Buicknutty

What about the passenger side door? Is it available? I have a '56, and I believe that the doors are the same. Keith

John, Happy New Year to you too! Hopefully we will meet again at another show. I'll try to get some stuff together and start a thread about the Wildcat. Keith

John, quite the story, I'm glad that you got the car, sounds like it made it to a good home! My wife has a '68 Wildcat convert, and it has a similar sad story. My goal with that car is similar to yours, ie., make it into a decent driver, with doing the work myself. I am a competent mechanic, and have good welding skills, so I feel I can make it a good looking car with doing the vast majority of the work myself. This is not a common car, but not a really rare one either, so I don't think that it is worth spending a huge amount on, if we wanted a a top concours type of Wildcat, much better ones could be found to start from. When we got it, it had the wrong seats, a 455 (430 is correct) that hadn't run in about 25 yrs, the passenger and trunk floor had been patched with sheet metal screws and roofing tar. The left rear quarter had been hit, repaired poorly, and was now rusted. Other than the incorrect stuff, all of the Wildcat trim was there, and in decent shape. I took great care in starting it first, but I got the engine running, and after a carb rebuild and some tune up work it now runs beautiful, and doesn't blow smoke! The engine oil was as black as ink, and after a couple of hours of running, it was very dark, so the poor 455 has suffered from neglect to, we'll see how it goes when we get driving it. The passenger floor and left quarter is fixed, and I'm starting on the the trunk. I suppose that this story deserves a thread of its' own, and perhaps I will start one. Keith

Thanks for posting pictures of the engine. That looks like factory A/C, as I have a '56 Roadmaster that has factory A/C, one of the oddest things is the covering on the blower motor housing, it is for heat insulation and is a rather lumpy foam rubber stuff, but that's the way it was made! Keith

Cool project Shadetree! Although my Dad wasn't really into working on cars to much, he was a smart guy, and helped me a lot with my first couple of projects, and I learned so much from him. Brings back good memories working with him, as he passed away last year at 93. Wish I had a picture of us together, but we were always dirty, and no one else in the house could use a camera! Keep up the good work, and keep posting! Keith

Nice looking car! How are the mechanicals, does it still have the original 322 V8? Have a Merry Christmas! Keith

Lovely car! Keith

With a car you don't know well, I too would take it easy on the secondary roads. Easier too, if the old girl gives some trouble, hopefully not though! Keith

On both of mine, if there've been sitting for more than 3/4 days they will take a bit more cranking to start. If left overnight, or a couple of days, they generally start right up with one pump, and then hit the starter and away they go. If the carb gets flooded, you will smell gas pretty quick, if you don't then the carb was likely just dry. Keith

Pouring some gas down the carb will help it start, when the choke won't work, a rather dangerous tactic, but it will work. There is a product usually called "Quick start" which is ether, and is extremely flammable, and will help it start, instead of pouring gas down the carb. If you do this I suggest putting the air cleaner back on, before trying to start it, so if it backfires the carb won't catch on fire! Your best friend in this could be the shop manual, though if you are very unsure of how to fix the carb, perhaps you could find a mechanic that has the knowledge, and patience to work on these cars. Another poster suggested spraying the linkage with cleaner, and it possible that might get you 90% to working choke. Cool car, and good luck with it. I've driven a '56 Roadmaster extensively for many years! Post some pictures if you can. Keith

Worked on the left rear quarter panel of my wife's '68 Wildcat convert. In the past it was hit just in front of the wheel well, with mediocre repair done, plus a dose of rust, has made it a bit of a mess, but it is looking better now! Hope to finish this week, as I have no heat were it is right now. Keith

I have had a '41 McLaughlin Buick Roadmaster coupe for 20 years, and I just cannot believe it has been that long, and have been working on since about the year 2000. Though it ran when I got it, the previous owner had started restoring the car, and did a lot of damage to the already badly rusted body. So that was a major challenge to get through. Anyway, the long and short of this is to say, I really thought that this would be the year it finally makes it back on the road, but work, and close, rather ill relatives, conspired against the completion of it! Hopefully next year!! Keep up the good work guys, and try to not lose hope! Keith

Mike; Very cool, and as the old expression goes, small world! I live in the Scarborough Bluffs area, and have through McGill St. from time to time. Likely you had university students staying at your parent's place. Also, I was in Whitby yesterday! Keith

Mike; I should have a few, but I don't know where they are. I'll take a look through some of my old stuff, and see if I can scan and post one or two for you. The boat was an 18' Shepherd, mahogany runabout, with large 6 cyl engine, Crysler Crown, marine, if I remember correctly. Keith

Mike; Thanks for taking the time to share all this with us. I found your cutting setup interesting, it reminds me of a duplicating lathe that one of my grandfather's had, at one time, so that one could make exact copies of spindles for making chairs, etc. I once restored an early fifties wooden speedboat, and went from metal working (my norm) to wood working! My boat was rather like those woodies, a lot of work but fabulous to look at, and not so practical. Keith

Give me a couple of days to check it out. Keith

Might have a spare, I can go and check, but where are you located? Shipping would be quite costly, pick up would be best, though I live in the Toronto, Ontario, in Canada, sort of across the lake from Buffalo NY. Let me know if you're interested, and I will go check and take a couple pictures. Keith

Cool car, if the body is solid it would make a good project! Keith

I believe that they are all the same. I will see if I have any further info to confirm this. Keith

Mike; Thanks for the great pictures! Very inspiring! Keith

Thanks for posting the pics, Mike. Impressive looking work on the '51. I am just finishing a '41 Roadmaster Coupe, and would LOVE to do a woodie! Time, space and that other thing..... money, will hold me back for a few years, got kids starting college. Keith

I have run radials on my '56 Roadmaster for over 25 years, I'm on my 3 third set, and I love them. Mind you, my '56 is a driver, and though they don't look quite the same as bias ply, for me the improvement in driving is worth it. Never had any issues with front end. I have just got a set of wide white radials for my '41 Roadmaster, but have not yet driven it with them on. I have some friends that have '37 and 38's and have run radials for a number of years and not have any issues, again these folks drive their cars considerably. Depends on your use of the car, and if appearance is paramount, if so, you've made the right choice. Happy motoring! Keith

I find this interesting, as I have wondered about the production breakdown of McLaughlin's for some years. I wonder if the same could be used to estimate '41 numbers. I have a 1941 McLaughlin Buick Roadmaster Coupe, chassis number is 2112, body number is 8, and according to other info I have read says that there was about 3800 McLaughlin'c made in '41. Don't know if this is correct or not, but this would lead me to believe that there were perhaps 15-20 of my car made??? Of course, by this time, McLaughlin's were virtually the same as US built. Don't mean to hijack this thread folks! Keith

McLaughlin Buicks were built up until 1942, though there are almost no differences between the US Canadian cars. Keith

I have a '56 Roadmaster that I've run radials on for nearly 30 years, as I drive it considerably and it drives so much nicer. For me the difference in appearance outweighs the driving advantages. Keith