After much search and debate on what luxo barge I wanted from the late 60s to early 70s, I happened to settle on one I least expected. Bounced around with a couple Cadillac’s and Lincoln’s that weren’t meant to be. Close to getting a ‘72 delta 98. Almost bit on a 68 de ville but couldn’t be bothered with the work. I wanted an all around solid vehicle that gave me simple work to really learn and enjoy it. The way a project should go BUT we know that’s not going to always be the case. End goal and vision was s Out of the blue I happened across a ‘75 Electra 225, 4 door. Base model(custom?) I'm sure but the original owner grabbed the interior out of a limited and it threw me off initially. Did a week long search on parts and general info on the Electra and 455. Met with the owner gave it a once over and decided to bite. When I took it for a test drive the gentleman teared up a bit but was more than happy to talk about its history and understand I also have an appreciation for the huge American luxury options of the era. Garage kept most its life, religiously maintained mechanically, not so much on the interior but it was the entire families daily driver at some point and time. Survived college in the 80s and early 2000s and even when I contacted him he was still working on maintaining it. It’s got new parts in the trunk waiting on me if he doesn’t do it first. Seriously he’s still working on it. New water pump, weather stripping minus the windows, new carpet waiting for me, new exterior chrome waiting… Anyway I’m new Buick’s but not to forums. Did some searching and there wasn’t too much to find that I didn’t kinda already figure out so I’ll make one post on the project and go from there. Typical learning curve… how to post pics to a forum but I’ll share more in detail once I get a chance to pick it up. It’s about an hour and a half one way trip for me to get it so first task is ensure it’s road worthy. Just needs tires and I’m glad the windows work because it’s still on old r12. West Texas is hot!!! Needs new seals (which he bought) and a charge. Anybody use that 12a r12 alternative stuff before?
Thanks for info. From what I read I was still assuming there was “custom”, limited, and the park avenue, trims. It is the bare bones package though. He added the interior from a limited. Properly installed with power seats so no complaints.
That would have been awesome. I need to fully clean and detail the interior before I decide on the direction I’ll take it. I have to remove the seats to install the new carpet anyways. Should be picking it up tomorrow evening so we shall see it’s starting point.
Welcome! Lots of great info here and people are a wealth of knowledge. Just ask! my Grandmother had a ‘76 two door Electra. I remember cruising around in that, and marveled at her ability to park it perfectly in a little Chicago garage in an alley! With Grandpa’s full size Chevy in there! Sure wish I had her car…
Appreciate the pointers. I was meaning to buy one of those but didn’t look for one used. Picked that one up in the link. He did install the power seats so that will help as well Also not able to send you a pm from your profile page. Yours is restricted. Usually how it works in other forums but I might be missing something
Finally picked her up! Ran out of time to get a ton of pics. You can tell it was taken care of but attention to detail inside wasn’t a priority. Honestly wasn’t thinking much about them as I started to dig into it. Previous owner was still working on the AC and didn’t even want to let it go…. Appreciated the work but still no dice on it blowing cold. New compressor, converted to 134 fittings, holding pressure but idk what’s up yet. I’ve got a rebuild kit for the accumulator I’ll get around to doing that in time. Only thing I can think of other than check some fuses. Shout out to Nailhead for that manual Extras: 6 door panels, interior trim from a limited, new carpet, new tail lights and harness, body trim, new bumper fillers, seat belts, top/pillar trim, and a couple of small boxes I didn’t get to yet. Discovered cons: No driver side power lock, passenger lock is wired reverse, no dome light, driver side mirror is janky, sticky wheel and column (not sure what to clean it with to keep it away), small chip and scratches on passenger window, vinyl top trim at the “opera” window not installed properly and some sort of glue used driver side. Big thing I noticed some hesitation and pop when going wot… I’ll tune the carb to vacuum tomorrow as everything else is connected. Maybe the choke??? I’ll rebuild it if needed. Slow and steady it purrs, cat deleted, not sure what exhaust is set up the but it sounds alright. SO we got a little project on our hands! Stay tuned
