Projects Build Thread 1960 Buick - And so it begins...

A little back story. About a year ago I took the T to a local cruise night and in visiting with my friend Craig he mentioned if I knew anyone interested in a'60 LeSabre that he had one his wife wanted gone.

Seems Craig bought this car out of St Louis ten years before from an estate and hadn't touched it since, hence the grumpy wife. I went to look and it was too solid and too cheap to pass up.

For the last year it has sat in the yard at work while I built a shop and blew hot and cold on building it. Really wasn't sure I wanted to jump into this large a project at 67 years old. Well after advertising it and having a buyer (non-HAMBer) no show me I decided, HEY, I"M NO QUITTER! And so it is in the new shop and I'm ready to jump in.

I was told that the p.o. had swapped in a 401 and open driveline out of a '64 but the more I look at this the more I think he sat the '60 body on the '64 chassis. I will delve into this mystery later.

For now, Pics as found...

60 by G V Gordon posted Jun 23, 2015 at 6:50 PM

601 by G V Gordon posted Jun 23, 2015 at 6:50 PM

2015-06-30 10.33.12 by G V Gordon posted Jun 30, 2015 at 1:36 PM

Will post more in a bit once I get out to the shop. This will be boring for awhile, first order of biz is to see if the nailhead will run. If that works out I will do the brakes so I can move it around under it's own power. After that we'll get on to more fun stuff.

Stay tuned.

 

With tires that hold air on some old Wildcat wheels I had laying around.

2015-07-08 19.01.52 by G V Gordon posted Jul 9, 2015 at 2:09 PM

 

Well. The '62 Caddy wheel looks at home there. Look at me... already customizing this thing.

Sent from my SM-G920T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Will be watching. What direction are you going? Mild Custom, Full custom, daily driver, or?

 

Will be a cool cruiser!

 

Mild custom, and driver. Promised my wife air conditioning on the next car so this will be it.

 

Got the rat turds and leaves blown out.
At some point this engine has been painted, had new wires,belts, and hoses installed.
Old aftermarket gauges zip tied to dash lead me to believe it was running at some point.

Sent from my SM-G920T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Should have built a bigger shop. LOL


Sent from my SM-G920T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

- Ha! always gotta think "bigger is better" have fun

 

In for a penny, in for a pound. Good luck. Those are great boats. What color are. You looking at?

 

Well, I said would be boring for awhile. Needed a good carb to try to start this baby. A friend said "take that new Holley on the shelf. I'm not going to use it.

Then today a buddy told me he was unloading all his nailhead stuff. I asked how much, he said just bring your trailer. Another 401, a 425, and a bunch of parts.

It's good to have friends. Thanks Clay and Terry.

Sent from my SM-G920T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Sent from my SM-G920T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I would be interested in the 425 if you decide not to use it. I've been looking for a while. Keep me in mind.

 

Will do. Will be picking the stuff up next week.

Sent from my SM-G920T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

OK, Another boring post. Before I decided to just fire the old girl off I decided to at least pull the valve covers, manifold and Valley cover to peek inside.
Very pleased with what I found. No sludge, rust or corrosion of any kind.
I crawled around underneath the car an am now sure the p.o. set this 60 body on a 64 chassis. Has new bolts and pads.
Only down side is this is a Dynaflow tranny but for now I won't change it. Just want it running and stopping so I can move it under its own power
So far so good.



Sent from my SM-G920T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

cool....you have some work to do....think there's a Enid trip in the future....save me some fun !
lawrence

 

Just let me know when you're coming.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

I love 60 Buick's they're a purrfect foundation for a mild Kustom. Looking forward to watching your progress.

 

I love them too, Maybe down the road I can hang out with you "Kool Kustom" guys. lol
Plans are for smoothing the body along with minor custom mods, Painted lower rear bumper with exhaust notches, clean up the firewall, and then go a little wild with the interior. I am looking for two pair of 68ish Ford Galaxie bucket seats if you run across some that are within a reasonable distance and price.

 

Interesting, I believe '64 was the first year that Buick went with a TH400 transmission and getting rid of the Dynaflow/closed driveline? Nice find!

 

From what I can gather '60 was the last enclosed driveline but the Dynaflow was an option through '64. I have three TH400s so eventually I will probably make that change.

 

Took a break from mechanical stuff and cleaned out the interior.
Under the dirt and racoon crap was an amazingly sound floor. Trunk is just as nice.


Sent from my SM-G920T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Sent from my SM-G920T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I love my buicks but never want to see a tork drive sealed driveshaft again after working on my 56 buick station wagon.My drinking went up during that build.lol. worse idea ever.Bruce.

 

Bruce this is converted to later driveline.

 

Seems a real nice solid car. Yep, the dynaslow sucks, but the good thing is you have the T400 available. 60 Buick makes a great cruiser, and mild custom almost from the factory.

 

Quick update for those that care.
Did basic wiring and stole the battery out of my pickup.
Cranks over fine, got 20+ lbs of oil pressure cranking it.
Put a little gas in the carb, nothing. Swapped out coil and condenser from another engine, nothing. Points looked. A little black so ran a file across them, still nothing. Checked to make sure the rotor was turning, check.
At this point I had been in a hot garage for three hours so hung it up for the night.
Still, I got oil pressure, starter works, and shouldn't take long to figure out the no spark issue. So it's all good.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

IT RUNS! No video yet, had shut it off as I did not realize the fuel tank was still hooked up an it shot old gas about three feet in the air. Pump works.
Sounds healthy. Probably flush the tank and put a good inline filter on it so i can run it longer. Add water to make sure nothing is leaking and move on to brakes.

Sent from my SM-G920T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

You better hurry up and finish. It's going to get hot soon.

 

Too late.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!