Beemon

I'm of the mind set that if they can't do it right the first time, what makes you think they'll get it right the second time? It's against forum rules to talk badly on businesses, so I'll just leave it at that. Also they should be called resealer instead of rebuilder, because I think that's all I got.

Could be bad reverse pump, sun gear, reverse band... to test a Dynaflow, you need to set up a pressure tank to bench test the valves and pump. Much easier to just tear it apart and look and see what's wrong. This is what was wrong with mine: Everyone told me it was the pump, but it was the sun gear. You never know until you get in there...

Right, but I paid to have my box professionally rebuilt by a nationwide known rebuilder. I would assume that 30 years of wear would have been corrected for in said rebuild. It's coming from the center portion so I don't think it's the pressure valve... maybe a piston ring? Thrust bearing? Worm shaft?

Over time, the brake fluid will absorb a certain amount of moisture naturally, and you're supposed to bleed them every couple years. If you don't, the water in the lines will rust the lines from the inside out. If you haven't done a full brake inspection, now would be the time. Make sure your rubber hoses at the front aren't brittle and have your mechanic check the wheel cylinders for wear or cracking of the cups.

Goodbye carbon-core wires. I don't want to be that guy where I say "Wow, after changing them the car runs better!" But really, it does. What I don't get is that the OEM rotor is 10,000 ohms of resistance, but spark plugs are made for 5,000 ohms of resistance... why not make the rotors 5,000 ohms of resistance, too, to keep in line with OEM specs? The other alternative would be to find 10kohm park plugs and a resistor free rotor from a 50s Chevrolet. This is why we can't have nice things.

I didn't pull the pitman arm, but using my trusty stethoscope, it is coming from within the box. There are only two adjustments on the box; the top adjustment seems to not change anything and the other adjustment requires pre-loading the ball bearings on assembly. I guess I'll live with for now, but I'm 2 for 2 on shoddy steering component rebuild at this point. I've been going over the schematics, and I just cannot wrap my head around what would cause a pop in there. Maybe the balls are getting hung up and are forced to move after a certain threshold is reached? It only pops right after rotating past top dead center. The other 359 degrees are noise free.

Looks like you found out why your car was parked.

Have you figured out what you're going to throw it in yet?

I'll get on this tomorrow. I rebuilt the drag link myself year before last, so all components there are new. I also replaced idler arm bushing, too, along with tie rod ends. The only thing I didn't play with in the suspension was the A-arm bushings and king pins. They didn't squeak after lubing and the king pins were still pretty tight (no play as far as I can tell). Good thing I brought my toys/tools, but I think I left my pitman arm puller at home.. I had some time to crawl under the car by myself today to make a visual inspection and the bottom of the gear box is wet around the seal, but not dripping, just wet. Also, is that amount of play in a steering box normal for this era?

Today I linked up with the local student car club. Needless to say, I'm the oldest car by at least 40 years. And here's that super beetle: (There was someone taking vanity photos :P) It's what you'd expect, Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus, Mistubishis... Overall, it was a nice cruise. We went from a store in town over to Cheney, which is a smaller town between rolling hills and met with others for lunch. We then went down to Spokane to meet up with another group. There, I met a father/son duo who were working on a 74 Super Beetle. They put in a 1904 with dual carbs and dyno'd it at 95HP, which is probably pretty good for a Volkswagen? Anyways, we got to talking about old cars and it came down to the subject of the future of classic cars. Kids today just aren't interested in carrying the flag, and everyone who knows the ins and outs of the hobby are either dying, dead, or sitting on wealth and only sharing with you if you pay a hefty price. Unfortunate, but probably true. A couple guys at the meet made comments like "I'm glad I don't have to deal with a carb", even though they've never touched one in their life. All in all, a short 200 mile round trip. The WCFB is performing as it should. If the gas gauge is any indication (and accurate, of course), then I'm at 1/8 tank with 223 on the odometer. Usually at just about E, there's about 3 gallons left in the tank, so I'm looking at about 14.9MPG. On an unrelated note, the green suburban in the picture above has this really wicked sound system in it. I was talking to the owner about it, he's got two car batteries and three alternators running the show there. I ordered some Packard 440 wire for the Buick, so I told him to enjoy it while it lasts.

Wouldn't a bad wheel bearing have some play and also make noise while driving? I inspected and packed my wheel bearings before leaving, the sound was there before, just intensified now.

Nothing is loose on the wheels, I checked before I left for school. I had heard popping before, but it wasn't this bad. This video is from last year, but could this much play cause some type of slop that would degenerate something in the box? (video is a year old, after I got my rebuilt box back).

You can get pinion bearings no problem, but yeah... I went through this last year. Just hope they are good and move on. You can buy reproduction bearings for $400+ a bearing, so almost $1000 for two new bearings. Could get lucky searching for NOS, but then you're also hoping they don't have damage like surface rust. IMO, if you can't feel anything on the race and the bearing surfaces are smooth and without discoloration, they should be fine.

No, Buick differentials are their own differential from 56 to 62 (and before that range, too, but 56-62 use the same carrier)... you weren't expecting to put some Olds gears in there, too, were you?

Gonna be hard, the bearings are obsolete... make sure they don't take your money and run.

Good luck finding the carrier bearings. If you find them, for a reasonable price, please let me know.

So I've developed this popping noise when turning the steering wheel a full turn, or just past center. There is no bind, drag link is free and clear and everything is lubed. Fluid system is also full, and free of noise (whirring, whining, etc). I'm thinking it's the steering box, but I'm not sure what would cause popping? Perhaps improper ball pre-load? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Uh oh, what are we in for?

But Willis, if you remove the rear coils, you loose that famous Buick ride!

Aww, wanted to see the Bobcat apparatus...

Make sure to take lots of pictures! Maybe even a video

If you can, disconnect the heat stove and put a vacuum cap over it for testing. If the pipe doesn't seal in the manifold, it can cause a vacuum leak. I would also check the base of the carb for vacuum leaks, though it sounds like there isn't much issue there. If the issue goes away after plugging the heat stove, then pull it back out and slather some RTV on the end that goes into the exhaust manifold. This area shouldn't cause any issue due to the choke valve piston, but I had this issue with my WCFB. I also installed the butterflies backwards and it wasn't making a positive seal in the bore . Only other thing I can think of is idle screws may be out too far. If it still idles with the throttle screw backed all the way out and the throttle lever off the carb, pulled fully shut, then you have a leak below the throttle plates.

Those late model Rivs sure look nice

2040: "Daddy, what are those cars doing parked on the side of the street?" "Pay no attention to them, son, they're from a distant time..."

Don't fret Matt, mine aren't original either. Your mirrors look great, how do they attach - magnets?