??1965 Buick Special Deluxe??

[Guest]

I have a 1965 Buick Special Deluxe. I was wondering a few questions. 1. Whats the difference between a Special and a Special Deluxe. 2. I'm 17, this is my 2nd car.First one was a chevy malibu, I dont know too much about enhancing a cars performance. I can do basic work. I was wondering how much difference would adding a 4barrel to a 4 door would make? 3. I need to know where I can get ahold of some pieces that are missing from the crome trim, near the front. Someone told me buick colored pieces were once there.Its missing all 3 on both sides. And I also need the Special emblems on both sides, mine are missing the S on one side and the L on the other. So I need two, one for each side.<P>Also if you know of any other things I could do to the engine that aren't that hard please tell me. This is my first car that I will be doing most of the work on myself. I'm a little low on cash working at a fast food place. And I'm a novice. Thanks Anthony<P>1965 Buick Special Deluxe, 310 Wildcat(300ci)

[Guest]

Anthony, I am looking at a salesman "pocket Directory" and I see that all Deluxes were 4 doors.They cost about $100.00 more than their "regular" brother. <BR>I do see that a Deluxe had a dash pad, Carpeting (Special Conv. had them too), front and rear arm rests(sedans), side body moldings, Deluxe steering wheel(same as Skylark), Front and rear ash trays.<P>The four barrel will help but the first thing to increase power would be some lower gears in the rear.<P>There are lots of places to find those parts, start by posting wanted ads at the Buick site such as this. And watch eBay weekly! Use Skylark or Special as search words, don't get to detailed like "Buick Special emblem" just use the Skylark and Specail, you may have a bunch of no related stuff to weed through but you won't miss anything. <P>Good luck, you have a great little car. I am jealous, I wish I were 17 and working at a fast food joint with a Special outside to drive home. Enjoy it and life, and for goodness sake, don't take things too serious! Just stay clean and home working on that Buick! <P>------------------<BR>buickfam@aol.com<BR>Life long Buick Fan.<BR>1965 Skylark H/T<BR>1965 Gran Sport Convertible<BR>1948 Chevy Pickup with 401 Buick.<BR>"Fan of anything that moves human beings"

[Guest]

Congrats on your car!<P>I am 19, and got a 66 Special 4dr when I was 17. Not it is in the garage waiting for a new front clip.... The 1st thing I would invest in if I were you is a Duel master cylinder! The single ones are extremly dangerous!<P>As for the Emblems, keep an eye on eBay, that's the best way I have found. <P>For performance, I decided to lose the 310 wildcat, and drop in a 350, and th350 trans. It's not too bad of a swap, and there a lot more parts available for the 350.<P>Good Luck,<BR>Rob <BR>Coppersmith

[Guest]

Hey, pretty cool car for a 17 yr old! Big improvement over that chevy! Nothing really wrong with a four door, only that the resale value will be a little lower if you decide to sell. Performance-wise it's fine. <BR>I agree with the earlier poster about the master cylinder upgrade, it's much safer. Consider front discs also,if you can afford them. <BR>I wouldn't change the rear-end gears, your gas milage will go down, and they are expensive. Consider instead changing to a TH350 trans. It will make the car quicker off the line, preserve the gas milage, and is a fairly inexpensive and easy swap. A 200R4 OD trans is also good, but is a bit more involved and expensive.<BR> Also, a good dual exhaust, about 2.25-2.5", will help performance and gas milage.I think the exhaust manifolds might be decent on the 300 (I know the 340s are), so headers aren't really needed.<BR> Don't be too quick to change the two-barrel carb, 4-barrel manifolds are sort of hard to come by for the old 300-340 motors. A bigger 2-barrel carb might fit on your existing manifold with some experimentation. Check other GM cars in the junkyard. Regardless, make sure the motor is well tuned and maintained, it will be plenty fast in a fairly light car like yours. You might consider switching to an electronic type ignition. The Pertronix units are popular, or a GM HEI unit will probably fit. Either will reduce your maintainence, and help milage and performance slightly. <BR> And most important- learn and have fun!!

[Guest]

Thanks for the help. I'm gonna keep the 300ci in it b/c it has a little over 55,000 org. miles on it. Later on I might change over, once I'm a better mechanic. But for now the 300 suits my intentions. Thanks for all your input. I think out of any type of cars, Buick owners have the most pride and are willing to help each other out. That makes me proud to own a Buick myself.<BR> -Anthony Johnson(proud Buick owner)

[Guest]

Anthony,<BR>One of the first requirements is a decent set of tools. There is nothing more frustrating than, for example, trying to remove a phillips screw with a slot screw driver (you get the picture). Now's the time to drop hints to Mom and Dad as Xmas is around the corner.<P>As for performance upgrades (on a budget) try a K&N air filter and a new hi-flow muffler first. Cheap horse power. Then move on to some of the other suggestions. <P>------------------<BR>George C. Thomas<BR>70 GS 455 12.teens<BR>86 GN Low 13's/ high 12's

[RoyWimsett]

I'm comparing my 1965 Buick special to a chevelle because it was such a bottom of the line model that it came with a complete rubber matting floor and it's options were a radio and power steering with 300 2 v8.. It's a two door post coop and is restored.. I purchased this car 19 years ago because I saw it to be simplicity at its best just like a chevelle in so many ways.. I have throughly enjoyed driving it and I've noticed alot of people mistake it for a chevelle or GTO.. The taillights look just like the 66 chevelle design and the side body lines go down the car just like the 65 chevelle.. The top is the same as the 64/65 GTOs and the interior is the same except for the dash.. I have a 67 Buick GS 340 4 that will be a future change up. It has stock supper turbine 300 transmission.   The stator switch was originally a micro switch on the carburetor linkage Never worked good so I hooked it into the break light switch I recommend this because it works great..