New Father-Son Project Car, 1978 Electra Estate Wagon

Thanks to our good friend's Rich and Robbi, and much to the horror of my wife, we welcomed another gigantic old Buick into the Massey household over the Holidays. My son Eddie has claimed it as his project.

It's ROUGH (especailly what's left of the wood), but it's black over carmine red, with the 6.6 Olds 403 under the hood and a tow pack, so it's a neat starting point!

Made the 100-mile drive home from Fredericksburg to Round Rock with no issues (sadly my Roadmaster wagon was not so lucky, as posted elsewhere here).  

A/C works, Cruise control works, it actually runs pretty well too, and it floats down the highway!  It came from the Carolinas and was last registered in....in 1992!   We'll make it a good home here in Texas.

-Mike

Great new project...plans on replacing wood or deleting whats left? Love the color combo.

This '78 will be a budget build for sure, at least until my son mows some laws or gets old enough to bag groceries (he's 13 now). I'm thinking I'm going to sand off what's left of the wood and paint the area satin black for now....Bill Crovo logic. The rest of the gloss paint should wax up. In the future, once Eddie can contribute, we might have the wood area wrapped in dark wood. For now, my wife won't let me park it in the driveway, much less drive the thing, so I have to do a budget fix on the trim soon!

Remember the 77-79 LeSabre Sport Coupe/Turbo Coupe? I'm kinda thinking of going that route with this car. Would be a nice compliment to my '96 "Gran Sport" wagon.

Still thinking on it, but do love the black over red colors on this!

-Mike

Something like this, but in a wagon. A Sport Wagon! Ha!



Satin trim around the door glass, on the sides where the wood was, and on the headlight and grill like Buick did on the cars above. Same idea.

Thoughts??

-Mike

Nice wagon Mike. Have fun with it.

Here's some inspiration, friend of a friends car.

Something tells me the 403 makes a much better engine than a Carb 3.8 Turbo! This looks like a very fun project!

Factory CB - Cool!

I can see it...Like the direction.

Will keep the updates coming as we get to work on the '78.

Take care all!

-Mike

Nice car. Factory 350 or a 305?

Beauty! Just turn up the AM radio on bumpy roads to drown out the creaking. Ah, the sound of the land yacht under full sail. Arrrrr!

Dutch Pete wrote:

Nice car. Factory 350 or a 305?

It's got the 6.6 Olds 403 engine. The optional motor in '78. Runs pretty well!

My wife is making me keep it hidden behind the fence until I do something about the wood. She said it's the ugliest car she's ever seen! Ha!

It's a little crusty here and there, more from salt air than salt roads. The car is originally from North Carolina and I think it spent time near the coast. It was last in Tennessee. The chrome is pitted some, and it has surface rust around some of the windows, but the lower body and underside is solid, so again, salt air...the lesser of the two evils.

Frankly since getting this car home last week I have not touched it. I hit the deer in my '96 Roadmaster wagon and between that and the holidays, the '78 is sitting right now.

Funny, I only got one set of keys, and went to Home Depot, and the Lowes, trying to make a couple more spare sets. Turns out, neither store stocks the round keys for the doors anymore, and only one had the square ignition key blanks, and I bought their last two. GM used the same style keys for at least 25+ years....makes me feel old that I had to go to an actual locksmith for the door keys!

-Mike

81X11 wrote:

Dutch Pete wrote:

Nice car. Factory 350 or a 305?

It's got the 6.6 Olds 403 engine.   The optional motor in '78.   Runs pretty well!

That's nice...

Window sticker on the new '78 Electra project wagon. Think it sat a while?? What does it mean, DAYLIGHT USE ONLY?? Seriously???



Today's word-of-the-day is "Patina"....





-Mike

Ok HOW do I get this wood mess off??? It's SO dry that I don't see heat-gun doing it. I removed the wood on my '89 Custom Cruiser with a hair dryer and razor blades (hell of a week...my fingers hurt remembering it), but it was not NEARLY this crusty. I'd like to not destroy the paint under the wood, so I can just order new wood and install it... That said....how do I remove the metal wood outline trim? Little help car folks??? Give me some magic!!

one option is an 8" grinder,. 2lb hammer and a cold chisel,..

i,d still work at it with a heat gun,..razor blade knife to lift the pieces and needlenose pliers to pull with while its being heated,.

Grinder would be quicker,..

Thanks. It's SO dry!! I tried to use a plastic scraper and it's like scraping cement! Ha!

Sanding it off maybe?

If you soak a rag in Enamel Reducer or slow dry Enamel Thinner and lay it on the remaining wood grain, it should “soften it up” and make it considerably easier to remove. Give it a few minutes to work. Slow dry thinner should be available; Reducer will be harder to find, today. If the paint on the wagon is original, it will be Acrylic Lacquer. If so, Enamel Thinner should have little to no effect on the paint, although I’d try a very small spot, just to be sure. Do not use fast dry Enamel thinner. Another possibility is “Grease and Wax Remover, made by Montana. This almost certainly will not touch the paint, and it’s cheaper than Enamel Thinner.

If you are interested, 3M Di-noc woodgrain is still available (Ebay) from a number of dealers. I don’t know if it is as good as the original Product supplied through GM, but carrying the 3M Di-noc name, it should be. Should you decide to replace the woodgrain, try to find someone who has used it previously for advice. It’s tricky, until you have some experience!

The 403 is one of GM’s good motors of that period. They are tough and last a long time provided they are not overheated, The cylinders are so large that they are “siamezed”, meaning that they butt against each other (like the 400 Chevy), and no coolant flows between the cylinders. This Oldsmobile engine started life at 260 cu.in., and outside, it’s still physically the same dimensions. Because of this, the block doesn’t hold much coolant. I’d flush the cooling system, and check all the hoses, thermostat, etc. before the Texas summer arrives.

I put a considerably modified 403 in my “86 Electra Estate wagon, and drove it 200K without any issues, except for heating. I quickly changed the radiator to a 4 row, since I pulled a small U-haul type trailer with it, and hot summers in the SE USA were a problem with the original 3 row radiator.

81X11 wrote:

Dutch Pete wrote:

Nice car. Factory 350 or a 305?

It's got the 6.6 Olds 403 engine.   The optional motor in '78.   Runs pretty well!

That's sweet, nice find.

I bet you folks will like this a lot. I should have posted these sooner, they're Really Cool Pics!

The person that found/saved our '78 Electra sent me these pics from the salvage yard.

Here the car is the day he found it, still at the salvage yard. They had just pulled it out of the rows and it was waiting at the front of the salvage yard for the tow truck. Black and Red with a 403....too good for the junkyard!











Pics as-delivered from the salvage yard in North Carolina back in 2015, had just been dropped off.  Really glad he saved this one!






New tires, gas tank cleaned, tune-up and such brought it back. I love knowing this one just avoided becoming coffee cans or 10 Hondas or something. SAVE THEM!!

-Mike

You and your son,itching to get started on this one yet?

I've been spending most of my spare car time working on fixing the Roadmaster since meeting Bambi...which happened the very-next-day after picking up this '78 Electra...   Kinda put a hold on a deep-dive into this car.

That said, I can never totally leave an old car alone, so here is an update of the few things done so far.

My first order of business was CLEANING.   Had to make what I could on it shine.   Spent a long January evening with compound, wax, and chrome polish.




Yeah...the wood is SHOT...looks even worse with a camera flash....






Eddie and Dad have started de-wooding the 78 Buick. What a MESS!




Sadly, with them using the heat-gun, they ruined the chrome on the ventiport trim.   Learned a lesson...remove these first..



Did nab some new parts for the '78 while yarding for body parts for the '96 Roady.   Found a VERY CLEAN Custom Cruiser at LKQ and raided a bit off it:


RARE cargo area roof light with fiber optic brake/signal repeater lights! Will be a cool mod!






The biggest item was this very-nice roof-rack, to replace the pitted one on the '78 now.   Nice Score!


More '78 Buick wagon goodies. Found all this when cleaning out the car.   Buick was sold new in Hickory North Carolina and lived there through at least 1991. No documents newer than 1991 in the car. Inspection expired in 1992.








Here's an interesting worthless fact. GM used the same Chevy Caprice doors on all the 77-79 B-Body brands of wagons. To make them line up with the front fenders of the different brands, like on our '78 Buick project, GM added plates under the mirrors that curved out from the door angle to meet the upper front fenderlines. It's how GM made Caprice doors line up to Electra fenders!! Bet you never noticed, right??






And check out the little map light that mounts above the windshield as part of the center sun visor mounts.  I've owned and ridden in a TON of 77-90 GM Boxy B's, and have never seen this option!   I took it down, cleaned the contacts and replaced the bulb, and it's REALLY bright!



BREAKER-BREAKER!   Too bad the radio and CD are DOA.



Such Fun!

One issue that worries me is the car has the automatic climate control.   The heat and amazingly the a/c both work...HOT heat and COLD A/C, but it all blows on the floor.    I replaced the vacuum ball under the hood and checked all the fittings and such, and nothing changes.   I'm worried the controller in the dash is jammed or broken.   It's Texas, we HAVE to have A/C.   Not looking forward to tearing into that project...

Will keep this updated!

-Mike

Made a decision on replacing the wood yet? That all black with red guts would look pretty good.

Andebe wrote:

Made a decision on replacing the wood yet? That all black with red guts would look pretty good.

We're going to re-wood it. My kiddo loves the woodgrain and the jokes that come along with it.

-Mike

Endless,lol...

Wow, you just pulled it off the yard????? Great find.
And the OCC to, man i need the doors, mine are just like cheese.....

Dutch Pete wrote:

Wow, you just pulled it off the yard????? Great find.
And the OCC to, man i need the doors, mine are just like cheese.....

I didn't pull it out of the yard myself, but glad it WAS saved. The person that saved it actually saw my postings about it on one of the Facebook wagon pages and reached out to me, and sent me those pics, along with the story. Very cool!
-Mike

That should be a cool car for the kid. IS this the same one who had the Blazer? The wagon is way better! Interesting to see how these earlier boxies 77-83ish seem to have alot more variety in options. I know its a buick but it seems pretty decked out with the electric cc and the wheels.

That 6.6 liter olds engine you have was what the automatic trans am came with wasn't it?

MacMasterMike wrote:

That should be a cool car for the kid. IS this the same one who had the Blazer? The wagon is way better! Interesting to see how these earlier boxies 77-83ish seem to have alot more variety in options. I know its a buick but it seems pretty decked out with the electric cc and the wheels.

We had to sell the Blazer last year. The rust under the truck was bad, knew that, but went to fix a rust spot bubbling up on the roof only to find out the roof itself was swiss cheese, and someone had bondo'd it and then put a nice paintjob over it. Sad because it ran well and the interior was nice, and it LOOKED nice until you got up close. Eddie was pretty sad when we sold it. This wagon came along and we decided to make it our new project. It's ugly as sin, but is MUCH more solid than that Blazer was.

I wish the Buick had the cloth seats and nicer door panels. I love the colors, but for a well-optioned as it is, the vinyl seats and door panels look cheap to me, especially remembering my Mom's '78 Pontiac wagon with the Valencia interior. It IS well-optioned for sure. I love projects, and saving old cars is such fun!

We'll make it nice again!

-Mike

bigredwagon wrote:

That 6.6 liter olds engine you have was what the automatic trans am came with wasn't it?

Let me put on my Cliff Claven mustache...

The 403 was less of a Trans Am engine in a wagon, than it was a station wagon engine in the Trans Am. The 403 was only used for three years, 77-79, and was designed to replace the discontinued-after-76 455 as the heavy-duty/towing option for the downsized GM big cars in 1977. The Pontiac 400 and Olds 403 were the largest motors offered in the new downsized cars.

The 403 was basically a larger Olds 350, and was the same size externally as the 350 (shorter and thinner than the 455 big block), it was a smog-era motor, only making 180hp, but it had Olds torque, so it hauled the big cars around just fine and was really good for towing, but it really did not get much better mileage than the 455 it replaced. If maintained and not beaten-on or raced, it was a nearly bulletproof motor, and in the big cars these tended to run forever. In the Trans Am's however these were not as well-loved. They were know to overheat when raced, and the bottom-end was a thin-wall design that didn't hold up all that well to performance mods.

The Pontiac 400 was better...as it really WAS a throwback to the musclecar era and not a smog-era engine. These last year Pontiac 400's even used the very good-breathing 6X heads, which many folks raided to install on older mid 70's 455's. The Pontiac 400 however was only offered in the big cars in 1977-78, and only in the Pontiac cars, with the exception of Pontiacs sold in California and Colorado, where the Olds 403 was mandated because it ran cleaner than the Pontiac 400.

Pontiac knew that the 400 would not meet the upcoming stricter emissions laws, and GM knew it would not meet the needed mpg figures the govt was planning, so the 400 began to slowly be phased out, with '77 being the largest year for production, and '78 being the last year for the 400. The 400 was gone from the big cars for '79, but Pontiac "hoarded" a large batch of the last 400's built in '78 to be used as the "hot" option for the '79 Trans Ams. This is the reason the '79 with the 400 is so sought-after today...the vast-majority of 78-79 Trans Ams used the Olds 403 (with shaker scoop decals that read 6.6 Litre) vrs the 400 (with a shaker scoop decal that read T/A 6.6).

Again the 403 was not a BAD motor at all. It's a great engine for these big cars, and is a drop-in replacement for the 80-90 Olds 307, or the Olds Diesel 350. A lot of 403's ended up in the newer cars when the little motors died!

On a side note, my Dad, being a car guy, purposely ordered our '78 Grand Safari because he found out '78 was going to be the last year for the real Pontiac 400, which is why I know as much about this history as I do. He loved that 400 in our Pontiac wagon, and it really was a beast even in that big Safari. They 403 is not a beast, but it is a nice solid motor. The one in this '78 fires right up, and does not tick or smoke. Hopefully it will hold up under the foot of my son when he gets his license in two years. We'll see!

-Mike

i used to be into olds' in a big way back when i had hair,..

I had a 79 ws6 for a summer,. i can say that with a set of headers on it,. and some tweaks to the carb and timing,. it would run right past any boat anchor pontiac 400 trans am

I,ve had a few "go's" against 455 pontiacs too with any one of my old 455 olds's,. and the olds always managed to get out in front a little,.. course i did have lakewood ladder bars, and some real killer street race gears,..and a set of cheaters,. 90/10,s. ,...blah blah blah,.

phantom 309 wrote:

i used to be into olds' in a big way back when i had hair,..

I had a 79 ws6 for a summer,. i can say that with a set of headers on it,. and some tweaks to the carb and timing,. it would run right past any boat anchor pontiac 400 trans am

I,ve had a few "go's" against 455 pontiacs too with any one of my old 455 olds's,. and the olds always managed to get out in front a little,.. course i did have lakewood ladder bars, and some real killer street race gears,..and a set of cheaters,. 90/10,s. ,...blah blah blah,.  

You just like to argue. I think you're bitter because I still have hair.

That said, feel free to share all your 403 tuning tricks. I BADLY want to get rid of the good crossover exhaust that Electra has soon. I think that alone will wake it up a lot.

-Mike

I didn't realize the ventiports were actually cut into the fender. I figured they were pasted on the woodtrim like most everything else.

Keep them safe. I've been trying to find a pair for my car. Not a picnic.

Great Thread....

Mike....the wagon in the yard had the fiber optic light package and from the pics I don't think yours does. It included the front fender turn indicators, rear indicator monitor (which you took), turning lights and a couple of interior courtesy lights I can't recall.

You may want to nab all of the set up as I have only seen one old wagon with the option in 5 years of yarding.

81X11 wrote:

You just like to argue.  I think you're bitter because I still have hair.  
-Mike

LOL OUCH!! you hairy bastid,..!! actually since i got the caddy i,ve been cultivating this goombah looking skullet,..i haven't had this much hair in 30 years,. albeit at the back and sides of course,..

waking up your olds is easy,. get a set of early 455/400 dual exhaust manifolds,. and do the dual exhaust thing,.
buy a cheap dual plane aluminum intake,. block off the heat riser passages in the heads,. and buy some quick advance springs for the distributor,. then let me know what metering rods are in the quadrabog,. and we'll go from there,.probably increase your fuel mileage about 20% too,.
The best bang for your buck tho would be better rear gears,.

Wagoninabox wrote:

Great Thread....

Mike....the wagon in the yard had the fiber optic light package and from the pics I don't think yours does.  It included the front fender turn indicators, rear indicator monitor (which you took), turning lights and a couple of interior courtesy lights I can't recall.  

You may want to nab all of the set up as I have only seen one old wagon with the option in 5 years of yarding.

That car is sadly gone now. That said, if I come across a 77-79 Buick with the cornering lights and front fender fiber optic pods, I'll be yanking them. They're different than the Oldsmobile ones.

I'd like to get a roof one for my Roadmaster too. I know folks have modded those in, and I think they're such neat toys!

-Mike

phantom 309 wrote:

81X11 wrote:

You just like to argue.  I think you're bitter because I still have hair.  
-Mike

LOL OUCH!!  you hairy bastid,..!!  actually since i got the caddy i,ve been cultivating this goombah looking skullet,..i haven't had this much hair in 30 years,. albeit at the back and sides of course,..

waking up your olds is easy,. get a set of early 455/400 dual exhaust manifolds,. and do the dual exhaust thing,.
buy a cheap dual plane aluminum intake,. block off the heat riser passages in the heads,. and buy some quick advance springs for the distributor,. then let me know what metering rods are in the quadrabog,. and we'll go from there,.probably increase your fuel mileage about 20% too,.
The best bang for your buck tho would be better rear gears,.

Thanks Nick. I'll be tearing into the 403 soon now that the Roady is healed! Don't want to make it too much of a monster for my kiddo, but want to wake it up a bit eventually. I'm already on the lookout for manifolds.

please keep you eye out for some nice fleetwood tail lights trims too!!,..

i just need three more pieces of chrome trim and i,m done,.. then on to the T 5..... er wait i,m keeping it stock,...

Nice job Mike, good to see you share the old car love with your son

phantom 309 wrote:

please keep you eye out for some nice fleetwood tail lights trims too!!,..

i just need three more pieces of chrome trim and i,m done,..  then on to the T 5.....  er wait i,m keeping it stock,...

"Stock"....

2/16/2017 - Poor '78 Electra wagon has been on the back-burner a while now. Been sitting untouched under the carport since before the holidays. Went to check fluids and start it and found a mouse living in the underhood hush pad after work, so now it no longer HAS a hush pad, and mice are evicted. It did fire right up, and I pulled it around to the front driveway. Spent two hours cleaning it....poor old car, it's not nearly as far along as it should be after over a year with us..life events just keep getting in the way. but it still runs! We'll get it in shape sooner or later!






Full Public Album with all the pics here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10208322573852660&type=3

Such Fun!

-Mike

Here's the link to that full Public Album with all the Saved pics: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10208402285365398.1073742086.1553678810&type=3

-Mike

Love the yard pics...This one was screaming to be saved. (Others personal opinions may vary.)

Yes, It really deserved to be saved.

Hi Folks, sorry for not checking in more lately.   We've had a bit a financial stress lately, such is life, but we'll get through it.    I'm am still playing with projects...on a tight budget, and since I'd been gathering parts for the '78 Electra Wagon I finally decided to get my hands dirty on it again.  

SO here is the latest updates.   I have done quite a bit of work on the car since my last update in Feb here. I know some folks have been following along on Facebook, but for those that don't FB, here you go.

First, Facebook IS amazing, and this item found me through Facebook. This LeSabre Sport Coupe steering wheel has "found" our Electra wagon, all the way from the northeast! Big thanks to all the car folks helping with this project car! This alone will be a great addition to the project! I'm currently looking for the horn connection for this, the rod with the little spring is missing. I think it's fairly universal in older GM cars so will be on the lookout in the salvage yards.

That will look sweet.

Next up was the dashboard. I'd bought my son a new radio and speakers for the car as a Christmas gift. I hated to remove the factory CB setup, but that radio was shot, corroded inside and it blew a fuse every time I tried to make it work. Since this car is for Eddie, I figure it needs a modern radio anyway.

I removed the dash wood first, and stared at it...not knowing how to "repair" it. The wood itself was in decent condition, but the plasti-chrome trim was SHOT. I'm thinking someone used Windex on the dash on the car's past, which if you've owned a malaise-era car, you know will ruin the chrome.

Being on a budget, I decided to sand the chrome, tape off the wood, and paint the everything Satin Black:





Then I painted everything Satin Black: