Been slowly working on minor repairs and service on Steve Shuman's red convertible before taking a "Maiden Voyage" here in Michigan. Replaced the washer reservoir that was cracked/broken and the hose to the pump. Found that there was no hold down on the battery, so installed a repop from Fusick that I had bought for my 4-speed car that is now in restoration. Then figured I'd change the oil. Pulled the dipstick and it read WAY over full. The oil looked brand new, and should have since the car has hardly been driven since it was changed a year and a half ago. I decided to change it anyway so that I could be sure it has the proper amount of oil in it. Before doing that, just for kicks I pulled the dipstick out of my 4-speed engine and was surprised to find it was shorter and an entirely different part number. And when I checked the oil in Steve's car with the other dipstick, it read right around full. Checked the Master Parts Catalog and here's what I found:
Steve's car's dipstick is PN 1372785 which the parts catalog says is for "65-66 400 eng."
4-speed car's dipstick is PN 1356562 which the parts catalog says is for "64-66 401-425 eng."
I know that the 401 was referred to as a 400 for marketing purposes back in the day and I'm quite sure Buick didn't make their 400 engine until about 1967. So I can't figure out what the difference would be in these two engine references. Now, to make matters worse, now that I have put 4.5 quarts of new oil in Steve's car, its dipstick reads just a shade over full and the dipstick from the 4-speed car reads about a quart low. I guess this confirms that Steve's car was overfilled at its last oil change, but I still don't understand the different parts in the same year engine. Any thoughts?
That aside, I did take Steve's car out for a ride to the local ice cream parlor. Got a big rattle in the driver's door, but it runs really well, especially considering it has over 104K miles on the engine.
Thanks,
Chuck
