['62pest]

you guys have gotten me all sentimental and stuff so i took a trip down memory lane and i was looking through some old pictures of my car and found this one when my car was naked.

[azkeebler]

Originally Posted by mechanickeith

62pest, You are the only 61-63 4 door on the road in Az, that I know of. I have a 62 that is registered also & I know of 2 63 verts & 1 63 Coupe that is on the road in Az. All the rest of the 61-63's I know of in the state are either in junk yards or are race cars. There was a 62 vert in Tucson & a 62 Coupe in Phx but those have been sold & moved out of state.


Keith, Still no solid answer on how many 61's on the road. My 61 Wagon will be on the road as soon as I can get it up & going, so I will have 2 on that list.

Technically, my '62 wagon is now Arizona registered until July of this year. Unfortunately, it has too traveled out of state. My old '61 is wandering in Hereford somewhere, but pretty certain it isn't running on the street. Last I heard, it was being converted to 4x4.

['62pest]

I have finally gotten the engine compartment all blacked out with a satin black. I have the driver side wheel wells blacked out to my satisfaction. I need to do the right rear and touch up the right front. Then soon I will be getting the engine cleaned up and back in. I am planning to get the windshield seal and install the window so I can dreive it again. I need a work vehicle until I build my chevy truck enough to pull the tempest off the road to keep working on it.

[importsmasher]

Mechanickeith, that 62 transmission I gave you before I moved to Utah is the original trans out of '62pest's car. A couple of my friends used to own that car, and the transmission died, so I put my spare trans in it back in 2003 or 4. Just in case '62pest is interested in original parts for his car....
Importsmasher

['62pest]

That kind of a cool story. Although I am sure there are some stories I don't mind not hearing. I am curious as to why the access holes are punched in the wheel wells on the inside above the frame rails and in the back behind the back seat?

[mechanickeith]

Scott, I still have it. In my stash of parts in case I need it. Price was right!! Thanks!

[importsmasher]

'62pest, I am not sure how long you have had the car; are you the one who stopped by my house in central Phoenix? I had the red and white 62 LeMans (I sold it before I moved).

Anyway, after I bought my car, my friend's wife was upset. She had seen the car, and wanted to buy it. Her husband had told me about the car, and I went and bought it - I didn't know she was interested or I would never have bought it from under them. They didn't tell me this until later. Anyway, they set out looking for a 62 Tempest for her. They bought that car for $500 bucks or so, and they used it as a daily driver for several years. Later, they approached me asking if I was interested in buying it. It wasn't running at the time, and they had very little mechanical ability. I wasn't in a position to get another car, but another of my friends was. She bought it (for $200), intending to give it to her daughter (who was in love with my LeMans), and I got it running for them. I rebuilt the carburetor, changed the timing chain, and had the distributor rebuilt. She drove the car for a few months, and the transmission died, so I put in my spare. It was driven off and on for a while, and then they parked it, pending her daughter getting her license. Her daughter didn't show any motivation, even though I would come over periodically and start it up and drive it around a bit. Finally, her daughter decided to sell it. I considered buying it for my wife to drive, but she really wanted an old Mustang. She sold the Tempest for $400. If I had been thinking about it, I would have swapped hoods with my car, and swiped the A/C condenser for my car before they sold it (I guess it's a good thing for you that I didn't!!!) The next time I saw it was when you (or possibly a previous owner) showed up at my house with it.

As for the "access holes," I don't remember seeing any access holes. I certainly didn't put them there!! Maybe I just didn't notice them.....then again, it has been several years since I did any work on the car.
Importsmasher

['62pest]

I was talking with keith on Friday about my car and that I stopped by your house one day and spoke to you about my car. Then here you are out of know where. Small world indeed.

One time I pulled the engine without ever touching the distributor, and when I put the engine back in, I had to turn the distributor 180. For some reason the timing jumped. I don't recall ever doing anything to it. I just cleaned it up and repainted everything. The carb has given me no problems that I can recall, but I have not daily driven the car in about 3 years now. The trans still works although I must shift from low to high from a stop. The a/c has never been hooked up completely. Everything but the compressor was installed before I took it all apart for paint. I plan to get everything working someday.


Today I got longer bolts for the finned valve cover and I plan to clean the engine and prep for detailing. Maybe replacing some seals and get ready to reinstall.

[importsmasher]

It's good to know the car is being fixed up. As for the shifting issue, you might look at the detent lever on the transmission. If I recall correctly, it is missing, and the detent cable is not attached. That would make the transmission think the engine is idling, and it will shift to high almost immediately. I used to have to do that with my car, but then I had a new cable made. We had a cable made for your car, but again, I seem to recall when I switched transmissions, the lever was broken off, so the cable is not connected. I dont' know how hard it would be to install a new lever (I was going to take apart the original transmission and find out, but never did), but I bet Keith could tell you.

There was no compressor on the car when my friend bought it. I think there was one in the trunk though. As I recall, it had a larger pulley on it than the A6 compressors I am used to seeing.

Importsmasher

[Radman]

Originally Posted by mechanickeith

62pest, You are the only 61-63 4 door on the road in Az, that I know of. I have a 62 that is registered also & I know of 2 63 verts & 1 63 Coupe that is on the road in Az. All the rest of the 61-63's I know of in the state are either in junk yards or are race cars. There was a 62 vert in Tucson & a 62 Coupe in Phx but those have been sold & moved out of state.

You would have to look at the rear window of the Skylark & see what it looks like. I dont know. Anyone have a Hollander interchange book???

Keith, Still no solid answer on how many 61's on the road. My 61 Wagon will be on the road as soon as I can get it up & going, so I will have 2 on that list.

page 224 of the Hollander interchange book. Item 2244 rear window 61-63 fits Buick Special, Olds F85, and Tempest 4 door sedan.
Happy hunting.

[Radman]

Before there are any questions about using the "Buick Special" on the rear window information. Hollander dosn't have the Skylark listed in the 61 to 62 area. They have the Special listed there. Probably a misprint in the book. We all know the Skylark was a Tempest clone.

['62pest]

Radman, you deffinatly are rad man!!!
Send me your address so I can put you on my christmas card list.

[chicagoland]

Most of you may know this already, but the 61-63 Buick Special and Skylark were same car, just trim levels as Tempest and LeMans.

['62pest]

Happy new year everybody. I am going to make 2012 the year I really work hard to finish my tempest.
Unfortunatly for my tempest, it has been sitting in my garage now since moving into this house now for close to 4 years. I got my 1947 Chevy truck up and running so now I have a parts truck to get whatever I need for it. Anyways I will get some more pictures up here for you guys later as progress starts building.

['62pest]

so the wife left me to take a job in california for a month and a half. first thing i did was cleaned up all the tools that get tossed just inside the garage door after using them to fix my truck and then i rolled my tempest out into the driveway for a look to see what needs done to get it running again. maybe even driveable sometime this year. dont hold your breath.


i returned my optima 6v battery to auto zone for my 1947 chevy truck and walked out with a 6v battery for the truck and a 12v battery for the tempest, new battery cables and thats all for the pontiac. i got some other stuff but it was for my truck. i got some new fuel line earlier in the morning for the pontiac also. after messing around with it for a bit i realized i need the bellhousing to engine bolts i misplaced them. i think a visit to copper state will be in order tomorrow. i also need the bolts for the rope shaft to the flex plate, can i call it a flex plate not sure. does anyone have the correct bolt size and thread pitch for those?

i need to wire up the generator but the wires are missing so i will be researching the diagrams that i find online. i think i had a shop manual for that car somewhere. maybe by next weekend i will be ripping through the streets of my neighborhood with my tempest missing all the windows and i will be sitting on a milk crate. i have never gotten the interior done yet so that will be my long term goal before my birthday in september.

[Transporter]

Just curious about the rear window seal issue, has anyone ever tried to clean up the channels and "bond" an old window in?

Yes I know it would not have a factory look, but I bet it could be done and look well, or do you think there is not enough "coverage" on the old rope seal windows to pull it off.

Just curious.

Stan

['62pest]

steele rubber has the rear seal. for me it is a matter of getting the cash in hand when i realize my priorities and needing the garage space back. soon i promise.