After all these years I decide to freshen up the engine and tranny in the 69 cat, and then decided to change the paint colour, so now the body is off the frame, not sure how that happened even though I kept telling myself, Don't take the body off the frame... So The fun begins and now looking for suppliers for door and rear window glass, fuel tank sending unit, body bushings etc, etc....so asking the experts here for suggestions on getting parts for our big cars, thanks Gord One last thing, does the wildcat share the same platform, frame and suspension as the Chevy B body car such as the impala... Cheers, Gord
Haha, great.....this is why we love our buicks so the parts scrounging begins. Gord Ps. I've been talking to Baer brakes about our big cars, I'm bringing them a spindle and front brake hub assembly so they can see if they can figure something out. I'm of the opinion If we bombard them with emails and phone calls they may see an opportunity to expand their product line. Gord
just got back from Sema and talked to a few suppliers, it appears the 69-70 Impala shares the glass for the wildcat. I also talked to ridetech and they figure the caprice and impala also share our front suspension. i will be doing some measuring and hopefully ordering up some parts and will report back in the coming months, gord
Front windshield and door glass, possibly. Backlight, I don't think so, totally different roofline. The last time I bought parts for my 69 Cat, there was nothing in common with the Impala or Caprice, it used an entirely different design. Even the shocks are different. Buick re-did its suspension for 69. I know that tie rods, sway bars and the like are different, only the sway bar pin kit is the same. If you are going to continue that route, might I suggest you find a copy of the Hollander Interchange, that will be your definitive guide as to what interchanges with what.
thanks Marc, i just finished scouring Desert valley auto parts and was able to see lots of suspensions for various brands and years and of course nothing matches up and now I am doubtful on the rear glass as well. Right now i need a sending unit for my wildcat that is or was on the road until yesterday, dropped the tank and was able to remove the unit and this is going to be a problem as well....
Yeah, that's the sad thing about our fullsize cars, there isn't anything out there. The tank sending units should all be similar, they took a similar tank to the Olds Delta 88 and the Pontiac Catalina. Some front end stuff might interchange off of those two as well, but as far as Chevy goes, they were totally different and had more commonality with LeSabre. As I said, find a Hollander Interchange catalog, they're about the only thing that will help short of a parts car.
ok thanks, actually i think i may have that catalog, i'll look when i go back to Canada later this week. i sure hope Buick didn't build there own sending unit....
I have side glass from a 69-70 Impala Custom. (formal roofline) Both doors and quarters. According to Hollander, the door glass interchanges between Impala Custom and Buick Wildcat 69 and 70. 69 and 70 have different numbers, likely due to the fact the regulators differed between those two years. 69 was probably a scissors type, while 70 used a slider mechanism. The quarter glass shows as different between the Chev and Buick.
Fuel tank sending unit was sent to Tristar and is fixed, haven't done anything else but taking my spindles to Baer brakes and they are going to see if they have anything close. Apparently Wilwood makes a kit for the rear, but need to check some measurements? Gord
New project, turning the rotors on my factory disc brake Wildcat and looking for new brake pads, wow more road blocks. Hopefully the Electra pads fit, special order and should be here in a few weeks from Summit I was on the phone for 40 minutes with them and the fellow didn’t have a listing for my car. Figured I’d better get some Calipers and rotors too....lol
I'm looking for a fuel tank for my 67 WC anyone know if I can buy an impala tank and swap the filler necks? Also looking to do a front disc break conversion. Will the impala swap other than the bolt pattern?
Not sure if the Impala would fit. It was shorter and a little fatter than the B/C body tanks. They used totally different bodies. Look for a 66-67 Olds, Pontiac or Buick B or C body tank. Front discs would be IMHO no better than the drums that Buick was using. Especially the case if you use period disc brake setups. The Buick drums were the best in the industry and by virtue of being drums they have an undeserved bad rap. They were actually IMHO better than the discs; - I've had both, and the drums in either of my convertibles will leave your face mashed into the windshield if you hammer them.
