dibarlaw

Mike : I do not remember the manufacturers name and the box was in bad (soggy) shape. The Thursday of the meet a quick thunder storm came thru and drenched the flea market vendors. Many a nice NOS box was ruined. I remember the 1937 and up Buick 248 was listed on the box.

I would like to buy a Book of Parts for my 1925-Master. I do have an original 1914-1930 Master Parts Book that is long on part numbers but short on illustrations. My friend has a 1924 Six book of parts copy. From what I saw there are more items illustrated than in my 1925 Standard Book of Parts. (Very muddy photos in my copy). Send a PM if you have one or a copy for sale. Larry

My 1937 248 also oozes. It usually runs at 45 lbs. of oil pressure. When I was at South Bend in 2013 one of the vendors had a NOS aftermarket rocker assembly oil mat in its original box. It looked like a long cotton sock to be laid on top of the assembly with locating grommets for passing over the valve cover studs.

Kevin: Boy am I behind in getting this done! I thought I would post here for the benefit of others. The photos are of the original on the car as well as the brass copies and the pattern they were made from. On one of my doors, a brass copy is installed and rather than the end being splined and threaded they have the inside handle pinned to the shaft. The others have the 1/4 20tpi acorn nut. The inside handle is nickel plated brass. 1/4 20 TPI .300 X16 spline. Group of the Brass reproductions and pattern. They still will need a bit of machining to true and clean up. The one at the lower left and the escutcheon I picked up at Hershey . The vendor took over the business of a fellow who passed away. He is in the process of starting up a foundry making Stainless Steel reproductions. These were old stock display left overs. The handle is a bit undersized compared to my original as is the escutcheon. They are polished beautifully. They will also still need machining to true up and fit. It is also 1/4 shorter than my original.

Leif: I will also try to get an original and will keep checking. I know that the 1926 Standard book of parts that you did not want because of the water damage I kept. Even with the damage the illustrations are much better than the copy of my 1925 book. And many of the parts common to both years are the same. It has also helped me compare parts when I come across them. So does any one have a 1925 Master Book of parts for sale? One of the illustrations I could use now is of the electrical section showing the breakdown of the switch and instruments. I have 4 partial switches and an trying to build up a good one from the repro case and switch levers I got from BOB'S. I only have 2 insulation plates with the taps and connections. Each one is different. And neither have the dropping resistor for the headlights. I have to pull the one in the car since the levers have also locked up. It does have a working key switch with a key so that is the one I will probably use. Thank you: Larry

Question to those who have purchased the BHA reprints. What is the quality of these reprints? I ask because I have the 1925 Standard Book of Parts I bought from BOB's and the photos are very "muddy". I have an original 1926 Standard Book of Parts to compare the quality. All photos crisp and clear. The 1923 (2 part) book of parts I scanned for Leif came out much better than the BOB's 1925 reprint. Then Leif sent me a file with both the 1925 Standard and McLaughlin Book of Parts. Again, much better quality than the BOB's quality. I had bought one of the 1914-1930 Master parts book copies. Many pages out of sequence some pages are upside down as to the other side of the sheet. I now own an original bound book in excellent condition with all the addendums. What a joy to peruse! The bottom line is that I do not want to spend the money unless it is a really good print.

bubba: So glad you chimed in. I was going thru old Bugles looking for photos of your wonderful original car. I did find the Bugle with George's 1925-45 that I also saw in person at the Old Car festival. Also your accounting of Dave Chambers car. I know that other than some of the original paint and upholstery, George's car was not all original as stated in the Bugle article. In a subsequent issue you commented as to those items in question. I believe my Master was also black (not a trace of cobalt blue under anything) as was my 1925-25. I could not find a hint anywhere of Brewster Green. Indicating that they were both of the first type as noted in the Master Parts Book. I still have your email. Friend Peter R..... wishes you well. I will get in touch with you via e-mail.

Brian: I know when we drove to the Portland Meet we had a stop at " The House on the Rock". It is only a mile or so from Frank Lloyd Wright's Home Taliesin North. Spring Green Wis. I would have to check the proximity to our starting point.

Gary: If you had read thus far you have the Marvel story pretty well explained. As per our phone conversation the only documentation I had found on the Marvel was in the reproduced Buick Service Bulletins for 37-38. Only the Stromberg is addressed in the owners manual and the Service manual. As I told you when we spoke my car seems to run fine. The choke works as does the vacuum starter switch. Of course I do not know what I may be missing as to performance with a "GOOD" Carburetor. My issue is not wanting to change over all the linkage, manifold etc. since everything is working well. Although not to optimum. This is the same set up as on my car.

Tom: Yes. The 1924 line also had a model 49. Still shows a longer rear tub and no trunk. The Model 55 Sport touring tub is a bit narrower as it is considered a 4 passenger. This is the color my 1925-45 should be.

John: I know that I suspected that it was a Model 55 from the trunk. But I have seen many add a fabricated carrier to include a trunk. The 1924-45 that shows up at Hershey in Sage Green, is a case of a model 45 done to resemble the model 55 Sport touring. Although it does not have the integral trunk shelf. It does have the double spare carrier. This 1924-45 McLaughlin has it out the front.. Comparing the photo that shows the trunk with my 1925-45 at about the same angle it appears that the rear tub is shorter than mine. I I am voting it is a model 55. The trunk shelf would clinch it. By the way ... I would love to do double spares on my Master.

Rod: I think you are correct about the wood spoke steering wheel. It also has the visor which the 1924-45 originally did not have. Comparing the distance between doors with the other photos I have of the 1924-55 it looks like a match.

Super: Rod from Australia asked the question on the pre-war forum as if it might be a model 55 sport touring. I thought the listing from the summer said that it was a model 45. I could not tell from the photos from the original listing. The only thing that might be indicators are the windshield stanchions are nickeled and have the bosses for the wind wing mounting and the one photo shows a trunk. I know the sloppy 1960s " fix ups" usually employed what ever parts were handy. (My 1925 Standard touring was a case in point). Of course the Sport touring also would have fully nickeled head and parking lights. The 1924-55 is a stunning car.(photos from the 2012 Concord Buick National). My 1925 MASTER 6 touring appears to be quite complete although it was a 15 year spare time fix up from when the previous owner purchased it in 1964 till he had the top finished and got it on the road in the late 1970s. His son indicated that his father removed the body to re-do the chassis. I have the original running board splash shields which are pretty rough. He had some made up from galvanized metal, hence the massive paint loss in the photo. Of course how it had been stored for the last 25 years or so will require a lot of going over to make things a bit more presentable

It is timely that this discussion has re-surfaced. I am I the process of rebuilding a switch for the 1925 Master and this has been a concern. I did a post on how I rebuilt my switch for the 1925 Standard. The new cases I purchased from BOB"s are made of more stable material but the quality is poor at best. The one I bought 4 years ago was better. This unit has gas holes, inclusions and is smaller than the original since they probably used a good original to use as a mold. The aluminum shrinkage is noticeable. One has to either re-machine the bore where the contact plate fits. As I have done. And /or file the contact plate as I have also done. The repro switch levers also need rework to fit and operate smoothly. A side note about the fasteners on the original DELCO units. They are #10 30 TPI. Not #10-32 screws which are the common fasteners found today. There was no reference to 30 pitch fasteners in my 40 year old "Machinery hand book". I had to look in my grandfathers 1926 edition of "The Starrett Book For Motor Machinists" (thank you Pa Pa)! There they were #10-30 tpi screws noted. I will also add the ballast resistor so I can have a brighter "dim" position of the lights.

Hugh: Was this the one advertised and quickly sold on Portland region craigslist back in the summer? I remember that it was maroon, also with the engines /parts etc.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.