So here’s a new to me 75 Electra 225. Garage kept since new, used by everybody in the previous owners family, and shows a bit of age. However it’s a really solid base for a simple project and a simple vision I have. More details on what I found in the “wet behind the ears” thread. Hope to consolidate what I can here but if I have to venture out of the thread for specific help I’ll summarize it here. Below… is the condition right out of the garage before I took it over. First things I want to address are things to make it a comfortable cruiser. A/C system has new compressor, and converted to 134 fittings. I need to rebuild the accumulator before I run out of ideas of what’s wrong with it. Also need to check pressure on it. I do have a rebuild kit for the original compressor. Might have to do that and try r12a??? I’ll be adding a passenger side mirror… the right way with a well nut BUT I have to rebuild the entire remote cable set. They are in individual parts. I don’t have the driver side thermometer and this set is missing it. If anybody has or knows about a manual replacement set I’ll work a deal out and I don’t mind letting those parts go to someone that needs them. Even my original remote mirror can go. I want to add some gauges for temperature and battery. Somewhere down the line I’ll have to address some cable corrosion noticing typical 46yr old issues. That’s straight forward for me. I’ll get an optima battery as well. Temp gauge however not so much. Where’s a good spot to tie it in? Will be flushing and filling radiator for a peace of mind. Would be a great time to knock that out. First order of serious business tune the carb. Vacuum gauge is ready. Felt a bit of hesitation, might be the choke dialed back for cold starts but not opening enough for secondaries? Not sure but it’s not healthy for this 455. Even if it’s a low compression neutered package. Oil change? What do you all recommend for a 455 with 134k bone stock no rebuilds? Needs tires. I’ll throw a decent set on it with some port a walls and call it good until I decide what’s next Of course I’ll wash and clean it up in the mean time. Looking forward to working with you guys.
Nice car! Still have a soft spot for those big boats, too bad they still don't make them that big and comfortable.
I think I sweat my soul out today…. And I’m aware I’m all over the place with a novel but I gotta put this stuff put down somewhere for my own reference AND someone might chime in on forum references to what I’m working on. So I was able to address the choke, air/fuel, and idle on the carb. Took a break at the high heat of the day. Finished with 19” of vacuum smooth idle not too low. Previous owner cut the cat went with true duals dumped at the rear wheels. Not sure what mufflers are on it but it sounds good. That saves me an expense I thought I was for sure going to address. Took it for a drive after lunch to the drive through car wash to test for leaks on the seals…. Previous owners job was so so. I’ll address those issues and promptly find a full set of door rubbers as well. Anyhow gave it WOT on the way there and it bogged down. Secondaries need to be adjusted but I think that should be it with the carb. New fuel filters coming in as well. Any idea how many turns to give the secondary adjustment screw once they close? Bought a set of gauges but I won’t use the oil pressure. Might hook up a more reliable fuel gauge to it instead. Any issues if I remove the original temp sensor you think? The connector is 46yrs corroded anyway. Need to find a spot that will recycle anti freeze before I do a radiator flush. A/C was overcharged, got it to the proper level but still blows hot. I’m wondering if there’s some sort of electrical issue not allowing the new clutch to kick in…. cause it won’t. OR if a true 134 conversion was even done properly. I’ll have to dig into it some more. Might purge the system and try 12a. No bubbles in the sight glass but we got pressure holding and a new compressor. I’m lost on it to be honest. Driver side remote mirror is done for. To get the 2 cables attached back to the mirror itself seems like more work than it’s worth to be honest. If I can’t fandagle the set I’ve got coming in the mail back together in working order I’ll post them up for sell/trade if someone is handy enough to make them work again. I’ll have to find a fixed manual option and spare myself headaches with that old school cool tech. While I was taking the door panel apart I noticed how easy it would be to customize and recover. I do like the blue flake paint job but the insides need some help. It’s clean now but I don’t think I’ll keep it original for too much longer. AND the driver side fender skirt gave me hell getting it back to original position. Was sagging on the rear side of it. Now there’s about a 1/4” gap…. Again my tank was emptied in this heat. I guess I need to readjust the two sections that it sits down into before its steady and I can trust it again. Half step in the right direction at least
How can you tell it is overcharged if the clutch will not kick in? R12a? Please don't...might end up as a crispy critter.
It was between the red and yellow line on the gauge I've got. Just a basic one that connects to the low side. Overcharged will blow hot, under charged will blow hot. If I can find that relay I can test it and hear the clutch engage or not. If not then I obviously need a new one and go from there. No visuals of flow on the sight glass so I don't really know. That's the only thing I can think of wrong unless I do need to rebuild the accumulator. I've never rebuilt or replaced one so I'm in new territory here. As far as 12A I've seen it used in older r12 systems without issues. However I've got a gremlin and I still need to find that relay so I can replace it or troubleshoot from there. In theory a new compressor wont have any clutch issues... the old one apparently didn't either it would just leak and still blow hot. Could be the relay
Yesterday evening the plan was to finally get the carb tuned and let that 455 breath wide open for a bit. Secondaries needed adjustment. I found the set screw was probably left loose and the tensioning screw locked itself in place. Won’t budge the least bit. I’ll hit it with some penetrating oil and let it sit… thinking maybe a rebuild could do no harm Any recommendations on a rebuild kit for the original Q-jet? Next order of business was breaking into the extra parts and see what I’m working with. I’ve got a full set of interior trim I’m assuming is coming from the limited the seats came from. Seat belts, dash, pillars, rear deck, chrome seat trim etc I’ve got new tail lights and a harness, half set of body trim, 5 original hub caps, bumper fillers, chrome for the opera windows but they’re dry rotted and done for. A/C VIR is NOT compatible with 134. I’ll try some 12A and report back. It’s a cruiser with plenty of potential. For now I’ll address the interior carpet, mirrors, and work on the door seals
That gauge may be adequate if you top off a known good functioning system, but in this case you really need a gauge set to monitor the high and low side. (about $40 on Amazon). The original VIR/poa valve will only work well with R-12 since it is not adjustable. Check VIR eliminator at Classic auto air. Change the hoses ( I use the EZ Clip system) and the condenser (replace with parallel flow unit). Hopefully you have a good compressor. Rebuilt A-6 compressors are hard to find since there are no good rebuildable cores.
I have the original that started leaking at the rear seal after the 134 fittings were put on and filled up. That was done by the previous owner and he put in a new one. It’s not the same as OEM so that’s why I was trying to find a relay to hear the clutch kick in. I’ll compare that kit to the offer from original air. Anyway to test my current condenser and hoses? Pressure hasn’t dropped so I assume the hoses are fine
I’m in west Texas. Work in El Paso, have the car at my apartment there until I trust it for the 120 miles home to Van Horn. Cover an area from El Paso, big spring, then San Angelo. Sometimesdown to Killeen. I’m everywhere that side of Texas
Was able to get some new window seals installed before I got rained on… In between the rains I got a voltmeter and temp gauge installed. Some premium chinesium Bosch gauges. My factory fuel gauge is an infinite full type so I’ll throw another Bosch gauge on and deal with the factory dash later. Might go with dakota digital in the future. Getting ready to install the new carpet and started wondering if anybody uses some sort of insulator instead of the jute mat. Thinking of still using the mat on top actually. Mainly concerned about insulation properties and not so much sound dampening but all the interwebs have shown is just dynamat type material. It’s ridiculously hot here in west Texas and even hotter inside the Buick. Still no AC solution other than a complete overhaul so anything would help at this point. Hopes of it being a comfortable climate controlled cruiser is quite a ways to go BUT I have plenty of other things to address. Interior, wheels, tires, janky driver side fender skirt, and the door seals. It cleans up nice. Need to contemplate on how I’ll be refreshing the seats though
Yesterday ALL day long I pulled the interior and got around to the new carpet. I purposely left plenty of excess since I’ll be putting some sound and thermal mats down. I’ll glue it down and purdy it up after. I foolishly made some cuts on the back side with the old carpet over the top of the new… live and learn. I may color change the interior anyways and it came with the car. I will match the cloth part of the seats to the darker blue carpet for a temporary set up. I can live with it while I get the weather stripping buttoned up and get her weather proof. Slight leak on the back window runners. Today I looked into turn around times on getting my carb rebuilt. I just don’t have the space for it at this apartment while I get it road worthy for the journey home. It would probably make it with some good tires but there’s a lot of nothing in west Texas and I’m not gonna chance it. Once I get a price I’ll send it out to another forum member, Ken at everyday performance. Will be awesome to let that 455 finally breath a bit. I have not experienced any of its power with the secondaries left wide open. While that is out I can do some basic tune up stuff. I’ve got a new optima yellow top and alternator I didn’t get to today messing around with the AC. Alternator light keeps coming on until higher rpms and then it catches charge. Wasn’t doing that last week and I’ve not modified anything so better safe than sorry. I’ve got the AC stuff posted on its own thread but basically interrupter switch was on backwards, compressor kicks in, slight accumulator leak, high side line freezes with ice, dryer is hot enough to cook on. Hoping for some pointers there and I’ll get fresher air.
Didn’t come that way. Even when I pulled out the old carpet nothing was there but that factory mat insulation. When put some thermal and sound deadening material I’ll add an extra layer of jute to cover wires.
Carb pulled, wrapped, and ready to send out to Ken. Other than the secondaries it was running fine until yesterday evening when I took it to pick up an optima yellow top battery and alternator. Warmed up quick as it should on a hot Texas day, cruised a block to the parts store and before I parked it started to idle really low. I assumed it was the fuel filter. Just filled it full. Premium but w/ ethanol fuel. I know there’s some debate there but it’s what I used. Thought maybe rust in the tank and it’s starting to get me BUT nope. It was clean. So I decided to cruise it through the large parking lot next door. In gear parked it was almost dying, idle in park lower than normal. Checked idle screw and it wasn’t loose. I already set the vacuum advance when I first got it. From 15” to 19” and ran fine till I filled it up. Turned the idle up a bit just to get me back home reliably. Had to turn it back down as it worked itself out. Today returning the alternator, they gave me one for no AC almost the same thing. Get out half a block, pushing the gas… just normal cruising pressure it almost stalled. So if the rebuild doesn’t help I’m not sure what’s next.
Carbs gone for rebuild Plugged some of the emissions switches and valves changed the spark plugs…. They looked like they’ve never been changed to be honest and not even hand tight I could back them off with just the socket on. Might be some issues I had with it trying to stall??? Read up on the proper gap. Conflicting info between .60 and .45. Left them pre gapped at .45 so we will see see how it runs. Will change cables and wondering what I can do to freshen up the factory HEI distributor. That’s unfamiliar territory for me. Thinking of adding a clear in line fuel filter until I can find a trustworthy place to drop the tank and get that end sorted out. Need a working fuel gauge so that would be nice to get done all at once actually. I don’t have the space at the moment. Previous owner did add a few bottles of that tune up in a can so could be whatever that stuff is doing I hope that’s it. Not much left on the list besides AC. Once she’s running right I’ll address more of the exterior stuff and get some sound and thermal insulation on the interior. THEN I can plan out what I really want this old boat to be.
Parts finally out of the mail. We’re no longer dead in the water… get it cause it’s a land yacht? No? Ok that was bad Carb just got back, new fuel tank, sending unit, and pump are in. Instead of fight the powdered rust in the tank I’m just replacing it to get it running reliable and back home where I can really tear into it. Keeping the OG tank to clean, seal, and have on standby. Got to thinking, when do these 455s need a rebuild or what consist of a proper tune up? Im at 134k original miles. Carbs rebuilt, new plugs, wires, oil change this weekend, probably flush the radiator as well, she fires right up I don’t think there’s an issue with the distributor, alternator light comes on at first but I’m debating if I should go larger amperage now or later…. That’s not a tune up though and some of it helps but before I take it to the next level I need a direction for the funds. Rebuild or tune up? Timing chain? Maybe check timing? Do I need to maybe consider something with the distributor? Honestly if I get a new one I’ll get the progression ignition HEI replacement.
