The console's door is made of plastic with woodgrain, like everything else in the 70's cars. Nothing is made of real wood after 1968 in Buicks...
What other inside accessories were there in 76 Hi I think I have to wait until a nice one shows up for sale. What other inside accessories were there in 76, did they have a spotlight as an option? If there was a cb radio, who did it look like? Per Arne
I think there was a tissue dispenser. There is an electra park avenue (Phil's probably seen it) on the BCA forum that has a factory altimeter, hygrometer, and compass. There were probably also lots of things that you won't see too often that were dealer accessories.
The options you talk about were also dealer installed (and probably not installed by the Buick dealer!). I don't think that altimeters and hygrometers were ever a part of the Buick dealer accessories! The radio with an integrated CB was introduced in 1977. Before 1977, GM sold a CB that was mounted under the dash like the aftermarket units but this one had a GM logo on it. I don't think that cowl search lights were still available in the seventies, if they were, it would have been with the police cruiser package on LeSabres. I know that electric car warmers were an available GM accessory in some years as I had one in my 68 Wildcat (which I kept) but I don't think they made some that worked on 220V!
Is your switch for a blower type defogger? If you can remove the wiring for it, it's a good thing, you'll see that there is a gray resistance wire that connects from the switch to about half way on the black wire. I think it maks a loop somewhere bu I can't tell for sure It's not very easy to remove but it's worth it. I removed one from a 72 boattail last year and installed one from a nos defogger kit from the Buick Farm in my 74 LeSabre two years ago. Buicks with blower-type rear defoggers had a resistance wire starting in 1966 in Rivieras and 1968 in other full size models. Before Buick used resistance wires for the rear defogger, there was a box with resistors (that looked a bit like the heater-A/C blower resistors) that was located somewhere under the dash. Cadillacs had the same but thet were located on the firewall.
Hi I have bought a cheap functioning CB radio of eBay. I dont know if its the right one for 76. If anyone has a bracket for this CB, I will be interested. I am also bidding on a compass that should be for that year. When you talk about car warmers, do you mean a block heater or a inside warmer. If anyone have a picture of a Le Sabre police car, I am interesting to see it.
Yuk, Does your low fuel light stays on when your car isn't moving? On both my former 76 and my 1975, it comes on briefly in curves when the fuel level is below the half mark (it gets much lower in curves) and still doesn't stay on all the time or if the car isn't moving and there's only a gallon or two of fuel left in the tank. I tried to get the fuel low enough so it would stay on all the time and the last time I tried, the gauge was reading "empty" and I had done 265 miles with a single tank (I had never done that much before). It took 95 liters (25 gallons) to fill the tank so I figured there wasn't much left in...
To see an almost complete list of the available factory options on a 75 Buick Electra Limited (very similar to the 76 options) click on the link to my 75 Electra page in my signature. The page 2 shows many of them and the % of 1975 Limited 4 door hardtops that came with them.
fuel gauge needles dont move nearly as fast as the float in the tank goes up & down ... when you slosh gas from side to side and maybe even during hard braking or accelerations, your light may come on even though the needle barely moves... the owners manual says the light should come on when you have about 4 gallons of fuel remaing in the tank. this picture was shot while i was braking (speedo is broke) ... the fuel needle is usaully a little above empty (about a needle's width of space between the empty line and the needle) when light comes on normally.
the light comes on dimly at first and then gets to the brightness that the picture shows .... it was real dim right before i shot this pic ....then i hit the brakes.
hey phil, does you electra have the red and white interior lights made into the lower part of each door?....my 76 lesabre has them on all 4 doors, i think they are a different part in the electra ...kinda flush mounted instead of a bolt on like the lesabre. i was surprised when i bought this 76 lesabre ... it had 11 interior lights come on when the door was opened.
In fact, there are two color lenses in each door but only one bulb for both of them. See pictures... On 74 Electras, the lights are the same as in LeSabres, and they were not a very popular option. In 75-76, they were more popular but most still lacked them and had red reflectors instead. The two door Electras (and LeSabres too I think) had lights in the center roof pillar. On the electra (at least the Limited model), it was combined with the strap to ease exit from the rear seat.
Hi And thanks for the picture of the low fuel light. I dont think I have it, but I will check it out when I arrive in Florida. Hopefully my Buick is doing ok over there; I read on the web that the wind was 120mph in Pompano Beach this morning. :eek2: The Buick is stored outside at a shipping firm in Pompano Beach.
as for the electra,.... i pulled the door panels from the drivers side doors to replace the windows in the doors. i got the windows in and havent had time to do anything else to the car. the door panels are still in the trunk. if i keep it ..the reason would be mainly for the front clip. i have no desire to drive it. what 74 cars do you still have phil?
