Hello

I have been lurking here for some time looking for pointers and thought it appropriate to finally register. We live in Northwest Ohio near a little town called Leipsic.

Last May for his birthday, I picked up a 1950 Buick 41-D for my son. It was for sale just around the corner and as a long time junk..... I mean VINTAGE car buff, I wanted to help steer my son down the same, misguided path...

He was already getting a bit of the bug from being around me and my parade of Model Ts, Harley Panhead and Shovelhead bikes, a Moto Guzzi, Triumphs 650, MGB, etc. When he was old enough to drive, I set him up with a 1978 Delta 88 (his grandpa bought it new) that we redid in a slightly custom form (as custom as a 4 dr Delta can be I guess...).

If I followed instructions correctly, this should be a photo of my son with both of his cars:



He drives his Olds everyday to school and knocking around with friends. The Buick starts easily and runs nice (straight 8/dynaflow). It goes down the road but the brakes are horrible, the shocks nonexistent and the tires are ridiculously small. The previous owner was attempting a low budget lowrider by putting the wrong tires on it. Thank goodness he ran out of ambition and money before he cut coils or bagged it...

We have picked up some nice correct sized WWW bias ply Firestones for it. The plan now is to remove the wheels, sandlblast and paint them, redo the brakes while the wheels are off and then just run it some. The floors need a little work and the interior need some freshening up. But, since it is only a 72,000 mile car that has seen relatively good care over the years, most everything works (including the radio!).

I have many questions that I will start to get out in the appropriate forums soon, but I thought it proper to introduce ourselves first...

Congratulations on the acquisition for your son. Welcome aboard. I'm sure your boy is tickled.

It sounds like a good plan for the car. If I may make a suggestion, the car looks to have pretty decent, but oxidized paint (or is it flat black primer?). If I'm right, it is amazing what a bit of elbow grease with the right cleaning / polishing / waxing products can do. I'm partial to Meguiar's, but that's just me.

Good luck with the car.

Thanks for the welcome.. unfortunately, black primer on this one.

We actually may just clean it up good and give it the same finish as the Olds has for now. It's a satin black using John Deere "Blitz Black". I really like the finish. It is a paint that you can incorporate a hardener with to make a good durable finish. We'll probably paint the wheels red and use some of the correct center caps we've picked up on ebay for it. My son has a little "kustomizer" blood in him and if we can do it with paint etc. to get the desired effect without doing any long term damage, we can always go back more original down the road.

Welcome aboard to you and your son. As you know from lurking around, this is a great place to be.

Stevo

Since the car is going to be satin black with wide whites, make sure you paint or powdercoat the wheels glossy red. I don't know if red wheels were an option at that time, but neither was a satin exterior. That will be a really fun car for you and your son. Enjoy and welcome aboard.

Mike

Welcome and congratulations on the new old Buick! It seems you are going in the right direction....getting older cars. These old girls are still a good investment, especially for your son with many more years to enjoy them.

I gave my son a 29 Buick when he graduated from college. It was the first Buick "we" restored together. We started on it when he was about 8 years old. He took it to his high school prom and really showed up the other guys who double dated in limos.

I know your son will enjoy his too. The best part is that you can both enjoy the time working on it together.

echoing the others in here, welcome. What a great set of cars...

JD

wow thats a great looking car , i know a guy who lives about ten miles from me who has one of those that i'm sure has been in his family from new and is in original condition , and is used regularly. just a word of warning , you mentioned using a primer with a hardener in it , if it has a hardener ,the hardener will have isosyanate in it, which is an acumulative poison ( in other words it stays in your system and never leaves )To use it you really need a air fed respirator and a spray booth with extractor fan. i'm sorry if i sound to negative but i have been a car painter for a lot more years than i like to admit , and after using those types of paint for years without being told how dangerous they are, and not being provided with the right protection i would not like to see any one get poisoned by them

Thanks everyone for the welcome and thanks elmo for the concern with the nasties in the paint.

I was made aware of that before and I have access to a respirator that I use when I paint. I have a healthy respect/fear for that stuff.

Have a great weekend, everyone!