imported_buick5563

Bill, Haven't you won the 50/50 pot the last two local shows I have attended? People are going to stop letting you buy tickets. Mike

Mr. Earl, et. al. After seeing the pics of Teri on the hood of Buttercup, I wanted to talk my bosses wife into posing on the hood of my Wildcat. You said they were the same model year and both were unmodified. I then realized that along with the fact that it wouldn't be a good career move to ask her to "don a swimsuit and climb aboard a Wildcat". Besides....they're both modified. (Lightly, tastefully, and well done.) Mike

I don't have the number for the part, but O'Reilly sells fel pro sets for 401's. I had mine two days later. Mike

After pulling the p.s. pump about four times and replacing it oh, say, four times, you can get it down to under ten minutes to replace it. Looking real good Adam. Mike

Hey Tom, This happened on my way to Batavia. Notice the car is in Drive. Mike Sorry, I had to put it in Supersize but you can't see it otherwise.

That's actually not a bad price. I had mine done at J & P custom plating in the midwest and it was more than that. I am very happy with what they did but it sounds like George did an even better job. But it was still way less than The Finishing Touch was going to charge. I think their estimate was more like $1020 per side. I HAVE seen their work though and it is outstanding. Mike

My bad. First off it IS only one letter different. Secondly, the old dudes I grew up with in DC always said Buricks. As in "That sure is one nice Burick son". Mike

Brad, That is seriously funny. But Dave. Why ya gotta bring that up? Also, two weeks ago I thought it was 5000 bricks. Is he rescuing bricks now too? Mike p.s. it was 108 degrees here Sunday so I think Mr. Earl would have done just what I did......Searched the internet.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not that this gave it its name, but we could also mention "Tough as Nails".... </div></div> Yup. Mike

Adam, while cleaning out my garage in anticipation for my upcoming move I did find the double hose clamp. It's kinda oval shaped with a nub sticking out to bolt it to the valve cover. Send me a PM with your address if you want it. Mike

Randy, After fixing the MAJOR problems with the house, one of the first things I will be buying is a leaf blower. Cuz it's too big for a broom (even though my two year old son loves to sweep). We close this afternoon, and I already have my spare nailhead on a stand at the new place. The cars will be there by the weekend. Yee haw... Mike

Adam, Is the heater hose loom for one hose or two? I have a double that came off of a non A/C 1963 Wildcat that might be the same. Mike

Hey Dave, I registered today. Now what are me and Mr. Earl gonna do? Start buying 59's? Crazier stuff has happened. Mike Buick5563/59?

Bill, I'm glad you made it safely. I ran into a guy tonight who was working on an offshore rig who was dumped in Austin with his 60 lb. backpack and three days per diem. I bought him some "dinner" and some smokes from the Diamond Shamrock, but he was a bit too drunk to offer a ride to. I noticed a bunch more traffic up this way, too. I have a bunch of friends in Houston, who are gonna ride it out. They said traffic was a worse nightmare than the storm. I wish them well. Mike

Hey, One other thing. On that 62 console. I don't know if you read my post to someone else on the placement of the indicator plastic. I had mine hooked up correctly and the guy who redid my interior put the mount on top instead of beneath the gear shift. It rolled down the hill and totalled his Pontiac. The extra 1/4" difference threw the geometry off. In other words the console has to be closer to the floor, thus giving the lever the full range it was designed for. I don't have access to my Wildcat right now, cuz it's about to move into it's new garage, but have him check it out and I might be able to post pics within a few weeks. See ya. Mike

Bummer Slim, I guess just keep trying ebay. Good luck. Mike

Looking good Adam, I second Keith's recommendation about the old timey shops, I know there have got to be a ton in St. Louis. They may be able to rework the one you have got, too. My Wildcat had a heater core that I figured was totally gone, too, but Mr. Cool here in Austin kicked serious butt and fixed the leak with no problems in two years. BTW, I think I talked to you last year at the nationals when you were trying to figure out the shift linkage for your friends 62 console. I had the Burgundy Wildcat with the white buckets with silver sparkle inserts. Your project sure looks fun. Mike

Thanks Gents, Our closing date just got moved up to Sept 30, so I might be able to make it the next weekend.....please Mrs. Buick5563 let me go play with my friends. Mike

Vito, You have to add 1/4 inch to your measurement. Don't ask me why. You are correct in measuring the bolts and coming up with 4 3/4 ", but you don't actually measure center of lug to center of lug. It is 5 on 5". The center emblems are available as repro items. Welcome aboard. Mike

Adam, I have also heard that these engines didn't come with exhaust gaskets. However, even with the machining done on my 55 I still needed to put the gaskets in. I would think that it would be better to have them in and (perhaps) lose some of the originality than have exhaust leaks causing at the very least, noise. Plus my 401 seems to be hotter under the hood than my 55 nailhead anyway thus getting the exhaust out of the engine compartment will kinda keep things cooler. You could also paint them green so the white gasket isn't as obvious. Just my opinion of course. Mike

Bill, The garage is bigger than my current house, too. I live in a 1400 square foot house right now and the new house is a hair bigger than 1200. I joked to my wife that we could set up our house exactly like it is now and still have as much room as my current garage in the new "hangar". Shoot, I might have to start restoring planes. In my wildest dreams, with all of the disposable income in the world, I wouldn't have built one this big. I will post pics when I get them, but not of the house, or some of you guys (Lamar) would be holding auctions for me to pay for demolition. I will also maybe be offline for a bit so you guys behave in the interim. Mike

Hey Texas guys, The Saturday before last, I heard about a house for sale in a cushy part of central Austin that had a big lot and a big workshop. All of my friends know that this is what I was kinda interested in so I have been sent on some real wild goose chases as far as that goes. My wife and I hopped in the car with my son and went over to look at it. HOLY SMOKES. This place is on a half acre with a 2000 square foot garage. OK, so the house is a ramshackle hut, but with the land, the garage, and the MUCH better neighborhood school I figured 3 outa 4 ain't bad. So we put an offer on it. OK. Accepted. No contingency though. OK. Sell our house, pronto. I've done a bunch of work on my house and it's (admittedly) cherry. I want more for the house than the realtor says we can get. Fire that realtor. We put the sign in the front yard and had a FULL PRICE offer in 15 minutes. I kid you not. Actually some other realtors are miffed at the fact that they think he had an offer lined up beforehand. Puhleeeeze. All of this in less than 10 days. So to make a long story short (too late ) I will be moving on the October 8th regional date. I know this doesn't concern a lot of you guys in the other part of the country, I would love to be there, but think of the space!!! After working on Old Tank's dynaflow last week with a lift I think I might have to get one. OK. Maybe not right now. This is a half acre lot in Central Austin. I may be eating a bunch of tuna and saltines for the next few years . I really wish I could make it. Have fun. Mike

I've said it before, those guys are first on my list every time. Mike

Cheers to you both, Mike

This project was a perfect example of why we belong to the BCA. One friend drives 120 miles round trip to help and another loans their IMMACULATE shop (complete with black and white tile floor). It would have been a truly daunting (if not impossible) task to have tackled this with only one person. It is also the second instance of doing something that I had always heard of so-called professionals not wanting to tackle, the first being the wraparound windshield installation. I will grant the fact that perhaps for billing purposes that three guys labor for almost eight hours would be on the steep side, but there was nothing difficult for three relatively experienced "mechanics". The dance that the three of us performed assisting and avoiding was truly a thing of beauty. I felt like a guy on those one week buildups who look like there are too many people, but everybody does their own thing until someone needs a hand. The teamwork was truly awesome and I learned some great new skills. Plus I really had a ball. Mike