1922 buick engine coming back to life

A little over 4 years ago I made a mad dash from Upstate NY to Minnesota in my 1972 truck with trailer to retrieve a 1920 buick frame and drive line and a a 1922 Buick carcass. The 1920 went to Ira Haire of Pennsylvania and the 1922 got disassembled and tucked in different corners of my garage. Frankly the 1922 looked like it was not worth bringing home as it was outside but with it's hood on for 50 years.

2 weeks ago I rolled out the engine, With down sizing I could now actually get to it....no cracks in the upper block (that's a miracle) so thought lets see what we can do. It was so stuck. I had to cut the shaft of water pump to remove it. The starter Generator was missing it's top cover so that ain't good. I removed the transmission it was free and shifting. Removed the clutch pack it looks like it will clean up. The entire bell housing was full of nuts, mouse stuff and lady bugs. The slidiing gear for starter flywheel interface was engaged to the fly wheel and stuck. I removed all the lifters in great shape freed up the valves. I put transmission fluid in the cylinders. waited 1 day. The engine was free with turning the flywheel by hand!!! Dropped the pan cleaned up every thing and replace the oil pump screens.

I freed up the water pump and am going to install a keyed coupler at the cut between the pump and the gear. Anyone every do this? If successful you can remove the pump and drive gear in 2 pieces without disturbing the starter generator.

The only thing that looked beyond repair is the carb. It is entirely full of lady bugs and also there must have been water in the dash pot which cracked. Ill keep soaking it and return to it later

Per the Starter generator, I thought that it was a lost cause with no top cover ...so before going through the effort of totally cleaning it up, I oiled the bearing got it spinning freely and put 6 volts to it. The starter took right off. And it also motored so it should generate. I was totally amazed that this engine and starter being so neglected for 50 years was quite easy to free up. I guess it gets tucked back in the corner and hopefully I never need it for my 21 buick.

Tom,

A good beginning.... How about some photos?

Tom,

I have a spare S/G cover that measures 3" X 6" and the screw holes on each side are 3 1/2" center to center.

Will it fit yours?

I had a similar SG experience with my 1918 E-45. When I got the car, the generator was dead and I couldnt find anyone to rewind it. For the first 2 or 3 years I just hand cranked it and used the battery to run the ignition. I finally found a parts chassis that had been sitting in the forrest since 1932. It had no hood and everything was covered with leaves and crap. There was a good sized tree growing up between the frame and water pump shaft!

When I got the mess home and cleaned up, the SG worked fine and is still on the car. Surprisingly, once the pump shaft was cut and the rockers were removed, the engine would turn and still had compression on 2 cylinders in spite of the fact it was a rusty mess.

That was 1975 and other than the SG, I havnt needed any of the parts from that engine.

Tom,

I have a spare S/G cover that measures 3" X 6" and the screw holes on each side are 3 1/2" center to center.

Will it fit yours?

Don interesting story on your e 45.......those cars did not even have sheet metal to protect the engine!!!!!