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Thread: 1963 Skylark rearend

  1. #21
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    Well, that's good news in a way. It means that the repair should be relatively inexpensive, assuming you can find the parts. That's also the bad news. I looked on Rock Auto, which is my normal parts info source, and they didn't show any listing for the Skylark/Special bushings before 1964.

    This means you will have to try the vintage specialty parts vendors like Bobs's Automobilia and Cars Inc (there are more than just those two). If no luck there, you could try for a dimensional match with parts for another application. There is nothing magic about the bushings. They just have an inside and outside diameter and an overall length.

    Now just out of curiosity, did you happen to notice if the car also had a panhard bar? This would be a heavy rod running crosswise, connected to the axle housing at one end and to the body at the other end. This is not the same as a stabilizer or anti-sway bar, which will be connected to the axle housing at both ends.

    Ray

  2. #22
    Hi Ray,
    I will need to crawl back under the car to see if it has the Panhard bar or not, I didn't notice it but I will let you know.


    I did find some rear upper control arm bushings here http://www.opgi.com/mcp/2/1/skylark/96/suspension.html
    $20 each. It says they will fit on 61-72 Skylark so I phoned them to be sure. Their web info. isn't quite right, the actual part number for the 63 Skylark is (S240418) They came in pairs for around $60. Good enough for me, at least they are available!

    B.

  3. #23
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    That's a good site you found there. Thanks for posting the link.

    Please don't crawl under just to look for the panhard bar. I asked about it just to satisfy my curiosity because I couldn't find a picture of the 61-63 suspension. This is not a rush, and it can certainly wait till the next time you work on the car.

    Ray

  4. #24
    i would still recommend replacing all of the bushings.

    also, check the control arms AND the frame mounts for damage from the bolts slapping back and forth.

    i wrecked the hell out of a race car once because the right side control arm had wallowed out and was slopping back and forth. this meant that the rear axle housing was actually steering the rear of the car from side to side as the housing moved forwards and backwards out of alignment with my direction of travel. we had wondered why we couldn't get the car to handle, then we found out one night.

    accellerating up onto the straight the RR moved back, steering the car towards the wall. i shaded out of the throttle and started steering left but the car just wouldn't stop going right. when i touched the wall is when things got REALLY exciting. the RR tire had, up until then, been somewhat in position. once it contacted the wall it yanked the control arm completely apart and folded the RR tire under the fuel cell cage. now, normally there's not more than 8" of clearance between a fuel cell cage and the ground. i fit an entire wheel+tire under there.

    i spent the next second or two desperately trying to steer left ( i thought that all the wild thrashing was coming from the car trying to climb the wall ... completely wrong ) and finally gave up and took my hands off the wheel. the car finally started calming down a little bit, slewed to the right and then started trying to roll over. didn't quite get there though, it slammed back down on the track.

    looking at the car later, the right side sheet metal didn't really have much damage on it. the left front frame horn on the other hand ... THAT was bent up out of square ~ 1 1/2". this was caused by the violence of the thrashing from bouncing off of the RR under the fuel cell cage. a rear spring pocket getting jacked up ( down actually, the pocket moving down raises the ride height on that corner of the car ) increases what is known as "cross weight" to the opposing front corner. when you see NASCAR teams adjusting a jacking screw on a pit stop? this is what they're doing ... only making adjustments that are just a teensy bit finer than what i had just done. i applied enough force to tweak the whole damn frame out of shape.

    if that gives you an idea of what my ride was like, you'll see why i think this might be a good point to make.

    i'd have suggested this earlier, but one of your first statements was that you weren't getting movement out of *the housing*.


    this might also be a good time to consider fabricating lower control arms from scratch:
    http://www.teambuick.com/forums/view..._trailing_arms
    Last edited by bob k. mando; 10-02-2012 at 07:19 PM.
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  5. #25
    That is a good website, I was pleasantly surprised to see all the parts that are being reproduced for our old rides? All you guys should go poke around that site. Looks like they have us covered for many parts, if you need them!

    Bob, thanks for the great story and advice. However, right now, I don't have alot of $ to toss at my Skylark. That's why I'm doing this work myself and asking folks here for help. So for now, I'm only going replace and fix things that are crucial. The engine in my Skylark needs a bit of work as well. I've been working on it, it want's to spit and cough out the carburetor when I stomp on the accelerator. I was hoping that it only needed timing and a good tuneup...come to find out, it has two badly worn push rods and rocker arms. Seems the oiler channels in those two rocker arms have not been delivering oil for along time, they are badly clogged with gunk. The tips of the rods are worn way down with little nipples forming right on the top of the lifter rods, the hardened steel cups that the push rods meet up with on the ends of the rocker arms have cracks in them and little parts of that hardened steel have fallen away, they are TOTAL TOAST. When running the engine with the valve cover off, I can clearly see that those two rocker arms are barley jumping up and down compared to the other ones, so the valves are hardly opening at all. I'm figuring that what's causing the Carb backfiring and coughing!? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that those valves have not been damaged/burned to badly. I found a guy selling a bunch of early to mid 1960's Buick parts. He has 6 or 7 old Buick's he's parting out. I've ordered up the entire Rocker arm assembly and the 8 push rods that go with it. Like I say, right now, I can't afford new stuff or a top end re-build, so I'm just going to install the replacement rocker arm assemble and the two replacement push rods. I think since this engine has hydraulic liters, I may be able to get away with this...what do you guys think?

    Those parts are so badly worn, I figure anything will be an improvement!
    Other then the toasted rocker arms and two push rods, the engine seems solid. No Smoke at all. Even though it has two valves that are hardly even opening, it still has good power. So I think basically it's still a good and strong engine. Your comments are most welcome on what I'm doing with the engine. Please keep in mind, this is all I can afford to do at this time. I just want it to run and drive half decent, for now anyway...

    Thanks again you guys!


    B.
    Quote Originally Posted by raycow View Post
    That's a good site you found there. Thanks for posting the link.

    Please don't crawl under just to look for the panhard bar. I asked about it just to satisfy my curiosity because I couldn't find a picture of the 61-63 suspension. This is not a rush, and it can certainly wait till the next time you work on the car.

    Ray
    Last edited by Skylarkowner; 10-03-2012 at 06:46 AM.

  6. #26
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    If you found damaged pushrods or rocker arms, you definitely want to replace them. However, you may have worse problems than that.

    "When running the engine with the valve cover off, I can clearly see that those two rocker arms are barley jumping up and down compared to the other ones, so the valves are hardly opening at all."

    That really worries me, and I need to ask you to run one more test. With the engine idling, press down with your finger on the pushrod end of those two rocker arms. Disregard the valve lift and look only at how much the rocker arms move. Is the lift at the pushrod end noticeably less than on the other rockers? If yes, you may have flat cam lobes on those two valves. I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear, and I hope I am wrong, but it is at least a possibility.

    This thread is starting to get pretty far off the original topic of the rear end. If you want to continue with the valve issue, it might be better to start a new thread in the Small Block, V-6, and Rover V-8 section.

    Ray




    Last edited by raycow; 10-03-2012 at 11:07 AM.

  7. #27
    Hi Ray,
    you're so right, this is way off subject, I'll move it to the proper place...

  8. #28

    6 gear rato 1961-1963 skylark rear

    If the first poster cares I have located a set of 3.36 GM gears for this skylark

    Please contact us and will help you out. I can get you all the bearings for your rebuild... BE careful with the axle seals and bearings THEY ARE VERY hard to find .... I think i have a few...Have to check shelf first. Bearings are even more of a pain. I have rebuilt a few of these odd rears. Here is the picture of one see if it matches what you have. Jim

    J D Race
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    J D Race.com
    Richfield, Oh
    GM Rear Diff Specialists

  9. #29
    Hey JD,
    thanks for your offer to help out with those parts. However, I've learned that my problem was not bad bearings after all. I have a rear upper control arm that has no rubber bushing left in it, so it rattles and makes alot of noise. I've put the car away until next spring, then I'll work on it some more. I will be needing some control arm bushings for this Skylark.

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