Reminded me of the “parts expert” telling me my 70 Stage 1 4-speed sitting outside his window in the 1990’s wasn’t available with the 455
I've been in a similar situation and my favorite part is they are ADAMANT that they are right and imply that you don't know what you are talking about.
Hi, Sounds like the guy last weekend that had a boat tail 65 Riviera back in the day... Sometimes not worth trying to correct them. Regards, Jim
You are absolutely right ! I even was ready to drag one guy outside and show him the motor and he just smugly said “That doesn’t prove a THING! Someone obviously changed it from a 350 because I know my books”. I was soooooooo ill!
Well, they ARE correct... I've never heard of a FOUR FORTY-FIVE cid engine in a Buick... Maybe a Four FIFTY-Five. Touche?
O' I see. Thanks for clueing me in, Ha. When I was 15, my Dad bought a new 1964 Buick Wildcat. Fire engine red and maroon interior. I loved that car. When I opened the hood I saw the number on the air cleaner, thought it meant HP, so I told all my friends my Dad had this high HP engine in his Buick, it did but it didn't match the torque rating. It wasn't until I was wrenching on cars in my twenties that I came across an article that happened to be talking about Buicks and the torque number on the air cleaner that I realized it wasn't the HP rating. I was working on Chevy's and their air cleaners didn't have the torque rating on them. At least I was young and dumb. I did manage to smoke all the tread off the rear tires, boy, did I get my @%# kicked and had to pay for new tires too.
I had the car out last month, meeting up with some friends for lunch. This place has a sizable outdoor dining area and as I pulled in, I noticed a guy jump out of his seat when I drove by. While walking in: Guy: "Nice car, man! What year is that, '71?" Me: "Thank you! No, it's a '70." Guy: "I had a '68 GS Stage 3." Me: (in my head - here we go) "Stage 3, huh? You know what's funny?" Guy: "What?" Me: "I've been meddling with Buicks for over 35 years and have owned almost a handful of the Stage 1 cars in some form or fashion. Over that time, I've learned that the Stage 2 option was made available as an over the counter, dealer only option sometime in 1969 for big block cars only." Guy: "Well, it was a GS."
Mine has been called everything from a GTO, a 442 and a Chevelle to once it was mistaken for a GTX because of the scoops. Weird. Whenever I go to the parts places because I didn't have time to order online, if they give me any pushback, I tell them to look up Riviera the same year and give me that gasket/sending unit/water pump. That usually shuts them up.
I had a guy jump into a conversation I was having with someone about Buicks in the day and he said had a Stage 3 with triple deuces. Started questioning him for fun about it and he walked away. Somewhere in his life he heard the term triple deuces, whether he even knew it meant three 2 barrels I don't know. Some car guys I talked too still don't believe Buick used the torque numbers on the Nailhead air cleaners. I was getting gas years ago and 2 guys were under the hood of a bright red 65 Wildcat. They told me it was original paint but you could see over spray on the moldings. The car ran nice and they were trying to tame the idle playing with the idle screws. I mentioned nicely and not like a know it all the somewhat aggressive cam Buick used because of the small valves etc. and they laughed thinking I was one of those. I just walked and drove away and didn't even bother to see if they knew if the air cleaners 445 number was the torque and not the CI. I find its just better at times to say nothing unless you know the person..
