My son has just bought a 1962 Wildcat. I looked at the air cleaner housing and it just looked wrong ?? The opening to the intake snout is only 1 3/4" ( 44mm ) which seems very small to me. Talked to a friend who has a 1962 Electra and his snout opening is 2 3/4" ( 70mm ) Plus the filter diameter is less than the Electra one. My friend says this may be from a later model ? Can anybody enlighten me please.
The Air Cleaner on my 401 '66 Electra is also 44mm. Im not sure if its the original or not though. Cheers
Thanks Royden. I was starting to think maybe this was off an earlier 364, but may not be ----- could be original. But why such a small opening for an engine that likes air ? And a big difference between years, 44mm Vs 70mm. Are they different carbs maybe.
I have a 62 Wildcat and I have the original air cleaner sitting on a shelf in my garage. Send me your email address and I will shoot you pics and dimensions.
Btw - just looking at the photo you attached, that does not look like the factory 62 Air Cleaner (no breather tube - these cars had road draft tubes out the valley cover). Also, all 62's were supposed to have Carter AFB's (625 cfm). However, I am aware of 1 low mile car that has a QJ on it and the owner swears it is the carb that came on the car. The inner diameter of the intake snorkel on my factory air cleaner is 2 3/4". 3 5/8" from outer edge of flange.
The 1962 Buick Wildcat , Electra 225, Invicta and Lesabre models with a 4bbl. Carb. all had the larger air intake on the air cleaner. 1962 Buicks came with either a Carter or Rochester carburetor. The choke heat tubes, linkage, fuel line and other parts are different from Carter to Rochester. So you just can't change carburetors without changing the other parts to. If you have any other questions regarding 1962 Buick full size models you can reach me at. paul58@gallatinriner.net Hope this helps you out.
That should have been paul58@gallatinriver.net also later Buick models with four barrel carburetors used the air cleaner with the smaller air intake. Paul
Here are some more pictures of the air cleaner. It's stacking up to be a later model air cleaner it seems ? Trouble is there are no resources here for me to obtain an original so it's either go with this one or modify it for a larger intake opening. Those measurements are for the filter base. I don't know what carb is on there, haven't had a chance to have a look.
There is one other option...dual quads...... http://www.ebay.com/itm/1962-Buick-...ash=item46455baf3a:g:N4QAAOSw8-tWW067&vxp=mtr Not a very good picture as you cannot tell if the snorkel is in tact, but here is what you are looking for. I know a guy who has a few extra, I will see if he wants to sell one. However, first you need to confirm which carb you have. If it is a Carter, I might be able round one up for you. These really aren't that hard to find, unless you live in Australia of course...........
Thanks for the offers here, but I think my son is all cashed out for the moment. There are more pressing matters he has to spend money on eg. the front suspension and steering needs urgent attention. But I'll find out what carb it is for future works. Rev you might be able to help us with another problem please. The headliner plastic bows are cracked and broken. Is there any chance in hell of obtaining these aftermarket ? I would imagine NOS would be unobtainium. Ever heard of how others overcame this problem with something else.
Not much of a chance. Those that are fortunate enough to even have them in their car still just leave them as is even if they are in rough shape. The other problem is that the Wildcat headliner in 62 was foam, these deteriorated quickly and often crumbled out over time. Mine was apparently recalled and from what I have gathered has a 64 headliner in it. No chrome bows. Ultimately I would love to put the chrome bows back in, I just cant find a set. I have been told that 63-64 Wildcat chrome bows will work, but I have not been able to source a complete set from a 2 Dr hardtop to find out. Chevrolet (Impala) may interchange as well, but I am not sure. Others I have known that have replaced the headliner in their 62 Cats just went vinyl - do it once and never touch it again. I have personally seen 5 62 Wildcats in person not counting mine and only one of them still had the chrome bows bc all of the others had healiners replaced years ago and the chrome bows were tossed in the dumpster. All this is to say I gave up trying to find them and plan to just put a vinyl headliner in. SMS has a vinyl that has a similar in texture and appearance to the stock foam that came in these cars just fyi. BTW - what is the color combo of your sons Cat and where did he find it?
My son's car is all white. I would say it was what you folks call a flipper. It was painted ( albeit poorly ), interior and new headliner in the states before it come over the pond. The rest is basically original. It's been in Australia for about 10 years with different owners. Another question please. What's the difference between a Wildcat 410 engine and a 445 ? I see the two different air cleaner decals on Ebay. Which one is correct for 1962 ?
Flyn Buick has it. Also, clearly you want the 445 Wildcat sticker for your sons. There is no sticker on the snorkel for a 4 barrel 401 (there is for the 2 barrel), just on the lid. On the drivers side of the base of the air cleaner there should also be an AC delco sticker with BUICK above the AC logo with directions for filter replacement/cleaning. These are available. Filter type is listed as A96C, just FYI. When I was running mine in stock form I just threw in a cross referenced K & N and it fit fine.
Something I wanted to know as well. Got the 445 decal but it doesn't fit my bloody air cleaner Cheers
