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We attended a local car show at a retirement center. A bunch of our Inland Northwest Chapter folks with their blue national meet t-shirts were there. We drove our '60 Invicta and Jerry drove his '50 Super Riviera, Grant drove his '31 Model 67 and Jim drove his '36 Century sedan. It was a nice day for a car show.

JohnD1956, It was a pleasure to have you and all of the BCA attendees at the 50th National Meet in Spokane Valley! I followed you all the way to the Pacific, then all the way across country to the Empire State! What a thrill that was! It was good to have you on the judging team for the 1948s-1956s! We sat at the same table for lunch afterward and you told me some specific things about '56s under the hood! I was grateful for your input! Lee the Spokanite

It's been a long time, but I'm back! I'm serving on the steering committee for the 2023 BCA Nationals in Spokane. We are well into the process of preparing for the meet to be held at the MirabeauPark Hotel and Convention Center on July 12-15, 2023. All of the information about registering and hotel reservations are in the Bugle. July is a great summer month in Spokane. Getting here from North, South, East or West is always a joy because there is so much to look at. Our chapter has members from as far west as the Columbia River, as far south as Walla Walla and the Tri-Cities, and Lewiston, and into Idaho on the east. We have a member that lives just north of the boundary in Canada. Our regional chapter friends from the Puget Sound, North Cascades and Portland area are going to be really helpful as we put this all together. Local car clubs are about as excited as we are to host this once-in-a-lifetime event! Just getting here is part of the fun!

We took our '60 Invicta our for a drive around the south side of the city this afternoon. A nice summer afternoon and a great time to take a ride. We simply enjoy our '60, and have for years. :

I started and drove my '60 yesterday, got it warmed up good. It ran fine, and I ran out of time to do much. This afternoon, I washed it and waxed both the body and the chrome. Have to admit that it looks good. Beautiful day here in eastern Washington, but the Ponderosa Pine trees are starting to pollinate...that means depending on how much yellow dust we have, how much I'll just have to wait to do it again. That's ok...

Letmesee... '41 Special four door, '53 Special two door sedan, '60 Invicta, '73 Century two door, '77 Century Custom, '81 Skylark Custom 4 door, '83 Skylark Custom Coupe, '87 Park Avenue, '90 Regal coupe, '01 LeSabre, '06 Lucerne CXL, and a '13 Enclave. I did not mention the '79 Opel Isuzu for some reason or another...

Looking at the frame of the vent window and the crest, I think it's a '59 or '60 Mercury. That's not the vent frame of a '59-'60 GM brand, IMHO.

Our '13 Enclave was one of the cars in the display only parking area. We parked in our designated row, and it was simply there for folks to look at. I've been a member of the BCA since '73 and made it to two meets, Bellevue and Portland. I enjoy seeing the Buicks that people bring, especially '70 and earlier years. The Bugle is top notch, full color throughout, great color, crossovers on pages fit, and I told Pete Phillips how I felt. I'll simply continue to be around...I'm a Buick man.

It's amazing how you can make people laugh starting a Buick that's '60 or earlier. When I got my '60, I had to push way down on the gas to engage the starter. I took the switch apart and the piston has a place for shims inside. I had to make some shims and made it so that the starter would engage earlier on the pedal travel. The system works well. I'm not sure, but I think Packard the same idea for a while.

Man Alive, I've been reading and posting once in a while, and never introduced myself! I'm Lee, and I have a '60 Invicta 4-door hardtop, Cordovan over Tahitian Beige, a 2006 Lucerne CXL that's my wife's daily driver, and a 2013 Enclave that I displayed at the National in Portland a few weeks ago. I've been a member of the BCA since late 1972 or early 1973. I have an associate degree in auto mechanics from 1968. Worked as a pressman in printing for 38 years, and am now retired. I live in eastern Washington, and enjoy the BCA Bugle and this forum. I appreciate all that those who volunteer their time and talent to make the BCA what it is!

I thoroughly enjoyed logging on and following you along on your trip from the National Meet in Portland! Thanks for sharing your commentary, your pictures, and be assured that many of us enjoyed just riding along "in the back seat" and enjoying the sights! LeeB BCA 2204

Thank you for the link, Ed! I wonder if it could be a sequential number of some sort...just guessing.

Saturday, I took my '60 out for a drive and was reading about engine production codes. It's easy to find them on the 401, and mine is clean enough to read. The motor number matches the VIN number of the car, and that's a good thing. The engine production code reads: "4G I (or 1)03020. Just curious if it means anything significant. So I guess it could read 4GI03020 or 4G103020. It's a Kansas City built Buick, I know that to be true, and it was sold new in Pendleton, Oregon. I gave the original license plate frames to the Centurion, he's riden in this '60. I enjoy reading this forum, the stories and tech advice is great!

I appreciate RivNut's post on the operation of the torque converter in the Dynaflow/Turbine Drive Buicks. It's simply true that when they are in Drive, there is a direct clutch that locks the planetary gearset in the transmission in direct drive, and the torque converter takes care of the drive. In Low Range, the low "front" band is applied to a unit in the planetary gearset that creates a reduction. In Reverse, the reverse "rear" band is applied to a different unit in the planetary gearset causing the output shaft to rotate in the opposite direction of drive/low. I went to auto mechanics school 45+ years ago, but only worked in the trade about five months. I spent the rest of my working life in the offset printing industry. I'm always careful about placing my '60 Invicta in low or reverse on fast idle. It's really tough on the anchors of the low and reverse bands. Drive is a multiplate clutch pack, it stops the planetary transmission unit. You may notice a whine at twenty or so miles per hour, that is the planetary gearset in the torque converter which is different from the one in the transmission. It was used to increase the pickup from a stop and began in about 1953. It speeded up the pump significantly for quicker getaway from the stop lights. My '53 Special whined just like my '60 Invicta does. That's a normal occurrence. Just my two cents worth. I'll be in Portland next summer! See You There!

My heartfelt condolences Brian in the loss of your father. I'm thankful that he was able to be with you at the centennial celebration of Baker City Motors. Thank you for posting the pictures of the local businesses, and I'm thankful that your Centurion performed so well on your trip to eastern Oregon and back home again.