I don't really have any pics of my '62 currently on my computer, but I have a bunch of other images I've saved over the years. The white '62 Wildcat with Cragars belongs to mr62buick, aka Steve. He restored the car and did a fantastic job. He comes around every so often. He also knows alot about the 62's.
Here is my 62' Wildcat... I just added the carbs today (august 28, 2009) after I rebuilt them yesterday. wooo hooo!!! 700R4 4 speed auto is next! Also, since the roiginal tailights are not done from the chrome shop yet, I took a set of lesabre donor tailamps and installed red lenses where the whites went. They actually look pretty cool huh? Steve from Portland Oregon
Today, I picked up a 1963 Stevens V-drive boat needing restoration. It had the 401 in it, but the guys who I got it from plled the motor to keep thier 51 ford alive. Anyways, I have a 425 bored and fat cammed with a old school cragar aluminum log manifold with 6-2bbl carbs on it I picked from the swap meet last year for it. And that WAS on a boat! So, look forward for picks of the restoration and picks of the nailhead in it too! Hmmmmmmm,,, a 1962 Wildcat with dual quads, towing a 1963 Stevens boat with a 425 nailhead with 6-2bbl carbs on it.... Hmmmm sounds like a show stopper to me! lol
Well, actually it was a boo boo by installing the carbs backwards. I was looking for some pics, and posted a question regarding the linkage, fuel lines and so on... but no one answered, so I just made them up as I went. I thought that since the air/fuel mixture screws and idle adjustment screws were in the front, that the adjusting carb went up front. Otherwise, wouldnt it be more difficult to adjust the carb if it were in the rear? Anyways, after I installed it all, the engine ran rough. Kind of like 4 cylinders were getting the right amount of fuel and the other 4 were starving for fuel. I decided this last week to put the carbs in thier correct order, but the linkage was a little more difficult as I didn't want it "non-progressive" as it dumped way too much fuel down when taking off. But boy did she fly! Also, the squirters weren't working on the carbs, so i removed them and found that I forgot to clean the squirter passege's where the checkball was inder the squirter nozzles. DUR.... the needle under the ball was super stuck and had to drill it out! Anyways, got it all put together, started her up and boy did she idle smooth! I got the carbs adjusted after making the linkage so that when I accelerate, the first 1/4-1/2" of pedal was the primary carb. Then after that a quick jump in acceleration and all 8 barrels were dumpin'. I get really bad milage, but hey who cares? When I went to the Carver Hanger restaurant here in Carver Oregon on the usual old guys b'fast every friday at 8am, i lifted the hood, and everyone was oowing and awwing. Even the guy next to me with the AAR Cuda wannabee. It was really exciting to show what Buicks had in the day as factory equipment. All the other guys had aftermarket this and that. Even the Cuda had a tri-power aftermarket set-up. When i explained it was all factory dual quad set-up and factory number matching carbs, they were all Buick fans after that. There is a guy who loves the nail so much he is building one for his ford project right now and he couldn't wait to get it running after seeing my Buick. As a final note, about 3 weeks ago I acquired a 1963 Stevens V-drive boat that had a 1963 401 nailhead in it. Unfortunatly, the guy I bought it from already pulled out the motor and it is going into his 51' ford project. Awww.... BUT.... I have a 1962 401 to install or better yet, a 1964 425 punched .040 with a Cragar Log set-up from an early boat that has 6-2bbl cabrs on it! Can't wait to start putting that together! Here is a contrast from what was and what came of the rebuilds...