Pete K.

Can you check to see if the new brushes have been "run-in"? meaning are they contacting the segments on the commutator at 100%.

OK, Forget what I said about sheet metal screws. It's been way too long since I worked on my '39 floor. You'll need to find the thread pitch on those body nuts to procure the right machine thread screws. I highly doubt the body nuts take a sheet metal thread. Carefully try a few taps close to what the threaded holes appear to be. Don't force the tap into the nut, if body nuts are rusty, oil them first and try to clean them out some. Hopefully you have a tap & die set, if not, a cheap set will suffice for this project. The right tap should go in fairly smooth. You can even take that tap to hardware store to match up the screw thread you need.

I've been told that many car owners of nickel plated trim had it re-done in chrome by 1929 and up. I guess it was fairly inexpensive back then and the annual polishing of nickel was becoming a thing of the past, even back in those days. Anyone that lives near the seacoast will tell you. The moist, salty air turns the nickel gray, then green if not protected.

Yes, you nailed the spot in your great photo. I was told to check for cracks there, by older mechanics that worked on the old Buicks when still being used everyday. Again, This was a 1930, 6 cyl. block I had.. Very possible Buick thickened up that area for the '31's.

Dear Drovak, check your block very closely by removing the front valve cover plate, where the water jacket curves under towards the cylinder walls, old Buick's seem to have a very thin casting area that is prone to a longitudinal crack at that spot. Happened to me years ago on a '30 6 cyl. block. Not so sure on the '31, but I'd surely check it out anyway.

Correct me if I'm wrong, aren't the screws plain Pan-Head sheet metal screws? If they are ultra-special screws, try Mcmaster-Carr Company. They seem to have most everything hardware.

Those '30 Buick's use a fan with a gear driven oil pump in it. Rotate the hub of fan and you'll see an oval head screw. Take it out to fill reservoir with oil, replace screw. Under the front plate of the fan hub which has about umpteen screws on it and a paper gasket under it, you'll find two little gears, one stationary with the shaft and other driven gear mated to it. They're supposed to pump the oil, (more like circulate it) to bearing/shaft.

I drove a 1930-Mdl.47 sedan for 20 years. No way will it keep up at 65 or even 55 without blowing the main bearings. It is geared too low. 45 MPH was about as fast as I would push that six cylinder engine. At one time there was a set of rear end gears that would decrease engine speed at cruising speed but I don't remember who was selling them. (ring & pinion set). It was a great car and Buick actually advertised the '30 for the ease of driving for women.

Please be safe, don't forget to remove the tube's valve core by unscrewing them before you ever start undoing the rim lock. When all air is out, lay rim & tire on grass, use your heel to walk around the tire bead to break it free from rim. An old rim tool is sure a huge help. It's a three-arm crank assembly tool to grab the rim and contract it when cranked up. Same tool can push rim in together when you need to. You may well need rim flaps along with the new tires and tubes. Coker Tire Co. has some good tires for the Dodge, but there are other dealers just as good. The flaps may be good to use again, use your common sense here. So are the tubes, if the rubber is "live" and no aging is apparent, use them. You can test them in water if you want. You'll need good tire irons, I use old leaf spring leaves that I've ground and polished the ends smooth after I cut them to a usable length. Mine are around 20"-22" long. There IS a front and back to your rims. Keep this in mind when mounting new tires for the sidewall you want on the outside. There's a lot more to know but this may be of some help.

By Jove Farmallregular, you are correct. DC current DOES flow mostly uniformly through a conductor. Good eye farmall!

I take both filler screws out, pump straight STP oil treatment in upper hole, when you see clean lube coming out lower hole, close that up and fill upper 'till it's full. replace upper filler screw. Some old autos had a leather boot wired onto the universal to keep dirt out. Many are missing.

All good info here. I use "00" on the old 6 volt vehicles. Not to go cuckoo here, but if you look into the Theory Of Electricity, electrons tend to travel on the outer strands of a conductor, under the insulator obviously. 00 gauge will work just fine. Soldering ends on works better than a crimp, but there is an art to solder correctly without burning or wicking.

More fun than hitting the lottery! Great find!

I used an old NOS fiber timing gear in a straight 6, 1930 Buick MANY years ago, still going strong. Don't worry with yours.

Nice booklet! Packard once had a 4 cylinder miniature air pump motor driven off the transmission. Who can remember the racket a broken tire chain made? It would beat the Dickens out of the fender!!

What would be the down-side using straight STP oil treatment? I've been using a 80/20 mix of this with 20% 80W-90 gear lube in my Model A transmission with good results for years.

Nino, I've had this problem in several pre-1930 cars. I have found if I drain out half of the 600 Wt. oil and add back the remainder with STP oil treatment, it will make close to a 1200 Wt oil and seems to do the trick. Others may have a much smarter idea, so let's wait and see. --Pete.

Hi Mike, I've got a VERY old 17" X 6" straight through on my '25. All is surface rust but it seems to do the job OK when engine is running. I plan to replace it with a similar one Rich and Mattml430 speak of.

Same exact fan on my '25 Tourer Mike. I can't find any signs of cracks on mine either but I sure am listening to the guys on this thread.

I wanted to mention, a half-inch of steering wheel play in your car doesn't sound bad at all in my book. Am I mistaken here? What say you all?

To answer your question, the STP "Oil treatment" comes in little blue 15 ounce plastic bottles.It is honey colored, very thick like cool molasses, sold about everywhere. The 140 -to- 190 gear lube is thick, dark smelly oil. Usually comes in a tall,32 Oz. white plastic bottle with a pointed spout at top. Sold at every auto store and some department stores. Some owners of early cars use straight STP, no mixing with anything else. PS- I really don't think the lube in your steering box is the culprit. check the steering sector shaft/gear. sounds like that may be dried with old grease and steering box lube is not reaching those bushings. All the above options of lube are good ones in this thread.

One option is straight STP. Been using it in all my old cars for years with perfect results. I use it with a combination of 140 Wt. gear lube in the transmissions and differentials. 2 thirds STP, 1 third gear oil.

The two major factors are the height of the saddle to the body and the angle, if any. My '25 has an angle needed since the mounting socket is right on the curve of the tub. My saddles need to be "way up" high for the top bow to miss the spare tire on rear of car. This is imperative since the bow will break if the weight of the top is touching the spare and while driving, a bump in the road will exponentially increase the stress factor on the bows, whereas the bow may even break over the spare, not to mention damage to the top irons. That top is fairly heavy. My guess is around 1923-'24, the saddle mounting sockets were located at the curved corner of the rear body and the saddles themselves had a mounting bolt at the very bottom of each left and right saddle bracket. I was lucky enough for Ray White to sell me his pair of '25 saddles with the bolting at the bottom but they were not made for a U.S. Dodge body. They were for an Australian bodied tourer without an angled mounting bolt. This issue can be engineered to work OK, whereas the "Ford Model A" saddles are NOTHING like Dodge saddles and will take custom made mounting rods (bolts) for the '25 and others. In the end, there is nothing to hold each separate bow either, you would have to just bundle them together and belt them up, don't know if the much heavier Dodge top would survive the ride and could cut the top fabric also. Ford tops were MUCH lighter. I've had them.

The Ford flywheel can be lightened by shaving the driving face of the flywheel and they also need to cut the same depth for the single disc pressure plate ass'y. I'm still trying to wrap my head around a Dodge flywheel with the multiple disc clutch, which I think maybe the years you listed have the Multi-disc set up like my '25 has? A lightened flywheel has nothing to do with increasing the RPM's. The operation of the fuel given to the engine determines that. Lightening will give a bit more pep, "off-the-line". The down side may be to almost stop, to down shift more often when taking corner streets and the like. Good luck with your hard work.

John, Your Dodge floorboard tag number seems to check out to be built around July 15th, 1926 "Series", but IS a1925 Dodge. Funny, my '25 Dodge is # A388850. Built about a week later I would estimate. My engine number is not legible but it sure is a '25 engine from what I can see from the photo. (interesting coil mount you have there).