Not much need for commentary…just a few pictures of the front end and exterior trim coming together…
Locating an NOS front grill was one of the hardest parts to find…
The back end gets a little spit shine…
Just in case anybody forgot what make of car we’re looking at…
New set of reproduction T-3 headlights from Lectric Limited (http://www.lectriclimited.com) work great.
~ Tom Sidoti
1959 Buick Electra 225 Convertible
Now that the A/C working it was safe to start throwing on some front end tin.
Engine bay almost ready to go, check out the reproduction Delco 60K battery from Antique Auto Battery (http://www.antiqueautobattery.com/). All the engine decals came from CARS (http://www.oldbuickparts.com/)
This thing is almost starting to look like a car again…stay tuned…
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~ Tom Sidoti
1959 Buick Electra 225 Convertible
The A/C is now installed. Although I had the compressor and dryer rebuilt, the rest of the A/C components are still vintage 1959 (50 years old) so we were crossing our fingers as to any leaks. Greg ran a preliminary test by putting on a vacuum pump and sucking it down. Several days later it was still holding vacuum. It’s not an absolute, but generally a good indication there are no leaks. As Greg advised, “vacuum certainly isn’t 250 psi of hot gas and liquid but it’s a good place to start.” He put in a dye pack in case it does leak so at least we’ll have a clue where it is.
Greg installed a few more things to get the engine working with the key again, hooked up the fuel lines, dumped in some gas and let ‘er rip. She started right up and started sucking in the freon. It took the load no problem and the gauge readings were within parameters. 195 high, 28 low, and a 44 outlet temp. The 28 was the good number to see, that meant the expansion valve was working correctly, not bad for a somewhat complex 50 year old unit! Ambient temp was only 70 but the car did noticeably lower the temp so the 44 is good.
Below are a couple shots of how the Air Conditioning Vents inside the car work. These shots were taken before the car was disassembled (note that the carpeting below the dash on the air vent tube is incorrect). This first one shows the large center vent…
Check this out…the entire vent slides out to direct air both upward and downward…pretty cool huh!
Here is the passenger side vent…
… and this one extends outward also to direct the air just where you want it!
Below is the page from the actual 1959 Buick Facts Book describing the Air Conditioning option (Click on Picture to Enlarge).
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~ Tom Sidoti
1959 Buick Electra 225 Convertible
Just enough pictures for a quick update… Greg needed something to attach the harness to as he started running the wires and testing the circuits…so he decided to hang some black tin.
Still need to know if anyone makes a pre-cut kit to replace the rubber splash shields/flaps that go on the lower edge of the front inner fender panels and around the upper control arms. Please chime in if you know of anywhere.
Since Greg was already hanging black stuff…I guess it was as good a time as any to hang the A/C condenser…
Radiator is looking good…
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~ Tom Sidoti
1959 Buick Electra 225 Convertible