[401 exhaust manifold gaskets]

There are those who are adamant about not using exhaust manifold gaskets on a 401 Nailhead. Buck did not use them originally and yet there are gasket sets available for the 401. I took the advice of those against and took mine off but have since had trouble getting the passenger side manifold to seat well against the head. Those against gaskets claim the gaskets can cause cracks in the manifold. I would be interested to hear the other side of the argument. Thanks

[JoeT]

Thanks for the guidance on the bullets heads. Clearly..it worked!

[63 Wildcat ( built in Canada)]

Sean1997: Thank you for your very detailed breakdown of the codes. I knew the car had once been red but I assumed it was Granada Red, not Solid Ember Red. Another piece of the puzzle solved. Thanks again!

[63 Wildcat ( built in Canada)]

Hello! I have a 63 Wildcat convertible built in Canada and I am puzzled by the Vin# and other coding plates and numbers on the car. Can anyone provide some guidance as to how to decipher the Canadian codes? Thanks!

[JoeT]

Thanks. Still getting the hang of this site.  Appreciate your help.

[JoeT]

I have a 63 Wildcat convertible that was Canadian built. So ID numbers and coding are different than on American built. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to decipher the Canadian coding?

[JoeT]

Aunt Louise...great meeting her! My brother formerly owned an 80-ton schooner called Timberwind. We sailed her for 8 hrs. with her port rail under water still carrying her topsail. Sailing her to the bottom as they say! Here's a pic of Timberwind. Enjoyed your stories too! 

[JoeT]

You have an impressive list of Buicks...particularly the 55 model 48!  Need a Schooner?

[JoeT]

RivNut: No worries.

C Carl: Yeah "Babe" was special blue tinted gray hair and always fully made up. Wore a modified high heal when fly fishing on the Klamath River! It's funny the things you remember like the sound of her rings hitting on the steering as she drove. Grandpa Bill drove with both hands at 2 and 10 with a Pall Mall hanging off his lower lip.  My schooner is a Gloucester fishing design scaled down a bit and because of that, it was never used as a Grand Banks fishing schooner. It was built in 1946 in Ipswich Mass and has been sailing since 1947. The builder and first owner of the boat used to run it from Rockport Mass, to Man O War Cay, to Cuba and carried various cargos that included passengers, liquor, guns, bananas, and cigars. 48' ft overall, 11.6 at the beam and she draws 6 ft. and is a topsail gaff rig schooner. I run it as a day sailor in Maine. Now... if the antique car world thinks keeping an old car alive is a challenge try a 71-year-old all wood boat, an organic material subjected to harsh conditions that is in a constant state of rotting from the day it is first launched...well that's the schooner life! Here are a few pics after a partial rebuild I did and fit out before launch day, and under sail a couple years back.

[JoeT]

CARS does not have a screen printed aluminum disk for the 63, 401 Wildcat, they offer a vinyl stick on. They do offer one for the Riviera.  So I purchased a screen printed aluminum 64 version which is pictured on the engine now. If I ever run across an aluminum 63 Wildcat version I'll get it. I'm not too concerned about the rubber plug on the valve cover. Someone at some point may have had to change one out. But the numbers indicate the engine is a 63...

[JoeT]

Mine is numbers matching and is a legit 63, however, it was built by GM Canada and some of the codings are different. I did not know that when I bought it but when it's going down the road...how do it know? Hard to get the Canadian information on the car. There are some small discrepancies that I have discovered. (1.) The valve cover on the driver side has a rubber plug that a 63 Wildcat enthusiast I know claims is not original to a 63. (2.) The air cleaner decal which I replaced with the identical aluminum replacement is not apparently from a 63, but all I could find when looking to update and replace mine that was specific to a 63 was a silver style decal that looked cheap. Aluminum was not available...at least I couldn't find one. If I was attempting to achieve Concourse condition doing a full frame off restoration these items along with a few other would bug me and would be corrected. But I'm shooting for an Excellent driver that I can enjoy and that is pretty much what I've got.

[JoeT]

Mystery solved! Thanks...Wish I had the 425 but the 401 does quite nicely. And at the age of 56 years old, (the car) I'm not going to race it. I live in a somewhat rural area of the Maine Coast and can't fully utilize the horsepower I have.

[JoeT]

RivNut...great page name BTW  No need to hold your head in shame over buying a 68 Charger. A badass car as I recall.  My 401 to the best of knowledge was always green and I just freshened it up.  But I have seen silver nailheads and always thought that was a Riviera feature or a feature of the 425 which I believe became available in 64. But know I have to know... so I'll be looking that up!

[JoeT]

 KongaMan: I agree I don't think the hub caps are original.  In any case, they were on the car when I got it and I like them. I'm glad you like the satin fender wells. I debated whether to go satin or high gloss even though my preference was satin. I was happy to learn satin would have been period correct. What 63 Wildcat version do you have?

 

JohnD. I may take you up on getting the name of your guy for the radio. For now, I have spent enough on the car and as my sailing season closes in it's time to spend money on my 71-year-old wooden schooner and get ready for the summer and visitors and make some money...so I have some to spend on the Wildcat. It's a vicious circle! As I mentioned in my first post my grandfather had a 56 Century 4 door hardtop wht/blk . I love to have one but it's doubtful that I ever will. I am  BCA member and I will look into some of the New England shows and maybe we will meet sometime on the road!

[JoeT]

Hey John...  thank you I think it looks great too! The interior is also black. It does not have AC. It has power windows and a 4-way power seat and a wonder bar radio which at the moment does not do much more than buzz! But the clock works after cleaning and oiling. Overall the car is in very good condition but certainly not perfect. The convertible works really well. The car is not entirely original, the engine and transmission were rebuilt about 12k ago and I don't know the particulars regarding that. It runs great and does not burn oil and I just had the original Rochester 4bbl rebuilt and though I haven't driven it since I put it back together it started after sitting for weeks after three pumps of the accelerator and the slight miss that I could not tune out of it before the rebuild is now gone. So I am expecting it to run well this season. Since I got it I have mostly been chasing down minor electrical issues and cleaning up the engine and the compartment the best that I can with the engine in the car And I had to put on new, dual exhaust. 

I'm in a learning process and trying not to screw up more than I fix. The engine paint came out OK but would have been much better if I had pulled the engine but at this moment that isn't in the budget and beyond my level of courage! But who knew that spending stupid amounts of money on nostalgia could be so much fun! Judging from your collection of beautiful cars you understand!

[JoeT]

Thanks for the welcome comments. And yes KongaMan mine has the wire wheel caps with the red, white and blue tri-shields. Hard to see in the photo.

[JoeT]

I am a new member of BCA. My car is a 1963 Buick Wildcat convertible that I purchased in January of 2018. My grandfather had a 63 Wildcat a brand new 2 dr hardtop in Granada red/blk and even then at 9 years old I knew it was a special car. Grandpa Bill was a Buick man all the way. In my life, he owned a 56 Century, a 61 LeSabre, the Wildcat and his last car a 1965 Buick Electra. He was the superintendent of the two mills owned by Arcata Redwood Co. of California. He lived in the executive home owned by the company and it was clear by what he drove he was doing well enough for a man who came from nothing and had no formal education. I know there are Buick enthusiasts out there who don't think much of the Dynaflow transmission but that is one of the features that I loved most about his Wildcat and now mine. His wife "Babe" had an all-out driving style. She was on the gas all the time. I'd sit with my chin on the back of her seat and wait to get thrown back when she accelerated. I didn't really understand the mechanism at that age but I knew that the Wildcat was the smoothest car I had ever ridden in. When the big logging trucks would see the Wildcat coming up from behind on the 2 lane highways they would pull over as far as they could and let the bosses wife go by. And what a sound! I smile every time I drive mine. Can't wait for spring! Still getting used to this site. I hope I posted this correctly.