Hi All, My name is Gary and I'm in Montreal Quebec. After surfing "car porn" as my wife calls it, I managed to find a 1968 Wildcat that was on my rust bucket list. I found it in Calgary Alberta and after having it checked out at a local garage there, decided to take the plunge feeling pretty safe at $2,850. Can dollars. I had the car shipped to Montreal and am now in the process of getting it ready for it's "Out of Province" inspection in order to plate it. It's a 2 Dr, original paint, Baby Poo Brown with a White painted roof. Minor rust around rear wheel wells and at the rear chassis to frame mount area, otherwise, great frame,floor and trunk pan. The options are a bit weird as it has a power vinyl bench seat,cruise,A/C, speed minder Duals, 10 bolt posi, AM radio (inop) with a factory underdash 8 track player, but has crank windows and no power locks or trunk. It has Stage one stickers on the valve covers, but I suspect that's bogus. I've never seen a car with a power vinyl bench seat! Anyway I'm sure I will run into some problems sourcing parts up here in Quebec and I'm hoping that's where this forum could help. This isn't my first resto, having done 15 other cars in the past, but likely my last as I'm getting too old and crawling under the dash isn't as easy as it once was. Gary 68 Wildcat p.s. I will send pics when I figure it out.
I guess I should say they could be GM stickers but when this car left the factory it had a 430 cid Buick engine. Stage 1 cars from the factory started in the 69 model year from the factory and came from the factory in the 400 and 455 Buick engines.
Glad I'm not the only one! Wildcats are spread pretty thin above the 49th Parallel. I would imagine quite a few survived in the States. Gary
Thanks Guys, for the warm welcome. Here's where I start picking your brains! In order to certify the car for plates it has to pass a mechanical inspection. I have taken care of most things, but the A/C heat does not work correctly I checked the shop manual and can't find any information on my type of system. My set up hasn't got a fan switch on the dash. instead the heater controls only have 3 cables attached from behind. No electrical or Vacuum hoses. One of the cables attaches to the far right rotary switch and operates a electrical/ vac device behind the glovebox. When I operate that switch, I can hear a series of relays clicking and sometimes (randomly) the heater fan will run on low. I also heard a loud underhood click and discovered that the A/C compressor clutch engages. This is good and bad as it tells me that it is getting the signal from the A/c dash control, however, the system is discharged at the moment. I can only assume that there is no Hi/low switch in the system to cut out the compressor or it's been bypassed. I can fix most things with an illustration, but this system does not seem to exist. Has anyone encountered this problem before? I have included a pic of my dash controls Gary
Welcome from Alberta! Interesting that it has cruise control. You're right, most of them up here in Canada had nothing for options. Mind you, I've added a few factory options to my Electra, including factory cruise and tilt with cornering lights. It's got a full load except for A/C and the autronic eye. 1968 had a unique dashboard, there's nothing like those rocker switches. Apparently they were designed to fulfill some government crash requirements that were never passed. What I'm not seeing is the selector switch for the fan speeds or the function, would those be on the left hand side of the wheel? I'm showing two rocker switches there in the sales brochure. You're missing the clock, someone chose instead to put in some extra gauges. Interesting... And yes, powered vinyl bench seats do exist and were fairly common. I have it in both of my cars.
Thanks, The car is actually from your neck of the woods. I found it on Craigslist in Brooks Alberta! The A/C baffled me as well because it had no fan switch, but I've since found out that it has the upgraded "Automatic Climate Control" system where the fan speed and temp are automatically adjusted. It looks quite complex behind the dash with vac hoses and relays everywhere, but I will sort it all out. My task for the day is to find a body shop that can braze the 3 holes shut in the inside drivers door where the screws pulled out for the armrest. I will then redrill the holes and presto! the armrest should install. I found a time capsule in the driver's door; a gas credit card from Pacific 66 issued in 1971. Gary
OK, that explains the A/C and the Cruise options, Brooks is in the middle of nowhere. In fact, it's in the bottom end of a desert. Now you've got me interested, I've never seen thermostatic A/C in a car that old, cool! I'm going to have to dig up my 68 chassis manual, see what it says about that set up. I had A/C in a 69 Wildcat which was a pneumatic disaster, but with a little work and a few new vacuum trees I was able to get it to work properly. I had A/C in a 68 Sportwagon, it was like the 69 in that it wasn't automatic or thermostatic. Same stupid set up with rocker switches and relays and fragile vacuum trees. If you haven't found one already, your next purchase should be a 1968 Buick chassis manual, and then a 58-69 parts catalog. With both you should have enough exploded diagrams to tear the whole car down. I'd love to see pictures of that beast!
Hi Marc, I have the manual and found the A/C system on page 13-95. I will start with the vac hoses and then work through the electrical. I don't have a lot of pics, but here they are.
Welcome from Georgia! You've got a great start there, it looks good! I once had a '68 Wildcat that was originally dark grey with black buckets, and a '68 GS400 that was your color with buckskin top and buckets. At one time there was a kid in my town who had a brown '68 'Cat with white roof and bench interior. Burnished Saddle is pretty when it's shiny. As an aside, who's V70 in the background? Looks like an 'R', maybe '98? Patrick
Granby is probably beyond the range of the car right now. I have a cracked Lf. manifold and a loose steering box, so I don't have the confidence to drive the car more than locally for now. Not to mention a moderate oil leak at the rear of the engine which is probably a crankshaft seal. Maybe next time... Gary
