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How buttercup got her groove back


NC-car-guy

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2 hours ago, wndsofchng06 said:

Not much hiding this, lol. Not that Lamar would ever try to hide anything about a car.  

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yea, I would not recommend driving it 300 miles without a rear view side mirror!  Plus those skinny white walls!  Ugh!  :rolleyes::D 

 

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7 hours ago, MrEarl said:

When I arrived in Bayonne to pick the car up, I raised the hood and literally got sick to my stomach at what I saw. The gentlemans son had painted the engine and inner fenders in the correct colors but with a paint brush.

 

I remember you showing me this and telling me this exact story.  My mind was blown at the sight of that paint brushed engine.  And I don't mean that in a good way.

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Congrats Matt, beautiful car! last time I saw it it has less than 13,000 miles. Have to dig for the pictures. The only thing I still don’t understand is what Lamar has been drinking lately. I would never thought he would get rid of it!

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On 11/7/2018 at 12:09 AM, Elpad said:

The only thing I still don’t understand is what Lamar has been drinking lately. I would never thought he would get rid of it! 

 

Actually I believe it was only a couple of Blue Moons over dinner at Red Robin in Hershey with Matt and Matt (no I wasn't seeing double, Matt aka Jackofalltrades). Later, Matt took off to the casino and Matt and I were headed back to the hotel. Matt had just heard from the insurance adjuster what he would be getting for his wrecked Century. When I heard it, I exclaimed something to the effect of "well how about that s***, that's exactly what I was planning on asking for Buttercup.....)  and the rest is history.

 

And let me add this. Matt, aka Yung Mi, there is nobody else I know that I would rather see Buttercup go to than you, a truly great Buick guy who I am proud to call my friend. As I've stated before, while it is sad seeing some of my '54's leave the Gardens, I am happy to be able to place them with fellow Buick friends rather than the possible alternative which we just witnessed last week at Bob's.   I was so happy to see what you did with the barnfind Century and love hearing your plans for the lil 2 dr sedan I sold you. I figured adding the Roadmaster may be just what it would take to finalize converting you from being such a '55 nut. Guess we will see.

 

By the way, I freshened the MMO in the cylinders and gave the engine a spin the other day. Oh and I also put Kowpi on mouse patrol so she is good til you get the NC Pole Barn cleaned out.  

 

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after all all we don’t want the poor meeses doing this going up the road

 

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3016E0D9-9B97-4919-A786-B874A7E343E5.jpeg

 

I know this is not about a Buick but a friend has been parking a 1950 Packard on his cement pad out in the open for a buddy of his for about 10 years. He mentioned just this Wednesday that someone stopped by to inquire about if the car was for sale and would like to look at it. 

Guess they opened the trunk and the mice ran out like a Chinese fire drill! 

Your picture reminded me of that moment.

 

I guess the interior is infested with them too... Sad to let what looked like a very decent car when it came there get ruined like that!

 

Looks like Kowpi earns her keep MrEarl.

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1 hour ago, MrEarl said:

3016E0D9-9B97-4919-A786-B874A7E343E5.jpeg

 

Which reminds me of a story...  I had a car with a slight coolant leak.  Being as I lived in a rural area and the car was parked outside, a wood rat would climb into the engine compartment and chew on the coolant-soaked hood insulation.  Open the hood in the morning, and like as not he was sitting there.  One day I take off in the car and drive about 15 miles.  I stop at a red light, and a rat takes off from under the car and shoots across a 6-lane intersection.  I'm guessing it got a little warm for him under there, but he was too scared to bail while I was cruising down the freeway. Never saw another sign of a rat under the hood, so maybe he was the only one with a taste for antifreeze.

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26 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

Nah, that’s what took BlueBird ?

BTW Bluebird is fine, they pulled the engine out to put together and paint engine and bay. I have not see it but will take pics when I do

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1 hour ago, Elpad said:

BTW Bluebird is fine, they pulled the engine out to put together and paint engine and bay. I have not see it but will take pics when I do

 

 

Thanks for the update. Considering that is a 24,000 mile car, you really should go over and make sure it gets done correct, per the thread on the ‘54 Buick Highway. Just a thought.  

 

Sorry for the highjack Matt, now back to your story. Here’s a few teaser pictures. Check these sweet door panels! 

 

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And the trunk (with all 10,454 parts to be reinstalled) 

 

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  • 5 months later...
5 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

Groovy man. Did you hit much rain on the way home ? The giant sandwich bagged carburetor do ok? 

We had a few spurts of rain the carburetor cover held but did get some water in the floorboard

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  • 1 month later...
53 minutes ago, NC-car-guy said:

Boy after 9 mos of no old car I'm really not feelin' it...  I'll try again next weekend.

Around here we call that the Mañana syndrome.

You're looking at one big project.  Gotta think of it as a bunch of little-bitty  projects.  Start with the covers over the vents...easy to get to with the hood off.

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18 minutes ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

You just need a break!   Jump in the daily driver and come to Midwest City.

 

  Ben

My DD is a Ford truck.  🙂  and I just started....

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The deed is done.  Two questions:

1. Judging from the water pump area, should I be concerned with the rest of the water passages?

2. The trans cooler was blocked up with chunks and a blackish greasy material.... Any ideas?  Trans fluid showed no sign of water. 

 

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Edited by NC-car-guy (see edit history)
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4 hours ago, NC-car-guy said:

1. Judging from the water pump area, should I be concerned with the rest of the water passages?

 

yes.  Since it is out, I'd consider opening the core plugs and washing the block passages.

 

4 hours ago, NC-car-guy said:

2. The trans cooler was blocked up with chunks and a blackish greasy material.... Any ideas?  Trans fluid showed no sign of water. 

 

More evidence the engine cooling passages should be checked? It's good that there is no water in the trans, but obviously it will tend to overheat the trans unless coolant flow can be restored.  This might be a good candidate for an auxiliary trans cooler assuming those would be enough to cool a Dynaflow.

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Just now, JohnD1956 said:

 

More evidence the engine cooling passages should be checked? It's good that there is no water in the trans, but obviously it will tend to overheat the trans unless coolant flow can be restored.  This might be a good candidate for an auxiliary trans cooler assuming those would be enough to cool a Dynaflow.

Remember the 55 and earlier ran water back to a little heat exchanger at the transmission.

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1 hour ago, NC-car-guy said:

Remember the 55 and earlier ran water back to a little heat exchanger at the transmission.

 

Yes, I stand by my statements.  It was indicated that the trans cooler had black greasy solids in it.  I figured this was in the coolant passages of the trans cooler.  As such, that same black greasy material is probably present, and settled into the lower regions of the engine block.  

And if the cooler cannot be successfully flushed of that material, then I think I would go for an auxiuliary trans cooler for the front of the radiator, and eliminate this factory coolant unit. 

Edited by JohnD1956 (see edit history)
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8 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

 

Yes, I stand by my statements.  It was indicated that the trans cooler had black greasy solids in it.  I figured this was in the coolant passages of the trans cooler.  As such, that same black greasy material is probably present, and settled into the lower regions of the engine block.  

And if the cooler cannot be successfully flushed of that material, then I think I would go for an auxiuliary trans cooler for the front of the radiator, and eliminate this factory coolant unit. 

Gotcha.  I didn't know that was an option on these old dynaflows. Unfortunately not an option on this particular car due to originality concerns.

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2 hours ago, NC-car-guy said:

Gotcha.  I didn't know that was an option on these old dynaflows. Unfortunately not an option on this particular car due to originality concerns.

 

Well, look around and we see that faithful reconstruction to exact original standards is really only practiced with museum pieces.  What with the lack of availability and the changes inevitable in automotive related engineering and design, modifications are becoming more acceptable and in some cases even required.  

Even my cars are not totally original.  The Electra has a recreated vinyl roof, the GS has R134A in the AC with a "sausage" type inline filter added, and the 56 has a 3 row radiator core.... The only modification on the '56 is the rebuilt AM radio with the line in for external broadcast sources ( the GS and Electra have this too).  But those external dynaflow coolers are hard to find I imagine, and if you want to drive the car I do not think anyone would fault you for adding an external cooler.  If desired, the plugged original cooler can remain in position with faux lines attached to give a realistic visual of originality, while the work is done within the new, more efficient piece. As always, 90% of the folks looking at the mechanicals will have no idea that that cooler is not original unless you hang it with plastic zip ties. 95% won't care if it's original and 100% of the people won't even know it's there when they see it driving down the road. 

 

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