Moving on to another classic Buick

I am turning yet another chapter in my life with cars and have sold my wrecked 95 Riviera to make room for the latest Buick in the family: a 1964 Wildcat convertible



I really appreciate all the helpful advice I've gotten over the years and wish you all the best.

that is beautiful!

That certainly is purdy....

lets get more pictures. are those the clark's covers on the seats? 401/425?

Right there, is a moment, take it in....blue sky, nice view, cool ride, open road, ahhhhhh congrats Mark, beautiful car.

Nice choice!

BMD wrote:

Right there, is a moment, take it in....blue sky, nice view, cool ride, open road, ahhhhhh congrats Mark, beautiful car.

I couldn't have described what I was thinking any better than that.

Very nice car and hope you get the chance to enjoy it with the top down in the hills and mountains of NC.

Is that the BlueRidge mountains where looking at.?

Tell us a little more about the car when you can.

Thanks all. The pictures were taken on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Cherokee, NC. The car is 95% original. It has the #s matching 401 engine and turbo 400 transmission. HP is 325 and 445 ft lbs torque. It moves along quickly for being over 2 tons. It has 99,600 miles on it. The interior is all original except for the carpet. It has factory air, bucket seats, console (no tach). The paint and top were redone about 6 years ago. My goal is to preserve it and enjoy it as much as possible, fixing things as needed and keeping as many original parts as possible.
My only planned mod is to add air bags inside the rear springs and a air ride leveling system to compensate for having 4 passengers. We have a lot of driveways that have steep approaches here in the maountains. I'd also like to find a correct tach for the console.
It runs great, purrs like a kitten, and leaks/burns no oil, just like a Buick should.

Nice car!

Very nice upgrade. Love GM cars from these years!

You lucky dog, you got a "Switch Pitch" Super Turbine 400!

That would explain some of the acceleration - and I'll bet that it hardly fights the brakes when stopped at a red light...

When you mention "Switch Pitch" was that the dual turbine torque converter that I've read about, but never experienced to my knowledge.

I was not taught much about auto trans back in the day 60's - 70's, but read a lot.

I may have driven customer's cars with one but never owned one, which would have made me smarter.

Rickw wrote:

When you mention "Switch Pitch" was that the dual turbine torque converter that I've read about?

Actually, the twin-turbine was the old Dynaflow. The Switch Pitch was a 'regular' torque converter mounted to the front of Turbo 400s and PowerGlides, which had a 2-position stator. The vanes would give you high-stall for acceleration and reduced creep at idle, and low-stall for cruising. Of course, you could use taller rear-axle ratios, so it was kind of the first step toward overdrive, but simpler, more robust and smoother. (And it made the ridiculous 2-speed PowerGlide much more tolerable in Super Turbine 300 and Olds Jetaway trim...)


These attachments to the throttle linkage are the giveaway:

Can you still buy a switch pitch Torque converter for install in another 400 equipped car.?

It is basically early variable vane technology with 2 positions.?
Or did the vanes move smoothly from one position to the other.?

Rickw wrote:

Can you still buy a switch pitch Torque converter for install in another 400 equipped car.?

It is basically early variable vane technology with 2 positions.?
Or did the vanes move smoothly from one position to the other.?

Negative. The tranny has to be plumbed to run control-fluid out to the stator. And even then, they changed
bell-housings mid-run, so that the first 2 or 3 years can't be used with later engines...

Just 2 positions, not truly variable.

Rick, our '69 Special and '73 LeSabre have both been converted to switch pitch converters. You need a different front pump assy and a solenoid, and I think there might have been something else different (vlave body?) - we changed it so long ago I can't remember now, but Kenne Belle used to sell kits for it.