What can a 67 Wildcat quarter panel interchange with?

[Guest]

I to am starting a 67 wildcat restoration and saw the fender responses. But I also need to know what quarterpanels can be used on a 67 wildcat conv.? 68's wildcat and electras look very similiar are they (what about lesabre?)

Are any floorpans interchangable with something that is currently being reproduced? Impalas for instance?

Thanks!

steve

[Philippe Racicot]

The 67 Le Sabre quarter panels will fit and the 68 are similar exept an added hole for the side marker light. But I don't think they are available anymore for these cars. I don't know about the floor pans but the trunk door is the same as Wildcat and Le Sabre 4 door hardtops and probably sedans too. The Wildcat's front end and drivetrain are shared with the Electra and the body and glass is similar to the Le Sabre. Both interior and exterior trim is different from 67 to 68 and from the Le Sabre and Electra. The base Wildcat(non Custom)has a similar interior to the Le Sabre Custom. Both bumpers change from year to year but the 67 Le Sabre and Electra has the same front bumper and the 67 Le Sabre has the same rear bumper and fender extensions.

[NTX5467]

Check www.shermanparts.com which is the Sherman and Associates website. They do patch panels and replacement sheet metal parts (including floor pans and such). I was looking around in there today and they might have some of what you are needing.

I suspect the front floor panels could well be the same as Chevys, but the rear floor pan could well be more "wheelbase specific". Might be you could section a piece in the middle of one of the Chevy panels to make the length needed for the Buick's longer wheelbase?

From what I discovered in looking for parts for my '68 LeSabre convertible, the body mounts are the same GM part number as the mounts for a '68 Impala. There might be more "under the skin" items too, but I'm not sure about all of those things at the present time.

I also found out there are basically two convertible top setups for all of the GM full size cars in the '68 time frame. Impala, Catalina/Bonneville, Delta 88, and LeSabre (basically the B-body full size cars) with Olds 98, Electra 225, and DeVille being the other variation. That means that many of the roof rail weatherstrips on the convertibles will be the same, for example, whereas the lower door to body weatherstrips would be car line specific.

In the Sherman online catalog, I believe the '67 and '68 panels could well be the same "with them". The main difference would be the side marker light hole. It would be easier to close up the hole than to do the cutting and shaping to put the hole where it wasn't before.

If you can find a Hollander Manual, it might better verify the interchangeability of many of the parts you might need (at least on the mechanical parts). This is what the salvage yard people use to find out what interchanges and what mods might be needed on certain models and years to make the part fit correctly.

I also found in my salvage yard "adventures" that some of the things you might suspect would be the same within a given model year among the various Buick full size cars are different. For example, I found a windshield washer reservoir on a '68 Electra. It looked just like the one on my LeSabre, but held more fluid. I got it and then discovered the mounting holes were 1 hole's width farther apart. I also noticed that the Electra had horns mounted differently than on my LeSabre and also had a hood pop-up spring that mine had no evidence of ever having--holes were there, but not installed. I was surprised that there could be so much that was different (at least in the one car I found and mine).

I always liked the lines on the '67-'68 Wildcats, especially the coupes whose 1/4 panels seemed to go on and on and on and on for days. The lines for those coupes worked better than on the similar Pontiacs. The convertibles were nice too!

It should make a good project that will be very eye-cathing when you're done!

Just some thoughts . . .

NTX5467