[263 I8 Intake Manifold Ring Seal - 1951, 52, 53]

Thanks - looks like they're distributed by Kanter...

The CARS catalog lists something that also might be it... Valve body to intake manifold gasket 1937-1953 #VBI373

[263 I8 Intake Manifold Ring Seal - 1951, 52, 53]

Need one of these ring seals that goes between the intake manifold and the head. One was MIA when I pulled the manifold off my '51. This is for the 263.

[55 Special - runner]

Scored these little gems on ebay a couple of weeks ago out of Canada... Cleaned up nice.

[55 Special - runner]

Got some rear springs thanks to Matt on the forum ( http://forums.aaca.org/f163/55-special-4-door-fix-up-352425.html ). They are +100lbs from the ones called out for my car, so that's as close as it gets without the exact part number.

Got them cleaned up a couple of weeks ago when I was working on the radiator for the '51:

[Horns - 1951 Models]

Thanks - I still need to go through the wiring diagram on this. The wiring does not appear to have been altered just to make the horn work, but it sure seems like it's hot not ground that makes it go. I will check if the horn ring does close a connection to ground. Maybe the replacement (new) relay isn't the same as far as what connects where. That's the new/different part in the system...

[1949 Super Sedanette Survivor]

There was one thing remaining that I suspected could be causing the severe stumbling on acceleration -- ignition. I had already replaced the cap, rotor, points, condenser, and plugs, but the rest was still old and possibly original. The plug wires were dried up hard and cracked. The coil was rusty. The enging was idling smooth though.

I got a new 6V coil from Rock Auto, and decided to go for the original style laquered-fabric covered wires, purchased from CARS. The Rock Auto coil is not a very good fit. It's enough fatter than the original that the clamping screw doesn't reach. I'll look for a proper Delco replacement later. The plug wires come as a kit and have to be cut to length. The wire set was probably universal fit for V8s since the wires were all very long. Just duplicating the lengths of the original wires, I was able to save enough from the kit wire cut offs to probably build a second set!

In looking at other sites around the subject of plug wires, there were 2 tools mentioned. One is under $10, and consists of a tiny set of jaws to make the strip & crimp, but the force is applied by using the little jaws in a bench vise. The other is around $90 or so, and is essentially the same thing, but with handles to use it as its own independent tool. Do you have either of these? I guess what I'm asking is, how did you cut/strip/trim/crimp the cut-to-length plug wires?

I too found that the replacement coil was too large diameter for the original clamp. I forgot about that aspect of the coil adapter bracket that I made - a simple bolt-on bracket that orients the coil to contacts-up. The coil that was on my car was short where it should have been open, and open where it should have had continuity - so I didn't even try to start it with that one. By mounting it contacts-up, the bracket not fitting doesn't really matter because it can't go anywhere.

[Horns - 1951 Models]

Since I've been delayed a bit on the engine, I'm going back around to another non-functional item: horns.

When I first put the battery in, there was power at the horn relay when the horn ring was pressed. The relay itself was bad. I replaced the relay, and now there's not power on the line from the horn ring.

The horns will sound when I jumper hot to the small contact on the relay. So the relay & horns are good.

Trying to figure out the rest of it. This setup seems to work by providing hot to the relay. Is the wire off the left side of the steering column above the steering box & forward of the firewall - is that for the horn? Is that power out to the horn relay, or power into the horn ring/button?

I would like to know what is on both sides of the horn ring/button - to see if the failure is in there.

I searched the other horn-related threads on here. This horn relay appears to work with hot on the small contact, not ground as it seems to be on later versions.

Thanks!

[A BUICK SPECIAL RIVIERA 1953 IN PARIS]

Nice photos, ABV. Keep them coming.

One thing I do with my '55 is roll the vent windows closed and the back windows down, so it looks a little "cleaner" in photos.

Do you have the plug wire cover (with everything on the engine, should not be able to see the spark plugs).

[My first classic Buick – 1951 Super]

No, it's these guys. Their site hides behind a seemingly unrelated domain name...

http://maritimedragracing.com/then_and_now_automotive.htm

[Rescue Me - '51 41D]

Robert,

I'm just glad I found this before having it run more. Ben got back to me pretty quick with one of his spares. These may survive better than the radiators.

The radiator was an 8-month frustration that had me question whether this was really possible.

It was actually kind of funny - I pulled the studs out of the block because this is the way they were coming out - none of the nuts broke loose on the studs. I did a couple at the front, then a couple at the back. I noticed the gap to the block for the exhaust at the back was opening more than for the intake. So I did the remaining studs from back to front, and when I got the last one holding that section of exhaust, it just fell right down out the bottom of the car.

[263 exhaust manifold]

Got it. Thanks Ben!

[Rescue Me - '51 41D]

Steps forward... steps back.

Got the radiator hoses. Looks nice to have the correct molded hoses on there.

Got the manifolds off the left side of the engine. Back half of the exhaust just fell off for me, so it wasn't quite so heavy to lift the rest out .

See my post in the forsale/wanted section...

That "attached thumbnail" is what happens when you load the wrong photo & delete it...

[263 exhaust manifold]

Saw the thread about a month ago on this. I need to hear from whoever has one, even with the intake still on it. I'll even pay shipping & be happy to have it. I know they weigh about a ton.

Thanks!

[My first classic Buick – 1951 Super]

I haven't bought anything re-man via eBay. My guess is, for ads you see such as the starter, water pump, shock re-builds and others, that these are either specialists looking for additional customers, or they're online outreach from the major well-known antique car suppliers (who then feed the parts through to the specialists) looking for more customers. Either way, if they're offering a warranty, the parts have some level of quality behind them. If I needed one of these items, I'd at least consider those advertisers/sellers.

I have bought repro parts via eBay which turned out to be from one of the major suppliers. Not sure if they were selling there to build up their mailing list or just clear out some inventory, but they were offering a part at a discount over the catalog price. So there can be some good deals out there.

[My first classic Buick – 1951 Super]

Joseph,

When you've read through some of the other recommended threads on here, here's mine for a '51 Special:

http://forums.aaca.org/f163/rescue-me-51-41d-356199.html

Looks like I've about been through the list you have above, but mine also needed a new fuel tank. So you can skim through that for sources & such.

I haven't done the seat belts, because there isn't enough floor left in my car to be bolting anything into. But I did add seat belts to my '55, which has nice solid floors.

Got them from www.seatbeltstore.com (Juliano's).

Here's the thread for the '55 - shows what these add-on seatbelts look like:

http://forums.aaca.org/f163/55-special-runner-349933.html

I'm taking the approach others have suggested on here - get it running and see where the problems really are. And drive it for a while until more major work gets done.

one more thing -

If it hasn't been said already - get the factory shop manual. They're on ebay ALL the time for $5-50 (depending on condition) and they're also sold as a .pdf file on a disk.

[54 Horn Ring]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141318142615

$30 obo. See ad for condition.

[Rescue Me - '51 41D]

Thanks Pete - when I get to that, I'll copy the applicable manual page and have it right there in the action. I went out there this AM to start the PB blasting, and the exhaust manifold is clearly about 1/16" off the head, with a few little spots of the original sealing stuff remaining. It's actually kind of funny to watch when I was running the starter and getting it to light off, puffs of smoke were coming straight up through that gap. Might not even have been enough pressure to send anything down the pipe...

[Rescue Me - '51 41D]

Thanks Keith & Ben. What I was getting from the manual is yes, there are gaskets on the intake side, but nothing on the exhaust side but for a "special compound" that they don't specify. It looks to me like the "special compound" has become a 1/16" gap of clear air between the head and the manifold (after so many years). The repro gasket that I've found photos of from a couple of auto parts suppliers has the intake & exhaust gaskets all molded together as one piece (actually 3 sections, with 4 of the 12 ports per section). Not sure if that's what will really be in the box, but also from the manual it appears as if the intake & exhaust manifolds come off together, as they are joined at the heat box below the carb. That joint between the manifolds is supposed to come apart, but since the 2 manifolds are held to the head with the very same fasteners, I'll try taking it off as a unit.

[Rescue Me - '51 41D]

Just had a potential eureka moment. If the manifold gasket is totally fallen apart / blown out on the exhaust side, what's to say it isn't about as bad on the intake side. If so, the engine sucks in too much air. True, there's still a fuel-delivery-from-the-tank problem, and I rebuilt the carb best I could (but took it off a non-running car, so have no idea - other than following the shop manual - that I got the carb back together and all working right) - but if the intake manifold-to-head has openings in the gasket - there's too much air going IN.

I have to replace the manifold gaskets anyway, so I'll focus on the gaskets & fuel to carb before attempting further starts.

[My new purchase]

FK - yes, the forum puts 25 posts on a "page", then it generates another page. It may have to do with download time - it downloads 25 "posts", then you can read through them all before clicking to the next page to start another download...

[Master Cylinder conversion for disc brakes on a 55 Buick Special]

54fins - can you answer Willie's question - have you driven it yet & is the pedal effort reasonable for the stopping power? Or would it be better to change the ratio?

[Rescue Me - '51 41D]

In position. After 8 months of looking at and working on the car with nothing in front of the fan, this looks a little strange to me. But after chasing many leads and considering ways to get a new one made, I'm happy to have the exact part to just bolt in.

And I bought some more gas. Between evaporation and attempts at starting, the little bit in the tank is not able to be picked up by the electric pump. I disconnected the fuel line at the carb and pumped into a plastic jug - flow isn't good, so I suspect some of the old line sections may be gummed up. It sure ran out fast onto the floor when I cut into the line to add the electric pump, but that's not all of the old line in the system. I will open the line at different points and see where the slow-down happens.

The engine does catch fairly easily with squirting gas into the carb, so I think the ignition is at least OK now. When it catches, it overruns the starter right away, so continuing to crank the starter just allows the starter to spin real fast without being engaged to the flywheel. And the exhaust leak that was reported as one of, if not the reason the car was parked about 20 years ago - yes, that's for real. The gaskets between the head & manifold are no good.

[My new purchase]

Yes, if you can resize your camera's picture files down to about 800w x 600h, that is plenty good enough to see here , and they upload easily. That is taking a 3 meg+++ file down to about 150k. Nice car!

[Rescue Me - '51 41D]

The radiator finally arrived. The seller did a really good job of packing. Protected the core both sides, built up a box so the bottom neck wouldn't get broken off... I cleaned up the side flanges yesterday (7 June) to minimize additional corrosion where it bolts to the support in the car.

Empty hole to fill:

Radiator as received, then side flange clean-up:

I missed getting a photo of the flanges cleaned to bare metal - I didn't just paint over rust...

[My new purchase]

Here's the photos from the ebay link, since those disappear eventually.