YAAAY! I cranked up the big Nail in the Buchev today. Cranked it for five seconds for oil pressure, then a little gas down the carburetor, and it fired right up and settled into a fast idle. Good oil pressure and only one minor coolant leak that was fixed by tightening a hose clamp. I'm going to readjust the belts as one of them is singing to me a bit under higher throttle positions. The next Buchev job will be to drain and refill the cooling system. It still has the coolant that Tom T. put in it when he redid the engine. The upcoming work will be to see if we can make it from a 50/50 looker into maybe a 25/25 truck. My sights on the body are low, because Collier County will not allow me to build a two-car garage on our nearly 11 acre property.
Motor & transmission are out. Motor is at shop. Going to look for a 4 speed. It’s not a matching numbers car & the transmission is a FoMoCo toploader. Down the rabbit hole full speed …
I have one of the 12 or so “Super Muncie”” 70 Buick 455 3-speed transmissions. According to records the car is a little bit faster with the HD 3-speed manual. Supposed to be sold but haven’t heard anything in a lonnnnnng time (Charlie where are ya?).
I cleaned my transmission and discovered it IS the original. The VIN on the tail shaft case matches the car. Who'd have thought that GM used Ford transmissions and left FoMoCo on the case. I guess I'm the only kid on my street with an original BBB with a FORD transmission. Thursday's project is to disassemble and refurb the shifter.
Started cleaning up the Hurst shifter. I'm also looking for a rebuild kit for it. It's a 3 speed. If anyone knows where one can be had, I'd appreciate the info. I can find 4 speed kits, but not 3.
Reunited Mom via a cruise in her beloved 1992 RM Limited she gave me a year ago. Rosie provided security Mom will be 100 this year
I changed the oil, charged the battery and fired up my Dad's 64 Riviera today! Only the second time it's been started since he passed more than 2 years ago. I adjusted the idle and it ran great. It put a big smile on my Mom's face hearing it run again. He was in the middle of replacing the drivers side inner and outer rocker panel so I will need to finish that later this year and maybe repaint the car next year. Ken
Finally got it NYS safety inspection done, its only 2 years overdue PITA getting an appointment scheduled, shops are so busy now days since most people are keeping their old cars instead of buying new so they need work. Now I can drive it and not worry about getting a ticket Wish NYS had lifetime inspection for classic cars like some states.
Jeez I am slow. Finally got the front lower control arms done. All Moog, ball joints pressed in on HF hydraulic press. Bushings done with the "C" press. Everything went smooth except the last small bushing. Really fought me, but I prevailed!
Cleaned up the old Centerline Telstar wheels that Dad used to have on the Riv when he was racing it every Friday night and mounted tires on them. Going back to the street strip look it had for most of my life. About the only time it left the house was to go to the track or "testing" on select back roads. Ken
Bought a factory refurbished Holley to replace the 600cfm Edelbrock on my Skylark. Waiting on the big brown truck to swing by so we can get it on the car.
This weekend I got the chance- time-to hang out with a good friend and detail his pride and joy out in wine country where he lives I found this car for him in 1994 . The car was driven lightly over the yrs but was in need of a detail session from me. A complete wash followed up by a 3M Glaze treatment filled in most of the paint imperfections. Then a nice slow polish and wax really made the paint pop . My buddy says the car hasn’t looked this good in yrs . I needed a break from the resto on my car
Cleaning up after the trip to BG and back. Car ran great all the way, to and from, and got to make a few passes on test and tune. Blew the hides off every time. Even a "granny launch", letting the clutch out and rolling into it, at about 900 RPM. (street tires). So, baby needs some running shoes. Gonna try a pair of Micky Mouse ET Street S/S sneakers and try again.
455 has a cooked main Thrust bearing cap. Can't get a even thrust bearing runout with a feeler Guage. So mixing and using dial bore Guage. Started building a tool to attempt to recut the surface on the back. Option 2. Swap the main cap and get another line hone. Luckey to have several extra caps. Using one of the other caps solves the runout problem. But bore is off then.. Experminting with the lathe to make a tool to cut the high point on the cap. Located at 12 o'clock. Machinest must of cut the cap cooked. Off about .0025 @ 12:00. Tighter. How many times can a block be line honed? That would be the best way. But don't trust no locals to do it.
