Finally got my Grandparents 77 Buick Electra 225

[Creekside]

This has been in the family since it was new, first owned by a great aunt of mine and was purchased by my grandfather from their estate. My grandma loved it so he surprised her with it. My grandparents had owned it since 95. Never sat outside. 25,000 miles are actual. I had the opportunity to buy it from their estate in the last week, my grandma passed in 2019 and it has been sitting since 2018. Changed the oil and took it for a drive today. I suspect there was PYB 10w30 in there and I installed a Wix 51268 and 5 quarts of 15w40 MFA with a pint of Schaeffer oil treatment. This will only be driven in the summer months so the 15w40 will be fine.

I’ll be doing a full detail, wax and trying to put the trim back on the doors before it gets cold. All of the missing trim is in the trunk.

 

[Wylie6G72]

Cars will never feel or ride like this again. Like a cloud floating down the highway. Congrats on snagging this big ol' gal. Old cars can be fun, if you have a lot of money.

 

[Bud_One]

Dang , very nice ... reminds me of our old 1976 Buick LeSabre that I learned to drive in.
Great big ole land yacht.. good times... miss that old car. You don't see them out and about anymore.

 

[Creekside]

Cars will never feel or ride like this again. Like a cloud floating down the highway. Congrats on snagging this big ol' gal. Old cars can be fun, if you have a lot of money.

I’ve never driven anything quite like it. Definitely like a cloud. Fortunately all this really needs is a good front to back PM/fluid change and some trim put back on. I’ll be working on the AC this winter as the old A6 compressor bit the dust a few years back. I’ll probably install a pro6ten compressor instead.

 

[dishdude]

Beautiful survivor! I hope you're planning to preserve it as well.

 

[Creekside]

Beautiful survivor! I hope you're planning to preserve it as well.

I’m planning to keep it as original as possible. A few under hood things may be upgraded simply due to parts availability but I don’t plan to make any big changes to it.

 

[Kuato]

Nice! With the 15W-40 I bet it purrs. Probably gets 20+ on the highway if you take it easy.

 

[Creekside]

Nice! With the 15W-40 I bet it purrs. Probably gets 20+ on the highway if you take it easy.

It’s super smooth. It’ll probably get some Schaeffer 15 or 5w40 as soon as I have some seepage corrected and make sure there’s no other issues. The seals and gaskets are really showing their age. The car was very well preserved by sitting but it didn’t help the mechanicals out at all.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

The back seat looks perfect for snipe hunting.

 

[SatinSilver]

Thank you for sharing. Reminds me of my first car, an '83 Olds Cutlass. Even the color was similar. Ordered new by my grandfather.

 

[Kira]

Upon accepting his dad's 1973-5 Buick LeSabre in 1987, a pal gleefully got vanity plates...FIN-ALLY!
Deeper red ext./off white int., nice.
When the headliner sags just go to an upholstery shop with rolls in stock. No "we gotta order parts for it" unless they're real small.
How weird are the tires?
Lucky dog, you get to sniff peppermint transmission fluid again. We know, it'll get modern juices. Ha, you must do the brake fluid!
Does the windshield washer work?
It'll have a nascent EGR valve.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Very jealous, nice work. Keep it running!

My early days were spend riding in a 1980 Caprice Classic, and then a 1984.
My first car was 1988 Caprice wagon.

 

[Malo83]

Land Yacht.

 

[Rand]

Whats 15w40 MFA not up on all these abbreviations.

 

[atikovi]

Surprised nobody has posted the obligatory LS swap suggestion by now.

 

[simple_gifts]

What engine? That is the vintage GM was putting about 5 different engines in the same model; I had a 73 LeSabre and 77 Regal,, both with a 2bbl Buick 350.

 

[Trav]

Nice! I had the 76 Electra the last of the big block giants, great cars but seriously under powered (I swapped a 69 Riviera 430 in it, huge difference). The 350 Buick also shared the same issues as their big block relatives, the oil pump.
This upgrade was originally developed by Keene Bell Buick for the big blocks and works amazingly well. This company has the kit for the 350 (if your car has the olds 403 it is not needed and wont fit anyway. Even with 25K on it do this, you wont be sorry, it will significant increase engine life. It is a 20 min job if you never did one.
Use the high volume only if you change the dist gear but with the low miles a stock tuned pump should be fine. Call the to make sure you have the pieces that are not in the kit.

http://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA_1507&cat=16

http://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA_1505&cat=16

 

[nwjones18]

Nice looking car. What engine does it have in it?

 

[Greggy_D]

What are the date codes on the tires?

 

[jhs914]

The back seat looks perfect for snipe hunting.

I can confirm that. My Mother had a 1962 Electra that I took on dates for that very reason, even though I had a GTO. No comparison on the "comfort" available in the back seat of the Buick!