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My first barn find


Guest cardinal905

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Guest cardinal905

Was at a halloween party telling a friend of my looking at a 39 Special the day before when he tells me "Steve has a 39 Buick in his barn" 20 minutes later we were looking at a 38 Special that has been sitting there for 22-23 years. I bought the car on the spot and now he has to put in a door to get it out after an addition was added to tha barn. Looks to be all original, I could not find a dent or ding on her but she is awful dirty. Missing the radio and has the wrong carb--the correct carb may be in the trunk. Glass looks to be good and only found a little surface rust on her. Steering wheel needs help and I sure hope the green corrosion cleans off her chrome and stainless.

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Guest cardinal905

Belleville Illinois, 15 min. East of St. Louis. Dont even know what was behind it, he told me but I think I was too smitten. 70's something I think. I will need advice on cleaning her up when he gets that damm door put in, among other questions. Thanks

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Guest Two Roadmasters

Hello,

I can tell you from the engine photo that you have the original Marvel carb that a few cars were aquipped with, mine for instance. Most people say it is not so good and I can agree to most of that. The float is as an example made of cork, which dries out quite heavily over the years causing the carb to flood. But the performance once the car is running is OK, at least that´s my experience. I have however changed to a Stromberg from early fifties instead which does an equal job and is not flooding.

The woodgraining in your car also seems to be really good, try to save it as the original pattern is always better than a repro.

Mats

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Guest cardinal905

Wow, was told by someone it was not original from the photo. When you say "a few" cars, do you know the rarity? Also since you brought up the woodgrain, how do I clean that stuff---just a good Meguires product or something ? And finally, Rick where in Ill. are you from ? Thanks, Mike.

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Guest Two Roadmasters

I have no figures of how many cars that were equipped with the Marvel carb but my feeling is that the Stromberg carb was in the majority. I have seen information from service messages from Buick that when better carbs came later in the 30´s and early 40´s, Buick encouraged workshops to change carbs if the customer suffered from what they felt as bad performance. A general rule in this forum over the years had been that the Carter carbs were the best.

If you think of making a replacement, there is a need to adjust the performance of the automatic choke. But I think that there is information within this forum of how to do that.

Mats

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Guest cardinal905

Yes, the saw crossed my mind--actuall a sawzall. I am not really ready to accept delivery, have some serious shifting of cars to do and my SUV will be sitting outside---I MUST do that addition I have been thinking about now.

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Guest cardinal905

Yes I do live in Belleville Adam, I need to get active in the Chapter, I know several of your members. What should I expect once I air up the tires and try to roll her---brakes stuck--tranny stuck--???

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  • 7 months later...
Guest cardinal905

Thanks Moto, the car still sits in the trailer with 25 years of dust or more. The addition is almost done, I should have washed up pics soon !

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...
Guest cardinal905

No Ben, I decided to stay and make a push to get the addition done. I have been working like a dog so I can get back to playing with cars (lost 21 pounds working in that represive heat) The addition is finally done, with just a couple odds and ends that can wait so I unloaded and washed the 38 ! The paint is a little dissapointing but may buff out better. The interior is kinda like I thought but the rear seat is worse than the front---just the opposite of what I had expected. The rear tire was flat and would not take air so I had to pull it off the trailer with the tractor. As I thought the body has not a dent or ding, and the stainless if perfect everywhere except the passenger side running board trim. As I pulled the trailer forward to clear the fence, the truck brakes failed to the floor---a front hard line had rusted through so I had to borrow my brothers truck to move the trailer 20 feet and now the truck is on the lift for brake lines---yuck, that job sucks on those mid 90 GM's. I hope to start going through the brakes on the 38 soon and I guess I will mount those brand new WWW's I bought at Chickasha. Does the work ever end ?

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  • 1 year later...
Guest ZondaC12

Mike,

I have been a member here since 2005, haven't been on in probably a year or so, just found this and wanted to say CONGRATS! Nice find man. Saw the pictures and it instantly reminded me of back then, in early '05 when I was just shy of 16 years old, seeing for the first time what really lurked in the garage my dad had been keeping the car in since 1980. He passed away in late '03 and I inherited the car. Had never seen it before. What a rush, isn't it? Beneath the dust, a surface in that good of shape, as well as the interior. Yours looks entirely servicable, the dash of course stands out. I think that's my favorite part of the entire interior, almost my favorite part of the car itself!

Cannot believe you still have the running board trim strips ON there and intact! Grrrrrr can you sense the jealousy? Haha :) Hope that you got to drive it before winter hit, and if not then you'll be like I was at 16, hardly able to contain yourself anticipating the spring. Happy motoring!!!

Paul

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Guest prs519

Nice car, thank you. My first, leastwise my best barn find occurred when I was about 12 years old in rural Idaho. Sometimes, my late father and I would go looking for vintage iron, primarily for model As. My father had an annoying habit of going over the same road multiple times, as though a vintage car would suddenly be seen where we had already looked! I did not say anything, but one time as we proceeded along such a trail in a small unincorporated town we passes an old 2 storey uniinhabited domecile, looking well secured but also appearing to have been unlived in for 20 or more years. closer to the road was a small, well constructed automobile garage, unattached. As we passed by it, I was overcome with a certainty that something was in it! So much so that I blurted that out, and told dad to back up, that there was an old car in that barn! Ah, ****, he said in scorn, but reluctantly backed up so we were very near the garage. I jumped out and was quickly frustrated as the old shed was sealed so tight I could not find a sliver of

light or a knot hole to peir into. I was about to give up, listening to, come on, let's go from my father, till I saw a crack and continued to concentrate as I looked into the darkness. Finally, like a mirage, something began to take shappe just a few feet from where I stood. Hey, that is a grille I said to myself breathlessly, then I ssaid, "told you, there is a 1934 Ford in there!" He came and stared into the darkness till he had to admit, that sure enough, such was the case. We were not the types to break and enter, and

our behavior to just view the car...snooping on private property, was already at the limit of our ethical thinking/justifications. So we finally foun out somehow the name of the owner of the property and vowed to make contact. Whatever the car was, we could admire enough of the grille to believe it was in great shape (plus the thought that it had been sealed up and nailed up so tightly it must have been perceived to have value, even back in the day. Eventually, we contacted the heirs of the propery, who were professional people in a UtaH CITY some 100 miles away (ultimately, by utter coincidence, this ear doctor performed an operation on my father's ear!) Anyway, we were a long time getting an answer, and we realized that this car had been utterly forgotten by all of humanity, that its existence came as a surprise to even its own owners! Ultimately, they made the journey, and as luck would have it, were smitten by the beauty and nostalgia of the old car (they were not, before this time, old car people). Damn, our chances of attaining it became zero as they decided they would not sell. To thier credit, they did disentomb the car and treated it to a first class resoration. Dad saw it, and said it was

absolutely beautiful! It was not, as we thought, a 1933 or 1934 Ford, but about the same years of Graham Paige! I will never forget how strong my sixth sense demanded that we ccheck within the old, absolutely deserted looking, shed! It was one of those strange encounters of the 4th kind! Like the Buick in this thread, I sometimes think we find our neatest treasures in places we might least expect! Perry in Idaho

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