Dave39MD

Very interesting. I would never of thought to do it that way but that was the way to do it. Thanks for posting. Dave

Looks great!

Nice car! I would try to find someone who is familiar with the early Delco/ Frigidaire systems and let them have a look before swapping everything out. They would know if it could be converted to the new Freon replacements. Not sure on the fan, are you talking about the radiator fan? My family had one when new with A/C and we went on many long trips and I don't remember any A/C problems. Have fun! Dave

Maybe the brackets were mounted on the fenders so they could dip or paint them? Dave

Did you find your plates?

No misunderstanding, just hard to see how the 529 would work with that arm where a 421 should be. It may be the angle of the photos. Dave

If he had friends interested in helping him get it running , it would. Dave

That pump looks a lot different than the 421, are you sure on the year of your engine? Dave

Try them after wetting the windshield they may work in the rain. Dave

If yours has the King Seely fuel gauge I would remove the little tube before lowering. Dave

For some reason those pumps are hard to find. I did not have a rebuildable core but there are places that can do that as Gary mentions above. I did find some nors kits on ebay to rebuild mine but the casting was bad. I found a nos one at the VCCA site which is great for Chevrolet owners. https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/forums/26/1/parts-wanted.html Good luck Dave

Connecting the drive shaft and getting the rear end aligned on the springs was a challenge but it is done. Decided I needed to drop the oil pan even though it looked like it had been done. There was not a lot of sludge but enough to make it worthwhile. I found a 5/16 -24 nut in the bottom of the pan incased in sludge so I had to spend an hour or so making sure it did not come from the bottom end. The oil pump screen still had it's 5/16 nut and the rest were wired, pined or welded so it must have come from above. Cleaned the rear end out and replaced the gear oil. Put it together with new oil and gas and it ran very well and the clutch worked much better than the old one. Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Dave

Very nice, looks like a lot of fun! Dave

I got it started after it's long nap and everything seemed to work as it should without any strange sounds. Tomorrow I'll put the rear end back in and scare the spiders out of it. Dave

I had to buy a set of the universal clutch disk installers but they and the long guide pins made it easier than I thought it would be. Dave

When my boss at the Texaco station did them 50 years ago he said they were very dangerous. He would put the assembled wheel/tire under the lift arms and then use a chuck that would grip the valve stem without holding it. He then would go to the air line that had a on/off shut off valve and turn it on from a distance. I would think a cage is the way to go today or take them to a truck tire shop. Dave

The 31 dealer book shows two illustrations of the single bar bumper( 96C and 56C). The only catch that muddies the water on this is the book describes the second version of the 50 series with Syncro-Mesh transmission and enclosed drive shaft. I am not sure when the 50 series change took place. Dave

Put the felt seal from Bob's in the torque ball and it fit fine after trimming it's length. I made two new shims from .010 paper from Olson's and it was way to tight. The service information I can find suggests you should be able to move it with some effort by hand. Made another shim, still too tight. Added one more and it seems just right. If someone has better info on the process I would love to hear it. Dave

My 31 66s has a body number 5323 out of 6,489 and has the single bar bumpers. Not sure about Buick but in 31 the Chevrolet customer could go either way once both were available. They were installed at the dealer. Dave

Thanks for the ideas I did manage to get it off without any parts broken. Waiting until tomorrow to press on the new one. Dave

Thanks to ugly rumor I have a nice clutch disk! I found a new release bearing, any thoughts on removing the old one with minimal risk to the carrier? Does not look like I can use my press. Thanks

I picked the 39 Chevy up in Manhasset, NY from my grand parents in 1972. My uncle let a friend and I use his taxi garage for a week and we got it running. My aunts cooking was wonderful, we should have been slower on the repair. The old farts would come around every day and say we were going to ruin the car and we would never make it to Stuart, Fl. We did make it but it was an adventure and when I drove it this Sunday the memories of that trip gave me a smile. Dave

or condenser

Later Buick catalogs show the clutch disk fits 31-35, 60 series Buick's. The later part number is 1285285. If anyone has a disk, worn out lining or not, with a good center, I would be interested. Thanks Dave

I checked a 1950 Buick parts catalog and they consolidated part numbers so any 31-35, 60 series clutch disk would work so I am widening the search. The original number was 1241474, the expanded application number is 1285285. Thanks