It's true. I was never going to get it where I wanted. Leaving the exterior unrestored was never going to satisfy me, and the time and money (depending on whether I or someone else finished it) were not going to be there. I would have been in a constant state of frustration. Plus, my shoulder can only take so much. Sanding, painting, priming...was going to be out. Recently I used the take from the Buick sale to buy myself a very clean, original 1986 Corvette coupe. So I do have something in the garage after all.
During an EBay search last night I came across a familiar car: http://www.ebay.com/itm/60-Buick-La...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Yes, that is my '60 Buick. Two owners since I sold it and a lot of work I would never have endorsed. The selling price would suggest it was a good idea but it is not, not my thing.
OK V-8 Buick People: I know much about this car too. Yes, there was quite a bit of work that went into it. Something that guys do all to often is install the air ride system. That money and energy could have been much better spent on a power steering conversion. That way the car could be driven and enjoyed. I have done it with some assistance and it doesn't take a gigantic skill level. I guess the flipper guy Tom sold it to wants a big old profit. Was there that much money left on the table? BTW, this thread is important for ANY 1960 Buick owner. Mitch
Monkey garage.... you got that right. Yea I saw your car on eBay a couple of months back by the last guy. Fortunately the dime store adds and the left over blue wheels could all be changed back easially enough. Steve
Lest anyone think I abandoned my project '60, she is still alive and well. Life has just got in the way of any progress for some time. At this point I pull her out of the garage every couple of months for a drive to keep the juices flowin' and that's about it. But not for long, I WILL be getting back to the LeSabre and finishing her for spring - summer soon. Say Bob, I did want to ask, What did you think of the repro carpet set you installed in your '60 before you sold it? Thanks, Steve
Finally Finally Finally !!! ........... Life has freed up enough for me to get back on the '60 LeSabre in earnest. Plus my oldest son Kevin will be helping me to bust this work out. At 25 he already has more experience at much of this stuff than I do. Between the two of us I hope to make quick work of what's left to button up this project and hit the road. There's a good two page list of things left to do to make a true driver here. First we'll start with the interior as it makes up the bulk of the list. Some questions for you all: Do any of you have experience with the door channel "fuzzies" that border the side window glass ? I want some good quality replacements. Any reccomendations for sources ? Scared of the foreign junk in the aftermarket. Cost effective insulation - sound deadener for the floorboards. The aftermarket mats of this stuff are mighty expensive. Any success with cheaper solutions? Thanks, Steve weim55 Colorado
Great News Weim !! regarding the fuzzies: I'll be very interested in what you find. I need a set for mine. Mine has the originals. regarding the sound deadner: it's been 40 years since we did our floor. When I replaced the carpet about 13 years ago it was fine so I left it alone. When we did the floors those 40 years ago; we used black undercoating (spray on and brush on) and another material available then was, a thick card board box like material coated in wax.
Steve, this may sound dumb, but I use house insulation in places that are NOT likely to get wet. Under the back seat. Behind the back seat between the seat & trunk in front of the cardboard separator. If a 2 dr. in the side rear armrests & in the headliner between the roof & headliner. Makes a HUGE difference in the "Quietness" of the car by dampening the sounds a vehicle normally emits. Best part is if you go where they are building/remodeling a home you can get it out of the dumpster for free BEFORE it gets wet. If it does get wet you just need to spread it out over a flat surface in the sun. Can't be anymore cost effective than that. Tom T.
Hey Steve, glad to see you are back into working on the '60. I've got the stuff to do the front windows on my '61, but unfortunately my RA has been really bad this winter so far and has kept me out of the garage. I wanted to avoid completely removing the stainless metal part of the run channels, so I have completely removed the rubber/fuzzy part of the run channel and plan to clean the contact areas with alcohol prior to gluing in the new rubber/fuzzy channels. This is the stuff I bought: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?partnum=06368 I plan to document it when I do it, but I'm not sure when that will be. I do hope to get it done before spring so I can keep the ol' girl outside if I need to. I will post a link to the video whenever I do it. If you get to yours first, I will be anxious to see how you do it. Also I plan to use weatherstrip adhesive on one side and Goop glue on the other side just to compare the two. Also looking forward to seeing how you handle the flooring as mine will also need done. I have one floor panel to replace in the front (passenger side), and then I will be ready for carpet, etc.
I am a big fan of these Buicks and wish I would have never sold this car...... if I had the room to store that beauty inside in fact I went back to the guy who bought this from the FLIPPER and offered him what the FLIPPER bought the car for from me.....wish I had Kept it ...it sold in less than 15 minutes on e bay......but all turned out well I just bought a nice survivor car from a great guy Patrick RED WHITE 2 Dr and yes a 60 and yes Im selling a 60 Electra 225 6 window Rivera hardtop reluctant to sell but I just cant leave these beauties outside and need the room ......someone getting a good 1960 Electra here...one day ill have the room like someone I have grow to admire with loads of space and 60 Buicks only with a large roof over them.... QUOTE=lrlforfun;2276221]OK V-8 Buick People: I know much about this car too. Yes, there was quite a bit of work that went into it. Something that guys do all to often is install the air ride system. That money and energy could have been much better spent on a power steering conversion. That way the car could be driven and enjoyed. I have done it with some assistance and it doesn't take a gigantic skill level. I guess the flipper guy Tom sold it to wants a big old profit. Was there that much money left on the table? BTW, this thread is important for ANY 1960 Buick owner. Mitch[/QUOTE]
This car has lived quite a life since I sold it to Tom. The air ride- ech- so not my thing. I wanted to keep the car as stock as could be. The power steering would have been a nice add but I could have lived without it. The manual brakes were super- never missed them a bit. In any case, I hope the car is treated well. It was a real sad case, in retrospect, when I got it. The once thing it did have going for it was that it just ran superbly.
I looked into it a bit and found that SoftSeal has the fuzzies. I've always been happy with the quality of their products so I think I'll go that route. Thanks Mosslack for the heads up on the stainless channel the fuzzies are sandwiched in. I'll be calling SoftSeal tomorrow and see if these come with that channel or no. The original sound deadener is a heavy tar paper like stuff with a wax type coating. While the new carpet should quiet things well, I'd like a little more. I want this car BUICK quiet! I'll look a bit more and try to find some solutions. Steve weim55 Colorado
OK.... 1st of year and digging into the '60 again...... Today was spent on interior disassembly. The dash assembly is the dirtest mess you've ever seen. It's good in the sense that it's original and completely unmolested. But the controls for everything need to be gone through. Properly cleaned, lubed and adjusted to use daily again. Took apart the entire dash and instrument cluster and it looks as though everything should be serviceable. Removed the steering column for the same reason as well. I'll post as I go through the components one by one. The rest of the day was spent wire wheeling the surface rust of the floorboards for POR 15 coating when it warms up enough to apply. QUESTION OF THE DAY: I need firewall boots for the throttle and clutch rods. The attached pics are of the throttle rod and boot plus one pic of the clutch rod. The clutch rod boot is missing completely. Any ideas on this? I'm wondering if there's a source that might catalog a whole slew of these things with pics and find a close match? Maybe an A Body clutch boot like on a GS? Thoughts?? Steve weim55 Colorado
Bham, Good call on the Cars source. I tried them for those boots years ago when I first purchased the car with no luck. I called them this morning and still no luck for my exact application. Now Cars has all their parts with pictures online so it looks like a boot for an earlier model might work with a little retrofit. I'll get 'em coming and see what I can do with 'em. Thanks, Steve weim55 Colorado
Steele Rubber is the jackpot for all things rubber related for old cars. They had exactly what I was looking for with their surfable menu by any catagory you can think of. Plus most of the products have dimensions and good detailed pictures. Found a couple of boots I'll try for the throttle and clutch rods. Let you know how they work out. While studying the BCA Forums I came across a thread of a '58 Special 3 speed car. The guy sent a sample of his pedal pads and Steele reproduced 'em. While they are not listed for my '60 in the online catalog they look exactly the same as my '60. This would be huge if those pads work out as I've had zero luck finding a pair elsewhere. Another plus of Steeles is they have ALL the rubbers I need for the car. Using one source will make things much easier. Thanks for the tip Bham! Steve weim55 Colorado
Digging into the dash............. Pretty straight forward stuff here. First thing is to remove all the assemblies from the dash. You don't have to do this, but one thing I've learned over time is having that steering column out of the way makes working around the dash so much easier. Mine had to come out for rebuilding anyway. To get the dash cluster out the top shroud that goes across the entire dash is removed first. Made of cast alumium, the thing weighs almost 20 pounds! 3 screws and 2 nuts is all it takes to remove. One screw is hidden behin the model nameplate and the two nuts are above the glovebox assy. With that out of the way the custer assy. comes out from the top. One screw is hidden under the clock. All it takes is an allen wrench to remove the clock and expose the screw. Three total screws plus disconnect the wiring and speedo cable and the cluster comes right out. Steve weim55 Colorado
Yep, dash pad on the '61 is much the same, very easy to remove and recover if needed. A slight difference is the clock (if equipped) is mounted on the dash pad itself instead of in the instrument cluster area. Luckily mine dosen't have a clock, so it came right off. One thing I'm curious about is if the '60 cluster has a similar layout as far as the idiot lights are concerned. My left turn signal indicator is much brighter than the right one, due in part to the bulb not having a direct path to the indicator. I'm wondering if the bulb should be a brighter one than used on the left side for this reason. Anyone know? Also I believe Steele Rubber has the window run channels, but they include the stainless part as well as the rubber. I'm sure that is a fairly straight-forward replacement, but it looked like mine might prove difficult to get out. Hope you include a brief description on how you did it if you go this route. If my rubber/fuzzy replacement only doesn't work out as planned, I might still opt for the full window run channel (including stainless) in the future.
