Hello all im new to the sight and stumbled across this place while looking for some info. I will start from the begining i am 22 years old and my grandfather has a couple buicks he was trying to sell. I worked with a man who i knew was a classic car lover so i asked him to come buy and see what he thinks about the car. well long story short i told grandad that i was interested in buying it and he gave it to me. this car has been sitting since 85 under a shed so i aired the tires up. got this big beast on a trailer and took it home. i quickly realised after i turned the moter over that one cylinder did not have compression. well i took the valve cover off and seen that the exhaust valve was stuck open. anyway i tapped on this thing for days with no results so i pulled the head. The question is what is the tourqe setting on the head bolts and what order should they be tightened in? Thanks and sorry so long. Matt
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter head bolt are 65-70foot lbs my book shows the order as 5 4 1 2 3 10 9 6 7 8 14 13 11 12 i hope this came out right scott
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter That is not unusual for a valve to stick open after sitting for so long.... put a qt. of atf in the gas tank to lube the valves,,,,, running it will help too....
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter man yall are good. Im so ready to get this car runnin. Do any of you have an electra and do they run pretty strong?
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter They run very strong:beer Welcome to the board! Where are you located?
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter They run very strong, I have a rebuilt 401 in mine and it scares the s**t out me every once in while whenever I step on the gas too hard. You'll find that the old nailhead gets up and goes a little faster than the newer bigger engines, but it will run out of steam at the higher RPMs. The newer series of Buick Big Blocks were better at higher RPMs if built right. I find the nailhead to be the best combination for longevity, better oiling, with enough power to get me into trouble in every state or province on the continent. About the only complaint I have with them is that they are very sensitive to the type of gas used, and they tend to take a while to properly warm up. Unlike a modern car don't even think of "nailing it" until the "cold" light has been off for at least 5 minutes. Even freshly rebuilt mine sounds almost like a diesel motor until it is warmed up. I would have never thought that anyone ever raced Electras, until Erik(Bad Boattail) posted some U-Tube videos of Electras absolutely smoking the competition off in quarter mile races. It's amazing what that little motor will do to a 4000 + pound car if built right and tuned right. Hope you get it running right, - would love to see some pics of the car!
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter Waste of money, unless you plan on driving the wheels off of it.
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter No just on the weekends. Well i better buy some lead at first cause im gonna be everywhere when i get it runnin.
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter Welcome Matt- You have landed on the best Buick site available. Lots of good people who want to help. You are even more lucky. Ol doc (posted above) don't live to far from you and is extremely well versed in the Nailhead. I would suggest you contact him and find out what he likes to consume ( I'm gonna say anything that can be killed with a gun shot, but that me too!) and stock up on it. doc will get you straightened right out and I am sure he will be there to help you out- good luck with the new land yatch. :TU:
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter Actually, Matt, the gas we get here locally is pretty good,,, I have even run the low grade in my 64 riv.... and got away with it... back when it was so high,,,, run the premium or a mix of premium and mid grade and you will be all right.... Now for the serious stuff,,,, what will you take for that beautifull little kid???? My little girl got grown and left home and i aint got one around here any more...miss her something awfull....:laugh: :laugh:
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter Yeah this sight is awesome. I have learned a lot by browsing countless hours. My wife probably thinks i have a girlfriend cause i dont get on the computer much. So doc where abouts do you live? To be honest with you i did not even know what an electra was until a few months ago but now that i got it i swear its like when your fifteen and about to get your first car. Its just pure excitement. I wanna miss work just to work on this thing.Wife wont let me though. But no this car is gonna be in the family for a while but thanks for the offer. Are these cars kinda rare cause ive never seen another one around here?
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter That's an awesome aircraft carrier you got there. That nailhead is quite an engine. As has been said, plenty of power to pull 4k+ poundage, and enough to get ya into some sort of trouble. Was cruisin to work and looked down and was doing 115. Kinda skeery, but neat. I let my Cat warm up for awhile before I take her out. Better keep that lil co-driver of yours away from Doc. He'll have her covered in grease, oil, and carrying a wrench around. :laugh: Most of all enjoy!!!:TU:
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter I have one!!!! Great to have you on board!! I'm doing the top end in my '66 Electra225. I'm gonna make it the burnout machine, It's got posi!:laugh: They S**t and GIT!!!!!! :3gears: Like Bruce said, we've both seen 100++ That bumper will clean up nicely.:TU: But not that color.........:eek2: What color was the car origninally? Im going to guess artic white or one of the Blues that were available. I'll go look at my color and trim book...
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter :laugh: :laugh: Hey, You guys ,,respect your elders,,,,:laugh: :laugh: The electra is top of the line,,,, and getting scarcer by the minute,,, i garantee that when he takes it to a show that it will be the only one there,,, just like my riv... Actually , i live in Lawrenceburg, just up the road from you,,,,we should get together and have coffee or breakfast some week end.... First, clean up and inspect the car to get some idea of where you are going, then take a look at my list of cheap tricks in the wrenching secrets section... and then go from there,,,performance wise there is a lot that can be done that wont cost a lot of money and will make that big 4800 lb car come alive...just depends on what you want out of it,,, but you can make it smoke the tires....At BG we saw a riv that was fast by any standards,,,if you take a big car like that and tune it and gear it right , it will be fast in its class.... good tune+gear= fast...
Re: I need help with 64 deauce and a quarter I asked my grandfather what tho original color was and he said that was. He bought it in 70 and had a fender bender a year or so before it got parked. I got 2 parts cars that are not in bad shape because the insurance company was wanting to total it and he would not let them. He said they paid $1000 dollars and pissed and moaned the whole time. Doc we are close. Nice to know someone close knows lots about my car. I cant wait to get her going. Grandad has a 76 hes redoing cause it was his first new car and i asked him how they both ran if they were quick and he said no there luxury cars not muscle cars.
