beerczar1976

Since you are in Missouri, Scott Speedometer out in Michigan may be of assistance to you as well. www.scottspeedometer.com, (248) 338-4148. He repaired my mechanical speedo off my '50 Special. Sounds like the latter 50s speedos can be a bit of a headache, but he may be worth trying to get a quote from. The thing I like about his service was that after you send in your item, he'll do an assessment on it, and call you back with what he feels needs to be fixed/replaced before he starts work. No surprises.

Just checked the mentioned PDF version of the '48-'49 Manual. http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/Buick/1948-49/ A drawing on page 32 shows clearly the Fireball Dynaflash decal on the passenger side of the engine. It doesn't specifically show the "equipped with hydraulic lifters" decal, but since the foremost end of the valve cover is a cut-away view, I'm bound to think this decal went someplace towards the front end of the cover, again, on the passenger side of the engine.

Again, another detail found in the '49 Product Service Bulletins, page 24. "All Buick engines now have the red "Buick Fireball" decal which was originally used as a designation for hydraulic valve lifters. As a result some confusion has existed as to whether specific engines are equipped with hydraulic lifters or with the .015" lash systems. All hydraulic lifter engines will continue to carry the small rocker arm cover decal reading, "This Engine Equipped With Hydraulic Lifters." If this decal is not present, it can be assumed that the engine has the .015" lash valve system. Unfortunately, there wasn't any diagram to show decal location, but I think this tidbit does clear up the confusion a bit as well as sometimes conflicting information that can be found in various restoration vendor catalogs/documentation. It does also reference that these notes supplemented Section 2-D, Paragraph 2-14 & 2-15 of the '48-'49 Shop Manual. I remember seeing this shop manual being available free online in downloadable PDFs by section. If I have a moment, I'll double-check if that manual shows the decal placement in the listed sections or perhaps pictured throughout somewhere.

In my continuing effort to share info., here is a quick bit I just found while reading the 1949 Product Service Bulletins book I just got off eBay. I know this question and discussion has arisen on here several times in the past. Direct quote from page 90 of the book..."We have had several requests for the number of the paint used on the 1950 series 40 instrument panel, garnish mouldings, door belt finishing mouldings and steering column jacket. This paint is Dark Grey (Metalli-Chrome) 'Duco' No. 260-55263." I'm not sure if modern paint will match this 100%, but at least a paint code is finally referenced. I know many of the paint chip books I've seen, never actually tell the interior paint codes.

Looking for a lead on the pictured stainless "Z/"S""trim piece that is attached to interior door pad. Has bent over brads on back that holds it to door pad backer material. The one I'm missing is rear passenger door. Door pad came this way from prior owner missing the trim. Doesn't have to be NOS, just looking for a source for even a current supplier that may sell similar. Maybe one of you has done custom door panels and aren't using the original style? First pic is of door panel that needs to be re-covered entirely. Prior owner removed all covering and apparently lost, discarded, or broke the stainless piece. Second pic is of original door pad that will be eventually re-covered. Bottom vinyl may be cleanable in which case I'll just re-fabric the top half. Third pic is of (sorry if you can't see it that well) how the brads stick thru material and are then bent over on the back side of backer board. Yes, I finally caved and got myself a smartphone. More pics of my '50 Special Deluxe Tourback to come Thanks!

Trim piece is on inside door panel. Has nails or tacks that stick thru panel fabric and hard board and then get bent over on the back side to secure in place.

Looking for the flattened "S" chrome trim that separates upper/lower door trim material for '50 Special rear passenger side door.

Guys still looking for at least one more "Special" emblem for '50 Special. Script style is the same as '51 trunk emblem (just not as thick and pins are in a different location (I already tried), and same style as '57 emblem just without the circle in the middle of it.

Concur. Good notes. Was a bit confused when you mentioned doing continuity tests, but I'm thinking this is for the areas where you re-used the bullet connectors/bulb sockets and made splices... I didn't realize that a special machine put those connectors on. One of my yet to be re-mounted back-up lights is missing the bullets; I thought they just crimped on. Hadn't ordered new ones yet as I had to double-check to get the right size. Will watch for more posts and will be interested to see how easily the bundle of spaghetti goes back in the car! I might stick with some of the underhood wiring first and try to do the wires that only go from one component to the other and see how that goes. Also, definitely interested in seeing if your headlight switch works after the epoxy is applied. I've had all kinds of trouble with mine, since unlike in '49, the switch starting with '50 not only controls the headlights and dims the dash lights, it also run the Map Lights. I tried re-attaching my rheostat wire, but it ended up cooking thru again almost immediately at the rivet. Also doesn't help when there's two separate 16g White wires going to the switch that perform two totally different functions (1 for Front Turn Signals/Parking Lights, and the 2nd for the Map Lights)!

Looking forward to your posts on the wiring part of the project. Been seriously contemplating making a harness myself as well, since like yours, subtle movement of the wiring causes the fabric shielding to crack or fall off. Doesn't appear to be overly difficult project. I'd probably leave my dash in place as it's either been already re-painted at some point, or survived very well. I think hardest part will be matching up all the connectors. I know RI Wire Harness, and the other RI-based wire guys, Narragansett something or other, both sell the supplies. It's got to be cheaper to make yourself than the $700 or so they're charging... I think only other part that wouldn't be "duplicatable" is the black harness jacketing that covers the wires where they are bundled together under the dash and thru the firewall. Mine appears to be more of a looser-woven mesh fabric than the available tight-woven "tube" fabric that's being sold. Please include lots of pics! Can't wait to follow-up.

Will be working on re-covering door panels over the winter for my '50 Special. I'm probably going to stick to original styling/material selection. Mine appears to be a combination of black vinyl and white/cream colored cloth. HOWEVER, prior owner(s) managed to either lose, break, or throw away one of the long flattened "S" door chrome inserts. It's maybe about 1/4" thick and is quite close to 29-1/2" long. If memory serves it's for one of the front doors. It appears that the trim had almost like wires or nails that protrude thru the door panel and are then bent over on the backside of the panel to hold in place. Has anyone seen any place that sells this type of trim material? While doing a search, the only thing that came close to it was a 3M "chrome" bead tape that comes on a 30' roll. Has anyone decided to scrap their original door panels that didn't re-use the stock trim willing to part with theirs if they still have it? Thanks.

It's just not Rock Auto's database that is incorrect. The error starts with the parts manufacturers like Raybestos. If you go into their database, you'll see that they've listed the larger size for pretty much all the models. My '50 Special uses the smaller size as well, and this size seems to have been discontinued years ago. Bob's and CARS is sourcing them from somewhere. Kanter I think lists the correct size as well. I originally thought my shoes were no good, but it turned out I just need to put on new rubber brake lines and rebuild the Master Cylinder. Lining on shoes is near exact to the Shop Manual, so someone must have changed them at some point when the correct size was still available. Current brake system is holding pressure quite well now. Also be careful when ordering wheel cylinders. My suggestion is go back to the Parts Manual, or find someone who can look up the original sizes (shoes, drums, wheel cylinders, etc.) up for you. The correct replacement linings also come up as NOS on eBay every so often. I think the trick though is finding someone who still does brake re-lining. Some truck repair places may still do it.

LOL. If the clips you are referring to are anything like those on a '50...I'm right there with you. I can get them to clip onto the window frame no problem, but have never been able to really get the "spikey" part to jam thru the metal backing of the felt/fuzzy lined window channels. If I run out of other things to do (sarcasm here) I may try to attach the clip to the channel first and then clip it into the frame. There's got to be some trick to it.

Also, windshield rubber seals will run around $200+ Check out Steele Rubber, Rubber the Right Way, and CARS, Inc. I honestly think Steele ends up making them for the other two guys. Watch for Rubber the Right Way to put out discount codes, typically around many of the major holidays. Not huge % discounts, but will save you basically the shipping charge. Look for the item on eBay as well. Steele sometimes lists items themselves, and if you use the Pay Later option thru PayPal, you can pretty much finance the purchase over several months with 0% interest. That's how I bought my rear window seal. I'm due for a new windshield seal myself. Depending if yours is curved or flat glass, a local auto glass shop (the old-school kind, not a chain) will probably be able to cut flat glass for you. Other option is check with the Buick Farm. They sell NOS. I got a door glass thru them for a good price still in the original factory carton. Not sure if they have any windshield glass in-stock, but worth a try.

Check out the following link. Windshield removal/install starts around Page 20 or so. http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/Buick/1948-49/Group13/index.htm As the '50 is pretty similar to the '49 models, you'll have a chrome trim surrounding the windshield gasket rubber on the outside of the glass. This needs to be removed, and most likely so do the Windshield Wiper Burrs. Without removing the WWB you cannot remove the chrome Wiper Escutcheon plates (on the '50 at least, these surround where the wiper motor shafts extend thru the cowl from inside the car), but, there is some wiggle room there, and you may not have to remove the plates entirely to get the surround chrome off. The manual shows a special tool that removes the burrs, however others on the forum have found various ways of removing them without breaking them. The tool is pretty much impossible to find, I actually lucked out and found one thru a vintage tool collector website a while back, but I haven't seen the replacement burrs come up anywhere for sale. I believe if you remove them carefully, you can re-use them. Find yourself a hardcopy of the Shop Manual, or do like I did, and download one section at a time off of the Old Car Manual Project's website. The '49 Buick C-Body Fisher Body Manual will probably also come in handy though not 100% required. I'm still looking for a cheap copy of the C-Body manual myself, as many, if not most, of the items in the book carry over to the 1950 models.

Re-attaching side trim to a '50 Special Deluxe Tourback Sedan. Many of my clips are re-usable, but, if going by the parts manual, I'm also missing some. I've checked Restoration Specialties catalog and didn't really see any that match. See attached images Missing: Group: 8.132 PN: 4574666 Need: 2 Appear to maybe use a screw of some kind though there's no PN for the screw/stud? Calls also for a nut and a cup w/rubberwasher. Used on front door moulding, position #5 Group: 8.214 PN: 4575755 Need: 2 Flat rectangular piece. Again may use a screw or stud, but no PN is given. Also calls for a nut of some kind. Used on rear door moulding, position #1 Group: 8.132 PN: 4592301 Need: 10 These push thru the hole in the door and do not require a nut. Used on front door, position #2-4, and rear door, position # 2 & 3 Have, but if someone's got extra new/lightly used ones. Both of these are the "turn and lock style". Group: 8.147 PN: 1340837 Group: 8.214 PN: 4568386

Hey buddy! I was wondering if you ever checked into that listing. Good to see you finally got your hands on one. Mine's still sitting in the packaging from the seller I got it from. Been busy last few weekends, and not much progress done on my '50 Special. Managed to get the grille/bumper combo., or at least most of it put back on the car and painted my air cleaner. Hoping to finish those two items up and mount the side trim this week in the evenings. Before you know it, it'll be time to put the car up for the winter since it's not really in a total driver status yet. Gotta save up for new tires and windshield gasket. Next year should be a good one with most of the bigger projects now done!

You're in luck with the Dynaflow emblems as I know for sure Bob's sells them; check with CARS, and Fusick also. For whatever reason, no one is re-popping the Special emblem; Super, Roadmaster, and Dynaflow only. Cigarette lighter and starter parts are somewhat easy to find; again check Bob's, CARS, and Fusick. Kanter may also have the starter you need too. If you want NOS, go with Buick Farm in New Jersey. Another guy is BuickNOS in S. Carolina at www.oldbuickparts.com/buicknos These latter two listings are good because they list items by Group and Part number. If you don't mind, you can send me a PM thru my profile with the salvage yard contacts. We lost Wheatbelt a few months ago, but CTC Auto Ranch and RPM Motorsports come up with our era Buicks every so often. Another guy who I've bought parts from is All American Classics out in Vancouver, WA. I've found some stuff on eBay as well, but very hit or miss. Prices range all over, same with condition of parts.

Hmmm... I've never seen a 4468D code. 4469 and 4469D were the Tourback Sedan. The only thing I see remotely close on the Model Chart is the 4408 and 4408D which was the Jetback Sedan. Thanks for checking into the headlight switch! Let me know if you need any more info. I've amassed quite a few of the manuals, and have some pretty good experience putting my '50 back together again. Or at least trying to, LOL!!

Ahh! They go down diagonally! I'll try that again next time I get a chance to crawl under there. I've got to figure out what size bolts go back in the bottom of the teeth.

Ohh yes, and if you're not using one of them, a working late '50 production Headlight Switch. I'm still trying to chase down whether my issue is wiring or that I keep finding bad switches. Headlights and Tail lights turn on/off properly, but I get issues trying to control the Map Lights and Dash Lights.

Well the 41D for sure is a Special Deluxe Tourback Sedan... The one you've noted as the 50-41D... In my opinion, is probably also a Special Deluxe Tourback. Are they from maybe two different factories? You'd be able to tell by the frame numbers. The first digit identifies production facility. The only other thing I honestly could think of, and I'm certainly a newb. at this myself, is that one is an early '50 production and the other is a late '50 production. The quickest way to tell that is to take a look at the radio grille and check for a separate Map Light switch/pull knob. In early '50 production, there was a Headlight Switch and a separate Map Light. In later '50 production they changed-over to a single switch that, as I've found, attempts to control all of the lights. From my current experiences, it would seem that the separate switch set-up is actually a little easier, when looking for replacement components. I see the early '50 headlight switch come up on eBay much more often. The latter version, not soo much. Another dead giveaway is the Fisher Body number also located on the production plate on the passenger side upper cowl face. A Special Deluxe Tourback Sedan will be listed as a Model 41D and Fisher Body# 4469D. If you've got the same numbers without the "D", you're looking at a Special vs. a Special Deluxe. If you end up parting out either vehicle, let me know. I'm still missing some pieces, namely a Special emblem, and would take a look at front bumper turn signal buckets, especially the driver's side one. I also need a replacement chrome interior door pad trim piece. Looks like a long flattened zig-zag or Z and is about 1/3 of the way down the door.

Decided to finally finish putting the front bumper on my '50 Special this past weekend. What a job. Not difficult in the sense of putting it together, but it was very awkward trying to keep the whole assembly lifted up to the right height and then getting the bracket holes aligned on the frame horns under the engine bay. Just the actual face of the bumper was on the car once before but it was sitting weird. I pulled it and the brackets off the frame and bolted all the components together like I had seen the bumper installed in an old factory photo. Doing this helped keep everything squared up, and it now sits pretty level across the front of the car. One side used to sit too high. Spacing also looks pretty good that I should also be able to get the fender splash guards back behind the bumper and the face of the fenders now too. As my question refers to, there are supposed to be almost elongated "S" shaped "Braces" that attach to the first of the 3 side holes of the main U-shaped bumper bracket. One on each side. The ends of these then end behind the front of the face of the bumper. However I couldn't really find anything that the bolt holes align to. The grille teeth bolt to the bumper face and to the "wing" on the bottom. The Turn Signal housings sit too far to the left and right to even contact the braces... My thought is the factory maybe just used them when lifting the bumper up to the frame of the car during assembly... I'm like 99% I'm not missing any components.

Paul, gave you a call last week, but got voicemail. Any time this week good for me to call? I'm still looking for these parts. Thanks!

Eric/Wheelnut. You guys have definitely ease my mind! Wheelnut's pics show exactly what I have. Same "pimpling" on the exhaust header as well. LOL I'll be leaving mine alone for now, but had already purchased a new copper gasket set a while back. I'll try to figure it out when those gaskets go on. Eric, I also see that just like myself and Shadetree, you got to work the whole Fuel Pump suction hose project. That one's real fun with a full tank of gas that wants to run damn near continuously down your arms and all over the driveway...NOT!! The one I got from CARS had the right fittings, but not long enough. As it was about 1/2"-3/4" too short, I managed to mangle the threads on one of the hose fittings and cross-threaded it in the process of trying to put it on. Spent the better part of yesterday with gas running down both arms to still have not fixed it by the end of the day! Grrr!! I went to a local auto parts vendor this morning (in my area they're all closed on Sunday's) and bought a new longer length of 1/4" fuel line and a 5/16 thread hydraulic hose fitting. Cut the good fitting out of the CARS hose, stuck in the new length of hose and will modify the hydraulic coupling a bit when I get home. I hate being stuck at work when I know my car is probably sitting there dripping go-go juice slowly into a pan filled with absorbent. The brake job on the Lucerne went rather well however; no more pulsing coming down from highway speeds. One small victory I guess.