1947 RoadMaster Sedan

MNRoadMaster · October 15th, 2009

Hello everybody,
Here's my car I rescued from the crusher...
This car was pretty disintegrated when I found it this past spring. Here's before and after pictures which only tell a small part of the war story. I say war story because it has been a war to get this car back on the road. My older boys and I have spent over 4 months working on this car practically every day and night. We got it to run and the engine fried right away so we found a 48 Roadmaster engine that we transplanted. We are finally burning gasoline and it goes down the road very nicely at 65,000 miles original. We will paint it midnight blue pearl metallic next year after it warms up again. We did the interior and all of the work ourselves. It was quite the scavenger hunt to find the missing pieces.

Roadworthy in 4 months with the interior done in close to factory gray as well. To be painted this coming spring...

Don

First Born · October 15th, 2009

FANTASTIC!! You should be proud of yourself. And the boys helping? Way to go.
The Buick Club of America will welcome you with open arms.
Would enjoy seeing the interior.

Ben

JohnD1956 · October 15th, 2009

First, congrats on saving a piece of Americana. What do you think happened to the original motor?

MNRoadMaster · October 16th, 2009

Thanks Ben!
As soon as I recover from the ensuing Buick bankruptcy, I plan on joining the club!Well, actually that's a picture from a couple of months ago. The skirts are on, trim replaced etc. as well as the interior being just about totally completed. I'll certainly post fresh pics for you. We did the interior all ourselves. My mother in law helped sew the headliner. I got all of the material and panels at a closeout place for $150...

I have another post here with more on the status...
John,
Well now that you mention it that is a looooooong story! The car had an engine and no radiator / grill along with MANY other missing parts. Well, I finally got it running and hustled up a super radiator and new water pump....she lasted 40 miles. I did what I could to resurrect that engine but it's going to need rebuilding. When she was parked many years ago the head gasket was going unknown to me, and the pan was rusted out which I discovered when I was cleaning it out at the car wash. As I say - long story. Anyways, I REALLY was determined to keep her original. So I managed to find a donor with great difficulty and some good fortune. It's basically a "spare tire" because I'm so anxious to get it running for a bit this season here in MN. This is my dream / summer car. I guess I'm kind of unusual in that this will be my daily driver in the summer. Yes, I built her to DRIVE, not sit in the garage. Indeed shes a way kool piece of americana. Yes Ben - this was the boy's "summer school". They learned a great deal and it sure kept them busy.
Thanks again Ben and John!
Don

BJM · October 16th, 2009

Don

I have no doubt that you purchased the Roadmaster that I located on Craigs List - if you indeed purchased it out of Wisconsin. I think I spotted it on Craigs List Madison Wisconsin.

You win my Buick Man award. If we ever get together I am buying you the beer of your choice. I'm real big on saving Buicks rather then buying them already done as a lot (but not all) of baby boomers do.

This Roadmaster you bought I believe you got a good price. Even with the parts missing. It was offered to me at $300 and it was tough to turn down.

Please continue to update us and photos are always welcome. Please bring it to Iowa for the BCA National meet in July 2010. ... and I will buy you that beer and your boys a soda.

Thriller · October 16th, 2009

Cool. There are 2 active chapters of the BCA in MN - I belong to the Gopher State Chapter - even though it's too far for me to attend meetings or all the events. They're a pretty fun group.

I'm happy to hear you will drive the car regularly. Too many of us don't do that. I'd like to drive my cars more, but I'm guilty of watching for rain clouds and the like.

MNRoadMaster · 4 Weeks Ago

Hello Derek!
Thanks for the heads up on the Gopher State Chapter. As soon as I financially recover somewhat from the RoadMaster project I do plan on joining. Perhaps you might be so kind as to perhaps introduce me. A bit of an update here: I was able to obtain an old 2 barrel Holley with adapter plate for my RoadMaster rebuilt and so I transplanted it last night / today. She's running pretty nice. It came off of an old International, and the finish is even mostly there. Now I'm able to put a decent paper style chrome air cleaner on it. My buddy also says he found a spin on oil filter arrangement for it today. The amount of help I've gotten locally and nationally on this project amazes me.
Here's some pics...
Thanks again Derek!
Don

Thriller · 4 Weeks Ago

Don,

I'm about 500 miles away from the meetings, so I generally don't get to any. There's a few folks online here who are Gopher State Chapter members - aside from myself, there's Tom, Wildcat62 (or something close to that - Kris Syrdal), Kevin Kinney the chapter director, and I'm sure a few others that I can't think of at the moment. Don't take them too seriously...they don't.

The first Sunday of May is the big Spring Extravaganza show on Machinery Hill at the state fairgrounds in St. Paul. I don't know if I'll get down this spring, but it's a lot of fun and I know there would be folks there who'd be interested in seeing and learning about your Roadmaster.

First Born · 4 Weeks Ago

Don, very nice job and in such a short time. Great exhaust manifold repair. I like it!
Ben

MNRoadMaster · 4 Weeks Ago

Thanks Ben,
The center exhaust manifolds on these 320 engines break a lot I hear, so I did what I could to quiet her down. Yes, it has been a very busy 4 months. I purposely did not tell the boys that a project like this generally takes years.