I've finally done it. After being musclecar guy all these years I've purchased my first full size early (early to me anyway) Buick. I saw this car sitting on the trailer in the swap meet at the HAMB drags last August. Fresh out of the original owners garage where it had been sitting since 1975. I'm the biggest sucker for patina and untouched original iron on the planet. Add to that this is the straightest most rust free '60 I've ever seen. Original paint too! I opened the driver door and saw 3 pedals under the dash?! A 364 stick! Sold! Here's what my $1700 bought in a solid but non running old Buick. She needs alot of work to see the road but what fun it's gonna be to pilot this baby! A couple of pics as purchased along with a couple after a day of cleanup. Steve weim55 Colorado
The resolution of the pics is too high to post 'em here. Damn. Sorry about the poor quality of the pics I did post. Anyway..... follow along as get this older sibling to my '70 GS 455 running again. Will this this impulse buy come back to bite me in the butt? We'll see........ Steve weim55 Colorado
Sweet buy. ouch on the floor boards. my buddy Larry has just bought one of these in far extior worse shape. ya may wanna give him a call to ask about his floor pans. My number is 3866887707 and I will get you connected to him.
Great find... You'll want to check out http://the1960buick.com/ and talk to the site owner Greg Cockeril who is really knowledgable on these cars.
Yes I have checked out Gregs site on the 1960 Buicks. I've gained a wealth of information on my car from his research. The floorboards aren't as bad as they look in the pics. The guy I purchased the car from had already stripped out the old moldy carpet. They are going to need a little work though. The first thing is to make a detailed list of all the work neccessary to get her back on the road. I'll post that soon with a game plan to get started. Hope to be flyin' in th '60 by the end of the summer. Steve weim55 Colorado
Nice car Steve :TU: . Interesting that it has a radio and clock delete. Looks like it is a pretty basic car. Is radio the only option on it? Hope you get it running soon.
The only options on the car are two tone paint, radio and deluxe steering wheel. That's it. It doesn't even have tinted glass! I think someone added the full wheel covers at a later date. the factory wheels (two of them) are painted body color and have hub cap clips. The factory service manual tells me the standard axle ratio with 364 3 speed is a 3.91. Otta run pretty good even with the stock 364 2 barrel. Steve weim55 Colorado
Diggin' In...... I've taken the time go over the car stem to stern to make list and game plan to get her back on the road. The goal with the car is to simply have a decent functional cruiser. Not a restoration. I don't have the time, the money... and hey... It's a LeSabre 2 door sedan. Not exactly the best investment for a full blown resto. The original paint is weak but presentable. The interior is weak in spots but can be made pretty decent with minimal $$ and some elbow. The mechanical is pretty much what you would expect for a 90,000 mile car with typical wear. The kicker is deterieration of some components from sitting for 35 years unused. Even though the car was in covered storage the whole time, there's alot of signs of moisture damage. (The car came from Carthage, Missouri.) The brake hydraulics need everything. The those cool alumium front drums are sadly corroded and pitted. They'll need to be replaced I think. Simple suspension stuff, lower ball joints, idler arm, sway bar bushings and shocks. The car lists to one side, a weak spring somewhere. While the exterior of the car is almost completely rust free I did find some rust that will need attention. It looks like somehow there was standing water in both the front and rear passenger floor boards. I'll need to replace both of these areas. The drivers side floors and trunk are good and solid. All the glass is exceptionally good. All the chrome and stainless is there. While not perfect in some areas, it will all be useable as is with some cleanup. The big problem area ($$) on the ole '60 is gonna be the engine. I was hoping a little oil priming, fresh gas and a battery might at least have the nailhead making noise. Sadly, not the case. The engine does turn over by hand but there is zero compression on most holes. With the valve covers off here's what I found. Four pretzeled pushrods, 6 of 8 exhaust valves seized in the heads, 1 exhaust valve upper stem bent. My guess is someone tossed in a battery and gave her a try with the above end result. 35 years is a little too long without running in that moist Missouri air. The next step is to teardown the engine and check the rest as well as the transmission, clutch and sub systems.. Steve weim55 Colorado
Nailheads are bad about valves sticking cosed when stored for a long time. The small diameter pushrods aren't much help, either. Aftermarket replacement pushrods , like Melling, are thicker. You may have to yank the heads and refurbish with a valve job. I've had this happen before and gotten by replacing all the pushrods and got running. The valves seat theirselves again after running for a while. But sometimes one or two won't readily seat and had to take the heads off for valve job.
Righto Ted, What really stinks is one of the exhaust valve stems bent instead of the pushrod. So now I have to take off a least that one cylinder head to repair it. That said, i figured the heck with it, might as well just pull the whole drivetrain and inspect everything. Steve weim55 Colorado
I looked at a guy's collection in Georgia this week and he has a '60 Electra 4dr 225 for 600 or so. He said it ran. Probably too far for you,tho.
OK Steve: I have a 64 Riviera that sat for almost 20 years in a pristine garage in a pristine climate . It fired right up but started to self destruct after about an hour of running. I next took a compression test to find a few cylinders at 0. I took it apart and there were bent push rods. I replaced the push rods and lifters and put it back together. Still no go. I had a guy pull the heads and found a few stuck valves. I fixed the heads and put it together and now there is 62 pounds in one cylinder and it's blowing by like crazy......so bad the smoke is coming out the dipstick hole. Even if the stupid mechanic leaked it down, the lower end is no good and now the engine has to come out for the short block o'haul. Even though a 364 is 10X better than a 425 expect to go through the whole thing. One suggestion though. Don't raise the compression because too much power will tear up that 3-speed. I have a 60 Lesabre with a 3-speed and the gears were crunched partially because of that thing. That's why the factory put in a low compression "syncromesh" engine. Good luck with your project, Mitch.
Mitch, That's interesting information on the low compression 364 with the 3speed stick. Rated at just 210 horsepower, my 364 is down a full 115 horsepower from the 401 nailhead in the upper series cars that year. From the information I've gathered no other engine in the '60 lineup was available with the stick tranny. Also the origins of 6 bolt top cover 3 speed go all the way back to '37 model and the straight 8 days. 1960 was the last year Buick used this trans as well as the torque tube enclosed driveshaft. Ted, Thanks for the heads up on the parts Electra. But yea, just to far to go for parts. A shame, I could sure use it. Steve weim55 Colorado
The drivetrain is out and engine is torn down. The engine number matchs the VIN so this is indeed the original 364 to the car. Starting with the heads I found pretty much what I already knew. All the exhaust valves are junk, a couple of intakes too. Some bad guides. Yep, they need a total rebuild. Rockers and shafts look exceptionally good. Could clean and reuse. The front most lifter is wiped out as well as the cam on that lobe. The cylinders have one of the worst ring ridges I've ever seen. Not sure even a .040 cut would clean it up. Guess those 3.91 gears put serious wear on this thing for that short 90,000 miles. On the other hand..... the crank and bearings are OEM 1960 and they all look great. Polish and go on the crankshaft. All the bolt ons are good for a clean and reuse. All in all, some good some bad. The bottom line is this thing really needs a complete rebuild. And as you nailhead guys already know, that's a pricey undertaking. I took the cover off of the tranny for a quick once over. It all looks good. Clutch is shows a little wear but I'd deem it good to run some more. The exhaust is total junk from the y pipe all the way to the muffler. The original radiator is cracked on top tank and will need repair. All the usual hoses, fuel system, cooling, ignition, belt, filters, etc. need replaced as expected. Motor mounts are shot. $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ Bummer. I can't justify the cash spent on a rebuild for the motor. Not right now anyway. Since I picked up the car last summer I've kept my eyes open for a good running used nailhead. No luck, these things are all 44 + years old now. A hard find. Hmmmmm.... Gonna have to think on this one awhile......... Steve weim55 Colorado
Score!! This car showed up on ebay a little while ago. The starting price was a little high for me at $1500. No bids and the car didn't sell. I wondered about it and emailed the seller to see if it ever sold. Got in touch to take a look and found a great parts car for my LeSabre. I offered $800 and he took it! The Invicta will donate alot to the project. 401 runs great! Absolutely silent smooth running motor. No smoke. Floor pans, front drums, misc interior parts, other 2 correct wheels, radiator.... Power steering should I elect to change. And I'm sure a whole bunch of other stuff! As a cool little bonus the car runs and drives (pretty well I might add!) so I've driven her around the rural area I live some miles. Neat to get a sample feel for what it will be like to cruise the LeSabre. Steve weim55 Colorado
