This Ocean Mist green and Arctic white 1954 Buick Special sedan is all original and was found near Chicago, Illinois.A total of 70,356 Deluxe sedans were produced in 1954.
Few post back I mentioned the issues with being able to shift the C6 into reverse and then generally the shift began to get worse. Additionally the clutch fluid would become low.
As most Corvette owners know, the C6 has a separate hydraulic clutch. I had the fluid flushed numerous times and eventually we found a small leak at the clutch slave cylinder.
Replaced the cylinder and stopped the leak. This stopped the fluid usage and shifting improved, but only slightly.
Eventually it began getting much worse. With the ignition on the car would not go into reverse at all. The only way to get it into reverse was to turn the car off, put the that trans in reverse and start the car. Even then, it would sometimes kick itself out of gear when started Then highway shifting began slipping and RPM when up.
I do auto cross the car and I guess some spirited street driving. Here is what my clutch and flywheel now look like, yes… I saved them!!!
Clutch1
Clutch 2
Those shiny rivets – not a good thing!!!!
The Flywheel, interesting coloration, don’t you think?
Often a comment sparks an entire blog entry. Nothing gets me going more than a discussion about US auto makers, especially if I can lay out my thoughts about “what’s happened to (insert brand here)”.
In a comment to my Auto Factoids for the Week of Aug 19, 2012 (http://wp.me/pKHNM-1fG) Bill wrote:
“If I were in charge of GM, I would not have left Oldsmobile for death. I liked the idea of ‘Saturn-izing’ Olds into a Lexus level car. There might have been only one, or two models under the Olds badge, but I would not have left the world’s oldest car company for dead.
Oldsmobile was GM’s ‘experimental’ division both in terms of engineering and product marketing. Many automotive firsts such as automatic transmission (Hydramatic), OHV V8s, and even the ‘self winding’ car clock……….Which brings me to the time I find myself saying in many of my comments in your BLOG:
“What happend to GM????””
I’ve mentioned this before, it never really made any sense to me why you would have so many divisions in a car company as GM did. Some say, it was to offer different levels of options that were affordable on up to expensive. But lets take the Chevrolet for instance. At one time they had the Biscayne, Belair, Impala and Caprice (and I think that was the correct order from lowest optioned to the highest) as option levels and pricing to reach everyone. This doesn’t seem too bad. But now add in the other divisions with Chevy being the lowest, then there’s Pontiac, Buick, Olds, and Caddy and I think that would be the correct order for options and pricing as well. A further break down in what as suppose to be different classes of automobile for different classes of society was the norm for those divisions as well. For example the Tempest and La Mans, GTO were basically the same car with different options.
I understand brand/model loyalty, especially at the initial merging/acquisition of a brand, but at some point that stopped being the only valid reason for keeping them separate. By the time the ’70s and ’80s rolled around they all started looking the same. For example take the Chevy Monte Carlo for 1978 and compare with the Buick and Olds of the same year:
78 Buick Regal
78 Chevy Monte Carlo
1978 Olds Cutlass
Minus the big tires on the Olds, tell me why I should purchase one over the other or purchase one at all (beside the fact they were fairly ugly)?
Frankly, I would have kept Pontiac over Olds any day but then again the difference between a Camaro and a Firebird in 2000 wasn’t much -but they are both gone now.
2000 Firebird
2000 Camaro
There just wasn’t much different. They diluted the brand and it became impossible to find any major differences – unless you were a gear head and most consumers were not.
The necessity to cut cost and share parts made it nearly mandatory to have them all made from the same cookie cutter.
Now don’t get me started on the purchase of oversea brands and becoming a finance/mortgage company to defray cost. (Did you know that at one time GM did more business in home/real estate loans then they did with their core car brands?
With manual transmissions in demand, it isn’t surprising to find that a fair number of vehicles—particularly muscle-era vehicles—that left the factory with an automatic transmission are being rebuilt with a manual. Frederick estimated that about 60 percent of American Powertrain’s classic muscle car customers are replacing an automatic transmission with a manual.
“[The conversion] is time-consuming, but not terribly complicated,” Frederick said. “Most of the parts bolt in.”
“It isn’t for the faint-of-heart or for anyone short on patience, but it’s do-able,” Hill added. “It’s just a matter of working through the process.”
Obviously you’ll need a pedal assembly; fortunately, according to Hill, there are a lot of aftermarket units that work quite well.
“That also gives you the option of using a hydraulic release bearing instead of a mechanical clutch linkage, which, depending on the application, can have some advantages,” Hill said. “It’s going to take a longer or shorter drive shaft. It’s going to take a different yoke on that driveshaft. The power bushing in the motor for the transmission input shaft may have to be changed. The starter could be affected by the diameter of the flywheel you put into the vehicle.
“You start at the back of the crankshaft and start matching componentry as well as possible—and if you can’t match it, then you have to compensate for it,” Hill continued. “I don’t think we’ve ever run into something we couldn’t convert, as long as we’re talking about American muscle.”
Many of the same issues crop up even when swapping one manual for another—for example, the customer who has a 454 and a Muncie and wants to put a modern six-speed in it.
Like many other projects, it’s significantly easier with older (i.e., pre-computer) hardware. If either the engine or the transmission came with computer controls, it gets a little more involved. And keep in mind that even some modern manuals now have computer controls—the GM transmission that comes with the LS engine, for example, with its skip-shift function.
Of course, some customers will want to go the other way and replace a factory manual with a new, high-tech automatic.
“It’s most important to make sure you have all the correct components—and that you make the finished job look appealing to the customer,” said Poff of TCI. “It’s the mounting that’s most likely to give you trouble.”
According to the experts, you’ll need to ensure that you have the right crossmembers and that there’s enough room inside the tunnel.
“There is no one-size-fits-all solution; every application is unique,” added Poff. “But once the physical installation is accomplished, it’s pretty straightforward to make everything operational.”
Either way, Nichols suggested finding out from the customer how critical it is to keep the car looking original, versus the cost to locate and install all of the correct original components.
As with so much else in hot rodding, the best results generally come from purchasing and installing complete systems.
“That goes for any product from any company in this business,” Frederick said. “We say, ‘Look, we have a turnkey kit. We figured it all out, and all you to do it plug and play.’ Buy it all from one source and you know all the parts are going to work together.”
This is a great article. If you are building a hot rod from scratch or you are taking your muscle car to a modern level you will find some good information in this piece. I toyed with the idea of putting a modern manual 5 speed trans in my 70 Mustang, but I opted for a rebuild Shelby 4 speed manual. (Check out all 3 parts.)
Derided as “slushboxes” in the days when hot rodding was young, automatic transmissions have long since closed the performance gap and won the respect of (at least some of) the most dedicated lead foots. Today, even the fuel-economy advantages of the old-standard stick shift are more memory than reality, as the shiftless set has drawn even with, or pulled slightly ahead of, the shifters. Backing up these advances is a great deal of detailed engineering, especially of the electronic variety.
But a lot of it’s simply due to more gears—a wider range of ratios, allowing for relaxed, low-rpm cruising with peak torque still available on demand. About 10 years ago, a four-speed automatic with a lockup converter was the hot ticket to optimize performance with economy. Now the OEMs are building five-, six- and seven-speed automatics—and hot rodders want them, too.
Not that the shift-for-yourself crowd has been caught napping—six gears are now the required minimum in any respectable OEM performance car, and that’s left three-pedal rodders craving more ratios, too.
More Is Better
“Enthusiasts in every segment of the hot rod and muscle car markets are removing traditional three-speed gearboxes and replacing them with modern four-, five- and six-speed transmissions,” said Stanley Poff, who heads product and sales for TCI Automotive in Ashland, Mississippi. “As they experience modern overdrive automatics in their daily drivers, they become more inclined to want the same driving experience in their hot rods.”
TCI’s new 6x Six-Speed can be adapted to most GM small-block, big-block or LS engines; Ford small and big blocks; and Chrysler small blocks, big blocks and late-model Hemis.
“We build it in a modified GM 4L80E case that’s been machined to accept modular bellhousings, and we keep all of the Reid Racing bellhousings in stock,” Poff said. “We can put together a complete package for all of those applications, including the transmission, bellhousing, EZ-TCU electronic control, cooler, shifter (conventional and/or paddle-type), TCI transmission fluid and a dipstick.”
TCI currently offers the 6x in two models, rated for 850 and 1,000 horsepower, respectively. Models for 1,250 and 1,500 horsepower are in the works, according to Poff.
The market has also responded well to the company’s EZ-TCU, he said.
“It allows you to retrofit a modern electronically controlled automatic transmission, such as our 6x, or the GM 4L60E, 4L65E, 4L70E, 4L80E or 4L85E, to a carbureted engine, or an engine with a self-tuning EFI system such as the FAST EZ-EFI,” Poff said.
TCI worked with FAST to develop the EZ-TCU.
“It follows the FAST model of being extremely user-friendly and easy to install even by people who lack either tuning or electronics experience,” Poff said. “We sell a lot of EZ-TCU units to people who want to put a crate engine and electronic transmission in a classic street rod or muscle car.”
Pete Nichols, sales manager for Hughes Performance in Phoenix, pointed to the classic muscle car market, where “more and more people are building these cars with significantly higher-than-stock levels of horsepower and torque,” he said. “That requires a premium, high-strength aftermarket torque converter and transmission assembly.”
To meet these demands, Hughes now builds all of its GM 700R-4, 200-4R and Ford AOD transmissions with the upgraded, constant-pressure valve bodies.
“These valve bodies contribute to improved shift quality and more consistent shift timing, while reducing the possibility of premature transmission failure due to a broken or incorrectly adjusted throttle-valve (TV) cable,” Nichols explained. “The new design also eliminates a lot of the complexity and hassle associated with the TV system on these transmissions, so retrofitting them into older cars is easier than before.”
Hughes has also introduced a custom bellhousing system that allows builders to bolt the popular GM 4L80E behind a wide variety of GM, Ford and Chrysler engines without using an adapter. The company offers custom 4L80E options for applications producing 500–1,500-plus flywheel horsepower, and for virtually any popular V-8 engine.
Nichols emphasized the need to properly flush the transmission cooler and cooler lines before installing a new torque converter.
“Debris gets easily trapped in the old cooler and then it gets flushed out during the initial run-in period, inevitably working its way into the valve body, governor, etc.,” he said, adding that getting a new cooler is the best way to prevent debris-related failures.
I love this Impala and I don’t care that it has 4 ways to get in!!!!!!
By Angelo Van Bogart
Chevrolet built 497,048 four-door sedans in 1960. No one knows how many of those sedans were Impalas, Bel Airs or Biscaynes, but you can bet the farm that many went to rural America.
Determining how many 1960 Chevy sedans went to farmers is likewise impossible, but John Broucker isn’t concerned about that figure. What he’d really like to know is how many of those 1960 Impala sedans were equipped with a 348-cid V-8 and a four-speed manual transmission like his central Ohio sleeper ordered new by a farmer?
“I called General Motors and all they could tell me was how many were four-door sedans,” he said.
Chevrolet was not particular about the details of its production in this era, but Broucker’s car is certainly rare. Maybe even as rare as hen’s teeth. Broucker himself had a hard time believing the car’s combination when he first heard about the four-speed Impala sedan in 1980.
“The farmer that bought it new, I worked with his sister’s son, his nephew, and he said, ‘My uncle has a 348 four-speed,’ and when I [saw it], I said, ‘That’s a four-door.’ My buddy said it can’t be, it just can’t be, so I called the guy and I bought it.”
Even after buying the car from the original owner, and running into a mechanic who watched the car get unloaded at Progressive Chevrolet in 1960, Broucker sometimes has to defend what some people assume is a clone.
“Honestly, if I was going to clone a car, I wouldn’t clone a four-door ’60 Chevy,” he said.
That still begs the question: Why does a four-door 1960 Chevrolet Impala four-door sedan with a 250-hp Turbo-Thrust 348 and a four-speed with Posi-Traction even exist?
“Back then, if your buddy drove up to you in a four-door four-speed, you’d say, ‘You’re crazy,’” Broucker admits. “But he said he didn’t like the Impala (hardtop), it had the big back window, and he wanted a ‘fooler.’”
For the full fooler (a.k.a. “sleeper”) effect, the original owner even ran little hubcaps and blackwall tires to help the finned Impala fly under the radar. Aside from its performance options, the Impala is otherwise a typical farm sedan and generally lacks creature comforts.
“It doesn’t even have the rear-view mirror on the outside,” Broucker said. “It does have an AM radio, a heater, and the only thing that doesn’t work is the clock in the dash.”
With only 56,000 miles on the odometer, the rest of the Impala works as new, and Broucker said it remains largely original.
“It still has the original clutch,” he said. “I put front brakes and maybe a fan belt on and that’s about it. It has the original paint, original interior and original chrome. Sometimes, people look at the bumpers and say they’re a little wavy, but that’s they way it was. It even has the original generator, and the right rear tailpipe has a couple holes, but it’s the original exhaust.
“Behind all of the six tail lights, they have those little plastic cups on them. These are still on there. Any time anyone changed a light they threw them away.”
The unrestored Impala shows so well, it’s even placed second at the Stan Hywet car show in Akron, Ohio, against restored cars. Broucker believes the car’s excellent level of preservation is partly due to how the original owner stored the car.
“This farmer also worked at the railroad, and [he and his brothers] brought cabooses home and they made garages out of them,” he said. “I bet the thing was 3 feet off the ground and the wood floor helped preserve the car.”
When Broucker first saw the Impala, it was wedged in one of those cabooses.
“It was a real tight fit,” he said. “There was a pot belly stove in the caboose and I don’t know if he used the stove or not. They say the wood doesn’t sweat, it absorbs the moisture.”
The storage served the Impala well through 20 years and 50,000 miles with the original owner. Today, Broucker remains thrilled with the Impala’s condition. However, he hasn’t always found the car thrilling, which is why he’s only added about 6,000 miles to the odometer in his 32 years of ownership.
“Back then, I bought and sold a lot of cars, and for some reason I just held on to this,” he said. “I did think it was neat at first — I just thought it couldn’t be real, but it was. Honestly, I think I kind of lost interest and wondered, ‘Why did I buy a four-door?’ Then I would take it out and drive it and think, ‘This drives pretty nice.’ I was really happy with that.”
Many vehicles have come and gone from Broucker’s collection, but the Impala has been a mainstay. In fact, Broucker has pared his collection down to a 1969 Dodge Dart he races in the 1/8 mile and this oddly optioned Impala. That raises the question, would he ever race his Impala?
“I have [thought about it], but I might be embarrassed by it,” he said. “It has a lot of torque, but the point I am at, I don’t want to tear up the clutch.”
Instead, Broucker is content to blend into the car show landscape, making his Impala blend into the sea of hobby cars. For those collectors who enjoy the unusual, stumbling onto this rarity is like finding treasure. Maybe as exciting as finding that needle in the haystack.
I know the owner and this car has had the best care. It is an AZ car and is always garaged or covered when it’s not moving and it DOES move.
What’s under the hood?
GM’s Generation III V-8 engine as configured in the Corvette. It is the all-aluminum 5.7-liter (350-cubic-inch) produce up to 350 horsepower in the two-seat sports car.
100% Stock. More Pics To come.
Interested? Call me at 520-405-5314 or email me at timsweet@cox.net.
Asking $9k. That’s a steal in this condition. This isn’t my car, but if you buy and don’t like, I’ll buy it from you!!!!…Actually, I ought to buy it myself!!! I”m going to think about that some.
She looks great with the T’s off!!!!
Engine Pic1 – SOOOO CLEAN!!!
Engine Pic 2. Nicely Maintained!!!
Perfect Stock Interior!!!
Room for 2 in the back. Although it doesn’t look like anyone has ever sat back there!!!!
Interested? Call me at 520-405-5314 or email me at timsweet@cox.net.
