1970 buick estate shares electra parts?

[perswe]

Hi

New to the forums here😊

 

So I bought a 1970 estate wagon a couple of years ago, in a very used condition, sunburnt and worn. Drove it it until the tranny started to leak bad so I stored it for a year or so until recently when I took it out again. I bought a chevy van and pulled the engine/trans from to use in this car since also the 455 takes oil and water, but thats another story.

 

However I have been looking into building air suspension on the buick and been looking into parts for this. Theres simply nothing premanufactured, brackets or anything for 1970 estate wagon. Question is then if the 1970 electra (or any other model for that matter?) shares the same front suspension, rear axle suspension and alike? Could A arms, coilsprings and such from a electra fit into a estatewagon? If so it would be easier for me to find brackets and such to use for that build. Also been thinking about a brake disc conversion but finding parts/kits here in Sweden for estatewagon is impossible. Finding things for the more common cars (in swe atleast), just like the electra is easier.

 

Thanks

[Frank DuVal]

1970 Estate Wagon is a B body, same as LeSabre. However, the brake drums are the same as Electra.

 

Build the 455, that engine from the Chevy van, unless a 454, is not going to give good results. The 1970 is a one year only 10:1 compression 370 HP version of a 455. You can rebuild it with 8.5:1 pistons to use lower grade of gas, still enough horsepower to move it quick.😉

 

I just used Hijackers on my 1970 Estate Wagon. Easy peasy, although an onboard compressor would be nice.

 

Should be a Turbo Hydramatic 400 in that car.  What is the one from the van?

 

1971 LeSabre wagon is a completely different chassis and B body, not much interchanges, except maybe the rear axle assembly, engine and transmission.

 

I need a frame for mine, now that is a hard part to find without buying a whole car!

[NTX5467]

I suspect that if you desire a full air suspension on your Buick, you'll need to adapt parts from a '70 Chevy Impala/Caprice station wagon.  You'll probably be putting the air bags where the existing coil springs are, as replacements.  GM used some supplemental air bags mounted inside of the coil springs on some motorhome chassis models.  Firestone builds a somewhat universal rear air spring assist package for pickup trucks, with a remote controller unit.

 

By observation, there are LOTS of earlier '70s Chevy Impalas which have full air suspension on them.  One vendor is RideTech, for example.

 

The B-car Impala and the B-car LeSabre are similar, but each with their own unique pieces.  Electras were C-cars, as were Cadillac DeVilles.  Not sure of any interchange between the B and C suspensions, OR if any similarity bolt-in items exist between them, either.  Haven't looked in quite a while.

 

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[perswe]

Thanks guys, that helps. I'll probably manufacture most of the brackets myself anyway but it helps alot if I know the specs of them, and looking at kits for Lesabre  in this case is a good start.

 

Frank DuVal, the chevy van had a 6.2 diesel and a Th700 😆.  Now you probably think Im crazy.. but  there is a few reasons for this choice. Gas here is $6.37 per gallon.  Diesel is about the same. However I work at a place where I can get diesel for a VERY beneficial price. Using the buick as a daily driver with a 455 simply isnt a choice considering the cost for driving it. Also Ive always been into diesel trucks and older stationwagons so this combo with a will be perfect☺️

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

And  "here"  is where?

 

  Ben

[perswe]

Here, as in Sweden, as I mentioned in the first post ☺️

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

2 hours ago, perswe said:

Here, as in Sweden, as I mentioned in the first post ☺️

 

 You sure did! I missed that. I apologize..

 

 

 Ben