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Yet another '52 Buick Roadmaster


g-g-g0

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post-53182-143142617619_thumb.jpgFriday my latest acquisition arrived from SW MO. This is the car that was on the Kansas City Craigslist and was posted on the FS forum by Imperial62 about 4 weeks ago. After speaking with the owner and determining that he did not have much interest in the car and was going to part it/crush it, I thought that it was a car worthy of saving. It is a Model 72X Style 52-4719X. The "X" signifies that it is equipped with hydraulic (power) windows. In addition to this rather rare option it is a power steering car. Amazingly the car is in unbelievable condition. There is not one dent in the body and no rot in the body. Even the rockers are solid. The interior is trashed as it was parked out side with the windows down for what appears to have been a long period of time. At least it does not appear that it was a home to raccoons or other animals. The floors are gone but the trunk pan is solid. The exterior has surface rust but again no rot. Stainless is very nice with the exception of the pieces that go below the doors.

The Paint # is 39 which is Aztec Gold and a Verde Green top. And then there are the wheels which are Verde Green--all five of them! The Trim # is 72 which I believe to be a mistake on the data plate. My Master Parts Books states that # 72 Trim is "Two Tone--Dark and Light Blue Broadcloth--Light Blue Bolster" This car's interior is a combination of Green Leather ??? and a very faded broadcloth. It will require further investigation to determine what is really present.

The car was originally sold on 12/31/53 by Hoffman Buick Co, 1701 McGee St., Kansas City, MO. The trunk lid now carries a logo from "by Downtown Buick Co" My search to date indicates that Hoffman Buick no longer exists in Kansas City and I am unable to find anything on Downtown Buick Co. It may have been in Warrensburg, MO but that is speculation on my part as that is where the car apparently has spent the last many years. Anyone familiar with either of these dealerships?

All in all it is a very interesting car. As my Dad would have said "this was some buggy in its day"! As for now it is dry storage for the first time in many years so we will have to see what happens in the future. Certainly worth saving!!!!!

Gary

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Edited by g-g-g0 (see edit history)
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Well I spent some time with the old gal today. Mostly soaking bolts/nuts with blaster to see if I can get a few things removed. I must confess that the Trim Number 72 is correct as I found remnants of Blue fabric on the seats buried under some seat covers. Still have more investigative work to do. Anyone have pictures of what a Model 72 interior should look like? Can't seem to find much doing a Google search. I did discover one reason that it may not run as the gas line that goes from the tank to the fuel pump is either broke off or missing all together. Something else to track down. Also discovered that the rear floor pans and pan under the rear seat are solid. So far no holes detected. Maybe I can get by with a good wire brushing and some rust encapsulator Not the case with the front pans. Especially the passenger side!

Eric W: I found out the original dealer name and even the purchaser and likely a second owner as there was a request for a new title in another persons name on October 6 1953.All of this material plus some warranty papers was in the glove box. That was a great find!

Imperial62: The engine appears to be complete. The add indicated that the motor was not locked up but have yet to confirm that.The 4 barrel is in place with all of the linkage and it is not frozen up. Need to remove the air cleaner so that I can do a thorough inspection of the manifold(s)

To be continued!!!

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Guest Rob McDonald

GARY, I keep advising owners of early '50s Buicks to paint them Aztec Gold. Yours is one of the very few I've seen which originally came in that awesome colour. Good on you for saving this beauty.

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g-g-g0!

Contratulation with a beautiful automobile, was not aware of this nice two tone color combination and I have registered the gold type color before. guess I have been stuck in the 57 Buick world. Odd combo if the interior was blue original. Good luck, hope you will keep it and restore it!

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A little more progress yesterday. Finally got the straps supporting the gas take loose and got the tank out. It is junk as it is full of holes on TOP!!! Long time before I will be needing a new one! Removed the hood and found one of the hinge brackets to be broken so will have to get it off and see if it can be repaired. Both cables for opening the hood have been replaced by bailing wire. Also both knobs that attach to the cables are missing so will need replacements. Anyone have spares?? Vacuumed the engine compartment as the car had obviously been parked under pine trees. Had previously determined that the engine was free and rolled over easily with aid of a breaker bar on the crank shaft nut. Pulled the valve cover pan and found that the rocker arm assemblies and related areas were pretty clean and not all gunked up. Will take minimal effort to clean up. Next project is to pull the starter and get it cleaned up and rebuilt. I have a local shop that does water pumps, starters generator's and etc.

I had been following Robert's thread on his '52 since it's inception but now I am STUDYING it. Thanks for all of the info Robert. With that being said can some one school me on Citrus Oil as a degreaser? Is it better (more effective) than some of the more wildly know products, more environmenatlly friendly or ???.

Like so many projects, so much to do and first. I am trying to reel myself in and concentrate on getting the engine cleaned up internally as well as externally and see if it will start/run and go from there.

Gary

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Guest shadetree77

Gary,

No problem. Glad I can be of help to you. If not for the guys on this forum I would never have gotten to the point I'm at now. The thread on my car is my way of giving back to the forum.

I've used the citrus stuff on small parts. Seems to work quite well. A lot of guys swear by it. Personally, I used Marine Clean from the POR15 company. I looked it up just now and they seem to have changed the name to "POR15 Cleaner Degreaser" but it's still the same stuff. It worked WONDERS on my engine bay and chassis. You spray that stuff on there and leave it for a while making sure to keep the surface wet by giving it another little spritz occasionally. It eats the gunk and then you can scrub/rinse it off. It's water based so you can dilute it too. Just follow the directions to the letter and it works great.

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Not much progress the last few days but did install a battery today, turned on the ignition, pressed on the accelerator and it did roll over!! Did not expect it to run as there is no fuel. Will rig up a gas can in the next few days and see if we can get liftoff!!!!

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  • 1 month later...

Late to the party. Gary, I always use citrus cleaner if I want to preserve the existing paint as it doe no harm to it. If trying to preserve the car the paint will come back to life. If not the original paint will be an excellent calibrator when it comes time to dial in the color when painting. Using solvent based degreasers will yes take the grease away but it will also strip and ghost fade any paint surfaces.

My favored process is to soak the engine bay down with a couple gallons of citrus applying it over a weeks time or so. I go in there with natural bristle brushes and agitate the surface areas between citrus applications. Then when it appears time to wash, I hook up my dedicated direct to hot water heater line to my hot hose and wash the area off. Sometimes I have to repeat the process a couple times or so but the result always comes out looking great. I then go to my 1-gallon stash of Marvel Mystery Oil and using a hand spray bottle fill it up and start spraying the entire area down. I repeat this process a few time over a week or so. Then just let it sit. The blush rust will be history and the area's will not rust or blush back. In your case I would also wash the entire outside of the car off paying special attention to the chrome and then get another 1-gallon bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil and spray the entire car's surface areas with it paying special attention to the chrome areas. After a few treatments the blush rust will be history and the chrome will come back to life as much as it can. Let it sit like this as you work on it and it will protect the newly cleaned surfaces.

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Gary,

I would have have to search through my old photos to see if I have interior photos. I don't recall for certain, but ours may have dealer-installed seat covers. If I don't find anything, I can take some photos one of the next times I am in the country (possibly Friday) although I think it may be easier if I had someone skinny with me. In the meantime, look at this for kicks and a blast from the past.

http://www.mts.net/~dthille/52roadmaster.html

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Well, I guess I'll add to the late comers. I remember the original posting on here from the craigslist ad about it, but I didn't realized that it was sold to a member here. Glad you got it! As I've said before, I really like the early 50's Roadmaster sedan, and this one really neat, being even rarer.

Keith

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