Secret experimental 1964 GX 455

[elagache]

Dear Bill, Walt, and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

So the core support is installed (90%) so I could install front fenders etc.

I can see that the radio antenna turned out very nice!  Congrats on a simple fix that worked out as needed.

Car is on the tires up front and Im liking the stance.

The B F Goodrich Radial T/As look nice. 

. . . . But they would even better if they were whitewalls from Diamond Back tires! . . . . .

Cheers, Edouard 

[GS66]

Looks like everything is coming together nicely!

[yachtsmanbill]

Just typed a 30 minute dissertation and it vaporized. Pat's making home made chimichangas and the juices are flowing... TTFN!   Bill

[WkillGS]

Bill, that rad cover plate is for a rad with narrow/thin tanks (V6, 300). If you get a rad with thick tanks (GS or hd cooling option), the plate will sit back further and you won't need to trim the front edge off.
Basically I'm saying don't cut it up until you get the new rad!

[yachtsmanbill]

WHEW! Dinner was good and we were running on empty. After that and some nice wine, Pat and i had to relax for he evening...

Today I am picking up 2 new Cooper Cobras' for the rear. The drive shaft is in an 100%. Probably about 3/4" to 1" of spline showing aft of the trans seal. Im good with that. Need to install the rear cover and fill with oil.

So Walt, with 27" of absolute width between the CS uprights, the GS or HD cooling top plate will be wider than this one? I see on yours the difference between he 3 and 4 row core, with the extra 4th row being forward. I am OK with that but still the fan clearance is an issue.

A fan is a fan, but the clutch job tosses a little alchemy into the scenario. I had an Olds Toronado (1974) that would overheat on the X-way at 70mph. The fan clutch was locked up and took extra HP to spin at speed, requiring extra throttle to get past that, hence the overheat. You mentioned running a 7 blade fixed fan. The Full time power and FAN NOISE is a concern to me. The other issue being the bore on my fan is about 3" and mounted abaft the clutch.  Did you make a hub adapter to keep things on center?  Thats pump guide shaft to flange,  to pulley,  to fan blade?  If I could dump the clutch Id gain an instant 2" of face to face clearance. Thats 1/2 the problem. What about fan to belts/accy's clearance?
I needed a top plate in my hand to measure from and Chuck came through. I needed to see where I was with something. I can put my hands on a 67 GS 400 top plate and narrow that as necessary. Widening the one I have now is gonna take a bit more fabbing to make it look right.
The pics show the upper and lower mounts in relation to the CS verticals AND the curvature in the lower frame. May need to do some trimming down there eh?
 

I picked up a different NEW master Cylinder yesterday. I am bench bleeding it LEVEL and in a vise. This one seemed much stiffer and way less air entrapment. Hopefully its gonna work better than the previous. Crackauto wouldnt comp. me on the juice. Par for the course! What the heck is the black rubber seal supposed to do? Duhh! I know that but, there's no way to get it all in unless its trimmed or just smashed into the fit. This MC uses the short pedal shaft. Is it even necessary? Yesterdays removal was still in situ; I had trimmed an inch outa the length and managed to "get" it all in. Looked lousy and wasn't right by a long shot.

It 0400hrs and coffee is on!  Bill

[gs spoken here]

I think the rubber cup in the pictures below are for a non power brake master cylinder. The seal and short plunger are part of the booster. Also the primary piston hole is deaper for a PB master, where the plunger rod fits.

[Loren At 65GS]

Yes the rubber cup is for manual brakes.

Loren

[gs spoken here]

Some Power brake master cylinders rebuild kits have the seal for between the cylinder and the booster, some do not. I have cleaned non rusty ones and lubed them with rubber lube and they have sealed OK. Remember the brake peddle arm has two holes for the rod, as I remember the upper is for manual and the lower for power. Also the mounting for the brake light switch, can be attached in 2 places upper for manual and lower for power brakes, if I remember correctly.

[yachtsmanbill]

I had Pat hit the pedal yesterday and got full travel out of the pin through the booster. I will however look at the pedal arm. Hmmm. Kinda weird, but when I changed the MC, the OEM rod was about 1-1/2" longer. It bottomed out the MC piston with zero travel left. I got a long and a short one with the new booster from the 72, so I pulled the spare shorty out and was gonna use that, but the chinaman only puts one O ring on it. The OEM has two. I cut the OEM one down to the correct length and pulled the one O ring off the new one and replaced one bad O ring on the old one. Gotta keep tha GM car all GM.

Finished bench bleeding the new MC today and installed it. Probably gonna try to bleed it tomorrow, but I ordered a power bleeder for 15.00 anyway. I only sleep 4-5 hours a night and cant afford to lose any sleep over this junk...

Picked up 2 new Cooper Cobra Tires today for the 15X7 rally wheels. The consensus was to go a bit taller than the fronts but no wider. So these are 235 R 70-15s .
The fronts are 235 X 60s. The new front springs give it about an inch or two higher in the front, so that will get leveled out with air in the back. Notice I hate to say air shocks. Oh well. The stance on the monster is going to be dramatic. Painted an overcoat on the 4 wheels and some clear just to clean them up. I think they look good and will look better with trim rings. Maybe tomorrow. I could not find a lug nut torque rating anywhere for the 64. The 72 is 100 lbs. Im thinking 80 on this with the drum brakes???   Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

GADS! Its been three days and seems like a month! Spent one of those days with my N.A. pal addressing the yacht.  That was only about 4 hours and we'll resume with that on Thursday. Both 454s lit right off with about 5 seconds of cranking. Shocked the heck outa me!

Sooo... still messing with the radiator. Pulled the 7 blade clutch fan off today and installed the 17" 4 blade V6 fan. Tons of room. Gained about 2 full inches. Called the guy that sold me the car, and it turns out he is a Champion Aluminum Rad. sales guy. I  can get one at his cost. Now to figure that out.

So not to blow off a whole day, I pulled the blasted and primed inner fenders outa the pile. Cleaned them all up and found out I am missing the two rear inner fender support brackets that go to the firewall just above the body/cowl mounts.

I AM IN DESPERATE NEED OF BOTH along with any other misc. backing plates etc. PLEASE CHECK YER STASHES guys. This is gonna be a major hold up and no way am I gonna try and make these!.  I hope they are not 1964 SPECIFIC!

Car is officially a roller now with all 4 rally wheels on the floor. The first time it hit the ground, it rolled back 1 inch and rested against the garage door. LEMME OUTA HERE!!!!   Bill

[cwmcobra]

Sorry Bill, but I'd guess they are unique to 64.  I don't have anything like that on my 65s.   

Good luck!

Chuck

[yachtsmanbill]

Look with a flashlite Chuck... even my '72 has 2 bolts and a "mud deflector" that go down there, but that one goes to another bracket on the frame rail. I thinks its more for anti-rattle than strength. Got a shop manual? This was wayyy in the last few pages. Can ya take a look for me? Now Im curious. Its that unicorn thing again!   Bill

[cwmcobra]

Oh yeah, there are "mud deflectors", but they don't look like that bracket.  They look like the attached picture.

[yachtsmanbill]

Dang it! Looks like a trip to Fab Shop 101 !   Bill

[option B9]

  Hi Bill, I looked in the Master Chassis Parts Book, page 1,378 front fenders & sheet metal 1964-65 Special-Skylark, but does not show the brackets you are looking for.
All of my 65 inner fenders have what Chuck has in the photo he posted.
                                                                                                      Tony