1941 McLaughlin Buick Roadmaster

[Buicknutty]

 As I mentioned a few months ago, I found some pictures I took during the restoration process, found during packing, but put in a box {or two}, now there're being unearthed, again. Lot aren't too good, just record shots, but here's a few. Taken about '07 or '8 I think. The first is of the passenger side of the back seat area, the second is obvious, and the third and fourth are also the rear floor area.

Keith

[Dynaflash8]

On 4/15/2017 at 11:18 AM, neil morse said:

 

This post is from a while ago so you may have gotten your answer by now from other sources, but I can tell you that I have a Pertronix unit on my '41 Super and it runs like a top.  I have only had the car now for a month, and I'm still finding out things about it.  I didn't know about the electronic ignition until I'd had the car for a few weeks.  I noticed the modern wiring and popped the distributor cap and found it.  I have since discovered that it was installed by one of the two dealers that the car went through last year before I bought it.

I had horrible, horrible luck with one of these in my 1939 Buick.  It simply wouldn't run and I'd had it installed by a professional mechanic.  Put one in a your risk.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

1 hour ago, Dynaflash8 said:

I had horrible, horrible luck with one of these in my 1939 Buick.  It simply wouldn't run and I'd had it installed by a professional mechanic.  Put one in a your risk.

 

 Should have found another mechanic.  I have used these and had NO problem. Follow instructions and keep the voltage up.

 Don't mean to hijack your thread, Keith.

 

  Ben

[neil morse]

2 hours ago, Dynaflash8 said:

I had horrible, horrible luck with one of these in my 1939 Buick.  It simply wouldn't run and I'd had it installed by a professional mechanic.  Put one in a your risk.

 

Based on my own experience, I would say that your statement is accurate, in other words, you DID have "horrible, horrible" luck.  My car continues to run great with the Pertronix unit (although I have heard from others that they sometimes fail).

 

Getting back to your thread, Keith, I am again amazed at the amount of work you did on this car over many years.  Excellent job!

[Dynaflash8]

1 hour ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

 

 Should have found another mechanic.  I have used these and had NO problem. Follow instructions and keep the voltage up.

 Don't mean to hijack your thread, Keith.

 

  Ben

He's a good mechanic.  As soon as the car got up to 180 the thing started breaking down.  I tried everything including there master blaster coil.  It was all caused by heat and I've had a number of mechanics tell me that the car wasn't providing enough voltage.  The junk worked fine in my 12v 71 Riviera, same mechanic.  Maybe a '50 produces higher voltage than a '39......but I through the whole thing into the trash.  Now the car runs just great!

[Buicknutty]

 I've never had a Petronix in my '41, but I had one in my '56 Roadmaster, and it ran great for several years, till it started running poor, then I went back to points, as I didn't want to spend the money on a new one. Being in Canada, the exchange on the dollar is sometimes not good, which adds to the cost, then plus shipping, then our fine government dings us tax on Canadian value, which combined, can add 50-70% to the cost of an item.

 I was having troubles with new manufacture points and condenser on my '69 Electra, so I bought one from a well known vendor at the 2016 National, installed it and it ran great for a year+, then started missing. One of the magnets fell off of the ring which mounts under the rotor, so I'm back to points, But I just had a condenser that was less than a year old fail!!!

 So, though I like the benfits of the electronic ignition, I am reluctant to spend the money on another one.

 I actually believe EVERYONE, as when these units work, the car runs very well, but that isn't always the case. Don't know if its' inconsistent build quality, or what, but this has been my personal experience.

 Really, I just want my cars to be reliable, with either/or.

 Thanks for the comments, folks.

 Keith

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

 Does anyone know if a GM HEI module will work on 6V?  If it will, I may have an answer.    I had my Buick distributor modified with an HEI reluctor/pickup installed inside.  The Module is on the cowl. I did not hide mine, but it can be mounted anywhere. Of course, George was changed to 12V when EFI was added.

 

  Ben

[Buicknutty]

 Just a small update on my car. I have buffed most of the paint, and that was the plan, since when I painted it, I knew my conditions were not ideal, so I put enough clearcoat so that I could wet sand and buff out the imperfections.

 Never did do the hood, which turned out pretty good, or the driver's door, but this weekend I got to doing a section of the hood. It's the verticle surfaces that show the peel more, as usual. Here's a picture, and hopefully you can see the difference. The left side has not been sanded or buffed, but the right side has. Hopefully this week I will get the rest of the hood done.

 Keith

 

Edited April 22, 2019 by Buicknutty (see edit history)

[Buicknutty]

I haven't updated this thread for a long time, as the car is basically finished, and I've just been doing some maint related things to it, though it needs a few more improvements.

 One of them being the lettering on the valve cover. This is unique to the Canadian cars, as you can see. As I'd mentioned before there seems to be a bit of controversy about the engine colour. The belief is that it was the 1940 Buick Grey, not the Dante Red of the US cars. This is only anecdotal as there are no official records to indicate this.

 So I painted it '40 Grey, but never did the valve cover as I had not other template for the lettering other than what was on it, so I've been using it for a while, then a couple of years ago I got another cover, and painted it up in the '40 grey, so now at least the engine is all a consistent colour. Then this summer I found a shop which would re create the lettering in cut vinyl for a reasonable cost, so I could use that as a stencil and paint the lettering on. Of course it wouldn't have been paint originally, but this works, and looks good.

 So here's a picture of it, plus one taken recently in Oshawa, the car's home town. It was built only a few miles from where the picture was taken. Plus the building was at one time a McLaughlin dealership though as you can see it is now the Canadian Automotive Museum, and has been for over 50 years now.

 By now I've put over 11,000 miles on the car since I got it on the road in June 2012.

 Keith

 

[kgreen]

Darn good looking Buick, Keith!