Janousek

My 90 series has had single points for years but I have another dist with dual points. Would I gain anything by installing the dual points in my Buick? Thanks, Brad

I bought the car a few years ago. It ran and drove very good. The engine was very quiet but smoked blue. This car is complete only missing one piece of trim that goes on the bottom of the left rear fender. I have dissasembled the car as the picture shows. The rear axle, engine/trans are still together. The frame is under the car. All the pinchwelds on the doors, trunk, and hood are very nice. Body is very good also. Just needs some new outside rockers and a trunk floor. Bumpers are nice but will be need rechromed. I have about 200 digital pics that accompanied the dissasembly of the car. These are detailed pics of how it comes apart. I have a clean MI title for the car. Please email me for information. Janoclassics@hotmail.com Asking $8,000.00 obo

Size is different. Diameter of the kit diaphram is smaller than the actual. Everything else is fine. I have everything apart, dipped, glass beaded, zinc coated, and ready for the diaphram. If I could buy a sheet of the proper material then I'd be all set.

I'm rebuilding my 31' fuel pump with a kit from Bob's. Everything works except the diaphram on mine is different than the kit. I was just wondering where to get a sheet of the diaphram material to punch a new one out of. I've searched around the net but haven't found anything. Thanks, Brad

I wanted to let you know I used White Post to reline my shoes. They did it in less than a week and everything looks great. I did hand fit them to my drums but they were very close. Just a little loose in the middle and outter edges touched. I'm using the new shoes this year and I will probably machine a band to go over the drum. I drive the car a lot and I believe a band will help tie everything together and dissapate heat faster.

Kaycee, thank you for the tip. I bought the heritage book from ebay for around 175.00. I'm having Ross pistons in California make the pistons. I picked up the cylinders from the stripper and brought them to the machine shop today. I have the block and crank being machined for insert bearings right now also. Last saturday I checked out the ACD car. You know, for being restored by the Hanley's I thought a lot was incorrect with the car. Modern hose clamps, carpet didn't look period correct, nickel plated fuel lines and such. It's a great car, it just seemed like the more I crawled around the more things just werent' period correct. Definetly worth the trip though. The wife had cabin fever and since she has a 35' Auburn coupe then she never misses a trip to the museum. It's funny this car has an aluminum firewall with wooden dash while that car had a stamped steel firewall and steel dash. It also had 23" tires where this cas has 20" wheels with the removable ring that holds the tire. It had front brakes where this car doesn't. Thanks for everyone's help and I'm moving forward and will keep you posted. Oh, I will have to duplicate the wiper setup as It appears I have a cheap hot rod wiper. Thanks again. Brad

I also have a 31' that has an electric pump on it. It's wired to the ignition switch and is on at all times. It's positioned right in the middle of the car and a regulator is used at the carb. It was like this when I bought it and my grandfather did it in the 80's. I'm in the process of overhauling the engine and I will rebuild the pump with a new kit and put the electric pump on a toggle to use as needed. I can say that a hot day in michigan usually vapor locks the fuel on buicks from 40's to 50's. Not a guess, something I've experienced with her grandpa's cars. Just a flip of the toggle and your no longer surging or bucking.

The engine is really neat on this car. The rods are a work of art. I'm having insert bearings machined into the block and rods. I dropped the cylinders off at the chemical strip today as they had to much crud in them for the usual dip at the machine shop. As soon as the cylinders are clean then I have to run them back to the machine shop for a bore job. Then I can send the word to the piston manufacturer on final bore and get them in the works. I gave them all the specifics for the piston/cylinder chambers and they are working on getting more compression. He said they won't be able to get very much due to the flame patterns but it should be improved. Other than making my own do you guys know anyone that has complete gaskets set for the model 34? My uncle is a cabinet maker that is going to duplicate the floorboards for me. I will probably use the white oak as it's available. Do you think these cars were assembled and underside painted later or were they just bare wood colored? I want to start with a clean slate under the car. Current boards aren't rotted but they have some extra holes and some splits in the end. Thanks for all the help.

Thank You, I have a couple easy questions I think. This car has had everything chromed on it at some point. It should be all nickel without any chrome right? I pulled the head last night and I'm going to pull the pistons and such out today. The factory manual I have doesn't list the compression ratio of these engines. I was wondering what they roughly had. I'm having new pistons made for my 31' buick as we speak and I bumped the compression from a 4.5to1 to a more reasonable level with current fuels available. I'm inclined to do the same to this car if it's this low which I'm sure it is. This is a wonderfully built car and I'm impressed as I've been dissasembling it this week. It appears that shocks weren't on the car as their isn't any wear spots were they would have been. I almost pulled the trigger on the Marmon Heritage book a couple times but I keep thinking I will get a deal. I don't think I will though and thanks for the help.

Hello, My name is Brad and I just started restoring a model 34 roadster and I have some questions I hope you guys can help me with. I'm going to join the Marmon club this week for more knowledge but I have some simple questions. 1. What finish would the wood floorboards be on the bottom side and what would be a correct wood to use to replace existing boards. Some are split and have a bunch of extra holes. 2. I have one windshield wiper that is a manual lever with a trico blade on it with a patent date of 14-20. It looks like a piece I can buy in the speedway catalog for hot rods. It has no bushings and just runs through a sloppy hole in the windshield frame. Passenger side just has a hole with no wiper. I was wondering what you guys think I have. 3. Where would I find out what colors were available in 1924? Were the frames always the same color as the running boards and fenders? This thing was painted red at some point and the entire frame was painted a terrible red color. The entire bottom of the car was red including floorboards, trans, axle. 4. I'm missing all 4 shocks and wondered how hard it will be to find them. Those are the first four that came to mind as I was dissasembling the car today. I'll be making a trip to the ACD museum to check out their model 34' and a friend that works there will let me paw over the car. Thank you for any information

I removed a tire from my 31' 90 series with 19" wheels. I'm refinishing all the wheels and installing new tires. Is there a tool for the outer ring that won't hurt the painted surface of the rim? I removed the ring fairly easy but I wasn't concerned with the paint but after I get them done I don't want to scrape the paint if I have to install it like rolling a piston ring on a piston. I was wondering if a tool was used like a piston ring spreader? Thanks, Brad

Thank You Bob. I contacted White Post and I'll be sending them out sometime in January when I get time to dissasemble the brakes. He mentioned they use dupont kevlar woven material that is the finest available. That's what I wanted to hear.

I would some first hand information on reputable brake lining companies. I want to get the shoes religned this winter on my 31' 90series. This car gets driven alot and I want the best available. Currently the first couple stops are great but the shoes fade very fast and each stop they lose a little bit more. I tried to contact www.tribco.com but they never responded for kevlar linings. They say on the site it's not for highway use so maybe that is why? Thank you for any leads or recommendations.

Thanks for help, but I need help with the windshield and backglass. I guess I didn't mention that though. My lower trim channel looks about as rusty as yours. Any place that sells generic versions of it?

I'm removing the front and rear window stainless from my special sedanette and I was wondering what kind of clip holds it. I haven't had any trouble removing the rest of the trim but the front and rear windows are tough. I've pryed about all I feel comfortable with. Thanks for any help.

Heres a pic of the car when it was at meadowbrook a few years ago. I'd be interested in some pics of the original car. Only thing is an original car can gobble up money in exponential amounts. Where would you send the shoes for kevlar lining? That is a good idea. I've also heard that the drums are steel instead of cast iron. This makes them get hot quicker and isn't as porous as cast so their is probably less friction. Is anybody casting them out of cast iron?

John, Thanks for the input. Were the chrome spokes an option or just something you wanted? I've seen your car online before and always wondered why they are chrome. Very nice color combination. I saw the two cars at the RM meadowbrook auction last year. I can't remember the 31' but the 32' was a perfect car. The car I'm looking at was always a good car. It wasn't a rotten mess that was restored. Just a good old car that was done right. Well let me say that I wish it was 50k but unfortunately it's not. I did see a red 31' cabriolet for sale at the 2003 flint national for 110k I believe. Might have been 100 but I don't remember for sure. I think I'm paying to much for the car but it's sentimental to my wife. If I had plans to freshen it up with a strip and paint,top, tires, and some plating then I think I'm OK based on the auction values but I'd be going backwards if I go on book prices. It's a fun car to drive that always puts a smile on my face but the brakes stink. I was gonna go over the system and if I can't get them to a satisfactory level then I'll probably design a hydraulic system that isn't to obvious. Cars are meant to be driven but safety first for the people involved and the investment. THanks again for the help.

Thanks Mark, I haven't seen that site yet. Seems more in the ball park than the old car price guide. It's a family sale so I want a fair deal for both parties. I still think it's hard to go by these book prices because of the rarity of the car. Auction prices have the values of most old cars screwed up also. If it was a camaro it would be pretty cut and dry but I also wouldn't want it if it was.

Hello, I'm interested in buying a 31' cabriolet but it's hard to find information about the value. Old car price guide puts it around 50k but doesn't even seem in the ball park. Car was restored tip top in the mid 80's. Seems like it was around 99 points at the time and has a ccca first prize badge. Laquer paint is starting to craze a little, needs a new top to look good again, and some of the chrome will need redone. Underneath is very nice. Frame and bottom of the fenders were done in emron without any pits and looks great. Just laquer crazing here and there. I think it needs tires also to be a safe driver as they are flat spotted and 25+years old. I'm not looking to make money on the car but I don't want to start in the hole either. Any opinions or experiences would be great. Thanks, Brad