dibarlaw

Dave : Your adventure is beginning. Sounds quite a bit like my first experiences with my 1937-41 which I bought in 1987. Except that I blew the clutch on the way home from where I bought it in Hollidaysburg Pa. 57 miles of driving bliss then catastrophy! Fast forward 25 years of efforts to find the right combination of time, enthusiasim, skill, parts and money, I had it sent to a shop in Glenn Rock Pa to get it to be a reliable driver. Rebuild front end, new wiring harness, radiator redone, new tires, exhaust etc. No new paint or uhpolstery no new chrome. I had the bumpers done by Lebrandi's at $1,650 about 5 years ago. So this stopped my desire for any more shiney chrome. At this point I will have over $20K into a car that even if I put annother $20K into would not be worth $15,000. So I have to cut my losses. If you can do most of your own work that helps greatly. Keep us posted. Larry

V12lincoln: Sorry about your luck and that I could not be of help here in Pa. I had tried to rebuild my fan hub for my 1925-25, machining new bushing/bearing and still it leaked oil. And then later it still seized up on me. So I machined a whole new hub to use sealed bearings. See my post on "1928 Vapor lock". Looks like I am the only one attempting these conversions again. If you can't find annother hub this may be a solution.

Steve : So nice to see your 38 in the Wistler Grey which is about the same shade as the Hampton Grey as should be on my 37-41. Mine was repainted black in the late 1970s. I hope you solve all your performance problems. My 37-41 has been at a shop for the past 5 months and they have just had it running for the last 2 weeks. So I am itching to drive it again for the first time in 25 years.

Dave: I will probably start annother thread about the fan hub later when I get back to school. I would like to engage my students in the design problem on how to develop it in our 3-D Modeling program. The original article in the Bugle, (January 1981) was by Brian Stanley BCA#4843 and was geared for 1930-1931 cars. Also it is in the Buick Technical Tips Book. When I first joined the BCA in 1987 the Bugle had an ad for the rebuilding/conversion service. This was by Jack Corliss BCA #6932. It notes the applications of cars, years and prices. Anyone out there use this service? I am posting pictures of what I did specifically to fit my 1925 hub case. Brian's 1981 cost for materials was $12.00 for the 4"dia X4" long aluminum. 2 sealed bearings@ $3.50 each. Plus free piece of 1" shaft. Less than $20! Of course his labor did not factor ino it. My material cost, $18.00 aluminum, Two bearings $33.18. But I bet his was American made bearings! And 1"dia.shaft from my junk box. I have a box and bag full of aluminum turning scrap now to recycle. I installed today and works great. No more spatter! Larry

Thanks Mark: One of the first things I did last october was to add a coil of brass wire to the lower hose. On some of the later production 25 standards an extra boss and 2 bolts were added to the side of the block for an extra stand-off support. Then there would be 2 shorter pieces of hose.Thus eliminating the collapsing. Mine has this boss but not the standoff part # 186584. So I used the coil. Larry

Dave: I believe that for 1925 the master is about 3" taller and a bit deeper core. I had the spare 25 radiator recored (since I ruined it's original honeycomb when I tried to clean it)with the heavy duty modern core. That will come later since I will also need to adress the low compression and possible head gasket... Funny that among the few spare parts the previous owner included with the car was a new head gasket! Back to the lathe to finish the new sealed bearing fan hub: Larry

Dave: Thanks for the info. But alas I believe I will probably have to pull the head as the foaming is symptomatic of a blown gasket. I just thought I could enjoy the car a little bit before I would be getting into major engine work. Did compression test yesterday. High reading is 55lb low is 48lb. On an earlier post I was congratulating myself on a job well done on rebuilding my fan hub. Re-machining and fitting bronze bearings to have the side play down to only .003. (Even did a patent search for acurate drawings.) Also to stop the oil slinging and having to scrub out the fan belt each time it ran. I made a new leather belt but have not used it. Each time I drove the car and the overflow would spit out and( I presumed) steam out more imbeded oil from the belt. Also leave a mess from the oil that leaks from between the block and the crankcase. Today after about 5 min running and shut off before any water could push out, I saw that on the crank collar there was a line of heavy oil directly below the fan hub. This was unlike the spatter I would normally see on the inside of the hood. I checked the fan and I could barely turn it. I could move the belt though. So my fine repair had locked up! So tomorrow I will go out and buy some 4"aluminum and make the fan hub insert to take sealed ball bearings. When I dissasembled the hub it still had about 1/2 of the oil I put in to proper level. So it was getting out and onto the belt. But it also had bronze particles from the new bearings. I did make spiral oil groves in the new bearings. The hub was was originaly full of crusty grease from an Alemite fitting. I had to chip it out! So at this time I am back to square one. From my first post on the Buick site.....( "STILL) TRYING TO FIND A GOOD DRIVER BUICK" Larry<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

Dave: Thanks for the info. But alas I believe I will probably have to pull the head as the foaming is symptomatic of a blown gasket. I just thought I could enjoy the car a little bit before I would be getting into major engine work. Did compression test yesterday. High reading is 55lb low is 48lb. On an earlier post I was congratulating myself on a job well done on rebuilding my fan hub. Re-machining and fitting bronze bearings to have the side play down to only .003. (Even did a patent search for acurate drawings.) Also to stop the oil slinging and having to scrub out the fan belt each time it ran. I made a new leather belt but have not used it. Each time I drove the car and the overflow would spit out and( I presumed) steam out more imbeded oil from the belt. Also leave a mess from the oil that leaks from between the block and the crankcase. Today after about 5 min running and shut off before any water could push out, I saw that on the crank collar there was a line of heavy oil directly below the fan hub. This was unlike the spatter I would normally see on the inside of the hood. I checked the fan and I could barely turn it. I could move the belt though. So my fine repair had locked up! So tomorrow I will go out and buy some 4"aluminum and make the fan hub insert to take sealed ball bearings. When I dissasembled the hub it still had about 1/2 of the oil I put in to proper level. So it was getting out and onto the belt. But it also had bronze particles from the new bearings. I did make spiral oil groves in the new bearings. The hub was was originaly full of crusty grease from an Alemite fitting. I had to chip it out! So at this time I am back to square one. From my first post on the Buick site..... "STILL LOOKING FOR A DRIVER BUICK" Larry

Thanks Mark: One of the first things I did was to make a coil of brass wire to install in the lower hose. But as much as I have avoided the other possibility I may have to pull the head and put in a new gasket. I believe all is well for about 5 to 10 min untill things get up to tempreature then the break opens in the gasket. I will next check the compression. I had to make up an adapter (bored out old spark plug) to match up to the 7/8 thread to the compression gage. By the way how is the 1912-34 comming along? Larry

Just got back from a wedding in CT. Joan and I thought that we could try a bit longer of a drive with "Beulha". We did get about 4 miles this time. We drove about a mile, returned to our home neighborhood. Since the motometer was not quite half way after 10 min of driving I thought I would try another mile farther. Retracing our route I saw the spot where we waited to make a turn on the previous trip. On the pavement I could see the short water trail and puddle from the overflow side of the radiator. Made annother mile, returned and pulled up to the drive way as the gage was topped out and radiator steaming off. I let it cool down, then added 5 qt of water to bring back to level. Just above core. Finished sweeping out the garage. Tried to start, but it took some doing. Then drove arround the block about 400 yards and backed Beulha into the garage. Where I stopped to straighten out on the last back up that is where water pushed out again. No other trails. This time quite a bit of white foam lost about 2 qt. But the good news is that it was still charging! Larry

The only thing I have found even close to the side curtain sockets is in the www.LeBaronBonney.com catalog. Part # A23-BS. These are round shape, driven in instead of a screw as ours is with the octagon shape. I am missing 2 on my 1925-25 so I will keep a look out for your needs also. Larry 1925-25 1937-41

Dave : I would love to come to the show. But I still am having my overheating issues. I have machined a plug for the exhaust valve body. I have back flushed the radiator again. I had my spare radiator recored but am still reluctant to change over yet. Still hoping to find a better shell to get plated. My shell has lots of pits and many coats of silver paint. My next step will be to make the blocking plate from the heat riser to exhaust manifold. May have to check the pump again. When I first worked on these problems in November I started with the pump which seemed like it pushed out very well. Again within a mile or so it was pushing out the overflow. If we can't make it to the Rockville show. Maybe we can come for a visit after my 37 is back on the road. Larry DiBarry 1925-25 1937-41

On my 1925 standard there is a set screw on the left side of the lock post to remove the entire lock. I could not remove my key. So I removed the lock, sprayed penitrating oil inside the unit, blew out with compressed air then lubricated with graphite lock lube. Key is easly removed now and works well. These type of locks accumulate much grit because of their position. Which cause them to bind up at times. Larry 1925-25 1937-41

Looking carefully at the slide show of photos at the bottom of the listing. Manny photos nearly identical. It seems that the upper dash and door reveals are black as is the carpet. That carpet was pulled back in a couple shots and rough kick pannels. Also some chipped paint in the door jamb and the fuel door look black underneath. To me it is suspicious that there are no photos of top up! The boot apears to have a torn spot. Larry

Leif: Just rebuilt my combination switch and after some trial and error my 1925-25 is charging again @ 10amp @ idle now. But I was afraid I was needing to get into that Delco Unit. So it would be advisable to start looking for a spare unit for parts. Of course the overheating issue is still with me. I back flushed the radiator again today.(Got out a handfull of crud). Rechecked the timing and reset points. Does anyone know what capacity of the condenser is? I have hardly driven 10 miles since I have owned the car and the points are pitting again. Also made a plug for the exhaust diverter in case that was adding to the overheating. Just got everythig done tonight to go for a test drive and then the electric fuel pump quit. After I crawled under the car 1/2 out of the garage and took everything appart. Found a 2" long piece of hose going into my pressure regulator that was cracked. Now she is running again. And still charging! Thank God for small victories!! Test drive maybe tomorrow. But wait still suposed to be about 100deg. Larry<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

Ben, Tom and h eckstein: Thanks for all the information posted. Just rebuilt my combination switch and after some trial and error my 1925-25 is charging again @ 10amp @ idle now. But I was afraid I was needing to get into that Delco Unit. So it would be advisable to start looking for a spare unit for parts. Of course the overheating issue is still with me. I back flushed the radiator again today.(Got out a handfull of crud). Rechecked the timing and reset points. Does anyone know what capacity of the condenser is? I have hardly driven 10 miles since I have owned the car and the points are pitting again. Also made a plug for the exhaust diverter in case that was adding to the overheating. Just got everythig done tonight to go for a test drive and then the electric fuel pump quit. After I crawled under the car 1/2 out of the garage and took everything appart. Found a 2" long piece of hose going into my pressure regulator that was cracked. Now she is running again. And still charging! Thank God for small victories!! Test drive maybe tomorrow. Larry

Leif: Finished the switch instalation. Still found some loose connections and replaced leads. I did not see the cowl/dash light before I was working on this. I removed and found that it was covered with black overspray and the socket was filled with dirt. After cleaning up(the overspray protected the nickel plating), replacing the wire adding a bulb, the dashlight is quite adequate. "Beulha," thats what Joan named the 1925, started right up but was still not showing a charge. After supper I added a 1/2 gallon of water, (left plenty of space in top tank). Joan and I decided to take a drive. Still after about a mile it was overheating so back home again. Did notice the charge rate kicked up to about 13 amps. I went to drive around my neighborhood to park back in my garage and since it was getting dark I turned lights on and after I turned them off was not showing a charge again. I will try to send that file again as a Zip attachment. Best Regards: Larry

Made our 3rd visit to the restoration shop working on my 1937 Buick to check on progress. (Biggest bill yet)! They had a problem getting the gas tank back on but now done.(I was in the hospital going through Chemotherapy 6 years ago when my son thought that he would "help me out" by removing the gas tank. Said he had to really fight and ended up ripping off the filler pipe)! The local radiator shop reattached and I had hoped that it was correctly placed. The new wiring harness instalation is just about done. They hoped to get it running next week. I pray for no further problems. Speaking of the radiator shop, picked up the recored radiator for my 1925 Buick standard. Done with a modern style core price $964!! Beats the price quoted for a honeycomb. $1700. Now if it solves my overheating problems? Larry

Grandpa: I have the 2011-12 Bob's Catalog on pg 69 it shows as $18.00ea. I tried to order on their online catalog giving the specifics and no match was found. I have had to call on several items that still appear in the catalog but not on line. That they say are no longer available. Many still show up on their display boards. I knew I should have asked about them when I was at Concord NC. I guess my brain was scalded from the heat! Larry

My 37 special is to have one also. It broke off while I was cleaning the firewall. An older BOB's catalog shows a moulded offset hose. I tried to send for a replacement but they no longer show it available. Steel Rubber? Larry 1925-25 1937-41

Leif: Finally home frrom the Buick nationals. We did 1,002 miles on the complete trip with visits to relatives along the way. I was able to judge in class M at the speedway. A new experience! Especially at over 110 degrees F! The switch parts arrived while we were in North Carolina. Thank you so much. Last night I put the switch back together. Your parts fit perfectly. But still had much fitting with the new switch levers to the body. Very loose fits. I cut .003 shim stock to wrap the levers, taking up the excessive play. Also had to carve out the micarta plate to fit the key switch. Even though I filed the exterior of the insulating plate. The body was still a bit out of round when I tried to tighten down the fasteners. I had to do more adjustments to get the plate to sit flat. Now out to the garage to install the switch. 100 degrees F here today! Larry

Dave : Was so very glad to see your car at Concord. Sorry I didn't catch up with you. I took some photos Friday afternoon at the hotel of your lovely car. Would have liked to discuss similar points about our cars. I have a 1925-25 that I am trying to rectify its many errors and issues. I was happy to hear that you drove it that distance! The restoration facility that has my 1937-41 said that it was foolhardy to expect to drive my car to the meet from Chambersburg Pa. About the same distance you traveled. Of course that was after they promised me that the 37-41 would be ready to DRIVE to the meet! This was why I chose them. And would not have agreed to certain expenditures if I was not expecting to drive these distances. Still not done! Quite a few of the 37-38 guys drove greater distances. Talking with others who have gone down this road it seems that this is the "hook". Once they have your car and money it's all about their timeline. And thank you Mark for the Marvel MO tip I will try it with both my cars Larry

Did you see Pawn Stars last night? They bought an old restoration 1918 Buick E-45. Looked great! Top,upholstery floor boards etc. Nicely detailed engine and clean undedcarrage. Except for the cracked and peeling red paint and cracked tires, pretty nice car. The body shop appraser estimated $10,000-$12,000 to redo the paint and tires. The owner started it right up, it ran smooth and quiet. Of course their ("expert appraiser"?) flooded it and it wouldn't start! Sound familiar? The seller asked $24,000. After it wouldn't start the "Old Man" offered $17,500 and the owner accepted. Of course all this is staged well in advance. Tomorrow on our way to BCA in NC. Larry

Copy of a note sent to Leif Holmberg who is always a great help. This may be of assistance to others I was hoping to get my 25 up and running again this weekend. I recieved my new switch body and switches from Bob's yesterday. I was quite dissapointed with the quality of the body. Apparently this is a newer version than mine and so will take some machining to make my pieces fit. I assumed that I would simply switch out the parts and reassemble. I believe the version you posted pictures of was an inprovement. The switch bosses are not weakened by the stop slots as my version. (Notice the rubber band holding the ignition side boss together.) In your's the stops are incorporated onto the wings instead of being closer to center of the switch. So I will have to mill out the stop slots. Also the body of the new part is over .062" smaller than the original and I will have to file the micarta insulating plate to fit the bore. The wall thickness of the body is not heavy enough to bore out on the lathe. I always hate changing an original part to fit a new one. I believe whoever made the switch bodies up simply made a mould from an original and did not allow for the metal shrinkage when cast. The switch levers look beautiful but still needed some filing to work smoothly. I guess I am being overly critical since these are our only source. But when I pay $65.00 for a new part, I don't expect to have to put $50.00 in my labor to make it work. I wonder how others who don't have machine tools or the skill to deal with this situation. Other than sending the entire switch out for rebuilding. Another beautiful weekend not driving my Buick. Larry

I concur with John on our evaluation. We wish we could have had it running for him. The fuel tank was about 1/3 full of 5 year old gas with a noticable amount of sludge. Even if I drained the tank (drain plug was pretty chewed) we would not be able to flush out the sediment. We believed that was what caused it to stop running 5 years ago. We eliminated the 12V electric fuel pump (seperate battery) and made up a piece of copper line to connect a bypass hose to a squeze bottle. The points had a small clip covering the contact since the fixed side contact thread was stripped. Charles had a replacement to install properly and set gap. Seemed like it had good spark. The starter would not engage at first but after lubing up some of the sliding and pivot points (and some help with the hand crank) it was able to turn over on its own. While I was helping with the crank I noticed that #6 exhaust rocker was not moving and the push rod was bent as the valve was stuck open. We took the rocker arm off and the rod keeper to straighten the bent rods. John tapped and sprayed while I levered up on the spring untill it loosened up. After reassembly we felt at this time it should be able to start. The carb was spitting out fuel as the engine started to pop and try to start. Afterwards we checked several of the plugs and no evidence of fuel. It seems as though the carb jets may be plugged. Overall it was great to work with John and try to get the 22 at least breathing again. Thanks to this forum to be able to make this connection. Larry