Hi! Just bought my 66 Electra 225 convertible about month ago and I stumpled upon this website as I was looking for info about my Buick. Im 29 years old and live in Sweden, so please excuse any language-errors I might (will) write. This looks like a great site!
Welcome Whitestripe. The old Electra convertibles are great cars, and a lot of fun. I would advise buying a service manual for your Electra. I bought my manual soon after I bought the car and it is very useful. You can get them on CD, or in the big old book style (that is what I bought). You can get them on the internet. If you have any questions, this is the place to get answers. By the way, I posted a page from the service manual in your other post about the speakers. Rob
Yes, a service manual would be very helpful. Unfortunately the dont grow on trees here A manual on CD would be great!
Welcome! Nice to see another '66 Electra has survived! I just re-did the mechanical components in mine, so if you need any advice, I'm around, as are lots of others who know more about those cars than I will ever know! First off, read the owner's manual, and then buy the service manuals. If you are doing any body work the body manual is a must. The 1966 Electra has a lot of 1966 only parts, so finding any parts could be interesting. I'm always on the look-out for another car or parts to mine. Some parts interchange with 1967, and others with earlier cars. Most trim and lighting is specific to the 1966 Electra only, although some parts can be pulled from a Wildcat of the same year. Things like hoods and front fenders are interchangeable with 1966 Wildcat, and some interior parts are interchangeable with 1967 Electra. Engines are for the most part interchangeable between 1964 and 1966, but not the 1967 and later cars. Hope to see some pictures...
Welcome to the board, nice to see another Swede joining in. I bought my 1970 shop manual CD from Old Buick Parts. They have both real books and CDs for your car. Christian
Unfortunately I have no manuals whatsoever, but I will start looking for some ASAP. My No. 1 priority now is to replace a cracked header. Will a header from a 425 fit on my 401? Ill try to upload some pics as well. The car was imported from texas and arrived here in Sweden in 2006. I am the third owner om the car here in Sweden. So far I have done a wheel alignment and replaced the gasket(?) where the shaft exits the tranny. Will try to get some new color on it this fall och then replace the old convertible with some new fresh fabric. And if I can afford, some new rims. But maybe you can help me, since you also drive a 66 electra. I need to replace the rear speaker in the backseat but i dont know how to get to it.
See my post answering your question in the interior section for that rear speaker. Hopefully I made the description clear enough. I'm assuming you are refering to the "exhaust manifold" when you refer to "header"? If so, then yes, the manifolds off of a 425 will fit a 401, however, those off of a 67 or newer 430-455 will not. The rear transmission seal will leak again by next spring-time if you do not run the car at all during the winter. I try and start mine up every time the temperature goes above 0 and run it for at least a 1/2 hour, rocking it back and forth in the garage. So what other options does your car have? If you have any questions relating to the engine, go to the "Da Nailhead" section of this forum, there are a lot of great guys who really know these engines well there.
Yes, of course I mean exhaust manifold. I should have known that I found a pair on, what I guess, is our version of craigslist in the U.S- They are from a -66 425. Ok, so I guess thats why i sprung a leak in the first place then, thanks for the tip! The car has, power brakes, steering, sofa och windows. I found something in the trunk that I identified as a radio reverb? Also ha have got air condition and the AC pump works but at guess that there is no coolant in the system. And I think that I have cruise control and a "trunk popper" The cruise control semmes to be offline as it is disconnected from the throttle arm under the hood. I havent found any buttons or such to control it either on the dashboard. The trunk lock seems to be fitted with a "trunk popper". Some vaccumthingy is mounted om the indside och the trunklock an a hose is running from it to the front of the car, but I lost the hose after follwing a couple of feet. I have not found any button och such for it either on the dash. Maybe Ill find it in a couple of months when Im going to take out the seats and stuff.
If you have cruise control, there would be a servo under the hood hooked up to the throttle linkage. Inside the car, the cruise control was activated by a knob on the left hand side of the cluster; - push it on to engage, twist it to set the speed. When the cruise is engaged, a green light would come on, usually saying "cruise". What was more common was "Speed Alert", which was a semi-useless buzzer system that was also activated by a knob on the left hand side of the instrument cluster. Twist this knob and a yellow indicator needle sets the speed on the speedometer and an annoying buzzer goes off. The trunk "popper" switch is located inside the glove box, it is a red button located on the left hand side edge of the glove box, underneath the light. It should hold enough of a charge to allow you one "pop" if the engine is off. It is run on vacuum, and should be periodically checked for leaks, as this can affect engine performance. It must be nice to have that A/C unit, - even if it doesn't work. It's the only option my car doesn't have. Apparently they were made that way exclusively for the Californian market, although plenty of them found their way to Texas and Florida. Recharging these would require a total re-seal job, or you can use a hydrocarbon based refrigerant without changing all of the seals, and it is much cheaper. (Just be sure you don't have any leaks) The radio reverb unit was also a prized option. I'm not entirely sure what it did though. Does the car have a factory AM/FM radio? If so, keep it, it's very rare, I spent three years looking for mine. If the cylinder heads and manifolds are still available off of that 425, buy them, they could come in usefull one day. If the 425 came from a Wildcat and has the Rochester "Quadrajet" 4 barrel- carburetor on it, buy it, this is a far better set up than your car would currently have on it. But you would need to buy the whole intake manifold and carburetor.
Hi whitestripe. Welcome from another Electra owner in Sweden even though I have a 61 and a 64. If you need any parts from the US I am shipping a 65 Skylark from CA this fall. There is always space to ship parts to Sweden making the shipping cheaper. Since only shipping by air is you only option. Waiting for those pics of you 66.....
Ok, then I have crusie control, but since its disconnected from the throttle linkage Im guessing its not working. The seller told me thats it was speed alert men it has to be cruisecontrol, will try to take som pics today or tomorrow. Will start looking for the "popper" there is no button in the glove compartment, and no light either, someone has changed it I guess. Maybe you can help with by telling me the colors och the wires, both for cruise control and "popper"? I have the original AM/FM radio och of course its staying in my car! I have removed the reverb button and cables but the big box is still in the trunk. I changed the speaker yesterday. I figured that since the speaker was already upgraded och the former owner was kind och lazy he probably hadnt bolted the backseat efter he changed, so I just jerked it straight up and, what do you know! It came loose easy as pie! After I replaced it with my new speaker I ran into trouble again. The magnet on the speaker was to big so now it doesnt fit 100% but its still looks pretty good. I have asked the advertiser where the 425 comes from, Im linking the ad here. http://www.blocket.se/vi/22616839.htm I guess you cant read it but you can look at the pics!:TU:
For those interested, Google enables translation from many languages now, including from Swedish to English. To translate on Google, when at the main Google page, just click on "Language Tools". Within that option you can then either link and translate an entire web page address, or cut and paste text for translation.The translations are not perfect, but better than nothing to be sure.
What the reverb does is to delay the sound 1/100th of a second from the front speaker to the back speaker and this action gives a much fuller sound that is really nice ,,,,, I wish I could find a good one....
Welcome to V8Buick, I am another new member from Denmark. :beer Not sure if you are aware of this, but when you change the original speakers, it is *extremely* important you get the total speaker impedance correct. Most modern replacement speakers are 4 ohm, and you *really* need the total to be 8 ohm or more when used with the original radios. If the speaker impedance is too low, then you will destroy the audio output transistor in the radio. The only (easy) way to fix it would be to replace the output transistor with a good one from another old radio. :Smarty: So if you just replace the speakers with new ones, which are not accurate reproductions, then you will very likely ruin your radio. :shock: The audio amp in the original radios is quite primitive by today's standard and it cannot drive modern speakers to anywhere near the same volume you might expect from a modern radio.
No worries! Since an American radio doesnt work here in sweden Ive installed all new components. Ive fitted the new stereo in the glovecompartment.
Why wouldn't it work here in Europe? The standard for FM broadcast and the frequencies used are the same everywhere. We didn't have an FM band beyond 100MHz until after about 1960, but that isn't an issue today, of course. The only super tiny difference in transmission standards I am aware of is something called 'de-emphasis', and that can be somewhat circumvented via using the tonal control. Most people wouldn't even notice, as this only affects the amount of treble received. But this is of course irrelevant as you are using all new equipment. :TU:
Radio stations (and digital car radios) in North America are using an oneven number at the end, like 107.75 (.05, .15, .25, .35, .45, .55, .65, .75, .85, and .95) In Europe most stations are using even numbers at the end of the frequency, like 107.80 Further reading :Comp: "whitestripe": Please put your name in your signature, we're all here on a friendly first name base :TU: ! Order a CD-Rom for your Electra at Gearheadcafe for only US$ 49.95: Click banner for model year 1966 info :Comp:
Yes, but that is not relevant here, as FM receivers of this age are continuous tune. They couldn't care less about artificial 'channels'. You can adjust your vintage FM receiver to a station transmitting on 93.14159265... MHz if you wish. :laugh: Many European high quality vintage FM receivers have been exported to the US in recent years. They work great over on the other side of the pond, save for the narrow FM band on at least some pre-1960 models. Also the only differences in the schematics on the old Grundig 'W' marked models intended for export to the US market - when compared to their domestic twin models sold in West Germany - is in the tuner to accommodate the wider FM band. That and a different scale for the same reason.
