1961 Buick LeSabre

[64Electra]

The latest addition to my fleet:
1961 Buick LeSabre sedan.
Local car from new, previous owner's parents bought it in 1963, basically a two owner car.

Got it running tonight after about 20 years of sleeping!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DSC06788.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DSC06789.jpg

My dad snooping, first impressions and first inspection of this car for him.
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DSC06790.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DSC06791.jpg
Previous Owner
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DSC06793.jpg
Previous owner and I. The car has been in her family since 1963
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DSC06794.jpg
Heading home, THANKS ROY!!!!!
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DSC06481.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DSC06482.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DSC06493.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/DriverInterior.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/alexpfaff91/1961%20Buick%20LeSabre/Interior.jpg

[william.ali.kay]

Very nice. And the seat colors are great.

[64Electra]

Thank you. I like the interior color combo too. Outside used to be Kerry Green with White roof

[Hector]

Nice score,what are the plans for it?It seems fairly well preserved.

[64Electra]

First order is get it road worthy. Then....????

[SweBuick]

Beautiful car Alex, always loved ´61 Buicks. Is that the original carpet in the car? What is it around the steering column? Notice how the they locked the rear window cranks with a string. Nice find!!

[65specialconver]

Very nice. And the seat colors are great.

Aint that the truth,they just dont make cool interiors anymore.:(
Looks like a nice find!:beer

[cjp69]

Glad to see you finally got that thing home Alex, it has only been since what, August when we talked about it????:Dou: :beers2:

[garys64wildcat]

Alex,
If I`d have known it was that nice I would have bought it:grin: Good Luck with her. Nice find:bglasses:
Gary

[64Electra]

Beautiful car Alex, always loved ´61 Buicks. Is that the original carpet in the car? What is it around the steering column? Notice how the they locked the rear window cranks with a string. Nice find!!

It's original carpet. Faded to no good.


Gary,

The pictures tell lies! haha

[red67wildcat]

Glad to see you finally got that thing home Alex, it has only been since what, August when we talked about it????:Dou: :beers2:
Yes it was August since we told him, but I think he sealed the deal when they met him. Hey Alex thats a good looking trailer too:laugh:.
Does it run yet??? just kidding.Should be a fun project and your only the third owner of a car 31 years older than you.

[cjp69]

Yes it was August since we told him, but I think he sealed the deal when they met him. Hey Alex thats a good looking trailer too:laugh:.
Does it run yet??? just kidding.Should be a fun project and your only the third owner of a car 31 years older than you.

He already has it running, not sure if he has driven it yet though

[64Electra]

Yep, it runs. Pretty good actually. Fresh battery, plugs, oil change, gas from a 5 gallon can on the floor. It fired right off.

[Airy Cat]

What a nice car! '61s are one of my favorite.

[64Electra]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I filled the transmission last night(4 QUARTS!:shock: ) and it moves!


I'm pretty sure the gas tank is empty, Which could be real good or real bad

I think today I'll dump five gallons in the tank and see if it'll run, watch the sedement bowl and I'll drive it around the neighborhood.

[Sergeant Major]

Nice find Alex. Gonna bring it to the show in June? :TU:

[64Electra]

Once it's roadworthy it'll be at any and all shows, cruise ins, tours. I do more than one show a year :bla:

Well, I dumped five gallons in, can't draw any fuel... I'm dropping the tank. It looks like it will be an interesting job...:Dou:

[66electrafied]

Looks like a very nice car Alex, with it sitting that long I'd also check the fuel line and make sure it isn't plugged or collapsed anywhere. The pumps in those things are also notorious for going weak, so you may have to rebuild that. I haven't seen too many cases where the tank is at fault.

Good Luck!

[64Electra]

Thanks Marc, I think the pump is OK. It pulled fuel from a gas can.

I can't get any fuel from the tank. I sucked on the hose back by the rear wheel, couldn't get anything to come out.

I blew the line out between there and the pump and there was some nasty crap that came out of there.:eek2:

I can only imagine what's in the tank...:puzzled:

[garys64wildcat]

Good luck with the tank Alex, hope there isnt to much rust and dont leak

[photobugz]

Alex, I think you have an addiction to full size, 4dr, white Buicks!

[Sergeant Major]

There's nuthin like a 4 Door. Miles of beautiful sheet metal!!! It's definitely an addiction!!

[red67wildcat]

Looks like a very nice car Alex, with it sitting that long I'd also check the fuel line and make sure it isn't plugged or collapsed anywhere. The pumps in those things are also notorious for going weak, so you may have to rebuild that. I haven't seen too many cases where the tank is at fault.

Good Luck!
you can smell the varnish in that one that Alex has I figured thats why it quit running so many years ago. nothing that cant be fixed:TU:

[lrlforfun]

OK Alex: I was wondering why you haven't posted your 4419 on the B-59 forum. It looks good. For a young guy you have a great start on collecting. I wish I could get my 17 year old interested but no go. He's been on the Call of Duty for a while now.

One other thing. It's a "padiction". That's lots of passion with some addiction sprinkled in. In my case the addiction has been more than sprinkled in.

Mitch

[64Electra]

Jeff,

I really don't have a preference on doors, it's just whatever comes my way at a reasonable price. :)



Hey Mitch,

There's a cure for that, pull the plug! That's what my dad used to threaten me with.:rant:

[SweBuick]

You can get surprised what you can find in a gas tank. A friend of mine bought a ´53 Cadillac Conv in Oregon in 2002. It ran poor so we took the tank down and clean it. After sealing it with a tank sealer it ran fine and still does. This is what came out of the tank.

[cjp69]

You can get surprised what you can find in a gas tank. A friend of mine bought a ´53 Cadillac Conv in Oregon in 2002. It ran poor so we took the tank down and clean it. After sealing it with a tank sealer it ran fine and still does. This is what came out of the tank.

Hans,

How did you get that pan and flashlight out of the tank? Wow, amazing find, kind of like when they cut open a great white shark! :laugh:

[william.ali.kay]

You can get surprised what you can find in a gas tank. A friend of mine bought a ´53 Cadillac Conv in Oregon in 2002. It ran poor so we took the tank down and clean it. After sealing it with a tank sealer it ran fine and still does. This is what came out of the tank.

Hope thats his lawn and not yours.:Brow:

[SweBuick]

Hans,

How did you get that pan and flashlight out of the tank? Wow, amazing find, kind of like when they cut open a great white shark! :laugh:

Well the pan was quite difficult :laugh: , the flashlight was the easy part. Don´t the parts look great being from ´53.... :grin:


Hope thats his lawn and not yours.:Brow:

Had to take the lawn home - the worms didn´t like our treatment.... :laugh:

[64Electra]

Dad and I finally got the tank out...What a job. Ended up having to cut two bolts at the front of the tank. They're carriage bolts and didn't work as intended:Dou:

Tank didn't look TOO bad inside, but some surface rust and a plugged up pick-up. Dad was blowing air through it with the compressor, and a tar-like substance came out of it:eek2:

[rflegel]

Hey, Your '61 looks very nice and intact! I had quite a vocabulary expanding time getting the tank out of my '61 electra. Are you going to clean and seal yours now that it's out? Mine is waiting for the weather to warm up some for sealing.

I found an old 3/4 X 3" (aprox) household electrical fuse in my tank. Was it put in place to prevent corrosion, or inserted by a grandchild along the way? I'll never know for sure... My tank looked pretty clean considering the age and length of time it sat with old fuel.

I have an old Briggs and Stratton 1 gallon tank in place for starting purposes for now.

I had my water pump out to be rebuilt and the company that had the pump (Hagen's) caught fire. Luckily, my part was spared and is back in my shop waiting to be re-installed. Next, I need to have my power brake booster rebuilt.

Hope to have my Electra ready to roll for the Puyallup Open this summer. Maybe i'll get a chance to see your new treasure sometime earlier than that. The pictures look great!

Congratulations! :TU:
Rick

[64Electra]

I'm going to clean and seal it myself. I'm going to buy the POR 15 kit.

Good to see you back here on the site!!!

Please consider coming to one of our chapter meetings. 2nd tuesday of the month. Auburn. WE have a guy that lives in Port Orchard(Gary, he commented on the previous page), maybe you and him can work out a carpool?? Just a suggestion, maybe that makes it farther...haha

[rflegel]

"Please consider coming to one of our chapter meetings. 2nd tuesday of the month. Auburn."

Hey Alex, Auburn is not such a large place, but is there an address for the chapter meetings? I've missed this month, but we'll see what the schedule is like next month.

Does the chapter have a web site or another method of obtaining information or calendar of events?

Well, hope to see you soon!

Rick

[64Electra]

Performance Grill
1525 A Street Northeast
Auburn, WA 98002-1620

2nd Tuesday of the month. 6PM for Dinner, meeting starts at 7PM

We do have a calendar of events, in our newsletter each month. Join up and get the newsletter :beer

[SweBuick]

Performance Grill
1525 A Street Northeast
Auburn, WA 98002-1620

2nd Tuesday of the month. 6PM for Dinner, meeting starts at 7PM

We do have a calendar of events, in our newsletter each month. Join up and get the newsletter :beer

Alex, is it possible to come from Sweden too? I will be in Portland in early April.

[64Electra]

Absolutley!! The more the merrier!

Keep in mind that we are about 2 1/2 hours north of Portland.

April's meeting will be the 13th

[poison heart]

Keep on workin on her Alex