Hey, i just picked this 63 Lesabre wagon up. Just got a kid and had to stop looking for coupes, plus i still have the 65 skylark coupe. The wagon came with no drive train but seller included a st400 and a sbb300. The reason for this post is for opinions and information. What drive train would you put into this thing and what else would you do to it. Please feel free to direct me to any old threads, advice or past experience with this model wagon. Some quick questions, Im curious about this x frame because i never had a car with an x frame? This was a 401 car, would a 425 be an easy swap? Where can I get a windshield, any one of you guys willing to sell one? I need a chassis manual too. More pictures to come.
Should be the same windshield as a '63 Impala that should be easy to get where ever they sell and install windshields where you're at. Windshields are usually easy to get, its some of the rear windows that are hard to get, like a '72 Riviera for example. The X-frame B-body cars started in '58 and ended in '64. A 425 Nailhead is basically the same as a 401 Nailhead but with the cylinder bores slightly bigger. The 425's first year of production was in 1964 and ended the last year of the Nailhead engine in 1966, so only in production for 3 years. Not sure if the trans to engine mounting is different between '63 to '64, maybe someone else can chime in on that one? But really wouldn't matter if you bought the engine and trans from the same car. A post '66 Buick trans will NOT bolt onto a Nailhead engine, it has to be one that came off of a Nailhead for it to bolt directly without any sort of adapter. If the sbb 300 and the trans you have both came from the same car, more than likely it is a 2 speed ST300, not a 3 speed ST400 and if that trans will bolt to the sbb, it will NOT bolt to a Nailhead. To confirm, if the pan is more square, it is a st300, if the pan looks kinda more like a giant pistol grip, then it is probably a ST400. You should be able to get the frame pads if they are gone out of the car, for a Nailhead engine that already have the holes in the frame to bolt them on. You'll have to drill the holes to mount sbb frame pads on that frame because those cars didn't come with sbb engines for that year at least.
this back window correct me if I'm wrong but would go up and down when you would put your key in it. It would be cool to have go up and down with a push of a button from your keychain.
Well thanks for letting me know about the st trans, not being able to mount on a nailhead. See i thought that a 300 was a nailhead. But good to know. The 300/ st400 are said be out of a 65 Lesabre
If it is definitely a '65 engine, the only Buick 300 was the sbb 300 at that time. Buick never made a 300 Nailhead, there was a 264, 322, 364, 401, 425 through the years.
How do you stop atf coming out the tailshaft when turning a trans on its side? This is what the tag reads and its teal in color. I checked out the pan and i seen what a st300 looks like its not a st300. I kind of looks like a th400 pan resembling texas some just fatter and more sqaure in shape.
You should be able to some what see the perimeter of the pan and tell if it has 4 straight sides without flipping it. So if it looks like a TH400 pan then it is probably what they told you it is then? Same pan on the ST400 and the TH400.
If it was a 401 car the 425 Nail will bolt in. There are no external differences between a 401 and a 425. The car must have had a Dynaflow. The easiest way to a drivable car would be to find a 63 or perhaps a little earlier 401 with that transmission. Alternatively, you can look for a '64 - '66 401 or 425 with a THM 400. '64 and '65 THM 400 transmissions have the switch pitch THM 400 and are more desirable. The engine will come pretty close to bolting in, but you will probably need a '64 transmission crossmember. Not sure about the front spline on the driveshaft or the driveshaft length. I'm assuming that '63 and '64 wagons are identical except for the transmission; the wheelbases are the same. The Dynaflow 401 had a different crankshaft then the THM 400. I have heard that it is possible to attach a THM 400 to a Dynaflow engine, but there is some work that has to be done to the back of the crankshaft. I believe that this can be accomplished with the crank in the engine. I will also assume that if you purchase an engine, you will hear it run. If not, it's a core. I would also regard a used transmission that I couldn't drive as a core. Nice car! I'm a wagon kind of guy.
Make that..... '65 and '66 have the switch-pitch..... The '63 came with a Dynaflow trans. '64 was the first year for the Super Turbine 400 trans. It was a 3 speed but the selector only had 'L' and 'D'. It used a standard torque converter. '65 and '66 Super Turbine 400 had the 'switch pitch' converter. You could switch between a low stall for economy or high stall for performance. It's a neat feature. Buick called their transmissions 'Super Turbine' but it also goes by the GM name of TurboHydra-matic.
