1952 Special Deluxe Project

[Mudbone]

"
Mud,

Thanks for the info. What do the back sides of these studs look like? On mine, the stud is completely loose in the hole. You can push on it and it will go all the way up into the hole and when you let go it will fall back out through the hole but it will not come all the way out. It just hangs there. You can also spin it all the way around. It almost feels like it had a nut or a head of some kind on the inside of the transmission that held it in place. Maybe ours are made differently If I'm reading your post correctly, your studs are threaded on both ends and screw up into the trans. I don't think mine work like that When you push up on the stud, it actually feels like if you pushed it far enough into the hole, it would end up inside the trans! Like there's no end to the hole it comes out of."

I checked the Buick parts book. The reaction flange looks the same as my 55. The studs are the same part number from 49-56. See photo. Part E and part U. I would say you would need to pull it out and install a heli coil. If you have never done it before I would find some one who has or practice on something else. If you do it correctly it will be a permanent repair. Mud

[JohnD1956]

regarding " It's like whatever holds the stud in place inside the trans. housing has broken loose leaving the stud to just spin. You can't access the back side of the stud. Meaning it is now impossible to tighten a nut onto it."

It sounds like the bolt for the pan is installed upside down. By this I mean somehow the bolt in the stripped holes was inserted from inside the trans and then a nut was installed on the bolt to hold the pan on.

I don't know if there is room to drop that bolt into the hole from inside the transmission. Perhaps it could be done if the valve body is out? But if it was done then there are two things I can think of to snug the nut. One is to use a box end wrench while pushing the bolt ( stud) against one side of the bolt hole. If you are strong enough this will bind the bolt and allow the nut to be tightened most of the way. Then it's possible to hold the bottom of the bolt ( stud) with pliers and snug the nut some more. Not the right way to do it but it may work. Mostly I'd agree with Mud about the helicoil.

Hey Mud, do you think the Helicoil could be installed with a light coat of thread locker red? I mean light enough that it doesn't come through the coil and gum up the threads.

[shadetree77]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll get under there and take a closer look at that stud. I'll check into the heli coil as well. I've heard of them but never done one myself.

So I've been working on the oiling system again for the last few days. Should be ready to fire it up on Friday. Seems like it's been forever since I first pulled off that valve cover to check for clogs! Everything's looking nice and clean. Got my lifters/valves pre-adjusted. Pretty easy once you read over the manual a few times. Took me a while to find the timing hole cover on the bell housing though! I didn't really know what I was looking for at first, not to mention that it was covered in 60 years of gunk. Filled up the oil and trans. with fresh clean fluids. Cleaned out the filter can and put in a new filter. Just have to get my push rod cover back on, put the distributor cap and plug wires back on, and hook up my coil and battery and she'll be good to go.

[Mudbone]

Shadetree77

"Hey Mud, do you think the Helicoil could be installed with a light coat of thread locker red? I mean light enough that it doesn't come through the coil and gum up the threads. "

I use Blue in most cases as it is removable without heat. For heli coils I would use red. Mud

[Buicknutty]

Cool project Shadetree! Although my Dad wasn't really into working on cars to much, he was a smart guy, and helped me a lot with my first couple of projects, and I learned so much from him. Brings back good memories working with him, as he passed away last year at 93. Wish I had a picture of us together, but we were always dirty, and no one else in the house could use a camera!
Keep up the good work, and keep posting!
Keith

[shadetree77]

I want to start off by saying that I know a lot of car guys name their old cars. Seems to be a tradition of sorts. I've toyed with the idea of naming my old Buick but never could seem to find the right name. Well, today I think I've settled upon an appropriate moniker. Lucy. Why Lucy you ask? First, I have to tell you what happened today. As many of you know I've been re-building the oiling system for months now. Everything from parts difficulties to back injuries have kept me from finishing the job. Today, I was SOOOO close to starting the car. I got my push rod cover back on, coil back on, cap and plug wires back on, fuel system hooked back up and primed, and battery installed. Turned the key on to let the electric fuel pump fill the carburetor with gas. Waited about 10 seconds and was about to crank the engine when I hear my dad yell, "Shut it off!! Shut it off!!!". I get out of the car and go around the front and there is gas pouring out of the carb body. It appears that the float needle is not seating when the bowl is full of gas allowing the pump to overflow the bowl and pour out around every nook and cranny. I took the bowl plug out of the side of the carb and the float is working. You can see it floating on top of the gas in the bowl. I don't understand what happened in the last few months of it sitting because it was functioning normally last time I drove the car. So now I have to pull the carb off, tear it down AGAIN, and check the float needle. Now, back to Lucy. I'm sure many of you are familiar with Charlie Brown. I'm sure many of you also remember the iconic scene that occurs so often between Charlie Brown and Lucy involving a football. Well, I've come to realize that I'm Charlie Brown, my Buick is Lucy holding a football, and the football represents my desire to drive my car. I keep trying and trying to kick that football and every time I get close, Lucy pulls it away! Aaugh!!

[First Born]

Robert, just in case you have not thought of it, what pressure is the elect pump pushing? The needle assembly can only handle around 4 to 5 pounds.

Ben

[shadetree77]

Ben, my pump is a Mr. Gasket brand rated at 4 to 7 lbs. It's been on there since I got the car and I've probably run the engine 50 times or more and driven it roughly 40 miles or so with no problems. I don't have much experience with electric fuel pumps hooked up to old carbs. Could this be something that could work ok for awhile, then all of a sudden build up too much pressure and mess something up? I just checked and even the electric pumps listed on Bob's are rated for 4 to 6 lbs.

[First Born]

No, the carb should handle that. And I would not think the pump could change and put out more pressure than usual. I just thought perhaps you had just installed it.
And Lucy appears to be a fitting name!

Ben

[JohnD1956]

LOL on the Lucy Name. But just remember, Lucy is never in charge of the comic strip, and Charlie Brown is always rewarded for his persistence and positive thinking. Then you can still keep the name Lucy, as in "I love Lucy"...

Merry Christmas

[shadetree77]

Looks like my 52 project is on hiatus for a bit. Man....when it rains it pours! Had a lot of bad luck vehicle-wise this week. First the carb malfunctioned on my Buick, then our primary means of transportation(98 Jeep Wrangler)started knocking and I had to park it, then my back up ride(79 Tbird)started having charging issues. All of this culminated in a trip to our local car lot and the purchase of a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta(my wife's pick, NOT mine). Until I get my Jeep and Tbird sorted out, it looks like ole' Lucy is on the back burner. I'll update when I get the carb torn down. Might have an hour or so to polish my new tail fins and rear bumper guards soon. I'll try to put that up too. Until then, take it easy my friends, and try to stay warm while you're wrenching!!

[shadetree77]

I was walking around Lucy today and noticed that the red paint on the trunk handle emblem that I worked on is now peeling! Not sure what happened. Maybe the cold, wet weather just got to it. I’m going to take it off and re-paint it. This time I’m going to put some clear coat on it. Just wanted to make sure I put this on here to let anyone who tries the painting method I described for this and other parts know that the paint may peel if you don’t clear coat it. I’ll re-paint, clear coat, and then keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t peel again. On another front, I got my carburetor re-build kit in the mail a few days ago. Now I just have to squeeze out some time to pull it off the motor and tear it down......so many parts to re-build, so little time.

[shadetree77]

Finally got some time to work on my new fins. They're not in perfect shape. They have some pitting and some scratches where someone apparently tried to polish them up at some point. It's mostly near the fronts and I'm glad they gave up on it before they scratched the whole darn thing! Be that as it may, they are shiny and that's all that matters to me! My old ones have zero chrome left on them. I started off by removing the emblems from the sides. They were held on by two push-on rectangular holders. After that, I washed the fins with dish soap and a soft rag. After they dried, I shined them up with my tried and true chrome polishing method. Super fine (000) steel wool and Mother's Mag polish followed by 3 coats of wax. Then I decided to re-paint the recessed areas on the ends of the fins. I get the idea that a lot of folks don't realize these are supposed to be painted. Same thing with the portholes on these cars. I've looked at a LOT of pictures of the '51 and '52 cars and the painting of these recessed areas on the various chrome parts seem to be forgotten after these parts are re-chromed. To paint these I used my "paint and cork" method described earlier in this thread leaving out the adhesion promoter this time. Painted some flat black Testors paint on there as best I could, then used the rag-covered cork dipped in thinner to remove the excess. Came out pretty good I think.

[JohnD1956]

That does look good. It's the little things like that which sets cars apart. Keep documenting your efforts. especially on the Carb. I have to do my 56's carb as well.

[Buicknutty]

Looks nice, keep up the good work!
Keith

[shadetree77]

Thanks for the comments guys. John, I'll try to take some pictures when I tear that carb down again. It won't be a complete re-build this time as I've already done it once and don't need to take every single screw and bolt apart this time. Wish I would have documented the first time I did it. I thought it was fun and I learned a lot about how carburetors work. A few pieces of advice for when you do yours though. Take LOTS of pictures of the carb and linkages on your car and off. Every step of the way. I took about 50 pictures and still didn't capture everything I needed during the re-build. Second, the choke and throttle valves/plates are held onto the shafts by tiny brass screws. These screws are "staked" as well. Be VERY careful when removing these and make SURE you buy new ones from a carb shop to put back in. DO NOT RE-USE THE OLD ONES!! Stay away from cheap ones you might have lying around in a drawer too. I ignored this advice in the service manual and one of them broke off in the shaft when I was trying to put it back in. Luckily, I got it out but then I proceeded to try to put a screw I found in a drawer in there and it was cheap metal and broke off as well!! Consequently, I had to take it to a carb shop and have them drill out the cheapo screw, tap the hole, and put in a new over-sized screw. That was a $100 lesson right there. I could have avoided all that by spending less than $1 on some new screws from a carb shop. I got impatient and it came back and bit me square in the wallet!

[shadetree77]

Next, I decided to re-paint the emblems that came off the sides of the fins. I only discovered recently that these were indeed painted at one time. Once again, I think these get forgotten a lot because I have seen very few pictures of these where they were actually painted. Even on some really good looking restored cars. I didn't even know they were supposed to be painted until I ran across a NOS set of emblems for sale on a website. Anyway, I started by mounting them to a piece of cardboard to make them easier to handle and then wiping them with some thinner to clean the surfaces. I once again made use of the "paint and cork" method. I used red, white, and blue Testors paint on top of a few coats of Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter. However, painting these emblems proved to be a little trickier than normal. The recessed areas on these emblems are not very deep so you have to be REALLY careful with the cork when you're cleaning off the excess paint. I messed up the paint several times and had to re-paint whole areas. Still, I think they came out pretty good. I am also going to spray some clear coat on these before I re-mount them to the fins. They are in direct exposure to the weather so I think some clear coat would do well to protect them.

[JohnD1956]

Thanks for the comments guys. John, I'll try to take some pictures when I tear that carb down again. It won't be a complete re-build this time as I've already done it once and don't need to take every single screw and bolt apart this time. Wish I would have documented the first time I did it. I thought it was fun and I learned a lot about how carburetors work. A few pieces of advice for when you do yours though. Take LOTS of pictures of the carb and linkages on your car and off. Every step of the way. I took about 50 pictures and still didn't capture everything I needed during the re-build. Second, the choke and throttle valves/plates are held onto the shafts by tiny brass screws. These screws are "staked" as well. Be VERY careful when removing these and make SURE you buy new ones from a carb shop to put back in. DO NOT RE-USE THE OLD ONES!! Stay away from cheap ones you might have lying around in a drawer too. I ignored this advice in the service manual and one of them broke off in the shaft when I was trying to put it back in. Luckily, I got it out but then I proceeded to try to put a screw I found in a drawer in there and it was cheap metal and broke off as well!! Consequently, I had to take it to a carb shop and have them drill out the cheapo screw, tap the hole, and put in a new over-sized screw. That was a $100 lesson right there. I could have avoided all that by spending less than $1 on some new screws from a carb shop. I got impatient and it came back and bit me square in the wallet!

Thanks for the tips Robert. Especially the "staked" screws!

[wmsue]

Thanks for taking to time to educate and inform us of your progress. I really enjoy following your stories and learning. Keep it up. You sure are able to find more time than I do to work in the shop. I'm a bit jealous.

Thanks

[JohnD1956]

Hey Robert, how's the testors enamel paint holding up to the clear coat finish?

[shadetree77]

Well John, not so well. I used a Krylon lacquer clear spray and it kind of bubbled the paint a little. I was not aware that lacquer and enamels don't mix very well. Looks like it's back to square one. I did some research and apparently Testors makes a spray "clear glosscote" that they say is compatible with their enamel paints under most conditions. Seems kind of strange since it's listed as a lacquer. But they claim on their site it IS compatible with their enamels. So I'm off to the hobby store to find some of this "glosscote" stuff and re-paint the emblems once again. I'll let you know how it goes.

Bill, no problem. I really enjoy reading all of the other restoration threads on here and find them really informative and motivating. Glad I can provide some info. to others. As far as shop time goes, I work third shift security so I get home right around 8 AM. Which just happens to be around the time my wife is leaving for the day. We don't see each other much during the week so that leaves right around 6 or 7 hours a day I can spend out there. Weekends have been claimed by the wife though!

[shadetree77]

I finally got around to taking my carburetor off the engine yesterday. When I re-built it the first time I never thought I'd have to tear it back down this soon! I don't really mind the tear down and re-build process, I just hate the adjustments you have to do when you put it back together. Anyway, I'm going to set up my work space this weekend. Much to the annoyance of my wife, I insist on using the kitchen table covered with a white towel to do the re-build on. That way I can sit comfortably and if I drop any of the tiny parts I can see where they land. She complains because the house smells of gas for a few days. Last time she complained about this I jokingly mentioned that I was thinking about using her oven to bake some powdercoated parts in next. Haha! She didn't think that was very funny though! Whenever I get around to working on the carb I'll try to post a few pictures. Think I might take a trip out to a local antique mall today to look for some more man-tiques. That place is MASSSIVE and it takes about 3-4 hours to look at everything. Have a good weekend guys and gals!!

[smithbrother]

You should look into using "1-SHOT" paints. Sign painters have used this FOREVER, and it holds up in the weather very well.

I RATTLE can paint a lot, TESTING IS THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW WHAT WORKS ON TOP OF PRODUCTS, and when you can SECOND COAT.

I don't buy any paints that don't say, RECOAT ANYTIME. I have found even if you wait the 48 to 72 hours as stated on many paints, to recoat, well even then often the 2nd. coat reacts.

I always spray a scrap, then use it as my test piece.

"1-SHOT" paints are sold in ART SUPPLY STORES, and many HOBBY STORES.

You will like their products,

Dale in Indy

P.S. When spraying CLEARS over your color, I have found you do NOT want to WET COAT THE FIRST COAT, it will tend to soften the first coat. I try to give the first 2-3 coats of clear just a dusting, let that dry a bit then a wet coat. IMO

[Rob McDonald]

ROBERT, I'm loving the picky little details that you're learning on and that you're sharing those learnings with us. Those emblems just come alive with the colours filled in. Who says you've gotta spend bags of money to have a great time restoring a fine old Buick?

[shadetree77]

Dale, thanks for the suggestion. I will most definitely look into the 1-shot paints. Sounds like they will hold up better in the weather than the Testors. Have you ever clear coated over them?

Rob, thanks for the comments. That's pretty much the idea. I definitely don't have "bags of money" laying around so when I get the urge to work on something it HAS to be cheap or free to do so. I brainstorm on the cheapest ways to do things but still attain quality. It's not always possible and I do have to open the ol' wallet now and again but with a little forethought and ingenuity one can get good results 9 times out of 10. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not being a skinflint when it comes to the big important parts. All the replacement parts I use are NOS, original, or repro's. I just try to keep the detail work cheap so I don't have to pay someone else to do it!