JoelsBuicks

My son and I have been eager to get the Electra up on the lift. The recent very cold temps have a way of getting in the way as neither of us are worth much below freezing. So, we took advantage of the recent break in the weather and took a look at the underside. I’ll get some more detailed pics likely tomorrow but I’ll preface those by saying that we found no rust through except for the muffler and rotten tailpipe. There is lots of surface rust on structural components and no rust on floor pans anywhere. There’s lots of undercoating peeling away back by the tank and the tank itself looks good. we anticipate tank removal, cleaning and probably internal coating - but maybe we’ll be lucky.

Got the doors in the paint booth and epoxy coated. Next, a high-build primer and more sanding to get it straight and ready for paint.

I need to get caught up on the progress; primarily progress on getting these doors ready for paint. There’s a fair amount of small details. Fortunately, the door skins were in pretty good shape leaving the body work relatively easy.

I looked closer at this area and sure enough there was seal damage and it was holding moisture like a sponge. How on earth that moisture ever got there is a mystery but….? I peeled up more of the trunk floor bottom today and it is solid but it needs cleaned and recoated. Thanks!

Oh you should have told me that about 10 years ago when I was trying to use tires that were 32 years old and looked great. Shortly after inflating to proper pressure every single tire completely blew out catastrophically. The last one to go was a trailer spare in the back of my pickup. Everyone of those tires had very rusty steel belting. For the record, I’d bet the newest tire on that car is at least 35 years old. She won’t get on the road without a new set. Interestingly, they were all holding air.

There was a recent attempt to start this car by one of the grandsons. He added this filter and changed fuel hoses and I noticed the spark plugs look new. He told me that he never got the starter solenoid to kick and he quit the effort as a result. That was the same result we got when we put in the battery. BTW, I have a suspicion that this inline filter was likely a replacement for one that was there already. My own experience is that if you are having particles/trash/rust in the fuel system, that little filter in the Q-jet will plug quickly. Although the tank looks pretty good underneath, I suspect it may be bad inside. This seems to be standard fare for my old Buicks. At a minimum a good chemical cleaning and possible coating is probably in order.

I bet you’re right. I never knew the dealer to drill holes but I’m sure some did. Thanks!

I finish this evening with a question. There are two holes on the drivers side of trunk lid as seen in the pic. Would this have been an emblem that said Limited ? The other side of the trunk says Electra 225. Whatever, it’s gone. thank you all again, Joel

A couple pics of the engine compartment. It’s very dirty there.

There’s a couple small cracks in the steering wheel but it still looks good. I was expecting an AM/FM radio - don’t know why. That visor mirror is one like on my ‘60 Electra.

Lots of cracked rubber seals. I sure hope these are reproduced.

Back to better things. Door panels are nice! Nice but filthy.

Unfortunately I found rust. Inside the trunk there is a metal flange that holds the trunk seal. It is completely rotted away for about 12” of length. The trunk floor seems solid with only surface rust upon first inspection. I don’t know why only this spot. As rust repairs go, this will be easy. Hope this is all; we’ll get this car on the lift soon.

My only child! That poor kid will someday have to deal with all this stuff. Oh well, he’ll also inherit a backhoe. He might just dig a big deep hole and you know……

I need to clarify this overly brief response and say that the car was driven to the barn and as we’ve all heard it before, “it ran when it was parked!” Honestly we do not know if it runs. We put a battery in there to operate the drivers window and tried the key and got no response whatsoever on the starter.

I’m definitely going to quote her! Shortly after my uncle passed I went to visit the car, mostly to make sure that it was positioned in the best possible place to keep it out of weather and sun within that building. I’m no fan of car covers so that was out of the question. At that time, the vinyl roof looked good excepting very few tears and very minor peeling. In the last 7 years the tip completely deteriorated but the metal below feels very solid. my opinion is that the vinyl top really adds to the luxury “look and feel” and I’m going to encourage my son to restore that feature.

Thank you! I began reading your well-documented journey on your 69. It reminds me a lot of the 70 Electra that Dad bought in ‘71. Same gold color or very close, maybe ours was a little browner. I was 7 when we got that car; it replaced a VW beetle. That big 455 would get up go. I learned to drive in that car.

It doesn’t run and that will be at the top of our list.

Seems like I can’t take a good pic these days. The interior has no cracks or tears and doesn’t show much wear. I’d say that 2 hours of serious cleaning and it would be very impressive. I did notice that the rubber seals above the door windows are all cracked up. Also, the rubber door seals are deteriorated. The vertical seals between door windows are both bad. I hope all of this is available.

My uncle bought this 68 Electra 225 Limited in December 1969. It was the family car for the next 10 years and then used rarely for the following 4-5 years. Around 1985 it went into a barn (good roof but only one side) where it sat until now. In the summer of 2015 my uncle was on his deathbed and unable to speak. He asked for pen and paper and scribbled “give Joe the Buick.” My uncle knew I was a Buick fanatic. Back in high school and college we were close. I moved away upon graduation and we didn’t get to see each other much through those years. I kept the Buick in that old barn because I had no better spot for it. Fast forward seven years and I decided to bring it home. My 16 year old boy has become enthused with the car and so I’m giving it to him. There will be more to say about this car later. Right now, I see only surface rust in very few places. It’s straight and the black interior is very nice. It has 115,000 miles.

I need another inside door lock for my 31 Series 60. Can be in poor shape as the one in the pic is headed to the chromer. Thank you, Joel

I think I’m about to answer this question. While reading through the ‘31 Fisher Body Manual, I noticed that the instructions for changing glass were, in part, to loosen the channel on both sides and lean the glass out at the top and pull the glass out. This pretty much excludes the stainless beaded trim because it will not lean or bend. If I’m all washed up in this, please let me know!

Those are good ideas, this one didn’t work.

Wait just a minute…..that rubber hasn’t enough give to it. The wedge is way too tight. Got to figure something else out.

Ok, I found a 1/2” think rubber sheet in my rubber sheet junk pile 🤥. It has about the resilience of tire rubber. I used the table saw and a knife to cut pieces that fit perfectly. BTW, I made 5 extra sets of these for anyone who may need them. PM me with address and I’ll send you 8 of them, no charge. I’m calling this one fixed. Thanks again! Joel