Daves1940Buick56S

I am trying to wrap up putting the dash and garnish moldings back in my car. I am getting down to the last couple of items and I have 2 issues: 1. The small grommets on the lock button openings on the door garnish moldings need replacing as the old ones crumbled off before I sent out the moldings to be woodgrained. I took a look at standard sized grommets and no go - the diameter difference between the buttons and the opening is pretty small. Any ideas? 2. My interior rear view mirror is plastic bodied and has cracks. I can probably fill, sand, and paint but - is this the original mirror or an aftermarket replacement? Pics attached. Thanks, Dave

Thanks to you both! Gary I did look at your posts first since they are the "bible" of 37/38 rebuilds. But I was still unclear on how the how the sub-body worked with the adjusters. I will look at the Torque Tube article next. Probably won't get to this until after Xmas. I steel-wooled up the left door/window handles today, right side done and on. Putting the trim back on the garnish moldings tomorrow, hopefully reinstall by the weekend, reattach the rear view mirror and the clock, then the interior will be complete! UPDATE: Yes, the Torque Tube article is very helpful. Should be enough for what I need.

Last Fall I found out that the vertical adjustment on the left headlight is non-functional. The beam just points up to signal the Space Station. So far no answer. I have been tied up getting the interior back together (dash and new glass) but that work is almost finished (about 6 months later than planned!). So I will be looking at this soon as weather here intermittently permits. I went back and looked at Gary's posts on his '37, and what I could glean out of the Shop Manual illustrations and the Parts Manuals that I have, but I think I need more info to do this. I think what I need to do is to remove the sub-body so I can get access to the adjustment mechanism. I suspect maybe a stripped adjust screw or related issue (the vertical adjust screw turns to no effect, the horizontal adjust works well). Does anyone have any advice here? Will I end up having to remove the whole bucket assembly? It would also help if I had a nice exploded drawing of the bucket with all parts, haven't seen one so far and the Shop Manual drawing is too vague for what I need. Thanks! Dave

Matt: Yes, AMG. Brain fart and typo on my part. Wait, don't you call one of your kids Captain Pedantic lol? Anyhow, *I* am not buying this car. My 15-soon-to-be-16-year-old "assistant"/mentee is. But he is undoubtedly looking to me for help when it does break. I have been trying to tell him that working on a car like that is decidedly different and more difficult/expensive than working on pre-1970 iron. Surprisingly, his Dad seems to be ok with this car idea. If I were his father I would say "no way" since putting 500 HP in the hands of a 16 year old driver is like giving them a loaded gun. But I am not surprised by what you said, it's what I expected. I will try to dissuade him, but he has stars in his eyes right now. Thanks for the info! Cheers, Dave

I hope you all don't mind a Buick pre-war guy asking a question here. My young assistant is just getting his license and looking for a car. He was leaning towards some late '60s American iron, but lately has become enamored of the 2004-2005 MB E 55 AGM. Mainly due to 500 HP and that you can get them for under $14k (with over 150k miles!). Obviously I have concerns with a young driver and that much power, but besides that - MB used to be money pits when they got older. Is this still true? Can a "backyard mechanic" actually work on these or is it pretty much dealer only? I seem to recall that MB service used to require special tools, etc - is that still true? Thanks in advance, Dave

In the photo is Queen Elizabeth, George VI's wife, Princess Elizabeth's mother. She was the Queen until he died and then became the Queen Mother.

Sorry for the delay. The structure from the top down is the pot metal shell with insert red lenses held by 2 brackets which is in turn held to the shell by screws. From the 2 brackets are 4 studs which are pressed into the bracket. This is a failure point as the studs can be twisted loose from the bracket. Another failure point is the castings with the threaded holes on the shell. And of course where the wings of the shell attach. Skill using JB Weld is useful here. So the shell assembly with the 4 studs pointing down is inserted thru a gasket into the corresponding holes on the decklid. On the underside the lamp buckets go over the studs (with an intervening gasket of course) and nuts hold them on. Very carefully remove the nuts. Use penetrating oil or grease to make sure the studs don't snap off or, more importantly, tear a hole into the brackets inside the shell. Pry off the buckets (sockets and lamps come with) and then *extremely carefully* pry off the shell assembly from the decklid. Make sure it goes up evenly or the wings will break off. Cheers Dave

Daytona Beach! And a nice 1949 56S looks about to run over 4 Sweet Young Things...

Black it is! Pics coming...

Don, yes I have seen this. I have also seen black, although they were likely repainted. I decided to stick with the black in this case, and it looks better with the black hoses. I also forgot to mention I considered having the center bar rechromed, but that would mean repainting the crest. So I cleaned it up, hammered out the dents, and polished as best I could. Patina don'tcha know! Cheers Dave

The 1938 dash has a chromed 3 sided frame trim around the radio speaker. This frame also contains the map lite. 1. The groove bottoms in my frame were apparently painted in a gold color. What is original? I have see the frame all chrome, and black grooves, and I think red grooves. Rechroming is not an option, so black or red? 2. My plastic map lite cover also has the bars and letters painted gold. Am i right that it's supposed to be black? Cheers, Dave

More Defroster added Installed in vehicle Sorry the last one is turned, the new Forum SW does not like vertical pics. I also has a hard time getting these uploaded. Buggy Forum SW. Hope these pics helped Cheers, Dave

When I got my '38 it had the Deluze heater but was missing the top piece (with the doors) and defroster. I looked for a while on E Bay and finally got one with the defroster assy. Unfortunately it was gray hammertone instead of brown crackle. So during the downtime I had the shells and doors bead blasted and primed. I stripped the defrost plenum, primed, and painted black gloss. I stripped and overhauled both motors and painted by hand with black gloss sign paint. The frame holding the core I primed and painted gloss black. I hand painted the 2 pipes coming out of the core gloss black. I tested the core for leaks and cleaned up but did not paint. Finally, I painted the shells black crackle and lightly sprayed over in gloss brown. Before Motor work Black crackle Core and frame Bottom shell Front badges Front shell Shell assembled

In the Spring while things were quiet I decided to tackle the rear turn signal assembly on my 1940 56S. I knew the pot metal wings had fractured long ago and it leaked into the light buckets, rusting them and finally shorting out the left signal. 1. Removed it and it's a pile 'o parts 2. Stripped and JB Welded back together. If you do this, remember to assemble on the trunk lid installed in place and glue it there as there is a compound curve on the trunk that must be matched. I used a couple of thin newspaper sheets to protect the trunk. Then sanded the whole assy down after curing. (Derusting, sanding, and painting the lamp buckets is not shown in this thread) 3. Primed 4. Sanded and painted 5. Side trim installed 6. Lenses installed. I stuck with the old ones since the new ones don't have the shield behind the letters that makes the cool "arrow" effect. 7. New shield installed. 8. Installed on the car.

For a while now I have been noticing a double click noise at idle. I thought it might be a misadjusted valve but I checked all of the valves and they are all good. It seems to be more towards the front of the engine. I could not isolate with a stethoscope. I tried pulling the ignition cables one by one and no change. I know a double click usually means piston pin but it should diminish with spark disconnected. As RPM increases the noise fades into the background, i.e. is gets no worse. Ideas? I have audio clips and can email them if anyone wants to hear. The new Forum SW no longer allows m4a files - too bad. Thanks, Dave

I want to freshen the lube on the front seat tracks before I put it back in. Looks like some dried up white grease is in there now. Any suggestions? I have heard choices like white grease, wheel bearing grease, WD40 (I would avoid that), anit seize, and dry lube like for locks. Ideas? Thanks, Dave

On mine no plate under the driver's seat, just a stamping in the floor. Interesting that mine had no factory heater as it was built at Linden. The underdash heater that was in the car is a Hupp aftermarket from the 1950s judging by the gold hammertone finish. I stripped it and redid in black crackle to look more authentic to 1940. I also painted the floor black gloss after 3 coats of rust converter. Am in process of putting down insulating material to be followed by the brown custom rubber mat. I should be done with this early next week. Cheers, Dave

Oh, duh on me!! Of course! I just don't think about the factory heater on that car since I have an underdash unit. Why are the delete plates so rare? One thing that is odd about it - three of the screws are in keyed holes and one is at the edge. So to remove it all you have to do is loosen the screws a bit and slide the plate to the outside and out. No loose screws to fumble with. I guess this is to keep from the dealer having to pull the seat to add a factory heater? Cheers, Dave

I am working on derusting and sealing the floor and when I pulled the seat out (oof!) I found that there is an access panel under there. It appears to be for an under floor battery. Did any C body in 1940 have the battery in that location? Currently it accesses nothing. Any ideas? Cheers, Dave

Terry: If it's AC you are correct. We can calculate "skin depth" as a function of frequency. The higher the freq, the closer it all is to the surface. DC, though, does use the whole conductor. In a copper line the skin depth is about 8.5 mm at 60 Hz. In high power RF transmitters at fixed stations, the transmission line is sometimes just a hardline consisting of 2 concentric copper pipes with inner supports to maintain a constant impedance. No point in using expensive solid center conductor since the RF only rides the surface. Cheers, Dave

Maybe fuel level in bowl as well?

Don't cut! There is a fairly large opening with the cover held on by 6 screws. Just lift up the carpet or mat and you will see it. Once open you can pull off the top of the trans.

Well, I kinda doubt it, in my remaining lifetime anyhow. But I don't know what you mean by "numbered," if you are talking 30 or 40 years, maybe. The pollution from our lightly driven and low total number of cars is really miniscule in the larger scheme of things. As far as fuel availability, if I start talking serious Physics it will go political and that was not my intent as the OP. Collector cars have been consigned to the dustbin a few times in the past and yet we soldier on...

Agree. This will be a process so will want to start with one running well. It will probably take a year or so to gather all of the parts so he will have the "hopped up" version for his Senior year. One thing I found out since I posted this is the Buick 350/350 THM is a pretty straight drop in. And easier to find than a 401/425. Cheers, Dave

My young assistant has turned 15 and has turned his thoughts to getting "something fast" from the mid to late 60s up to about 1972. Of course all of his first choices are the same cars everybody else wants - GTO, SS Chevelle, Skylark GS, etc - and well out of his price range. He doesn't want a project car since he knows from working with me that his High School days would likely be long behind him before it's done. He will have about 15 grand to spend he thinks. We have been perusing the ads. One solution might be a 66 or 67 Riv if we can get one in good enough condition. But I was looking at a couple of Specials online from 65 to 67. These seem to be affordable. Stock they were available with the 300 engine, right? 230 horse? So a couple of questions: 1. Can the 300 performance be significantly improved short of removal and total rebuild? Any impacts if so, like too much power for the 2 speed auto trans if not manual equipped? 2. How difficult is it (yeah, yeah, I know!) to replace the drivetrain with a 401 or 425? It appears the Skylarks would handle these, will the Specials as well? If so are we talking engine, trans, propeller shaft and rear or? I was hoping to avoid an engine swapout if possible. But a Special with the high power drivetrain would make for a helluva sleeper! Or anybody have any other suggestions? So far the only guidance from him is "not a huge trunk" but unfortunately for him most mid to late 60s cars have these! Cheers, Dave