Secret experimental 1964 GX 455

[elagache]

Dear Bill, Loren and mid-60s Buick owners with a taste for things on the rails,

Ill bet the engineers thought of that cab forward as a Godsend! No smoke and the fresh air in your face instead of cooking on top of the deck plates.
. . . .

They were amazing machines.  They were even given credit for saving a life.  Sometime in the 1940s-50s, a child was playing on the tracks when a heavy freight train was approaching.  The engineer applied full brakes but that wasn't going to stop the train in time.  Still it slowed the rain enough that a member of the train crew was able to jump off the train, outrun the locomotive, and pull the kid off the tracks just in time.  At the time it was believed the crew of a conventional steam locomotive would have never been able to see such a small child on the track with the boiler in the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OgSNQOTw2U

Thanks for the video.  I can never get enough stream!! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[schlepcar]

This will show a little more of Bobbybuicks car......truly one of the best 65 GS cars still out there,Dan

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HOAVRlVmklU

[yachtsmanbill]

Thanks for that video Dan! That is one sweet gal there! I am a little confused though; its' shown as a '65 GS, yet it seems to have a '64 dash board inside. The glove box door is identical to my '64 and thought they were changed to a bit sleeker design for '65. CMIIW. Does it sport a 4 or a 6 speed?   ws

[gssizzler]

Yachtsman, you are making great progress on that 64! Keep up the great work! And keep the pictures coming! It brings thoughts of spring! Not this cold
nasty, bitter weather we have been having!

[yachtsmanbill]

Thanks Sizzler! Ive gotta trudge through a foot of lake effect snow to get out to the shop this morning. Its supposed to do this all day and evening! We are in Two Rivers, Wi. right on the shore (as in look out the office window at it!) of Lake Michigan. Theres a price to pay LOL. No reason to try and keep up now; we'll dig out later!

So Ive got an 8 HP Murray blower that hasnt failed yet. One pull and its off to the races. But thats not all... I picked up TWO cabs for GOT SNOW? and put them BOTH on for a full enclosure. But theres more! This year I shrouded off the cooling cowl on the motor and rigged up a vent to the inside of the cab. It was zero outside last week and I was blowing in a hoodie and light gloves. Theres usually a 20-30 mph. breeze along with the snow. Looks like Buick time today. Retirement is good!   Bill

( I hope these are OK!) My humor is slightly athwarts!

[schlepcar]

Bill,

I thought I saw Gabriel earlier but apparently he had to be cleansed of his indiscretions....I have a bit of a twisted view sometimes too. That  post 65 on the video was about 80% complete when I saw it,and the dash is correct for a 65. It still has the original 4-speed,console,and post-only interior. I think he added a 66 intake because he wanted the quadrajet manifold,but the car is basically original. I was trying to remember the difference in glove box doors...button position maybe. The 65 special uses the same dash pad surround as a 64 skylark,but 65 skylarks,GS,and sportwagon all had the long top dash pad. Dan

[yachtsmanbill]

Just curious... I dont see many 64s and rely on a lot of help from yooz guys to get me through. So the 65 GS was built as a post car as well? The few Ive seen seem to have had a more padded dash with the glove box door mounted lower. The 64s is up pretty high on the dash. I guess thats apples and kumquats LOL...

My Buick shop manual has ZERO info on the GB door lock. Mine was loose and been fooled with before I got it. My 72 manual goes through the re-assembly procedure pretty well, but the 64 is wayy different. The lock goes into the back side of the  dash and is retained by the ferrule that is octagon shaped I.D. on the front.  That gets installed in the sheetmetal and then the cylinder goes in using a pin to depress each tumbler until seated. Simple enough? Your supposed to "cock" the lock first and that spring is tight! Its bitten me a few times already!
  If anyone has some assembly instructions that would make a finnnne sticky! Please send me a copy too. Theres no guess work on that lock. It either IS or ISN'T.  What a pizza (pita)!

I pulled the 49 inch speedo cable out. Ive seen a bunch for sale at 68 inches, but that seems short to get to the 4 speeds' passenger side to attach. The dash end has a nut thats 9/16" and the trans end is 3/4" BTW. Of Course my cable looks like new. I broke a plastic push pin yesterday. This retains the toe panel by the steering column that the cable passes UNDER. I need one. Probably at the HELP stand at crack auto.

Spent a few hours cleaning, oiling, and painting parts to the overbuilt Z bar and some engine smalls.

Please send help on that LOCK !! Thanks... Bill

[Brian]

The glovebox liner, opening and door are same shape and size 64 and 65, they just moved the latch from the dash to the door in 65 to make room for the full width padded dash that was new for 65 on the Skylarks and Special Deluxe models.  The base model special retained the same hard plastic, non-padded dash around only the instrument/radio area like the base model 64 specials had.  Never had to do anything to the latch on my 64.  All I did was take it out to paint the dash, lubricated it, then put it back in.  I attached a pic of mine before I restored the car and put in a new repo glove box liner.

[yachtsmanbill]

I like the pneumatic trunk release!

 So if you had yours out and cleaned and oiled. You were right where I AM. You had to put the mechanism in from the back, and retain it TIGHT with the escutcheon ring, then insert the lock cylinder. I can get my catch in and the ring on, but it seems like I cant cock the latch before putting the lock cylinder in, PLUS, the door doesnt appear to push the catch back far enough to hold it closed.

If anyone can copy a page out the assembly manual (I dont have one), it would be much appreciated. The shop manual breezes by the whole issue with "remove or install" the lock mechanism.   ws

[197064buickspec]

Does this help?

[yachtsmanbill]

That is exactly what I needed! I thank you. Looking at the diagram, it shows what appears to be a fiber gasket under the outer ring. Thats no biggy. Im still a bit confused about cocking the latch. I may have to source a different lock if something is missing from mine. I do know that a line mechanic mustve used smoke and mirrors to get that cylinder out with the 1/8 wire! Its buried wayyy up in the backside and upper corner of the dash. For now the assembly is in my lap so Ill do a ton of dry runs. Thanks again! That few paragraphs are a great help!   Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

On another note, the floor hump showed up and it looks "OK", along with the boot and ring. The boot looks good but the ring is galvanized, not chromed, and for $98.00, not even a pack of screws to mount the 3 together. The ring is a lousy fit up to the hump as well; like it got stepped on or bent in transit, but the box was perfect and packed well.   ws

[197064buickspec]

I'm thinking the wire procedure was after the lock assembly was removed. The original gasket was more of a super thin clear plastic. 

The lock set up is kind of goofy and works in reverse the way you would think. When the lock is latches the button comes outward.......when it is not latched the button is flush or inverted.

I have a couple of extras here but no keys and was messing with them.

[yachtsmanbill]

Actually, the wire thing works both ways; in and out.  When its assembled in the dash, the wire gets the cylinder out so you can unscrew the bezel. Going back together, the bezel gets tightened on to the lock and then the cylinder gets inserted. Youd think it could get snapped in, but you need to depress each brass tumbler and then the steel keeper tumbler. I cant get my lock to latch in the closed position to get the cylinder to seat and latch that steel tumbler.
    That assembly book instruction is gonna help immensely!   Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

So now I need some sage advice. The super T-10 thats going in has the speedo drive on the passenger side. The OEM 3 speed manual was on the drivers side, and the cable was 49 inches. Woefully too short. JC on V8 ran into this as well. Bought one thats 70 inches an "kinda tight" for his 1970 455 X 4 GS. I just found one by chance in either 73 or 83 inches. My choice on the length. I dont want to snake it all over by the hot pipes. Any suggestions?   ws