M1842

Some people start telling me about their handyman who can come fix my car for me and doesn't charge much. Implication being they think i can't afford a real mechanic. 😀

Wasn't even enough to grab the shaft at the top and the washer and rubber spacer kept the shaft covered so no access there. I suppose now that i could have gotten to the shaft on the inside of the inner fender. Dremel cut off wheel worked well. LOL

Cut the top nut with my dremel and dropped the shock, seems about twice as heavy as the replacement shock. Either original or period replacement. Then went to the lower control arm bumper, of course the stud and nut just turned. Removed petrified and deteriorated rubber hoping the stud would continue under the rubber but no dice. There is a round metal dome that must have had the rubber volcanized to it. So I guess I am going back under the car to dremel the nut off.

We are going to need a bigger hammer. 😁

I did have a brake spoon and backed the shoes up so I could pull the drum/hub off. Took awhile to get the adjuster to turn, but finally got it moving. While I have everything open decided to replace the front shock absorbers, got the top nut backed off to the point where I can no longer keep the rod from rotating but the nut won't turn on its own. Tried a nut splitter but ended up just bending the rod. Going to the dremel next.

As someone who served as executor recently, this sends a cautionary message to not leave a mess for your executor/relatives to have to unwind on your departure from this mortal coil. Put important papers in one place, communicate with your family on financial items, locations of mobile physical assets if not at home. The executor is on the hook personally to make sure the estate is properly documented and closed and can be sued by beneficiaries of the will for failure to locate and dispose of all assets. The worst part of the process for me was selling two shares of Disney stock Dad had bought 30 years ago, he had the actual certificates which disappeared when dementia set in. Mom didn't get ownership changed over to her after Dad's death. I first had to have Disney reissue the stocks in Dad's name then go through a process to get the shares transferred to Mom's estate. I ended up spending $125 in fees to be able to sell two shares for $220. And notarized documents weren't good enough, I needed to get Gold Medallion guarantee from bank for the paperwork. Mark

Are those static collector things in the caps do anything? Are they worth reinstalling? Just ordered a set of preformed brake lines from Inline Tube, the front right line snapped as I was trying to get it disconnected from the hose last night. Mark

Always good to see another 55 Buck Special owner, bought mine 4 years ago. Mark

Thanks, found some already.

Uggg, got the hub and drum off and the drum is heavily scored, measured the drum with a gauge and got 12.065 so i will need to replace it. Also found a lot grease in the bottom part of the backing plate so the seal for the inner bearing must have been leaking. And finally, one end of a brake return spring had been wrapped around the anchor pin in a 540 turn. I was able to twist and brake it off. Someone tried to keep this on the road on the cheap. Guess I should be happy they did as it may have kept the car from the crushers.

Neat car! There will be lots of trouble shooting ahead for you. Hope the mice didn't get in and eat the wiring. And looks rust free, a plus for a Minnesota car! Mark

Finally got around to taking the front brakes apart on my 55 Special. All went well getting the front wheel/tire off. First sign of trouble - the wheel would not turn freely. It took quite a lot of effort. I am not certain if it turned freely when I put the new tires on, I don't remember spinning them at all. Popped off the grease cap and wiped the grease away from the nut. The cotter pin looked odd, wiped off more grease and ID'd it as a piece of wire strung through the castellated nut. Pulled the wire out and tried to turn the nut by hand, no dice. Took a socket wrench to it to break it loose. Brake drum still doesn't want to turn, I took a dead blow hammer to it and loosened it from the back plate and I can feel the drum move around now. Drum still doesn't want to turn. I'm am guessing the shoes are expanded into the drum and that there is a ledge inside. Tomorrow night I will get under the car and try to turn the drum shoes in and try pulling the drum again. Mark

Or the Foley artist just guessed on what noise to use.

Steed, We're needed!!

Learned how to drive stick in a 81 Chevette. Not a bad car with the 4 speed, never drove an automatic so can't compare. Seemed better than my 75 Chevy Monza Town Coupe that couldn't pass a dealership without breaking down and started rusting out within 5 years. Mark

Just be aware that once you pull the pin that holds the spider gears in place it is likely to fall apart with pieces dropping into the bottom of the casting. I was a little daunted by putting it all back together but I spent about 30 minutes under the car thinking about how to do it and only had a couple failed tries to get everything lined up and the pin in place. This includes the two spider gears, the thrust washings for the spider gears and the spacer which all need to be lined up for the pin to be reinserted. Mark

After TR lost his son in battle, he started to lose his will to leave. Quentin Roosevelt was a fighter pilot and was shot down and killed in German territory. The Germans did a full military funeral for him and filmed the ceremony to send to TR. Between the assassination attempt, the almost fatal trip up the Amazon, and Quentin's death, Teddy's last decade was pretty hard on him. Teddy was only 59 when he passed. Mark

Get the right size hose, i thought it was 4" on my 55 Buick but was really 4.25" . I also put some liquid soap to help slide it on. Mark

Looks nice, i can do same thing with a local shop and keep the money in the community. Mark

I wrote to SMS about doing the interior for my Buick Special. They have the correct fabrics but not the patterns for the seat covers. They said that if I can send in original seat covers they can use them for patterns. All well and good, except the seat covers on my car are replacements and not necessarily appropriate for patterns for new covers. The old covers were cutoff and only remain in places like under the front seat backs where part of the bottom cover is visible. So does anyone have a set of old original 1955 46R seat covers they would let me send to SMS for use as patterns? Condition is not important as long as there is enough left to pull dimensions off of them. Mark

Test the distributor vacuum to see if it holds vacuum, if not it will not advance the ignition as you try to accelerate.

This car is long gone, but I have childhood memories of the 52 Pontiac having roll down shades on the two rear doors. I remember them as being made of thin metal that had many holes stamped in it to let some light out but block the full sun. They rolled up out of the way on wooden rollers. I have not seen anything like these since grampa sold the car in 1971. Were these a thing back in the late 40s and early 50s? Mark

You are a lucky man, i wanted my grandfather's 52 Pontiac when he stopped driving it in 1971. But i was only 14 and Dad said we had no place to park it. Grampa sold it to some kids down the street for $150. We lost track of it after a couple years. Mark

i wish someone would reproduce these shells, mine are pretty banged up and cracked. Mark

Thanks guys. I will try the dip stick to see where the oil comes to. Mark