1966 Wildcat in 1/25 scale

I have a '66 Riviera 425. The fuel filter is mounted less conveniently just above the pump. I think mine is probably mounted correctly. The filter is a 3 line filter unlike the one you show in your kit, but similar to the one mounted high on the green engine. The third line is a return to tank. Not sure what the pump configuration is, but I will try to remember to have a look if someone else doesn't assist.
Thanks, Bob!

The filters on the two green engines seem to be mounted in the same type of bracket attached to the thermostat housing and the front view is a GM/Buick factory photo. Neither is a '66 though so maybe they changed the location like a few other things they changed.

What do you think about a Super Wildcat backed by a three-on-the-tree? Did they do that?
 
My pump is configured like this one:

But, the outlet is just a straight line, not a 90. This does not mean that mine is correct, it is just what is on it.

I suspect, my filter is mounted correctly and probably in the cases of the filter sitting off the thermostat housing, they have moved it there for easy access.

Looking at the pictures on you posts, the column shifts appear to all be automatic shifts.
 
Hugh, I looked in the 66 Chassis Service Manual and they show a shifter adjustment procedure for the 46000 series (Wildcat) with a three speed manual transmission. Yes, the shifter is on the column. I can't tell you how many or if any were made that way, but they did include a procedure to adjust the column shifter for a three speed manual in a Wildcat.
 
My pump is configured like this one:

But, the outlet is just a straight line, not a 90. This does not mean that mine is correct, it is just what is on it.

I suspect, my filter is mounted correctly and probably in the cases of the filter sitting off the thermostat housing, they have moved it there for easy access.

Looking at the pictures on you posts, the column shifts appear to all be automatic shifts.
Thanks again! Yours looks like the fuel pump that was in the manual section. Does the hose just attach directly to that nipple?
Screenshot from 2020-08-03 14-00-08.png

It looks like there was an error in the manual, too. The manual says that the curved nipple is the outlet but every Nailhead fuel pump I've seen has the fuel line to the carb coming from the other nipple. Like this '63:
1963-425-Buick-Nailhead-Engine-Complete-Rebuilt-Casting-_1.jpg

Also, you said the filter has a second outlet for a return. Is it all hose or is there a section of hose that connects to a hard line? This photo was from factory promotional materials and it shows the filter up high so I'm sure that was factory correct for whatever year that was but since the engine isn't red it wasn't '66. I think it's a '65. In fact, most of the Super Wildcats I can find photos of seem to be '65s and they all have the filter in the same spot. I've noticed the valve covers are different between '65 and '66 so they definitely were still making changes even in the engine's last year, which I find intriguing. They probably moved the filter for '66. Where is yours mounted?

Screenshot from 2020-08-03 14-14-59.png

I'm sure the automatic was the most common trans behind the 425 but was the 3-speed even available with it? It's a weird combo but maybe that would make the model more interesting if it's a rarity. That info has to be somewhere but it seems like Buick info is even harder to find than Rambler info. I should have picked an easier model but I really wanted to do this one and still do. I think it's going to turn out pretty good.
 
Hugh, I looked in the 66 Chassis Service Manual and they show a shifter adjustment procedure for the 46000 series (Wildcat) with a three speed manual transmission. Yes, the shifter is on the column. I can't tell you how many or if any were made that way, but they did include a procedure to adjust the column shifter for a three speed manual in a Wildcat.
Thank you for the look-up. I knew that all '66 3-speeds were on the column but I was wondering if it was even offered with the Super Wildcat in the GS or if they were all auto with that engine. It's too bad they didn't have a 4-speed in the console because that would have been really cool. A three-on-the-tree behind Buick's biggest, baddest engine of the year would be quirky, definitely the kind of combo that would be the talk of a car show. Considering I don't actually have to drive this thing I think I could live with it if that's a correct combo. If not, I'll cut the bench into buckets, keep the console and just not flip the model over to see the wrong trans. ;)
 
Todd, somehow I missed you. Thanks for the link! I did look and there's some good stuff there. The power steering hoses are the biggest win for me there. Thanks!
There's lots of data on the fuel pump and filter too. The '66 fuel pumps are one year only and are not rebuildable like earlier ones. The sections of the case are crimped together. The hose fittings are integral and not removable. The picture on page 64-18 with the 90 deg pipe shows the pump for the smaller 225-300-340 engines. Hookup data is shown on 64-5.

The 400-401-425 uses the pump with both pipes pointing straight down. See 64-6 for a view of the 400 hookup. The Wildcat layout is on 80-8. Your picture of the highly-modified red 401 engine shows the '66 type fuel pump.

The '59-65 nailhead uses the AC type HE pump. Case can be taken apart for repair by removing screws. Hose fittings are removable as well. See attached picture from the '65 shop manual. This one appears in the head-on view of the green Super Wildcat factory photo. This photo is also used in the '65 sales brochure. All other nailheads in that brochure use this pump type.

Your standalone fuel pump photo is captioned 57-58 Buick 425. The pump is the earlier AC type FU pump
used in '57-58. The inlet hose fitting tilts upward on this one which agrees with the '57 shop manual photo. There was no 425 in 1957-don't know where that came from?

The fuel filters on the '64-65 nailheads are mounted up on the thermostat housing as seen in photos for these years. The '66 filters are mounted down near the fuel pump as seen in the attached photo from the '66 sales brochure. Note some nailheads that year were green. The master parts book confirms the filter bracket part no is different for '66 vs. the '64-65 type. Routing of the fuel filter hoses is shown on the shop manual pages mentioned earlier.

The fuel filters with 3-pipes are for use on A/C cars or cars with the A/C provisions option. Your car is not air conditioned, so it has the A/C provisions option based on the 5-blade fan and thermal clutch. A radiator fan shroud comes with this option as well. A base non-A/C car would have a 4-blade fan without clutch, 2-pipe fuel filter, and no fan shroud.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1859.JPG
    IMG_1859.JPG
    509.9 KB · Views: 9
  • IMG_1860.JPG
    IMG_1860.JPG
    514.2 KB · Views: 10
Last edited:
Thank you for the look-up. I knew that all '66 3-speeds were on the column but I was wondering if it was even offered with the Super Wildcat in the GS or if they were all auto with that engine. It's too bad they didn't have a 4-speed in the console because that would have been really cool. A three-on-the-tree behind Buick's biggest, baddest engine of the year would be quirky, definitely the kind of combo that would be the talk of a car show. Considering I don't actually have to drive this thing I think I could live with it if that's a correct combo. If not, I'll cut the bench into buckets, keep the console and just not flip the model over to see the wrong trans. ;)
Haven't been able confirm one way or the other if there was a factory-built '66 Wildcat dual-quad 3-speed. Several things indicate none were built.

The master parts book printed in '72 shows a listing on a complete 3-spd transmission for a '66 Wildcat 425 with 1-4 bbl. Don't know if this means there was never a 3-spd for a 2-4 bbl car or it had been discontinued by '72.

Parts book only shows one number for a '66 dual quad rear carb: Carter 4051S. This number does not match any earlier year carbs. Transmission type is not specified. Other Buicks showed different carb nos depending on whether transmission was auto or manual.

The late-'64 and '65 dual quad cars with A/T used a special distributor (1110993) with a large initial timing advance. Dual quads with manual shift in these years shared the regular distributor (1111055) used on single carb 401s and 425s with either type transmission. The '66 dual quad distributor is listed as the special 1110993 with no reference to transmission type.

To complicate the search, Buick did not build any Super Wildcat cars during the first part of the '66 model year. So the shop manual and brochure have no info on them. Dealers could order the individual parts and upgrade the customer's car to a Super Wildcat according to factory instructions (which I don't have). It is unknown whether dealers were told to upgrade only cars with automatics. In March '66, the factory started building the dual quads again. So there is a little info on them in the parts books.

There are a couple of guys in the forums here who have researched what little factory production data there is on dual quad, 4-speed, and other exotic-optioned cars. That would be the only other place I know to look.
 
Haven't been able confirm one way or the other if there was a factory-built '66 Wildcat dual-quad 3-speed. Several things indicate none were built.

The master parts book printed in '72 shows a listing on a complete 3-spd transmission for a '66 Wildcat 425 with 1-4 bbl. Don't know if this means there was never a 3-spd for a 2-4 bbl car or it had been discontinued by '72.

Parts book only shows one number for a '66 dual quad rear carb: Carter 4051S. This number does not match any earlier year carbs. Transmission type is not specified. Other Buicks showed different carb nos depending on whether transmission was auto or manual.

The late-'64 and '65 dual quad cars with A/T used a special distributor (1110993) with a large initial timing advance. Dual quads with manual shift in these years shared the regular distributor (1111055) used on single carb 401s and 425s with either type transmission. The '66 dual quad distributor is listed as the special 1110993 with no reference to transmission type.

To complicate the search, Buick did not build any Super Wildcat cars during the first part of the '66 model year. So the shop manual and brochure have no info on them. Dealers could order the individual parts and upgrade the customer's car to a Super Wildcat according to factory instructions (which I don't have). It is unknown whether dealers were told to upgrade only cars with automatics. In March '66, the factory started building the dual quads again. So there is a little info on them in the parts books.

There are a couple of guys in the forums here who have researched what little factory production data there is on dual quad, 4-speed, and other exotic-optioned cars. That would be the only other place I know to look.
Great info in both messages! Thanks!

I was thinking about the dealer upgrade (the 2x4 was shipped in the trunk of the optioned car, right?), that maybe that's where a 3-speed Super Wildcat would have come from. Then again since the goal is for this to just look right when you don't look underneath, maybe I should just go with the console automatic interior for the coolness of that console. It has basically no front suspension detail whatsoever so ignoring the wrong trans isn't much of a leap.

I cobbled together something resembling a fuel pump and found a correct looking non-A/C fan. I still have to paint them.
20200804_224217(1).jpg

What color should that pump be? Red or bare metal?

The fuel pump photo I found was an eBay listing with some shady data. It was less about the pump and more about that brass block fitting. Am I seeing it correctly in the pic you posted that the hose makes a J from the pump to the filter and the filter is slightly lower than the pump?

I really do appreciate your help on my silly little project.
 
Here's a little progress pic of the engine. The carbs are on with linkage and the hose to the vacuum advance. The distributor is temporarily in place to check clearance. Also the fan has been corrected to a proper non-A/C 4-blade.
20200805_154838(1).jpg

I wasn't happy with the way AMT molded the coil to the distributor so I separated them and added a vacuum advance diaphragm made from a piece of styrene rod.
20200805_015638(1).jpg

I've noticed that the distributor leans about 5° to the driver's side in photos. Where should the coil be? I think it's supposed to sit upright behind the rear carb to the driver's side of the distributor but it's hard to see in photos. There's not much room. The distributor must be a bit large for the scale. I don't want to do the plug wires until I do the fuel line and that's waiting until I know what color the fuel pump should be. I already made the ridiculously tiny T-block that goes at the front carb inlet and the fuel filter canister. I also have to get the heater hoses attached in that area but it's coming along.
 
I have seen the stories about shipping the 2x4 parts in the trunk as the car left the factory. There are some pretty convincing rebuttal posts out there indicating Buick didn't ship the parts that way. That would have been a lot of stuff going into the trunk: a heavy manifold, 2-carbs, the large air cleaner, and the other parts.

Attached is a blowup of the best brochure photo showing the fuel filter. The top of the filter can is just a little higher than the major crimped seam in the fuel pump. The filter needs to be vertical to insure bubbles can exit the top of the 3-pipe filter. The hose between them looks to be a simple U or J shape.

Here is a page from the '65 shop manual (10-152) showing the ignition coil standing up straight next to the carb as you describe for the double carb setup. The standard position of the coil is shown on pg 68-34 of the '66 manual.

Attached is a message thread on painting the fuel pump. It gives factory documentation stating the pump was not supposed to be painted. The memo dates from 1954 near the start of nailhead production. Other guys on there insist the pump was fully painted at the factory. Still others describe seeing substantial overspray on their pumps. Just for grins I inspected the pump on my '76 Olds Delta 88 w/455. The pump was masked off a little bit around the hose fittings and shows unpainted metal. The other half is fully painted with engine color. So it looks like you can take your pick on how to complete it.

 

Attachments

  • IMG_1861.JPG
    IMG_1861.JPG
    653.1 KB · Views: 3
  • IMG_1862.JPG
    IMG_1862.JPG
    644.1 KB · Views: 3
Last edited:
I have seen the stories about shipping the 2x4 parts in the trunk as the car left the factory. There are some pretty convincing rebuttal posts out there indicating Buick didn't ship the parts that way. That would have been a lot of stuff going into the trunk: a heavy manifold, 2-carbs, the large air cleaner, and the other parts.

Attached is a blowup of the best brochure photo showing the fuel filter. The top of the filter can is just a little higher than the major crimped seam in the fuel pump. The filter needs to be vertical to insure bubbles can exit the top of the 3-pipe filter. The hose between them looks to be a simple U or J shape.

Here is a page from the '65 shop manual (10-152) showing the ignition coil standing up straight next to the carb as you describe for the double carb setup. The standard position of the coil is shown on pg 68-34 of the '66 manual.

Attached is a message thread on painting the fuel pump. It gives factory documentation stating the pump was not supposed to be painted. The memo dates from 1954 near the start of nailhead production. Other guys on there insist the pump was fully painted at the factory. Still others describe seeing substantial overspray on their pumps. Just for grins I inspected the pump on my '76 Olds Delta 88 w/455. The pump was masked off a little bit around the hose fittings and shows unpainted metal. The other half is fully painted with engine color. So it looks like you can take your pick on how to complete it.

Perfect! Thanks! I think I'll just go natural metal on it since there's controversy. It's too small to do overspray on it. Maybe it's a replacement pump. ;) It seems like almost everything Buick has controversy when it comes to what's correct, at least when it comes to colors.

The Wildcat had a pretty big trunk. The cross-ram setup for the 1967-69 Z/28 supposedly shipped in the trunk, too. That's a tiny trunk compared to a Wildcat and a cross-ram with two Holleys plus an air cleaner with a pan to seal to the hood is much bigger than a Buick intake, two AFBs and a round air cleaner, yet there is enough room for them.
1969-chevy-camaro-z28-mcoty-finalist-01.jpg
There's controversy among the Chevy crowd over whether or not this actually happened. I'd hope that if they did ship them in the trunk that they'd have packaged them better!

That painting process was common among the big three. Mopar Hemis, with dual AFBs and black valve covers, were painted after those parts were added. A "correct" Hemi has no orange paint between the carbs because they were covered as a pair when the engine was sprayed. The black valve covers should have some overspray and even some stringy orange paint goo on them because they were also covered for the orange paint spray, then the covers were removed while the paint was still wet. This caused the paint to drip on the black. Mopars are probably the easiest to research because there's just so much out there. Articles like this are a model builder's dream because of all the close-up detail color photos. It's also pretty easy to find them at shows to take my own photos.

This raises an interesting question on the 425. Were those cast aluminum valve covers installed before the engines were painted? Would they have overspray or drips? I'm not changing the model but it's something to ponder. I'm sure that, like the Hemi, the area between the carbs should be unpainted with oversprayed edges, too.

Thanks for the photos and info. I'll probably be back later with photos of the finished fuel line and some other stuff.
 
Well the Super Wildcat is finally done....as done as I'm gonna get it. Here are some pics:
50201152486_4609290bfe_w.jpg
50200609498_bd6ffd7536_w.jpg
50201419442_2c01df04d4_w.jpg
50201152566_faa1d69eda_w.jpg

Don't mind that ugly seam on top of the gearbox. It won't be visible when it's in the car so I didn't bother with it. I did make the bottom look pretty though.
50200609593_d8929727e2_w.jpg

After seeing those photos I decided the carbs needed a thin wash of flat black in the throttle bores to give them some depth. Here's how that turned out.
50201419502_4910a979f2_w.jpg

Now I can move on to other areas, like the body and interior. I'm still waiting for my paint to arrive but there's plenty I can work on while I wait.
 
I haven't posted but I'm still going. With the engine done I've moved on to the interior. I can't find a good photo of the bucket seats but I found this:
1966-buick-wildcat (2).jpeg

Did the upholstery on the buckets look basically like the bench? The Riviera bench looks like the back of the buckets (I can find pics that show the back; just not the front) and the upholstery pattern is close to this. Before I cut them up into buckets that match this pic, I'd like to know if I'm headed in the right direction.

I'll be back with progress pics soon. Plus my paint finally came today so the body will be getting color soon!
 
Here's the picture of '66 Wildcat buckets from the dealer brochure. Upholstery pattern matches closely to the notchback bench seat in your picture.
Perfect, thanks!

That shot of the door panel is great, too, since I have to make those. That's a perfect image of the layout to use as a pattern. I can flip the image for the other side.

I got busy building myself a little spray booth.
20200815_231227_HDR(1).jpg
The paint arrived so I need to get this ready to shoot the body.
 
Nice work. I'm contemplating starting a 62 Lesabre. There only is a kit for an Electra, so I'll have to figure out how to work it over. I've got about 2-3 kits that I think I'll need to poach form to get it how I want it.
 
Yes, the filter is attached to one of the timing case cover bolts. The fuel hose going to the carb. was routed through the bracket that holds the A/C compressor & the Alternator then up to the carb. was ALL rubber hose from the straight up nipple on the pump. The 3rd. line is 1/4" going back to the tank with a 90* nipple attached to the pump on side on A/C equpped vehicles. So to appear correct it needs a line going back to the tank OR seemingly going back to the tank. The ftting on the bottom is the fuel hose from the tank.
I have a 1968 Wildcat that is a one of two car built in '68. It is red with a white interior & a white vinyl roof. Most red cars came with white interior & black vinyl roof or a black interior with a white vinyl roof. I KNOW it was special ordered this way as I went to the Buick dealer in Greenwich, Ct. with the original owner in '67 to order it. I bought the car in Oct. '77 with less than 30K. I know it's original & know the cars history from day one & how she got to know that's it's a one of two cars built.
It has the white interior with a black dash & carpeting & white door panels front & rear & a black package shelf.
There were NO '66 Buick full size cars that came standard shift either on the colomn or on the floor with a 3 speed or a 4 speed as have been mentioned.
The P/S lines have a metal line going up about 6-8" for both low & high sides. From there the low side is clamped to an outlet nipple on the rear of the P/S pump closet to the outside of the car. The high pressure hose screws into a fitting on the rear of the pump closer to the engine. Both are on the bottom of the P/S pump.
There is one steel line going to a junction block on the frame from the M/C for the front brakes, two, & the rear brakes one.
The battery cables are routed the - side goes to a pivot point on the rear of the P/S pump closest to the engine. The + side goes to a junction block, which is also the horn relay, with two wires on the left fender well then leads down to the starter from there & two wires for the horn relay.
The wiring harness comes out of the firewall & 3 wires feed from the horn relay. ALL the other wires go to the Alternator (3) oil pressure switch, kickdown & switch pitch wires, temp gauge wires to the temp. sending unit in the front of the right cylinder head.

Enough for tonight.

Tom T.
.
 
Back
Top