Rebuilt the carb, put it back on yesterday morning. Fired it up. Ran ok, needed a little adusting to get it right. Float seemed a bit high the way it dropped gas... Went to take it down the street for the first time as a test drive. I back out of my parking spot. Kinda hard to stop it. But, its drum brakes on all 4 wheels and ive never driven a car that had drums on all 4 wheels, so i figured thats why it was a bit hard to stop it. I get going down the street, everything is going cool. Cars runnin smooth, got a bit of a miss, but nothing serious. Points need to be adjusted (was in a hurry and used a matchbook)... I give it some gas to speed up and the pedal dropped to the floor. I couldnt get it to come back up. Im like oh ****!. So, its barelling down the street jus picking up speed at full throttle. I hit the brakes. Nothing happened. So I slam my foot down on the brake pedal and the car jerks to the left. Brakes only work on the driverside front wheel. I just found out. That wheel locks up and the car is still trying to pick up speed, so I stuck it in neutral and immediately shut the key off. Let it coast on down to a speed where I could use the front wheel to stop. I pulled into a carwash and adjusted the carb a little. The choke pulloff is bad. It was trying to idle really high. I messed with it, got it to act a little better and took it home. While trying to park it into my garage, im backing it into my spot and I had to pull up a little to strighten up. I pull up. Get straight, then go to back up again. No reverse. Linkage is fine, it just wont grab reverse. I put it back in drive. I grabs drive fine. I go back to reverse. Nothing still. So, I get out and push it back on my own. Let it sit and idle, popped the hood and ran it out of gas while adjusting the carb on it..... Choke pulloff is on order and comes in today. That is all.
You're lucky you didn't end up in the neighbors front yard!!:shock: Make sure the choke cover and housing are sealing to the carb. There is a small hole there that if you forgot the gasket, the pull off won't get any vacuum. It looks like a tiny washer. No reverse? that's odd. Never had that happen to me. Check the fluid level, I assume you already did that, it sounds like a linkage problem. Loosen the adjustment bolt, put the selector in N and go under the car and manually put the trans in N by counting the clicks. Then tighten the bolt. Here's a tip....move the selector shaft forward, park is easy to get to. Then go back two clicks, that's N. Hope I helped!:bglasses:
Fluid level is fine. Looks new as well... When you shift the gears, you can hear it clicking into each gear. That is why I didnt think it was the linkage....
Maybe that's why they sold it. If it has new fluid in it, perhaps they thought changing it would fix the problem. I'm not a tranny specialist, but it sounds like something may be either stuck or broken. Maybe after it gets good and warmed up, driven around a while, it will go into reverse. :bglasses: Another thought, if they put a shift kit in it, maybe they misplaced one of the balls.:Smarty:
Yea, I was thinking it just needed to be driven. It sat for the last 14-15yrs in a barn. The owner before me said he would go out there from time to time and fire it up until the fuel pump went bad. But, after checking it out. The fuel pump wasnt bad, he ran it out of gas and the gas guage isnt accurate... It shows 1/4 tank when its empty. For some reason, I had a weird feeling that maybe a plunger or something in the tranny just got stuck from sitting over time and probably driving it around would get it working again..... Ill figure it out soon enough though... Right now my main concern is getting the carb right and putting some brakes on it that work.....
Unless you plan on tearing up the streets, those drum brakes will work just fine. You need to rebuild all 4 wheel cylinders, and replace all 3 brake hoses. Once I had a front one with a restriction that made the car pull to one side while stopping. Rebuilding or replace the master would be a good idea too. I don't know if you are able to do this yourself, but also stick with riveted shoes and if your drums aren't grooved just sand them, don't have them turned. These large drums like to pulsate when hot and they need all the metal they can get. Machining them makes them too thin and they will warp. New drums for this car in good shape are hard to find. I saw some on ebay 2 days ago, but don't know if they have been machined or not yet. If I can find them, I'll post you the link.:bglasses:
One thing I forgot to say is the front strut rod bushings in the frame, and loose upper control arm bushings will cause a pull to one side while braking if they are not tight.:Smarty:
I was thinking that I would just replace all 4 wheel cylinders and the master cylinder and power-booster while I was at it. I was also going to replace all of the brake lines front to rear as well.... Definately replace all of the shoes, and thanks for the tip about the drums....
Yea, the front sits higher than the rear, but the front wheels camber in a little. I think the whole car sags a bit. The bushing in the suspension dont look to be the best and I was just going to rebuild the front and rear suspension after I get the motor and brakes working right..... * I need to get some pics up * , Im going to see if I still have the pics from when I first bought it, when it was for sale...
Ok, here are the pics from when I found it for sale. ((It is no longer for sale, as I have bought it. Just in case anybody see's these pics and tryes to call the number.)) Notice the bottom end of the motor. Look at the head by the plugs, its green..... Also, the black patches on the fenders is just paint that chipped off over the years.....
sharp car! From what I can see, that's a Cal Custom air cleaner. No biggie, but not original. Fan shroud is missing. Hard to tell what else from a picture. Look at the upper bushings.....if they appear off center, they are wasted. Common problem on these cars.:bglasses:
Ya, I was looking to find the original air cleaner. I took that one off and stuck a velocity stack on there for the time being as it allows more room to play with the carb unlike the one thats on there... I need to find a fan shroud as well, but thats not really a big deal at the moment..... But, do you see what I was talking about when I said mine was green? Look by the spark plugs, the heads and block itself are green.....
I can't see it but if it is, you probably have a 401. I don't know how to tell by the numbers on the front of the motor. No biggie though, the 401 is a beast too.
Run a search on engine numbers and you will find the link to buick engine numbers to determine if it is a 401. I had to several times. Those engines look the same. Gas pedals sticking on those cars was common. A mechanic would accidentally place the factory air breather on wrong and it would catch the linkage. Your gone!!!!! I have had your problem happen on nailheads too with the carb sticking itself. Makes you weak in the knees to say the least. Especially my brother when it happened about 2 weeks after his car was first finished and put on the road. Hated to have seen that fresh Riv crushed in the front end!!!
Yea, I had a friend with a 67 camaro that broke a motor mount, and when the motor jumped it jammed the throttle linkage down and put him at full throttle. He was just giving it gas to get up the driveway and the motor mount gave out and almost put him thru the garage door... Good thing he shut it off immediately and saved the car....
you will play hell to tell if its a 401 or 425. Some documentation will list MT codes as 401 and others 425. (THe engine code is on the front top of the engine block, pass side. Unless you pull a head then I dont know how you are to tell.) the cast number is behind the distributor so its hard to decipher, if you get it then I can point you to a site that has the numbers "maybe" . All the parts are the same except the pistons, rings, crank maybe, and harmonic balancer maybe. Clean that engine compartment up with 4 cans of engine cleaner and spray wash. then remove all lose crap. and paint whatever you take off. Believe me it will run better. Shop around for wheel cylinders. some are real expensive.
Starr... "Throttle-sticking" makes your eyes big, huh? :laugh: (not to mention dangerous). Your experience brought back old memories of a lady who had a similar problem with her 'almost new' Riviera. She crashed into a store after jumping an 18 inch concrete wall. I won't bore you as to why I was called to investigate. Here's the point...a service station had changed her oil and air filter the day before. They installed the air cleaner improperly and with significant throttle opening, the arm/linkage jammed against the underside and the return spring wasn't able to overcome the resistance. Stock air cleaners have a recessed area for clearance, but obviously the cleaner must be positioned properly. Something to check out... HTH
The distributor is in the rear. The engine codes are up front stamped into the block behind the water manifold. The 425 has bigger pistons than a 401, the crank and balancer are identical. I have never heard anything about codes being wrong.....you should be able to tell by the code.:bglasses:
Well then engine code will tell you unless its says MT. Then you have to look at the casting number behind the distributor. If you have a 1"x1/2" raised rectangle behind the head on the driver side then it is a casting mark that told the machines to bore it out to 425. Some of the casting numbers will tell you and others note 401/425. In summary: If your code is MT then you need the casting numbers to tell. Dont trust the documentation (some says 401 and others 425). Of course if you can measure the cylinder then that is the answer. Some books list the harmonic balancer as a different part # and others dont. Nothing is simple with these old buicks!
