Hello Im considering picking up a 62 Buick special that's for sale in my area. The guy selling it tells me its has the 215 v8 with a powerglide automatic tranny. He says its the stock tranny that came with that car but my research tells me that the powerglide was not an option for these cars. He said it was a rare version of the car for that reason besides the v8 but i have no clue if thats true or not. Is there anyone that could shed some light on the subject? Also: Do these older engines need leaded gas or the lead substitute added to non leaded gas?
Hello and welcome to the board. Its called a Dual Path Turbine Drive and no parts between it and a powerlide interchange. And the car was to run on leaded fuel, but there are a few things you can do to drive on todays gas. Lead additive is one option.
Thanks for the welcome... So then i guess it could be that the guy is mistaken? He seems to be sure that its a powerglide. It don't matter to me as long as it's in the running condition he says its in. Thanks again
Welcome to the board! Yeah, he's probably mistaken, the Dual Path was a 2 speed if I'm not mistaken, so it'll look like and probably perform close to what the Powerglide did, yet it isn't one. The fastest way to check is if the shift quadrant is PNDLR, - then it's a Dual Path. If it's PNRDL then it's a Powerglide. As far as I know Powerglide was exclusively used on Chevy sourced motors, and never on anything else. However most people who feel they know something about cars will assume it's a Powerglide just because it's a 2 speed and that name is far more common and was used on just about every Chev automatic from 1950 through to its discontinuation in 1969. In this case a little bit of knowledge is dangerous; - and he may have been told by the previous owner that it's a rare car. Happens more often than you think, I don't know how many people have tried to tell me that my 60 Invicta was probably an experimental with a Powerglide in it because "Buicks normally run a 3 speed". You can probably run that thing on regular gas; you don't really need lead substitute unless you're planning to run that thing hard. For regular driving the valve degredation will probably be minimal. If it hasn't run for a long time, take it easy on it until it for a while, and then drive it normally. That said, if you want to use lead substitutes, it wouldn't hurt.
Thanks for the welcome and great info. Im going to take a look at the car today. I got a list of items to check before i buy. The shift arrangement will be something ill look at..
There are two different versions of the 215 motor as well. one was a low compession (for the era) with a 2bbl carb. The other was a high compression (10.5:1) version with a rochester 4-jet carb. You will definately have problems with todays unleaded gas if you have the 4bbl motor. The trans is not that great either. The one I had seemed like you had a large rubber band under the transmission tunnel instead of a real transmission. Mine had the 4bbl high compression 215. I liked the motor and the car, but the trans was not much fun to drive. Mine also had a narrow woven nylon seat material broke apart with age, and the broken material would shred the backside of a set of polyester dress pants in about a week! Glad I don't have to worry about wearing a suit & tie to work anymore! My car had 60K on it when the rearend went out, and I couldn't find one to replace it at the time so I stripped out the motor and sold the rest. Eventually I sold the motor to a guy that was building a 3-wheeled motorcycle project. Good luck with the car, Randy
Ramkat & bulldog.... Thanks for the welcome Well i went ahead and bought the special. I thought it looked good in the pics for the price. Looks even better in person The tranny shift order is PNDLR so it is a Dual Path and not a powerglide. Not that it was a big deal to me, just as long as the car ran right? Well the guy started it right up with no hiccups. We took it for a spin and it seemed to be doing fine. Brought it back to his place and i gave it an other look over. Im not a mechanic so dont know that much on what to look for but i didnt see and kind of coolant/oil leak marks. The only hiccup i had was when after we made the cash exchange and i was ready to leave, the car wouldnt start :eek2: I wanted to get the guys help to restart it but i thought this is where he was going to tell me it was my problem now X( He came out, took off the air cleaner and told me the chock got stuck closed? he flipped it, told me to turn the key and it started right up. On to my 1 hour long road trip back home ray: The dang thing ran tip top! :TU: I stopped to put some gas in and was sweating bullets about turning the car off.... but i did X( I was/am still unsure about the unleaded gas but if it dont hurt to use leaded gas then ill just use that lead additive stuff anyway. Car started right up with no issue and i was on my way home again. It was a totaly smooth ride and so far am very happy and exsited!! so far ray: sorry for no pics, i have to have a post count of 10 first.
Congratulations! :TU: My 55 burned leaded gas until 1984, or so. And, since then, I add lead substitute and marvel mystery oil (for the valves) to every tankful. No problems so far. Keep an eye on the cooling system and the fuel lines and pump. I don't know much (nothing) about the dual path transmission.
Congratulations on the new Buick. I've always loved those little Buicks with the 215. Looking forward to pictures.
