What to do about a 61 Buick special wagon

My buddy did a 401 Swap in a 61 Skylark 2 door (same platform). It was a TON of work. Super cool though!

 

If you can find a good Rover V8, that would be appropriate.

 

http://tulsa.en.craigslist.org/pts/4211346505.html

ask and ye shall receive.

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Here ya go!

 

Too funny my wife and I were just talking about 61 Buick wagons. My wife's parents had a 61 Buick in an old pic and she really wants one. She's got a thing for wagons.

 

If the engine doesn't work out, I'd try to stay with a small Buick V8 myself. The SBC would be the cheapest swap, but it's such a cool wagon I'd really want to keep it all Buick if possible.

 

A small block chevy opens up a whole can of worms with clearance issues. I looked into it with my 2 door and it was pretty involved. I hope you can make that little v6 work out for you.

 

Well...I got the motor running!!! I did what rocky said and put some oil in the cylinders and turned it over then slapped some new plugs in it and bada-bing! I apologize ahead of time, I was pretty excited in the video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-0sUPs9lMg

 

Ha,ha congrats! Nothing like the first fire. The value just went up quite a bit.

 

Do an oil change right away now that it ran for the first time in ages. Put some magnets on the oil pan too.

I tried to listen to the motor but couldn't hear if there were any bad sounds - odd fire motors lope a bit anyway. How did it sound to you?

 

^^^^^ Yup. Its cool that you got this motor running. If you have a mechanical oil pressure gauge it might not be a bad idea to stick it on the motor and check oil pressure once oil is changed and motor has run for awhile. That ought to tell something about its condition. Subscribe, I wanna see how this turns out.

 

It did idle well on its own without me feathering the throttle so that was a nice suprise. I didn't run it a long time because it has old oil in it and I want to change it but also because it has a very loud hissing sound. If you watch the video you'll notice that its louder than the sound of the exhaust and engine. I am wondering if it might have been the alternator going out? Sounded more metallic than just air escaping or a hole in the exhaust. Any thoughts?

 

Cracked exhaust manifold might make that noise. If it's idling without playing with the accelerator probably not an exhaust leak but you can always check by spraying wd40 or quickstart or something around to see if the engine revs up.

 

Fixed the hissing sound! The loud noise was due to exhaust being forced out of a rusted out section of exhaust pipe under the car because the muffler was clogged with dirt and mice nests. Sawzall took care of that problem.

 

"IT LIVES!" Yes. Yes it does. Congratulations. Should be a lot of fun.

 

Me too!

 

at one time the power steering box from 1961-63 buick specials and olds f-85's were tough to find in junk yards.there was a company in wisc. using them for sprint car steering boxes!if you look it's an odd saginaw box that mounts behind the crossmember and has the correct rotation for side steering in sprint cars.an early open wheel magazine even had a write-up on doing the conversion.

 

So i'd like to get the car all sealed up from the weather. I have a friend who owns a glass shop and thankfully the big rear side window is flat but do I need to find some place that sells the rubber seal for the window? or is it somewhat generic? any leads would be great

 

here is the window in question

 

I bet that thing would look sweet with Supremes, Bellflower tips, and a Watson style paint job.

 

Wish I could help but I dont know, If you cant find it, This may be one of those things where you hafta get creative and make something else work out of another diffrent kind of car or use that black windshield adhesive sealer stuff etc. in that channel that it looks to have.

 

Have you looked at Steele Rubber yet?

 

http://www.steelerubber.com/

 

Geez, I think that is a pretty cool wagon! Good thing you decided to keep it or I would be driving up from Denver with a car trailer. Look for a HAMBER that cuts glass and have one made up and installed. That will be a very cool and unusual car!

 

I'd pull out the weatherstripping that's in the window channel and see if it's reusable. If there's none there, then you might have to pull the other side to see if you can match the profile with something from Steelerubber's catalog. It was a one piece I believe, but could be made in three pieces if properly sealed in the corners.
If you just need a temporary cover for the winter, I'd go to a local sheetmetal shop and get a piece of light galvanized sheetmetal and cut it to fit the opening. Then just use a good duct tape to hold it in for the winter, and remove it whenever you get class and a seal figured out.

 

Yes I did happen to check out Steele rubber. They probably have something that will work but I'm not sure exactly what I need. Their website didn't have my car listed


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one option to see what can be done to take out the "ugly" is to take a few pics and post on the "photoshop" thread with a few ideas or open it up for suggestions, some of the folks who do the photoshopping do great work, just remeber to thanks them ahead of time and afterwards..

 

Reality can sometimes be a harsh mistress. I once dated a most fabulous specimen of the female variety, but in the end I came to the conclusion that what I put in as opposed to what I got out was way way off...

 

Try and find an old time glass guy. I am sure he will be able to come up with something to seal that side window.