Kaftan

That's a very intriguing thought... It certainly could be the fuel pump. An imploded pump would be a much better problem to have, ha. That is to say, of course, I'll still be checking out under the valve cover to see what I can see. Thank you, all, for the advice!

@lhend50 Curious - what did the issue turn out to be?

Love this rig

Alllllrighty then, a few more steps forward, and one disturbingly gigantic step backward! This past week has seen me put in several long nights in the garage to get some things done. Not that I have a lot to show for it, ha - things just seem to take me entire, consecutive hours! While awaiting for ordered pieces and parts to arrive, I filled the transmission up with 85w-140. I ended up wearing a quart of it, ha, but got the job done. My attention turned to reassembling the rear suspension, which I'm sure most know is not complicated at all. It's been a long time since the Buick has been this assembled! I then revisited the air intake. "Huh, that's funny... I thought I had just put oil in the oil bath..." Sure enough, a miniscule hole was evident. So I took some measurements, figured out which seal points were critical, and ended up with a backyard air filter assembly: Disassembled once more... Diameter measurements... Alternative product identified (gasket matched required diameter) - cut to size Reassembled I can't say I'm convinced this is more than just a temporary solution - but at least I get to keep the overall stock aesthetic of the full air filter assembly, heh! Once more parts/supplies arrived, I was ready to reinstall the rebuilt fuel filter. After giving the linkages and rocker arm pieces a generous dose of assembly lube (and the filter gasket a bit of grey gasket compound), back into the engine block she went: Pretty. Reinstallation was challenging for this amateur! I remember wondering, out loud to myself, how I was going to get that back in there while I was removing it. The lower rear fuel line was not easy to access. I managed to inadvertently cross-thread the intake the first time, but luckily that's easy enough to replace without the need to remove the pump. After it was all fastened up, it was time to see if she worked! Would my rebuild attempt pay off? The 10-amp 6v tender on the battery flashed green, and I refilled the oil with Edge 10w-30. I restored power to the rest of the system (via isolator switch), and tried to get the engine to turn over. No dice - a quick test with a batter tester revealed the battery was junk. And why not - it had only been sitting for three years with no charge. After a trip to NAPA and $140 later, it was time for round two. The engine turned, but no fuel was delivered. After re-checking all the fuel lines, I disconnected the upper and lower to prime with fuel. Additionally, I opened up the top cap of the fuel pump and placed some fuel in the top compartment. After reconnecting everything, ta-da, the pump delivered fuel to the bowl like a champ. ...which made something magical occur. After seeing my disassembled Buick in my garage every day, this was the first time in three years I was able to listen to the melody of that engine run. Ahhhhhh 💖 On to the next task! I had received an upper radiator filter, much like @JohnD1956 recommended. There's not much hose to work with, but managed to squeeze it in pretty good: This shiny fella came from SummitRacing.com Cool beans. I had previously stocked up on distilled water. Now I emptied the radiator, and refilled it. Time to idle the engine up to temp to cycle some of that old coolant. Only takes a few minutes, and the thermostat opens. The coolant wasn't super nasty, but it it certainly wasn't clean green, either. The filter did its job and picked up a few chunky specs - I anticipate more will come when I use the coolant system cleaner next. So I'm watching the coolant go through the filter. Here's where the story takes a dark turn. I begin to hear a "tick-tick-tick-tick-tick" come from the engine. It immediately has my full attention. The tick gets worse. "tick-tick-tick-TICK-TICK-TICK" [at this point, I'm now sprinting to the ignition to shut it all down]. As I reach in to shut it off, the TICK upgrades to what I can only describe as full valve blow-by. It manages to make the awful sound three times before I switch the engine off. This entire scene takes place over the span of maybe 11 seconds. I sat there, heartbroken, for a few moments. Morale crashed. I may have had an eye water up. After closing the garage doors, I simply went inside the house without cleaning up my tools or anything, ugh. So, there she sits. I'm relatively confident that the problem will be evident once I remove the valve cover. My mind is swirling, wondering what caused this. Overheating? Seems unlikely; the thermostat was only open for 15 seconds or so. No oil? Possible, but I'm not sure how I could test that theory. Did something finally give up from my non-ethanol fuel? I've been putting in the lead additive, so I wouldn't think so. But, the first part to solving the problem is identifying it... and I haven't been back to look at it just yet. Maybe it's time to pull the entire powerhouse and give it the rebuild it deserves... but I've been unable to identify someone local with the proper expertise in this sort of endeavor. I'm hesitant to take a crack at it myself, with zero engine building experience. Some steps forward... some steps back! As they say in the old Disney movies - "Keep Moving Forward!". I'm just currently unaware of the path forward at this point!!

Love this thread, but I don't believe I've ever posted here... 1946 Roadmaster 76-S

Had I known what kind of struggle that was going to be, I might have made the same decision! Just finished a the pump rebuild on my '46 76-S last week. I'm anything but a professional, but yeeeeeesh, I clocked over 4 hours to get it fully re-linked and re-assembled! When I looked up and saw it was past 1am... ooof. Haven't put the build to the test yet, so we'll see if it the finished product even works, soon!

So much to love about this - the clean, seemingly complete dash and instrument cluster! The hood ornament isn't broken!! Dreams.

Ohp, sure enough! I didn't look closely enough, ha. I would put this rig squarely into the "wow it's so ugly - I LOVE it" category!

Just though I'd share some of the Marketplace's old steel for sale in my general area/region - none of it is mine, natually! 1955 Special Wagon - $2,995 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/258044822620523/ 1954 Century - $1,000 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/372966127131538/ 1951 Special - $995 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/344399503559116/ 1961 LeSabre - $4,500 (okay, this one is in notably better condition, ha) https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/107957554557675/

Ha!!! LOVE that!

You continue to prove that you know your stuff!! Maybe you were somehow watching me during the process?? When I drained out a portion of the coolant before changing the upper hose... well, it didn't look all that great (and yes, small chunkies were evident). Therefore, I was already thinking another flush or two would be required, but had not pondered any kind of coolant filter. Thanks yet again for the heads-up!

Greetings, @neil morse: Just wanted to drop a line to say how thankful I am for your intricate and detailed descriptions and pictures! I just finished reading through this thread, and have bookmarked several places (and saved several pictures) to refer back to later. You have a beautiful, well-taken-care-of rig!