packick

John, I wonder if Deathanol (ethanol) is playing havoc with your fuel system. It is killing just about everything I own that runs on fuel, including my weed whacker. I have had to replace 2 fuel filters on one of my old cars (the baffle in each self-destructed), and a fuel pump on another. It destroyed he seals on our weed whacker. Damn stuff! Since I have found a local gas station that has non-ethanol fuel, that is all I use now in my vintage cars.

Pint4: As West responded, the bumper is the same whether you have a trunk rack or not. But the bumper guards are different. Without a rack the guards are "tear drop" shaped; with a rack they are rectangular. This is to allow the rack to fold down without hitting the top of the guards. As a side note, I have seen several owners mount their tear drop guards on the farthest-out bolts on the bumper so their rack would lie flat between them. While this will work, it is totally incorrect. Yes, the horn bracket is mounted on top of the engine's head.

Packard Don and Owen Dyneto: Thanks for your efforts on this. I checked the master cylinder again and the only other lettering on it were EIS with a 21 under it; and a Made in the USA with a P under it. That's it. And I am pretty sure it says B1130 but the B could be an E if that makes any difference.

Packard Don, thanks for looking into this. I don't think this is a casting number in that it is stamped in a rectangle on the master cylinder. There are other numbers that are embossed on the cylinder which I assume relate to the casting number. I will look at it again today and post the numbers I find. Thanks again.

I am in the process of replacing the master cylinder on my '37 120. The main reason I am replacing it is because it leaks, even after putting in a rebuild kit; so I think the bore is beyond a rebuild kit. The other reason is I suspect it has been the wrong master cylinder for the car all along. Does anyone have a Bendix Reference Manual and can tell me what applications a B1130 master cylinder fits? That is the number stamped on my old master cylinder. Thanks.

Unfortunately my old tires are history so I can't measure them. Several people in my club have mentioned that they had trouble putting their old 700x16 tires in their wheel wells to be used side mount spares. So it is not only the trunk where this happens. I am not sure what you mean by a "one size fits all" tire.

I talked to the guy at the tire shop who mounted my new tires today. He said that especially with bias ply tires the manufacturing process produces tires of various thicknesses, even though they are the same tire size. If you lay the tires side-by-side they will vary in thickness. He said with radials the manufacturing process is pretty consistent. Any comments about this theory?

Bob: I will send you the dimensions via email. It may take me a couple of days. I believe the original door panels were leatherette (whatever that is). My door panels are vinyl, the seats are leather. I believe the toe boards are leather only because the upholsterer had extra leather left over after doing the seat and rumble seat. The package shelf is vinyl. By the way, red was an optional color for the interior. My car originally had grey interior and grey exterior paint. Living in the rainy, grey Northwest, my wife and I thought that was too much grey so we opted for the optional red interior and kept the exterior Iridium Grey.

Pint4, here you go. When I purchased my car it had never been restored. The upholsterer I used copied the original patterns to make sure the car remained authentic. By the way. The "arm rests" in the rumble seat area were my addition. I have seen them on Senior cars and thought they would be a nice addition to keep a passenger's skin oil off the paint, and to help the passenger if the car was hot. The 120s and 115s did not originally have them.

I have a 1937 120 Convertible Coupe and have had for years. For all of those years I have had a 650x16 spare tire in the trunk. The tires on the car are the correct 700x16 bias ply tires. I have now purchased a new set of tires, 700x16 bias ply, and was wanting to use one of my old tires as the new spare. At least that was the plan. When I tried to place the old 700x16 tire in the trunk is doesn't fit! It is too thick. Is there a trick to getting it into the trunk (other than deflation)? Were the 700x16 tires on the old days thinner? I have heard other owners of this model have had the same issue.

Mike: It wasn't the rotor that fell apart but the distributor cap. But you're right, disaster was looming.

Source of Radio Static Solved . . . I think. Sometimes solutions to problems fall right into your lap. Per the suggestion of one of my car club friends, I purchased a new rotor designed to reduce static. As I was taking the distributor cap off to install that rotor, I heard a "plink" on the drip pan below. What had happened is as I lifted the cap off, the ball in the center ​inside​ the cap came out. This is where the rotor makes contact with the center of the cap. Also, the contact on the old rotor to the center of the distributor cap was bent off to the side. How this happened I have no idea. So, I suspect every time the rotor rotated with the bent contact and the loose center of the cap it caused the static. At least that's my theory and I am sticking to it. I backed the car out of the garage after installing the new rotor and a spare cap that I had, tuned in a strong station with the engine running, and there was no static. Once the weather clears I still need to give it a good road test to determine once and for all if that was the source of the static. Keeping my fingers crossed. This picture shows the little ball sitting next to the center of the cap, the place where it should reside.

Wheelnut, nothing has changed. But I need to get all of the possibilities working properly to identify and correct the problem. Replacing the radio static collectors in the hubs is just one more base covered.

d2: I assume the grounding strap is the metal thingie at the rear of the hood with the swinging piece of metal on it? I did find out, however, that my radio static collectors in the wheel hubs had disintegrated. I think what happened is that when I put on the axle nut after repacking the wheel bearings, I bent over one end of the cotter pin so that it was on the end of the axle. I suspect as the wheel rotated the radio static collectors got hung up on the cotter pin ends and destroyed themselves. I found NOS ones on ebay and am awaiting delivery to see if that solves my static problem.

John: Congrats on your first place AACA Junior award. I know for a fact that your '23 McLaughlin has come a long way from the first day you purchased it. You are also to be congratulated for all of the work you have put into it. I know you had fun doing it. Oh, and by the way. They are never completely restored. There's always something.

First of all, I'm no brake expert, but I have done the brakes on my '36 Special and they seem to work fine. So here' my input. Backing off 17 turns seems a bit much. I usually back them off until there is minimal scraping, but some. Also, you need to adjust the eccentric which centers the primary and secondary shoes in the drum. If it is not adjusted correctly, then I would think one shoe would be braking before the other takes hold. Another possible cause is the rubber brake lines going to each of the front, and the one going to the rear shoes. Over time they can get constricted and reduce the amount of brake fluid going to the wheel cylinders. I would replace those lines if you haven't already. And finally, one of my old cars had two different size wheel cylinders on the front wheels. This is a long shot but make sure you have the correct size wheel cylinders on the front and back. That's my 2-cents worth.

Willie et. al.: As Wheelnut surmised, it is a Posilock Gear and Bearing Puller (Model 106). I used a 3/4" breaker bar on the puller to remove the shock arm. With that length bar I didn't have to use much of my force to break it loose. Once broken free I used my 1/2" ratchet to work it off. I ended up taking the arms off of 3 rear shocks. The first one was a test case and it was off of an old 1953 Special parts car; it is the same shock as '55 shock. Here is a better picture of the puller:

I "rebuilt" the rear shocks on my '55 per Willie's instructions and did not have to cut the arm. I had a good, strong puller and the arms pulled off with no problems. After putting the O-ring on I used my shop press to put the arms back on. Note that before taking the arms off I marked their position so i could put them back on in the same position. After 2 years and about 3,000 miles the leaks haven't reappeared (knock on wood). Thanks again Willie.

Wheelnut: I have replaced the condenser in the distributor and the condenser on the generator, but I didn't know there was also a condenser on the coil. Where is it located?

Boy, lots of information here. I will try to answer the questions posed: 1. The antenna is about 1/2 way extended (about 2'). I will try to extend it all the way but driving like that concerns me. That's why it is only 1/2 way extended. 2. Yes, the static collectors are in the front hubs. 3. The spark plug and distributor wires are brand new (about 3K miles on them) and copper cored, and I have checked that they are seated fully. The generator works fine but I have not had it rebuilt. I don't think the voltage regulator is that old but is a Brand X regulator. It was on the car when I bought it with the old one in a box in the trunk so I assume they had problems with the old one and installed a new one. 4. The noise is a loud popping sound. If you have ever been near an electric fence and heard the popping in the radio, that is what it sounds like only much more rapidly. It gets louder when the engine revs are increased, less loud when the engine revs are reduced, and eliminated when the engine is off. 5. Finally, I never start the car with the radio on. My father beat that into me when I was young along with turning off the headlights. Phew, my brain has now gone to broccoli. Time for an adult beverage.

Bob, thanks for the advice and explanation of the antenna wire operation. I happen to have another antenna which, when I get time, I will experiment with as you describe. I didn't know about the shop manual noise debugging section either. Thanks again.

Bob: I am sure the ends are properly grounded, although I can't really see under the fender. But I assume since the radio plays just fine with the engine off it must be getting the reception it needs. Maybe that's a bad assumption on my part? Brian: Pictures of the car from the first day of ownership to it being judged at this year's National Buick Meet in Portland, OR can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/packick. It has been a long journey but I enjoyed every minute of it. And thanks to the help provided by the folks on this forum I was able to work through the problem areas.

Sorry Bob and Al, I know nothing about antennas except they mount to the fender and plug into the radio. So I don't know what you mean by "trimmer" and I don't know where the "outer shield" is. Please help me with these. Also, since the radio plays just fine when the engine is turned off, could the antenna still be the issue?

Ever since I have owned my 1955 Century I have had static on the radio. It is a loud popping noise. I had the radio rebuilt and they replaced several components but the static is still there. The antenna looks fine and I made sure it was securely plugged into the radio. I am sure the static is ignition-caused since when I turn off the engine the radio comes in loud and clear. I have replaced the condenser on the generator, and replaced the copper-core wire running from the distributor to the coil with a modern carbon core wire (I think it is carbon). I have not yet installed an in-line noise suppressor but before I spend $30 for one I wanted to check with you folks to see how your cured your radio static and if the in-line suppressor would do the job. Thanks.

John, the car looks great. Better than it ever has for as long as I've known the car. I am sure you will do well at Hershey. Has this car ever been judged in an AACA competition or just at the National Buick shows? Wait, wait. I think you missed a spot. Oh, maybe it's the camera angle.