'63 full-size Buick turn signal control cable

[electra225]

My '63 Electra has the first-year Comfortilt steering option. 1963 and 1964 full-size Buicks with tilt wheel have a flexible cable that runs from the cancelling cam under the steering wheel to the turn signal switch, mounted further down the steering column, under the instrument panel. The cable appears to be about 24" long, give or take. All GM vehicles of this vintage with tilt wheel have this cable. It is alleged they are all different lengths, but I have not confirmed this, nor do I believe GM would build so many different parts to do the same job. Anyway, the cable currently in my car has a plastic sheath that has broken. This allows the cable to move, but it doesn't properly control the turn signal switch. Besides not having dependable turn signals, the right brake light does not work at all, due to the position of the switch. The 1963 shop manual only shows the ends of this cable. Part numbers do not exist in service documentation. It is alleged that the 1965 and later tilt wheel cars have the turn signal mounted up under the steering wheel, again, unconfirmed. I finally found an all-metal cable. It came from a junkyard/parts house in Texas. Rockwall, TX to be sure. "Obsolete Buick Parts" certainly aptly named. They are alleged to have been in business for 28 years, but the wife found them on the Internet. Glen Moore is the proprietor and says that Riviera cables will fit the big Buicks, which makes sense. (I used to say they built Rivieras out of cull Electra parts! ) much to the chagrin of the Riviera guys. I found a shop in Tempe that is going to install this cable. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this thing actually fixes the turn signal issue.....

[walyfd]

Check with Jason Edge: https://6364cadillac.ning.com/page/clas ... llac-parts

He deals in 1963/64 Cadillac parts. Cadillac also got tilt wheel in 1963. If anyone would know, I'd figure he would.

Tell him wally sent you...

[electra225]

I contacted him earlier. He didn't have one, didn't know whether a Cadillac cable would fit a Buick or not. We'll just wait and see if the one I got will work. That's all I can do at this point. Thanks for the tip.

[electra225]

I found the turn signal control cable that I needed from an outfit out of Texas. Obsolete Buick Parts. Never heard of them, the wife found them online. At one point, she knew where any parts that existed for a '63 full-size Buick was located. This cable is the later, 1964 version that is all-metal. Apparently, even back in the day, GM realized they had an issue with the plastic sheathed cables. The guy who owned the parts place that got me the cable, seemed to know all about these cables. He also told me that all the big Buicks, including Riviera, used the same cable. Most Cadillac and many Oldsmobile cables will work, depending on what shifter they had. This cable allegedly came out of a '64 Wildcat column that had a broken tilt knuckle.

I take the car in on October 18 to have it serviced and to have the cable installed. It will be nice to have working stop lights again.....

[walyfd]

Glad you finally found it. My buddy is looking for a standard heater switch for a 1940 cadillac or packard. We scoured Hershey for it. He did find a sylphon radiator thermostat for like $10 and we also found a 1965 cadillac trumpet horn for $15 but it's a different note from the 62 B Flat for my 62...

My other friend couldn't find squat for his 55 cadillac. It's sad... there were so many empty aisles. I remember standing in line to talk to vendors like Ficken who rebuilds vacuum wiper motors. There was nobody at his stand at noon on Tuesday. Said it's been like that for years. Nobody wants cars with vacuum wipers anymore.

A literature dealer I bought from for years died. They can really consolidate and eliminate Red field.

[electra225]

There is nobody, no professional organization, that rebuilds carburetors in Phoenix anymore. No place to get a Dynaflow rebuilt. Most body shops won't work on cars older than 20 years now. Only one chrome shop. They are only still there because they have industrial work they do. Most auto repair shops won't mess with classic cars. Tire shops won't inflate or repair a tire older than 10 years old. Many of the detail and upholstery shops in south Phoenix are long gone. Repowering older cars is common. Getting a 327 rebuilt is almost ten grand anymore. You are right, it's sad.....

[Dr. Radio]

I found the turn signal control cable that I needed from an outfit out of Texas. Obsolete Buick Parts. Never heard of them, the wife found them online. At one point, she knew where any parts that existed for a '63 full-size Buick was located. This cable is the later, 1964 version that is all-metal. Apparently, even back in the day, GM realized they had an issue with the plastic sheathed cables. The guy who owned the parts place that got me the cable, seemed to know all about these cables. He also told me that all the big Buicks, including Riviera, used the same cable. Most Cadillac and many Oldsmobile cables will work, depending on what shifter they had. This cable allegedly came out of a '64 Wildcat column that had a broken tilt knuckle.

I take the car in on October 18 to have it serviced and to have the cable installed. It will be nice to have working stop lights again.....

Glad to hear you found something.

I think you owe your wife a nice dinner.

[electra225]

The Buick is in the shop having the turn signal control cable renewed. There is a '63 Cadillac Sedan de Ville in for the same issue, ironically. I am not familiar with the car. It is white with blue interior, a nice original example. Loaded, loaded, loaded all the Cadillac goodies. Power windows, wing vents, Twilight Sentinel, Guidematic, Wonderbar radio, rear window defogger, tissue dispenser, maybe even cruise control? There was a doodad in the engine comprtment that I judged to be the cruise control. Not a restored car by any means. Apparently, the plastic control cable was not a Buick-only malady. My understanding is that there was a re-design in mid-1963 going to an all-metal cable. Mine is a late '63 car, so I don't understand why it would have the plastic cable. Maybe because it was built in Kansas City rather than Flint?

That Cadillac was loaded but only had a single exhaust. When did Cadillac start using single exhaust instead of duals?

[walyfd]

1961. When they killed off the Q engine.

[electra225]

Was dual exhaust an option on Cadillac after 1960? What was the "Q" engine?

Other than Wildcat and Riviera that had standard dual exhausts, you didn't see duals all that common on the big Buicks, although it remained an option up to 1975 when catalytic converters came on board. The reason people didn't order dual exhaust in rust country is that they were expensive to maintain. You had to do the resonators and "trash can" muffler about every year. Duals are more common in the southwest and California. You see dual exhausts quite frequently on cars in California and Arizona parts yards.

[walyfd]

There was no optional exhaust. Whatever they decided to supply was it.

The Q engine is the dual-quad from 55-57 or the 6 pack from 58-60, aka the Eldorado engine.

[walyfd]

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage ... bigger-v8/

How appropriate for this to pop up while we're talking about 63 Buicks.

[electra225]

Uncle Tom Cahill said a '63 Wildcat was "hotter than a fire-eater's moustache". The old 401/Dynaflow combination was potent in its day. Mine will accelerate with traffic just fine. Stopping is the issue. When you have a 4800 pound car with drum brakes running with 3000 pound cars with four-wheel discs, I drive leaving myself a hole, and driving with my butt puckered a lot. I drive it like I'm driving a dump truck.

[walyfd]

Power brakes or no? I find the 62 with drums to be about as confident stopping as the 91. The 57 was always hard to stop.

[electra225]

Power brakes. It's an Electra. Power brakes were standard. These brakes are not the good Raybestos kind. I need to put the good Velvet Touch linings then have the shoes arched to the drums. It will never out-stop modern cars.

Well, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that the turn signal control cable in my Buick is not bad. The bad news is the part I got is 3" too long. The bolt under the steering wheel that retains the cable fell out and let the cable flop around like it was broken. The bad news is that the turn signal switch appears to be the problem. When the car went into the shop, the RH brake light wouldn't work. When it left the shop, the LH stop light won't work. Sometimes. Sometimes they both work. He got the switch adjusted better than what it was so I can manage while we hunt for a turn signal switch.

The guy who worked on the Buick bought the guy out who bought out my shop. He worked with Art, so, if he worked with Art he had to know his business. He says used switches or even new ones may not work. Here is where we get sideways. I kinda feel like if I have a '63 Buick that has a bad turn signal switch and I get another '63 Buick turn signal switch it oughta work. This is a production car that they made more than one of. I'll have to look into that one. He also told me this turn signal/stop light/control cable issue was unique to 1962 to 1964 Cadillacs with tilt column and '63 and '64 Buicks so equipped. The parts guy says all the turn signal switches for these cars are the same. The guy working on the car says he has to custom-built the switches and wants $1200 to do that. I don't think I'll do that. It is better than it was, and I can get by until I come up with an answer I can live with.

[walyfd]

No tilt wheel in 62 cadillac. It was a 63 feature. So, if it's the switch you need, again, reach out to Jason edge who deals in 63-64 cadillac parts. I know he'd have the switch.

[electra225]

What do you think about the comment that a '63 Buick/Cadillac turn signal switch may not work in a '63 Buick/Cadillac? I have a hard time with that comment. I am not going to call the guy wrong, he has more current experience than I do. I find it hard to believe that one has to custom-build common parts for a production automobile, particularly a GM car.

Did the '63 Oldsmobiles have cornering lights?

The problem I am having is a matter of trust. I have worked on these steering columns myself in the past. What I am being told about replacement switches not working is totally foreign to my experience. I don't know what to believe. My diagnosis of the control cable not being right was right. Just for a different reason, to be sure. I'd never heard of the bolt falling out of the cable retainer, never saw one of these cables that was giving trouble that wasn't broken. I do have pictures of mine and it looks okay. I was told it might be "stretched" whatever that means. I have the 1963 big Buick shop manual and it says that tilt columns take a different switch from stationary columns, and that cornering light jobs take a different switch. That would make a total of four switches for a '63 big Buick. Riviera take she same series of switches. Possibly Cadillac as well. I have a couple conditions in my car that may be complicating matters. MY Electra has a blank, tilt column. No shifter. So, do the blank column Buicks possibly use a Chevy/Pontiac steering column? Was tilt column an option in Chevy/Pontiac? If the cable the parts place sent is indeed out of a Wildcat, why is it so long? My car was obviously "modified" off-line. They pulled it off the line and made the floor shift modifications. Floor shift was not an option in regular production Electras. The guy also told me the wiring harness for the cornering lights was not attached to the turn signal switch and he couldn't find it. That is a factory installed option. Where did the wire go? It has to be there someplace. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. At least, now I have a place to start.

[walyfd]

Not sure it'll help but here's from the MPL

[electra225]

Thanks, Walter, that does help. #1993621 is the part number for the turn signal switch for the Buick, also fits series 4700, Riviera. I see it fits Cadillac as well. There are only two part numbers for Buick instead of four. One for tilt wheel which all have the cornering light connections, and one for non-tilt. These don't have cornering light connections. According to the Buick shop manual, all jobs with cornering lights use the same switch, whether they have tilt columns or not.

Now to figure out why Scott told me that replacement switches, NOS or used, will not work.