Project with my Grandson
- Thread starter Nuts
- Start date
Well, this week and weekend we finished up a lot of little things on the motor and got the real radiator support and radiator put back on. Getting some of the body parts cleaned up after setting around inside and outside the shop, so that we can begin to put the front clip back on !!! 
Making some progress every day and with the Grandson being out of school all this week, we should be able to get it back looking like a car again by weeks end !!!! I'll post some picture as time allows and we do something interesting.
Bill
Making some progress every day and with the Grandson being out of school all this week, we should be able to get it back looking like a car again by weeks end !!!! I'll post some picture as time allows and we do something interesting.Bill
Though I'd load some pictures of the progress as we move towards putting the body back together and getting this thing "road ready" so to speak.
I though this was a good picture of my son supervising me on the project.
Got the radiator support and radiator install, although I was parcel to the other one.
Inner fenders painted and ready to install and some parts cleaned up and stored under the pateo cover...
Should be able to proceed with getting things back together as soon as we solve one problem !!! Don't seem to have a power to the front wiring harrness and lights ??? I have hooked up the ground straps and made sure the plug on the fire wall is tight, but don't seem to have any power to the lights. The rear clearence lights are coming on so that tells me the switch is working ?? Have to get the meter out today and see if I can find the cause
More to come later
Bill
I though this was a good picture of my son supervising me on the project.
Got the radiator support and radiator install, although I was parcel to the other one.
Inner fenders painted and ready to install and some parts cleaned up and stored under the pateo cover...
Should be able to proceed with getting things back together as soon as we solve one problem !!! Don't seem to have a power to the front wiring harrness and lights ??? I have hooked up the ground straps and made sure the plug on the fire wall is tight, but don't seem to have any power to the lights. The rear clearence lights are coming on so that tells me the switch is working ?? Have to get the meter out today and see if I can find the cause
More to come later
Bill
Well, we are getting real close on this project... We got the fenders back on today and lined up pretty good for now, will fix alittle better when the body works is done.
Cleaning one last part to install Looking pretty pround of himself
Almost there....
The only problem we have run into so far, is the heater/AC is not working correctly. There is not change in the flow as the controls are moved on the dash, and the heater control valve is not working at all. I can move the control valve by sucking on it, but the water does not flow through the heater core ? It appears the valve is moved by vacuum, so how much vacuum should we get on the circuit ? There is a vacuum canister mounted on the cowl, so how much in and out of the canister, should we have ?
Hope we can get this fixed and put the seats and interior back together and take her out for a drive.
Cleaning one last part to install Looking pretty pround of himself
Almost there....
The only problem we have run into so far, is the heater/AC is not working correctly. There is not change in the flow as the controls are moved on the dash, and the heater control valve is not working at all. I can move the control valve by sucking on it, but the water does not flow through the heater core ? It appears the valve is moved by vacuum, so how much vacuum should we get on the circuit ? There is a vacuum canister mounted on the cowl, so how much in and out of the canister, should we have ?
Hope we can get this fixed and put the seats and interior back together and take her out for a drive.
most likely if your main control is vacuum operated and no change in modes when switching levers around you don't have a vacuum hose connected under hood area ,on that cannister if you have plastic vacuum hoses sometimes you can crack them they get brittle, your source should be close to engine vacuum and sometimes a one way valve won't let vacuum go through, your cannister is im thinking is a reserve so when you accelerate your vacuum don't drop off and change modes in dash, old retired ford wrencher here not real familiar with older gm without seeing it in person ,trace your heater switch control under dash to engine compartment to make sure its connected,good luck if you need more help whistle, lol
First road test !!!!! 
Well, she is out and about !!!! Down to the corner and back anyway. Not sure exactly what we have or don't have because they took the drive while Linda and I were out doing Xmas stuff, so I didn't get to see or hear the test drive ? I will take her out again today during daylight hours to get a better ideal of what we have. Still lots of work to do as you all know, but she is really coming together !
I'll let you know what I find after my test drive. Yes I know there "WAS" a tail light out, I have already fixed it !
Bill
Well, she is out and about !!!! Down to the corner and back anyway. Not sure exactly what we have or don't have because they took the drive while Linda and I were out doing Xmas stuff, so I didn't get to see or hear the test drive ? I will take her out again today during daylight hours to get a better ideal of what we have. Still lots of work to do as you all know, but she is really coming together !
I'll let you know what I find after my test drive. Yes I know there "WAS" a tail light out, I have already fixed it !
Bill
i would bet your the happiest man on the block , lol
1966shortwide said:
Very happy to take her for a drive for sure !!!!
I took her out for a good drive today after getting a temp registration, about 10 miles I think ! A couple of issues popped up that will require some working. The transmission does not shift automatically, but will shift when you do it manually ??? I'm not very knowledgeble on the auto-trans, so I'm not sure what the issue might be ? It also hits really hard when shifting down into first, while still moving forward. I also noticed a pretty good leak from the trans after sitting for awhile, after the drive, I'll have to jack her up and see where that's coming from.
The other issue that popped up is a rough idle after the drive. Seems to clear right up with alittle increase in RPMs, so I'll have to take a good look at the carb this afternoon, to see if I can figure out whats causing the rough idle after a good warm up.
The good news is, she ran along pretty good, as long as I shift by moving the shift lever. Brakes seem alittle soft, so I'll have to adjust and bleed them again, to see if I can get a better pedel. Well the grandson should be over again this afternoon, so we'll see what we find.
Bill
Congratulations are in order Bill to you and your grandson.
All your hard work seems to have really paid off. The Buick looks great.
All your hard work seems to have really paid off. The Buick looks great.
Bill,As to your trans,.shifting problem,you either have no vacuum to the modulator,or a bad modulator.The idle problem sounds like it may be an air leak.
I think we found the problem with the idle yesterday. We had installed the heat riser a couple of days ago, after checking to see that it was free to move, but it was staying closed. I manually opened it yesterday after checking for air leaks as Don suggested and the idle went back to smooth and the rattle in the exhaust went away. I'll have to wire it open for now and get a new one or a spacer, when we do the exhaust. Did some checking of the vacuum at the carb and adjusted the carburator for highest vacuum at idle (about 12 in of vac) at idle, which seems a little low ?? Manifold vacuum was up to 20 in as RPMs came up ?
Have to figure out where the trans fluid leak is, it's making a mess on the floor. I think it's coming from the dip stick/fill tube, where it goes into the trans. Looking at the old trans, it looks possible to get the tube to deep into the hole ? There is an "O" ring on the tube, and it looks like we could push it to deep and the "O" ring would not seal in the hole ? Well as I said, I'm not real good with the automatic trans, because by the time my cars at auto's, they were too technical for my limited knowledge, so I took them to a mechanic for repairs...
Bill
Have to figure out where the trans fluid leak is, it's making a mess on the floor. I think it's coming from the dip stick/fill tube, where it goes into the trans. Looking at the old trans, it looks possible to get the tube to deep into the hole ? There is an "O" ring on the tube, and it looks like we could push it to deep and the "O" ring would not seal in the hole ? Well as I said, I'm not real good with the automatic trans, because by the time my cars at auto's, they were too technical for my limited knowledge, so I took them to a mechanic for repairs...
Bill
Yes,Bill,12 in.@idle is too low,should be 15-17 inchs on a stock engine.Perhaps the outer ring on the harmonic balancer has slipped somewhat,add 4 degrees to the timing and see if it comes up.I have run into that pesky dipstck leak before ,use a bead of silicon sealer on the dipstick tube in the area where it goes into the trans[you'll need to pull the tube to accomplish this].Sometimes a rubber "sleeve" is used between the tube and the case.
,use a bead of silicon sealer on the dipstick tube in the area where it goes into the trans[you'll need to pull the tube to accomplish this].Sometimes a rubber "sleeve" is used between the tube and the case.
Well the GOOOOOOOD news is, we got the trans to shift normally, by putting the "old" modulator from the other transmission on today. Took it for a drive and she shifted just like it's suppose to. This was a rebuilt trans, with a "new" modulator so we just used it, but there must have been something wrong with it, or the combination of the old car and newer trans ? The bad news is, still have the leak !!!! We have had her jacked up and can't figure out where it's coming from ? We let it idle for quite a long time and no drips, that we could see, but after setting for a couple of hours, now there is fluid on the floor again.... We checked all the line connections and checked to make sure the plugs were tight. The only place I can find fluid is around the drip stick tube. We did not replace the "O" ring on the tube, so maybe that's our next move.
Grandson was very excited that the transmission shifted properly !!!! He is going to take her into his shop class tomorrow and they will do a alignment and bleed the brakes to see if we can get a better pedal.
Bill
We have had her jacked up and can't figure out where it's coming from ? We let it idle for quite a long time and no drips, that we could see, but after setting for a couple of hours, now there is fluid on the floor again.... We checked all the line connections and checked to make sure the plugs were tight. The only place I can find fluid is around the drip stick tube. We did not replace the "O" ring on the tube, so maybe that's our next move.Grandson was very excited that the transmission shifted properly !!!! He is going to take her into his shop class tomorrow and they will do a alignment and bleed the brakes to see if we can get a better pedal.
Bill
Bill,There are three places where a rebuilt trans.is likely to leak,and two of them are "installer" responsibility. #1,dipstick tube,#2,detent cable where it seats on the case[little "O" ring],and the third [will be on the driver side of the tans.] the shift selector seal.Don
