Electra63

Oh wow. Never heard of them before. Look very useful - thanks for the suggestion

FYI. The mounts arrived today and they look good. They are also labeled made in USA

Managed to get it done after some head scratching and a few colorful words 👍

A quick supplemental comment.... Concerning the pushrod distance into the master cylinder, the factory manual references gauge Tool #J-21183 If you google this there are a couple for sale on ebay at the time of writing. I was surprised to see 3 or 4 on offer so I purchased one The real question (not given in the manual) is: what is the distance measurement (i.e. the inside measurement) of the gauge Well in case anyone needs it and can't get hold of a gauge, the measurement on my gauge is 1-7/32" or 31mm Mark

Is this the mount you used? Not sure it'll work on my 63 Dynaflow I searched around and couldn't find the post you mentioned about using a modified '78 mount sorry for the slew of questions. Thanks for your help !

Yep - look exactly like mine ! I'll look into the trans mount for sure - thanks By the way. Did you disconnect the shift linkage from your transmission? On my Dynaflow there is a horizontal link that has a plastic bushing in the frame member. Looking at the geometry I'm just a bit concerned that as the transmission lifts, it might impact that link.

Ok thanks 😐 another challenge !

Thanks Aaron. Yeah - they are Duralast which I believe is the Autozone in-house brand. They have the same reference number and the photo looks the same as the Anchor brand sold by Rock Auto and I think Summit Racing so perhaps its the same manufacturer.. I'm sure they'll be an improvement on the solid, cracked ones I can see under my engine ! 😲

Right...they look the same as others that I'm confident about and the website says they fit my vehicle 🥴🙃🤔 We shall see....if not they will be back to the local store for a refund...which will just about cover a burger and fries or 3 gallons of gas at California prices ! 😐

Anyone have a tip on how to measure the oil pressure on my 63 Electra with 401 engine? I was going to tap into where the oil pressure switch is located but it's pretty inaccessible down at the back of the engine Anywhere else I can try or is that the only option? I want to measure it prior to dropping the oil pan in case my oil pump is not developing full pressure as apparently these engines need 40psi for reliable long term operation

Well I've ordered all the parts I think I'll need so waiting for those plus my 28 year old son to be available for some additional manpower and a second set of eyes. Also made a list of tasks and parts need in order to try to stay organized! I usually jump in first and then get stuck. Not this time as the car won't fit in the garage while I'm working on it so I've got to be organized! ...oh and also spoke to Matt at nailhead Buick who was super helpful Unfortunately it looks like the previous owner installed a HEI distributor which Matt strongly advise against due to wrong curve so I'll have to think about that one at some point... Hopefully I'll get to the pan job in the next few days I also ordered motor mounts as I found them for 7.99 each at AutoZone. If I can't manage to change them with the engine in the car it won't have broken the bank 🙂

Thanks to you both for the quick replies. Yes, the guys at nailheadbuick recommend spacers between the mounts once its raised up and I thought that sounded like an excellent idea - that's my plan I'll also get a decent width piece of wood between the pan and the jack in order to spread the load on the bottom of the pan as much as possible Now I've just got to find the time and get the necessary gaskets etc I'll post how it went once I'm done, in case it's useful to others later.

@Aaron65 One question that's not 100% clear for me... When you jacked up the engine I assume you did it on the oil pan with a piece of lumber between the oil pan and the jack? Question: Did you jack it on the lower section of the pan, where the drain plug is located (a in the photo), or on the section behind it where the pan is not so deep (and perhaps a bit less likely to bend) - b in the photo? I assume it was a location a? I've always been told never to jack engines under the pan so hence I'm double checking to be sure I dont damage the pan thanks !

very good to hear - that's everything I had in mind - thanks for the confirmation !

Ha ha - thanks Nope - I'm not up for the slippery slope of scope creep ! Ugh My son is gung ho but I prefer minimum effort and max driving time ! I'll do it in the vehicle Mark

Here are a couple of links that might help you in case you haven't seen them already... https://www.nailheadbuick.com/post/pulling-the-oil-pan-with-the-engine-in-the-car

Thanks EmTee. That's the direction I'm leaning in at the moment...

Hey Bruce. Thanks for the reality check . I do share your point of view in general. I don't plan to remove or rebuild the engine as long as its running and I'm pretty sure there will always be an oil leak and leaks from the Dynaflow, diff etc too. I went to the Petersen museum in LA last week and there was a Concours condition E-Type Jaguar in there. Every surface, seats, controls etc were immaculate and guess what? there was a drip tray under the diff ! 🥴 To be expected with these old vehicles ! The main reason I'm considering the pan is so I can do a basic inspection of the bottom end of the engine and check that the oil pump idler shaft is not hitting the crank balance weight as mentioned earlier. I want to understand this vehicle a bit, having only owned it for a few months. After that all I want to do is enjoy driving it on a regular basis. If it wasn't for the noise at the rear lower back end I'd probably live with the leak(s).

Hi and thanks for the comments No unfortunately I cannot find anything in the shop manual about how to do this in the vehicle, hence my researching it online etc. Your list of additional tasks does push me towards trying to do the job in the vehicle

Good point. I'll probably take the cap off first and see how much extra clearance it gives me. I think mine is the HEI or 'elephants foot' as the nailheadbiuck.com guys call it ! i.e. its quite big....

Hello. 1963 Electra with 401 engine and dynaflow transmission I have a leaking oil pan (quite wet) and am considering removing the pan to re-seal but also to clean it, do a basic check on the internal condition of the engine (i.e. look for any broken rings, cracked pistons etc) and also check the oil pump as I read that the idler shaft can slip on the old aluminum pumps. Anyway, in deciding how to tackle this I read that it can be done with the engine in the car. However it needs the cross link dropped, the exhausts disconnected and, with mine, the distributor would probably have to be removed as its right up next to the blower box on the firewall. concerned about re-installing and having to reset/adjust the timing when its back in as it runs fine right now. My son suggested perhaps removing the engine instead. If I have to do all that work, perhaps removing the engine might not take much more time and I'd be able to replace the engine mounts as well. However, I'm concerned about putting it back in especially making sure its re-aligned and re-attaching it to the transmission correctly (balance concerns etc). I dont want to create more problems for myself as it's all original and in good running condition except for some vibration when idling and revved in neutral (leading me to think its engine related, not trans), plus oil leaks and a noise like a stuck lifter but it comes from the back of the engine underneath which is why I want to check the oil pump idler shaft as mentioned here on nailheadbuick.com - quote: "The 1962-66 oil pumps are a good pump and can be rebuilt if not worn too badly but we have seen many where the idler gear shaft has worked its way up and hitting the crank counter weight" Could this be causing my noise? Can anyone offer their opinion/experience/advice on removing and replacing the engine v just lifting it in place to do the oil pan and perhaps the oil pump? thanks !

Good to know. I've seen plenty of places selling Dexron III/Merc so that makes things easier thanks Glenn

OK thanks Joe. Point taken about resurrecting threads This AcDelco product from Amazon appears to be straight Dexron III - do you agree? https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-10-9240-Professional-Automatic-Transmission/dp/B01EGOR40Y/ref=asc_df_B01EGOR40Y/

Hello guys. Trying to narrow this down myself... I need to top up my trans on my 63 Electra for the first time and I've found it challenging to find straight Dexron III It seems that the Dexron III/Mercon or 'Dex/Merc' is easy to find (link): https://www.autozone.com/motor-oil-and-transmission-fluid/transmission-fluid/p/castrol-transmax-dex-merc-automatic-transmission-fluid-1-gallon/945221_0_0? But to find 'pure' Dexron III is challenging. Do you consider the Dex/Merc like the stuff linked above at Autozone to be OK?, or should I narrow it down to something that looks more specifically Dexron III like this ACDelco fluid that I found on Amazon, which (helpfully..) says it 'does not fit' my 63 Electra !? 🥴 https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-10-9240-Professional-Automatic-Transmission/dp/B01EGOR40Y/ref=asc_df_B01EGOR40Y/ I understand that the VI grade might cause slipping and that not everything is backwards compatible to the 1960s! Heck... I'm barely backwards compatible that far thanks Mark

A final update. After three more trips in the vehicle I'm now convinced it was the master cylinder. The brake light symptoms have not come back and the brakes are not binding. My theory is that when I had my local shop replace the brake hoses and they bled the system, they pumped the pedal hard, beyond its usual stroke, and something in the master cylinder got hung up or dirt got stuck in an internal port or check valve. This held/trapped some pressure in the front end of the master cylinder that caused the brakes to bind. Since the pressure was trapped, when the engine bay heated up and the fluid expanded slightly, with nowhere to go, the pressure increased enough to actuate the hydraulic brake light switch causing the brake lights to come on. It was Tom Mooney's post linked below that gave me hope. His post offers a clear description of the cause : I'm pleased to say that my booster seems to be OK so that saved me some $$ that I can spend on other restoration jobs ! Thanks again to everyone who took the time to share their advice. Mark