Beemon

There's no shortage of enjoying it here. Since I lost storage and it sits out in the rain, I drive it almost daily now. I try to do everything on my own. Painting my car in a shared driveway at my mom's place is a no-go for two reasons: too many cars mother won't allow it Only two more years of schooling before I'm out. I can take it, but the car can't - hence my questioning.

I'm definitely not selling my car. This car means more to me than anything I own, which isn't a lot, but besides the point. My grandfather bought this car for my now deceased grandmother and it's the only thing he had to hold on to that reminds him of her. I would rather spend $20,000 on this car than buy another. Thanks everyone for the information. The price tag is off setting, and probably won't be anything to accomplish short term. I still have 2.5 years at the college, so for now I'm going to try my hand at body work and drop a Maaco paint job on it. Every shop I talked to will sand blast it no matter what I do, so after I'm graduated and making the big bucks, I'll do it up right.

I had my original 4GC rebuilt three times be people who "knew what they are doing". The first guy put the choke rod on backwards and mismatched the two check balls. The second guy did an awesome job refinishing it, I think that's where he focused on the carb. The third guy dipped it in acid and handed it back to me, removing the nice finish the second guy put on. I ordered a kit from Carb King and admittedly the first week the carb was weak. I must have drove it really hard because it started to clean up. I bought a second one from MrEarl and went through it the same. No modifications. There was always a slight bog, but an 8th turn rich made it really unnoticeable unless you were in low trying to mash it at a stop light. My 4GC collection is a love hate relationship. The carb I got from MrEarl ran better initially than my original, I think in part to my car being a high mileage car and the throttle shaft was worn. When I did my dual carbs, I greased up all the shafts with the same grease I use to seal my wiper motor actuator and it seemed to make a difference. Now with just my original carb, about twice a week on payday I go out with a sewing needle and apply some silicone grease around the throttle shafts the same as my wipers. I think there's a reason why the AFB carb was picked for aftermarket reproduction and not the 4Jet. Others on the forums have had success with a 600cfm Eddy, but then you're looking at rewiring your car.

I don't have the time, storage or shop. A lot of my repairs and work in the last year have been on my back in the pouring rain. Naturally I took a break for the winter lol. But not having a place to store the car means rot is setting in, too, and I would rather have it in a climate controlled shop being painted than outside unpainted. Plus you should see my outstanding paint skills. This is one thing I wish I could do myself but I don't think I'll regret this as much as the engine. Now that we've established what they're asking is a fair estimate, does anyone know of a way to make 10 grand in 6 months? I'm open to ideas here.

The tower LEDs are bright, but they don't get very much brighter when you put your foot on the pedal. The light intensity dims the more SMD diodes are present on the tower. The SMD diodes don't really create a glow (think spotlight) so none of them ever really utilize the reflector housing. The plasma LEDS work better because there are only 5 LEDS total and the plasma cloud in the COB LED creates a luminescence that mimics a filament bulb. This is demonstrated in the video. The only issue is cost. In my opinion the filament bulb is still superior to the replacement LED tower bulbs.

The car has never been repainted, the body is survivor status. In some places, the paint has been stripped and shot with rattle can by my Uncle in the 80s. Most of the shops said they would blast all of it off anyways. I did passenger fender and roof with rattle can primer this last spring. Updated title to reflect just body/paint work. Thanks everyone for replies, they did indeed tell me that it's a start to finish process with unforeseen circumstances surely to rise up. The quote I outlined above was based on their experience with mid 50s cars in similar shape to mine.

Before anyone says anything, I tagged the search function and only found ways to do a restoration at home in a garage - no $$$ figures. I've been going to the different shops locally to get a feel for who does what in my area - new cars, old cars, both, etc. One shop I singled out in particular quoted me for $8000-12000, keeps a log book, requires a weekly check-up and only deals in cash. Other shops had other similar rules, but were either "we do all the work, you pay us top dollar" or "we'll undercut and save you some money ($5000 total, seems too cheap). All the shops that are ran by old boys tell me that they will do all the prep work themselves and will strip the car no matter what, something I'm not upset about. Does $8000-12000 sound reasonable? This is with me removing bumpers, trim and glass from the car and giving them the shell on the chassis - no frame off. The closer I get to the city, the steeper the price and this shop is actually within 5 minutes of my house, so it fits in with my already busy school full time/work full time schedule. The car has one rocker hole, one rear quarter hole, one hole behind the trunk emblem, trunk lid rot at the bottom, and a lot of surface rust. I know everyone's experience is different, but I'm looking for guidance since I really don't know any better. This shop in question came highly recommended from one of my older peers that has been valuable to my restoration - his cars look fantastic.

What's wrong with the Fenton floor shifter? Mr. Lamar, you always have the best toys.

Refer to the video I shared above, those tower LED lights are garbage.

I should clarify, 1157/1156 replacement bulbs aren't where they should be. A lot of cars use custom molded tail light assemblies, but service usually entails replacing the whole unit. Most cars still use a plug in filament bulb, that's where I was focusing "not quite there yet." I also read red LEDs for red lenses, I think it has to do with the intensity of the light from the diode, as you stated, overcomes the color of the lens. In any case, one might think using filament bulbs might not be that big of a deal to upgrade from, but think about where modern optics for emergency and newer cars are going. Emergency lights are now almost all LED or to some degree extremely bright. Modern car housings like the new Dodge Dart or Charger have a plasma system that illuminates an entire band across the back of the car that is more crisp than filament bulbs. People are getting used to brighter lights and eventually the old 1034s or 1157 bulbs will look like running lights, even when braking and especially on older vehicles. It's like people adapting to anti-lock brakes. They know they can hold off until the last minute to brake, so they do so, rather than giving car lengths - at least around here, it's almost always bumper to bumper and I always find someone stealing that car length I leave for braking right at the inopportune moment.

The brighter the bulb, the more resistance across the filament, the more heat is generated. Spacing from the lens is also crucial. People are pushing LED bulbs right now for two reasons: they are solid state, which results in instantaneous on/off and no burn linger like standard filaments they are brighter, require much less power and are cold The issue, outlined previously, is that they are not omni-directional like a filament bulb - at least not yet. Because of this, they do not take advantage of reflectors the way filament bulbs do. There is ongoing research right now for plasma based LED bulbs, that create an omni-directional luminescence via a plasma cloud generated within the circuit board. Others are toying with creating a special head on top of an LED behind a projector to broaden the beam, and some are even attaching cone optics to diffuse the LED beam. Point being, there's a reason why auto manufacturers are still using filament bulbs and it's not a cost issue. When I was doing research on bulbs for the Buick, I wanted to compare primarily the difference between a 1034 and an 1157. Both had the same running filament, so no additional power was being consumed while on, but the brake filament on the 1157 was a .3 amp difference. Candle power was the same on paper, but it was marginally brighter. The 1157 bulb, for whatever reason, also had a longer life span than the 1034 bulb. Diving even further, I found that the 3496 bulb is the brightest bulb that will fit a BAY15D housing (both in running and brake operation), however, the amp draw was significantly greater. When it comes to brake lights, I think looking for similar running light CP ratings with a brighter brake light rating will be OK in the long run since they're only on when you come to a stop. Running lights, however, I would not gamble on because the added heat intensity will generate hotter ambient temps behind the lens. In the near future, I plan to replace most bulbs with a proper LED replacement. With the way LED technology is progressing, they may be standard in another year or so. Below is a video I found that does a nice comparison between what's new, what's on the market currently, and what's been contemporary.

I feel the same about mine. That's really awesome! My mother always tells me that classic cars are not meant to be driven by today's standards, even before I had pulled the engine so that's all I've ever really known until I became a bigger part of this community. Even if I had the money to do a "400 point restoration", it would always still be a driver.

You're not afraid of scratches? I mean I drive my car without a care whether or not it gets scuffed, and probably will continue to do so after it gets painted to an extent, but I'm just really surprised - I would have thought that most collectors would shy away from such a thing.

The chains I found for the 56 Buick 322 were all labeled with the TC488 or TC491 (222491) part number. Maybe the Chev 322 was different? I thought they stopped using them in 57.

I was hoping when it said "strange 56 super options", that it had the Roadmaster bomber sights. Wouldn't mind finding those in any condition.

2 hours isn't bad. When my starter turned into a live grenade, I was looming at 4 to 6 hours. I found a local wrecker and paid $50 to have it towed two blocks back to home. Didn't even bother calling the provider back to cancel the service.

The complete ac system is probably worth what he's asking for the car, the problem is getting rid of the rest of the car...

It snowed today (barely). This is the car's first snow since being licensed, don't think it cared much for it.

If you ever try to rebuild your gear box, Fusick does offer a rebuild kit. Interested to see how the Jeep box works for you.

Nice body work

I bow to you, the almighty Carb King. Would be interesting to get some numbers, since none of the published shop manuals I've seen have them supplied. My engineering instructor began his career on a steam powered destroyer in the US Navy in the mid 60s if I recall correctly, and "good enough" was their favorite phrase until the captain ordered a full stop after a full speed ahead and they blew a pressure main in the boiler room. Different times for sure, one I am far from being an expert on.

I borrowed these images from Hometown Buick. In the section, it states "the hydraulic units and steering gear housing are filled with the same oil as specified for Dynaflow transmissions." There isn't supposed to be gear oil in the gear box. Looks like you can slide by with a pitman shaft seal, available at NAPA and can be done by just dropping the pitman arm. There's a snap ring and some washers.

If it is binding, then post #2 should correct it for you.

I don't think a 56/7 will swap in to a 55 drive shaft. If I recall correctly, 55 was the last year for a specific torque tube spline and then 56-60 have more teeth on the spline or something. Looks like you either have to do the full drive train front to back or replace/rebuild the engine.

What does the clip look like?