WinnieWildcat

Rod, we had a similar problem with the speedometer on our ‘65 Wildcat, not sure if ‘68 is different. Our cable disconnected at the speedometer mount by pushing the mounting collar in while turning the collar about a 1/4 turn counter clockwise and pulling out. Here’s my post:

Looks like 8,505 ‘65 Electra 225 Custom convertibles built - if that can be compared to a specific production sequence number?

In my youth the family ‘63 Pontiac Bonneville dumped the contents of the heater core on the floor carpeting. We took the carpet (front) out laid it on the driveway used buckets of warm soapy water and a garden hose to thoroughly rinse. Hung it across the clothesline for days to fully dry. Turned out OK. I think there were also some pieces of felt like padding under the carpet that also needed cleaning.

On our ‘65 Wildcat - 401, we have been using the Wix 51049 which is a long/tall filter. We have had no problem with spacing with both the OEM exhaust manifold or the headers we have on there now. So I would suggest that you could use whatever you prefer. Wix lists the filter height at 5.178 inches.

Update on the noisy speedometer cable. I recently got the Wildcat out of storage after a very long Wisconsin winter. The cable disconnected from the speedo unit by pushing the lock nut in while turning it counter clock wise about a 1/4 turn. I was able to lower the cable for inspection. It appeared to have some black/dirty remnants of a lubricant on the end. I was able to spray silicone lube into the cable end and down the cable housing - several times. I reconnected the cable to the speedometer housing and the noise has gone away. The speedo needle still wavers a bit. On the trip reset, I tried pushing and turning, pulling and turning, etc., just doesn’t seem to “grab”. Will be a task for another day.

I think First Born and Nailhead Bob hit the mark - driver door switch. You should have 12 volts at all 4 window switches when the ignition is on. Its likely you have only 1 (12v +) wire feeding the 3 windows in question. Since those windows work properly using the driver door/master switch, the driver door/master switch is probably preventing 12v pass through to each window in the passive/default position. By the way, I’ve use BestOfferCounts several times getting parts for our Wildcat. Found them to be very prompt, reasonable and a great resource for us Buick collectors.

Check to see if you have "lock" button on the driver door panel. On our 3 current vehicles, the driver door window controls have a lock button that turns off power/control to each of the other 3 door windows. I think it's designed to prevent the kids from playing with the window controls. Not sure if they used this design in '62. Scott

You could try James Kehr at bestoffercounts.com tel# 215-767-0846. He specializes in ‘59-‘66 Buick parts but may be able to help with your ‘67. He’s been very helpful when shopping parts for our ‘65 Wildcat.

Thanks to all that responded to my question. I did stop out to the shop and check the speedometer cable connection on the back of the unit. I can get my finger tips and thumb on the nut but it's gonna take a little more torque than I can muster sitting on the seat and reaching underneath. Trouble is it's put away for the winter and I can't fully open the driver door to get on the floor, so it's gonna have to wait until spring. I tried pushing in and turning the trip odometer and was able to move some of the digits a little bit, so it is not completely stripped. It seems like some lubrication may have some good results here too. I will report back in the spring on how it goes. Thanks again to all!

We took our Wildcat out for the final spin today before putting her away for the winter. Speedometer noisier than normal coming from the dash/speedometer head, cold day about 40 degrees. Needle jumping around 5 MPH +/- of actual speed. Can the cable be disconnected from the unit/head? And do I want to try to lubricate either the speedometer unit and/or the end of the cable. Any suggestions or guidance from this experienced group is appreciated. Also, the trip odometer in the unit cannot be reset, seems like the gears are stripped. Is there a fix for this? Thanks, Scott

Update on the mysterious gas gauge behavior when the dash lights are on. March has provided some nice weather to get out to our unheated winter storage garage and finally trouble shoot the problem. I added an additional ground wire to the ground post on the gas gauge unit and the dash frame. This has corrected the problem we had where the gauge needle would drop 1/8 to 1/4 tank when the dash lights were on. The gauge is now stable regardless of the lighting and reading accurately.

Hi All, I have a question related to previous post regarding dash lights affecting the gas gauge reading (light switch rheostat). There's a post on this site originally dated 2/28/19 - Gas Gauge Repair. Replying to this topic (3/3/19) was 63DreamMachine who stated that when his dash lights were on, his gas gauge gave different readings. He went on to say that he added a new ground and it fixed the problem. I'm having the exact same problem with our '65 Wildcat. If I turn the lights on, park or headlights, with any illumination on the dash, my gauge drops about 1/4 tank. If I turn the dash dimmer full clockwise (no dash lights) the gauge is not affected. Can anyone give me some guidance as to where to terminate the new ground wire on the lighting end? Do I attach it to the circuit board? I've messaged 63DM but have not gotten a response. Thanks, Scott