Bob H

Greetings: Thought I would add my name to the great list of people offering support with 1939 Buick cars. Acquired my 1939 Special convertible coupe in 2013 and am currently in the final assembly stage of a meticulous frame-off nut and bolt restoration. Glad to help with any question that you may have. Also, I have acquired a ton of extra 1939 parts including a Special 4 door sedan parts car. Have most new sedan glass and new Steele weatherstripping for sedan. Rebuilt my transmission plus one for a friend and have a modest stock of transmission parts along with current experience. Too other many parts to list here, just ask if you need anything. FYI we are in Northwestern Oregon state about 3 hours down the interstate from Seattle. Stop by if you are in the neighborhood! Bob H

Peninsula Glass in Vancouver, WA, actually another name but in the same building, made the glass for my 1939 convertible. Fantastic job right down to the 1939 manufacturer's logo and black edge on the vent window glass. Bob H

Billy: If you can't save your tail light sockets I should have a couple of extra used ones in decent shape. Soak the whole assembly in Evaporust, the stuff performs miracles. FYI, and it's probably too late , but I have a new RI Wire rear harness for your car - $250 + shipping. Keep plugging, at my last estimate there are only about a million details to deal with while restoring one of these regal old queens. Bob H

I think that the jaws of the puller are the problem rather than the device. Have to look but I ground a carriage bolt head to a shape that would go into the odd shaped holes in the steering wheel hub. I can dig them out, take a picture, and send it to you but you will probably have solved the dilemma by then. An old wrecking yard trick we used to use when no puller was available: remove the nut, crank the wheel hard over and hold it firmly against the stop, and try to hammer the wheel off with your fist. Doesn't always work but often enough that it is worth trying. I see that we are almost neighbors. I am in Rainier, Oregon but have family in Sacramento we visit fairly often. I mention this because I am deep into the restoration of a 1939 Special convertible and have accumulated a lot of parts that would be available to you without paying freight. Bob H

FYI, the car sold for $5500 plus fees. The reserve was met at $5000 so it indeed did sell. The only hint to the buyer's identity was that Missouri is home. That could be a broker's base of operations. Hope it doesn't become a flood car! Bob H

Found a nice 1990 parts convertible at a COPART auction in Sikeston, Missouri but it is just too far for me to go from Rainier, Oregon. Select 60 with only 12K miles. Blown airbag but it is probably repairable. Opportunity for someone closer. Bob H

Running board supports could easily be modified to become stream board brackets. The mounting base and profiles are the same for both. Stream board supports are narrower across the flanges but that might not matter. At worst a little grinding would would be in order. The stream board brackets are shorter overall but again an easy fix. Slots for the carriage bolt hold downs are different but they could be cut in the proper place. Attached some photos FYI. The black powder-coated stream board brackets are for my project convertible. The running board brackets are available with a revision in the condition report. They all four have some damage. Tried to show the worst one in the photo with two only. The are all really solid and could easily be restored. Bob H

2carb40: Everyone trying to help has confused me but that's not hard to do. Do you need running board or stream board brackets? The set I offered fits running boards. Stream board brackets may simply be stream board brackets shortened and I can verify that since I have both. No stream board brackets for sale but I do have a complete set of restoreable stream boards including the brackets, spendy. Bob H

I have a set but two of them are damaged. They are solid and good candidates for restoration. $60 plus shipping. I can take a photo or two if you want. Bob H

When I needed a side bearing adjustment tool I made one out of material laying around. Not high tech but I used it and loaned to another Buick enthusiast. I'll most likely never use it again and I would gladly loan it out you pay the postage. Bob H

Is brazing a lost art? Cast iron brazes without much problem but must be clean to bare metal. Fit isn't critical as brass will fill large gaps. I was never able to make a brass bead pretty like a weld but it is easily ground to a decent looking job. There are high temperature epoxies but I don't think JB Weld is one of them. Bob H

Don't need to go inside transmission! Looking at the bottom photo in Billy's post, that prominent hex near the center is actually part of the inner cable and threads into the shift selector shaft. Just screw it out to remove the cable but first loosen the retaining clip for the outer cable housing, just below the hex in the picture mentioned previously. With the cable frozen the entire assembly will have to turn when unscrewing the cable retainer hex. Be sure the other end of the cable is detached from the shift lever end, both inner and outer. And good luck, the inner cable will probably break. Bob H

Who sells the tarpaper-like body panel insulation with the "waffle" pattern used on 1939 Special? Thanks, Bob H

Sent a couple of 1939 light switch photos that might help you understand how it is put together. The terminal at the end of the wire has the contact built into it - the little round button off the side of the terminal near its end. The housing that the terminal snaps into has spring built into it that maintains pressure on the contact strip that moves when you pull the switch handle. The construction of the switch resembles a cheap post WW II tin toy and it may be coming apart. Bob H

Just for the sake of curiosity I put the pictured 1939 panel light switch in an Evaporust bath overnight. The switch was frozen solid . The second picture may not look all that dramatic but the switch is now working. It cleaned up nicely with absolutely no damage. Another note on Evaporust: the manufacturer claims that a dip and then letting the part dry effectively blocks further rust, rinse it off with water when you want to refinish the part. Bought a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff at the start of my project and enthusiastically recommend it. Bob H

MCHinson: Without chasing casting numbers, which can be unreliable, the pictured transmission is indeed for a 1939 Buick Special. Guaranteed! Don't believe it interchanges with anything else. BobH

The quick ID trick for 1939 Special transmission would be the shift lever, it only has one. The selector operates via a cable to the end of the lever's shaft which travels in and out engage the shift forks. Most other column shift transmissions have two levers. I can take photos tomorrow if needed. Bob H

Is your convertible a running driving car or a project? I have a tank with a flaw that I had restored for my 1939 Special convertible coupe project. A place in Sacramento, California cleaned, straightened, and repaired the tank including coatings on the inside and outside and a lifetime warranty. Problem, when they soldered the filler neck back on they got the angle wrong and it touched the frame when we put it in. A simple fix would involve making a dent in the frame or the filler neck but my frame is powder coated and I am just too fussy for that solution. I had acquired a parts car that had a better tank than even the repaired one so I used that. That is the long way around to telling you that the tank is for sale, $300 as is, it looks brand new. We live in Rainier, Oregon 97048. Can take some pictures if you have any further interest. Also have a lot of 1939 Special parts including a parts convertible as well as a parts sedan. Feel free to inquire about any parts you may need, I am not a parts reseller but a hobbyist with surplus parts that I would like to see back in use. Rush orders are not part of my operation. Thanks, Bob H

Pictures of 1939 Special front bumper and brackets, better shape than I remembered. The center guard is optional and included for $150 + freight. Anchor bolt is bad on the center guard. Our area code is 97048 if you want to try to calculate freight yourself. Bumper length is 67 inches. Bob H

Greetings: I'll need to look but think I have what you need for 1939 Special. We are in Rainier, Oregon so freight will be spendy. I'll get a picture for you. Also have many other 1939 Special parts. Bob H

My old MOTORS manual says caster on 1939 series 40 and 60 should be negative 7/8 of a degree, camber positive 3/8 of a degree, and 1/32 of an inch toe in. Bob H

Jim: When I was chasing parts for my 1939 Special driveline I bought quite a number of hard to find bits from BCA member Pat Riley. However, at my last parts request he told me that he had sold all his parts to Pete Philips. Don't know if Pete Philips is offering the stuff for sale or using it himself, might be worth a try. I have a well-used torque ball that could be used as a last resort if nothing else comes up. Also have another 1939 parts source that I will contact for you. Bob H

Eschew obfuscation!

Hello all: Headed for a Pick-n-Pull that has posted a 1990 Reatta in their inventory. Intend to get an IPC, a BCM and other dash electronic components to help with trouble shooting my "Error" message. I'll look for ABS leads and some trim pieces we need. What else should be on my shopping list and what might anyone need that I could salvage? Thanks, Bob H

Ronnie: Thanks for the suggestion. Completed the removal of the IPC and a thorough cleaning of the connections. Might have gained a bit of information. The panel worked fine through many on-off cycles while trouble shooting. Started the engine after installing the cluster and the ERROR message came on immediately. Two of the previous failures came shortly after startup and the last while driving. Gave up for today but back after it tomorrow. Bob H