SteveBigD4

When I rebuilt the brakes of both my 1938 Special and my 1965 Mustang I used DOT5 silicone fluid and never had any problems. I did the Buick 15 years ago and have not had to change the fluid even once, and the fluid remains clear. I have only topped it up perhaps an ounce or so over that period. The Mustang fluid is just as good after 10 years. The key is to change all the rubber parts and rebuild or replace the wheel cylinders and master cylinder. I also replaced the steel lines on the Buick and flushed the steel lines on the Mustang with denatured alcohol. I do notice that the fluid gradually looses its purple color over time and turns clear but with no apparent change in properties. DOT5 will work fine on drum or disc brakes but not with ABS as it is more compressible than standard DOT3/4. It should also not be used for cars that are raced or tracked and cannot ever be mixed with standard fluid. Steve D

Brian, yes, good idea. A knife switch large enough to handle the starter current should have contacts with heavy spring metal pressure that will ensure a positive connection every time so I think that would be a much better choice especially for 6V cars. My experience with batteries in general, even standard lead acid types, is if the car is garaged and used infrequently, and the battery kept charged it will last up to 10 years. I have had my Buick since 1978 and only one battery lasted less than 10 years. I also have a 1965 Mustang in the garage and use an economical Walmart Everstart battery. The first lasted 11 years and the second is now 8 years old. I do keep all my batteries on trickle charge during the winter but leave them in the car. Steve D

I am on my second Optima. The first lasted about 8-9 years but I didn't keep it on trickle charge and my '38 Buick usually sits all winter. I have had the second one for two years now but I keep it on charge and it cranks like crazy even in 40 degree temps with 20W-50 oil in the engine. I expect it to last 10-12 years. One recommendation is to use 000 gauge battery cables and no disconnect switch. I found that no matter how I tightened the plastic clamp wheel on the disconnect I read 0.3 - 0.4V drop across it. Also when I installed Halogen headlights and an alternator the disconnect switch caused momentary high resistance which made the voltage flare and burned out one of the bulbs. Never happened again after I removed the switch. Steve D

Removing the air filter leans up the mixture a bit so it may indicate that the missing problem is a lean running condition. Perhaps a vacuum leak? Steve D

Looks correct except you need to use a brass cotter pin since the steel one will rust overtime. Steve D

I have had my 1938 Special for 40 years and when I got it it had serious oil leaks that caused very bad clutch chatter. After rebuilding the engine to eliminate the oil leaks I replaced all the clutch elements, turned the flywheel, rebuilt the trani and checked the bell housing alignment and adjusted the rear engine mount shims. I also replaced all the engine mounts and the central trani mount. Now I still have some clutch chatter but not nearly as bad as before. I found as others have said that slipping the clutch in 2nd with the brake applied for a few seconds virtually eliminates the chatter until the next time I drive it. It appears to be a part of the nature of these cars but also as Matt said could be due to deposits on the flywheel. For brake shudder I bed the brakes by making a few repetitive hard stops from 60MPH or so followed by some cool down cruising. This eliminates the shudder by seating the pads and burning off the deposits. I think that slipping the clutch to heat it up does a similar thing for the flywheel. Steve D

My 38 Special also has the concealed fasteners. The edge of the cardboard kick panels fit into a groove in a metal strip that is fastened to the body similar to BuickBob49's 1939. Steve D

I have taken my 1938 Buick 40-41 Stromberg AAV-1 carb. apart for a complete rebuild. I had done this once when I got the car back in 1980 and at that time I noticed a bit of bushing play in the throttle shaft. It didn't appear to be enough to warrant repairing it but now there is significantly more play, perhaps .010" or more. So I took the shaft out and found that the shaft itself is made of brass and runs in the cast iron throttle body. The throttle body bore measures .280" and the shaft is worn on one side in the bearing areas and reads .275" in the unworn plane and .271" in the worn plane. All of the rebush kits I can find are either for 3/8" or 5/16" throttle shafts and I believe the shafts are steel running in brass or bronze bushings. The throttle body bearings do not seem to be very worn but the shaft itself took the wear. It appears to be about impossible to find a new or NOS AAV-1 throttle shaft which has the accelerator linkage staked onto one side and a tab machined into it on the choke end. There were all changed from 1939 and up. I was able to find a brass 1/4" ID X 5/16" OD bushing which means I could drill the throttle body out to 5/16" and ream the bushing out to .275", but the throttle shaft would still be out of round and have more clearance vertically that horizontally. It is possible to turn the brass throttle shaft down on a lathe to .270" to get rid of the eccentricity and ream the new bushings to .270"? What have others done for this problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Steve D

I installed a 6V alternator in my 1938 Special because I converted to 6V halogen head and tail lights and driving lights which draw over 30A by themselves. I purchased my alternator and adaptor bracket from Howard Enterprises and got it pre-painted in black so it would be a bit more unobtrusive. You can specify the proper 5/8” pulley for our belt width. I think mine cost about $150 plus the bracket. The alternator is rated for 75A and >30A at idle and performs great. However I am not sure if the 1937 Special engine had the generator mounted the same as my 1938, but mine attaches to the block via a high mounted bracket with the slotted adjustment support mounted to the lower timing cover. This required modification of the adaptor bracket, drilling another lower mounting hole in the slotted bracket to shorten it and using a different belt length. Once I got it mounted I had just barely enough adjustment distance on the slotted bracket with about 3/8” space to spare between the tip of the bracket and the body (see attached photo). So far the engine does not move enough on its mounts for the bracket to hit the body but my mounts have been refurbished. This alternator is a single wire type and I also changed the feed wire from the alternator to the ammeter to a 12AWG size and added a 12AWG ground wire from the alternator bracket to the body. I get 7.2-7.6V at the battery depending on load even at idle. Steve D