CK5
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1969 Buick Wildcat Custom build. Sold it.
- Thread starter ktmoutfront
- Start date
Sponsor an engine and transmission and I am in.
beags86
Eastbound and Down
If you want it rebuilt then pull it.
If you don't I'm not sure what you have to lose.
Change oil, clean carb, points and all that shit and let it rip.
If you can turn it over by hand you won't have anything to worry about.
I bet there is nothing wrong with that ol girl.
If you don't I'm not sure what you have to lose.
Change oil, clean carb, points and all that shit and let it rip.
If you can turn it over by hand you won't have anything to worry about.
I bet there is nothing wrong with that ol girl.
Last edited:
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Looks like a good one. That will be sweet with a paint job pulling the boat. Lake Car! Convertible conversion???
Will definitely have the AC working. As it will be driving through NM and AZ in the summer.
Am I the only one that would leave it that green color!?
It would be cool to match the boat but...
Anyway...Looks awesome out from its coverings!
It would be cool to match the boat but...
Anyway...Looks awesome out from its coverings!
I put the car to bed under a couple of covers and tarps. While doing so, i went through the glove box. Found a bunch maintenance receipts.
Based on dates and miles listed, this is a low miles car.
Based on dates and miles listed, this is a low miles car.
It's either Like Green Poly or Olive Beige.
Don't hold your breath. I have a boat to build first.
I saw a '69 Buick Electra listed in the "FREE" colum on Craigslist the other day...didn't look all that shabby either,it was located nearly 100 miles away though,and the ad vanished quickly...was probably one of those deals where an elderly owner died and heirs wanted the property cleaned up,or someone bought the house and it was left behind..
I think it said they had the "paperwork" so it had a title ?..
The car looked very much like the one a late friend found in Fall River MA years ago for 100 bucks...sadly that one had frame rot,despite the body being immaculate..only thing holding the rear end in was the lower control arms...he was forced to scrap it..
I hope someone "saved" that Buick on CL instead of hauling it in for scrap...which is like $50 a ton or less around here now..
I think it said they had the "paperwork" so it had a title ?..
The car looked very much like the one a late friend found in Fall River MA years ago for 100 bucks...sadly that one had frame rot,despite the body being immaculate..only thing holding the rear end in was the lower control arms...he was forced to scrap it..
I hope someone "saved" that Buick on CL instead of hauling it in for scrap...which is like $50 a ton or less around here now..
I have been messing with the engine an hour here or there. See foam in the cylinders for a couple of weeks now. Can not get the engine to turn over. Is stuck hard. So I work, for cash. May have to consider an 8.1 and 4l80e conversion.
But the Buick is going to need a bunch of money sunk into it. So I work on other peoples stuff instead of working on it, the boat or the Jimmy.
But the Buick is going to need a bunch of money sunk into it. So I work on other peoples stuff instead of working on it, the boat or the Jimmy.
We had several engines at the junkyard we un-seized,that were running when the vehicles they were in were hauled in,but sat too long--some for up to 20 years..
--most of the ones that refused to break free after soaking them with ATF and diesel in the cylinders,by using a breaker bar on the balancer bolt,we were able to get to move and break free, by using a long pry bar on the flywheel teeth..we had to lift it up with the loader to do that..
Once they broke free,we were able to turn most of them back and forth,a little further each time,until two complete revolutions could be made--many of them actually spun pretty freely once the initial "bond" was broken....a few vehicles that had manual transmissions we towed and dumped the clutch in second gear..
Some of the engines fired up and ran good,others had stuck valves,and they ended up getting smacked by the piston..others seemed to run OK,but only lasted a short time before they started belching smoke,probably rings got stuck,or possibly broke during the un-sticking process--a few seized up again and a few threw a rod..our fault for not putting fresh oil in them probably
.....one 289 Ford had the camshaft snap after it ran sweet for about 20 minutes..
Out of about 20 engines,I'd say at least a dozen survived,and ended up being good runners..the rest either needed rings,a bore job,or were junk due to cracks,from water that got in them and froze..the ones in vehicles that still had coolant in the radiator were the ones that fared the best..one of them was a 425 Buick nailhead from a '66 Electra,I wanted that one bad,but it got claimed by an employee when the yard closed up for good..
One of my friends had a '72 Nova given to him long ago,that had overheated badly and seized up...it had a 250 straight six in it...it was bound up good,we could not get it to budge using a breaker bar..--he wanted to see if we could get it to run long enough to get it to his house 4 miles away,rather than pay for a tow..we pulled the spark plugs out and dumped ATF and marvel mystery oil in the cylinders..and we let the car sit a few days..
He had an idea,he took a 2 ton hydraulic bottle jack and put it under the flywheel teeth after removing the tin shield,and he jacked up against the flywheel--the car started lifting up,then it broke free!--we were able to get it to spin over with the starter with the spark plugs out and some more marvel mystery oil in the cylinders,and we spun it over a good 30 seconds to make sure it had no stuck valves..
It fired right up after we put the spark plugs back in it--I followed him to his house and got smoked out so bad I almost threw up,but by the time he got home the smoking had almost stopped..
The car needed a radiator,and he got a used one and put it in,and drove the car short distances for awhile to see if the head gasket got blown--it seemed ok,so he started trusting it further...he ended up driving it for 3 years before he came across a good running 350 and put that in it--the 250 was still running great..
I wouldn't just give up on the Buick engine yet..let it soak longer,and keep trying to break it free..it may surprise you..also make sure the water pump,alternator and any other thing like an air pump isn't seized as well--we had a few engines that had seized water pumps that spun right over after we took the belts off!..we almost scrapped them...
I've read about some guys who used a grease gun and a adapter made from an old spark plug with a zerk fitting in it to pump the cylinder full of grease,on old tractors and one lung air cooled engines,they claim the 10,000 psi pressure works when all else fails..the bummer is getting all that grease OUT again,without having to pull the head off..
--most of the ones that refused to break free after soaking them with ATF and diesel in the cylinders,by using a breaker bar on the balancer bolt,we were able to get to move and break free, by using a long pry bar on the flywheel teeth..we had to lift it up with the loader to do that..
Once they broke free,we were able to turn most of them back and forth,a little further each time,until two complete revolutions could be made--many of them actually spun pretty freely once the initial "bond" was broken....a few vehicles that had manual transmissions we towed and dumped the clutch in second gear..
Some of the engines fired up and ran good,others had stuck valves,and they ended up getting smacked by the piston..others seemed to run OK,but only lasted a short time before they started belching smoke,probably rings got stuck,or possibly broke during the un-sticking process--a few seized up again and a few threw a rod..our fault for not putting fresh oil in them probably
.....one 289 Ford had the camshaft snap after it ran sweet for about 20 minutes..Out of about 20 engines,I'd say at least a dozen survived,and ended up being good runners..the rest either needed rings,a bore job,or were junk due to cracks,from water that got in them and froze..the ones in vehicles that still had coolant in the radiator were the ones that fared the best..one of them was a 425 Buick nailhead from a '66 Electra,I wanted that one bad,but it got claimed by an employee when the yard closed up for good..
One of my friends had a '72 Nova given to him long ago,that had overheated badly and seized up...it had a 250 straight six in it...it was bound up good,we could not get it to budge using a breaker bar..--he wanted to see if we could get it to run long enough to get it to his house 4 miles away,rather than pay for a tow..we pulled the spark plugs out and dumped ATF and marvel mystery oil in the cylinders..and we let the car sit a few days..
He had an idea,he took a 2 ton hydraulic bottle jack and put it under the flywheel teeth after removing the tin shield,and he jacked up against the flywheel--the car started lifting up,then it broke free!--we were able to get it to spin over with the starter with the spark plugs out and some more marvel mystery oil in the cylinders,and we spun it over a good 30 seconds to make sure it had no stuck valves..
It fired right up after we put the spark plugs back in it--I followed him to his house and got smoked out so bad I almost threw up,but by the time he got home the smoking had almost stopped..
The car needed a radiator,and he got a used one and put it in,and drove the car short distances for awhile to see if the head gasket got blown--it seemed ok,so he started trusting it further...he ended up driving it for 3 years before he came across a good running 350 and put that in it--the 250 was still running great..
I wouldn't just give up on the Buick engine yet..let it soak longer,and keep trying to break it free..it may surprise you..also make sure the water pump,alternator and any other thing like an air pump isn't seized as well--we had a few engines that had seized water pumps that spun right over after we took the belts off!..we almost scrapped them...
I've read about some guys who used a grease gun and a adapter made from an old spark plug with a zerk fitting in it to pump the cylinder full of grease,on old tractors and one lung air cooled engines,they claim the 10,000 psi pressure works when all else fails..the bummer is getting all that grease OUT again,without having to pull the head off..
I am looking at rebuild costs. This is going to be used for towing my boat through no mans land in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. 900 miles each way a few times a year. Do not want to have to worry about a stuck engine giving up. If the cylinders were good, I would re-ring, bearing and seal it. The other issue with these engines is the oil system notorious for drying the bearings out. And I wonder why the starter and spark plugs were pulled in 1992 at 28,420 miles.
Yeah,if your going to use it for long distance towing/cruising,it would be best to pull the 430 and rebuild it...
A newer 455 might be better and easier to find in good running condition at a salvage yard,or craigslist too--I've seen a few listed locally for $400-500....the 430's were kind of a orphan,I saw many of them in full sized Buicks and Riviera's from 67-69 that were seized or had other oil related issues like bad lifters and cam lobes..
It would be nice if you could keep it numbers matching though..maybe with such low miles its not all that bad inside..
Every time I see a nice old Buick ,I kick myself for selling the two '66's I had,an Electra 225,and a 4 door Wildcat..that goes for a lot of the old cars & trucks I had...was stupid to sell them..never thought they would become so rare so quickly..
A newer 455 might be better and easier to find in good running condition at a salvage yard,or craigslist too--I've seen a few listed locally for $400-500....the 430's were kind of a orphan,I saw many of them in full sized Buicks and Riviera's from 67-69 that were seized or had other oil related issues like bad lifters and cam lobes..
It would be nice if you could keep it numbers matching though..maybe with such low miles its not all that bad inside..
Every time I see a nice old Buick ,I kick myself for selling the two '66's I had,an Electra 225,and a 4 door Wildcat..that goes for a lot of the old cars & trucks I had...was stupid to sell them..never thought they would become so rare so quickly..
My brother has my grandparent's '76 Electra 225!
455, leather, power everything!
I wish I had pics of the '65 Skylark and '67 225 convertibles that were our family cars as kids!
455, leather, power everything!
I wish I had pics of the '65 Skylark and '67 225 convertibles that were our family cars as kids!
Going to look at an 8.1 with 30k on it today. Was on propane in the topkick.
