Terry Wiegand Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 1918 E-45 Buick For Sale in Hutchinson, Kansas. This is a two owner automobile that has been in the same family for 97 years. The present owner's Great Uncle bought the car new. I was asked to help get the car back in running condition after having set for 5+ years. The complete fuel system has been gone through. Linings, Incorporated in Ravenna, Ohio cleaned and coated the gasoline tank. John Wolf and Company of Willoughby, Ohio rebuilt the vacuum tank, and Classic Carburetors of Phoenix restored the brass-bodied Marvel Carburetor. There is no body filler anywhere on the car. No rust anywhere and all of the sheet metal is very straight. No evidence of any body damage ever. The wooden spoke wheels are solid and tight and all wheels run true. The car was repainted and a new top put on it in the early 1980's. The present owner stored the car with anti-freeze in the cooling system. The electrical system needed a different 'mailbox' coil to get it back in operable condition. The present owner had the car stored in a machine shed on their farm and it was brought into town in late March and sent through the local detail shop to get it cleaned up and able to be worked on. You have all of the good points on this old Buick listed here and to present an accurate picture to a prospective buyer, it needs to be brought out that the engine has been stuck for several months. The people at the detail facility were explicitly told to keep any moisture away from the engine area and they did not do this. This did not become known until middle September. The cylinders have been given repeated doses of Marvel Mystery Oil without success in freeing the engine yet. For no longer than the engine has been stuck I am reasonably confident that it will break free. It is just going to take patience and perseverance and some time. I am putting this on the forum for Bob Cole of Hutchinson as they want to sell the car. He can be reached at (620) 259-7303 For all technical questions anyone can get in touch with me at (620) 665-7672 and ask for Terry Wiegand. This is truly unfortunate what happened with the engine. We just did not catch it in time or this would have never gotten this far. This old Buick will make someone a really nice driving fun car to own. For the few months that this car sat in my shop it was really neat that there was a 1916, 1918, 1920, and 1922 all lined up setting beside each other. That just doesn't happen very often. Terry WiegandSouth Hutchinson, KansasPhone/Fax - (620) 665-7672eMail - terrywiegand@prodigy.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 THERE IS MUCH JOY IN BUICKVILLE THIS AFTERNOON!! The Marvel Mystery Oil did what we wanted it to do - the engine is now free. The next step is to get the engine started. It is going to take some cleaning up and then I think it will be ready to start. Will keep everyone posted as to the progress. I have said this a gazillion times - that Marvel Mystery Oil is some wonderful stuff. This just proves it again. Terry WiegandSouth Hutchinson, Kansas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_a Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Really nice car, Terry! Someone is going to get a great car with that unit! Even the interior looks good. The name Bob Cole sounds familiar, but I can't place him. I tried to find you when I was in town last, October, 2012, but you weren't home. I drove back for a funeral. Tell me if you ever run across Glenn's old Buick...it's probably still in Texas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 Jeff, Bob farmed out on the very western edge of Reno County. If you take K14 south at the junction west of Arlington and go about 6 - 7 miles you will run into the Cole farmstead. You are right, this will make someone a really nice tour car. It is very solid and I honestly do not believe that there are a whole lot of miles on it. The next step is to get the engine started. Hopefully very soon. Will keep the forum posted. Terry WiegandSouth Hutchinson, Kansas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEarl Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Great the engine is unstuck! Is the owner waiting til the full condition of the engine is known before pricing? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 Lamar, I and the other gentleman helping on this project are so close to starting the engine that it isn't even funny. I spoke with Jason Smith at Advanced Electrical Rebuilders this afternoon about the resistance unit on the coil. All of the Delco reference material that I have does not give the voltage coming out of the 'mailbox' coil. I will ask if there is anyone on here who can tell me if 4 volts going into the distributor breaker plate sounds right? I am thinking that I heard someone say once that there was something like 10,000 volts coming off the coil. Does this sound right? We do not want to do something that will destroy irreplaceable parts. We have a piece of NiChrom resistance wire that needs to be at the proper length to give between 3 and 4 volts to the distributor. Any technical help is appreciated here. Now, Lamar, the car does not belong to me so I am going along with Mr. Cole's wishes at this point. Once the engine is running smoothly and it has a few miles on it I am going to talk with him about setting a price on it and make that known on here. I believe it would be to their advantage to let folks know the asking price and go from there. This has been a tremendous learning experience for me. I had never dealt with a stuck engine before, but, I have now and I think things are going to turn out OK in the end. Just need a little technical help here. This just goes to show that a person never gets too old to learn and it has been one whale of a trip along the way! Terry WiegandSouth Hutchinson, Kansas down Doo Dah Way 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 THERE IS EVEN MORE JOY IN BUICKVILLE THESE DAYS!! THE 1918 E-45 IS RUNNING LIKE ANY GOOD BUICK SHOULD!! It was successfully started late this afternoon and the rebuilt Marvel carburetor was quickly adjusted to get the engine settled down and running smoothly. The next thing that I would like to do with this posting is to get Mr. Cole to set an asking price so that we can get it on here and possibly post a few more photos. This has been an aggravating experience and a ton of fun at the same time. This was my first and hopefully only time in dealing with a stuck engine. It freed up and now comes the really fun part in taking it for a drive or two or three. Christmas came a little early for me with this project. Terry WiegandSouth Hutchinson, Kansas 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 I had the Buick out this afternoon and put about 6 - 8 miles on it. It settled down and ran real well. Did not want to overdue it all at once since it had sat for a long spell without being driven. The adjustments on the carburetor have the engine running very well. Mr. Cole has set the value on the car as a $20,000 asking price. He can be reached at (620) 259-7303. I want to add some more photos in the next day or so. The engine runs strong, the body and wheels are very solid, and this would make someone a very nice, fun tour car. Mr. Cole has the ORIGINAL check that his Great Uncle wrote for the car in July of 1918 to The Reno Buick Company of Hutchinson, Kansas. This Buick has been in the same family for going on 98 years this coming summer. That fact in itself is absolutely amazing. Terry WiegandSouth Hutchinson, Kansas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted April 27, 2016 Author Share Posted April 27, 2016 A quick update on this 1918 Buick. The owner's youngest son called me earlier this afternoon and told me that the car has been sold. It will be going to England and the new owner is making shipping arrangements as I write this. It is my understanding that the car sold for $18,000.00 I think that this proves that there still is interest in the 'old' vehicles. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEarl Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 12 hours ago, Terry Wiegand said: It is my understanding that the car sold for $18,000.00 I think that this proves that there still is interest in the 'old' vehicles. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas Has there ever been any question about that? (I know I didn't just say that and please don't feel obligated to answer Terry) If price is indeed a gauge for interest, based on prices I've seen on 20's, early 30's roadsters lately, they're interesting as hell! Anyhow, glad your friends car sold and that that you had fun helping to get it running. Too bad though no one here could have procured it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCHinson Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 I agree. I would love to have an earlier Buick of that era. I just have two problems. Lack of space and lack of cash. Hopefully some day I will figure out how to solve those problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEarl Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 actually if like me, it boils down to the latter, ie CA$H. If we had CA$H we'd have space. and actually I have space but not the CA$H for a building. It is a vicious circle, one I was too slow to catch on to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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