JohnD1956
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Posts posted by JohnD1956
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Our condolences to Tom's family and friends.
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Well Stefan, That is one sweet 66 Skylark. Nice job! I love the color combination.
Good luck on the rims. If it's such a hassle to change the tire size I'd be inclined to buy a set of tires and rims from someplace like Coker Tire. They can mount and balance the rims and I imagine they'd be willing to ship overseas. As NTX says, the new ones will be wider but that will make your car look good too.
As for a double master cylinder, I think a lot of guys convert to 69 Buick Master cylinders, with a matching portioning valve, and then just run new lines as needed. Of course at that point your car is modified so the tires and wheels are less of an issue. Still, the Buick Rallyes are great looking rims on these cars.
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Ahhh, true.
Of course, now we ALL will be looking at it too.
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I last used Greased Lightening, which cut through the grease like magic. I did find it was better to lightly scrape off all the heavy stuff and then used a new parts brush to scrub, but it left no residue. Of course it would be easiest on a warm engine.
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I'm glad you brought this thread back up Joe. I've been driving this car for a while now 14K or so, and I have spent a lot of time and $ on it So much that I am a bit embarassed. Here's what's transpired since my last post:
I still have not rebuilt the carb, but I did do new front rotors with new wheel bearings. Also new rear drums ( while they were still available), and universal joints. In all this I was chasing a stubborn vibration above 50 MPH While doing the universals I noticed a puddle of undercoating on the drive shaft. When I got under there and sanded it off, the car straightened out. Imagine, the original owner drove that car 100K with that vibration, and a 5cent piece of sandpaper was all that was needed.
Also last December a head gasket went and right after Christmas they were both replaced. That was major improvement in performance. But two weeks later I had at least one lifter collapse, and I almost had to tear it down to replace those, but a wise man helped me cure the problem with out doing that.
At my last safety inspection I learned a rear and front shock are leaking, and the fuel pump was leaking oil from the vent hole, so this past weekend I put in a new fuel pump. Thats when I noticed I still have the original timing chain and gears and I plan to replace those the first week in August. I have had a lot of Buicks over my years and every one of these older Buick engines ( without a chain tensioner) has needed a timing chain between 99 and 129K.
Along the way I also had to replace the windshield because the seal was leaking and it was badly scratched. But I planned for that the day I bought it. Then I found out the seam on the cowl was also leaking but I was able to fix that by putting some seam sealer from the outside under the hood.
It's been a labor of love. Right now I still need to change some more vacuum hoses, and I want a new radio. The power antenna broke, the six way power seat stopped working on one tilt axis. But the A/C still blows cold. The car starts right up, I'm getting close to 14 mph driving 20 miles to work and home. I used the car on several long distance trips ( 3 hours or more at highway speeds) and got more than 16 MPG, so I am very happy with this car.
And I have had it at a couple of shows and I was very surprised to see how much the women like it.
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So many people are converting to disc brakes it's most fashionable to do so. But you should ask yourself if that's really necessary. My 69 GS stops fairly well with non power drum brakes. Of course it does have the dual master cylinder, but my 56 stops very nice with it's original power brakes too, so the disc brakes are something you should decide after you get some serious driving experience with your car.
As for the rims, I'd recommend shopping around and looking for the 15 rallye wheels. 14 in tires are getting harder to find in the states, and I imagine in Europe as well. And this will allow you to make one purchase and still convert to disc brakes later oon if need be. Look at E bay, as these used to come up often, but also know they are getting to be in demand much more because of the aforementioned 14 inch tire situation.
And welcome to the Board. How about some pics of that 66. They are sweet cars.
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I took a look at the Standard catalog of Buick for some information on this car Joe. Here's what I found:
There were 25, 075 Estate wagons produced. They came in two levels of trim, a basic wagon ( this would be yours) and a Limited, which had Electra sheet metal in the front instead of the Lesabres. The car is a Series "R", and that can be found in the vehicle ID # as the second symbol. The next two symbols should be either 35, for a two seat wagon, or 45, for a three seat wagon. The next symbol is a letter code for the cars engine. This is where the book is a little confusing.
Apparently the Estate Wagon could have any of the following motors:
Code "J", a Buick 350 motor producing 155 HP @ 3,400 RPM/ 275 Ft lb torque at 1,800 RPM
Or a code "R", an Oldsmobile 350 producing 170 hp @3,800 rpm/275 ft lb torque @2,000 RPM
Or a code "L", a Chevrolet 350 producing 170 hp @3,800 rpm/270 ft lb torque @ 2400 rpm
or a code "K", an Oldsmobile 403 producing 185 hp @ 3,600 and 320 ft lbs torque @ 2200 rpm.
They sure did not make it easy back then for getting parts.
the
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Hey Joe, I am completely surprised. Thanks for posting the window sticker sheet.
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Wouldn't you really rather DRIVE a Buick!
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Here's my offering of today's bonehead move:
One exit off of Rt 87 in Saratoga Springs NY dumps drivers onto a divided 4 lane, 55 mph highway. Within 1,000 feet or so is an intersection with a traffic light and a left hand turn lane carved into the road divider. Naturally the left turn lane is stopped while the thru traffic has a green light.
On the side I was traveling there is a gas station on the right with a one way entrance off the highway. The stations' exit is onto the intersecting side road. But today, two girls in a 4 door Chevy pull out the entrance, and block both thru lanes while waiting for the left turn lane light to go green.
Honestly, if the exit your on curves into the line of approaching traffic, wouldn't you think you should not be there?
Dumb dumb dumb...
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Did you try to spin the rear tires by hand and see if you heard the clicking noise? With the cover off you may be able to at least eliminate the rear axle as a source.
Otherwise you are correct. The brake line would have to be disconnected and then the brakes have to be bled upon re-installation. In some of these cars once the attachment points are unhooked ( the shocks,springs, tube to tranny bolts, & panhard bar) then a comealong can be used to pull the rear axle back enough to dislodge the drive shaft from the torque ball. But I do not know if that's possible in a 47 Roadmaster
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Look online or where-ever for an inline filter for the antifreeze. I don't know how long your car sat before you started to drive it, but if a few years, chances are you are getting scale pieces pushed into the top tank on the radiator. I bought one for the top radiator hose in my 56 and it caught a ton of stuff and saved me the hassle of having to constantly pull my radiator for a cleaning.
If you can't find one, then stretch some panythose over the top radiator hose port before installing the hose. Just make sure you clean this often till you start to see less scale.
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Until you said no one was behind you, I immediately thought that it was an insurance scam.
While it may be an injustice, we all need to go back to practicing the basic rules on an individual basis. I always leave several car lengths to the car in front of me, because I have had brakes go out on me a few times, and I know I need the space to stop. If someone pulls in that spot, I just back off. It won't do me a bit of good to pick a fight with someone who doesn't have enough brains not to pull a stunt like this in the first place. Now my wife.... well, those people doing that stuff are getting the verbal lashing of a life time when she sees it.
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How cool that car is. I see you have the Olds 403 motor. It's supposed to be a great engine, although I never had one personally and can't vouch for it. There's nothing like a wagon for going to out of town shows. Drive it a long time and feel free to ask any questions, no matter how weird they may sound. Lots of people here love to help out.
Welcome aboard.
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Cool picture Brian, Thanks for posting it.
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Scary. Looks like you'll never find the parts you need when you'll need em.
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41's are great looking cars. If this one has been sitting for 6 years, I imagine it's suitable for some modifications. I wonder how it'd be with a 401 and a 6 spd stick?
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Maybe you could sell him the 63 special convertiblke, then buy the 66 Wildcat convertible from Roberta and tht other 66 Wildcat from today and make one nice car to match Ellie.
Don't cha love how easily I spend other people's money?
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Go Mike Go!
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Oh my, a nice looking car. I wonder if it's been sitting in that spot for the last six years though?
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Dandy Dave, you looking to do-ed it a 3rd time?
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Got a few pics of the parade.
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I'm not sure what area of the country you are in but if a rust belt area, you need to have the frame checked carefully. The wagons have the boxed frame and they don't drain well, causing soft spots at the 4 corners.
If it has a roof rack, check the bottom of the spare tire well for rustout.
It may have the 340 engine, which is strong, but not as easy to find parts for. I tend to doubt the head would be cracked, but it probably has a bad head gasket. Checking the head while it's apart is a requirement of that repair anyway.
But don't be discouraged. Sport wagons are really nice, just plan to have the roof glass removed, and reset to prevent leakage.
Good luck.
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For 56 the Super is different. I suspect your's is different as well. Page 3/13 of my 56 manual shows the different measurements between the two tanks. The big difference is angle of the filler pipe as measured at the center of the inlet to the center of the hole where the filler pipe enters the tank. However, in both instances it shows the pipe entering the tank roughly in the middle of the tank.
I don't know what a cheap tank goes for but I still thing the gas tank renu process is well worth it.
One cause of road rage
in Buick - General
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Now That's just funny.. LMAO!