Good Morning to all of you out there. My name is Evan and I have just aquired a 1969 Electra 225 4 door with the 430/4 bbl. It belonged to a friend of mine but he died this Saturday and his daughter gave us the car. Before he died he told me that the engine and drivetrain had been redone in the last 5 years and that it had been painted as well. The interior is rough but i have the resources to get that redone and done so well. What I need to know is what i need to check before i throw a battery in it and crank it up. What process should i go through? I appreciate your help very much. On a different note, I just read your forum where the Subaru WRX Sti was discussed. Everything that was said was exactly right, those cars are just plain fast. They come from the factory fast and then a little engine work and they are wicked fast. I have a Outback with a little more than half the horsepower that the Sti has and it is fast, although i believe the buick will be faster when i finish with her. My nearly stock Outback has spanked many a ricer and it is nearly the perfect sleeper since it's a station wagon with quiet exaust and stock wheels and paint. I have alot of things that i want to do with that as well but the Buick is taking precedence right now. The other thing i need to know is what these cars are worth. My dad is not planning on letting me keep this car because of the 430 under the hood. I need to know what it's ACTUALLY worth, and then what i can make him believe it worth so he'll think it's not worth selling. :grin: I plan on keeping her though, i think between the massive (not fast looking) Buick and the Outback i can spank rice all day every day. Thanks again for everyone's help.
Hi Mellow (Whats your name ??) Welcome th V8Buick !! I suppose no one else answered your Q's because they are too vague for the information you provided. "We" would need alot more info as to the condition and options of your Duece and a 1/4 (as the 225 is often called) to determine a value. Mileage, body condition, drivetrain condition, and options are what are going to put a $$$ figure to it. I will say first off that 4 doors are not in as much demand as 2 doors, so that hurts the # from the start, but a nice, Clean, Well optioned car in good mechanical working condition should be sell-able. Also difficult to advise is how to go about getting it running - when was it last started and when was it last used (driven) ?? Big difference if it was 6 months or 6 years...... So.....tell us some more and Im sure you'll get all the answers you need. Personally - I think it would be a great first car as its BIG and HEAVY and you want alot of old THICK steel wrapped around you when you learn to drive - just in case. the 430-4 is a great motor, but I think your Dad may be a bit fearful as in a 4 door 225, its got a considerable amount of heft to get moving - in stock form.
she hasn't been started in atleast 2 years. the engine, drivetrain, and body are in very good shape. there is some rust on the underside of the body but nothing that i can't fix i don't think. the interior isn't that great. looks like the windows were left open for some time. i'm not sure. we're gonna get it started tomorrow, we had to loan someone one of our cars so we're short of a car and mom and dad need something to drive. i'll let everyone know how it goes. i also need to know what rear end it has in it. the tag on the rear end says (as far as i can tell) "use limited slip diff. oil only" is that posi or what? i am new to old cars.ou:
If it says limited slip oil ony, its probably a Posi. easiest wat to tell is to lift the whole rear under the diff case with afloor jack, with the front wheels chocked fronat and back, car in neutral. Spin the rear tires - if they both move in the same direction its a posi - If one wheel goes one way and the other spins opposite, its non-posi. Good luck getting it started. Do a search on here for starting an old car and you should find plenty of info. Some would advise pulling the distrib. and using a similar shaft and electric drill to spin the oil pump to pre-lube the engine.
