Friday, December 16, 2011

Got some painting done

Receintly I picked up a set of seal plates for under the hood. These plates seal against the foams on the GS air cleaner. My 72 was missing these as was my 70.










They were not in great shape. Several cracks had to be repaired. I used a 2 part liquid epoxy and it worked really well. Very strong. A coat of body filler, sanding and preparation. Then a coat of satin black paint. They look like new!


I also got a bigger sway bar from a Pontiac Trans am. (thanks George!) Its a direct bolt on. It was pretty dirty and greasy. After a good scraping and sanding a fresh coat of satin black was applied. It too looks new!









I wrote a letter to Santa with a list of things Id like. That list included new sway bar brackets, bushings and end links. I also put an engine wiring harness and an electronic distributor conversion kit on there. Cant wait!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Her first ride in the Buick

So Peyton has been patiently waiting for a ride in the Buick

So today, I needed to get some fuel, and its 0.5 miles away, so I asked if she wanted to go to the gas station with me.

She says, 'nah..'
I said 'Im taking the Buick"
Her eyes got big and she says 'Yeah! Yeah!"

She was very excited... loves the 'airplane seatbelts' too



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Friday, November 18, 2011

Latest pictures of the panel alignement



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Holy Crap!

Ive never owned a 455 car before, never driven one. And this one has not run well since I got it (total of about 10 miles since June!)

I bolted the latest carb on. Bent up a rod for my choke so it doesn't quite close all the way but opened 90°

The car started with just a couple pumps which is good considering there was no fuel in the carb

It idled so nicely with just a 1/2 turn of the idle/throttle screw.
I did not adjust the mixture screws.

I let it idle up to 180°, then gave it a quick pump and rpms cut down nicely. Didn't stall in gear. According to my tack its about 800 rpm in park, 650 in drive.

Then the excitement kicked in. There are a number of 4-way stops in my neighborhood and at the first one I left some black marks! Awesome.
On the way back to the house from a roll with no break it broke loose again!

I'm pretty damn happy if ya cant tell!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Front end Panel Alignment

The Dr came over tonight, and we attacked my panel alignment issues.
With the bolts out of the core support I could not move the core support left or right.
So we took off the bumper, I had it loosened anyway. Easily done.
once off, bingo, we could slide the core support... but not quite enough.
Had to elongate the holes for the mounts a little, but everything is square now.
There's nothing obvious, but the car must have had a smack at some point to be off that much....

Although, I never thought about it before now, it was off the chassis, I wonder is the body on straight!? Oh well, it all looks pretty now.
Before we started, the passenger fender was a good 1/2" longer than the hood, but OK on the drivers side.
After we moved the core support, we loosened the hood to hinge bolts, and squared up all the gaps
We put the grill back on and it fit nicely.
Put the bumper back on and had to elongate the holes for that too but its nice an even on both sides now.

The best part now is that I have no more fender rubbing with the 'steam roller' tires!
Previously I had 1/8" space while turning on the passenger side and rubbing on the drivers side.
I put 9/16" worth of washers under the core support to bring it up for alignment.
Now Ive got 1/2" clearance for the tires while turning.. Bonus!






I also took off the rocker moldings as the 'strip' that it hooks on to from the rocker to the fender is missing. I got some repro pieces so I'll get them on, then the rocker moldings should fit nicer too.

New carb (3rd time's a charm) should be here this week
I have the choke setup mocked up on my bench with the old carb and it works beautifully when heated with the heat gun.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

The spoiler is on!




I had some instructions from a service manual but I threw them away real quick. Nothing lined up like in the exploded diagram

This spoiler had no holes in it so I had to drill my own anyway.

I love it though!






Thursday, November 3, 2011

Vacuum leak.. or something?

Well, after the rebuilt carb, the car drives like a scald cat!
But... it wont idle

The offenhauser intake, is a square bore design, where the quadrajet carb is a spread bore design therefore there is an adapter/spacer to allow the two to bolt up.

Couple problems here.
1 - I think a vacuum leak is causing my idle problems and this adapter/spacer is one possible source I need to eliminate.
2 - The dual snorkel air cleaner specific to the GS cars will not fit because of this spacer as the carb sits about 1" higher. My goal is to put this air cleaner back on so a new intake that matches the carbs spread bore design will put the carb back in a factory position and allow the air cleaner to fit.

So the engine came apart.



Intake removed, and some fresh Buick Red paint. I have also painted the AC and power steering brackets and the pulleys with some fresh satin black.















The new intake is an Edelbrock Performer, designed to keep the carb in the factory location so the GS air cleaner can be used. Its been blasted, and painted with high heat aluminum paint. All the fittings have been cleaned and its ready to install.













I even cleaned up the brake booster with some gold paint and the master cylinder with some cast iron paint


















Here's where I am right now. The intake, carb and aluminum valve covers are just laid in place for now. Hope to have everything back together by this weekend.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Carb Rebuild

I was really intimidated by the thought of rebuilding the carb.
I bought a rebuild kit and new float.
The Dr. came over and I had the carb off ready to go.
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Ready to start piecing it back together
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Rebuld done
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Back on the motor
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The car started after some pumping. Also noticed a leak around the throttle shaft bushings.
But at least I can start the car now without starting fluid.

A guy on the www.V8Buick.com board who rebuilds carbs offered to build me one, that looks correct. I found out the one I have has a Pontiac choke on it!
The rebuild includes all new bushings, adjustments, float, larger jets, and a coat of carb renew paint to make it look pretty.. how could I refuse! That should be here soon.

The October BOP (Buick Olds Pontiac) show is coming up in 2 1/2 weeks.. cant wait!!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Some Glamor Shots

After I got the transmission pan on (and fingers crossed my leaks are resolved) I had to go for a drive and take some pictures with the new wheels and tires. Wheels make a huge difference!

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A short video clip




Tucked in for the night

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Trans pan is on


First the aluminum pan has a nice thick flange and I think it will solve any leak in the gasket area....but....

The aluminum pan's flange is not as wide as a stock pan. And the bolts are actually sunk into the sides of the pan.
you can see in the picture how the bolt holes are grooved into the sides of the pan, Even the bolts are allen key, cause they're so tight to the pan you cant use a socket



I thought about making a bracket, and I started to... but the metal left around the bolt is just too thin for my liking...

So I posted on the Buick board, the only recommendation I got was to cut my existing bracket using the pan as a template


I did just that
I removed the pan, I had it only temporary on anyway, and the shifter bracket.
On my bench I did some grinding, and removed enough to to let the bracket fit in against the pan and let the bolt holes line up.
I test fit the pan, and it looked good.
took it apart again, put the gasket on, finger tight bolts and it was good.
Except.....



With the bracket on the bolts that came with the aluminum pan were now a little too short, and I felt I would strip them if I tried to tighten then.
Made a trip to Tractor Supply, they had the exact same bolts but just a little longer and it worked nicely. All bolts tight and bracket is solid.









Its filled with fluid, warmed her up, checked it again, added more etc.. went for a little run, and my excitement has been renewed again

And the tires/wheels look awesome!

Fingers crossed no more leaks

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Wheels are on!


I could not wait... So today at lunch I headed for the garage.

The center caps showed up yesterday



Very nice pieces, diecast, not plastic.






And they are mounted with small bolts, so they cant fall off or be stolen












They sure do finish the wheel






















And of course, I had to put them on


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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

August Update

Some odd jobs done
Front bumper tightened
New fuel pump
New steel fuel line to the carb

I have a small starting issue, very hard to start without starting fluid down the carb - looks like a rebuild for the carb soon.

The trans pan is leaking like crazy. I removed it, and it was badly beat up. Ordered a new finned aluminum one that should be here this week.

And most exciting, new wheels and tires.
15x8 all around wrapped in BF Goodrich Radial TA's 255 6015's
New center caps and lugs too.. gonna be nice!

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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Patients has paid off....

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After a long drive to TN and back, I now have the smell of fumes in my garage again!
















Reproduction bias-ply Firestone Wide Ovals on 14's














All new interior.























Here are some pictures out in the Sun


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This car has had a frame off, new paint, new interior.
The under side is clean, all new brake lines, fuel lines, bushings, suspension etc.


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So what are my plans?
The car has had a frame off, and just recently put together, so needless to say there are a few bugs to work out.
- A front spring seems to not be seated properly, makes a pop noise on bumps
- Need to trace a fuel problem, if left for a day its difficult to start, even after 100 pumps. Could be a fuel pump leak back problem or an accelerator pump in the carb.
- Need to source a radio and bezel, the car had a modern CD player which was not put back. I will likely add a hidden system at some point.
- The car currently has 14" Buick rally wheels with reproduction Firestone Wide Oval tires. I have already bought a set of 15x8 Buick rally wheels so I can put some modern rubber under her.
- There is an aftermarket tach, that does not fit in the factory position, so I will replace it with a clock for now and look for a hood tach!
- Other than that, a few cosmetic issues, even though the paint is new it has some blemishes.

Here's the difference between the wheels. I prefer rally wheels, so the plan is get the 15's on asap. (these pix were before the vinyl top was installed)



Dog Dish Hubcaps

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14's Buick Rallys

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