Budd

While still a great artist -- she ended up following a culinary/food career, is finishing her BS in Food Science this June at Cal Poly, and will be working as a QA Specialist for Smuckers Foods here in CA. She interned in their labs last year and they offered her a position upon graduation. Maybe I can talk her into a 56 Buick mural for the garage cabinets.... hmmm.

An update from Thomas in Sweden -- and a website/address from where they can be ordered directly from him. http://ormesta.com/ About $500 USD (4800 Krona) + $15 for bolts/washers, + $15 for shipping. i have to say -- given I've seen NOS ones sell on eBay years ago for near $1000 (I bid on them and lost out at $800) -- that $500 doesn't seem unreasonable given the effort. I actually own a set that are *cast* of solid metal, which I know sounds crazy, but some thrift shop in Europe had them posted up on eBay under the wrong title (unknown 1950's bumper pieces) and I recognized what they were and bought them for $75. Lord knows if they fit, but they look correct from the outside. The J-bars of mine was a similar story as yours and others. I only found one restored on e-bay and had to decide if I want to spend the money on restoring my bad ones, or look for other options. I am more of a doer, so I started to ask around what is possible to reproduce. After two years I found a company and a person who did not say no. He was in the position he needed jobs to his company and I took advantage of it and throw him this suggestion. But the process of developing the final product took more than 18 month. For them it was hard work and low level of satisfaction in the beginning of trail and error. Samples had to be send back and forth, and be tested on my two cars bumpers. And in between they had to think, take a step back and of course prioritize other bigger customers too. He didn´t say but I could tell this job was not as easy as he though or perhaps wanted. He said "for every setback we learn..." and finally he was so satisfied that he wanted to have this product, of mine, as a reference for future customers, what they can do. So to sum up. A normal horn for a bumper perhaps needs 2-3 different tools. In this case they had to do 7 different tools, for each side... (14 tools!) since all angles and shapes are totally different between left and right side of the J-bar. So of pure luck, I would say, we now can fill up this gap on the cars of ours.

Good to be heard -- much as I'd like to report that she's my daily driver -- alas she sits patiently waiting for me to resume the labor of love started so many years ago. On the bright side though, I have 3 wonderful daughters, a faithful wife of 30 years now, and a career that might actually allow me to retire in about 15 years or so ! We just paid the last check to Cal Poly and my oldest graduates in June -- and then I have a 4 year reprieve until the twins go off to college. I might sneak in some Buick work during that time.

I received an email from a Buick owner named Thomas Lydell, who is not a member of this forum (not sure why) and he saw an old discussion about J-Bars for 1956 Buicks. Apparently he had them reproduced as faithfully as possible, and plans on selling them on eBay. He asked that I post a shot notice here. I'll attach the two photos he sent. I also asked that he provide more detail, how did he have them reproduced, pricing, etc, etc. Just thought I'd share the news about one of those "rare as hens teeth" 1956 Buick parts that apparently someone has decided to do something about it. The second photo almost makes me tear up a bit -- is THAT what they're supposed to look like, versus the swiss cheese I normally see ! Cheers, Budd

That is good info to know, thanks VickyBlue. The alternative to this is having a craftsman solder in a new core and reuse your tanks -- which I had done for this same project at a cost of $300. Had I known about an aftermarket substitute, the decision would be a no brainer to go with the aftermarket core. After all, as long as this particular part functions normally -- no one will ever see it. The inlet/outlet tubes seem to be in different locations though ? Budd

I have "BigBuickMan" as a saved eBay seller, so I get emails when he lists items. I noticed this today in one of Ken's auction listings. [TABLE=width: 1393, align: center] <tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">[TR] [TD] 56 Buick all models radio grill and ash trays - good original chrome retiring in a couple of months - most of our parts are one off - if you think you might need this you need to get it before it goes to the crusher Offered by Wheatbelt Antique Auto with 25 years in the Buick parts business [/TD] [/TR] </tbody>[/TABLE] Me personally I'd hate to see *anything* go to the crusher, especially something as valuable as Ken and Sue's Buick salvage business has been to us all over the years -- but can't fault the guy for wanting to enjoy retirement. I wonder if there is a way to consolidate the remaining items at Wheatbelt over to the other salvage yards that have Buick parts (eg. Freemans, Big M, Buick Bonery, DVP, etc ...) Budd

The AC compressor appears to be missing, and no mention of being with the car. The compressor you can get from other GM cars of the same vintage, but the pulley is specific to 1956 Buicks (wider spacing than 1956 Caddillac, for example). Budd

Thanks for all the encouragement -- I'm certainly not going to win any "restoration races" at this pace, but the forward progress puts a smile on my face whenever I go in the garage. As a side note, I'll put in a plug for "Zero Rust" http://zero-rust.com/ which I used to paint the frame. It is topcoated with their Zero Rust clear that protects it from UV damage. My chassis sat outside in my driveway, uncovered, for all 4 years and after washing with warm soap and water, looked as good as the day I applied the coating (granted the weather in Northern California is not all that extreme). I treated the rubber components with 303 Aerospace Products (marine UV protectant -- if you have a boat, you know what this stuff is). This stuff also allows your hot tub vinyl cover to last 2x as long as it would normally -- for you folks with a hot tub. So -- frame and rubber held up well. Some things unfortunately did *not* hold up well and I had a few rust issues to resolve. 1. anything that was powdercoated that was rough in texture (e.g. brake drums, pitman arm) apparently had enough porosity to allow moisture to get to the metal. The rust was minor, but unexpected. Anything powdercoated with a smooth texture (like plain silver, plain black, etc.) with a semi gloss or gloss finish was fine. It was just the rough powdercoats that are apparently a bit porous. Clear coating those would have helped. 2. I replaced all the brake hard lines and fuel lines, and they come as bare steel finish. I should have cleared those or something to give them a barrier. They've started lightly rust in a few spots. Another thing that I should have done differently, in retrospect, is that when I replaced all the bushings/rubber on the front end, I should have left the front A-arm bumpers off the front frame until I was ready to put the engine back in. Since I had installed them, they've been in their "crushed" position due to lack of front weight on the A-arms for 4 years and are probably ruined (they are mushroom shaped now, not torpedo shaped). Thankfully they are inexpensive, but still, I should have thought a little more about that and left them off until later. Lastly -- in case anyone is wondering why I did not have some sort of car cover or tarp over the chassis whilst it was parked outside -- I did try that but it didn't work out. If I used a tarp, it was impervious to rain, but also retained moisture under the tarp and against the frame (and chaffed on the frame on windy days no matter how I strapped it down). I also tried a car cover, and although it breathed better, it still chaffed on the car. So in the end, I just took it all off and ensured everything was as UV protected as I could get it. I think it held up pretty well. Best thing would be to have it inside or under an awning, but I had neither to offer. Cheers, Budd

This car has some interesting options on it (having looked at the cell phone pictures. That is a stock AC system from the factory, plus the optional front/rear speaker (and oddly, the clock delete???) The complete AC system is probably worth more than the car, but overall might be a really good restoration candidate. Budd

After 4 years, the body has been mated back to the chassis of my 1956 Buick. It came off Nov 2009, and it's back on now Nov 2013. I'm so happy to make progress, albeit ever so slowly. My daughter came out to lend encouragement and some ballast as I lowered it back into place with the hoist. Just had to share ... Cheers, Budd

Here is why the Studebaker restorer had Buick parts on hand ... Thank you Budd. If my memory serves me correct, my husband picked these up for a fellow car enthusiast, but this person could not come up with the money my husband had put out for him. My husband passed not too long after that and I never heard from this person again. I've been carrying them around with me for over nine years. Don't know why, just didn't know what to do with them. Now I have downsized and I just don't have the storage space anymore. Thank you again for all your help. I'll see if she can get a few more or larger photos of the pieces. She's having some difficulty with the image attaching and I don't want to push her too much or be disrespectful. Cheers, Budd

I'm trying to help a nice widower who contacted me about identifying some bumper parts that her husband had re-chromed. She thought they might be 1956 Buick parts, which is why she contacted me, but after I had her send me a picture, those pieces don't appear to be from a 1956. You folk have any thoughts on what these might be, if even Buick at all? He was supposedly restoring a Studebaker so I'm not certain why they think these would be from a Buick, but she is firm in her belief these are for a Buick, but who knows.... Cheers, Budd

You might try Koch's or Quality Restorations. I have experience with Koch's (from my VW days...) and Quality lists some good looking 1956 Buick steering wheel restorations. http://www.kochssteeringwheels.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=4&idproduct=144 http://www.qualityrestorations.com/buick.html

Good question, given that yes-- being that I live in a relatively dry climate, no salt on roads, no snow where I live (valley) -- the "need" for undercoating doesn't really present itself as much as it would in other locales. All that said, however, I took undercoating off the car (nasty tar based stuff), and therefore wanted to put some form of protection back on the car albeit of a type that was tougher and more aesthetically pleasing. It should also serve to cancel out some road noise and defeat rocks that jump up off the road, at least that is my hope. I have seen cars that had their underside matching the top side (pristine clean, body work done, color matched) -- but that's just not me. I prefer the utilitarian original look. And, hey-- if I ever wanted to run Bessie in the La Carrera PanAmerica in the historic class (1955 - 1965) I have a head start on prepping the body. <grin> Cheers, Budd

After a long hiatus from working on my Buick -- I was able to get a shop day away from work and get the undercoating done on my car while the weather is warm. I removed the original undercoating over a year ago (man -- what a long, tedious, messy job that was...) and after getting down to bare metal, utilized some heavy crumb spray on truck bedliner to "undercoat" the car. I'm pleased with the results, and it only took an afternoon of prep, masking and spray. The bedliner was purchased off eBay, "LinerExtreeme, and is similar to all the others out there -- catalyzed "goo" with rubber crumb and a schutz gun to apply it with about 75 psi at the gun. Here's a link to the Picasa web album with pictures. https://picasaweb.google.com/103807725213285605281/1956Buick2013 Cheers, Budd