This is getting silly now....

[electra225]

On my Buick, there is a cable that runs from the cancelling mechanism under the steering wheel out to the turn signal switch proper. The plastic housing on the cable (in my case) broke. This makes the stop lights and turn signals wonky. I need to get a reproduction cable. I have the part number, 1960533. I tried three places. They have one listed for a Riviera. The Buick shop manual says big Buicks and Riviera with Comfortilt steering take the same cable. All three places disagree with this and won't sell me a cable for a Riviera, says it won't fit. I'm guessing Buick, Cadillac and at least Oldsmobile, maybe even Pontiac takes the same cable, they surely have the same steering column, maybe even the trucks are the same. I can't imagine GM making a cable specific model to model, they would want as much interchangeability as possible. My thinking is that the A bodies and Chevrolet take one cable, the B and C bodies take another, but I could be all wet. The Chevy guys say theirs won't work on a Buick, the Buick guys say theirs won't work on an Electra. How about Cadillac parts suppliers? Anybody know of a good Cadillac parts place I might try? This is getting silly.

Lest someone take the time to Google this, I read several threads about how guys kluged Chevy cables to work on a Buick. That might be okay doing it "beer thirty", but I'm going to have to pay a shop to do this. They won't want a kluge and I don't want to pay them to tinker trying to make an incorrect part work. I want to find the correct cable so I can make a mechanic's life a little easier. I have a shop who has agreed to do the work, but they aren't thrilled about it. They are a hot rod shop and have no interest in a stock classic car. And I understand that. I appreciate their willingness to help and I want to do my part to make the process as painless as possible.

[walyfd]

What year? I can check my cadillac books and see if it says anything about other GM models.

[electra225]

1963 Buick Electra 225 with Comfortilt wheel. The factory GM (Buick?) part number is 1960533. I have the '63 Buick service manual. It is only for the big Buicks, not Riviera. Riviera and the A bodies had their own manuals. The cable for tilt wheel is the same for all the big Buicks. Thanks, Walter.

I contacted a local junkyard. Their Hollander book says Riv and big Buicks are the same cable. The difference in the columns are the Riv has different trim on the bottom of the column.

I also found a Cadillac parts place, "Caddy Daddy" who wanted $280 for a USED cable for a '63 Cadillac. I have a USED one......

[walyfd]

Ok, so first year GM offered it because it was a new cadillac feature for '63...

[electra225]

'63 was the first year for Comfortilt in a Buick. I put a tilt column in a '62 Wildcat because the owner was a bit rotund and a tilt wheel made it easier for him to enter his car. When did Cadillac start the tilt and telescopic steering wheel? The new 1970 Oliver 1655 tractor I bought at the Farm Progres Show in 1969 had a tilt and telescope steering column that the salesman told me used Cadillac parts. I'm assuming Saginaw Gear made the parts for Oliver.

[TC Chris]

I'm assuming Saginaw Gear made the parts for Oliver.

Pulleeeze.... Michiganians must insist on correct usage. Saginaw Steering Gear!

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

[walyfd]

Tilt wheel available in '63 on Cadillac. Tilt/telescope wheel was '65. 1992 Brougham was the last year for telescope wheel and the last without air bag. Apparently GM couldn't or didn't want to go through the trouble.

[electra225]

The first tilt/telescope wheel I had on a Buick was in '71. My understanding is that tilt/telescope may have started on Buick in 1969 when they put the ignition switch on the steering column. My '68 Limited had every factory option and tilt/telescope was not part of it.

I still believe a Cadillac turn signal cable will work on my Electra. I have plenty of Cadillac parts on that car now. I have a set of power wing vents for it, off a Cadillac, but may never get them installed. When Art died, that put the kaibash on Buick repair/restoration around here.

[electra225]

I was wrong about a Cadillac cable working on my Buick. I have found that a '63 Buick and allegedly Riviera, depending on who you talk to, use a unique cable. No other year, no other GM division, used this specific cable. I can get a new one for a Riviera, but the people who sell it says it won't fit an Electra and there are no refunds once I buy it, so I'd be stuck if it didn't work. Option 1 appears to be removing the steering column, removed the old cable, measure it, then trying to coax a supplier for other divisions to measure their cables and see if one will fit. Option 2 is to change the steering column to a later model. Columns thru 1966 will allegedly work. Cables for those years are available. 1963 was the first year for Comfortilt steering in a Buick. Since mine is a "blank" column, with no shifting mechanism, I'd have to find a tilt column for a Wildcat with a floor shift, probably as hard to find as a cable for mine. Another possibility is to find someone who will build a cable for me. The one on ebay is still there, and is a good possibility. I didn't want another plastic cable. I may not be able to be so picky. The hunt continues.

[Firedome]

I'd be surprised if a '63 Olds 98 used a different one, but then again could it be because... Buick Dynaflow?
Don't have any '63 Olds parts books.

Plan B: manual arm signaling is still legal in some places like NY! at least in AZ your arm won't freeze..lol

[walyfd]

Sorry the cadillac idea didn't work. Despite what a lot of people think, there really were division and year distinct parts. My '57 cadillac is a nightmare of it... water pump, air cleaner, brake booster... on and on.

Check Oldsmobile dealers. Years ago, I was looking for a part. I called fusick. They had it. Asked me what car I had. I said "Coupe deville". Well thats not an Oldsmobile! You have the part and my money is green and American... want the sale?

Now fusick sells olds AND cadillac parts...

[electra225]

I thought about Dynaflow being an issue, but I have a blank column, with no shifter at all. It doesn't know whether it's a Dynaflow or a Power Flite. I believe the issue is the first-year tilt column. I don't hear as many issues with the 1962's that didn't have tilt, or the 1964's that had second-year tilt columns. The heater control valve for air conditioned cars is unique to the 1963 and 1964 big Buicks only. They are not reproduced and they are not rebuildable. Yeah, mine is bad. Walter, Booster Dewey used to do Cadillac Treadle-Vacs in Oregon. Basically the same as the '57 Buick with some exceptions on placement. I think the guts are very similar. Another part always bad on a '63 Buick is the hinge for the glove box. The lid lifts up, it's made in the first-year plastic instrument panel and gets eat up in the sun. And the fan shrouds are fiberglass and it doesn't take much to bust one. Cars run on gravel roads would let the fan catch a rock and toss it thru the shroud. Original timing covers are getting scarce and spendy. I see new ones are available for $379, cheap, I guess, if you were rebuilding an engine and found the one you had with a hole in it. Nice oil pans for 401's are getting scarce. You can't get the correct length valve stems for the wheels anymore. The Buick club has finally agreed to not take points off for the incorrect length valve stems. Part of the problem with parts is that all the old-timey parts houses are either closed or bought out by people needing to make a profit. No more labor of love organizations supplying parts. No integrity, no real car guys in the parts business anymore. They just find their niche, then start charging. Just because "they are not making them anymore" isn't justification for price gouging.

I hadn't thought about Fusick. That is worth a phone call. Thanks for that, guys.

[TC Chris]

For those of us without experience in these vehicles... is this a mechanical control cable, or an electric cable? Is there some reason you can't fabricate one that would work?

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Sorry, I guess I should have made that point more clear. The cable is a plastic sheathed cable with a metal wire running thru it. So I reckon that would make it a mechanical cable rather than an electrical one. One could make one if they had something to wrap the wire sheath. IT looks like the throttle cable that was on lawn mowers back when lawnmowers had variable throttles. The main issue is the length. All these turn signal cables are basically the same. The difference is length and how long the "pull" of the cable is. The plastic sheathing breaks and instead of pushing the turn signal switch, the cable sheath just moves and the wire inside doesn't move. Without the cable properly positioning the turn signal switch, not only are the turn signals affected, but the right stop light doesn't work. Hand signals in Arizona are technically legal, but, if I were to use hand signals, someone might take that as a gang sign or some type of road rage nonsense and get all triggered and try to shoot me. You can get run over in an old car around here. You need all the defense you can get. People who drive Dodge trucks and Dodge Challengers drive those things like they stole them.

[TC Chris]

I bought a new throttle control for my very old lawn mower a few years back, at Ace. Surely the online industrial supply folks have a variety of options for such systems. Could you fabricate a replacement? At least while you seek a period-correct one?

And as to hand signals... as a bicycle commuter, that's all I have. Problem is, nobody under 70 knows what they are, so I use an alternate right-turn signal: I point right. Even the most dim-witted drivers (lots of competition for that position, folks) ought to be able to figure out what it means when I'm extending my right arm out. The presence of a bicycle tends to terrify drivers, which is fine with me; it makes 'em take a wide path around me. But you're right, the Dodge-branded vehicles seem to induce aggressiveness. I call it testosterone poisoning, except that I suspect that there is an inverse relationship between the size of the wheels and that of the driver's male equipment.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I drive an old Buick and a Mini Cooper. When I drive the Mini, I can tell you all about catalytic converters and gas tanks. The exhaust on those smoky diesel pickups come out right at window height on a Mini. People think an old car is invisible. They cut in front of you, pull out in front of you. I get the finger all the time when I drive the Buick. I drive it like it was a dump truck, leave lots of room between me and the car in front of me. There is invariably a Dodge or a Honda Odyssey that cuts in front. Honda Odysseys are well-known around here for being the #1 red light-running vehicle. Frequently, when there is a death caused by a red light runner, the offending vehicle is a Honda Odyssey. Or a Dodge Challenger cut in three pieces. The engine goes one way, the passenger compartment goes another way, the back end across the road.

[Firedome]

I've been using Fusick since the '80s. They're OCA members since the earliest days of the club and Mike has gone the extra mile to repop Olds parts when they go extinct, even with parts with very low volume sales. I just got a couple of GM-licensed fender badges for my '69 from them and the rear repro bumper I got last year was perfection. He's one of the good guys in the car hobby and not just in it for the bucks, unlike those big vintage parts houses, you know who I mean.