I've wanted a wagon for a long time

[35chevcoupe]

Nice Loren ,   A stage II 455 would make that thing one heck of nice a sleeper . 
good luck with it . i'll be watching the progress .

[mdkd]

Loren

Wow

Looks like a lot of fun

Is that an OEM purse hook on the glove box?

I have never seen that interpretation of a gauge panel before.

I have always had a soft spot for these wagons.

Congratulations

Milton

[Loren At 65GS]

Loren

Wow

Looks like a lot of fun

Is that an OEM purse hook on the glove box?

I have never seen that interpretation of a gauge panel before.

I have always had a soft spot for these wagons.

Congratulations

Milton

 Hi Milton,

 Should be  a lot of fun for sure. I'm stepping ot of my norm of restoration with this. That  gauge panel does look to be interesting, doesn't it. Once I have the wagon here, I will be able to determine more.
 It certainly does look like an OEM purse hook, I've had a few over the years and it looks like I'll have  another. lol

  Still need to get those NOS spinners to you,
  Loren

[red65gs]

Very cool Loren! Even has a purse hook accessory.

[GS66]

Looks like a good Power Tour car!

[seanrobison65]

Looking forward to seeing what happens when you "step out of your norm of restoration"!  Congrats!

[Loren At 65GS]

Looking forward to seeing what happens when you "step out of your norm of restoration"!  Congrats!

 Just my opinion that doing a restoration has been an easier task for me. I've restored a few cars to factory original and helped others do the same. With this , I'm stepping out of my comfort zone. Previously I've only gone as far as putting a 455 / th400 into a '65 Skylark.  I didn't find that much of a challenge. But this looks a bit more challenging in regards to the electronics involved and the engine mounting.

  Thanks guys ,
  Loren

[elagache]

Dear Loren, John, Milton, Don, Jim, Sean, and mid-60s Buick "longroof" fans,

. . . .
  Well..., not sure about the paint yet. But, I do have plans for the drive train. Ya see ..., I have this '96 Roadmaster wagon with only 80 some thousand miles on it. The old lady that had it, apparently had a hard time telling where the passenger side was. So it will make a good donor.
. . . . .

Interesting!   So the idea is to splice the drivetrain from the 1996 Buick Roadmaster?  Here is a link to some of the specs on that drivetrain:

https://www.drivingline.com/articles/sleeper-wagon-the-1994-1996-buick-roadmaster-estate/

I didn't know that the Buick Roadmaster used the same 5.7L LT1 V8 engine as the Corvette!  You can't go wrong with that!  It is matched with a four-speed 4L60 automatic transmission.  That should give you a very modern and comfortable drive!

. . . .
I have never seen that interpretation of a gauge panel before.
. . . .

Agreed, that is very different.  I'll definitely be interested once Loren gets the car home.  Definitely lots of opportunities to get the creative juices flowing!

I'll definitely be following this build as well!  Best of luck Loren!! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[Loren At 65GS]

Thanks Edouard,

  I think it will be fun to do something other than a restoration.  I had originally planned to put the driveline from the Roadmaster into a '65 Skylark two door sedan that I have , but really , really wanted a Sport Wagon for that. Now I have found one , let the good times roll. lol

 It does have the 5.7 and 4L60E , but it Is not the Corvette engine. There are some differences between the engines used in the Corvette and the engines used in the other models. One would think it was merely a PCM programing difference, but there is something different because you can't simply flash the PCM and reprogram it with the Corvette specs. A good friend that used to be a GM tech , tried that on his Caprice with the LT1. It didn't work and as I recall, he got an error message along with the car wouldn't run at all. He had told me the specifics , but the old memory banks aren't recalling them. I just remember that he had to flash the PCM again, re-enter the program for the Caprice, before it would run.
 I think this will make a fantastic road car with more then enough power and really good mileage to boot. lol

   Loren

Remember this combo ? 

[cwmcobra]

That combo will be yours soon, Loren.  You need to stage a similar picture.  Might have to wait for spring though....

Oh, and someone needs to update their forum signature...

 

Chuck

[Loren At 65GS]

That combo will be yours soon, Loren.  You need to stage a similar picture.  Might have to wait for spring though....

Oh, and someone needs to update their forum signature...

 

Chuck

  I had the same flash thought , I think the wagon is the same color too.  It will have to wait till spring, as we will be on our way to sunny Florida right after Christmas.
 
 I'll look into that forum signature update. lol

  Loren

[BuickGS65]

Sweet wagon Loren!!

[35chevcoupe]

Loren ,  that Roadmaster engine/trans combo is the same thing I have but its going into a 55 Belair wagon . I kept the wiring harness and everything before i scrapped the car . I Believe to make these turn over and start you even need to measure the resistance of the little chip in the key from the roadmaster . You won't need the ignition lock cylinder you can simply wire in a small resistor in the harness some where to trick the PCM .
You are correct though , the 96 is kind of an odd ball as the Pcm can't be reflashed .
Lots cool stuff on these engines though , cam driven water pump , reverse flow cooling and pretty easy to pull some extra horsepower out of them .
Gonna be fun to watch for sure .

[Loren At 65GS]

Thanks for the tip John.  I hadn't thought about the key chip needing to be compensated for.
I have some experience with this setup as it is also in my '94 Roadmaster wagon. I've had to do some repairs and maintenance to the '94 right after I got it.
Looking forward to the journey with the '65 Sporty.

  Loren

[Loren At 65GS]

Sweet wagon Loren!!

  Thanks Dan