Thanks for the advice, but as I said, I've been this way before. No plans to do anything to the heads with the exception of cleaning and checking for warpage. Obviously will check for bent valves, etc, but no machining. Visual inspection of the cylinders, pistons, but if all looks good it will just have new head gaskets installed and put back together. I will also be doing a compression check before I remove the heads to see if there is any obvious damage. If it pans out, only cost will be gasket set, cost of checking heads and my labor. If I find other problems I will then have to decide what to do. Most likely would be total rebuild by a shop I have dealt with before. I know the owner and he will let me pay it off over time.
Engine Replacement OK... Here we go again... After getting the old girl running and finally on the road last summer I made it a whole 281 miles before the 401 scattered it's 50+ year old guts all over the interstate. One completely smoked nailhead. And I mean everything. So would need a complete rebuildable long block core plus the all the parts and machining to renew. Lotsa $$$$ That I don't have. So I've saved money and kept my eyes open for other options. On a hunch I wondered what ever happened to the two '60s I saw at a collection crush fest I posted about on this thread a couple of years ago. Turns out 82 cars went to the shredder, a couple dozen were purchased and saved and another couple dozen stayed put for various reasons. This '60 LeSabre made it through the drama. Yes they would sell it... title, keys and complete for $1,000.00. The daughter of the deceased collector selling the car told me she drove this car to high school in the early 90s and car had been parked shortly after, still running good, just needing a few small things. I agreed to purchase under the condition I could verify the engine was a sound runner. A couple weeks later I spent a Saturday carefully inspecting and prepping the nailhead, a 364 2 barrel, to run for the first time in a couple decades. Simple stuff for the initial inspect: Engine complete with no missing parts, cooling system still has coolant, engine oil looks OK, engine will turn by hand.... Check on all of that! That's a good start! Next is to dig into the engine and check to see the valvetrain is free and properly lube everything before an attempt at starting her up. Next steps: Drain engine oil and replace oil filter Pull spark plugs and give a squirt of oil to all the cylinders Pull valve covers and rocker shafts to lube all 16 valve guides and check that all valves move freely Douse the valley with new engine oil to lube camshaft and lifters Remove distributor to access the oil pump shaft then use a pump priming tool and drill to spin the pump and fully prime the engine with new clean oil File points and reinstall distributor Lube pushrods, rocker arms, shafts and reinstall Reinstall valve covers Tie a 1 gallon fuel container to the inner fender and plumb to the fuel pump Fill the carburetor bowl with fresh fuel and a little splash down the throat Install a battery and cross those fingers! It didn't start on the first try. Or the second or third. No spark. File the points twice. Spark at the coil not at the plugs. Pull the cap and find I broke off the rotor tip (how did I do that!?...) Find a rotor on another car in the field, try again, she started on the first revolution! 16 noisey lifters that slowly quieted as she warmed for the first time in 20 years. After running for about 15 minutes the lifters were silent and the old 364 purred like a wildcat! No smoke, leaks, drama..... nothing. A change of 4 tires, a little ATF to the Dynaflow and power steering..... Slide behind the wheel slip and her into "L" .. It moves! A quick spin around the field and drive right onto the trailer! With no brakes! That's a little tricky!..... Once I got her home a compression check showed a healthy 130psi across all 8 (thats good for this altitude-7,000ft.) A little doctoring on an ignition tune had her running like a watch. Bled the brakes and took her for a few loops around rural area I live in. Runs absolutely fantastic. OK, lets get this 364 ready for the 2 door...... PS, don't worry Mitch, this one isn't getting parted out. I have a plan to keep her intact.......... Steve weim55 Colorado
Sorry about your luck Steve, but congrats on the find. You just never know when one is gonna pop like that. My '65 Electra 225 did that after changing the oil one day. I hated that, loved that car. Look forwards to your new project.
OK V8 Buick People: I'm re-bootin' this thread as it is a VERY important piece of Buick history. Also, please check out the web pages on the 1960 Buick.... Greg Cockerill's....................www.the1960buick.com Facebook.............................1960 Buick Universe My page...............................http://60buickuniverse.com/ Dave Stromberger's page......http://www.60buick.com Thanks for your consideration, Mitch
Thanks for the heads up on Dave Strombergers page Mitch! Never knew 'bout that one! I will be updating progress on my '60 soon! Steve weim55 Colorado
I would put a set of pistons in that engine as a matter of course. The engine is past the half-century mark, and Nailheads were not known for having great pistons.
It's coming up on eight years since I purchased this beast and it's finally completely legal and on the road for the first time since I purchased it. The used 364 I replaced the blown up 401 with has about 1000 miles on it now and is running like a champ. How nice it is to finally cruise this animal completely finished with everything checked off on the four-page list......
It turned out to be a very pretty car! Great to hear that you're driving it and that you didn't grow to hate it; I've had a few projects that went sideways, things just won't work out, parts fail prematurely, shoddy contracted workmanship, all sorts of things. I eventually grew to hate the car if it turned into too much of an ordeal; so it's good to see you're enjoying it. Followed this thread with enthusiasm since the 60 is one of my all-time favorites, and once many years ago I used to have a 60 Invicta. It taught me everything I never thought could go wrong on a car. Any plans for a sequel?
I can say it did turn out very well toward the original goals for the project. A really nice driving -operating unrestored original. Life as well project setbacks made this looooong process. This is the first time I have taken an original car and just freshened up ALL the working components end to end. It really does make a huge difference in the driving experience. The old girl runs and drives SO well. Having some experience with '59 and '60 Chevys it's amazing how much better the Buick is in it's feel of overall quality, even a base model such as mine. No plans for a sequel, just gonna put some miles on this one and enjoy. It's a perfect driver, the original paint and chrome already have scratchs and blems and the underside isn't detailed in any way. A presentable proper driving survivor. Steve weim55 Colorado
Pics are so much easier to load on the new site format! The only issue seems to be the pics become grainy and slightly out of focus when uploaded to the thread. Any ideas about that?? Steve weim55 Colorado
It might have something to do with the file size, I notice they're pretty small. All the same though, that's a very pretty LeSabre you've got. Are you going to be looking for any options? The guts of a 61 clock should fit that housing, can't remember if the face is different. The one thing that's cool with the clock is the hot-shoe that drives it. As long as it doesn't wobble it'll run and light up right, but if there's any play it'll drive you nuts with the flickering. There's also a map-light above the radio, it's pretty generic and runs all the way up to about 1968, so there are lots "out there", and your wiring harness might have the plug for it. Has that thing got Power Steering and Power brakes? If not, it must be a bear to drive; - my Invicta didn't have PS or PW and I remember it was a handful to park. And power brakes are nice, even though those drums are the best in the industry, it still requires a lot of force to stop that thing. I'd love to see how a Nailhead performs with a manual transmission; that would be cool. Mine have all had automatics.
