Jim Cannon

When you mess with these old cars long enough, you've "seen it all". On my '63, the sockets that the bulbs plug into became loose and a bit corroded from the reflector portion. That messed up the grounds. I had to go in and add dedicated grounds to each socket.

Bad grounds.

RockAuto has a carb kit by Standard Motor Products for $35. They have a Walker kit for $46. NAPA is running a 20% off promotion today with the promo code TAXES20, for orders of $125+. Order online, pick up from your local NAPA, or ship to you. No shipping charge of $35+.

At the top. With lead plugs that can be easily drilled out at some time in the future, if required.

Ed, I bought a 15 Liter ultrasonic cleaner big enough to hold the AFB. Huge. I use it for other carbs from other cars, too. It heats the cleaning solution and has 2 different ultrasonic patterns that it runs on a timer. The AFB on my '63 was last done about 12 years ago, so I will probably pull it apart and clean it with the ultrasonic cleaner just to refresh it. These carbs have a number of very fine vent holes, bleed holes, etc. that don't do what they are supposed to do if they have gas residue, gum, varnish, etc. dried up in them. I picked up a few kits from NAPA a few years ago, so I'm in pretty good shape there. I had a vacuum leak where previous owner did not use the stainless steel plate on the carb. When I added it, I sandwiched the stainless plate between two conventional gaskets, to ensure no vacuum leak. I also plugges the little crossover passage to keep heat off the base of the AFB. YMMV.

John, you are making things way more difficult for yourself than they need to be. The main difference between the '64-65 Bendix vs. Delco booster is the depth of the hole in the piston on the Master Cylinder that goes on it. One is deep (like 1") and one is shallow (like 1/4"). Just get one of the boosters that you like and then get the MC with the correct hole depth to match. At the same time, you can go with the dual master cylinder that matches the booster you got and convert the car to a dual system. That's up to you. I had my '63 booster rebuilt and put a dual MC on it. It works great. If you use a MC that is later than a '63, you will have to add a port for the brake light switch (or make other provisions for the brake lights inside the car on the brake pedal arm).

Yes. The Dealer Service Bulletins are $10 each for '63 and '64. The '65s require 2 CDs, cost $12. I also have the '63 Buick Master Parts Book on CD for $10. Plus shipping is $10 for the entire package (up to 4 CDs). If you don't like CDs, I can put them all on a small USB thumb drive (flash drive) for an extra $2. Payment via PayPal to 63Rivvy (at) gmail (dot) com Thanks!

So this is a 1966 Riviera with the 425 CI engine? Use the infrared thermometer gun to measure the temperature of the water outlet when hot. Have you now installed a 180 degree-F thermostat?

Do you have the stainless steel plate under the base of the carb, with a carb gasket between the intake manifold and the plate? My stainless steel plate was missing and it caused performance issues like you are experiencing. I actually sandwiched the plate between 2 carb gaskets when I installed it. Made all the difference.

What carb do you have on the engine? Original Carter AFB? Aftermarket Edlebrock AFB lookalike? Something else?

I agree with Tom. Confirm that the "square o-ring" is in place on the neck of the '63 Master Cylinder, where it slides into the booster, and that it is sealing well. Later MCs have the groove for this o-ring but do not require the seal like '63. The '63 uses external vacuum storage for reserve (the big can on the inner fender). Later years have the vacuum storage internal. Pretty easy to confirm the can does not have a leak. If your '63 brake pedal holds some pressure on the MC input, it will quickly bleed off your vacuum reserve. Make sure the pedal retracts freely.

Ed, my '63 had a similar problem when I first got it. I traced it down to an intermittent vacuum leak where the carb mounts to the intake manifold. My car has the Carter AFB and it was missing the stainless steel plate between the intake and the carb. Your Rochester did not have that plate, but you can look for a vacuum leak at the base. Check your gaskets, maybe try a double gasket for extra conformance to an irregular surface. Also check proper vacuum advance on the distributor and make sure you are on the correct vacuum port on the carb for your year. Most carburetor problems are ignition problems.

I thought the loose-fitting spare tire cover looked very sloppy and detracted from the look of the trunk. Buick would not let a new car go out with a cover fitting like that. For this kind of money, all of the hose clamps everywhere should have been the correct style. And one of those fancy period-correct Delco reproduction batteries should be in there under the hood (with the positive cable on the radiator side). It looks like it has the incorrect radio.

In a car with Saddle interior, the black steering wheel looks odd. Why does no one know that the grills up by the cowl, behind the hood, are supposed to be painted body color, except for the U-shaped bit that sticks up?

The brown and tan steering wheel is correct for the '63 with Saddle interior. That's what my car has. It looks very good.