So the sellers of the big green Riviera called me (see, Ooops, we're at it again to find out why the hell we bought a 1975 Riviera) to tell me more bad news. One, the tranny was definately bad, but what's worse, there was coolant in the antifreeze, which indicated either a cracked block or head, or in a very rare case, a headgasket leaking coolant into the oil. I had sensed that something was up when I noticed a new radiator, water pump, and thermostat, all changed by the sellers within a few weeks. It seemed to me like they were chasing a problem - that problem more than likely was a cracked block or head, and coolant getting lost in the oil. What's worse, is this explains the oil light coming on while I was driving home. The coolant was slowly galling the bearings until there was no oil pressure left. They simply hadn't driven it far enough, and at the massive-transmission-slipping RPM's that I had on the way home, it sealed the deal. I was blowing up the motor and didn't even know it. Fun.
So the sellers were at a complete loss on what to do. Honestly, I consider myself very lucky. I could have had some sellers that just told me to get screwed, and then I was stuck with a car frame missing the two most important parts of the swap - the motor and tranny. What's even odder is that they told me they were going to try to find a motor and tranny for the car, and put it in... I told them I didn't see how this was possible as the cost involved in this would probably be over what the vehicle was worth. I felt really bad for these people. They had the worst string of luck and felt obligated to do something about it. At this point they were stuck fixing a car that utimately would cost them more money to sell than it was worth. We agreed for them to return my money to me and I would call this a dead issue - a major bullet dodged for me.
But then...they called me back on Friday to tell me they had just got back from Iowa, where they found another 455/400 from a 1976 Electra, and were in the process of having a garage install the motor and tranny! They even pulled the trans apart to change the front pump seal and the rear main seal of the motor. They told me they wanted everything perfect. I asked for picture documentation of what they were doing and they agreed to take as many as they could.
You can't buy this kind of dedication for 1,500.00.
Stay tuned.
