I've wanted a wagon for a long time

[SBRMD]

Loren!

Congratulations!  Welcome to the fold!

I vote for '65 Buick Maroon.  That'd be especially handsome with the interior.

Looks like it has three-point belts in the front!

[Loren At 65GS]

Loren!

Congratulations!  Welcome to the fold!

I vote for '65 Buick Maroon.  That'd be especially handsome with the interior.

Looks like it has three-point belts in the front!

 Thanks Steven, Haven't decided about color yet. Not in a great hurry to do paint. The drive line change will be first thing to get figured out and done.  Yes,it does look like previous owner installed 3 point seat belts to the front.

[elagache]

Dear Loren, Chuck, Dan, Steven, and mid-60s Buick "longroof" fans,

. . . .
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.
. . . . .
 I think this will make a fantastic road car with more then enough power and really good mileage to boot. lol
. . . . .
Remember this combo ?

If towing is in the back of your mind, then you want the Roadmaster version of LT1!  What is the base weight of your 26 foot Airstream?  Indeed if back in the day, Airstream of advertising a Sportswagon pulling a 26, you certainly should be able to do it now.  Since I haven't purchased a trailer yet, I was thinking I would stick to the 24 foot instead which is a bit lighter.  In 1965, Buick claimed that the Sportwagon was limited to a 5000 pound trailer load.  Of course that was with the original drivetrain, but the car is only about 4000 pounds.  Towing a trailer much heavier than the car does raise some complications.  Fortunately, today you can provide the trailer with much better brakes and modern brake controllers.  Actually towing one of these 2-axle Airstreams in the 1960s must having taken a lot of driving skill!

Best of luck Loren on this very grand project! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[Loren At 65GS]

Dear Loren, Chuck, Dan, Steven, and mid-60s Buick "longroof" fans,

. . . .
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.
. . . . .
 I think this will make a fantastic road car with more then enough power and really good mileage to boot. lol
. . . . .
Remember this combo ?

If towing is in the back of your mind, then you want the Roadmaster version of LT1!  What is the base weight of your 26 foot Airstream?  Indeed if back in the day, Airstream of advertising a Sportswagon pulling a 26, you certainly should be able to do it now.  Since I haven't purchased a trailer yet, I was thinking I would stick to the 24 foot instead which is a bit lighter.  In 1965, Buick claimed that the Sportwagon was limited to a 5000 pound trailer load.  Of course that was with the original drivetrain, but the car is only about 4000 pounds.  Towing a trailer much heavier than the car does raise some complications.  Fortunately, today you can provide the trailer with much better brakes and modern brake controllers.  Actually towing one of these 2-axle Airstreams in the 1960s must having taken a lot of driving skill!

Best of luck Loren on this very grand project! 

Cheers, Edouard 

  Our '69 Airstream Overlander International comes in at 4525 pounds dry.  It would be interesting to see how well the Sport wagon could handle it.  With the planned driveline upgrade, there should definitely should be enough power. I also will be adding disc brakes to the front.
Back in the day, Buick only made a hitch that mounted to the frame cross member in the rear and the bumper.  I think that would be a little on the light side to be safe.

  Loren

[elagache]

Dear Loren and mid-60s Buick caregivers with an itch for road trips,

Our '69 Airstream Overlander International comes in at 4525 pounds dry.  It would be interesting to see how well the Sport wagon could handle it.  With the planned driveline upgrade, there should definitely should be enough power. I also will be adding disc brakes to the front.

Agreed, the Roadmaster power train should be more than up to the task of pulling the 1969 Overlander.  Making sure there is enough stopping power is indeed something to plan on as the project unfolds.

Back in the day, Buick only made a hitch that mounted to the frame cross member in the rear and the bumper.  I think that would be a little on the light side to be safe.

Biquette has a custom class-4 hitch receiver that was custom fabricated at the same time as she got her dual exhaust.  The follow who did it knew I was planning to haul a vintage Airstream, but even so, I think I will look at that work once more before attempting to haul anything that heavy!

Plenty of time to resolve these issues!

Thanks for sharing Loren! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[Loren At 65GS]

Dear Loren and mid-60s Buick caregivers with an itch for road trips,


Biquette has a custom class-4 hitch receiver that was custom fabricated at the same time as she got her dual exhaust.  The follow who did it knew I was planning to haul a vintage Airstream, but even so, I think I will look at that work once more before attempting to haul anything that heavy!

Plenty of time to resolve these issues!

Thanks for sharing Loren! 

Cheers, Edouard 

 Edouard,

 Do you happen to have a picture of that custom hitch?

  Loren

[elagache]

Dear Loren and mid-60s Buick caregivers with an itch for road trips,

. . . .
Do you happen to have a picture of that custom hitch? . . .

As a matter of fact, yes I did take pictures while Biquette was still on the rack just after the installation.  Here is what was done:



Here is the view from the other side:



You can click on the images to get higher-resolution pictures.

So let me turn the tables on you!  What do you think?  Is this beefy enough to handle a twin-axle Airstream?

One curious mind would very much like to know! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[Loren At 65GS]

Edouard,

  It looks like it will handle the task quite well.  I like it.  Many thanks for the pictures.
Is that the stock fuel tank ?

  Loren

[elagache]

Dear Loren and mid-60s Buick "longroof" fans, . . .

  It looks like it will handle the task quite well.  I like it.  Many thanks for the pictures.
. . . .

Thanks for sharing your opinion!  That's good to know! 

Is that the stock fuel tank ?  . . .

Well, it is supposed to occupy the same space, but no it is a reproduction tank from Spectra Premium for the 1964-67 El Camino:

https://ecat.spectrapremium.com/products/GM37EFI

This is the reproduction tank with the EFI fuel pump.  It can be made to work with the Sportswagon.  The filler neck needs to be adjusted somehow.  Someone managed to pull it off on V-8 Buick but I've long forgotten what the trick was.  I've had no problems with this tank.  They seem to have come up with a reasonable baffle system so the fuel remains to cool off the pump.

I would expect you might be in the market for a gas tank like this given the drivetrain you have in mind!

Cheers, Edouard 

P.S.  The only issue I've had with this tank was as a result of the car sitting without an engine for over a year.  Shortly after being idled, I siphoned out as much gas as I could.  When the engine came back, the fuel pump failed almost immediately and the fuel sending unit hasn't worked properly ever since.  However, I assume both problems where caused by leaving the tank with whatever little gas was left for such a long period of time.

[Loren At 65GS]

That's kind of what I've been finding. Although, I'm going to see if the tank that is under the RMW will fit. If it does, that would be a really simple solution since it is already correct for the fuel requirements of the LT1.

  Loren

[elagache]

Dear Loren and mid-60s Buick "longroof" fans,

. . . . Although, I'm going to see if the tank that is under the RMW will fit. If it does, that would be a really simple solution since it is already correct for the fuel requirements of the LT1.

Certainly if you could reuse the Roadmaster tank that would be the most economical and best match for the engine.  What is the capacity of that tank?  I'm starting to worry a bit about having enough fuel to comfortably go between gas stations when towing.  With a heavy load, even the most thifty engine won't get very good gas mileage.  These days I'm hoping you can find gas stations more easily, but I would expect that stations are continuing to close.  It isn't much fun to have to drive from gas station to gas station, so I'm definitely itching to improve the range of my trusty wagon as much as is practical.

Please to let us know when your new baby finally arrives!

Cheers, Edouard 

[telriv]

Loren,

     if you don't know you can put newer wagon (early 70's) 11" brakes in the rear.  For '96 there was a design change/modification where a resister for the ignition doesn't work, only for '95 & older, BUT there is a way to rid the system of the anti-theft & still make the vehicle start & run.

Tom T.

[Loren At 65GS]

Tom,

  Now I did not know that the later wagon brakes were something that would interchange. Nice! I will have to look into that.  I was aware of the resister issue. If I understand the article I read regarding that, a resister of the correct value can be installed in the ignition circuit to make it work.
 One of the great things here is the wealth of knowledge.

  First things first though. Still need to get the Sporty home to me. 

  Loren

[Loren At 65GS]

 Christmas arrived a little early today . The '65 Sport Wagon arrived about 2:00 this afternoon.
It didn't like the cold weather we are having here. It took a bit of coaching to get it started and off the transport. lol

  Loren

[option B9]

Looks great Loren, I'm sure you had a BIG smile when you drove it on to your property !! Congratulations on the new addition to your Buick family ...

                          Tony