Dan- I was reading a post this morning by Phil Racicot on the big car rims. It looks like rims up through '70 will fit. Yardley gave me 4 original rims off his '69 Riv, so those for sure are right. The chrome is hurting, but would look ok at a distance. There's another NE member that has rims on an Electra that he offered. I'm not sure what year the car is, so I'll have to check that out. From what I gather, the easiest way to tell if a rim will have the right offset and also fit the center cap is to measure the center hole. 2 1/8" is a go, 2" is a no-go! I have 4 centers coming my way thanks to Yardley and Tom Lynch. I have no Wildcat insets. I will probably just fab up some polished stainless insets for now with no emblems for the "generic" look until I can find the right ones. Thanks! PS- The carb (Carter AFB) decided to act up yesterday. It was running great and I nailed it at about 20 mph and it pulled nicely. When I slowed down for the next light it was stumbling badly. It died and I had to hold the pedal down part way to get it to light. I made it to a parking lot and when I pulled the air cleaner I had fuel running all over the intake! After a phone call to Yardley and a few whacks to the carb base with the handle of a hammer to unstick the float, the fuel stopped leaking and I was able to drive it home. It still isn't acting right at idle. Chugs and wants to stall. As soon as I'm off idle it runs like a champ. Ideas??? o No:
Chugs and wants to stall. As soon as I'm off idle it runs like a champ. Ideas??? o No:[/QUOTE] Mighta clogged the fuel filter? I'm glad you did your wheel homework. That saves aggrivation. :TU: I'll see what extra stuff I have in my Wildcat trunk this week.
Thanks for the reply, Dan. The fuel filter is an aftermarket job that Yardley added. It's one of these see-through plastic jobs and it looks clean as a whistle. The Carter doesn't have a filter built into it like a later Q-jet, right?
Ken the center caps went out yesterday to you, and the radiator went back to Radiator World as well. UPS Ground.
Ken the carter does have a filter mounted inside right where the fuel line connects. There should be a large nut to loosen and out she will fall, along with a bunch of gas. They are usually a hard ceramic style. Does it chug at idle and belch black smoke out the exhaust too, that would be too much gas. Just thinking out loud.
So Doug, I'm guessing if the filter is ceramic it is meant to cleaned and reused? It definitely chugs at idle. I did not notice an excessive amount of black smoke though.
Ken, Sounds like a sticky float/needle/seat. If you had gas all over intake, the carb flooded. If it is flooding you will see gas pouring/seeping into the carb throat when it is running, if it runs at all. If it chugs at idle, it could be lean from a low float. In any case the needle/seat is sticking. I'd replace them both, if it happened once, it will happen again.
I agree, Larry. I don't want this to happen again as fuel pouring out and heading down to the exhaust manifolds is a bad thing! When Tom worked on the carb there was a stuck needle he had to get out. Possibly the same is stuck again.
No Ken, that needle was for the accelerator pump. The float appeared to be good when I took the carb. apart. More than likely a stuck or bad needle & seat. Are you going to keep this carb. If you are we should get a rebuild kit & do it right. If not we'll do up the 4GC. I do have a correct carb. (AFB) for it with the right hook ups for the kick down, etc. I would do a rebuild on this one also. It has been sitting on the car for awhile. I did drive it to Norwalk from my shop in Stamford a few years back & it has been sitting in the garage since. I would need a carb. to put back on it so it will run for a perspective engine buyer.
No Ken, that needle was for the accelerator pump. The float appeared to be good when I took the carb. apart. More than likely a stuck or bad needle & seat. Are you going to keep this carb. If you are we should get a rebuild kit & do it right. If not we'll do up the 4GC. I do have a correct carb. (AFB) for it with the right hook ups for the kick down, etc. I would do a rebuild on this one also. It has been sitting on the car for awhile. I did drive it to Norwalk from my shop in Stamford a few years back & it has been sitting in the garage since. I would need a carb. to put back on it so it will run for a perspective engine buyer. I also have some new Wildcat center emblems for the center caps. I don't remember what size they are but are the black & silver ones.
Hi Tom- I think what I'd like to do is swap the 4GC for the Carter you have that fits the application correctly. I have a 4GC kit that Yards bought, so that carb can get a quicky rebuild and be put on your 401 motor that's for sale. This way I can give Walt his carb back (looks like it's for a '61-'62 Buick based on the number). Black and silver are the correct emblems for a '66 Cat, so I'd be interested in those too!!! I'll give you a call tomorrow.....
This should be filmed into some sort of car show about a band of brothers pulling together for no particular purpose other than enjoying their hobby and helping each other. If I saw this on film I bet I'd start crying... :ball: What a great bunch of guys are on this thread helping out. Probably the most startling thing I've learned here is the unimaginable idea of cleaning a car with Comet. I'm still dumbfounded that there is any paint left after scrubbing a car with that stuff.
Mike- I'm not sure we have any cinematographers here, but for sure I will be putting something together for the build sheet. Yardley posted a nice line in his "birthday thread" about difficulty in making true friends in mid-life and how that is entirely possible in this Buick community. That is very true. The best friends I have in the world are the result of my association with the Buick brotherhood!
....Years ago I tried it on a Skylark I had - was rewarded with a nice bright shiney spot of bare steel uzzled: o No:
I scrubbed VERY hard and the paint held up really good. It had me questioning whether or not it was lacquer as it was SO tough. I have no reason to really suspect it isn't, but I was definitely surprised at how hard I could scrub and still have paint left!
I was told GM went from lacquer to enamal in the mid 60's. I'm not sure if that is correct. Can anyone confirm GM's paint through the years???
Hey Skeeziks, if it ever stops raining, will you tweak that front bumper down and see if you can pull the rear bumper and pound it into shape?
