There is a 76 Electra in my neighborhood that I have noticed so I finally stopped by the owners house to inquire about it. I knocked on the door and an elderly woman with a Polish accent answered the door. I asked her if she had planned on selling the Electra in the future and told her that I would be interested in buying it. She almost slammed the door in my face..:eek2: Then she turned around and asked where I lived (around the corner) and why I was interested. I told her I had a '68 Buick and my interest in Buicks. She said that they bought the car new in 1976 and used to only drive it in the summer but now it is their everyday car. I asked her what motor it had and she said "the big one" "a 455"..... I left her my business card with my home phone number and asked her to save it and give me a call if she ever decides to sell it. The car does have quite a bit of rust but it does have a 455.... Hopefully I will be getting a call in the near future :TU:
Now Mike......What ever would you do with a 455, and where sould you put it into ?? :Brow: o No: :beer Go figure....a rusted out body in Buffalo ??
Lets see.... I have the #'s matching motor in my '68 GS that I would really hate to hurt when "driving hard" aka "racin at the Nats"..... Put the #'s matchin 400 in mothballs and drop in a nice 455 dressed up to look like a '68 400 :Brow: I really don't think that lady is ready to sell that Electra any time soon but I am going to keep a very close eye on it....One of these times that rusty car is not going to pass New York state inspection and I will be there to save it, I hope :bglasses:
Mike - I know that road you're about to travel verrrrry well. While I cannot say that ANY of the current drive train in my GS is original (Motor, Tranny, Driveshaft, or Rear) I CAN say that ALL of them are sleeping soundly in my garage. I CAN also say that - now 8 years and 2 455 rebuilds later - that I dont think I would have enjoyed the car half as much if I had just done a stock rebuild on the 400 and called it a day. I CAN, lastly, say that you should budget for at LEAST a tranny rebuild and a new rearend......and a stronger driveshaft and HD U-Joints lest you start Puking parts in a similar fashion that I did HEAVY cars + Lotsa Torque = Broken stock parts Im here If you ever wanna listen to my story ----------------------- Got the Video in the Mail Sat.....dup'ing it now, should be in the return mail at lunch time :TU: :TU:
This project if it ever happens is going to take a little while but I have been kicking it around for some time now...I just hate to beat on a #'s matching car so a drivetrain swap would make the car more fun..:TU: I am glad the tape arrived. It only has about 45 min. of video, but you may find something that you can use. The first part of the video is from Friday and the second from Saturday. Good luck on your editing ( I can't believe you took 9, 1 hour tapes :jd: .
Mike I would love to see you put a 455 in that car and RACE it!!! When I had my 68 'vert it had a 455 short block with the original 68 top end and 400-4 valve cover decals.
I will have to see what crosses my path ( a 455, new rear diff, etc), it sure would be fun to drive (hard) and not worry about the original drive train being messed up..:TU:
Mike, I think my brother may still have an Big E, with a 455 for sale, he sold the '75 455 to a guy at work(Powertrain) in July for $350, I'm not sure what his plans are for the other Electra. But I will ask him. There's also Finishline Motorsports in Michigan that has cornered the market on 455 blocks, many of us here have had Geof and Bobb take 455's home, for their stock in rebuilding and making great engines for many as you probably noticed last weekend! Here's their web page Nice picture of our pit at the Cecil County Dragway, NE Chapter sponsored race last year, I expect a better one will be taken this year! Geof and Bobb hint: :beer for the free advertising?
Roberta, Let me know if your brother has one for sale. Those cars (motors) are getting pretty hard to come by in this area and the one in my neighborhood may not sell for quite a few years (the elderly lady that owns it is still pretty spunky :laugh: ).
Mike, will do, and will let you know. Flint, Michigan is only 4 hours away though, but Geof and Bobb are another 1.5 hour from here and not a bad ride! And they would build you a 455 to die for!, as a friend of mine from work with a '69 GS400 talked with Geof last week about building a 455 street motor for him, and can't say enough good stuff about what they would build for him! Winter comes quick here and there, that's the time to build a motor for next year! The BCA Nats being in your neighborhood, and a race planned at Leichester on July 7th, you would be set up to go!
Ah yes Roberta that would be a dream come true but there are a few things standing in the way of me and my dream.. I would like to get the first part of the puzzle (the 455) in place and work from there :TU: I am looking forward to the BCA Nats being in my back yard again...:beer
