Rescue Me - '51 41D

On both of my cars, the '41 and the '56 (though the '56 had a tube type originally), and I had a modern high density core put in both, as my experience is that these cars seem need as much cooling as they can get, as I like to drive them considerable distances.

So, I think that's a good choice for your car.

Keith

Got the new radiator installed a couple of weeks ago. About 2 weeks ago, took it across the street very early in the morning to a gas station to save filling with small gas cans. On the way back out, it ran strong for about a block, then the engine stopped. I figured it was from running the float bowl dry. Before it stopped rolling, I made a U-turn back towards my house, and got it stopped kind of on the side of the road. An off-duty policeman stopped behind me & put his flashers on. He was on the way somewhere else, but he called for an on-duty to stop by. I told him I just needed to wait for the electric pump to refill the float, which I did, and it restarted. I drove it the block back to the house, and he went on his way. Since I was then off the main road, I'm guessing he called back his dispatch to tell them nevermind, but I got the car back to the house and didn't worry about it.

I thought about this fuel delivery issue for a while and concluded the electric pump isn't a pull-through. When it's off, fuel doesn't deliver. So this past week I went around the block in the neighborhood here a couple of times with the electric pump on, and it still would run until the float bowl was empty. So I bought a fuel check valve, and put that in parallel with the pump today. Got similar results - would run for a block or so, then float bowl was empty, stop & wait for electric pump to refill it, restart and go a little farther. I had not changed the fuel filter (pancake type, nothing to see through), so I swapped that out for a see-through inline type. I could then see that the flow from the electric pump was really weak. I removed the check valve and put in a straight segment of tube to allow the engine's pump to draw without that additional restriction. I could see that it would pump some for a couple of seconds then also get really weak. As I nursed the engine up to higher speed, I could see the engine pump pick up some, but the engine would pretty quickly pull fuel out of the carb bowl quicker than the pump was putting it back in. So the little bit of pumping action right after the engine starts, I think is from the line having refilled past the restriction, then once the engine pump pushes that fuel, it's back to not having enough flow.

So - next step is to replace the main fuel line along the frame. I had already bought one from Inline Tube a while back, but never put it on. So I get to find out if it's possible to replace that tube with the body on the frame.

As I read your last post, the thought entered my mind that maybe your fuel hoses, if they're original, could be collapsed on the inside, restricting your fuel flow. This has been known to happen on brake hoses so it may be possible with fuel hoses as well. Also, be sure you're using the correct gas tank cap. I believe that yours needs to be the vented type, but double check for yourself. It's just a thought, Good luck! Larry W.

Thanks - no original hose left in the fuel line at all. Though I did find the problem today, and it's of a similar nature. First, a few photos of the radiator re-core:

- new core is a little thinner, but they said it would work as well or better.

The fuel-flow problem - I had bought the fuel line for this car from Inline Tube a while back. I was frustrated with them at the time, because the way they described it, I got the idea that it was the complete tube (including a hose) from the tank to the fuel pump. But it's actually ONLY the tube along the frame. I had already cut the original tube for the electric pump setup, so I figured the new tube would replace what I had already done - so I straightened the new tube (the tube is shipped with about a 12" diameter bend in the middle so it ships in a box about half as long as the tube) out to full length. Of course, my straightening came out as a little bit wavy. Turns out, this is about where I cut out for the electric pump, so that didn't really matter at all. I got the front section of tube out by also undoing the bottom two fasteners of the inner fender, so I could push that sheetmetal forwards a little bit. I got the new piece in by straightening the most forward bend to get it through the holes in the frame, then re-bent it a little to line up better with the hose between the engine side of the tube and the frame side. I probably should have done more to make the new tube match the old one - it seems the new one has a little more bend right near the forwards end. Not a big deal - tube isn't too hard to bend.

For the rear half - I looked at where that goes from outside the frame, over the top of the frame, above / behind the rear axle, and across the center of the car to the tank - and didn't even try to do this in one piece. I cut the existing tube in two just behind the rear axle. I then made the new tube match this one - the new tube's bend angles didn't exactly match what I pulled out of the car, so a little tweaking got the new tube's bends really close to the originals. I got that section mounted, then mounted up the last piece that crosses over the top of the frame. Started the car and saw MUCH more flow through the filter, more like what I expected to see. Drove the car around a little - now that fuel delivery is solved, need to go back and clean up the electric pump setup (I cut the new tube sections on the long side, just in case), and it needs work on the higher-speed function of the carb. The rear section of tube was quite clogged, closest to the tank. I should have known this - when I installed the new gas tank, I cut off a little of the frame-mounted tube because the new tank fuel level sender does not have the threaded fitting to match the original. I found that little section of tube today and looked at it - pretty well blocked. I guess I just didn't look at it before...

- electric pump in the line.

- electric pump with check valve in bypass.

- what I've been trying to have the car draw fuel through for way too long now.

- the evidence that should have told me to change the fuel line when I changed the fuel tank...

Eric

You should not need a bypass and check valve with that Airtex pump, but leave it there so that when (not if) it fails a better replacement pump that will not let fuel draw through can be easily swapped. Also get rid of that inadequate filter (which is probably clogged) and replace with a clear plastic one that you can monitor. Is your car still 6v?

Willie

Yes, it's 6v. I have a clear filter on there now.

Got a few miles driven this afternoon. It's taken a while, but it's to the point that I can take it to the weekly cruise night...

Got a few miles driven this afternoon. It's taken a while, but it's to the point that I can take it to the weekly cruise night...

- 2 minute, 45 second video from today's drive...

Nice!!!

What did you record with, Eric?

Your steering looks to be fairly easy and precise. That is good. Mine is a little stiff. Or I am just weak. The ride looks to be good. The fuzzy dice barely move. Sounds good.

Ben

Looks good, Eric, congrats!

Keith

Thanks guys - Ben, the camera is a GoPro. You can see it at about 0:40 seconds in - look at the shadow on the back of the seat. I just stuck it inside the back window with the suction cup mount. Yes, the steering is lighter than I expected. It's running the stock size bias-ply tires (7.60 x 15). I had heard (probably on this forum) that those take less effort in steering than radials. Sure, it's a bit heavy at a complete stop, but get the slightest bit of forwards or backwards roll going, and it's pretty easy. Much lighter than the manual steering on the '55 46R that I had - that one had something like 225/75 R15 radials, though.

Congratulations, Eric. It thrills me to see you get it back on the road again. A successful Buick Rescue, indeed!

Thanks Roy - now it's on to details like getting the hood to close. Since I replaced the radiator frame (because the original one was cut), the front of the fenders may have shifted a little so the hood doesn't shut. The right front latch is much looser than the other 3 - it wobbles side-to-side, so it does not line up with the hole in the hood sheet metal (the rectangular hole that the "hook" engages). I did get it fully shut ONCE yesterday, so it does fit, but I messed with it for about an hour and never got the right front to completely engage again. Next time I'm at the yard at Casa Grande, I'll see about a latch that isn't so worn out, or maybe figure out what's so worn out about this one. As it is, drive with 3 of the 4 latches engaged the hood doesn't lift up or anything.

Also will look into patching the floors, maybe getting the wipers to work better (the motor moves the arms a little, so it may just be gummed up inside the motor), seat belts (for my kids), and a blanket to cover the exposed foam on the rear seat back... Then if I'm still inspired, I might go for making things under the hood look better. But I'm impressed that the motor doesn't smoke at all...

Eric;

The wipers are a common problem on these, and sometimes they will free up with some use, and I struggled with this issue on my '56 for many years. I finally sent the motor to a rebuilding service, called Ficken's, that did mine for about $100., and the wipers work like new now.

Keith

Keith - if/when I do pull the wiper motor, I'll probably just send it in...

Small victory today - got the hood latching all around. When in doubt, read the directions. Studied the page about hood hinge adjustment. Determined the right front latch needed to shift outboard. Made up some .125 U-shaped washers. Per the book, these slip over the bolt from the side without completely undoing the fastener and go between the fender and the hinge, and that did it! Just guessed at the size - they're about 1.5" x 1.5" square, with 3/8" hole through the center, with slot cut out to one side.

Love that video. I'll even go out on a limb and say that the car looks quite responsive, and the derogatory terms for the Dynaflow do not seem to apply to your car at all. Glad to see you got that fuel flow worked out.

Also I am quite jealous of your dry roads. We have snow up to the belt lines on the side of the roads here. I am in Buick withdrawls right about now, and they expect snow for the next three days here. Sheesh!!!

First cruise night with this car was Feb. 5, 2015. No photos (at least not that I took). I had to get dinner along the way (meet up w/ the family) rather than burger or sub out by the cars. So it was parked for 1/2 hour or so before moving again to the cruise night - on restarting for this 2nd leg of getting there, most all acceleration was lost. My guess is it was either boiling fuel in the carb or in the line or both. So once parked at the cruise night, I propped the hood open to let some heat out. A few people asked questions - inline 6? No, it's an 8. That kind of thing. After cooling off w/ the hood open for maybe an hour, it ran good for the ride home. I'll see about getting some proper fuel line insulation on there to make up for this junk that sells as gas these days...

I'll second my friend John there. Here in Canada we have lots of snow, and cold weather, many nights at or below 0 F.

Eric, you're helping us out with a Buick fix. I can at least fanatize about driving one of mine to a cruise night!

Keith

Opening the hood at every opportunity does help a lot. If nothing else it reduces heat transfer to the interior. When traveling to South Bend in our GS, we used the A/C all the way in 90+ temps. We drove roughly 70 MPH except in heavy traffic on the Ohio turnpike. At each rest stop the first thing I did was pop the hood. We did not have any issues with the available gas, and the A/C was able to keep the interior cool and comfy the entire trip, even though we have a black top and interior.

Lowered 3" all around...

Mmmm... Cruise night. Arizona, in February - about 70F. Light breeze...

Great video! Thanks for the ride!

Cars and coffee (monthly event). I haven't been to this in maybe 8 months. Seems to have decreased in variety, or maybe that's just this month. Mostly Porsche, then Corvette, then Mercedes... Put 26 miles on the car, no problem, though the puddle of trans fluid in the garage is going to need attention...

Another cruise night on the 19th...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]296133[/ATTACH]

Went over to a show today (21st). Ran out of gas on the way. Got that resolved pretty easily (called my wife, was only 2 miles from home - learned where the needle shows on the gauge when it runs out...). Added the hubcaps - well, 2 on the right side. Have the other 2, not quite finished cleaning them up yet.

The show itself was a no-day-of-show registration deal, and they ask you to have the car there for the whole time. I couldn't do that, so I just parked on the outside. There had been some "in progress" or "barn-find" type of cars there in the past, but not this year. It was all pretty shiny...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]296134[/ATTACH] - waiting for some gas...

- parked outside the show...

Eric, Man!! You are killing me here!! These pictures are giving me a serious ITCH that I can't scratch for at least 3 more months!! Lol. Glad to see you out and about in your car though. Too bad we don't live close to each other. Yours would fit right in with ours (see below). Is your front pump seal leaking? Been there, done that. Have fun my friend!! I'll just keep thinking warm thoughts....

I too am living the dream of driving my Buicks through Eric's posts! Just finished clearing the last 6" of snow here in Toronto, and it's down to about -10F tonight! Again.

Seriously though, the car doing is making great progress with your TLC, Eric.

Keith

Robert - I haven't looked too far into what on the trans is leaking. First impression (from where the drip is on the floor) is that it's at the back end of the trans. The forum seems to have misplaced a couple of the photos I attached. I'll try again later...

Here are the photos that were unlinked from the post above.

Got the seat belts located and holes drilled for the back seat:

No photos of the seat back in yet because the paint is drying on the bolt backing plates - the belts are just set in place, not tightened down.

Eric;

If its' the back end, that is much easier to fix than if it's at the front, which is where Robert's car and mine were leaking from. There can be number of different opinions on whether to do a complete overhall, do just what needs to be done, or leave it, it all depends on how bad it is, and your intent with the car.

The torque ball and seal at the back tend to give trouble on all Dynaflows I've ever heard about, sooner or later, but that can be fixed without taking the trans out of the car, still not a walk in the park to do, but way easier than having to take the beast right off.

If its' not too bad, just drive it for a bit and see how it goes.

Keith

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Coolest looking car at the meet.

I love that picture! You should get that one framed.

Made the cruise nights on 2/26 and 3/5. Photos from 2/26. Also got the seat belts finished off for the back seat for my kids. Floor behind front seat is too rotted to do front seat belts.

Looks like a swell old Buick....here is mine, Mostly original with 20,000 miles on the odometer, having fun at the nieces wedding, working as a taxi! I got this car in 1979 with 12,900 miles on it....door sticker said it had been just about 2000 miles since its last oil change, in 1967.

Really just joined and and saw a "familiar" face. I do have some spare parts so we will have to chat!

Looking good man. Maybe I'll have some cruise pictures of my own to put up soon. It's supposed to be up to 53 here in a few days!! Unheard of for this time of year!! Lol. Now that you've got her back on the road, take some super fine steel wool, dip it in some Mothers Mag Polish, and rub on that chrome. Buff off and follow up with 2 or 3 coats of wax. You won't BELIEVE what a difference it will make. I've gotten stuff that was rusted and tarnished to shine up real nice using that method. Stuff that I thought was TOAST.

Yep, Shadetree77 would know. Use #0000 steel wool, and rotate the pad as you use, it will SURPRISE YA. Kind of pull the wool pad apart as you go, it tends to pack up, and then doesn't cut/work as well.

Dale in Indy

I'll give it a try sometime. I worked a little on the center of the front bumper with Simichrome on a microfiber towel. Finished the other 2 hubcaps (polish, repaint the lettering) and got those on the car today. So here's the left side as I think it's going to stay for a while:

Got back into it the past few days and worked the steel wool & metal polish on the front bumper and upper grille surround:

Left side of view isn't done yet, plus tried a spot on the upper grille surround end part.

- Area gone over w/ the steel wool & metal polish. Moustache bar not started (for contrast).

- "Buick" half of the upper grille surround done. "Eight" half not done.

- Lettering area.

- Repainted the lettering...

Eric, I'm about to start working on wet sanding Beulah, and loved your chrome progress! I'm holding off on mine-to me chrome is like dessert, I want to get the rust down on the paint first, because once my chrome starts shining, I'm going to be too hooked to stop! Any idea why they would make the mustache bar out of pot metal instead of matching the bumper? Mine looks to be in exactly the same shape as yours, so you got it looking awesome which helped! Keep up the great work, and I'll try to get some picks on my thread too soon.

Dale in Kentucky

Couple of reasons I can think of why the m-bar is pot metal & the bumper is steel -

1. Bumper was their idea of "crash structure" at the time - so steel was the structural material of choice. M-bar was their idea of "decoration" at the time - use a "non-structural" material.

2. M-bar, with that "Buick Eight" script and the various integral brackets on the back side was a more complicated shape than the bumper, so cast it.

3. Pot metal may have been lower-cost than steel?

Anyway, if a car had such parts today, I'm pretty sure it would be molded plastic & chrome plated from there...

That looks GREAT!! Those Arizona cars sure are nice!!! You'll need to update your avatar photo.

John - I thought about that. Still need to do the left end of the m-bar & bumper, the small vertical parts near the center of the bumper, and the turn signal housings, then go back along the bottom of the bumper to get where it rolls under... Those turn-signal housings might get some chrome/silver paint in areas - quite a bit of the chrome is off those.