kingrudy

I purchased a lock mechanism from a salvage yard in Minnesota (see picture below). The one on top is the one I bought and the one below is from my car. The one that I received from Minnesota is missing the brass cylinder that the door handle inserts into. When it was removed from the car, with a torch he must have pulled the cylinder out also. The back is bent also, so even if I had the cylinder, it would no longer fit into the frame. Well, I thought I'd have some fun with rust, as you couldn't hut this piece any more than the abuse that it has already received. I put in a container of Evapo-rust for 12 hours and then pulled it out of the solution and rinsed it in hot water. I dried it with a heat gun and it came out looking brand new. I certainly was amazed. The lower part shows no rust, but is missing parts also. The brown color is the original paint, Aztec Brown. I could never warm up to that color. I would post a picture of the part without the rust, but I'm experiencing some technical difficulties.

Chevrolet has started a new program this year based on truck ownership over the years and brand ownership. I know this because I am part of the Legends program. They send me questionnaires periodically asking what I like most about my truck, what type advertising tactic would have the most impact on my buying decision etc. I believe that most trucks reliability are comparable and the main difference is in style. I bring this up because the Chevy Truck Division seems to be reaching out to current owners to get their input. It doesn't seem as though Buick is doing this. Just a thought.......

To make a long story nauseating, as my old boss once said to me. Changes in technology are constant, oil filters were a recent addition to the car when this model was introduced, so to provide cleaner air to the carb seems to make sense given the small expense and time involved. So I think that I will use the paper filter on a daily basis and use the wire mesh for show.

Well I think that I'm going to have to agree to disagree with you on this. I just retired from working as the Facility Manager at a large hospital this past year after 25 years, I only mention this because air quality was extremely important to all areas of the facility especially the surgical suites. Air Filters are given a MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) rating, your house has an 11 or 12 MERV rating. Over my 25 years air quality standards got stricter and a MERV rating of 18 was the gold standard. The Air Handlers were 30 years old and were designed for filters that allowed larger particulates to pass through, but standards changed (Joint Commission). I bring this up as I would like to have the components of my engine last as long as possible and if giving the engine a better air quality will help this along, then I will use the paper filter sacrifice looks. I don't plan on throwing the wire mesh away, but as a daily driver I will try to provide the best air quality possible. Mike BCA 44810 Lic. LA City Steam Engineer and Detroit Steam Engineer

I spoke to the technical support at Fram, not the first guy, the expert that has been there since the fifties. He said that they used to make a conversion kit back in the fifties, but they stopped because there isn't enough demand. He couldn't see why this would not work as there is sufficient media to provide proper air flow and it seals properly so larger particulates cannot bypass the filter. So I'm going to give it a try, the filter is 3" tall by 7" outside diameter.

Thanks Ken, I have taken into account the size of the media and density to achieve a good amount of flow through the carburetor and will consider that I may have to change this more often, maybe once a season. I considered no filter for a brief amount of time, but I would be worried about foreign matter entering and fouling the carburetor and engine. I like the thought about the design and I will reference this and maybe even reach out to Fram technical support. Good to hear from you.

I can certainly be patient if someone could send me a couple of pics. My car was at a restoration shop that went out of business, so I'm flying blind on this one. He removed all of the seals, but some stuff is missing. The way that Steele Rubber makes this part looks like it comes all of the way down to cover a couple of bolts by the slide mechanism.

I agree to a point. As an example I believe that my car (1940 Super Coupe) in present condition (very good) is worth $20,000. This aligns with NADA as a third party who has no skin in the game and assigns it an objective value. I know this and if I ever want to sell the car then this is what I would ask for the car. I believe (subjective) that the value of the car to me is $25,000. Am I wrong? No, I have $5,000 worth of fond memories with this car, but I should not expect someone else to pay for those fond memories. Also, if you get lucky and find that last fool who is willing to pay for my memories that should not be the standard for the value of the vehicle. Compare this to selling your house. First you get it appraised and that will determine how much the bank will loan on the house (objective value). Then you put it up for sale at a fair market value, considering you really want to sell it. If two people want to buy the house, you might get a little more, but the lender will only loan to the appraised value. This is supply and demand at work. Note that if the economy goes in the tank and in 2006, discretionary decreased and so does the value of these cars as the market is smaller. Less demand and same supply.

I have no stock in NADA, I know that many of the insurance companies use this as a guide to value a certain car. I have checked what they value my car at, considering it's condition and what is on the market. There has to be some basis for comparison, and I am certainly not an authority, so you have to start somewhere. If you want to include sentimental value and what you put into a car the sky is the limit. All I'm saying is if you don't have an objective third party value your investment then you might as well use a dart board to select the value of any given car. Listings on ebay often do not make sense, as people will often charge what the market will bear and whoever the last fool is will often get stuck paying much more than the vehicle is worth. Bottom line, all of us will sooner or later give their car to the next enthusiast (when I die my wife will not keep the car), at that point she will sell the car for a reasonable price. That price is not what it may get at a Mecum auction when two people in the room get weak in the knees over a car, or some other obscure event when the stars align. Objectivity is the key and a third party such as NADA provides that. Also, in reply to sligemaching, I looked at NADA and they only go back to 1926 and I am not familiar with your car, but what skateboardgumby asked "is $20,000 a fair price for a '37,'38 Buick" could be answered with confidence through the NADA guide.

Hello, I have the sliding windows with a chrome reveal on the outside. I have the sweeps with the SS bead on the reveal and on the inside window garnish, but not sure what to do with the forward portion of the window. Steele Rubber sells a product listed as "Sliding Quarter Window Seal" p/n 60-0398-78. I think that this is what I need, but not sure. If it were $10 I would take a flyer on this, but the part is $63 so I am hoping this is right. What do you think? Thanks, Mike BCA 44810 1940 Super Coupe

Hello Garrett, I started from a similar position about 10 years ago with my 1940 Super Coupe. I just retired last year, or I would be done long ago. Some things to consider when you choose a car: 1. You can't do chrome yourself, so if there is chrome to be refurbished, it will not be cheap. My car $11000 2. Just read a long thread regarding paint and high quality paint is not cheap either. Maybe $10000 3. My interior cost about $6000 through Labaron Bonney 4. Wiring Harness $2500 then installation 5. Other mechanical ???? Before I bought my car my mechanic suggested that I look for a car that was far along in the restoration process and someone lost interest. I ignored his advice, but I'm pleased with what I have got now. That having been said, this is a great hobby and I have me some fantastic people who have bent over backwards to help me. Best of luck and if I can help you in any way, please reach out. I would recommend that whatever model that you intend to buy, do a little homework on NADA values and which year and model really appeals to you. Mike Nelson BCA # 44810 1940 Super Coupe

Does anyone have some good photos of the seals on the rear quarter windows on a 1940 Buick Coupe. I believe that this would be typical for all of the Torpedo body cars (Buick, Cadillac, Pontiac and Oldsmobile). Thanks for any help that you could supply. Mike

I may very well be incorrect on this, Jim Nelson has a very thorough post on the conversion to a 3.9 gear ratio with over drive.

Very nice looking car, you might consider changing the rear end gears as a simple option to give you a few miles an hour higher on the highway. I just spoke to a fellow Buick Club of America member last night about doing mine. He stated that the Roadmaster gears are about 3.70 and mine are a 4.10. I have the same size engine as your car and I am going to make this part of my build. Good Luck Mike BCA 44810 1940 Buick Sport Coupe

I belong to the BCA and I was a member of the LA chapter. I haven't reached out to the Charlotte guys as of yet, but I will.

Yes, I purchased the car from a guy just outside the San Fernando Valley (close to LA), very dry climate. The car spent all of it's life in California. I retired last year and moved to Asheville, NC.

Thanks for the reply, I have heard both good and bad about the oil bath filter. I think that I will try it both ways and see what works best. I realize the the oil filtration should work well, just not sure about the regular maintenance.

Hello all Yesterday I completed the installation of the door latching mechanism on the drivers side and it work beautifully. The steps taken were the removal of the mechanism and soaked it in paint thinner for two days. Removed this from the paint thinner and wire brushed all of the remaining junk out of the part and let dry for a day. On day three I checked the latching mechanism to make sure it would slide easily and hit it with some lithium grease. I forgot to mention, this all began when I grabbed the outside door handle and it came off in my hand. The door handle should have been held in place by an 8-32 tapered screw (Restoration Specialties) the "restoration" shop had left this out when they put some of the car back together. This tapered screw can be difficult to install as it must go through the door handle and into a barrel fitting that needs to line up just right. This will require some patience if you don't do this all the time. Drivers side complete and the return spring work great as well as the latch, no more droopy door handle. Today I removed the passengers door latching mechanism and I figured this would be a breeze, because the drivers side gets more use. Right? Wrong, the "restoration" guy got a little creative on me and altered some of the parts (see attached photo). Can you spot the sheet metal screw holding the return spring and the missing piece the holds the rod that connects to the door handle operator? I did some head scratching to see if this could be rebuilt and decided the return spring would be a problem. So got on the interweb and started looking at scrap yards. Found the part in Minnesota and he will ship this week, I'm a little nervous about what this part will look like, but I was assured that he would not ship junk. The first picture below shows the mechanism in the car, far left middle of the pic note the sheet metal screw used to hold the return spring for the latch. Note the allen screw used with the chrome washer used to hold the rod in place that connects to the door handle (removed in second pic). I will post finished product when done. Note: I checked my parts book (good thing to have) and this part only listed as good for the 1940 Super and Roadmaster. The part numbers are different for '39 and '41, somewhat narrows the field. Found a '40 Super in North Carolina, but he would only sell the entire car and it did not look good.

The pictures below are when I purchased the car in 2009 a short distance from my house in Southern California. I had a new radiator put in the car, new brakes, tune up and generally checked all of the mechanical systems. Then I mad my first mistake, I took the car to a shop that was recommended by someone to have the car given a body on restoration. Six years later I got most of the car back and I am doing all of the work that I can (a lot of money has been spent on very poor work) to get this car on the road. I am starting from the front of the car and working my way to the rear, having to do several things over again that weren't done to what I consider acceptable standards. Some parts that I did not receive and still looking for are: rear gravel guard, wiper linkage, lever assembly for cowl vent, door lock mechanism (passengers side), upper trunk guide, steering column support and steering column floor plate. The third picture is how the car looks today. I will post additional pictures as work progresses. Mike

If you have no luck there, you might try Doug Seybold. He will be of great help with any information on your car. Mike

Hello Michael, I just got my car back from a "restoration shop" who said that he would only guarantee the paint if he disassembled the car. He did poor work and I am doing much of the work myself to have the work done again. To choose a painter the next time I will make sure that the company has a paint booth and can allow me to speak to customer that had their car painted at least two years prior. I want to know how long the process took (paint can take days to cure) and how satisfied the companies customer were. If the job is done correctly this will increase the value of the car, but I wouldn't expect to get the entire price of the paint job when you do sell the car. Best of luck these Packard's are beautiful cars. Mike Nelson 1940 Buick Super Coupe

I have got my oil bath air cleaner almost ready to install, but I have heard mixed opinions as to using a paper filter, or keeping it as an oil bath cleaner. I tried the local auto parts store and was not able to find the correct size. I would welcome input on this, as I am really a rookie. Thanks, Mike 1940 Super Coupe

A lot of great information Gary, I will refer to this thread often. Mike 1940 Super Coupe

Thanks for the reply, I will follow up with Dave on this. I did find the fender brackets at a place in Minnesota (Windy Hill Auto Parts). Mike 1940 56S Super Coupe

I am working on my air cleaner assembly and would like to hear from someone with more knowledge than myself on the benefits of keeping the copper strainer, or looking for a later type of paper element. I would keep the copper element and clean it according to the shop manual and set it aside, but as a daily driver maybe the paper element would be better??? After much searching and some good advice from the guys I found that the Fram CA6605 will work for my Oil Bath Air Filter on the 1940 Super Coupe. It is exactly 7 inches by 1-3/4". Looks good. Thanks, Mike