Our New-to-Us 1978 Electra Estate Wagon Project

Discussion in 'General Station Wagon Discussions' started by 81X11, Dec 28, 2015.

  1. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    AND AGAIN, since these pics had vanished.. From December 2015

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

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

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    -Mike
     
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  2. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    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, along with some from the day it arrived at his home.

    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!
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  3. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    And as-delivered at his home.
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  4. 101Volts

    101Volts Well-Known Member

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    If you had the pics on Photobucket, I was reading at another forum that Photobucket (as of late June 2017) no longer allows you to link pics to forums for free and now it costs $400 a year; I wonder if that's just for the premium option though. I haven't bothered to look at the site to see if this is true, it used to be nicely usable for free and then ads started popping up for non-paying users.
     
  5. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    RE-Post of update from Jan 2015. Pics dropped for some reason. Doesn't look like this anymore!

    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.
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    Yeah...the wood is SHOT...looks even worse with a camera flash....
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    Eddie and Dad have started de-wooding the 78 Buick. What a MESS!
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    Sadly, with them using the heat-gun, they ruined the chrome on the ventiport trim. Learned a lesson...remove these first..
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    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:
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    RARE cargo area roof light with fiber optic brake/signal repeater lights! Will be a cool mod!
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    The biggest item was this very-nice roof-rack, to replace the pitted one on the '78 now. Nice Score!
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    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.
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  6. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    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??
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    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!
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    BREAKER-BREAKER! Too bad the radio and CD are DOA.
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    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
     
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  7. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    Well I tried to fix a lot of the pics, since Photobucket change policies a lot of photos vanished. Now this chain is all out of sequence...but I think all the pics are back. Hope it's not too confusing! -Mike
     
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  8. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    No, not at all, I recognized a few you had posted earlier. On the factory AM/FM/CD, are you giving some thought to sending it to a radio repair company to have it redone?
     
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  9. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    I'm going to hold on to the factory CB radio setup. It's actually pretty elaborate, and includes the actual radio head unit, a seperate CB unit that mounted inside the dash above the glove compartment, the special power antenna (that also was DOA when we got the car), and a TON of wiring. I think the car lost 100-pounds when I took all that out.
    This car is a father-son project, and will be going to Eddie when he starts driving, as a weekend toy, not a daily driver. He much-preferred a newer radio, so I'll keep the CB stuff for another toy someday, or may sell it. We'll see.
     
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  10. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    I mounted the 1978 LeSabre Sport Coupe/Riviera Steering Wheel installed in the '78 Electra Wagon project last night. Sharp! Managed to find the horn contact in the HELP! section at the local parts store. Amazing! I really like the wheel, looks period correct! [​IMG]
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    Also seems wild to me that GM went to the trouble to add the Gate Ajar light to the shift indicator on our '78 Electra Wagon, rather than up with the other idiot lights on the upper dash. It really shows up!
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    Enjoying this project!

    -Mike
     
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  11. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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    Got me thinking about MY warning lights. I wonder if any of them aren't working. I'll have to consult the owner's manual and see what's where. Just a row of rectangular boxes above the gauges. I get a few of the usual - 'Check Engine', etc.....

    Love that steering wheel, by the way!

    EDIT: OK, so I checked my manual. I would assume that the wiring on my Safari is fairly similar to Eddie's Buick Estate.

    I have 6 warning light bezels above the gauges on my dash. They are, from left to right:
    1. (Not used)
    2. 'Check Engine' light - working
    3. 'Brake' light - working
    4. 'Fasten Belts' - working
    5. 'Choke' light - Strange light. The manual indicates this is only used on vehicles that have the full gauge package, which mine does not. Also has something to do with indicating a charging system failure.
    6. 'Gate Ajar' light - working

    So, apparently, I'm OK in warning light department.

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    Last edited: Jul 11, 2017
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  12. 101Volts

    101Volts Well-Known Member

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    My Caprice, surprisingly, has a "buckle your seat belts" light which started occasionally turning on this year; we've had the car for 7 years now and I never saw it light up before this year.
     
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  13. ModelT1

    ModelT1 Still Lost in the 50's

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    Nice photos Mike. Yes I remember some of those photos from earlier. What really amases me is that wagon was going to the crusher. Our son uses an LKQ in Florida. Never been there but he describes it like you do, clean, neat, and things you can borrow for engine, tranny, etc. removal. Also, vehicles get stripped fast and disappear. Great save of a nice wagon.:thumbs2:

    I'd guess the 'daylight use only' sticker was for some old fart with vision porblems.
    I remember Hickory, NC in an old TV comedy series.
     
  14. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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    LKQ has the salvage and dismantling process down to a science. I work for them on Mondays and Tuesdays, bidding on vehicles at two auctions in my area.
     
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  15. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    There is a HUGE LKQ auction lot just south of Austin between San Marcos and New Braunfels. You can see it from I-35, and I'd love to go explore it!
     

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