my family has been in possesion of a 1964 Buick LeSabre for a long time. It has not run and has been sitting in a driveway for many years. I want to fix this car up and have no clue how to. what do i need to know, have, use, fix, and check on? Im completely new to this and would appreciate all the help I can get ( and I need every bit of it). thanks ahead of time. I think the engine is a 328 (not sure of the exact number) it is a wildcat however. -Buttons
Check to see if rust has set in to the point where is is not worth saving. Do not try to start the car without first removing the oil pan, cleaning it out, puting in new oil and priming the pump.
novice Hi guy, First, inform your self as much as possible. Get a subscription to Hemmings Motor News for about $25 a yr. worth its weight in gold. It has sources of parts, supplies and services offered. Get the factory shop manual for a 64 wild cat,both the chassis manual and the body manual. the eng. is either a 300 cu. in. [wild cat 310] or a "nailhead" - [ 401 cu.in. "wildcat 445"-325HP] :Brow: Use the on line friends at this web site, they are super. Take your time and have fun. :laugh: :TU:
you prob have a 401, anyway nice year LeSabre same year as mine accept mines the wagon, cool car. well welcome to the board and good luck with the LeSabre you wont have too bad of a time getting her to run and looking good every1 in here is pretty helpful.
Buttons, you've got some good info so far..If you take some pictures of the car and post a rundown of shape it's in you'll probably get some more specific ideas. If it's been sitting for a while you'll want to check the engine before you try to start it. Check the dip stick and see what the oil looks like. I think you can pull one of the valve covers, mark the position of the distributor and pull it and use a drill to turn the oil pump by hand until you see oil shooting out of the top of the push rods (not sure of this maybe someone that is sure will chime in) then you could pull the pan clean it out like Jim said..Replace the pan put everything back together and make sure it has a good battery. Once you start it you can assess the brakes and other systems. This is assuming that it's in pretty good shape, if not you'll have to start a little further back, like pulling the engine etc..Good luck and keep us posted...Welcome! :TU:
Restart With my skylark,which had been sitting for 9 yrs, I took all the spark plugs out and squirted about a table spoon full of oil into each cyl. and then whirled the eng. over with the starter untill the oil light went out. There was no unusual noises, so I then proceeded to start it up. The water pump was frozen and had to be replaced. BTW replace all the rubber fuel hoses BEFORE trying to start up, we dont want to burn a vintage car up. :laugh: :laugh:
Heres what I have done so far... -I put in new plugs and added oil to each (valve or cyl.?) -Changed the Oil +filter -I placed an order for a new air filter -Bought a new rotor + Boots + distributor Cap- I installed the rotor and put the boots onto the new cap and connected them to the spark plugs. I cant seem to put the new cap on and im sure its the right one. - I have started to drain the spoiled gasoline - I replaced the battery - Got the engine to crank for a second once with starter fluid and carb cleaner, I tried a second +third time same method to no avail (does this indicate anything or cause any damage?). I will be taking some pictures soon but i dont know the posting method for pictutres here. What new hoses do I need, how do i rebuild a carbeurator, and where is this oil pump and valve cover, and how do i turn the oil pump? I have more questions and will ask them later. mostly about engine needs, the fuel system, etc and the lis goes on.... thanks for everything I'll keep you up to date -Buttons
newbie O K Buttons, First we need to determine what engine is in the car. Is it a Straight 6? if so it is a chevrolet eng. Aint many of those around. On the air cleaner assembly does it say'wild cat 310'? If so it is a 300 cu. in. eng. If it says 'Wild cat 445" it is a 401 cu.in. eng. Big difference. The latter is a'nailhead'. :Brow: The oil pump is located inside the oil pan underneath the engine. You cant see it without taking the pan off. A major chore. The rocker covers are up on top of the eng. These are the two pans that are about 4 in. wide and 4 in high and run from the front of the eng to the back of the engine on each side on top of the cyl. heads. If you remove these pans the valve gear will be underneath, hence the term 'valve covers'. :Smarty: You need to check the firing order on the eng. and be aware that the reason the car has been setting for a long time may be that it has jumped time. You need to hook a timing light up to no 1 spark plug and see if it is still firing on no1 spark plug. another way to check this is to remove all the spark plugs, stick your thumb over the spark plug hole on no 1 cyl. and rotate the eng. untill you feel the compressed air coming out of the plug hole. the cyl is coming up on the firing stroke at that time. rotate the eng on up to the top dead center mark and stop. Then remove the dist. cap and see where the rotor is pointing to. It should be pointing to no 1 spark plug wire terminal. If it is not,suspect that the engine has jumped time due to a worn timing gears and chain. If so these will have to be replaced before proceeding further. :shock:
Its a 310 (330 ci) Wildcat..... I dont think i want to remove the oil pan just yet. I'll check the firing order and take some pictures
eng. The wild cat 310 is a 300 cu, in. eng. The 310 is the foot pounds of torque that the eng puts out. The eng is 250 hp if I remember correctly. It actually puts out more than that if tuned right. It has mallable iron rods and a cast nodular iron crank with cast pistons at 9.5 to one compression ratio. [if it has a 2barrel carb.] If it has a 4 bbl , it is 11to 1 compression, the carb is a carter afb that flows about 600 cfm. Still rated at 250 hp by the factory. RIGHT!!!!! :Brow: The eng. block is cast iron with aluminum heads and aluminum intake manifold. DONT PUT PLAIN WATER IN THE COOLING SYSTEM. :Smarty: run at least 75% anti freeze and if you have to add, add anti freeze only. Otherwise the aluminum timing gear cover, water pump, intake manifold and heads will self destruct from corrosion. :rant: I think I would run a compression test on the engine and record the readings for later reference. You need at least 90 pounds psi on each cyl. perferably about 120 or so, with not over 15 variation between cyl.s If the compression test is good. THE ENG CAN BE MADE TO RUN. :grin:
Thanks Doc. you know your stuff I'm sure, but most of what you said went right over my head. I only just learned two days ago the difference between the carbeurator and the rotor..
Trans knowledge, Good morning, Buttons. Well let us take a different approach. The first thing you need to do is acquire the shop manuals for the car from faxon literature or some one like them.They are the original ones printed up by GM. :Smarty: The manuals will have specifications, illustrations and maintenence schedules. You need a CHASSIS manual and a BODY manual for the year and model you have. Dont buy a generic manual like chiltons they will not do what you want. The only generic manual that I use is an old MOTORS MANUAL that covers the correct years. It is worth having. I buy from WWW.AUTOMANUALS.COM also. They are reasonably priced. These manuals are worth their weight in gold. :Smarty:
