Bob Engle

One other possibility on the blue smoke could be a blocked crankcase breather screen. There is one in the breather tube and there is also a metal plate with louvers in the block between the lifter galley and the passage to the breather. Bob Engle

There are a lot of old threads on 32 marvels. Fuel level in the bowl is critical. The tubes in the heat riser rust through, this could cause your problem as it will draw air or exhaust after the carb preventing a good air fuel mix. The spring loaded venturi plates must work freely and fit the wall properly. Blue smoke is oil. Black is fuel. Bob Engle

Generator gear is not critical. The only thing timed on the generator is the distributor and you can time that on TDC of # 1 cylinder. Bob Engle

I noticed on a photo in the service manual that there are boots on the positive cables and wires to the the Starter as well as the connector block on the driver side fender well. What color were the boots on the cars from the factory? Were they also on the battery terminals? Where is there a source for these wiring boots? Bob Engle

My guess on these holes is that they were fixture locating holes for body assembly before welding. I can think of no other reason why they would spend the time to punch these holes. Most of these holes end up under the gas tank. Bob Engle

The holes in the bottom of the stiffeners have the rubber plugs, but the ones that are flush with the interior do not have the plugs as they would have a raised part show through the trunk mat. Go back and look at the 1957 photos and you can see the holes with no plugs. The trunk sound deadening material on my 60 Buick was never disturbed and had no plugs. Bob Engle

Sorry!! I went brain dead when I posted the material for protecting bare metal. It's EXO-ARMOUR. One other interesting item that I would not have thought I would find. Upon having to patch panel the trunk floor section, when I removed the floor matting material, I found that there are holes in the metal floor pan that are only sealed by the floor mat. You can see the round about 5/8 " dia in the photos. This makes it critical to use a good sealing mat as a replacement. Bob Engle

My first step is with wood lathe turning tools to scrape off the old undercoating and loose rust. They are hard metal and can be sharpened to scrape against the rusty metal. From there I used wire brushes in my 3/8 drill. I then apply some Fast Etch from Eastwood. I don't try to get all the rust removed as it's too difficult to get in many places. I then wipe it down with warm water and scuff it with Scotch bright pads and a final wipe with a paint prep solvent. I worked on about 3 square feet at a time. On the underbody I used Eastwood rubberized rust encapsulator. On the frame I used Eastwood Black rust encapsulator and a top coat of extreme chassis black. Of course, in the photos, I only showed the best spots. There are some really tough spots, that make it impossible to get any tools or hands in there to get it right.; especially the tops of the frame where the is on about an inch of clearance to the body pan. I'll report back in two years as to how it's holding up. Bob Engle

It's been a while since I posted on my 60 Invicta undercarriage project. The transmission is back in the car. I've working on cleaning up the floor[pan and frame from the transmission back. Lots of dried up old undercoating with plenty of rust underneath. It's a pain working around the frame and body panels, but I am not about to do a frame off to do it correctly, I found a rusted through spot into the trunk, so I cut it out and had a patch panel made and welded it in place. This meant replacing the trunk mat which is an asphalt llayer with a mat on top. I could not find the correct original material, so I opted for a material called Max Mat which is a synthetic asphalt with a black aluminum surface. I't all hidden under the houndstooth trunk mat. I've got the floor pan and frame painted and now it's on to finishing the differential. I had bead blasted the components and tested several methods to protect the bare metal appearance. All showed flash rust over the last two months. So I have opted for the Eastwood Euromax product which has been tested for over 4000 hours of saltwater spray.. I hope to apply this tomorrow. If it rusts, at least it will be correct appearing. I always opt for correctness over condition as I like to drive them too much to ever maintain showroom condition. I've got lots of wrap up items. bleed brakes and power steering, add fluids all around and get front end alignment. Test drive and see what needs attention. I may make it for our club car show mid May?? Bob Engle

One way to check the shoes would be to put the drum on the hub, adjust the shoes out for drag, pull the drum and mount a magnetic base dial indicator on the spindle and check for runout and concentricity. Bendix brakes work by the expanded shoes pivoting against the anchor pin on the back shoe. If the pin location and shoe are not working concentrically you will have poor braking. The return spring location aren't important as long as the shoes return properly. You don't mention what work was done to the drums when the shoes were replaced. Were the shoes arced to match the drum diameter? Bob Engle

I have had some issues with braking when I bought over the counter replacement brakes. Since then I have decided to send the original shoes out for relining to restoration shops where I can have a discussion about the type of material bonded to the original shoes. It is my opinion that modern linings tend to be too hard for drum brakes and cause an imbalance in braking effort. Notice that I said opinion. These braking issues seem to be more prevalent with older cars, especially with non- power brake cars. Bob Engle

Just as the oil bath air cleaners and canister oil filters went to paper and self contained canisters, the glass bowl gas filters followed suit. It would take one heck of a wreck to break the bowl if it is properly mounted to the engine thermostat housing. Bob Engle

The valve was leaking on my 60 Invicta and the core was pressure tested with no leaks. Getting the belden cables disconnected for the controls is a nuisance. The 60 Buick Chassis service manual has a god description for core and valve assembly removal. Bob Engle

If White post does the sleeving on your cylinders, they will not warrant the cylinders for lifetime if you use DOT 5. If you have multiple cars, it is easier to stay with common fluids where possible to prevent accidental mixing. With DOT3, just bleed the system every two or three years. Bob Engle

I am not recommending the following story. It's just a tale of how we did things in the good old days. In the 50's, my dad had an auto repair shop. One of our specialties was a full setup of Bear equipment for frame straightening and front end alignment and repair. The mechanic that I assisted when I was in my early teens used baling wire for holding springs compressed. Before removing the coil springs, we placed (usually 3) windings at 3 locations around the spring. We just twisted the ends like a baler would do. We then would remove the control arms for rebuilding and the spring was in normal loaded condition. They were easy to reinstall and then we would cut the wire after the suspensions was completely assembled. We had a rig to keep new springs aligned and we would use an arbor press to compress the spring and wire it for assembly. I think I helped install several thousand springs using this method. #10 gauge baling wire has a 75,000psi tensile rating. This is over 1,000 pounds load rating per strand. 3 wraps at 3 locations is 18 strands. The trick is to make good twisted ends so they don't slip. Bob Engle

My 60 Invicta is stamped A110. Bob Engle

On my 60 Invicta, at the rear of the inner rocker panels there is a rubber flap that has a push fit tab at the top and fits flush with the rocker panel. It covers a rectangular hole that if flush with the bottom of rocker. I believe it's purpose is to allow any water that would get in the space between the inner and outer rocker panels to drain but would keep it closed to anything entering at the opening. The old original parts have a part # on them PN 4615573. I have searched for replacement parts for this application with no success. While searching on the net, I found a picture of 63 -64 Riviera parts that looked the same. A call to Cars Inc. confirmed the dimensions were the same. I got the replacements today and they are exact without the PN in the rubber. For anyone looking for this part from 1960 through 1964 would probably find this CArs Inc part # RP635 would fit. Bob Engle

Since I didn't get any responses on from anyone that had practical experience on replacing the gas line I ventured out on my own. First decision was which way to remove the old line? I decided on pulling out the back as the tightest bends were in the front. 1, I stuck a 3/16" cable in the line at the front and crimped the line down onto the cable. 2. With the car on my 2 post lift, I placed my 6 foot jack stand under the front and back crossmembers, I clamped the line at the back with visegrips and began pulling. I took all my strength to get the line to move. Once it moved about 2 feet, it got easier and the old line was successfully removed. I cut the cable at the rear and now had the cable through the frame rail front to back. 3. I took a 3/8" male flair nut and filed it down to under a .600 " diameter ( the smallest front slot at the right frame member to the front cross member was just under 0.7". 4. I scrounged an old 3/8" female compression fitting and drilled a 7/16" counterbore on the inside and turned the outside down to .600" 5. I slipped the female fitting onto the cable end at the rear and crimped on a stable stop. I had to file it to get it to fit in the 7/16" bore. 6. I had bought 3/8" easy bend tubing for the replacement line. I figured it would be easier to get it to follow all the contours of the frame rail. I slipped the male flair nut onto the tubing end and put a single flair on the tubing end. I then threaded the two fittings together and pushed the fitting into the opening at the rear frame rail. 7. I pushed about 3 feet of tubing into the opening before it jammed. I went to the front and pulled on the cable and it moved another 2 feet. I kept pushing at the back and pulling at the front until the fitting hung up at the juncture of the side frame rail and the front crossmember. With a little jiggling with a long thin screwdriver I got the fitting through the front opening. Success!! 8. I cut the tubing at both ends and then I slid a piece of 3/8" I.D. rubber hose onto the ends so the gas line did not rub against the frame openings. The original just had the gas line rubbing against the frame openings. I figured it may be a source of noise or tubing wear with the easy bend tubing. The project is done just waiting to connect the fuel pump and gas tank lines. Bob Engle

Remove the dead cylinder plugs. Turn the engine to the compression stoke of one bad cylinder Hook up an air line to the cylinder and Listen for the air leak Intake, exhaust, or crankcase. Bob Engle

Could be sticking lifters. Bob Engle

Why did they not run the original wiring through the switch?? How much current does it take to run the radio? These old switches ( used from at least the early 30's ) have small contact areas and very low spring pressure. I would be very concerned about adding any additional current through the switch. Bob Engle

While I've been working on the undercarriage. I dropped the gas tank to restore the area over the tank. The gas line runs through the boxed channel from the front to the gas tank. How do I go about removing and replacing this line? Remove from front or back? How easy is it to pull and replace? Any experienced suggestions are welcome. I added a new photo of the front gasline coming through the right frame rail. The rubber gas line turns through the frame to connet to the fuel pump. I made a slight attempt to move the steel line, but it does not move easily. I am concerned about pulling the line and then not being able to fish a new line through the frame rail. the ends are not along the bottom of the rail and teh rail is not a straight shot front to back as is bends up over the rear wheel area and up over the front wheel area. The line shows significant rust both inside and out, so it needs replacing. Has anyone done this repair on a similar setup?? Bob Engle

I would suggest you contact Nailhead specialists for good information. The nailhead is their their business and have been very helpful when I called them. It is centerville auto repair or Nailhead Buick. Lots of good info on nailheads. Bob Engle

I would suspect that the original ball stud was a heat shrink fit. After you make a sleeve, I would install it with a heat on the arm and ice on the ball shaft. Your alignment of the bore does not require perfection, the spherical surface will make up for a degree or two of misalignment. Bob Engle

I have not seen a tube staked to the nut. I suspect that the staking was to prevent the tube from moving out of the nut but still allowed the tube to spin in the nut. To properly restore the tube, you will want to remove it from the nut. You can then decide whether to restake the tube. I would definitely make sure the tube can spin in the nut so you get proper alignment of the tube to the mounting bracket. Bob Engle