Beemon

You know I gotta say with this Washington heat wave, it's the first time I've experienced vapor lock. I can definitely say the car runs better in 70% humidity with the rains. I'm pretty sure the Australians used water injection to combat extreme heat. Plus colder air is more dense, so the little bit of water in the intake is probably enough to keep ambient intake temperatures cool.

Low range would most likely help with engine braking and hill climbing, however, may be more work than its worth to put your frankenstein Buick together.

Getting a little scared there, all things considered! I'm assuming it's probably clutch pack then?

Water is not compressible, but if diluted and mixed, its no longer water and would be a substance that includes oxygen and hydrogen. This I think would be the only real benefit of k100 from the study above, it eliminates any phase separation. The real question is, what chemical solution are you really burning? Because it's not gas and water anymore.

Yesterday I set off on an adventure to flush the fluids... all the fluids. Transmission fluid was... not what I expected. I'm hoping this is just micro shavings from when the Dynaflow blew up in the 70s that didn't get flushed out when rebuilt... and not another "Professional rebuilt this wrong" type deal. Pretty easy job, overall. Pulled the torque converter drain plug and oil pan plug and let drain for about 30 minutes. Filled almost exactly 10 quarts of Valvoline DexIII/Merc fluid. Differential was another one of those things... Stay away from the cheap hand pumps! I was trying to suck the fluid out of the rear end and the plastic straw came loose and fell down inside. No big deal I thought, I'll just get it with a 4 finger grabber.... Oops. The fingers came off inside the diff, too! Well my cousin and I spent the rest of the night using nothing but a pen magnet and a hooked coat hangar wire to get everything back out. We had to shine the flash light through the hole, look inside as best we could, and then try and fish everything out. Needless to say, we got really drunk. On a side note, I highly recommend the $16 priced hand pumps pictured in the last image. They use the Chinese finger toy type mechanism to hold the plastic tubing. I replaced the rear end oil with two parts 85W-140 Valvoline and one part Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer. At this point it was already 11:30 at night, and I still needed to adjust the front brakes. Brought them tight, then 13 clicks out each side. Shop manual says 15 clicks, but I wanted a little less pedal. It was 1:30 at this point. I don't know if anyone has issues with spinning the star wheel, but the location with respect to the steering knuckle on the front is just terrible for adjustments... retracting is never an issue, it's always expanding the brakes. With all that time wasted, I'm behind schedule. Today I need to flush the brake lines, flush the power steering pump, flush the coolant and adjust the rear brakes/parking lever. An oil change is also planned, but I need to dump my 13 quarts of oil at the nearest auto parts store first.

There's a glass shop in California that does repro glass. I'm not sure the condition or quality, but that's where I'd check. The name escapes me but a Google search should find it.

Bernie, regularly checking your balls for irregularities is something everyone should do fairly commonly. I checked my balls this morning and everything is a-OK.

The only magics in a bottle I've used are Seafoam, MMO, Lucas HD Oil Stabilizer and KW Trans Seal Repair. The KW and MMO I've used per Willie's suggestions and have helped alleviate leaks with the Dynaflow - the MMO went in the tank to lube the upper cylinder and valve stems of my new engine. I used the Lucas in the diff with some 85W-140 lube to keep everything sticky. When I wasn't dumping MMO in the gas tank, I used to dump a whole can of Seafoan in the tank after a carb rebuild. Drive to the gas station down the hill, fill up, and drive back up under load. Always seemed to help, one of my 4GCs was really bad and it cleaned itself out before I got home. I'll see about the K100, too, since I like joining in on collaborative efforts like the clutch fan threads.

Matt, nothing wrong with black walls if the car gets you cruising down the street! I agree you might want to take it to a rad shop and at least see what they say about the pipe.

Nobody knows, but the black and red one was thought to be damaged in a collision and sold. My grandfather was upset because he wanted to take the AC out of it and swap it over. This happened mid 60s, around the time my grandfather changed the kingpins and put the wrong pinion preload on the differential that destroyed the ring and pinion gears. I'll have to dig up some pictures! Lamar, I have never heard that one before! I've been somehow compared to Hugo Weaving before, as well as Tom Pretty back in highschool when I straightened my long hair. I don't think my mother's picture taking skills do me any justice, either!

Okay, so maybe not so good looking Buick right now, but it's about time I stop flooding "Post War" with topics and start my own Me and My Buick thread. A little bit of history: The car was purchased brand new as one of two, by my grandfather, from the Kessler dealership in Detroit, in 1956. A few weeks prior, at some point whether returning or going to the army base, my grandfather rolled his 1953 Buick Roadmaster off an embankment and came out with nothing but his life. He needed new transportation, and with the aid of his then girlfriend at the time, placed an order for one Buick Century with all the bells and whistles save AC, power windows and power seats. I'm told that my grandmother rolled the car off the assembly line, but it seems all flair considering assembly line cars had a special stamp on the firewall ID tag. Before leaving service, he purchased for his mother a sister Century (Red and Black) that had every accessory option available. The two of them then set out west, back to Seattle, where the Red and Black Century was gifted to my great grandmother, and the Blue and White Century started a family in 1958. Fast forward to 1978, the last year licensed. My grandfather is driving around a 1971 Estate Wagon 455, while his oldest son and daughter (my mother) are bombing around in the 56 Century. A good 20+ years of pampered service got my uncle through 2 years of community college (I got free parking when I went because it still has, to this day, the Green River Community College parking pass on it). One fateful afternoon, sometime after three teeth broke off the reverse ring gear in the Dynaflow, the front pump became plugged up on a rather large upward climb. My grandfather, raising a family of 5, had fallen on hard times and the car sat in a lofty car port from that day on. Fast forward to the mid 80s, where my grandfather's youngest son was in auto tech class in highschool. With good intentions, but misguidance, tore the still running 322 apart. Upon inspection, worn rocker arms were found and a few broken valve springs, among other common wear parts for a 200,000 mile car. The heads, timing cover, sprockets, chain, lifters, rocker arms and valve covers were stored in the trunk/front/back seat, the intake and Rochester 4GC left down in the basement, and the bock left bare with pistons and all to the elements, shielded only by the roof over it's head and the lofty hood. The car quickly became a pipe dream and was left in shambles. In 2010, my grandmother passed away and was the first time I can remember the whole family being in one place. My uncle (oldest son) moved to Oklahoma, and my aunt (youngest daughter) moved to Colorado. It was an unfortunate time, and while on her death bed, the car had come up in front of my grandmother several times. After she died, the house was quickly deserted and the question of who got the car was left unanswered. No one wanted it because it had zero value and was too much work. At some point around this time, and being close to graduation, I had shown interest in the car. It was my favorite since I first found it 13 or so years prior (then 18 at the time of 2010), and I had started doing a lot of research. My mother had threatened to scrap it several times during this point to clean up and sell the house, and I had pooled every thing I could save between going to the college part time and barely making enough money to pay for the classes. My saving grace was my first few tax returns, and I had saved up enough money to have the engine sent out for rebuild in 2013. Another year passes and the next tax return was used to cover the transmission. In 2015, I had amassed enough parts to finally fire the old beast off, and she awoke with the fire of a thousand suns. Her slumber was over, and it was the first time I had witnessed my grandfather cry after the passing of my grandmother. The herd came flocking, everyone suddenly wanted the car, and we got in notarized writing that the car had been gifted to me and was put in my name after a state patrol inspection October of 2015. Lady Century's legacy was reborn. Of course, most of you all are up to date with what the car has gone through, in fact, we've both gone through a lot. The 322 powerplant is now out of a 1956 Buick Roadmaster, salvaged from an LS swap after my original engine had torn itself apart on the grounds of poor workmanship. The rear end, as I found out from my grandfather, didn't have the correct pinion pre-load, which allowed the pinion to hammer the carrier and prompted me to find a rear end from a Special. The power steering box and pump, after being rebuilt, are still sloppy and the pump itself was put together wrong, which resulted in the pulley tearing apart the end shaft - also a junkyard journey. My starter flew itself apart, and eventually so did the generator to an extent, which prompted me to find a junkyard replacement for the former and a re-manufactured replacement for a 1956 Chevy for the latter. I have also upgraded the brakes on the front to Roadmaster brakes and repaired the master cylinder myself. The suspension from front to back, save the front coil springs, A-arm bushings and king pins, have been replaced completely. I also replaced the original Rochester 4GC with a Carter WCFB. I even rebuilt the power antenna, rebuilt the tube radio, and repaired the clock, blower motor and cigarette lighter. This car is fully functional front to back, with front and rear speakers and all the fixings of a 1956 luxury sports car. All that's left to do now is paint, glass, chrome and interior - the hard stuff. This car will be following me on my exodus over Snoqualmie pass, where I will spend the next two years at Washington State University, fulfilling my degree in Mechanical Engineering. This thread will be the continuation of my experiences with my Buick as I journey forward. I hope you guys enjoy the ride!

Good ol' Pertronix... hopefully this next go about will be maintenance free! I have noticed a trend through my own research that in the last couple years, the company isn't as good of quality as it used to be, having gone through three different modules myself before putting the points back in.

Drill and tap will probably be the best bet IMO. the only issue is cap interference. As far as soldering goes, you need to get all the way around so it may get a bit tricky at the bottom, but I thought under the drain tube at the neck was a smaller tube almost like a nipple?

Patience and time. Might be better at this time to put a rubber hose and add an expansion tank so you're not puking coolant on a hot day.

You could cut a slot thinner than the stem and the push it into place.

I have a 56, so it's cover less, but I basically double coated the flange gasket and torqued to spec, sealing the gasket and bolts. I've been using synthetic oil since and haven't had any leaks.

Put some cushion under the torque tube at the x-frame so it doesn't come crashing down when the driveline comes out of the torque ball.

Maybe even a plastic washer? That's all bakelite is. A fiber or rubber washer would be too soft for sure, but isn't the washer just there to keep the contact from touching the threaded end of the steering wheel?

Maybe just substitute a nylon washer from the hardware store?

How much did it run you for the chrome work?

Which side, is it the diff cover or the torque tube flange? I have had great success with the black silicone sealant on the differential. Not one leak since I did mine.

Put the intake back on and buy a hoist plate from one of the auto stores (I got mine from AdvancedAuto). Just pick it up with a 1000lb rated hoist and pull it all out. I did one with a 500lb hoist... it's doable, but questionable...

MrEarl, drop the 56 322 in and add the supercharger. Even if you don't tow, you can finally say you put the McCulloch on a Buick.

Front or rear bearing?

I don't see it like that, because if my case was without merit, he would have told me in court that the defendant was better than me. I see it as he didn't have it in him to say who was right or wrong, but then dismissed the case to be done with it. I concur no research had been done because the paper was signed the next day before noon.