date of the car. Which I believe was 04 or 05B. A mix of '63 & '64 consoles. Left hand threads on the left side. '64 drums & axles on the right side. Everything matched up. So at least ONE was made. There are others as well as myself who crawled around & under this '63 to document what we were looking at. MANY more experts than myself only. Not saying I'm an expert on anything. Tom T.

Those side seals were used on A/C & non A/C cars. Tom T.

'65 resistence is 90 ohms. '64 & earlier are 45 ohms. Look in Hemmings there are a few that rebuild them. Basically the most common problem is the copper/brass strap breaks/corrodes. Just clean it up & solder back together. You can take the actual sender apart also. Pry back the 3 clips & slide the cover back. Check the resistor wiring for any breaks & with an ohm meter. Clean the wire that's wrapped around for the resistor. Do this carefully as these are very delicate. Clean the point contact surface & very slightly bend the arm to make the contact with the resistor a "little" tighter. The float also goes bad, but very seldom. When you pull the sender check to make sure, if the float is brass, that there's no fuel inside. If it's made of a composite material it will be heavy because the outer barrier has worm away & soaked up fuel. Feel the weight with your hand when you remove it & then let it sit for a few days until dry & weigh with your hand again. If it feels much lighter than it was when you removed it then it's soaking up fuel. Just about anything can be used for a float as long as it "Floats". In the olden days these were made from a piece of cork that had a coating over them to help keep from soaking up fuel & becoming heavy & sinking to the bottom. Before installing in car. Hook it up & run the sender through it's range from one end to the other & look at the fuel gauge at the same time to see if the gauge now works. Don't forget to hook up a ground wire. Tom T.

The cables sticking is what causes most of the problems with broken parts. Especially the cables under the hood & specifically the one for the heater control valves on '63's & '64's. As the cables get harder to move it puts undue stress on the parts that they were NEVER designed for. Powered grahite works well for the sliders & also the cables. The cables that have the wire wrapped around them. I remove the plastic covering then slightly stretch ( not enough to distort) the wire cable & apply the powered grahite to the open areas & continuosly slide the cable back & forth it's entire length as far as it will go & usually the cable will free right up & move effortlessly. On the plastic cables I will spray with Brakleen, blow dry & soak in a bucket of oil. Hang the cable up & let the excess oil run out/off, usually a couple days, then wipe down with a rag. Not much dust/dirt under the dash & up on the top where the cables run. Tom T.

I just cured this problem on a '63 Riv. with cruise. Turns out the inner cable was TOO long by 1/4". Took a dremel & removed 1/4" & now all is mostly OK. Tom T.

Everyone tries to pull out the clips & they end up breaking. If you look in the back of the clips you will see that if you squeeze the ends together they will come right out. As for the rubber on the aprons. the originals on my '64 Riv. look like they were cut from an old inner tube with the lines & all. I know they are original as I have owned the car since new & other than removing & cleaning have NEVER been replaced. Tom T.

A Th/SP400 is NOT a bolt-in swap. For the most part it is as in replacing/R&R parts. Even consoles are different for all 3 yrs. I have the crank adapters in stock as well as the Mini-Starters that I designed & have been selling for 15yrs. Tom T.

There is a spring in there that pulls that toothed pawl into place. I just repaired one on a '64 Wildcat. You need to drill out the required rivets, find a replacement spring in the spring section of the hardware store & bolt it back together. Tom T.

'64 was ONLY 4 way. Forward, back, tilt up in the rear, tilt down in the rear.

I spent ALOT of time with Clark's, probably 10 yrs. ago now, in getting them to use a NEW source for the foam padding. An original supplier to GM, Ford & Chrysler from Wa. state. The correct listing wire, amoung other things. One of the reason's Clark's has the interior products that they do. Clark had a '64 Riv. & was surprised that the Riv. had materials similar to the Corvair. That's how Clark's got started making stuff for our Rivs. Maybe not the least cost of $$$$, but the quality is there. The package shelfs that they make today are made from the pattern I sent which was a Proto-type that was made in Germany & had a tag on it with the date of, I think it was 2/62. From the 3 pre-production pieces they made none of them fit correctly to the curve of the rear window. So I actually cut the COMPLETE metal shevling on the rear deck to send it to them. They finally got it as close to correct as possible. I received this from Bill Mitchell himself. I don't know if he owned a summer home in the town I worked or if he visited friend's there every year. Anyway, he bought it in one summer as he always saw my Riv. parked out front of the shop I worked at & thought I may be able to use it someday. To bad, in the real early 70's, I really didn't know who Bill Micthell was at the time. Unfortunately my loss. Tom T.

I don't believe the '65 has a crush collar, only shims. That's why the nut needs to be torqued to 250ft. lbs. At that torque with a crush collar the rear WON'T turn.

Pretty cool KEN!!!! Got something more rare than 1st. imagined. Cool driving it back from Pa. No problems at all & checking it out at my son house in the garage with the lift. Did swapping the R/rear brake shoes help with the pulling on initial braking??? Tom T.

Have your original re-cored. Tom T.

YES, it can be rebuilt. I rebuilt my '64 heater control valve years ago. I could NEVER charge enough for the amount of time it takes. You would be better off finding an NOS one or going the NAPA route. Tom T.