1957buickjim

TG..why is your car on the wrong side of the pumps? I thought the gas fill was in the rear bumper!

TG..that is great! Speaker should not be to hard to get. Way to go on the foot switch. I know you have been looking for it for a long time. Cant wait to hear how you like it! Now..where officially does the foot switch for the Wonderbar go on the floor, in relation to the carpet and the dimmer switch? is there a diagram with directions and measurments for putting that in? Maybe needs another thread

Dan, I agree with all the posts above. IF you ever have any question about emails from PayPal, call them. NEVER respond to the email. They can give you the answer you need on the phone. You did right by not responding. Remember, if it looks like it, smells like it, it probably is!

A big birthday wish to you Willie..may you keep on wrenching for a long time!

I have to admit, it definitely will turn heads..nice chrome and color scheme as well. If only that girl in the way would move, we could really take in the whole thing!

Wertonb - Thanks, that would be great! Can always use additional information and pictures to get all the right / methods of installation. Also, if you can have your friend take a picture of where the speaker control is mounted on the dash as well. That would be great. Mike - I know, I couldn't believe that there was one on eBay, much less getting the thing, especially after all the discussion on this thread! Talk about serendipity! Maybe if we start another mundane thread on something you need for your 55, it might show up on eBay as well..

You have a nice stable of beauties there Gary! Can't wait to see pic's of the 57's..since they are so near and dear to my heart You gotta love the 69 with the vista window on the passenger rear roof! Great add to your Buick family.

Mud, I hope you are feeling better! What an accomplishment, when the body mates to the chassis..The finished project is that much closer when this happens. Stay warm and well my friend. I hear chicken soup and Spam sandwiches work wonders:)

Alright guys..the holy grail has been acquired! Just let me know if you want info copied and sent. Just PM me with your address and I will be glad to send it out, once it arrives. I think that we can be pretty positive on this now how, what and where these dorn things were supposed to be installed.

Hey 2fit! Great Thread! I'm 51 going on 21. I've mostly been an eclectic car guy. Mostly Mopars in an earlier day (Dad worked for Chrylser, so guess what!) However, I was a rebel. My first car was a 1957 Chevy Bel Air 2dr Htp, when I was in high school. Great car and fast as a bullet. 327 HiPo from 68 Camaro with a 4 speed. Wee Ha!. Owned or family had a 1946 Willys CJ2A military jeep, 1967 Cadillac Convertible, 1969 Plymouth GTX, 1931 Pontiac, 1970 Challenger 340 6 pack. I got the Buick bug when I still had the Chevy. I was going to try to get a car from every GM make for 1957, so I had the Chevy and the Buick came up for sale. $400..with only 18K miles. I have had the Special for 26 yrs. My kids fondly call the car "Old Bessie". Sold the Chevy to buy a house (Should have kept that, but was young, just married and kinda crazy). Since then, I have been working off and on on Bessie, but as of two years ago, decided to go at a head on restoration of the car. Then I joined the BCA, and then this Forum..What a great bunch of people to find out every thing and then some on Buicks. Great to have you on board and keep up with the info.

Bob, Great story on the moniker and the testing of the rear seats of your convert! Just like this thread, once you think that the things are pretty much the same you find out that guess what, not quite! The biggest problem is that you need to keep all the old rusty junk as well as the new parts as you progress in your dissassembly and reassembly of your vehicle, thus doubling the space necessary for the project..what was only to fill shelves in the garage, now fills those, and any available space in your basement, attic, on and on....

Hi Sharon! If you have a good glass guy, which it sounds like you do, he should be able to match the color of the tint. I think the e-z-eye tint is a standard glass tint for most GM models. Too bad to hear about the crack in the window. Good thing is that all the door glass is flat, making replacement fairly reasonable in cost. It would be a good thing to take the window out for the glass man to make a pattern from it directly. Sometimes they have patterns, but they may not be the correct ones (keeping them for over 50 yrs - or mis-labeled). Had that problem on my 57 Model 48 2dr sedan window glass. Good luck and let us know how it went.

Thanks for the heads up David! I am all over that. I put a bid on it when I noticed it on eBay just for that purpose. I am keeping my fingers crossed on getting that so I can put the information on the AACA library (documenation, photos, etc). As soon as I saw it, I knew that it would be the holy grail to answer many questions on this thread. Wish me luck!

Rob, let me know what you come up with. It is true with the suspension of a 1957 that grease is our friend. Stay warm up there in the REAL north! If you can't find any that match, let's see if we can make them. I would give it a try.

Jan..Mike is right. Pretty easy to do, just be careful with the solder and the torch. I have attached some photos that might help. Just for reference, I did mine on a 57 - not a 60, but should be pretty similar.

Thank You Mr. Earl...man, I am glad that I have one of them thar new fangled 57 contraptions. Great information.

Mr. Dan you have a deal...I would gladly be there Friday if I could, forecast here is 19 and snow!

To steal something from the "A-Team"...I love it when a plan comes together! TG, I think you have hit the nail on the head. Once again the sluthing (sp?) has come up with the answer to the questions in everybody (who cares) mind. Outstanding work, inspector Cluseau! Now onto the next case..

Dan..you have a veritable 1957 Buick museum there! I'd love to take a tour and get about a thousand photos. I think that the coloration of the sweepspears is definitely a field repair, and I find it interesting that they don't have a PSB for the same thing for the wheels.

TG..I do think it has to do with the speed minder and the type of car as well. I was thinking, (i do have random thoughts sometimes) that maybe with the Roadmaster WB being 127.5 inches, it would have a wider IP by some 5 inches. Thus, it might make sense to have the hole for the radio speaker knob punched through on those (TG / Sharon), especially since speed minder was stock on those vehicles, per the factory order sheet graciously provided by Sean. Interesting to note, that on the Factory Order Sheet, there is no option listed for the rear speaker. It would be interesting to find out the exact location of the switch on both to see if the hole for the switch is in the same spot exactly. That would definitively ID it as a factory install or dealer install. My guess, since it is not on the factory order sheet, it is a dealer installed option. On the other series, it was optional, either with the basic group 1 or basic group 2 or the option F on the the 40-50-60 series. Hence, if the car did not have the speed minder or safety group, then wouldn't make sense to mount the speaker control in the accessory slot in the left hand lower IP panel, and if it did have the options listed above, owner option might be to mount it separately as shown in David's (buickman's) vehicle..or drill a hole and mount it in the dash as TG / Sharon. I think we may be getting to the bottom of this, especially with the piece of evidence from Sean on the order form. Still a darn interesting topic..

No truer words have been spoken Mike..

And once again..car parts as art..Looks good Adam! Is that in your living room or garage?

Dan..Nice cars, they really look great! I have an original spare on my car, never repainted and it is totally tangerine on the front, with 3 white pin stripes on it. My car also came with full wheel covers, so I think that initially Buick might have thought that painting the felloes only with full wheel covers would be OK, but styling probably put a kabosh on that, since to the customer it probably looked like they forgot to finish painting the wheel. Just a theory, but working in the automotive industry for 16 years, it is most likely the case.

TG, can't say that I have, but then again what kind of switch is used for the rear speaker and where it is mounted.

Thanks Dan and Keith. Looks like I will have to pick up the idler arm. I will have to look for an intermediate rod though. I have changed out the seals in the pump but not the box. Is that an easy change? I do have a set of seals for it, I think. Also, i have the original HP hose. I am wondering if I can still use that? I did buy a new one from the NJ boys, but it is a bit different than the original. Can the original be rebuilt? Any ideas? Thanks again.