[Brand new Buick owner here! 1937 Model 48]

Gary:

 For having 2 broken springs your car sits higher than my car. Do a search in your area of NJ. Truck/suspension shops should be in existence somewhere near you. There was a shop in my town of Chambersburg that redid my rear springs. Of course that was over 20 years ago. I still have the rusted covers somewhere.

 I at one time worked for "Liggett Spring and Axle" in East Monongahela PA. Old factory building from the 1890s. We made springs for every thing from Amish buggies to Mack Trucks. We did most of the Chevy light truck springs in the early to mid 1970s.

[dave chiotti]

Dave :

 There should be set screws on either side of the shift tower. Loosen them and the lock assembly should pull out.  

[NEW DISCOVERY]

LeBaron Bonney stocks replacement shades and assist straps for our 1937-38 cars.

[Repair door bottoms 1937 Buick]

This was the patch that was already on my drivers door.

 

That was the worst of the rust on my car.

 Penn Dutch Restorations made a very nice repair on mine. It looks great. I would go with the others suggestions as yours is not as bad as mine was.

 

[1925 Buick Standard - paint on the cowl aluminum trim]

Hugh :

On "Beulah" I just polish mine up a bit also. It always looks good. Every so often I would use a razor blade to clean off another section of the cowl band that had overspray from a poorly masked areas. After 5 years it is all cleaned up. The 1925 Master had the cowl band painted. Yuck! The use of a little lacquer thinner and steel wool made the car look much better. I think the previous owner painted the darker blue with the band off. Later after he assembled the body he painted the lighter blue over everything. You can sand out the scratches and then polish it as Leif said. Then it should be good for the duration of your ownership.

[1913 Roadster]

Rod: The round badge could be a 1912 hold over. Mark Shaw's 13 has a square BUCK badge

as does Gary's

and the one I tried to get.(now in England)  

Roger's 13 has no badge but does have the nickeled script on the core.

On Rogers car it felt as if there was a plastic coating on the radiator shell as it felt as if it were about to peel off.

 

I associate the round badge with 1911 and 1912 Cars. The 1910-10 that I tried to buy in Manassas had a round badge. From what I saw it  looked to be a compilation of a variety of years. A nice looking, fun car with obvious originality issues, I searched many sources and only see 1910-10s with a round /tubular front axle, but the owner wanted to start at $20,000 and dicker up! I could not even point out the issues as they were convinced he had restored it to strict, correct originality. It seemed that they were just looking for offers. From what I know the son still has the car as the parents have both passed since. He was afraid that someone will "Hot Rod" the car.

[1913 Roadster]

As nice as this car looks. (Interpretive restoration looks like it was well done.) I was concerned about some of the things Rod pointed out. After looking at 5 different 1913-31s you start noticing differences. It looks like the clutch is stuck (in) as the 1913-31 I inspected near me in PA. (Now in England) The top seems to be a quality job. But of course these cars did not have the "Gypsy" sides on the top. It has been my opinion that if you are asking top dollar for a car that it should be running/driving. It appears to be ready to run.

[Engine compression test]

Brian: I did about the same. I had on old 2 piece Champion plug with the replaceable electrode. One of my compression tester adapters fit that thread. 

[1937 Buick Special Exhaust Manifold]

To be aware. I one has a MARVEL(as I do) carb set up instead of the Stromberg, the manifold will be a bit different.

[Buick Model F Splitdorf Coil Box Modification]

Mark:

Great modification. Good thing that us car guys who do their own work have a healthy respect for money. Otherwise no one would attempt to do these modifications. I spent 2 hours last night re-working a new combination switch housing from BOB'S. If I was not having an issue with him exchanging a new wing nut for my 1925 Master. I would have sent the switch housing back I purchased from him as the quality was pretty bad. I had gotten a new housing from him 4 years ago for the 1925 Standard which I rebuilt. It was a much better casting although some modifications still need to be made. I believe his supplier made an RTV rubber mold of a good original. Making the new aluminum castings from this mold makes all dimensions smaller because of the metals shrinkage.The casting I just received has many gas holes and inclusions. It is just barely useable. Also one has to adapt the original micarta contact plate to fit.

 I just feel for those in the hobby who do not have the experience /skill or machinery to make those adaptations.

[Please help a "newbie" with some basic beginner questions]

Gary:

Nice talking to you today and congratulations on your new Buick. As you can see by the previous post I was able to recover it. The first photo shows the engine bay with radiator removed to be re-cored. This can be done without removing the nose section. The fan/water pump and bypass chamber removal gives a lot of room to get things out. The hood and the nose to cowl support rods need to be removed. (Check back on the thread "37 overheating" I believe). There is a step by step of what I did before biting the bullet and doing a re-core.

I drove it all week in Nashville mostly over 95 degrees each day. Over 1,500 mile round trip. Temp gage never went over 185!

Re-installed re-cored radiator.                                                                                 Good insurance... Gano filter.

December 1986 Auto Trader Ad for my car. I believe I got them down to $2,500. Which at the time I found out afterward was pretty high for what it was.

Photo taken this past summer. Note Hampton grey wheels.

[Please help a "newbie" with some basic beginner questions]

Gary:

 Welcome to the problem solving capital of the world! These guys are great!!

As to what I did with my 1937-41 with the Marvel BD-1 Carb. First, when I bought the car in 1987 and joined the 37-38 Club and the BCA the Marvel BD-1 carb was (even then) considered an orphan. Although it did seem to run fine.  I found out that if I went back to the Stromberg AA series Carb I would need a complete manifold/choke/linkages/vacuum switch etc. and all to make things work. Checking around at the time it would have cost me the same as I paid for the car to make the changeover. I sent the carb out to be rebuilt by an advertiser in the "37-38 Torque Tube Magazine". It cost about $100 at the time. A huge expense for us as a new Tech Ed teacher in 1987. I quickly found out I did not have the money to do things as I wanted and the car sat for 25 years until I could put some time and money into the car. I did work on it as cash became available.  The fly wheel was pretty well chewed up on my car also. A fellow at an old line garage said that this was no problem as they could flip the ring gear and dress the teeth. They did this all the time in the old days. I think he charged me $15.00. That is what is on my car today with no problems in another 9,000 miles. I sent my clutch out to be rebuilt by CARS in NJ. They sent it to a rebuilder in Florida. They said that they could not reline my clutch disk since it was an aftermarket unit. When I asked for all to be returned they lost my pressure plate. About 3 months of angry letters before I had "A" pressure plate returned. The one I sent had center punch marks to locate to the crankshaft to maintain balance. All these things were done before 1989. Then it took another 24 years before all came back together. I guess that I am lucky, as my Choke unit still functions properly. The heat riser took a long soaking and heating regiment before things loosened up and still had to re-weld the counter weight back on the shaft. I had to make bushings for the worn sections of the accelerator/starter linkages to have all work smoothly. The vacuum switch has always worked fine. And I have a rebuilt spare in case. Comments on the forum indicate that this Marvel is the worst possible carb for our cars. I did have a spare carb I picked up rebuilt by the outfit in Phoenix. They quoted me about $300 in 2012. The final cost came in at over $650!! So that is the carb I am using. Again, I have put close to 9,000 miles on the car driving it to South Bend, I calculated the trip at 16 MPG average. Same for Nashville and Allentown. Some day I will have to drive a car with the better carbs to see what I am missing.

 

[mid 20's Buick valve stem covers]

Hugh:

 I see that you have finally named your car. HUBERT it is. We have named our 1925-45 Master REMLEY. The listings show which are for Wood wheels. A for Wood and D for wood. You would have to have metal stems vulcanized to your tubes. My tubes have rubber stems and so I do not have the long covers. I thought of making a plug adapter for the covers I have. Other things to worry about.

[Delco Remy Distributors 1920s -1930's inter-changebility?]

Unfortunately many of the 1920s car manufactures used the new miracle material DIE CAST. It took many years before the industries composition was fairly stable. I remember seeing some 1920s cars for sale in the 1980s that the carbs and distributers were nothing more than a pile of gray crumbs. My 1925 Buicks had those terrible "pot metal" units. One reason that the cars were taken out of service by the 1940s. I had been able to do a drop in of a later cast iron Delco on the 1925 Touring shown on my avatar photo.

 The "new" Buick I have just purchased(1925 Master) has an adapted later Delco unit from an IHC 6 cylinder truck. It works great. Another benefit is that the cap, rotor and points are typical off the shelf 1930s Chevy. I can do a points, cap, rotor for about $20 instead of over $120. I have several original distributers and the only thing that is salvageable was the shaft and gear.

The let unit is the drop in cast iron unit. The right side one was cobbled up with cut off and piened screws. Collar bushing had no opening for grease to the shaft and copper crush gasket for spacers. The car ran with this unit but I could stop it by just finger pressure on the case.

The 2 above are original units. The left one is barely useable but the cup is oval shape. Not much left of the one on the right.

Keep checking. There is someone out there who has done an adaptation for your car.

[Raise your hand if you drove at least one old Buick this weekend]

I was able to take out all 3 Buicks out this weekend before the winter weather came in to central PA. I did errands with the 1937 Friday evening. Then on Saturday took the 1925-25 Standard out for a couple of trips around town. While I have been sorting out the "new" Buick, I thought I would put down the top and see if the boot I had made for the 1925 Standard would fit. The boot fits the 1924-45 Master perfectly! I took her for a drive of several miles and she seems to run better each time out. Still have a lot of sorting out to do yet. But, this car wants to roll!

1

 

 

[1982 Regal Not Mine]

Car is located in the Harrisburg PA. Area.

[1982 Regal Not Mine]

1982 Regal Coupe V-6 Automatic One owner, Non smoker, No accidents,  dealer undercoated, charcoal exterior, light gray landau top, pin striping, light gray velour upholstery door edge guards (some are loose),wire wheel covers w/lock, poor bumpers (resulting in failed inspection) minimal rust spots. Air, Tilt, Rear defogger. Mileage 153,844. Does not start.   Asking price. $2,000.OBO. Deb Prentice 717-712-1220 (Work,8:30am-5 pm)M-F 717-737-1597 (Home, after 6pm)       Asking price. $2,000.OBO. Deb Prentice 717-712-1220 (Work,8:30am-5 pm) 717-737-1597 (Home, after 6pm)

 

1982 Regal Coupe.docx

[1923 Buick Roadster minneapolis craigslist]

I saw a very nice 1923-44 for sale on Ebay several years ago in the correct blue with black top and it is a very nice combination on these cars. I think it sold for about the same price as what they are asking for this one. I believe it had the painted and striped wheels. I remember when I was in Vo-Tech for auto body in the 1970s we had an administrator who wanted his car painted "on the cheap". We mixed up whatever DULUX leftovers and what came out was that pinkish metallic.  That is what we painted his car.The top does look like a quality job. The "duct taped" seats look comfortable.

 The 1925-45 I just picked up was about a little over 1/2 of their asking price of this 1923. Of course that "Earl Scheib blue" on my car may have cut the price.  Cobalt Blue is in it's future.

[1925-45 MASTER has arrived]

 

 This is what I have been working on in the evening. Just to see what might be salvageable from some of the parts that came with the car.

 The first photo is of the Sport model cluster (which cleaned up pretty nicely) but missing the Buick clock, compared with a shabby regular one on the left. Every thing was filled with dirt, bugs, grease and such. The next photo is of the 4 switches several with key switch and several without. Other than a bezel, glass and face not much to work with.  In the cigar box are the innards of some of the switches. There is a steel retaining ring around these units and each one was torn as the pot metal case swelled. The "Best" unit he put in the car but it is also unusable. So I need a new case from Bob's and try to make something from the best of these parts. The last 2 photos are of the 3 distributer caps and pot metal distributers. The one on the left may still be useable, although it is now oval shaped. The only things salvageable from the one on the right are the points and gear.

 

[Buick Standard Question]

fozz71:

 Check out my posts from June of 2014 . When we bought the car in 2011 I always had to start the car in gear. It would jump a bit and disengage. Read the rest of my story. I also have a set of the 1926 style clutch plates if needed.    

1925 Clutch Issues

in Buick - Pre War

Posted June 11, 2014 · Report post

[1925 Master open car inside door handles]

Kevin:

 The master I just got (I see you have the photo of mine) has the horizontal handles. They have the inside end with a straight knurl (gear like profile) to locate the handle with the last 1/2" of the end  threaded to take a retaining acorn nut. I will try to get more specific dimensions for you. I know the 1924-45 near me in town has the one like your ebay find. My 1925-25 has the same as your photo of the 1924-35.

[1925-25 Frustration]

A bit of an update on the 1925-25 frustration. After the Allentown show we drove the car occasionally with still some of the same issues. No power and still popping a bit, constant adjustment of the carb etc. We have been getting familiar with the 1925-45 we brought home last week. Even though it still needs a through going over it is a much more powerful feeling car than the 1925-25. It really wants to get up and go! The owners son thought that the spark advance was a bit limited so I thought I would see how much play there was in the linkage. Oopps!  the whole distributer was loose. Their father had adapted an International distributer (Delco unit similar to a Chevy one) to replace the crumbling die-cast one. It has a screw adjustable clamp which is how it was mounted. That made it nearly impossible to get a wrench on the nut to hold while tightening up the screw on the distributer cup clamp. (S/G in the way). I thought ... Now how will I re-time this? I could not use the same steps as with an original set up. No nut to loosen and turn the distributer cam shaft. Only the case can be turned. I will at least go over the procedure where I was familiar ... with the 1925-25. Also for those of you who have done so, the service book illustrations have no bearing on reality. What I found on my 1925-25's flywheel was upside down and backwards of what the illustrations show and no defined mark. Barely visible on the opposite side of the illustration of the timing sight opening (illustration's left side shows defined mark) nothing on mine, there was a slight nick on the right side. That was what I assumed to be the timing mark.. I brightened up the 7 Degree garbled letters (no nicely scribed perpendicular line) and a slight nick in the flywheel with some yellow crayon. Well, I tried to re-time the 1925-25 again my self. Checking # 1 valve closing on compression stroke.. while bump hand cranking and trying to check flywheel position with a flashlight and magnifying glass. Then resetting cam position .... Result ... It ran worse.... I employed  my son Alex to help me with better (younger) eyes. After another session we finally got the distributer cam in position to open points when the backlash rocked forward and closed when rocked back.. Closed all up and went for a ride......Wow!. The car actually had some power and pick up! Not like the model 45 but very pleased with the performance.

Now tomorrow to tackle the model 45. It still starts and runs. I have yet to find a legible mark on the flywheel. I did a quick light sanding with a bit of 150 grit sanding belt fabric and a dowel at the timing hole while the flywheel was spinning. Again, does not look like the illustration. More Later....

[1925 start/generator motor]

Carmover :

 I wish you had called as I said I had a partial S/G for parts if you needed it. Of course they would have to evaluate what I would send them.

 Larry

[1925-45 MASTER has arrived]

Thanks Gary. And thanks for the ride in the 1913-31. I did a write up for our local chapter's newsletter about the old car festival and included the account of our ride. I would have still liked to have an earlier brass Buick.  But, this showed up locally for about 1/6th the asking price of the other Brass Buicks I had looked at, all of which needed a lot of sorting out before I could do any determining of what may needed to be done. Your car was an exceptional auto and it was a pleasure to experience it.

This 1925 had the fuel system redone and I could hear it run!!! And drive it !!! The other 1913s I had looked at the owners did not have much insight as to what may be needed to get them back to a roadworthy car. The 1913-31 near me in PA. has gone thru 2 owners since I offered on it last April. The last owner sold it at Hershey for $25,000.It is now in England.

[1925 Buick Fender Welting]

Hugh:

 Thanks for asking the question to the forum. I only assumed that it may have been present since I had it on my 1925-25. It does have welting on all the locations you note. As I told you, the Master I just picked up does not have any welting on the front fenders. It does have welting on the rear fenders. I know that we are only trying to fix what others did 40-50 years ago with an interpretive restoration. Having said this. It does look much better in my opinion with the welting. It really gives all the joints a finished appearance.